Sociology of Mass Media

Sociology of mass media – Advertising and democracy are connected. People are required by their political system to hold individual opinions. In addition, people look at the mass media for information on political matters. Therefore, they looked for information from the news, political debates, and political advertising so that they could evaluate their leaders and vote on public policy. – In covering a political campaign, the media choose which issues or topics to emphasize, thereby setting the campaign’s agenda.Therefore, the media create an agenda setting; the ability to affect cognitive change among individuals by telling people what to think about, not what to think. This would then influence Quebec voters’ decisions. – Political Advertising and campaign coverage would have an impact on Quebec voters in influencing their decisions by including these into their campaigns: †¢Patriotism: The ad stresses the candidate’s love of and serv ice to his/her country. †¢Gender: The ad presents the candidate as appropriately â€Å"manly† (or feminine) to make viewers trust him/her. Facts and Figures: The ad uses facts and statistics to support the candidate’s policies. †¢Issues: Reporters need to push for details on positions and ask tough questions on major issues, not accepting generalities. They need to bounce one candidate’s position off other candidates to create an intelligent discussion forum from which voters can make informed choices †¢Depth: On talk-show appearances, reporters need to offer something more than what voters can see and hear for themselves.Analysis and depth add a fresh dimension that is not redundant to what the audience already knows. †¢Inside coverage: reporters need to cover the machinery of the campaigns: who runs things and how, what history do they bring to a campaign. – Voters would be influenced by these presented campaign coverage and would us e these to make a decisive vote.

Coca-Cola vs Pepsi

Coca Cola and Pepsi are the two most popular and widely recognized beverage brands in the United States. Pepsi and Coca Cola contrast each other on their taste, its associated colors and themes, and ingredients. Coca-Cola and Pepsi differentiate in more ways than one. Coca-Cola has more of a coke flavor taste. It is fizzier than that of Pepsi. It is smoother going down, and after about six hours it changes flavor and becomes more watery and bitter. When you drink it doesn’t feel as hard on your teeth as Pepsi.Pepsi on the other hand has a sweeter taste than that of Coca Cola due to the addition of artificial sweeteners and leaves a mild chemical taste after you drink it. When drinking Pepsi compared to Coca Cola, Pepsi tends to have a more â€Å"fruity† taste to it. Additionally when drinking Pepsi the bubbles maintain all the way down your throat. If left sitting out for six hours Pepsi becomes stronger in flavor. By way of color, Coca-Cola is red, a warmer color and P epsi is blue, a cooler color. The color trademarks indicate the particular culture about the product.Coca-Cola openly uses themes involving family, love, Christmas, and hospitality because they suggest warmness. As a matter of fact, it has found its way through holidays particularly valentine’s days, national and patriotic holidays and sports. Even white bears were used to advertise the product! This is the usual theme commonly used for Coca-Cola. For Pepsi, since it started later than the Coca-Cola, they had to think of a better way to distinguish itself from then popular brand, and the best choice was blue.As a result, from starting out with the opposite color, they had to continue with everything else about Coca-Cola. Blue became the basic theme of Pepsi. Unlike Coca-Cola, everything in the Pepsi website indicated the cooler color. On the Pepsi website they claim that everything is blue and new! The modern trend has been what Pepsi uses to target teenagers. Coca-Cola and P epsi have a lot of the same ingredients. Although Coca-Cola claims they do not have sugars in their soda so the sugar must come from the other ingredients.Coca-Cola contains carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, Phosphoric Acid, Caffeine, and Natural Flavoring. Pepsi contains carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, phosphoric acid, caffeine, citrus acid, sugar and natural flavoring. The difference in ingredients of Coca-Cola and Pepsi is the amount of sugar, citrus acid, and amount of caffeine. In conclusion to the taste of the two sodas, their colors, themes, and ingredients Coca-Cola and Pepsi are comparable in many other ways than that mentioned!

Book ReviewPractices of Looking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Book ReviewPractices of Looking - Essay Example The work of Pierre Bourdieu is one such example, where in this procedure the images call upon the subjects that can be put in a frame work with exact principles and philosophy, it offers more profound introduction to the model of thoughts or principles, in the course of a short lived summary of the idea during the exertion of Marx, Althussor and Gramsci. The chapter argues about the approach that should be in balance with the supposition of principles, only those who can believe the clout of governing principles or thoughts as well as the role played by the viewers in constructing the implifications. The chapter 2 draws out quiet a few hypotheses that tackle the confrontations of texts and viewers, together with Stuart Hall's theory of encoding/decoding, the plans of fraud and contradictory reading (as Chicano Mural painting by an AIDS activist work, and the works of artists such as Barbara Kruger, and gender bending readings of Hollywood film). The chapter shells out special attention to the plans made by some viewers who challenge on the basis of such strategy to modify the actual meaning of the images and texts, so that they would shape it according to their ideology. The chapter converses the practical ideas of the gaze in Cinema and Art history, investigates and examines all possible ways in which such theories could be updated in compliance to the changing concepts of spectatorship, theories of identity of lesbian/gay and gender analysis, as well as to discover the novel ideas in making films, bringing out new styles in presenting images and the very need to marketing through advertisement that makes men to gaze while providing first of its kind like pieces of work to view for the spectators. The chapter gives the relative aspects of gaze with queries of power; putting forward some of the central preassumptions of Michael Foucault on panoptician, power/knowledge, discourse. The power of gaze is compared to the role of photography in working out the modern authorities through institutions to examine in hospitals and prisons, and in anthropology and advertising exotic new mages are discussed. The chapter ends with a small chat of how the critique of Orientalism and postcolonial theory could assist us to recognize gazes upon and "other" images. Source http://www.oup.co.uk/oxfordtextbooks/media/sturken/r_mla.html

Capitalism or consumerism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Capitalism or consumerism - Essay Example Each has a responsibility to ensure advancement and profitability is not at the expense of our societal morality. Before delving more deeply into the issues involved a clear understanding of the principle doctrines surrounding the premise needs to be established. Capitalism is the economic base of a free society. The concept being that private or corporate ownership is a fundamental principal of it. The success or failure of the company is directly tied to the profitability of the entity. As profits increase, reinvestment is made leading to increased productivity and company wealth, within which context; capitalism naturally leads to a personal stake in the company, regardless of whether it is a privately owned company or a corporation. One’s livelihood is directly tied to its success or failure. When in a cultural climate such as this, success is often perceived as material acquisitions and possessions which may lead to devastating consequences. Too often when the goal becomes merely the ‘bottom line’ the path to achieve it becomes secondary and ethical improprieties become frighteningly commonplace. The second key term to define is consumerism. It appears an innocuous term initially. On the surface it is the societal fueling of capitalism. As the consumer buys, companies profit yielding gain and thereby there is further reinvestment of capital. This cyclic compliment of supply and demand defines the free market society. However, when looking deeper into the concept of consumerism it leads to the overwhelming need of the consumer to have, to possess, to buy – materialism supersedes actual need. This accepted reality of a capitalistic society results in the confusion of needs versus wants. How these two principles interact has become the center of much publicity. The ethics of American business and the public’s demand for materialistic gain comes to the forefront in the

Human Resource Management Mod 5 Case Assignment Essay

Human Resource Management Mod 5 Case Assignment - Essay Example A competitive advantage is achieved through hiring of talented individuals, placing such individuals in appropriate positions and aligning their individual performance with the objectives of the organization (Carraher, Buchanan & Puia, 2010). As a human resource director of a China-US venture, I would like to address the critical issues that need to be addressed in developing, implementing, and evaluating a performance management system within the organization. Developing a performance management system An effective and efficient human resource system within the organization needs to include a wider scope beyond the human resource profession. This is to ensure that the organization learns more about the evolution of other sciences and their influence on the measurement systems. The foundation of our performance management system should be anchored on three factors including efficiency, effectiveness, and impact (Dessler, 2006). The three factors form the basis within which we will be operating our performance management system. Efficiency entails delivering human resource programs that ensure frugal utilization of organizational resources such as funds and time. We should ensure that our performance management system does utilize the minimum possible amount of resources while promising maximum rewards. In order to ensure effectiveness, the performance management system should impact on employees in terms of improving their overall performance. In the case of impact, we should select the greatest pool of employees in terms of talent and include them in the performance management system to ensure the best results. The second step in the development of a performance management system is the development of performance benchmarks. This stage involves aligning the goals of the organization to the best practices of both the Chinese as well as the American human resource industries. This is to ensure that there is incorporation of standards from the two industries for the sake of the diversified employee workforce. The performance benchmarks should be established in terms of employee satisfaction, organizational performance and customer satisfaction (Carraher, Buchanan & Puia, 2010). The goal of our performance management system should be to perform better than the industry benchmarks hence creating a competitive advantage. The third step is the development of data systems and portals that will collect information on employee performance and relay them to the decision making process for evaluation. Organizational information is one of the greatest assets than organization can have hence the need to develop a comprehensive data system. Our organization will make performance evaluations based on facts hence improving its performance management. The fourth and last step is the development of balance scorecards. The scorecard summarizes all the functions of the performance management system and aligns them to the strategic goals of the organization. It also includes the cost implications of the system. The performance management system will be implemented and evaluated using the balance scorecard so as to ensure that the system remains appropriate to the goals of the organization throughout the two stages. Implementing a performance management system Chinese are the dominant in the organization in addition to the fact that the organization is based in China. This implies that the critical

Importance Of Understanding Cultural, Ethnic, And Gender Differences Research Paper

Importance Of Understanding Cultural, Ethnic, And Gender Differences By Managers And Professionals In A Business Setting - Research Paper Example This is because these differences highlight the basis of potential troubles that might surface at the workplace and that need to be looked upon at with a sense of comprehension. Without a shadow of a doubt, this has come to the fore for the sake of the organizations that the cultural, ethnic and gender differences arise because the employees are not being handled in a proper way. If these employees know that they are bound by the organizational contracts, terms and conditions, and are time and again told about it, there would be fewer instances of rifts and differences cropping up at the workplace realms. There is a need to set things right, and that too in the most apt manner possible. Adequate levels of analyses and suggestions should be made use of in order to get acquainted with the changing norms and conditions of the time because this is the needed within the globally changing business dynamics (Bell, 2006). What remains significant is how the top management manifests its due r ole and what steps are undertaken by the human resources management department in the wake of the cultural, ethnic and gender differences arising at the workplace settings within these organizations. Research has proven that it would be sound to state that diversity within organizations is a good omen and thus asking the employees to stay away from the cultural, ethnic and gender differences is sane and reasonable. The employees’ role is therefore exponentially enhanced within the related settings and the managers need to supervise where they are going wrong, and what could be done to correct them. The managers and professionals under such constructs should know exactly what they would like the employees to do and to commit to a... Without a shadow of a doubt, this has come to the fore for the sake of the organizations that the cultural, ethnic and gender differences arise because the employees are not being handled in a proper way. If these employees know that they are bound by the organizational contracts, terms, and conditions, and are time and again told about it, there would be fewer instances of rifts and differences cropping up at the workplace realms. There is a need to set things right, and that too in the aptest manner possible. Adequate levels of analyses and suggestions should be made use of in order to get acquainted with the changing norms and conditions of the time because this is the needed within the globally changing business dynamics. What remains significant is how the top management manifests its due role and what steps are undertaken by the human resources management department in the wake of the cultural, ethnic and gender differences arising at the workplace settings within these organiz ations. Research has proven that it would be sound to state that diversity within organizations is a good omen and thus asking the employees to stay away from differences is sane and reasonable. The employees’ role is therefore exponentially enhanced within the related settings and the managers need to supervise where they are going wrong, and what could be done to correct them. The managers and professionals under such constructs should know exactly what they would like the employees to do and to commit to a collective good.

Rbv2 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Rbv2 - Research Paper Example John Lewis too experienced negative sales and at one point in the year 2009 it was below the average of the British Retail Consortium. During this time, John Lewis experienced a serious fundamental difficulty in the UK market. Even though the company had a massive rational affinity, its emotional affinity as well popularity was dwindling. The result was that the retail shop underwent a period of relatively low share of the wallet of its target customer. For the past few years, John Lewis has developed and implemented an assortment of resources aimed at giving it a competitive advantage over other retail shops in the industry. (Barney, 1991) in the Resource Based Review (RBV) argues that companies and organisations should put more investment on the capabilities and resources that they deem, able to propel them towards achieving a sustainable and realistic competitive advantage hence boosting their performance. Resources can be defined as stocks of available factors owned by a firm (Amit et al, 1993). On the other hand, ‘capabilities’ is defined as the ease of an organization to coordinate different tasks while using the available resources to attain a set objective (Helfat et al, 2003). John Lewis developed a more sophisticated e-commerce website that has advanced functionalities and services than those of its competitors. The company management ensures the online store is frequently updated with product information as it may appeal to potential customers. Additionally, John Lewis embarked on a serious online campaign and social network marketing. For instance in Dec 2009 basically the Christmas period, the company introduced more sectional and emotional ads that generated huge leads to back to the online store as well as physical store visits. Its ad campaign named ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ has made the company to outperform in the UK

Nielsen MyBestSegments Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Nielsen MyBestSegments - Assignment Example The evaluation of the segmentation using PRIZM indicates that Manhattan is an Urban City with midscale earners where the age range is above sixty five years. The median household earning ranges from $52,000 to $53,000. The city has a household range of 1,059,000-1,060,000 with majority shopping done at Lord and Taylor. There are mixed races but whites make majority of the population. The Asians are the second largest group while Blacks and Hispanics trail behind the two major groups. The majority of the couples in the Blacks and Whites households have children while the Hispanics and other races have a higher number of families without children (Segmentationsolutions.nielsen.com). The evaluation of the household income range provides different values of income range for different households (Segmentationsolutions.nielsen.com). The results acquired from the graphical representation of populations of different age groups. The ease with which the houses are affordable with abundant work opportunities has caused an increase in the number of â€Å"The Booming Town Singles. There are no children in the majority of the household and there is mixed race home ownership. The individuals in the â€Å"Home Sweet Home† are below the age of 55 and it has a majority of married couples living without children in their home owned houses. The city has more learned individuals. The â€Å"New Beginners† in the city are mostly young and unmarried who are doing well professionally. The majority are whites with the rest of other races making the other half. The individuals in this category, below the age of 55, have more modest lifestyles with majority living in rented apartments. The â€Å"Suburban Sprawl† has a collection of individuals from a variation of groups who are living luxurious lifestyles. The majority are home owners hailing from different races. The individuals

Analysis of Ha Jin's Waiting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analysis of Ha Jin's Waiting - Essay Example His novels were meant to highlight the political and social upheavals in the society, which he did by establishing metaphors and characters that demonstrated each and every facet of the society. His works has gone on to achieve high accolades and critical acclaim, as he has not only woven compelling storylines but he is also known to write about tabooed subjects such as the Korean War and the damage that was inflicted on to his country because of communism. Despite the fact that Ha Jin has long left his homeland for a more stable life in the United, he incorporates a major element of Chinese culture in his work; from characters to the phrases that he uses in his stories, he injects a bit of his homeland in all his stories. The aforementioned elements will be evaluated by assessing them in the light of his novel â€Å"Waiting†. Ha Jin is also known to translate many Chinese proverbs into English; for instance, there is one instance in the book where he translated a famous prove rb in the following words: â€Å"With money you can hire the devil to grind grain and cook dinner for you† (1999, p. 172). ... cept, Ha Jin’s novel ‘Waiting’ tells the story of a man, named Lin Kong, who works as a doctor in a government Medical facility in a fictional city in China called Muji City. He defers to his parents wish of marrying an ordinary peasant woman named Shuyu but the main conflict in high life arises when he is o tried hard to extricate himself out of a loveless marriage to marry his colleague; for years he waits. When he finally get to marry the woman he thought he love, he is struck with the realization that he doesn’t love her either and as a result springs back in to the same state that he had been in years. The novel Waiting encompasses intensely dark themes which are further emboldened by the fact that his protagonist is unable to feel actually feel strong emotions like love or passion. This aspect reflects the suppression of the Chinese people in order to help them achieve their communist ideals. Ha Jin further emphasizes the establishment of patriarchy u nder the communist regime that further widened the divide between males and females in the society. Marriage was seen more as a necessity than a union of love that further stunted the society’s emotional growth. His novel waiting sheds great light on to the dynamics of the relationship that drastically changed as a result of the political ideology that it ingrained a sense of ambivalence amongst the people regarding love and passion. In ‘Waiting’, the protagonist’s affections are quickly transferred to a young and intelligent nurse at his medical facility from a wife, who he married only to fulfill his parent’s wishes. He is mostly away from his wife to serve in a government medical facility and often becomes the prime subject of censure for platonic relationship with his nurse; which is not only

Fundamentals of Property Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Fundamentals of Property Law - Assignment Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that the expression 'the fee simple of the land' naturally means the fee simple as the highest estate unencumbered and subject to no conditions. Because the discharge of the mortgage was forged by Brown, the property naturally has some encumbrances. The deal has fallen through basically because of the whole debacle with Brown, who was hired by Hollis. In order for Lowe to acquire the property, everything must be resolved regarding the discharge of the mortgage. As it stands, just because Hollis possessed the land did not necessarily mean that he had total ownership. â€Å"Under the existing law of real property, the mere possession of land did not prove ownership conclusively.† As such, it must be noted that a fee simple is the closest thing to absolute ownership in Australia that one can have, however it does not mean that one necessarily completely owns the property. This may be difficult to understand, but basically, it is a guarant or that someone cannot just blatantly take over someone else’s property if there are encumbrances upon the piece of land being sold, similar to liens in other countries. Advise on the interest that Phil has in Savacre. Would it make any difference to your answer if Phil’s lease was only for a period of one year?   Phil has several options here. For starters, he may decide to sue Lowe for having acted upon his intention to demolish the property before Phil’s lease was up. Another issue to consider is the fact that Hollis may be getting a capital loss from the property. â€Å"[T]he owner of a building could grant a rent-free lease over the building to an associate and possibly crystallize a capital loss if it then sold the encumbered property to a third party at its reduced market value.†

Security Council Action Essay Example for Free

Security Council Action Essay According to United States and the 4 permanent members of the Security council, Veto Power grants the 5 members an authority essential on upholding global peace. The question at hand claims oppositely, that the veto powers of these members were a serious obstacle during the Cold War (1945-1991). Sources A-E, when analysed, agrees, and also disagrees with this claim. Sources A, D and E intrinsically agrees with the notion that veto power were a serious obstacle to action during the Cold war. Statistical data in Source A shows the number of vetoes exercised, mainly by USA and USSR. This source can be considered as the most reliable source, simply as statistics show a deeper understanding of the situation at the time. Number of vetoes practiced by these countries, are seen to be concentrated on specific periods, where the tensions between USA and USSR heightened in the Cold War. For instance, the most number of vetoes in UN history has been noted between 1946-55, during the period where the Truman doctrine, and the Berlin blockade was in act. Hence, actions by the Security Council failed to take effect, since veto delayed or halted international action. Source A shows that USA had used the veto power most during the Reagan era, from 1976-85. This reflects the use of veto as a tool by the nations to uphold the national interests, such Reagan’s anti-communist policies to contain communism, as cited in Source D. The source accurately highlights Reagan’s ‘blind-eyed’ support to Israel, which again, postponed international action against human-rights and international-treaties violations by Israel. This viewpoint is also supported in Source E, in which two academics explicitly state that global action were taken back due to veto powers of the permanent members. It can be considered largely valid, since academics usually research on the situation in an academic perception, and so is less likely to be biased. They have shown two sides to the story. Sources, A, D and E interpreted in this standpoint seems to indicate that veto powers were indeed a serious obstacle during the Cold war. However, sources D and E discussed above can be deemed flowed for the reasons outlined below. The fact that the number of vetoes shows to be concentrated in specific period connotes the fact that veto power was not a serious obstacle to Security Council action throughout the whole time-period of Cold War. Source A shows the time periods where vetos show small numbers, where Detente or easing of relations between USA and USSR. During these times, number of vetoes seems to show a decline in numbers, reflecting compromise between nations. Moreover, Source D originates from a writer/journalist on Middle-Eastern affairs. The writer may have interests to attract Middle-Eastern readers, and can be deemed to have a sentimental anti-Israeli and anti-American tone to his writing. He mentions the mis-use of veto powers by the West, failing to note the ‘abuse’ by USSR which had used the veto powers most, evident in Source A. When the sources are analysed in this manner, it seems to discredit the viewpoint in the sources, which support the view. Source B and C disagrees with the claim that veto powers of permanent members posed a serious hindrance to Security council action, lying on the argument that veto has played a positive role in global action by the Security Council. Source B originates from an academic and seem to have a sound understanding of the workings of the United Nations. Both Sources B and C notes that the public fails to highlight the positive impacts of veto power. Former UN official, cited in sou rce C is observant and can be deemed credible due to his position. This is partially accurate, as veto power has vested a sense of responsibilities in powers. It is true that UNGA, where no veto power exists, had failed miserably on coming with action, but became a ‘debating club’ of the UN, which is explicitly stated in Source E. Source B also connotes the view that the scope of the effect of Veto power is exaggerated and takes a narrow viewpoint, which cites Taiwan as a permanent member of UNSC during the Cold War, but did not represent the major world powers of the world. This point can be reflected in the Iran-Iraqi war, in which the permanent members did not exercise veto powers. This is also supported in Source C, which highlights the growth in the number of countries in UNSC, which culminated a democratic atmosphere. This is shown in the statistics of source A, which clearly shows a declining trend of the use of veto power, and has not been used throughout the Cold War on posing as a barrier to Security council action. Sources B and C, analysed in this fashion, indicates that veto power was not a serious barrier to global action during Cold War. But the viewpoint of the sources discussed in the above paragraph can be deemed null for the reasons outlined below. Source B mentions the shortcomings of veto-power, and supports the view of sources A, D, and E that veto power has blocked important international resolutions. It also highlights the need for reforms, such as that called upon in the Brahmis report, to make the use of Veto more effective. It is also important to consider that the writer believes in the core aims of UN, and would have an interest to defend the basic framework existing in the United Nations. Similarly, source C originates from an ex-employee of United Nations, who could favour UN’s existing structure sentimentally. He fails to mention the use of veto to uphold national interests upheld, especially by USA and USSR during the Cold war, mentioned in Source D. The sources analysed fully in this light, discredits the view that veto power did not pose as a hindrance to action by SC during Cold War. Sources A-E, and the realities of the situation during the given time period, seems to offer an alternative viewpoint. It is rather true that Veto Power posed as a hindrance to action, shown in sources A, D and E, but not throughout the Cold War, as pointed out in Sources A and E. Veto Powers were concentrated and ‘effectively’ delayed action mostly during the ignition of cold war, and the Reagan era. The use of Veto power during other times have been unparallel to the times mentioned above, and hence cannot be concluded that it has been a serious threat to Security council action throughout Cold War.

Comparative studies and performance evaluation Reebok

Comparative studies and performance evaluation Reebok INTRODUCTION Reebok International Limited is a producer of athletic footwear, apparel, and accessories and is currently a subsidiary of German sportswear giant Adidas. The name comes from the frikaans spelling of Reebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle. The company, founded in England in 1895, was originally called J.W. FOSTER SONS but was renamed Reebok in 1958. The companys founders, Joe and Jeff Foster, found the name in a dictionary won in a race by Joe Foster as a boy; the dictionary was a South African edition, hence the spelling. Reebok surged in popularity in 1982 after the introduction of the Freestyle athletic shoe, which was specifically designed for women and came out when the aerobics fitness craze started. Not only was the Reebok Freestyle popular as athletic wear, but also on the streets as casual wear because of its comfort and styling. As a result the Freestyle became an icon of the 1980s fashion scene with hi-top versions (including two velcro straps at the top) and colors including white, black, red, yellow, and blue. Reebok contines to produce the Freestyle to this day as it is popular with cheerleading, aerobic dancing, the gym, and other consumers. HUMAN RIGHTS AND PRODUCTION DETAILS In the past, Reebok had an association with outsourcing through sweatshops, but today it claims it is firmly committed to human rights. In April 2004, Reeboks footwear division became the first company to be accredited by the Fair Labor Association. In 2004, Reebok also became a founding member of the Fair Factories Clearinghouse, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving worker conditions across the apparel industry. Supplier information, according to the Reebok website as of May 2007: Footwear Reebok uses footwear factories in 14 countries. Most factories making Reebok footwear are based in Asia-primarily China (accounting for 51% of total footwear production), Indonesia (21%), Vietnam (17%) and Thailand (7%). Production is consolidated, with 88% of Reebok footwear manfactured in 11 factories, employing over 75,000 workers. Apparel Reebok has factories in 45 countries. The process of purchasing products from suppliers is organized by region. Most (52%) of Reeboks apparel sold in the US is produced in Asia, with the rest coming from countries in the Caribbean, North America, Africa and the Middle East. Apparel sold in Europe is typically sourced from Asia and Europe. Apparel sold in the Asia Pacific region is typically produced by Asian-based manfacturers. The company holds exclusive rights to manfacture and market both authentic and replica uniform jerseys and sideline apparel of the teams of the National Football League (Gridiron) since 2002, the Canadian Football League since 2004, and is the official shoe supplier to the NFL Gridiron and Major League Baseball. In addition Reebok acquired official National Hockey League sponsor CCM in 2004, and is now manfacturing ice hockey equipment under the CCM and Reebok brands, and has signed popular young stars Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin to endorsement deals (Crosby for Reebok, Ovechkin for CCM). Reebok has phased out the CCM name on NHL authentic and replica jerseys in recent years, using the Reebok logo since 2005. Reebok is also endorsed by Allen Iverson, Yao Ming, Carolina Klà ¼ft, Amà ©lie Mauresmo, Nicole VaidiÃ… ¡ovà ¡, Shahar Peer, Ivy, Thierry Henry, Vince Young, Iker Casillas, Ryan Giggs, Andriy Shevchenko and Amir Khan It maintains its relationship with its origins in England through a long-term sponsorship deal with Bolton Wanderers, a Premiership football club. When the team moved to a brand new ground in the late-1990s, their new home was named the Reebok Stadium. Several other English clubs had Reebok sponsorship deals up until the purchase by Adidas, but most have since switched to either the parent brand (which has a long history in football) or another company altogether. PRODUCT RANGE Reebok has many variety of products which is as under:- Cricket teams with kits manfactured by Reebok Asia Chennai Super Kings Isasthan Royals Bangalore Royal Challengers Kolkata Knight Riders Football (soccer) clubs/leagues with kits manfactured by Reebok Europe Bolton Wanderers Aris FC KF Drenica 1. FC Kà ¶ln PFC CSKA Moscow Africa Bloemfontein Celtic AmaZulu F.C. Reebok technologies Hex Ride Play Shield Play Dry Rbk Edge Uniform System Hydro move DMX DMX10 DMX6 Griptonite The Pump DMX Foam DMX Reflex Hexalite 3D Ultralite E.R.S. (Energy Return System) TRANSFORMATION PROCESS Every organization, be it a product or service organization, transforms certain inputs into outputs. For getting the desired output, the quality of these inputs are to be monitored regularly, and also a comparion is to be made for the real output and the desired output. This all process is done in an environment of random disturbances which are unexpected and therefore sometimes not planned too. This all process is hence known as transformation process in context to operations management. Reebok adopt transformation process which creates input into output. This process creates good product of reebok. The following example shows us the transformation of reebok and it starts from learning and ends with interpretation. Reebok is main player in the market. It has its own image in the market Reebok creates good working environment for their employees Several months were taken out of the product developmentprocess, which allowedReebokto bring new and more relevant products to market much faster. FACILITY LAYOUT Whether your company is looking to incorporate new processing equipment, expand facilities or integrate a data collection system into your existing, expanded, or planned facility, reebok can help you realize the maximum benefit from your efforts. Proper Facilities Layout of reebok includes optimally locating equipment, materials, people, infrastructure and data collection points to minimize movement, handling and travel distance of the material and labor while increasing overall productivity. Reebok Facilities Layout Approach Develop and/or verify a baseline drawing Reebok and will develop and/or verify a baseline drawing of your existing facility, to include, if applicable: Production Production area drawing will show production equipment, personnel, locations and routing of primary utilities (electrical, pneumatic, vacuum, coolant, data, etc.), lighting, cranes, column locations, transportation aisles, material storage areas, docks, doors Warehouse/shipping Warehouse/shipping will show racks, columns, aisles, electrical, material handling equipment, computer workstations, data collection points, printers, inventory location and quantities Office Data infrastructure, electrical, personnel locations, solid and partition walls, common equipment (copiers, printers, etc.), Facilitate employee input meetings reebok will facilitate meetings to gain input and identify the facilities layout requirements with regard to: Product/process flow Facility / infrastructure Data transfer Equipment Inventory levels and management Develop, design and present potential new layout(s) Reebok will work to improve the process flow and efficiency based upon underlying principles of lean manfacturing and process flow efficiency. Efforts will focus on dock locations, equipment configurations, inventory management and handling practices, and expansion. The team will develop facilities layout options, showing the current operation best arranged within the facility, and offer recommendations to accommodate future growth. FACALITY LOCATION Facility location, also known as location analysis, is a branch of operations research concerning itself with mathematical modeling and solution of problems concerning optimal placement of facilities in order to minimize transportation costs, avoid placing hazardous materials near housing, outperform competitors facilities, etc Input validation assumption output PRODUCTION PLANING SYSTEM PRODUCTION PLANNING AND INVENTORY CONTROL includes the analysis of six key factors. Forecasts of future demand for both new and existing products provide information for developing production plans. In capacity planning, the firm analyzes how much of a product it must be able to produce. Location planning for goods and for low-contact services involves analyzing proposed facility sites in terms of proximity to raw materials and markets, availability of labor, and energy and transportation costs. Layout planning includes designing a facility so that customer needs are supplied for high-contact services and so as to enhance production efficiency. In quality planning, systems are developed to ensure that products meet a firms quality standards. Finally, in methods planning, specific production steps and methods for performing them are identified. The training program provides in-depth conceptual and practical skills about PRODUCTION PLANNING AND INVENTORY CONTROL Objectives of Reebok in planning It is the key concepts of Production Planning and Inventory Control. Explain the meaning of the term production or operations. Describe the four kinds of utility provided by production and explain the two classifications of operations processes. Describe the FIFO FILO concepts and processes. Identify opportunities in inventory management. Learn how to apply the tools by participating in a simulation. Explain factors in operations scheduling, operations control, materials management and the use of operations control tools. QUALITY SYSTEM First of all I m telling that why quality system needed:- How is customer satisfaction achieved? Two dimensions: Product features and Freedom from deficiencies. Product features Refers to quality of design. Examples in manfacturing industry: Performance, Reliability, Durability, Ease of use, Esthetics etc. Examples in service industry: Accuracy, Timeliness, Friendliness and courtesy, Knowledge of server etc. Freedom from deficiencies Refers to quality of conformance. Higher conformance means fewer complaints and increased customer satisfaction. Reebok take in mind all these things before designing product. It has good quality system . INVENTORY MANAGEMENT Inventoryis a list forgoodsandmaterials, or those goods and materials themselves, held available in stock by abusiness. It is also used for a list of the contents of a household and for a list for testamentarypurposes of the possessions of someone who has died. In accounting inventory is considered anasset. In business management, inventory consists of a list of goods and materials held available in stock. Inventory Management of reebok includes:- Inventory Control Must tie together the following objectives, to insure there is continity between functions: Company Strategic Goals Sales Forecasting Sales Operations Planning Production Material Planning Reebok adopt this inventory management. CONCLUSION We analyze the overall structure of the Reebok company so we conclude the it is in good position in the market. The transformation process adopted by Reebok is very good and quality of his products is very good and finally we can say the overall position of Reebok is very good. BIBLIOGRAPHY www.reebok.com www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facility_location www.invatol.com Books Stevenson Philip Kotler

Culture Of India :: essays research papers fc

Nearly one sixth of all the human beings on Earth live in India, the world's most populous democracy. Officially titled the Republic of India, it's 1,269,413 sq. mi. lie in South Asia, occupying most of the Indian subcontinent, bordered by Pakistan (W); China, Nepal, and Bhutan (N); and Myanmar (E) and Bangladesh forms an enclave in the NE. Its borders encompass a vast variety of peoples, practicing most of the world's major religions, speaking scores of different languages, divided into thousands of socially exclusive castes, and combining the physical traits of several major racial groups (Compton's). The modern nation of India (also known by its ancient Hindi name, Bharat) is smaller than the Indian Empire formerly ruled by Britain. Burma (now Myanmar), a mainly Buddhist country lying to the east, was administratively detached from India in 1937. Ten years later, when Britain granted independence to the peoples of the Indian subcontinent, two regions with Muslim majorities--a lar ge one in the northwest (West Pakistan) and a smaller one in the northeast (East Pakistan)--were partitioned from the predominantly Hindu areas and became the separate nation of Pakistan. East Pakistan broke away from Pakistan in 1971 to form the independent nation of Bangladesh. Also bordering India on its long northern frontier are the People's Republic of China and the relatively small kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan. The island republic of Sri Lanka lies just off India's southern tip (New World Encyclopedia).Much of India's area of almost 1.3 million square miles (3.3 million square kilometers--including the Pakistani-held part of Jammu and Kashmir) is a peninsula jutting into the Indian Ocean between the Arabian Sea on the west and the Bay of Bengal on the east. There are three distinct physiographic regions. In the north the high peaks of the Himalayas lie partly in India but mostly just beyond its borders in Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet. South of the mountains, the low-lying Indo-Ga ngetic Plain, shared with Pakistan and Bangladesh, extends more than 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal (Compton's). Finally, the peninsular tableland, largely the Deccan, together with its adjacent coastal plains, makes up more than half of the nation's area. In general, India's climate is governed by the monsoon, or seasonal, rain-bearing wind. Most of the country has three seasons: hot, wet, and cool. During the hot season, which usually lasts from early March to mid-June, very high temperatures are accompanied by intermittent winds and occasional dust storms (Concise). Culture Of India :: essays research papers fc Nearly one sixth of all the human beings on Earth live in India, the world's most populous democracy. Officially titled the Republic of India, it's 1,269,413 sq. mi. lie in South Asia, occupying most of the Indian subcontinent, bordered by Pakistan (W); China, Nepal, and Bhutan (N); and Myanmar (E) and Bangladesh forms an enclave in the NE. Its borders encompass a vast variety of peoples, practicing most of the world's major religions, speaking scores of different languages, divided into thousands of socially exclusive castes, and combining the physical traits of several major racial groups (Compton's). The modern nation of India (also known by its ancient Hindi name, Bharat) is smaller than the Indian Empire formerly ruled by Britain. Burma (now Myanmar), a mainly Buddhist country lying to the east, was administratively detached from India in 1937. Ten years later, when Britain granted independence to the peoples of the Indian subcontinent, two regions with Muslim majorities--a lar ge one in the northwest (West Pakistan) and a smaller one in the northeast (East Pakistan)--were partitioned from the predominantly Hindu areas and became the separate nation of Pakistan. East Pakistan broke away from Pakistan in 1971 to form the independent nation of Bangladesh. Also bordering India on its long northern frontier are the People's Republic of China and the relatively small kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan. The island republic of Sri Lanka lies just off India's southern tip (New World Encyclopedia).Much of India's area of almost 1.3 million square miles (3.3 million square kilometers--including the Pakistani-held part of Jammu and Kashmir) is a peninsula jutting into the Indian Ocean between the Arabian Sea on the west and the Bay of Bengal on the east. There are three distinct physiographic regions. In the north the high peaks of the Himalayas lie partly in India but mostly just beyond its borders in Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet. South of the mountains, the low-lying Indo-Ga ngetic Plain, shared with Pakistan and Bangladesh, extends more than 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal (Compton's). Finally, the peninsular tableland, largely the Deccan, together with its adjacent coastal plains, makes up more than half of the nation's area. In general, India's climate is governed by the monsoon, or seasonal, rain-bearing wind. Most of the country has three seasons: hot, wet, and cool. During the hot season, which usually lasts from early March to mid-June, very high temperatures are accompanied by intermittent winds and occasional dust storms (Concise).

To show how Charles Dickens presents Good and Evil characters Essay

To show how Charles Dickens presents Good and Evil characters In the beginning of the Victorian period many children (orphans) were forced to turn to crime mainly because the children in the workhouse were mistreated and abused. Another reason is many people were migrating, which resulted to a growth in the population, which left many children homeless. Charles Dickens has based his novel, 'Oliver Twist' on this. He compares Oliver with what life was like for boys in the 18th Century. Throughout the story Oliver encounters many evil characters and a few virtuous characters. The evil characters try to persuade him to lead the life of crime while as the good characters save him and enable Oliver and the reader to learn that a life of crime does not pay. Charles Dickens uses the novel to criticise how children during Victorian times were forced to turn to crime when laws did not protect them. Dickens main character, Oliver, is presented as the 'hero' of the story; he learns that goodness triumphs over evil. The incident in the story where Oliver's goodness is shown is when Bill Sikes forces him to rob Rose Maylie's house: "Despite the threat, Oliver decided to warn the people in the house" Even though Oliver is threatened to act out this evil deed, he chooses to do the right thing by warning the owners of the house and risking his own life. In doing so, Dickens shows that Oliver is a good character through the choices Oliver makes. Charles Dickens presents Mr Bumble as an evil character. At the start of the story Dickens describes him as a "fat healthy man". While as all the orphans are being starved, he is never going without. When Oliver asks for more food, Mr Bumble: "Aimed a blow at Oliver'... ...liver (Monks was another member of the gang) and began to weep saying: 'Please miss, don't come to any harm! I'd give my own life to save him. Honest I would!' Dickens has tried to emphasise the fact that in the Victorian Times there weren't very strict laws, which meant there were a lot of very bad people round at that time, but still some good left, and even though Nancy was around very dangerous people she was a good person at heart (that's why you have the proverb, 'don't judge a book by its cover!). It also illustrates how good Nancy was, for her to tell Rose everything, she must have been a very brave soul and must have loved Oliver dearly to do such a kind thing. She knew Oliver didn't deserved a better life ad didn't need to be pulled into a life as insecure as her own. Dickens presents Nancy as a good person through her emotions and actions.

Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Career Development :: Career Development Papers

Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Career Development Strategic interventions are required to keep young people who are disadvantaged because of poverty, cultural obstacles, or linguistic barriers from dropping out of school. Recent studies showing a relationship between a student's belief structure and behavior suggest that self-efficacy beliefs may be an important focus for intervention. This ERIC Digest discusses ways in which self-efficacy beliefs are influenced by various internal, external, and interactive factors and reflected in career-related outcome expectations and performance. It examines ways of channeling self-efficacy beliefs toward positive outcomes that lead to the development and expansion of career goals and expectations. It presents strategies for enhancing the self-efficacy and career development of students that draw upon contextual, problem-based, and community-based learning practices and promotes self-monitoring and self-assessment. Beliefs and Perceptions According to Bandura (1977), self-efficacy is mediated by a person's beliefs or expectations about his/her capacity to accomplish certain tasks successfully or demonstrate certain behaviors (Hackett and Betz 1981). Bandura postulates that these expectations determine whether or not a certain behavior or performance will be attempted, the amount of effort the individual will contribute to the behavior, and how long the behavior will be sustained when obstacles are encountered (ibid.). Self-efficacy expectations, when viewed in relation to careers, refer to a person's beliefs regarding "career-related behaviors, educational and occupational choice, and performance and persistence in the implementation of those choices" (Betz and Hackett 1997, p. 383). They are reflected in an individual's perception about his/her ability to perform a given task or behavior (efficacy expectation) and his/her belief about the consequences of behavior or performance (outcome expectation)(Hackett and Betz 1981). The Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) developed by Lent, Hackett, and Brown (1996) draws upon Bandura's self-efficacy theory. It offers a framework for career development, explaining the interplay between educational and vocational interests, career-related choices, and performance. SCCT highlights the relationship among social cognitive variables (e.g., self-efficacy) and their relationship with other variables in the individual's socio-contextual environment, such as gender, race/culture, family, community, and political components (ibid.). Chen (1997) contends that this integration of self and social context offers an opportunity for individuals to gain a sense of control over their career development and increase their career-related self-efficacy expectations. Self-Efficacy and Learning When individuals have low self-efficacy expectations regarding their behavior, they limit the extent to which they participate in an endeavor and are more apt to give up at the first sign of difficulty.

Kohlberg’s Moral Judgment Model

The focus of Lawrence Kohlberg’s Moral Judgment Model is to investigate and assess how the concept or consciousness about morality arises and what constitutes this perception about morality. He provides six stages of development which explains how a child obtains and develops his own idea of moral action. When a child experiences a dilemma in which he or she must be able to come up with a particular decision and actualize it, Kohlberg tells that the child’s judgment could be explain through his model. The first three stages are crucial for the reason that the child’s response is dependent on his or her initial orientation on morality. The first stage explains that a child’s response might be based on the idea of obedience and punishment. The child would act in such a way that he or she obeys what the immediate authority imposes to him or her (e. g. rules set in the house or in the school). The right action for the child would be if he or she is able to follow the rules which would also make him or her free from any form of punishment. The child would assert that he or she must not such and such acts to prevent being punished. The second stage is when the child realizes that his or her actions, whatever they are, have equivalent consequences. If he or she would act like this for the benefit or harm of others he or she might think that the same thing would be done for or against him or her. In short, his or her actions would be based on how he or she perceives the result of his or her actions which is still directed towards his or her own interests. The third stage explains that the child in this period learns that it is not all about him or her or not always geared towards his or her own satisfaction. In this stage, the child becomes conscious about how others perceive him or her. Thus, his or her actions are not just dependent on what he or she likes but also on how others would see him or her as a moral person. The child would think that â€Å"I ought not to tell a lie because others will see me as a bad person for doing so. † In short, the concept of conventional morality starts at this point.

Research Paper on Statistics on Health Care Prescription Errors Essay

Research Paper on Statistics on Health Care Prescription Errors Introduction Relation between Error in Healthcare prescription and the inconsistency in Technological information Background Information            A lot of errors are occurring within the healthcare field lately. They result from many factors. Among the principle causes of error are related to wrong prescriptions. As indicated by Benjamin (770), one of the elements that play a critical role in this is the use of advanced technological methods. Computers have been used to aid in the computerized entry of prescription orders. For instance, Walgreens pharmacy, where I work is an online drug store that allows customers to purchase drugs over the internet. This poses a great danger of wrong order interpretations, inconsistencies and misfills. In the past, these have resulted in the possession of dangerous drugs, dosing errors and other mix-ups.Depending on the intensity of the prescription, they can result in severe injuries on the patient or even lead to fatality incidences. In turn, they lead to unnecessary court cases and legal suits that eventually cost many healthcare institutions and practitioners a lot of f unds that are paid to cater for the damages (Carroll 52-8). For this, there is a necessity to examine the main causes of faulty prescriptions to ensure that such avoidable consequences are kept at their possible minimal rates. This paper explored the occurrence of prescription errors as a result of order entries at Walgreens. The principleconcerns that were dealt with in this study include: What are the common causes of drug inconsistencies at the pharmacy? What kind of information technology is used in the provision of proper prescription? Are there specific actions that are related to inconsistently provided information in the same prescription order entry? What dispensing errors are most likely to occur in an online drug store? Methodology            The study was prospective as it was comprised of 20 pharmacists from medical centers and Walgreens chemist, which is an online store based in Wasilla in Alaska. For approximately 2 months, they issued a report about the inconsistent order entry of prescriptions. It was principally based on communication. As such, both primary and secondary data collection methodswere employed. Therefore, it included the use of surveys for the collection of first-hand information. In this sense questionnaires and interviews from the participantswereused to gather information for the data. For accuracy and proper validation, these were combined with secondarysources such as the national health statistics (Wu, Pronovost, Morlock 88). It involved the selection of 30 electronically retrieved prescriptions from the free text field for any comments on prescription errors with regard to Walgreens pharmacy. Thus, the study entailed the overall evaluation of 60 prescription records. Data collection            The data was used to capture the medication, focus dispensing errors and the types of inconsistencies in error. Among the elements to considered included dosage, incorrect drug, wrong quantity, inappropriate, inadequate and incorrect labelling. The other elements that caused inconsistencies were inadequate directions for use, inappropriate packaging, preparation and storage of medication before dispensing. It was necessary to use predictive values to determine when the prescriptive errors are likely to be higher. Data analysis            The data was entered in a Microsoft database. 30 records were selected randomly to validate the data. From research, 99.7% of these are expected to be correct. Descriptive statistics characterized inconsistency. Some of the determinants of error such as inpatients and outpatients, analgesics and antibiotics, those that are less frequently prescribed and those on high alert wereanalyzed. They will be provided for harm categories where t tests and χ2 tests will be used. Categorical variables made use of the Fisher test for categorical variables of 2 levels and the χ2 for those with more than 2. Statistical significance or ÃŽ ± =.05 were applied to test predators with the Wald χ2 test. In this study, the regression model of multivariantlogistics method of data analysis will be used. The method will mainly identify different factors in communication prescriptive errors in relation to their severity. It will make use of a generalized approach with estimated equations. Results            The results were filled in the table below:            Similar names and packages Medications not commonly used or prescribed Commonly used medication where patients are allergic Medication that need proper testing for proper therapeutic administration Entry and confirmation of prescription Zeros and abbreviations Organized workforce and reduction of distraction and stress Patient counselling Storage            Dispensing incorrect drug 40% 20% 2% 2% 10% 5% 10% 11% Dose 20% 30% 10% 5% 20% 10% 5% 5% Dosage form 8% 2% 1% 5% 50% 10% 20% 4% Quantity 1% 20% 1% 3% 10% 30% 20% 15% Administration time 1% 5% 3% 2% 10% 30% 40% 9% Wrong labeling 30% 30% 5% 2% 10% 5% `10% 8% Inadequate directions 5% 20% 10% 10% 5% 2% 10% 38% Inappropriate preparation, packaging and storage 20% 40% 5% 1% 1% 5% 29% 1% Graphical Representation of the results Findings            It was discovered that at a pharmacy such as Walgreens where about 250 prescriptions entries are made in a day, about 4 errors occur. Reports relate these to a higher rate of inconsistent communication. The principle cause was drug dosage. There were also some drugs that were associated with a higher rate of overdosing and incorrect prescriptions when compared to others. Thus, in relation to this study, it was evident that medical centers that have a higher flow of patients and the chances of admission have higher rates of errors when compared to other private clinics and chemists. Conclusion            It is important that the laid down professional ethics are adhered to in different fields. This is especially within the medical field where a slight mistake can lead to devastating consequences. Therefore, healthcare providers are always obligated to use the knowledge that they acquired in their studies as well as new knowledge and practices appropriately. They should ensure that drugs are prescribed in the most appropriate ways to avoid errors. In particular, computerized drug entries should be counterchecked to eliminate disparities. However, owing to the continuous change in the nature of disease processes and hence the production of advanced drug formulas, there is need to conduct more research. These will provide more guidance to guarantee safe drug prescription by providers of healthcare services using new technological methods. Recommendations            The employees at Walgreens need to reduce the rates of prescription errors to help retain customers and avoid unnecessary lawsuits. Some of the steps they can take are to ensure the correct entry of prescriptions. These should be confirmed. They should be careful with drugs that look alike and sound alike as well as take care with zeros and abbreviations. They should make the workplace organized and reduce distractions, stress and heavy workloads as much as possible. They should also ensure that drugs are stored properly and check all prescriptions. The most important thing is to ensure that patients are cancelled before taking the drugs. References Benjamin, D. M. Reducing medication errors and increasing patient safety: case studies inclinical pharmacology. Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.2003;43:768–83. Carroll, P. Medication issues: the bigger picture.RN. 2003;66(1):52–8. Wu, A. W., Pronovost, P., and Morlock, L. ICU incident reporting systems.Journal of CriticalCare. 2006;17(2):86–94 Source document

Leadership Style and Performance Essay

An overview of the topic of leadership styles summarizes that the existing studies on how performance is affected by leadership style is separated into important phases. Early studies on leadership (frequently categorized as ‘trait’ studies on leadership) concentrated on identifying the personality traits which characterized successful leaders (Argyris, 1955; Mahoney et al. , 1960). According to them successful leaders are ‘naturally born’ and those they have certain native characteristics which distinguish them from non-leaders (see Stodgill, 1948). However, there was significant difficulty in validating these characteristics led to widespread criticism of this trait approach, signaling the emergence of ‘style’ and ‘behavioral’ approaches to leadership (Stodgill, 1948). Style and behavioral theorists shifted the emphasis away from the characteristics of the leader to the behavior and style the leader adopted. The primry conclusion of these studies is that adoption of democratic or participative styles by leaders are more successful (see, for example, Bowsers and Seashore, 1966). In this sense, these early studies are focused on identifying the ‘one best way of leading’. Similarly to trait theories, the major weakness of style and behavioral theories is the ignorance of how important role situational factors play in determining the effectiveness of individual leaders (Mullins, 1999). It is this limitation that gives rise to the ‘situational’ and ‘contingency’ theories of leadership (for example, Fiedler, 1967; House, 1971; Vroom and Yetton, 1974) which shift the emphasis away from ‘the one best way to lead’ to context-sensitive leadership. Although each study emphasizes the importance of different factors, the general tenet of the situational and contingency perspectives is that leadership effectiveness is dependent on the leader’s diagnosis and understanding of situational factors, followed by the adoption of the appropriate style to deal with each circumstance. However, recent studies on leadership have contrasted ‘transactional’ leadership with ‘transformational’. Transactional leaders are said to be ‘instrumental’ and frequently focus on exchange relationship with their subordinates. In contrast, transformational leaders are argued to be visionary and enthusiastic, with an inherent ability to motivate subordinates. Although the brief summary above indicates that research into leadership has gone through periods of skepticism, recent interest has focused on the importance of the leadership role to the success of organizations. Fiedler (1996), one of the most respected researchers on leadership, has provided a recent treatise on the importance of leadership by arguing that the effectiveness of a leader is a major determinant of the success or failure of a group, organization or even an entire country. It has been argued that one way in which organizations have sought to cope with the increasing volatility and turbulence of the external environment is by training and developing leaders and equipping them with the skills to cope. These claims are based on the assumption of a direct link between leadership and organizational performance. This assumption requires critical review. Widely celebrated cases of a direct leadership–performance link may be found in numerous anecdotal accounts of improvements of company performance attributed to changes in leadership (see, for example, Nicholls, 1988; Quick, 1992; Simms, 1997). However, empirical studies into the links between leadership and performance have been lacking. One notable exception is the detailed study of the impact of leadership on performance in the somewhat surprising context of Icelandic fishing ships. Thorlindsson (1987) suggests that variations in the performance of different fishing ships, under identical conditions, can be accounted for by the leadership skills of captains. Over a three-year period, Thorlindsson revealed that the leadership qualities of the ship captains accounted for 35 to 49 per cent of variation in the catch of different crews. Other studies which examine the links between leadership and performance coincide with the re-emergence of the ‘one best way to lead’ debate. Of particular relevance is the resurgence of interest into charismatic leadership, which is frequently referred to as transformational leadership (Bass and Avolio, 1993). A number of researchers theorize that transformational leadership is linked to organizational performance. Conceptually, it is argued that the visionary and inspirational skills of transformational leaders motivate followers to deliver superior performance. In summary, much of the above evidence presented as supporting the claim of a leadership–performance link is anecdotal and frequently over-concentrates on the ‘transformational’ role of leaders in corporate successes. It would appear that few studies have responded to the observation of Porter and Mckibbin (1988) that much of the research reported as supporting this claim is either inconclusive or empirically suspect. The limited or inconclusive character of research findings in this area suggests the need to investigate further the nature of the relationship between leadership and performance. Several different categories of leadership paradigms have been suggested by various researchers. For example, Bass (1985) stated that there are four dimensions of transformational leadership, three dimensions of transactional leadership, and a non-leadership dimension of laissez-faire leadership (Bass, 1985). Avery (2004) suggested categorizing leadership into four leadership paradigms, while Goleman (1995) prefers six leadership paradigms. Despite Bass’s (1985) model being acclaimed as making a major contribution to leadership, his theory has been criticized for various reasons (Yukl, 1999). One criticism is that his model overemphasizes the importance of one or two leadership paradigms (e. g. transactional and visionary), omitting the classical and organic paradigms Bass asserts that visionary (transformational) leaders are nearly always more effective than transactional leaders, but others (e. g. Judge and Piccolo, 2004; Wallace, 1997) dispute this. While this in itself does not invalidate the concept of visionary leadership, Bass attributes more to visionary (transformational) leadership than perhaps he should. As Avery (2004) suggested, both transactional and visionary leadership are valid forms of leadership, but visionary leadership may be applicable more broadly, including in situations where there are insufficient resources for the manager to rely on supplying external rewards (Judge and Piccolo, 2004), or where the situation is complex and ambiguous, and relies strongly on follower knowledge and commitment. Avery suggests that there are other situations in which transactional leadership is the appropriate form of leadership, such as when followers are unwilling or unable to commit to the leader’s vision. In contrast with Bass’s (1985) model, Avery’s (2004) paradigms provide a broad basis allowing for different forms of leadership that have evolved at different times and in different places. The paradigms are useful for showing that there is no single best way of thinking about leadership, rather that different kinds of leadership reflect social and historical roots. Avery’s paradigms allow leadership to depend on the context, respond to organizational needs and preferences, and involve many interdependent factors that can be manipulated (Bryman, 1992; Shamir and Howell, 1999; Yukl, 1999). Avery (2004) proposes 13 indices to differentiate between her four paradigms: classical, transactional, visionary, and organic. The nine indices included in this review are decision making, range of staff’s power, power distance between leader and the staff, key player of the organization, source of staff’s commitment, staff’s responsibility, situation of management and leadership in the organization, situation of diversity in the organization and situation of control in the organization. These nine criteria are considered more relevant for differentiating the four leadership paradigms than the other four criteria. Each paradigm is discussed in turn, including the distinguishing characteristics using the above nine criteria. Classical leadership is probably the oldest paradigm with its origins in antiquity, and is still used in contemporary organizations (Avery, 2004). This paradigm reflected the prevailing view in the business literature until the 1970s when the human relations movement led to more of a focus on followers and their environment. According to Avery (2004), classical leadership refers to dominance by a pre-eminent person or an ‘elite’ group of people. This leadership can either be coercive or benevolent or a mixture of both. This happens because the elite individual or group commands or maneuvers other members to act towards a goal, which may or may not be explicitly stated. The other members of the society or organization typically adhere to the directives of the elite leader, do not openly question their directives, and execute orders largely out of fear of the consequences of not doing so, or out of respect for the leader, or both (Avery, 2004). Classical leadership has some limitations. The first occurs where the leader cannot command and control every action, particularly as situations become more complex and beyond the capacity of one person; or when additional commitment from followers is needed to get a job done, such as in reacting to changing circumstances; or when ideas about leadership change and followers no longer accept domination, or follower commitment starts to wane for other reasons. Another limitation is that this paradigm often relies on the idea of a ‘great person’, implying that only a select few are good enough to exercise initiative, and this belief can encourage followers to deskill themselves nd idealize the leaders. Followers then seek and hold little power, leave the leader accountable for organizational outcomes, and make relatively little contribution to the organization (Avery, 2004). According to the nine distinguishing indicators, under the classical leadership paradigm leaders normally use an autocratic style for making decisions, involving followers in the decision making process never or very little; they do not empower followers. Followers have almost no power in the organization and as classical leaders tend to be highly directive, followers can be unskilled. The source of followers’ commitment comes from their fear of or respect for the leaders; the technical system becomes more regulating; the operations in the organization become more routine and predictable; and the organization is highly controlled by the leaders (Avery, 2004). A transaction or exchange process is the basis of the commonly employed transactional leadership paradigm (Evans and Dermer, 1974; House and Mitchell, 1974). The transactional leader recognizes subordinates’ needs and desires, and then clarifies how those needs and desires will be met in exchange for subordinates’ work. By clarifying what is required of subordinates and the consequences of their behaviors, transactional leaders are able to build confidence in subordinates to exert the necessary effort to achieve expected levels of performance. According to Judge and Piccolo (2004), three dimensions of transactional leadership are contingent reward, management by exception-active, and management by exception-passive. Contingent reward is the degree to which the leader sets up constructive transactions or exchanges with followers. The leader clarifies expectations and establishes the rewards for meeting these expectations. In general, management by exception is the degree to which the leader takes corrective action on the basis of results of leader-follower transactions (Judge and Piccolo, 2004). As noted by Howell and Avolio (1993), the difference between management by exception-active and management by exception-passive lies in the timing of the leader’s intervention. Active leaders monitor follower behavior, anticipate problems, and take corrective actions before the behavior creates serious difficulties. Passive leaders wait until the behavior has created problems before taking action (Howell and Avolio, 1993; Judge and Piccolo, 2004). According to Avery (2004, p. 34), under the transactional leadership paradigm, leaders adopt a consultative style for making decisions. They engage in different degrees of consultation with individual followers, but the leaders remain the final decision-makers. Leaders do not very often empower followers, and followers have very low power in the organization apart from being able to withdraw from or contribute more of their labor. Compared with classical leadership, under transactional leadership the source of followers’ commitment comes from the rewards, agreements, and expectations negotiated with the leader rather than from their fear of, or respect for, the classical leader. The technical system becomes more regulating, the operations in the organization become more routine and predictable, and the organization is mostly highly controlled by the leaders. Avery (2004) argues that under transactional leadership, the followers’ knowledge base can be somewhat higher than under classical leadership. Compared with classical leaders, transactional leaders require staff somewhat more skilled on specific tasks. In the last three decades, visionary (transformational, charismatic) leadership has received increasing attention (Bass, 1985, 1998; Burns, 1978; Conger and Kanungo, 1987; House, 1977). It added a new dimension to organizational studies, namely the visionary aspect of leadership and the emotional involvement of employees within an organization. The basic notion is that a visionary leader can create an impression that he or she has high competence and a vision to achieve success. Subordinates are expected to respond with enthusiasm and commitment to the leadership objectives, and may be recruited because they share the vision. Bass (1985, 1998) developed a theory of visionary or transformational leadership whereby the leader inspires and activates subordinates to perform beyond normal expectations. According to Avery (2004), visionary leadership has limitations, even with the current literature’s overwhelmingly positive view of it. Nadler and Tuschman (1990) pointed out that the unrealistic expectations followers often place on visionary leaders can create disappointment if things do not work out. Followers can become dependent on visionary leaders, believing that the leader has everything under control. Also, innovation can be inhibited if people become reluctant to disagree with a visionary leader. Avery (2004, p. 39) distinguishes the visionary leadership paradigm from the other three paradigms as follows. First, leaders employ a collaborative style for making decisions. They share problems with their followers and seek consensus before the leaders make the final decision. Visionary leaders empower their followers, giving followers a much higher level of power in the organization than classical and transactional leadership. This is essential because the leader needs the followers’ input and commitment to realize his or her goals. Followers of visionary leadership need sufficient power to work autonomously towards a shared vision. The source of followers’ commitment comes from the influence of the leaders’ charisma and/or the shared vision, the technical system becomes still more complex, operations become more uncertain and unpredictable, and the organization is jointly controlled by the leaders and their followers. Regarding the followers’ knowledge base, visionary leadership requires skilled and knowledgeable workers who are attracted to, and share the leader’s vision, and can contribute to realizing the vision. The fourth paradigm, organic leadership, is relatively new to organizational studies. Recently introduced by Drath (2001) and expanded by Avery (2004), organic leadership is likely to blur the formal distinction between leaders and followers. This paradigm relies on reciprocal actions, where team members work together in whatever roles of authority and power they may have, not based on position power (Hirschhorn, 1997; Raelin, 2003; Rothschild and Whitt, 1986). Employees become interacting partners in determining what makes sense, how to adapt to change, and what is a useful direction. Rather than relying on one leader, organic organizations are likely to have many leaders. Multiple leaders are valuable because as people cope with heterogeneous and dynamic environments, the knowledge and issues become too complicated for only a few leaders to understand (Avery, 2004). Organic leadership allows for people with different degrees of expertise on current issues to emerge and be accepted by the group as leaders. In addition, under organic leadership, there may be no formal leaders and the interaction of all organizational members can act as a form of leadership, held together by a shared vision, values, and a supporting culture. Under this paradigm where an organization has no formal leadership structure, an integrator role may emerge to actively link together the many parts of the organization (Avery, 2004). The emphasis is on emerging leadership rather than on people being appointed to leadership positions. However, Kanter (1989) argued that the downside of organic leadership that advocates autonomy, freedom, discretion and authorization may result in loss of control and greatly increased uncertainty. It is important to recognize that organic leadership is about generating a form of self-control and self-organization, where people have a clear sense of purpose and autonomy within a particular context (Meindl, 1998). This idealized organic leadership paradigm requires differentiating from classical, transactional, and visionary leadership concepts by not relying on formal leaders. Furthermore, the enterprise has to trust in the capacity of its members to solve problems and make decisions in the interests of the organization. This idea clearly relies upon self-leading organizational members (Avery, 2004). According to Avery’s (2004, p. 39) distinguishing characteristics, under organic leadership an organization adopts a mutual agreement style for making decisions. Decisions need not be unanimous but can be based on consensus. The members have a high degree of power as a result of this shared leadership. Accountability and responsibility are shared as well. The source of followers’ commitment is based on the values and visions shared by all the members in the organization; a strong, shared culture; a technical system that is highly complex; operations in the organic organization become more self-organizing and unpredictable; formal control is provided by peer pressure and group dynamics, and a shared culture, vision, and values. Members are self-managing. Organic leadership seems particularly appropriate for professional and knowledge workers in dynamic, chaotic situations. This leadership paradigm relies on attracting and retaining highly trained and knowledgeable staff with self-controlling capabilities.

John Locke the State of Nature Essay

In the chapter five of The Second Treatise of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration, John Locke expresses his opinion about property. According to the Bible, all human being is the descendants of Adam and Eve, which mean that this world is common to all humankind. However, in order to that the property is significant to people, the property must be your own private property. The individuals are different from the land and other properties. Everyone is entitled to the private rights; the personal private property may be obtained by the working, and the personal private property is out of the scope of the public property. Therefore, through manual labour, the public properties become privatization. Nevertheless, the privatization of public property is limited; the way to obtain the private property is only in the situation that does not damage others will be accepted by others. Only under such situation that people have provided appropriate resources to others, can they gain own properties to achieve their satisfactory goals through contribution and work. God gives treasure to humans, but does not look forward to seeing humans using it improperly. God expects humans to share and use the treasure in proper way and by their own work. How much treasure people should earn should be decided according to how much they contribute and need. However, it is not ethical to get properties by violating others. When people cannot implement or distribute natural resources in proper ways, others turn such resources into their own properties via ethically appropriate implementation. The right of gaining property from work is prior than land’s public-owned status, since most of what people gain is via their hard work instead of natural resources. Above all, if people are willing to work on and properly implement public-owned resource properly, such work will give property as a return. In addition, John Locke indicates that the reason why currency came out was people was making efforts on storing some resource which tended easily to go bad, and making them better use and higher profits. Currency does not have actual value, but its value is from the exchange of other resources. It is pointless to occupy extra property which exceeds the actual need and ability of using it, and is not honest either.

Comparison of Two People in the Same Profession Article - 1

Comparison of Two People in the Same Profession - Article Example To be able to do this, this paper settles on two teachers.     Robots can be exact duplicates whereas, in human beings, all people are unique. It is because of this reason that no single firm can leave the role in making decision role to robots. Moreover, another question can be raised from this fact is: Why are there people to make decisions? The fact of two teachers being on the same level and under the same management and governance does not mean the same level of intellectuality and ability to make decisions. The degree to how fast an individual can make a right decision varies from one person to the other depending on a number of factors. Some of these factors range from inborn capability, experiences in life, age, gender, family backgrounds to the level of education. A crisis of the same magnitude presented to two teachers can be mandated to have different responses if the crisis is not numerical. In the same manner, response to decisions made by the management can vary no matter the fact that they can be trained to respond to such. These differences, however, do not despite the fact that it is possible to make a similar decision or give similar reasons for a crisis (Yengoyan 14). These two teachers can be agitated by different occurrences in a classroom, for instance, one can be so furious with a student who does not hand in his or her assignment in time while the other can get so angry with one who is late for classes. None of the two makes one a lesser teacher or vice-versa, but the situation acts independently to bring out the diversity of people although in the same field. At this juncture, it is good to state that either teacher or both could be in the profession out of lack, passion, family reasons or even religious reasons. A teacher in the profession out of passion is quite different from that is in it because of any other reason. To start with the former will have an inner driving force to work while the latter will work out of external forc es. Amazingly, both perform to the expectation of the organization. The diversity of reasons unto why one is a teacher is by its own an explanation for a myriad of responses in the teaching field. It is because of the diversity of these reasons that explain the difference between teachers when faced with a challenge. For example, when a teacher reprimands a student out of misconduct and the student takes him or her in a court of law. No matter the sentence of the court the fact of being to a court of the law may either make one feel humiliated or a rise in self-esteem. The capability that one can be allured into the wind of a riot or a strikeout of poor work conditions can also have its basis on the same reasons. The reasons for the dynamic behavior of teachers also have an association with the reasons for being in the profession.

Response to Changing Perspective of Service in Financial Services Research Proposal

Response to Changing Perspective of Service in Financial Services Sector - Research Proposal Example The FSA has announced several measures to improve corporate governance in the financial services sector. The objective of these regulations is to increase the confidence level of the consumers about the working of the companies, taking into account the financial and non-financial aspects. Financial Services Act 1986 has been replaced by the Financial Services and Market Act 2000 with a view to tightening the controls on the financial services industry... d Market Act 2000 with a view to tightening the controls on the financial services industry, and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) exercises the statutory powers derived from this act. It is increasingly felt that the business model is based on incentives and the role of the independent financial advisors from the investors' protection point of view has become questionable. According to FSA (2010) Retail Distribution Review (RDR), launched in 2006 aims to address the problems inherent in the retail investment market, and is expected to be implemented by 2012 for regulating the sale of retail financial services such as life assurance, pensions, long term savings, and fund management, and it has a profound impact on the operations of the bigger players in the industry like Aviva. Aviva is the biggest insurance group in the UK and it is the world's sixth largest company in the insurance industry with market leadership in general insurance, fire insurance, pension, long term savings and fund management with worldwide operations. The regulatory issues are multifarious and as diversified as the industry.     

What are the elements of a binding contract Essay

What are the elements of a binding contract - Essay Example For the purpose of this analysis, it will be assumed that all parties are not minors, do otherwise have contractual capacity, and that none of the acts being negotiated are contrary to the law. It is worth noting that in all three cases, the parties involved failed to commit their agreements to written form. Though verbal contracts are technically enforceable, the proof is hard to come by unless two disputing parties manage to agree to the facts. The elements in each case will be evaluated against the standard of contract validity.Question 1. In Chong vs. Lee, the first and foremost finding is that a contract never existed. Their agreement fails in every way to meet the legal definition of a contract because of fundamental defects, so there was no contractual agreement to breach or sue to enforce.Way Lee offered to sell five reconditioned motorbikes to Chong for a set price, but Chong didn't accept Lee's offer; he deferred his answer indefinitely, saying he would "think about it." No contractual agreement was created at that time because there was an offer but no acceptance, and both elements must be present to create a valid contract.When Chong wrote to Lee a week later, he included additional sale conditions, specifically regarding painting the bikes. No contractual agreement was achieved in this instance, either. By changing the terms of Lee's original offer, Chong was effectively making a counteroffer, and implicit in a counteroffer is a declination of the original offer, which then ceases to exist (Graw, 2002). The Postal Rule states that an acceptance is considered conveyed and takes effect at the time it is deposited in a valid postal receptacle or given to a legitimate postal worker properly prepared for posting. A contract would have been formed even if the letter had never been received by the other party. See Adams v. Lindsell (1818). But that rule would not apply here, the main reason being that the letter Chong posted was not a simple acceptance of the original offer, but a counteroffer, and Lee could not have been presumed to have agreed to it without any knowledge of it. Even if Chong's letter had been a simple acceptance of the original offer, a question would have arisen as to whether Lee had intended his original offer to Chong to remain good for a week or whether such a length of time would be deemed reasonable by a judge. It appears from the fact that Lee sold the bikes to other parties that he considered a week too long. Chong clearly believed that he had an agreement with Lee after he posted the letter, and he relied on that belief when creating contracts of his own with other parties to whom he planned to on-sell the bikes. If a contract had existed at that point with Lee, the fact that Chong relied on it would have prevented its revocation or modification. See Drennan v. Star Paving (1958). As it is, Chong is still obligated to perform under his agreement with the other parties, with whom binding contracts appear to have been created, even if he has to find another source for reconditioned bikes of the same type in the appropriate colors and/or pay a different price for them. If he fails to do so, these parties could successfully bring a breach of contract suit against Chong. The conclusion regarding an action by Chong against Lee for breach of contract is that it would fail because Lee was not a party to any valid contractual agreement with Chong at any time. Question 2. In Jones vs. Jimmy and Lee, the most important aspect of the case in the beginning is that Jimmy was not present when Fred Lee offered Jimmy's services to Norah Jones, so at that

Bill of Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Bill of Rights - Essay Example owever, it can be noted that the English Bill of rights does not contain much of what the first amendments added to the constitution after their ratification, Fourth Amendments These amendments are also part of the Bill of rights which is against unreasonable searches and seizure. In addition to that, the amendments also pioneered a requirement that there is a need to ensure that all warrants should be judicially sanctioned with support by probable cause. In simple terms, it generally means that the warrant should be sanctioned by the judicially on the basis of the specific information that has been supplied and the officer in charge sworn by it (Burgan, 2002). Fifth Amendments As part of the bill of rights, the fifth amendments to the US constitution protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. The amendment stipulates that no single person shall be held to answer capital or otherwise an infamous crime (Burgan, 2002). Sixth Amendments Being part of the US bil l of rights, the sixth amendment to the US constitution sets the rights related to criminal prosecution through the due process, which is stipulated under the fourteenth amendment of the US constitution. Rights that have been conferred under this section include speedy trial, public trial, impartial jury, notice of accusation among other issues related to prosecution. Fourteenth Amendment Dubbed as the reconstruction amendments, the amendments contain the citizenship clause that provides a comprehensive definition of what citizenship is. In the Due process clause, the amendment stipulates that a state or local government cannot deprive a person of his life, liberty or property unless several steps have been taken to ensure fairness in the matter. Lastly, the amendments prohibit any... From this research it is clear that in United States of America, most law enforcement agencies are aimed at ensuring that there is a complete social control system that deters and mitigates crime throughout the country. These agencies also work by sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and providing rehabilitation where necessary. However, with amendments above, these law enforcement agencies face a number of challenges in terms of dealing with suspects of crime and what is stipulated under the bill of rights in amendments above. A criminal justice system that is honest, fair and effective is what most crusaders of the said amendments have been on the forefront in advocating for. This is because law enforcement agencies form part of the larger criminal justice system of the United States of America together with courts and corrections. Some of the challenges that these law enforcement agencies encounter are poor data collection and organized crime. Since proper da ta collection for any given crime requires that there is proper coordination within parties involved in law enforcement agencies, it is prone to many errors and therefore sometimes lead to contradiction. Some cases have been cancelled in the name of lack of sufficient evidence because data collection was poorly done. The amendment discussed above requires any given court to ensure that there is sufficient data to ensure fairness at the time of trial.

On Either one of the Prison Epistles or one of the Pastoral Epistles Research Paper

On Either one of the Prison Epistles or one of the Pastoral Epistles and on one of the General Epistles - Research Paper Example Lastly, it discusses one important lesson learned from each letter and the impact of the lesson learned to someone’s life. Epistle means a literary letter which was planned to be published and read by the general public. The Prison Epistles are the letters that can be found in the New Testament of the Holy Bible. One of the Prison Epistles written by Paul during his imprisonment in Rome is the Prison Epistle to the Philippians. According to the New International Version Holy Bible (1984), Paul had been mobbed in Jerusalem, arrested there, and transferred to Caesarea, and finally, when he requested to the Roman imperial court that a decision or judgment to be changed and appealed as a Roman citizen, he had been removed to Rome for trial. When the Philippians heard this situation, they prepared to stand by him, raised some money for him to use in his trial and sent Epaphroditus, a member of the church in Philippi in Macedonia, to wait on Paul, to devote one’s services to Paul, and to stay with him until his problem were solved. So Epaphroditus went with the gift given by the church and for the purpose of telling Paul about the interest and excitement of the church to know some news about his situation and the result of his trial before the Roman imperial court. Paul took this chance and this occasion to write to the Philippians with three reasons namely: (1) to thank them for their gift and thank them for their fellowship in the gospel, (2) to tell and comfort them about his situation in Rome and about his trial, telling them that the effect of his imprisonment has turned out for the advancement of the gospel, and lastly (3) especially to encourage them and strengthen them in the hope and joy that was theirs in Jesus Christ. He also wrote that he is going to send Timothy soon, that he may know of their condition and send Epaphroditus back to them because Epaphroditus longs for all of them and that he has the feeling of great worry or unhappiness bec ause the church heard that he is ill but God has been so merciful to him. He told them that he is more excited to send Epaphroditus back to them so that they may be glad that Paul might have less worry or fear. The other purpose of the letter was to stop the Judaizers from encouraging the Philippian Christians to submit to circumcision and the last purpose why Paul wrote to them was to encourage the Philippian believers to stop the misunderstanding among them especially the two women involved namely, Euodia and Syntyche that they need to agree with each other as sisters in the Lord or be united. He also asked his faithful partner to help these two women for they have worked hard with him to spread the gospel. The key characteristics of the letter were (1) the Epistle is a letter and not a long and serious piece of writing on a particular job. It is just a simple letter to personal friends which has no theological discussions, no fixed outline and no formal development, (2) it is a l etter of love, Paul’s message has nothing but praise or the Philippians and prayer that their love may be rich, (3) it is a letter of joy, despite being imprisoned, he is still full of joy. After reading the book of Philippians, 20 times that Paul uses the words joy, rejoice, peace, content, and thanksgiving. It is a