Inflation and Deflation in the Czech Republic since 1998 Essay

Inflation and Deflation in the Czech Republic since 1998 - Essay Example Czechoslovak was famous for export industries, especially automotive ones then. But the major policy change stopped the export growth of the state. Even though the following governments tried some measures to keep economy strong, nothing could help. The Communist Regime allowed only state owned enterprises and state lead economic planning. It relied more on artificial pricing of commodities. No political, cultural or economic liberalization was allowed. Year after year the situation became worse only and it led to a total tragedy within a few decades. By 1980s, Czechoslovakia started facing deep crisis and people started protesting. In the initial days the protests were not so strong and the Government tried to suppress it. But it was not possible. Protests gathered momentum and by 1989 the Communist Government resigned. It was followed by democratic election which was the beginning of a new era as far as the history of Czechoslovakia is concerned. The major policy change in USSR allowing liberalization at to a limited extent and the weakening of power of Communists in neighboring states like East Germany and Poland also influenced the developments which led to the situation of Communists loosing power in Czechoslovakia. In the elections conducted in 1990, Vclav Havel got elected as President. The new Government formed under his leadership decided anyway to march away from the track of Communism. Policy was framed to strengthen economy following the footsteps of the already developed economies. Free market and privatization were introduced in the state for the first time. This change could create some positive signs in economy. Both Czech and Slovakia got independent prime ministers according to federal structure and later they decided to part and remain two separate independent states. Thus on 1993 January First Czech became a sovereign republic. Soon the state started making remarkable growth in its economy. But unfortunately good days didn't last long. By 1997 Prime Minister was ousted from power and this political stability along with other issues took the state to a deep economic crisis. The speculative attack on Koruna in May 1997 stopped the growth signs of economy. This made the Czech econom y 'stagflant' which led to major issues like loss of employment, lesser production, acceleration of deflation, etc. But the political leadership continued the attempt to lead the state to prosperity. They made a shift in the nature of foreign trading. More concentration was put in trade with the Western countries whereas it was towards the East earlier. For creating enough fund for various activities, Czech relied on international funding agencies. They could successfully manage to get both grants and loans from institutions like World Ban, International Monetary Fund, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, etc. External debt in 1999 was about 24.3 billion Dollars. Since major share of this loan amount was used for nothing but building up the nation's economy itself, indirectly the loan burden was supporting the prosperity of the state. The fact that Czech could repay some loans before schedule makes it undoubtedly clear that the policy change was going in the right direction. In 1999 inflation was very less, average rate being 2.1 % only. The significant fall in inflation cannot be seen just as the after effect of internal policies or situation alone. The deflation in other

Financial Reporting Appraisal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Financial Reporting Appraisal - Essay Example Many authors have dealt with the issue of clarity and understand ability of the annual reports (Lee and Tweedie, 1975; Smith, 1992; Keane, 1977). In fact many authors emphasised the fact that shareholders tend to read the narrative part of the annual report which normally includes good news, rather than reading statutory part and usually investors make their investment decisions depending on those good news (Tauringana and Chong, 2004; Smith and Taffler, 1992). However In order to make an informed investment decision, an investor who is contemplating investment needs to understand both the potential rewards and the associated risks (IOSCO, 1995). The main aim of this report is to summarise what has been proposed so far about improvement in effectiveness of annual reports in shape of 11 models discussed in ICAEW report. A judgement criterion has also been prepared according to which the annual reports of three company Johnson Matthey plc, Smith and Nephew plc and Smiths Group plc will be analysed. An award will be granted to the Company, which has adopted most of these models in order to improve business reporting and serving the needs of the users. Problems addressed: With the changing business methods and environment the values playing important part in business has also changed. The label of assets has transformed from tangible to intangible assets. In this scenario it is become difficult for the users to analyse the future performance of the company. The companies mostly practise the old traditional accounting techniques according to which intangible assets such as knowledge brand etc are not included in the financial statements as assets. Although in today's business scenario it is important for the users to have complete knowledge of these intangible assets in order to undertake their decisions accordingly. Solution provided: The authors of the model proposed that in order to help the investors and users to evaluate the value of the company the information provided needs to be more transparent regarding the intangible assets as compare to the past. The model suggest that all the tangible and intangible assets need to be continuously, means used to their fair values and should be reported in order to provide the clear and transparent information. The model gives three dimensions to the information 1) Assets and their configuration represented by company. 2) Information on assets relating to external environment management process and value. 3) Time. The model suggests the businesses to reveal information about their mission, strategy, and business process and risk management. The model can best serve the purpose of today's users since it provides information in many segments, which can help the user to find out the information, related to him. The model is the best way to respond to the needs of openers and transparency, which will be the most attractive value generating forces in the future. Criterion no. 2: Hermes Principle: (ICAEW, p. 65) Problems

Examining Guillain Barre Syndrome

Examining Guillain Barre Syndrome Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS) is a rare immune mediated polyneuropathy that occurs in previously healthy individuals. The purpose of this paper is to provide readers with an understanding of Guillain Barre and conflictions GBS has with other medical resources and diseases. Included in this research paper are topics on origin, symptoms, treatments, medications and conflictions of medical resources with Guillain Barre. Guillain-Barre Syndrome is an acute autoimmune disease that changes the peripheral nervous system and less commonly the motor or cranial nerves. GBS is random producing no warning and is an inflammatory condition that can lead to progressive muscle weakness and paralysis. It is a very rare sight in emergency departments and differentiating its early stages from common viral illnesses is also extremely difficult. Inflammation of the peripheral nerves affect the arms and legs resulting in impaired function, weakness, loss of feeling and limb paralysis with or without pain. Guillain-BarreÂÂ ´ syndrome (GBS) is an immune-mediated polyneuropathy with a worldwide incidence of 1-4 patients per 100 000 inhabitants (European Journal of Neurology 2008, p. 1332). Disease Name and Synonyms The syndrome was named after the French physicians Guillain, Barre and Strohl, who were the first to describe it in 1916. It is sometimes called Landrys paralysis, after the French physician who first described a variant of it in 1859. (All about Guillain Barre Syndrome. (01-2009) symptoms. Retrieved from http://www.jsmarcussen.com/gbs/uk/symptoms.htm) GBS is not just one disease the syndrome has several variations differentiated by their symptoms, the infections preceding it, the extent of the inflammatory phase, severity, and disorder site. Common variations of the disorder are as follows: Acute Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (AIDP) which is the most frequent form of GBS in the Western part of the World. Acute Motor Axonal Neuropathy (AMAN), Acute Motor and Sensory Axonal Neuropathy (AMSAN) and the cranial nerve variant of GBS called Miller Fisher Syndrome (MFS) are all forms of GBS but are not as common as AIDP. Symptoms Symptoms usually begin in the patients feet, face or hands it spread to the arms or legs, it increase in potency as symptoms travel towards the midpoint of the body. The symptoms commonly play a part on both left and right sides of the body. GBS is so irregular that motor symptoms or interferences in the autonomous system may not be detected. It has been reported in rarer cases that GBS has affected an arm or leg without spreading to the rest of the individuals body. (All about Guillain Barre Syndrome. (01-2009) symptoms. Retrieved from http://www.jsmarcussen.com/gbs/uk/symptoms.htm) In some patients, the skin acquires hyperalgesia, or sensitivity to touch intensifies by bed sheets, socks and close-fitting shoes; in severe circumstances pain may limit walking. Patients with symptoms constrained to the feet and ankles may notice related symptoms in the fingertips; as the symptoms expand to the knees they possibly will extend to the wrists. Seldom do these symptoms spread out beyond the knees into other parts of the body. Elevation of leucocytes and protein in the cerebrospinal fluid strongly indicates a diagnosis of GBS. The patient loses the capacity to tell the difference amongst hot and cold, and may feel cold or may possibly start to sweat for no apparent reason. The patients may even receive injures without noticing; their sense of taste can be affected; motor nerve fibers may be damaged as well. The patient encounters a communication interruption between what he wants to perform and his ability to perform the desired act; because the motor nerves regulate movement, the damage inflicted to them triggers partial or complete blockage of the motor signals. The body surface affected by the damaged nerves drops its ability to function normally, causing reduced movement or coordination. The patients muscles dwindle and waste; tendon reflexes are diminished or lost. An example of this is when slightly striking on the front of the patients knee and that act not inducing a kick reaction. Advanced weakening or paralysis could occur, on average arising in the feet, hands or face. The paralysis characteristically consists of more than one extremity, most frequently the legs. The paralysis is persistent and usually rising; expanding to the rest of the limb, and from there may extend to other extremities such as the legs, arms and the remainder of the body. Legs feel heavy; it becomes problematic to stand or climb flight of steps, or even to walk. The patient may struggle holding and manipulating objects, such as pins and buttons. Arms may seem weak and the patient will no longer be able to lift heavy objects. The weakness may possibly be complemented by pain and involuntary muscle contractions. Constipation is more often a predicament, due to the condensed movement of the intestines, modification of diets, declining stomach muscles that contest the physical exertion by the individual to force out the intestinal contents. Around 28% of patients with the syndrome endure and are able to walk unaided. In certain cases, the face could be affected when injury occurs to the cranial nerves. These nerves attach the brain en route to the muscles of the face, tongue and jaw, and also regulate the muscles that move the patients head, neck and shoulders. While the paralysis evolves, all these regions may be paralyzed. The eyelids or one side of the face possibly will hang down resembling Bells palsy; the face loses its ability to express emotions. The individuals voice may change given that the vocal chords are impaired. Speech may be incomprehensible, because the number of muscles required to form speech are declining. Deafness is rare but then again has been reported. The progressive weakness has affected patients with varying intensities, and may be life threatening. The autonomic nerve system may be disrupted with the combination of pain, weakness, and sensory disruptions that are generally so frightening that the more inconspicuous alterations in the patients autonomous nerve system might be unnoticed. The autonomous nervous system controls the inner organs, the organs functions are carried out automatically, examples of this is when the body secrets hormones, creates vision, urination, breathing, heartbeat, etc. It is these functions that may be disrupted, which will result in arrhythmia, unstable blood pressure, blurred or double vision, vertigo, fainting spells, inability to regulate the body temperature, trouble breathing, reduced ability to control the function of the stomach, digestive system and bladder, loss of weight, vomiting after meals, reduced function of various glands, incontinence, impotency, and the bladder may feel as it is not being emptied no matter how many times it is expelled. It is also very well noted that most patients have had a common infection three weeks prior to GBS and it seems that the infection triggers the onset of GBS. Treatment Treatment options for GBS focus on lessening the severity of the symptoms and accelerating recovery. Three main therapies are used to achieve this: intravenous immunoglobulin, plasma exchange and CSF filtration. Intravenous immunoglobulin is understood to block the receptors on microphages preventing an attack on the Schwann cells and myelin. Plasma exchange works by circulating blood through a machine which removes antibodies, and replacing fluid loss with albumin. Cerebrospinal fluid filtration, which removes cells, including inflammatory mediators, is less commonly used. Research suggests that intravenous immunoglobulin and plasma exchange are the most common and effective treatment for GBS, when started within the first 2 weeks of syndromes onset. Quick intervention using either one of these treatments appears to be successful and may possibly reduce recovery time. Both treatments are very good and neither is superior to the other, and there is no advantage to merging these treat ments. The main treatment for GBS is preventing and dealing with the complications (such as breathing complications or infections) and providing supportive care until symptoms begin to improve. This may include; reducing your breathing difficulties, sometimes with the help of a breathing machine, monitoring your blood pressure and heart rate is also good preventative care. Providing adequate nutrition if you have problems chewing and swallowing is also a key to overcoming this syndrome. The patent should attend physical therapy to help maintain muscle strength and flexibility. Preventing and treating complications such as pneumonia, blood clots in the legs, or urinary tract infections. Other treatment of (GBS) depends on how severe your symptoms are. Careful monitoring is very important during the early stages of GBS because life threatening complications can occur within twenty four hours after symptoms first start. Conflictions of Medical Resources with Guillain Barre In 1976, vaccination against a new swine influenza A (H1N1) virus was linked to a substantial increased risk for GBS in the forty two days after vaccination (approximately 10 excess cases per 1 million vaccinations) considerations of ending the immunization program where taken into account despite the circumstantial severity of the influenza viruss transmission around the world. There are certain circumstances in which immunizing individuals, particularly those with a prior history of GBS, may call for caution. However, the benefit of inoculations in averting disease and decreasing morbidity and mortality, particularly for influenza, needs to be weighed against the potential risk of GBS. Destruction of the axonal or myelin membranes could presumably be mediated directly by vaccine virus or vaccine-associated products, or infection or damage of surrounding supporting cells by virus could lead to insertion of virus specified polypeptides into host cell membranes, resulting in a humeral or cell-mediated autoimmune response to the infected cell. Finally, axons or myelin cells could potentially be damaged by the introduction of sequestered myelin antigens into the circulation, inciting autoimmunity. Moreover, it is likely that host factors and genetic polymorphisms may result in a predisposition to GBS in some individuals. Several studies have suggested that various polymorphisms, including genes of the T-cell glycolipid. Recovery Making a prediction about recovery is impossible. Recovery begins as abruptly and mysteriously as when GBS symptoms first started to appear. The symptoms fade gradually, but could take weeks, months or even years to finally get rid of. The development of the disease fluctuates for each patient. Recovery takes 3 to 6 months for most people, and only about two thirds of them ever recover completely. As tingling, numbness and pain dissipates, strength comes back to the affected parts of the body, mostly in the reverse order of sequence as when the signs first appeared. This indicates that in most cases, the arms and fingers will regain their strength prior to the legs, however right handed patients may experience there muscle strength returning to their left hand before their right hand. Axonal damage begins to be repaired; the axon grows little by little and is increasingly wrapped by myelin. The myelin sheath can grow outward in as little as a couple of days, while it could take longer for the body to repair a damaged axon. Example of this is a motor nerve that is regenerated at a rate of 1 mm/day, so it can take weeks if not months to restore a damaged nerve. Demyelination is then repaired by the regeneration of the myelin sheath. The rate of regenerating myelination depends on the amount of damage. The sheath consists of multiple layers that grow back gradually; the myelin has to have a particular thickness prior to the nerve cells recapturing its ability to transmit impulses. The myelin sheath may never regain its normal thickness. These facets decrease the nerve signal transmission speed forever, after the patient has recovered from GBS. Research on the use of treatments that speed up the growth of motor nerves is under way but no one will know when they will arrive or if they will ever arrive. There is no feasible way in predicting which nerves will regenerate. Research states that damaged axons are not restored, and that the surrounding axons send branches out that take over the roles of the impaired nerves, in the affected part of the body. The area could function again, and it may seem as if the muscle has regained full strength, but the muscle and nerves have to work harder to carry out the same job and they end up tiring faster than was the case prior to GBS.

Social Class In The Us And Britain Essay examples -- American History

Social Class in the US and Britain Although the United States was a British Colony in the early 1700s, the differences between the two were definitely noticeable, especially in the socioeconomic fields, mostly due to the fact that slavery played a much larger role in the United States. At least from the moment in 1620 when the Mayflower anchored off Cape Cod, there has been an American Dream. Though hard to define, it usually entails the concept of freedom, justice and equality. Despite variations in the content of the dream there is one constant, the American Dream is a dream of the future and as such implies the idea of progress, change and equality. Our dreams may differ from those of the men who wrote the Mayflower Compact because they expressed a dream more by implication than by statement, yet the men who subscribed to it clearly felt that they were engaged in an effort to establish a better order of society than their fathers had known. In the US, Colonial Society was composed of several social classes. These in turn determined political rights, legal rights, personal attire, and many other trivial aspects of society. (1727: Colonial America) For example, in church and in college, people were seated according to their social status. The differences among the social classes were very noticeable, and birth and pedigree counted for more than they do today. (Population and Social Rank) The ruling class consisted of the gentry, whose definition varied from North to South. Generally, they owned farms or plantations and were merchants, doctors, lawyers, or ministers. (1727: Colonial America) In the North, this also included clergymen, college professors, and great landowners in New York. In the South, the gentry were u... ...r on triangular trade and made the concept familiar with US citizens. In a way, the British almost used the US as a way of testing if slavery would work, but in the end gave their colony too much power and wealth, leading to the Independence. Works Cited Deary, Terry. The Gorgeous Georgians. London, England: Scholastic Children's Books, 1998. Gordon, Edward J.. American Literature. 4th Edition. Boston, MA: Ginn & Co. Publishers, 1975. Several Authors. "1727: Colonial America." 2001-2007. 16 Apr 2008 . Sommerville, J.P.. "Social Structure." University of Wisconsin-Madison History Department. 20 Apr 2008 . Whitten, Chris. "Population and Social Rank." History of the USA. 2001-2007. 09 Apr 2008 . Social Class In The Us And Britain Essay examples -- American History Social Class in the US and Britain Although the United States was a British Colony in the early 1700s, the differences between the two were definitely noticeable, especially in the socioeconomic fields, mostly due to the fact that slavery played a much larger role in the United States. At least from the moment in 1620 when the Mayflower anchored off Cape Cod, there has been an American Dream. Though hard to define, it usually entails the concept of freedom, justice and equality. Despite variations in the content of the dream there is one constant, the American Dream is a dream of the future and as such implies the idea of progress, change and equality. Our dreams may differ from those of the men who wrote the Mayflower Compact because they expressed a dream more by implication than by statement, yet the men who subscribed to it clearly felt that they were engaged in an effort to establish a better order of society than their fathers had known. In the US, Colonial Society was composed of several social classes. These in turn determined political rights, legal rights, personal attire, and many other trivial aspects of society. (1727: Colonial America) For example, in church and in college, people were seated according to their social status. The differences among the social classes were very noticeable, and birth and pedigree counted for more than they do today. (Population and Social Rank) The ruling class consisted of the gentry, whose definition varied from North to South. Generally, they owned farms or plantations and were merchants, doctors, lawyers, or ministers. (1727: Colonial America) In the North, this also included clergymen, college professors, and great landowners in New York. In the South, the gentry were u... ...r on triangular trade and made the concept familiar with US citizens. In a way, the British almost used the US as a way of testing if slavery would work, but in the end gave their colony too much power and wealth, leading to the Independence. Works Cited Deary, Terry. The Gorgeous Georgians. London, England: Scholastic Children's Books, 1998. Gordon, Edward J.. American Literature. 4th Edition. Boston, MA: Ginn & Co. Publishers, 1975. Several Authors. "1727: Colonial America." 2001-2007. 16 Apr 2008 . Sommerville, J.P.. "Social Structure." University of Wisconsin-Madison History Department. 20 Apr 2008 . Whitten, Chris. "Population and Social Rank." History of the USA. 2001-2007. 09 Apr 2008 .

Egyption Medicine

The Egyptians had far more advanced medical techniques than people had in Prehistoric times. The main reason for this is their religion. They believed in life after death, therefore they felt it was very important to treat the corpses with a lot of care. They were prepared for the afterlife. This meant the Egyptians gained a lot of knowledge about anatomy. The process they went through to preserve the bodies Is called embalming. It was noticed that the organs In the body would not remain preserved so they removed them before the burial.They were placed Into canopy Jars, then the body was treated with salts. These salts and the desert alarm dried out the bodies and later they would be wrapped In hundreds of yards of linen. After 70 days, the embalming process was complete and the mummy would be placed Inside a specially made coffin with things that made them comfortable In life. Their way of life also helped them gain medical knowledge. The River Nile was crucial to them surviving on the dry deserts. Once a year the river flooded, it gave their fields the nutrients needed to grow crops.To keep their crops growing all year round they developed a channel system, they dug irrigation ditches and used pipes to get the water from the Nile to their fields. This inspired an analogy, they figured that being as their crops would die if they water couldn't get to them; that it would harm the body if blood couldn't travel round it. The conclusion was then came to that, the human body was also full of channels, that carried fluids to the vital organs. If a channel in the body got blocked, it would cause problems.This was crucial to medicine, as it was the first thought of practical cures for illness. It was thought, that to unblock the vessels purging, vomiting and bleeding should be used. However their religious beliefs also prevented them from making any more medical advances. They treated the corpses too well, and did not examine them as they thought they were needed in t he afterlife. On top of this, they still believed that evil spirits caused a lot of illnesses and held great faith in their Gods to cure them.

Describe and explain the cause and effects of sea level change on coastal landforms

The main effect of rising and lowering of sea level is the movement of the position of the coast. As sea level rises, the coastline is moved toward the land. Geologists refer to this movement as a transgression. Conversely, if the sea level drops, the coastline moves out toward the sea, or a regression. The effect of transgressions is most readily seen as the sea floods, river or glacial valleys, forming drowned valleys or fjords, respectively. Although not prominent on our coasts, this is a common feature on the East Coast of the United States. There are two classes of sea level movement, localized or eustatic. Localized sea level changes only affect a limited area of coastline and can be caused by tectonic movements or rapid influx (or removal) of sediment. Eustatic changes refer to the removal or addition of water to the entire global ocean system, thus lowering or raising sea levels worldwide. Eustatic changes are brought on by the removal and locking up of ocean water in glaciers, or by major plate tectonic movements causing changes in the volume of the ocean basins. One example of the latter is that during time of rapid sea-floor spreading, the spreading centers become warmer and rise, thus lowering the volume of the oceans. The reasons for sea levels change usually come after an ice age, as the temperature rises, snow and ice begin to melt globally. This affects different areas differently, as the melting of the ice can cause either transgression or regression. In Scotland where the ice during the ice age produced a lot of pressure and pushed the land down, the land was now free to move back up, causing landforms such as raised beaches. The south of England during this time will sink slightly, due to Scotland rising. This coupled with the sea level rising means that features such as dalmatian coasts and rias, in other countries such as Norway, this can cause Fjords. Raised beaches, as the land rose, former wave cut platforms and their beaches were moved out of reach from the beach. Raised beaches can be found on the west coast of Scotland and are characterised by a line of cliffs behind a formally wave cut platform. Along these cliffs you may find old landforms such as wave cut notches, caves and arches, the fact that these landforms exist show that isostatic uplift could not have been constant, and so the land raised and there was a pause between the first uplift and a second uplift. During the ice age some rivers continued to flow, and these cut their valleys downwards to the lower base level, as the ice melted the sea level rose, this caused the flooding of the lower parts of the valley and its tributaries to produce sheltered, winding inlets called rias. Dalmatian coasts are found when the drowned tributaries and valleys ran parallel to the coast rather than at a right angle like rias. Fjords are formed when glaciers cut below the sea level and when the ice melted they flooded to form long, deep, narrow inlets with precipitous sides and hanging valleys (fjords are drowned glacial troughs).

Are Neanderthals Human... Or Not essays

Are Neanderthals Human... Or Not essays Over time man has evolved into many different and similar hominids. One of the greatest hominid was probably the Neanderthal. The Neanderthal was an end in its branch of the family tree. The Neanderthal was unique in when and where it lived, its physical characteristics, and life style. Neanderthals lived in many places and lived before Cro-Magnon. They mainly lived in Germany and Europe. They lived in safe caves that were naturally made by eroding cliffs. They lived 200,00- 27,000 years B.P. Neanderthals werent prepped for a beauty show, and if so they wouldnt win. Their nose was very wide because they had to first heat the air before the air goes to their lungs or they would die. The life expectancy was probably 30- 50 years maybe give or takes a couple years. They would probably have long hair and look old at a young age like in the late 20s. Life was usually something that you wouldnt want in a million years. The Neanderthal would probably walk 20 miles a day to forage for food. To stay healthy they would usually have to eat 2000- 3000 calories a day. Hunters would travel hundreds of miles to find food. The Neanderthal was unique in when and where it lived, its physical characteristics, and life style. Neanderthals lived in many places and lived before Cro-Magnon. Neanderthals werent prepped for a beauty show, and if so they wouldnt win. Life was usually something that you wouldnt want in a million years. ...

Past Perfect Progressive Definition and Examples

Past Perfect Progressive Definition and Examples A verb construction (made up of had been a present participle) that points to an activity or situation that was ongoing in the past. Also known as past perfect continuous. Also see: AspectPast PerfectProgressive AspectPast Progressive Examples and Observations He knew that she had been dreaming that night and he knew what her dreams were about.(W. Somerset Maugham, Christmas Holiday, 1939)For an hour the old man had been seeing black spots before his eyes and the sweat salted his eyes and salted the cut over his eye and on his forehead.(Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, 1952)If she had been pretending, she would have hidden for a reasonable time before coming out and telling her story.(C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, 1950)I felt like an extraordinary hero. I was only five or six and I had the whole of life in my hands. Even if I had been driving the carriage of the sun I could not have felt any better.(Dario Fo)The jaws fell, the ears drooped more limply. He had been looking like a dead fish. He now looked like a deader fish, one of last years, cast up on some lonely beach and left there at the mercy of the wind and tides.(P.G. Wodehouse, Right Ho, Jeeves, 1934)I was sixteen years old and more, and I had not yet done anything the Grandfathers wanted me to do, but they had been helping me.(John G. Neihardt, Black Elk Speaks, 1932) Mr. Churchill was better than could be expected; and their first removal, on the departure of the funeral for Yorkshire, was to be to the house of a very old friend in Windsor, to whom Mr. Churchill had been promising a visit the last ten years.(Jane Austen, Emma)The past perfect progressive (had been -ing) tells us about the length of the action and the specific point when it ended. It occurs frequently with since or for to specify the duration of the action.(Ann Raimes, Exploring Through Writing. Cambridge University Press, 1998) Also Known As: past perfect continuous

A Review of Zoot Suit, a Book by Luis Valdez

A Review of Zoot Suit, a Book by Luis Valdez In Luis Valdez’s Zoot Suit, the zoot suit has many conspicuous and inconspicuous meanings. The zoot suit is an ostentatious outfit that many Chicano gangsters wore in order to gain recognition of the police and the people of Los Angeles. The boys’ family members believe that the zoot suit symbolizes insubordination while police offers and press view it as delinquency. The boys of the Thirty-eighth Street Gang, who admire the zoot suits, regard the zoot suit as empowering. In the play, there is a clash of opinions as to whether the zoot suit represents power or delinquency. The zoot suit helps many chicano boys of the Thirty-eighth Street Gang identify themselves with the other boys as they face discrimination and aggression from the Downey Gang and police officers. In the beginning of the play, El Pachuco, who is Henry Reyna’s alter ego, expresses his appreciation and passion for the zoot suit. He describes putting on a zoot suit, â€Å"†¦makes [Chicancos] feel real root look like a diamond, sparkling, shinning†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Valdez 1.1.3). Rather than hiding, El Pachuco displays himself as if he is a radiate gem that all can fawn over because he dresses in style, and therefore should commands respect. The zoot suit gives the boys the confidence and swagger to gain esteem from their fellow boys and the Downey gang, a rival group. The boys use the zoot suit as a uniform symbolizing the ideology of a group of individuals fighting for common goal which was Chicano pride. Even more, El Pachuco, who dons the zoot suit, epitomizes the Chicano spirit because he reminds Henry Reyna to not waver from trying to gain respect from the police. In the end, El Pachuco states he is, â€Å"†¦the ideal of the original chuco was to look like a diamond to look sharp hip bonarro† (Valdez 2.6.16). Therefore, the boys looks up to Pachuco as a genuine symbol of what they are fighting for. The boys feel more formidable when the other boys put on the zoot suit because it gives a sense of brotherhood and community. In packs, the boys feel comforted by the numbers but with the zoot suit, the boys feel invincible. In the eyes of the police and the press, the zoot suit is seen as a symbol of misconduct and malice. After the police disperses the barrio dance and Sergeant Smith detains Henry and the rest of the boys who are main culprits of the Sleep Lagoon murder case, Smith interrogates the boys, and sarcastically comments, â€Å"you pachucos are regular tough guys† (Valdez 1.3.1). By sarcastically insulting the boys for being a bunch of tough guys, Smith is in actuality calling the boys weaklings and therefore, considers the zoot suit powerless and only a symbol of rebellion. Sergeant Smith believes that the zoot suit is just a mere ostentatious attire that makes the boys a target of discrimination. He goes further and declares, â€Å"I hear you pachas wear these monkey suits as a kind of armor. Is that right? How does it work? This is what you zooters need a little old-fashioned discipline (Valdez 1.4.41). Smith again uses name calling instead of properly addressing the boys. The à ¢â‚¬Å"zooter† signifies that Smith utterly shuns the zoot suit and thinks its so ridiculous that the boys wear them. He even goes as far as to question the secret powers of the zoot suit as if to play of the boys emotions and taunt the zoot suit further. Clearly, the police dont take the power of the zoot suit seriously. Even the headlines of the Los Angeles newspaper articles â€Å"Zoot-Suited Goons of Sleepy Lagoon† (Valdez 1.5.15) shows the yellow journalism uses zoot suit in a derogatory term and labeled all Mexicans as Zoot Suits. The press goes further and comments that, â€Å"the Zoot Suit Crime Wave is even beginning to push the war news off the front page† (Valdez 2.6.15) in order to reveal to the audience that wearing zoot suits and being seen in them was considered a crime and a rebellious action that cannot be ignored by even the news. The symbol of the zoot suit bring depth to the play as so many different individuals perceive the zoot suit in their own way. For the boys of the Thirty-eighth Street Gang, it defines their group and intentions. By wearing the suit, the boys make a single stance against the oppression and discrimination by the press and the police officials. However, for the press and police officials, the zoot suit only symbolizes the crime and wrongdoing. They believe that the zoot suit only affirms their beliefs that the boys are reckless. The zoot suit is truly a symbol of the disagreement of individuals within the Los Angeles community.

Role of HR Department in the Success of an Organisation Essay

Role of HR Department in the Success of an Organisation - Essay Example The entrance of new enterprises in corporate arena has intensified the competition among firms; hence every entity is more focused towards cost leadership so that it could ensure business survival and expansion. Indeed, the old workplace rules, regulations, requirements and criteria have been replaced by new workplace standards and roles so that the organisations could flourish in an absolutely uncertain, unpredictable, unclear, unstructured and unexpected business environment. The new workplace demands a greater emphasis on open communication, information sharing and team building that, in turn, leads to greater coordination, collaboration and cooperation among employees – employers. Unequivocally, Human Resource Management plays its vital role in goal accomplishment and organisational success because HR managers are solely responsible for recruitment, selection, training and skills development, employee compensation, placement, performance evaluation and retrenchment. For in stance, the aforementioned functions are also a part of employee resourcing, which sometimes also known as strategic resourcing (Kato, 2009); (Alcazar et al, 2005). It is worthwhile to mention that the debate on employee (strategic) resourcing has been intensified because of the increasingly vital role of HR department in the success of an organisation. Nevertheless, HR professionals are also aware of the fact that employees tend to face work-family conflicts when they are bombarded with excessive tasks and job requirements coupled with unrealistic goals and targets that are unachievable. For instance, employment discrimination and glass ceiling restrict the entry and progress of many deserving workers, which comes under unfair behaviour. Next, employers tend to force employees to work for additional hours without any extra disbursements/payments for overtime (Webster, 2011). Therefore, the employee resourcing task becomes complicated and challenging for enterprises of the 21st cent ury, which could not assimilate excessive business costs as an outcome of low productivity (due to employee dissatisfaction and low job morale) and higher employee turnover rate (Morrell et al, 2001). The paper will remain specific to the discussion of issues faced by organisations in employee resourcing and their implications. The researcher will critically evaluate and analyse the core issues with reference to existing literature as well as provide practical examples to comprehend this topic. The researcher will then demonstrate the procedures that could facilitate in employee resourcing. Finally, the researcher will present conclusions and discuss some useful recommendations based on his practical exposure and working experience in today’s corporate arena. 2. Analysis Employee Resourcing is a concept that refers to techniques, instruments and procedures used by employers and HR professionals in organizing/resourcing their business units in a manner that could facilitate in target setting and goal accomplishment. Employee resourcing is an extensive process that covers almost all Human Resource Management functions such as staffing, administration, change management, organisational control and performance standards. . In other words, Raiden et al (2009) have pointed out that Employee resourcing is beneficial for an enterprise because it leads to the creation of a best pool of employees who could adjust themselves in the operational environment and could efficiently utilise organisational resources to meet strategic goals and assigned objectives.  

Examine the reasons and implications of the decline of trade unions in Essay

Examine the reasons and implications of the decline of trade unions in Australia - Essay Example The greatest decline of trade unionism however occurred in the 1990s and was attributable to a combination of government and employer policies which have resulted in a populace focused on free enterprise rather than collectivism. Trade unions by definition are an organized body established to principally negotiate pay rates and employment conditions on behalf of its members; such bodies generally comprise a collective of workers who are separately and jointly assigned as representatives of its members in dealing with management (Aktaruzzaman, 2006). In other words their purpose is to protect their members by improving and maintaining their employment conditions and keeping non-unionists out of the labour market (Time of our lives, 102). The problem with this model of representation however, is that empowerment is taken from the people under representation; they become passive observers while trade union reps solve problems on their behalf exterior to the workplace environment. Trade unions are also part of government structure in much the same way as political parties and thus must adhere to the laws of government and democracy. Support from trade unions towards governments however, wavers in accordance with the level of shared labour market goals and the extent to which they can increase power (Johns, 2002). They are astute at â€Å"positioning themselves in civil society† (Johns, 2002, p.3) but are weighted with their involvement with government by being placed alongside government as the primary cause of its own demise. This was never more evident than when they worked in support of the Labour government to lay the way for an economy that was more open and included enterprise bargaining (Johns, 2002). Employment conditions within Australia were primarily decided by state and federal awards that opted in favour of union members but the situation changed after 1986 whereupon awards were changed, enterprise bargaining came into existence and agreements w ith non-union members were provided for collectives (Bowden, 2009). Late in the 1980s awards were restructured (Bowden, ), and starting with Keating’s Industrial regulations Reform Act 1993 that introduced enterprise bargaining, followed by Howard’s Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cranston, 2000; Caspersz, 2007) that provided for individual workplace agreements (Bowden, 2009) as well as collective agreements between employees and companies (Johns, 2002), and then a further amendment in 2006, it seems that government support for unions has disappeared (Sappey, Burgess, Lyons & Buultjens, 2006, cited in Caspersz, 2007, p.3). Added to this, the majority of Australian states implemented laws to stop compulsory membership of unions in order to make the transition from award systems to those focused on individual enterprise and bargaining more effortless, and later the federal government under Howard brought obligatory membership to an end (Leigh, 2005). Such legislations crea ted a massive exodus of union members who were then given choice rather than obligation to pay their union dues. Trade unions during this time faced massive changes in terms of legislative deregulation of the labour market (Cranston, 2000) which in turn affected the financial and economical sectors of the

Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Contracts Essay

Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Contracts - Essay Example The origin of concession was from the E&P of the petroleum in the developing petroleum mining countries by the international oil companies. It dates back to the late 19th Century when most of oil producing countries were under the European power political control. The Indonesian GOE and a foreign oil company were the first to form a Production sharing company in 1966 that was under the foreign company’s people’s empathy together with the countries aiming to control the natural resources within Indonesia. In between 1958 and 1961, Service contract was introduced for the first time in Argentina by the Argentinian government. The service contract introduced was in three types that included financial exploration, drilling, and development in the aim of achieving the most advanced technology. A third type of contract that is the joint venture was for the first time introduced in the Italian GOE, Iranian GOE, and Egypt. It was meant to participate in the Managerial decision. The ownership of petroleum is granted by the concession agreement.

Failure Mode Effective Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Failure Mode Effective Analysis - Essay Example In the following years, it was employed in the aerospace industries to eliminate errors in the industry due to its use of massive funds. It then spread across many other manufacturing industries throughout the world ever since. Today its use is slowly entering the service industry. There are numerous approaches and methods of FMEA have been created by researchers across the very many professional fields besides engineering. FMEA is various forms whereby some are more frequently used compared to others. They include concept FMEA in which we have design FMEA and process FMEA. FMEA has for many decades been used by researchers in the early design concepts to analyze systems and subsystems. An investigation of FMEA single failures of the system was involved in the identification of the failure modes, the causes and the results of each possible failure mode on the service and developing appropriate corrective measures. FMEA when extended by Criticality Analysis process (CA) it became the Failure Mode Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA). On their analysis, they provided the description and a review of FMECA fundamental principles, methods enhancements, types, automation and available computer codes, how it is combined with other techniques applications of particular types. An approach that analyzed the design work guidelines, product features analysis, review of product design and work design team building model was later developed. This model described the application of tools for a design like the design for assembly (DFA), FMEA and quality function development (QFD). DFA implementation was monitored in three products development projects in a period of two years. They concluded that DFA method was able to be used for four purposes that correspond to GAPT model levels. The method led to more cooperation between production engineers and designers and better communication. The outcomes

Nursing skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Nursing skills - Essay Example To protect the patient’s identity in accordance with the NMC Code of Conduct, this patient shall be referred to as Wilson. He was admitted into the hospital after a three inch gash on his arm became infected. Based on my role as a nurse in instances of wounds and infection, my mentor instructed me to clean the patient’s wound. I did so under my mentor’s direct supervision and guidance. Before I dressed his wound, I first asked for his permission. While cleaning the patient’s wound, I asked the patient how he was feeling, and if he felt any pain from his wounds. I also explained the process of dressing his wound, and why I was doing it. Before I dressed his wound, I first washed my hands aseptically with soap and running water, drying my hands well on a sterile towel. I also prepared all the materials I would use to clean the wound. I also closed the door to his room to afford privacy and helped him to sit-up to a comfortable position on the bed. I placed paper towels underneath his wounded hand and placed all the materials I would need on a tray placed on a table adjacent to the bed. I opened the dressing packs and dropped them on to the sterile tray. The dressing pack included the mepore, the gauze, and the cotton balls. The alcohol was placed on the table, along with the saline solution, the iodine and the alcohol. I opened and put on sterile gloves and started cleaning the wound. ... I opened the dressing packs and dropped them on to the sterile tray. The dressing pack included the mepore, the gauze, and the cotton balls. The alcohol was placed on the table, along with the saline solution, the iodine and the alcohol. I opened and put on sterile gloves and started cleaning the wound. I initially used normal saline solution and followed it up with iodine to clean the wound; and later, I dressed the wound with mepore and gauze. I then secured the gauze with a plaster. Feelings I felt very calm and confident while cleaning and dressing Wilson’s wound because I had previous experience carrying out the procedure and I knew what to expect, how to carry out the process aseptically, and I had my mentor guiding and supervising my actions. Since I acted calm and competent, Wilson was very cooperative throughout the procedure. He did not display any anxiety or agitation. My mentor also prevented me from making any mistakes in the process, encouraging me and reminding me of the aseptic measures I had to apply in order to prevent infection. As a result of the support and of my competence in the activity, the patient also felt safe in both our hands. Evaluation Before I carried out the procedure, I asked for the patient’s consent first; this is part of the ethical code of conduct and is essential to the respect owed to the patient (Hannon and Clift, 2010). Patients have the right to autonomy, in other words, they have the right to decide the direction of their care; therefore, their consent is essential before any intervention is carried out (Hannon and Clift, 2010). This consent is a contract between the health provider and the patient for the provision of care and the NMC clearly states that it is important to secure such consent before any care is

Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Contracts Essay

Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Contracts - Essay Example The origin of concession was from the E&P of the petroleum in the developing petroleum mining countries by the international oil companies. It dates back to the late 19th Century when most of oil producing countries were under the European power political control. The Indonesian GOE and a foreign oil company were the first to form a Production sharing company in 1966 that was under the foreign company’s people’s empathy together with the countries aiming to control the natural resources within Indonesia. In between 1958 and 1961, Service contract was introduced for the first time in Argentina by the Argentinian government. The service contract introduced was in three types that included financial exploration, drilling, and development in the aim of achieving the most advanced technology. A third type of contract that is the joint venture was for the first time introduced in the Italian GOE, Iranian GOE, and Egypt. It was meant to participate in the Managerial decision. The ownership of petroleum is granted by the concession agreement.

Nursing skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Nursing skills - Essay Example To protect the patient’s identity in accordance with the NMC Code of Conduct, this patient shall be referred to as Wilson. He was admitted into the hospital after a three inch gash on his arm became infected. Based on my role as a nurse in instances of wounds and infection, my mentor instructed me to clean the patient’s wound. I did so under my mentor’s direct supervision and guidance. Before I dressed his wound, I first asked for his permission. While cleaning the patient’s wound, I asked the patient how he was feeling, and if he felt any pain from his wounds. I also explained the process of dressing his wound, and why I was doing it. Before I dressed his wound, I first washed my hands aseptically with soap and running water, drying my hands well on a sterile towel. I also prepared all the materials I would use to clean the wound. I also closed the door to his room to afford privacy and helped him to sit-up to a comfortable position on the bed. I placed paper towels underneath his wounded hand and placed all the materials I would need on a tray placed on a table adjacent to the bed. I opened the dressing packs and dropped them on to the sterile tray. The dressing pack included the mepore, the gauze, and the cotton balls. The alcohol was placed on the table, along with the saline solution, the iodine and the alcohol. I opened and put on sterile gloves and started cleaning the wound. ... I opened the dressing packs and dropped them on to the sterile tray. The dressing pack included the mepore, the gauze, and the cotton balls. The alcohol was placed on the table, along with the saline solution, the iodine and the alcohol. I opened and put on sterile gloves and started cleaning the wound. I initially used normal saline solution and followed it up with iodine to clean the wound; and later, I dressed the wound with mepore and gauze. I then secured the gauze with a plaster. Feelings I felt very calm and confident while cleaning and dressing Wilson’s wound because I had previous experience carrying out the procedure and I knew what to expect, how to carry out the process aseptically, and I had my mentor guiding and supervising my actions. Since I acted calm and competent, Wilson was very cooperative throughout the procedure. He did not display any anxiety or agitation. My mentor also prevented me from making any mistakes in the process, encouraging me and reminding me of the aseptic measures I had to apply in order to prevent infection. As a result of the support and of my competence in the activity, the patient also felt safe in both our hands. Evaluation Before I carried out the procedure, I asked for the patient’s consent first; this is part of the ethical code of conduct and is essential to the respect owed to the patient (Hannon and Clift, 2010). Patients have the right to autonomy, in other words, they have the right to decide the direction of their care; therefore, their consent is essential before any intervention is carried out (Hannon and Clift, 2010). This consent is a contract between the health provider and the patient for the provision of care and the NMC clearly states that it is important to secure such consent before any care is

Marketing Communications Memo Essay Example for Free

Marketing Communications Memo Essay This year this organization has elected to erect a monument to honor the fallen military heroes of Jacksonville, Florida. Some demographics of this large city are its’ multigenerational and diverse ethnic population, varied socioeconomic span, and of course, the large military representation, both active duty, retired, veterans, and their families. The location of Jacksonville in northeast Florida is a great stopover spot for tourists making their way to Orlando or Tampa and the snowbirds on their journey to southern Florida for the winter. The location of the monument should be centralized and near a major highway, possibly Interstate 95 between Interstate 10 and Interstate 295 South. Jacksonville, Florida is a military town and rich in its military history. According to United States Census Bureau QuickFacts (Jacksonville, 2008-2012) approximately 81,000 veterans live here. This number represents 10.5% of the total Jacksonville population. When including Orange Park and Jacksonville Beach to these numbers the veterans’ total number increases to nearly 85,000. This number is not reflective of the family members surrounding the veterans. The QuickFacts sheet goes on to state that the average household in Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beach, and Orange Park, is approximately 2.50 persons. The number of individuals living in the greater Jacksonville, Florida area directly related to the military member adds another 127,500 people for a total of 170,000 (QuickFacts Orange Park, QuickFacts Jacksonville Beach QuickFacts Jacksonville, 2008-2012). We will want to choose a central location for the monument as Jacksonville, Florida has the greatest land mass in the continental United States with 885 square miles (Insider’s Guide to Jacksonville, Florida, 2014). By centralizing the location we can attract as many of Jacksonville’s residents to visit the monument. We must also take into consideration the ease of access to the monument for out of state visitors. If the location is too complicated to get to many people will not visit the site. The monument site will also have a visitor/gift shop with smaller images of the Fallen Heroes Monument for sale, along with military memorabilia of the two naval military installations, Naval Air Station Jacksonville and Naval Station Mayport, and Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island Command along with military collectables. The various National Guards outfits along with the Coast Guard will be represented as well. The gift store will be maintain and staffed by Naval Air Station Jacksonville and proceeds will help with the upkeep of the monument. We will build the store as part of the monument site. The City of Jacksonville has donated the land in the name of the local fallen heroes. The project hopes to capture national attention with its innovative design and availability of military collectables. We want not just the Jacksonville, Florida residents to take pride in this monument but the State of Florida and our nation. Fundraising will be accomplished by reaching out to local military and veteran organizations. The Veterans of Foreign War, American Legion, Student Veterans of America, and American Veterans are all onboard to help with fundraising events like car washes, cook-outs, and large yard sales. We have also partnered with the local motorcycle clubs in Jacksonville, Florida who have scheduled several Saturday rides throughout the state. Historically the bikers clubs have donated large sums of money to events such as ours. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Jacksonville Fire Department are also collecting donations to help defray the total cost of the monument. Naval Station Mayport and Naval Air Station Jacksonville will have golf tournaments to support the building of the monument. Grants from the City of Jacksonville and from the State of Florida have been pledged.  There will be a website featuring the future monument and donations can be accepted there as well. Military personnel come from all ages, racial ethnicities, socioeconomic levels, and religious backgrounds; it is a fair assessment to predict that the visitors to the monument will be of the same diversity. The marketing direction will be of one from pride in our nations’ military men and women, the good work they do the world over, and the sacrifices they have given. The local community is fully committed to the project and is evident by the large number of private contributors. References: Insider’s Guide to Jacksonville, Florida. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.insideflorida.com/city/info/Jacksonville QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau. (2008-2012). Florida. Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12000.html QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau. (2008-2012). Jacksonville, Florida. Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12/1235000.html QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau. (2008-2012). Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12/1235050.html QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau. (2008-2012). Orange Park, Florida. Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12/1252125.html

High Performance Work System

High Performance Work System Exploring the Performance Impact of High Performance Work Systems in Professional Service Firms: A practices-Resources-Uses Approach ABSTRACT. In the present study, we develop a practices-resources-uses approach to systematically explain the indirect effect of high performance work systems (HPWS) on firm performance in professional service context. We argue that HPWS result in the creation of human capital, social capital and organizational capital resources. These resources in turn create value for firms when they are effectively explored and exploited. Our analysis of the indirect impact of HPWS on firm performance contributes to the understanding of how and why HPWS affect firm performance by identifying valuable resources and finding out the way to effectively use them in professional service firms (PSFs). We also provide theoretical support for the arguments of the resource-based view of firm (Barney, 1991), the knowledge-based theory of firm (Grant, 1996a, 1996b) and the dynamic capabilities (Teece, Pisano Shuen, 1997) perspectives. Key words: High Performance Work System; Professional Service Firms; Resource-Based View of Firm INTRODUCTION Researchers on strategic human resource management (SHRM) argue for a focus on the bundle of HR practices rather than individual practices, as a primary unit of analysis when examining the impact of HR systems on individual and organizational performance (Huselid, 1995; MacDuffie, 1995). For example, high performance work systems (HPWS) (Datta, Guthrie, Wright, 2005) have been found to positively relate to firms outcomes especially in manufacturing firms, such as financial performance (Guthrie, 2001; Huselid, 1995), employee turnover (Richard Johnson, 2001), firm productivity (Guthrie, 2001), efficiency and flexibility (Evans Davis, 2005), and organizational commitment (Youndt, Snell, Dean Jr, Lepak, 1996). However, the relationship between HPWS and firm performance is indirect and many scholars call for deeper and more theoretical approaches to understand how and why high performance work systems (HPWS) affect firm performance (Bowen Ostroff, 2004; Combs, Liu, Hall, Ketchen, 2006; Delery Shaw, 2001), especially in service organizations (Combs et al., 2006). Based on the existing research, we argue that HPWS results in the creation of human capital (Wright, Dunford, Snell, 2001), social capital (Leana Van Buren III, 1999) and organizational capital resources (Koch McGrath, 1996). Only when these resources are effectively managed and utilized, firms can generate superior profit above that which returns to competitors in perfectly competitive environment (Schultz, 1961), achieve sustainable competitive advantage and create value (Barney Arikan, 2001; Sirmon, Hitt, Ireland, 2007). The causal chain between resource endowment and firm performance is unclear and is in need of theoreti cal explication and empirical investigation (Leana Van Buren III, 1999). Thus, we pursue two research questions: (1) How do HPWS affect firm performance in the professional services context? (2) What are valuable resources and how are they utilized by firms? Guided by the contingency theory, the resource-based view of the firm (RBV) (Barney, 1991), the knowledge-based theory (Anand, Gardner, Morris, 2007; Grant, 1996a, 1996b; Teece, 2003; Winch Schneider, 1993) and dynamic capabilities theory (Teece et al., 1997; Eisenhardt Martin, 2000), we propose a ‘practices-resources-uses performance approach to add insight to our understanding of the value creation-exploitation process in the professional service firm (PSF). The paper is structured as follows. First, we briefly introduce the literature on PSFs and explain why we chose these organisations to conduct our research. We then propose a model that highlights how HPWS affect firm performance. We argue that HPWS affect firm performance through two steps. First, HPWS create firm resources, i.e., human capital, social capital, and organizational capital. And then these resources are exploited to improve firm performance in the short run or are explored to improve firm performance in the longer run. Within the HPWS and firm performance relationship research, our model draws on the â€Å"practices-resources-uses† perspective, and provides important theoretical foundations for understanding how and why HR practices affect firm performance. We then discuss the further implications of the study for practitioners and explore the potential areas for future research. CONTEXT Professional Service Firms (PSFs) are those whose primary assets are a highly educated (professional) workforce and whose outputs are intangible services encoded with complex knowledge (Greenwood, Li, Prakash, Deephouse, 2005). Examples of professional services include accounting, engineering consulting, management consulting and legal services (De Brentani Ragot, 1996). PSFs are knowledge-intensive (Morris, 2001; von Nordenflycht, 2007, 2010) with knowledge encoded in services as outputs (Empson, 2007; Morris Empson, 1998; von Nordenflycht, 2007, 2010). PSFs are different from traditional firms. They primarily exploit intangible assets to produce customized solution for clients (Greenwood et al., 2005; Hitt, Shimizu, Uhlenbruck, Bierman, 2006; Là ¸wendahl, 2005; von Nordenflycht, 2007, 2010). Their human resources constitute the critical asset of the PSFs because they embody expertise and create firm-specific knowledge which can be translated into client solutions. Indeed clien ts may often follow professionals if they change firms (Groysberg Lee, 2009). Because PSFs differ from other firms, to apply theories from other forms of organizations is â€Å"not only inapplicable †¦ but may be dangerously wrong† (Maister, 1993: xvi). Our analysis will represent a good site to examine SHRM because human resources constitute the critical asset and therefore a strong test of the practices-uses-resources model which is what we need to justify. THERETICAL BACKGROUND AND PROPOSITONS Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) Strategic human resource management (SHRM) is defined as â€Å"the pattern of planned human resource deployments and activities intended to enable an organization to achieve its goals† (Wright, McMahan, McWilliams, 1994: 298). Because firm performance stands out as a major organizational goal, many studies have been conducted that examine the linkage between human resources management practices and firm performance (Arthur, 1994; Becker Gerhart, 1996; Datta et al., 2005; Delery Doty, 1996; Guthrie, Flood, Liu, MacCurtain, 2009; Huselid, 1995; MacDuffie, 1995; Richard Johnson, 2001; Terpstra Rozell, 1993; Youndt et al., 1996). The researchers in this field argue that the bundle of HR practices rather than individual practices should be focused as a primary unit of analysis when examining the impact of HR systems on individual and organizational performance (Huselid, 1995; MacDuffie, 1995). Following the above argument, researchers have been encouraged to take a system perspective in examining the performance impact of HRM on relevant organizational outcomes (Wright Boswell, 2002). For example, the study by Youndt et al. (1996) demonstrated that human capital-enhancing HR system was directly related to multiple dimensions of operational performance, i.e., employee productivity, machine efficiency, and customer alignment; the results of Collins and Clark (2003) indicates that the network-building HR practices positively related to the organizational performance, i.e., growth in sales and stock return; the research by Huselid (1995) illustrates a positive relationship between high performance work practices and organizational turnover, productivity and financial performance; the research on high performance work systems (HPWS) conducted by Datta et al. (2005), Guthrie et al. (2009) and Combs et al. (2006) finds that HPWS positively affected firms labour productivity, employee absenteeism and turnover. HPWS include HR practices that are designed to enhance employees skills, commitment, and productivity (Datta et al., 2005). Most previous literature on the relationship between HRM practices and firm performance has looked at the direct relationship. However, many scholars agree that there are probably mediating variables through which HRM practices affect firm performance. As Wright and Gardner (2000:4) write, â€Å"One of the first issues that must be settled in the effort to understand how HR practices impact performance is to theorize the means through which this relationship occurs, in essence specifying the intervening variables between the measure of HR practices and the measure of firm performance.† In the existing research, some scholars found human capital as one of mediators between SHRM and firm performance. Human capital refers to the stock of skills and knowledge embodied in individuals (Becker, 1964; OSullivan Sheffrin, 1998). Guest (1997) argues that SHRM improve employees quality, i.e., skills and abilities. Snell and Dean (1992) also argue that HRM should ideally work to enhance the firms competitive position by creating superior human capital skills, experience and knowledge that contribute to firm economic value. Wright et al. (2001) assert that HPWS might have resulted in the creation of a high quality human capital pool that cannot be easily imitated because of time compression diseconomies (e.g., Mercks RD capability). Becker and Huselid (1996) state that human resource activities are thought to lead to the development of a skilled workforce and one that engages in functional behavior for the firm, thus forming a source of competitive advantage. This results in h igher operating performance, which translates into increased profitability, and consequently results in higher stock prices (or market values). There are also some scholars found that many human resource management practices have a significant role to play in creating social capital. Social capital is a resource which is embedded in the relationship among individuals (Loury, 1977; Coleman, 1988, 1990; Bourdieu; 1985; Burt, 1992; Putnam, 1993; Nahapiet Ghoshal, 1998; Lin, 2001). For example, Wright et al. (2001) argue that HPWS may promote and maintain socially complex relationships characterized by trust, knowledge sharing, and teamwork (e.g., Southwest Airlines unique culture). Youndt, Subramaniam and Snell (2004) state that thoughtful selection of people who ‘fit with the organizations culture, or intensive training programmes that not only socialize incoming employees but also indoctrinate common values among existing employees, may have a strong impact on the social capital of organizations. Leana and van Buren III (1999) introduce the construct of organizational social capital and develop a model that describes i ts components and consequences. They suggest that employment practices strongly affect the level of organizational social capital within a firm. They also describe the potential benefits and costs of organizational social capital for the firm and noted the contingent nature of organizational social capitals relationship with performance. In other words, organizational social capital mediates the HR practices and organizational performance relationship. Evans and Davis (2005) provide a theoretical framework illustrating how the internal social structure of the organization can mediate the relationship between HPWS and organizational performance. The third mediator between SHRM and firm performance is found as organizational capital. Subramaniam and Youndt (2005) and Youndt et al. (2004) define organizational capital as the institutionalized knowledge and codified experience residing within and utilized through databases, patents, manuals, structures, systems, and processes. Wright et al. (2001) argue that HPWS might play a role in creating cultures or mindsets that enable the maintenance of unique competencies. They mention that HR is not limited to its direct effects on employee skills and behavior. HRs effects are more encompassing in that they help weave those skills and behaviors within the broader fabric of organizational processes, systems and, ultimately, competencies. Other strategists who embrace the RBV point out that competitive advantage (vis core competence) comes from aligning skills, motives, and so forth with organizational systems, structures, and processes that achieve capabilities at the organizational lev el (Hamel Prahalad, 1994; Peteraf, 1993; Teece et al., 1997). Koch and McGrath (1996) take a similar logic in their study of the relationship between HR planning, recruitment, and staffing practices and labor productivity. They argue that â€Å"†¦ a highly productive workforce is likely to have attributes that make it a particularly valuable strategic asset,† (p. 335). They suggest firms that develop effective routines for acquiring human assets develop a stock of talent that cannot be easily imitated. The human capital, social capital and organizational capital are defined as three components of intellectual capital. One systematic research conducted by Youndt et al. (2004) find that a relatively small group of superior performing organizations exhibit high levels of human, social, and organizational capital. Most firms, however, tend to focus primarily on only one form of intellectual capital, and a small group of underperforming organizations have very low levels of all three types of intellectual capital. Another research by Subramaniam and Youndt (2005) suggest that an organizations efforts at hiring, training, work design, and other human resource management activities may need to focus not only on shoring up their employees functional or specific technological skills/expertise, but also on developing their abilities to network, collaborate, and share information and knowledge. To summarize, although the relationship between SHRM and firm performance has been found positive, it is indirect. Efficient SHRM could improve employees knowledge, skills, strength the relationships between employees, and also create superior databases, processes and then help firms achieve higher performance. In the following section, we analyse how HPWS create firm resources in PSFs. HPWS and Firm Resources There is a positive relationship between HPWS and firm performance. But how HPWS affect firm performance remains to be understood. The resource-based view of firm (RBV) argues that a firms competitive advantages lie primarily on the application of valuable resources, skills and capabilities that the firm already control (Barney, 1991; Penrose, 1959; Wernerfelt, 1984). The knowledge based theory of firm (Grant, 1996a, 1996b) considers knowledge as the most strategically significant resource of the firm. This knowledge is embedded and carried through multiple entities including individuals, relationships and organizational culture, identity, routines, documents, systems. Guided by the resource-based view of firm (Barney, 1991) and the knowledge-based theory of firm (Grant, 1996a, 1996b), we argue that HPWS affect firm performance by creating valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable, and non-substitutable resources (Barney, 1991), i.e., human capital, social capital, and organizational capital. And these resources can also be understood as the places where knowledge is embedded. Human capital. In PSFs, the human capital is defined as the knowledge and skills of their professionals that can be used to produce high quality professional services (Hitt, Bierman, Shimizu, Kochhar, 2001; Hitt et al., 2006; Pennings, Lee, Van Witteloostuijn, 1998). Human capital plays a strong role as the PSFs key resource in solving client problems (Morris Snell, 2008). Professionals possessing large amounts of experience, education, and training should be able to effectively create ideas on their own in response to the complexities of unique client needs. Their localized experience helps them to understand the needs of local clients and markets, which allows them to develop solutions that are unique to each contextual environment and hence heterogeneous across the firm. Professionals who draw the most upon human capital tend to rely on the experimentation, inspiration, and experience of individuals to solve a problem (Morris Snell, 2008). To build high human capital, PSFs nee d to identify, attract and retain superior professionals, which can be achieved through HR practices such as selection, recruitment and training. HRM should ideally work to enhance the firms competitive position by creating superior human capital skills, experience and knowledge that contribute to firm economic value (Guest, 1997). Thus we propose that HPWS result in the creation of a high quality human capital pool that cannot be easily imitated because of time compression diseconomies, e.g., Mercks RD capability (Wright et al., 2001). For example, the professionals in PSFs gain explicit knowledge through their formal education and tacit knowledge through learning on the job. HR practices are thought to lead to the development of a skilled workforce and one that results in functional behavior for the firm, thus potentially forming a source of competitive advantage (Becker Huselid, 1998). These arguments lead to the following proposition. Proposition 1a: The PSFs human capital mediates the relationship between HPWS and firm performance. Although human capital has many positive benefits, it represents costs to firms as well. For example, PSFs usually try to recruit the best graduates from top institutions. To attract them, firms need to provide compensation which is more than their marginal productivity early in their careers (Hitt et al., 2001). Furthermore, professionals new skills must be developed since they gain tacit knowledge through learning on the job (Bierman Gely, 1994). Although they are learning new skills, they may be less effective at the beginning. The cost for them may exceed their capital (Hitt et al., 2001). These arguments lead to the following proposition. Proposition 1b: There is a curvilinear relationship between the PSFs human capital and firm performance. The relationship is negative early in the professionals tenure but becomes positive. Social capital. Social capital is a resource which is embedded in the relationships among individuals (Loury, 1977; Coleman, 1988; Bourdieu; 1985; Burt, 1992; Putnam, 1993; Nahapiet Ghoshal, 1998; Lin, 2001). It is different from human capital. Social capital is embedded within, available through, and derived from the network of relationships possessed by an individual or social unit (Nahapiet Ghoshal, 1998) while human capital is embedded in individuals head (Becker, 1964; OSullivan Sheffrin, 2003). Social capital plays an important role in PSFs. The firms ability to attract and retain clients depends not only on its competence to provide high quality services produced by the professionals human capital but also on their connections to potential clients (Maister, 1993; Smigel, 1969). Pennings et al. (1998) analysed firm-level and individual-level social capital in PSFs. The firm-level social capital can help PSFs attract potential clients because the potential clients will choose a firm as a service provider on the basis of previous interpersonal relationship with the firms professionals when other things are equal. Within PSFs, the fact is that a set of clients are handled or looked after by an individual professional who is the key person. Their results show that social capital of owners (partners) contributed more to firm survival than those of employees (associates). Pennings et al. (1998)s study produced major evidence for the contention that a firms human and social capital have important implications for performance. The service delivered by PSFs suffers from an â€Å"opaque quality† because of PSFs knowledge intensity (von Nordenflycht, 2010). This refers to situations where the quality of an experts output is hard for non-experts (i.e., customers) to evaluate, even after the output is produced and delivered (Broschak, 2004; Empson, 2001; Levin Tadelis, 2005; Là ¸wendahl, 2000; cited in von Nordenflycht, 2010). In this situation, personal relationships and ambiguity reduction through personal contact take on extra significance. As clients and customers often have problems estimating the value of the product/service offered, establishing close social links between the PSFs and the customer/ client becomes vital (Alvesson, 2001). Other things equal, the potential clients will choose a firm as a service provider on the basis of previous interpersonal relationship with the firms professionals (Pennings et al., 1998). In addition, PSFs typically make investments in relationships with clients and make efforts to generate social attachment (Fichman Levinthal, 1991). Some research also demonstrates that social capital mediates the HR practices and firm performance relationship. For example, Youndt et al. (2004) state that thoughtful selection of people who ‘fit with the organizations culture, or intensive training programmes that not only socialize incoming employees but also indoctrinate common values among existing employees, may have a strong impact on the social capital of organizations. Collins and Smith (2006)s found that commitment-based HR practices were indirectly related to firm financial performance through their effects on organizational social climate and knowledge exchange and combination; Thus, HPWS improve the internal social structure within organizations, that facilitates communication and cooperation among employees (Evans Davis, 2005) which in turn has been found to be linked to organizational performance. These arguments lead to the following proposition. Proposition 1c: The PSFs social capital mediates the relationship between HPWS and firm performance. Organizational capital. Organizational capital is defined as the institutionalized knowledge and codified experience residing within an organization and utilized through databases, patents, manuals, structures, systems, and processes (Youndt et al., 2004; Subramaniam Youndt 2005). The organizational routines and processes which embody organizational knowledge are a source of organizational competitive advantage (Teece, 2000) In PSFs, organizational process of the typical professional service firm (PSF) is highly institutionalized because of the knowledge-based nature of the work and ultimately, in the historical evolution of relatively autonomous professions (Freidson, 1986; Greenwood, Hinings, Brown, 1990; cited in Morris, Gardner, Anand, 2007). The organizational routine of PSF is informal work understandings and practices built up by colleagues as they collaborate over time, like an accumulated short hand of work (Morris, 2000: 822). Morris and Snell (2008) emphasize the importance of organizational capital for PSFs. They state that organizations tend to draw on organizational capital for many aspects of learning, including knowledge creation, sharing, and integration, but this resource may provide more value for specific types of learning. Based on the basis of previous literature and their own experience with PSFs, organizational capital is most likely to create more value when individuals in the organization are trying to integrate knowledge. In terms of integration, then, organizational capital helps to create value through the implementation and reuse of knowledge across affiliates, which allows professionals to deliver solutions more efficiently to clients. Besides facilitating knowledge integration, organizational capital also shapes professionals image and identity (Empson, 2001) which plays an important role in attracting new clients. Many scholars have found that SHRM improve organizational capital. For example, Wright et al. (2001) argued that HPWS might play a role in creating cultures or mindsets that enable the maintenance of unique competencies (e.g., the safety record of DuPont). The HR is not limited to its direct effects on employee skills and behavior. HRs effects are more encompassing in that they help weave those skills and behaviors within the broader fabric of organizational processes, systems and, ultimately, competencies. Other strategists who embrace the RBV point out that competitive advantage (vis core competence) comes from aligning skills, motives, and so forth with organizational systems, structures, and processes that achieve capabilities at the organizational level (Hamel Prahalad, 1994; Peteraf, 1993; Teece et al., 1997). Koch and McGrath (1996) took a similar logic in their study of the relationship between HR planning, recruitment, and staffing practices and labor productivity. They arg ued that â€Å"†¦ a highly productive workforce is likely to have attributes that make it a particularly valuable strategic asset,† (p. 335). They suggested that firms which developed effective routines for acquiring human assets develop a stock of talent that cannot be easily imitated. They also found that these HR practices were related to labor productivity in a sample of business units, and that this relationship was stronger in capital intensive organizations. These arguments lead to the following proposition. Proposition 1d: The PSFs organizational capital mediates the relationship between HPWS and firm performance. The Uses of Firm Resources The resource-based view of firm (RBV) and knowledge-based theory of firm contribute to identifying the existing resources that have the potential to constitute a source of sustainable competitive advantage (Hitt et al., 2006). However, merely possessing such resources does not guarantee the development of competitive advantages or the creation of value (Barney Arikan, 2001; Priem Butler, 2001; cited in Sirmon et al., 2007). These valuable resources must be effectively managed and utilized to achieve superior profit (Schultz, 1961) and a competitive advantage (Barney Arikan, 2001; Sirmon et al., 2007). The emphasis on the use of resources is consistent with the dynamic capabilities perspective (Teece et al., 1997) which includes considerations such as how resources are developed, how they are integrated within the firm and how they are released. Using these resources is the same as using the knowledge which is embedded in the individuals, the relationships and the organizational processes, routines, databases, and systems. There are two streams or approaches of research on using these knowledge or resources (Hargadon Fanelli, 2002). One focuses on how to reuse or replicate existing knowledge, i.e., exploitation (Levitt March, 1988). The other one focuses on how to generate new knowledge, i.e., exploration (March, 1991; Kogut Zander, 1992). The effective use of resources may help a PSF balance the effective exploitation of existing resources with exploration of knowledge to create new capabilities. The following matrix shows how PSFs create value by exploiting and exploring existing resources. The matrix shows that the exploration of resources in PSFs is to deliver new products or service to new clients and to deliver new products or service to old clients. It also shows that the exploitation of resources in PSFs is to deliver existing services or products to the existing clients or new clients as there is no new knowledge/capability required. The exploration process needs to explore the human capital to invent new products or services and the social capital to attract new clients and new business and the organic organizational capital (Kang Snell, 2009) that facilitate this delivery. The exploitation process needs to reuse or refine the existing products or services and existing clients, which requires the standardized organizational capital (Kang Snell, 2009) to facilitate this delivery. To illustrate exploration and exploitation more detail, four capabilities of PSFs are identified to effectively exploit existing resources with exploration of knowledge to create new capabilities. They are managing teams, leveraging knowledge, combining and exchanging knowledge, and sensing the changes in the external environment capabilities. Managing teams. In professional service firms, most of work is project or program-oriented, serving the needs of the external customers. It requires several professionals work together, and frequently involves client contact, often through co-location at a clients place of business. Then team forms the basic unit of work in the professional service firm. Generally, a team consists of partners and associates. The dynamic global economic environment accelerates PSFs work speed. Usually the customers assignments are much more compressed in term of time (Morris, Gardner, Anand, 2007). Therefore, to successful serving clients, the team management is vital. Teece (2003) provides a lot emphasis on the coordinating tasks, managing conflict, communicating and cooperating within the team in team management. As with the traditional firm, coordination must be achieved, and conflict must be managed. In the professional services context, raw conflict can lead to mass defections and the destruction of enterprise value, even more assuredly than in an industrial company setting. So conflict management is likely to be especially significant with an expert services context because experts are likely to not only have strong preferences, but are also likely to be self-confident, possibly egotistical, and possibly lacking in good business sense while already having some degree of established financial success (Teece, 2003: 897). The most critical communication in a professional service context is frequently peer-to-peer. Partners (senior talent) frequently need to access other senior talent in order to meet client needs (Teece, 2003: 903). Leveraging knowledge. Leveraging knowledge, that is the transfer of know-how from seniors to juniors in client assignments, sustains the basic division of labor in the professional firm and also underpins its profitability (Hitt et al., 2001; Malos Campion, 2000). All professional firms compete by leveraging knowledge and partners reputation (Greenwood et al., 2005). In PSFs, partners own the most human capital and social capital in a firm. To meet clients demands, partners need to select other professionals to form a team to possess the appropriate skills, experience and training. In this way, the partners knowledge and capabilities are leveraged. Meanwhile, the junior professionals, or associates also acquire intangible knowledge during the long apprenticeship they serve with their senior colleagues before being assessed for a partnership position. Leverage ratios are measured by total number of associates divided by the total number of partners (Hitt, et al., 2001; Phillips, 2001). High leverage ratios are commensurate with highly codified knowledge packages and standardized tools and methodologies which can routinely be applied by junior associates. Lower leverage is associated with experience or expertise models in which knowledge is less routinized and the firm seeks more complex projects in which there is a premium on the experience or special expertise of more senior staff (Maister 1993; Hansen, Nohria, Tierney, 1999). Effective leveraging creates dynamic capabilities whereby the firm is able to renew, augment, and adapt its current capabilities to serve continuously changing and new client needs (Teece et al.. 1997; Tripsas, 1997; cited in Hitt et al., 2001). Hitt et al. (2001) also find the empirical support for the positive relationship between leveraging and firm performance in professional service context. Combining and exchanging knowledge capability

An Analytical Essay on the Flaws of Okonkwo in Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart :: Things Fall Apart essays

The Flaws of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart "Man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but, when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all." (Aristotle). In Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is living proof of Aristotle's statement. Although he is arguably the most powerful man in Umuofia, His personal flaws of fear of failure and uncontrollable anger do not allow him true greatness as a human being. Okonkwo is one of the most powerful men in the Ibo tribe. In his tribe, he is both feared and honored. This is evident by this quote, "Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond... [He] brought honor to his tribe by throwing Amalinze the Cat..."(3) This suggests that in Okonkwo's society, power is attained by making a name for yourself in any way possible, even if that means fighting and wrestling to get your fame. Although honor is a good thing, when people have to fight to gain it, it becomes an object of less adoration. Okonkwo's "prosperity was visible in his household... his own hut stood behind the only gate in the red walls. Each of his three wives had her own hut... long stacks of yams stood out prosperously in [the barn]... [Okonkwo] offers prayers on the behalf of himself, his three wives, and eight children." (14) Okonkwo has also worked and tended to his crops in a very zealous fashion, and drives everyone around him to work as har d as he does. Because of this, he earns his place as one of Umuofia's most powerful men. In many cultures, a big family is a source of pride. Although Okonkwo is not always pleased by his children and wives, it also brings him a source of pride to have three wives and eight children. Large families mean that the head of the family is able to support all of them. Okonkwo's devotion to his crops and family gives to him the respect that any father and husband deserves, and in his culture, being able to fight and kill as well gives him even more influence and power. Okonkwo's first and most prominent flaw is his fear of becoming a failure.

Misconception On Hispanics :: stereotyping

Miss conceptions In today’s society we stereotype the Hispanic race as being lazy and having lot’s of children. People perceive the Hispanic race this way but reality we are all the same. We work hard to get were we are today in society. Many people have bad images of the Hispanic race because they see one Hispanic person who dress a certain way or even acts a certain way and they assume we are all bad people. For example if you see a Hispanic man that is baldheaded and has on baggie clothes people assume that he is a gangster by the way he looks. But what they wouldn’t know is who he really is he could be a straight â€Å"a’† student but only assume he is bad by his appearance. As in Brent Staples essay Black Men and Public Spaces when the man is passing through the park and the women assumes he’s going to hurt her because of the way he looks and how he is acting the woman starts to run away. That is peoples bad miss conception of others beside themselves. Garcia 2 Some Hispanic people try to go their whole life denying who they really are. Like in Passing when Joan Steinau Lester tells us that all of us developed different ways of coping with stereotypes of our groups and of ourselves (260). Most Hispanic people chose to pass because they grew up around hardship and racial slurs from other that thought themselves to be better. Others chose to pass because they seen it done to other Hispanics and did not want to encounter the same reaction. So rather than face who they are and were they come from these people chose to pass and avoid all the negative reactions. Instead of trying to pass Hispanic people should overcome and try to better themselves by getting a good education and get those good jobs. So they wouldn’t have to pass they could be proud of who they are and were their family comes from. So they don’t have to feel like an airborne plant, flourishing without roots (Holman 258). Hispanic people have avoided these harmful situations by passing our by staying far from those who belittle them and not getting into confrontations. Hispanics have not put themselves in an environment where they could be harmed. They surround themselves in all Hispanic communities were they feel comfortable and they don’t have to feel like an outsider in their own community.

Poetry †Pablo Neruda Essay

1. The speaker in this poem is the persona, because first person is used (â€Å"I†). 2. The character of the speaker changes from the beginning of the poem to the end. At the beginning the character is unsure in his words and actions, can’t find an answer to his questions: â€Å"I don’t know, I don’t know where it came from, from winter or a river. I don’t know how or when†, â€Å"I did not know what to say†. The character has also lost his identity: â€Å"there I was without a face†, â€Å"my eyes were blind†. By the end of the poem, the speaker ‘finds himself’ as part of something, part of the â€Å"void†, â€Å"mystery†, â€Å"part of the abyss†. He finds himself going with the flow, wheeling â€Å"with the stars†, â€Å"my heart broke loose on the wind†. 3. a) The kind of images used most often after the line, â€Å"and suddenly I saw† in stanza two are connected with the nature and its flow: â€Å"palpitating plantations†, â€Å"shadow perforated†. They are also connected with how the world opens for the speaker: â€Å"the heavens unfastened and open†. b) This imagery contributes to our understanding of the speaker’s thoughts and feelings when he first encounters poetry, because the reference to nature helps the reader to understand the idea of the poem. Nature is something everybody understands regardless of nation or education. 4. The speaker’s first lines of poetry could be â€Å"pure nonsense, / pure wisdom†. They could be nonsense because he is not guided by his thoughts, but the poetry simply flows in him and he writes it. The lines can be wisdom as well because of the way the poet receives his ideas and puts them into words.

Long-Lasting Hostility Among Indians Towards British Rule Essay

How far do Sources 10, 11 and 12 suggest that the Amritsar Massacre created widespread and long-lasting hostility among Indians towards British rule? Sources 10, 11 and 12 suggest that the Amritsar Massacre, the incident in which British troops under the order of General Dyer fired at a crowd of Indian protesters on the 13th April 1919, did create widespread and long-lasting hostility among Indians towards the British. Creating the British government to be portrayed as repressive and irresponsible. However, the alternative view presented by the sources is that Indians were not hostile towards the British, but they were in fact appreciative of their help and did not feel that they were repressive. The view of which the Amritsar Massacre did create widespread and long-lasting hostility amongst Indians towards British rule is presented in Source 11. ‘The Empire have become dishonest and unscrupulous, with no regard to the wishes of the Indian people.’ This article was written by Gandhi in 1920, which is shortly after the Amritsar Massacre, and the reliability of it is not that high as it is published in his own newspaper. Although it is still useful as Gandhi was a highly influential figure and supported by the masses so what he said would be key. Using strong words such as dishonest and unscrupulous, suggests strong feelings of hostility towards British rule. Also Gandhi feels as though the British are almost cheating the Indian people, meaning that the British are doing what they want without consulting the people they are ruling over. This source shows that the hostility felt by Indians was in fact widespread as it is written by Gandhi, a man who represented and was supported by the masses within India. This source does suggest that the Amritsar Massacre did create widespread and long-lasting hostility among Indians towards British rule. This theme of hostility towards British is also shown within Source 10, ‘Irresponsible government†¦ rights of human beings are denied to us.’ This extract is from a speech made by Motilal Nehru at the meeting of Congress a few days after the Massacre occurred. The usefulness of this is not as high as source 11 as we cannot be sure if the hostility was long-lasting as it is the same year as the Massacre itself. Although the reliability is still high Nehru was addressing the whole of Congress meaning he could not lie and also as it a few days after the Amritsar Massacre would increase the reliability as it will show the true feelings of Nehru. This extract shows that the Indians once again felt that the British were doing as they pleased without Indian voices being heard, which is also shown in source 11. However, as this source is written by Motilal Nehru, leader of the Indian National Congress, it is difficult to say from this source that hostility was in fact widespread as Nehru only represents the Indian National Congress which has the high caste community as a significant majority. Although this source does not show that the Amritsar Massacre created widespread and long-lasting hostility among Indians, however it does suggest that it was leading to this point. However, the alternative view shown within source 12 is that Indians were not hostile towards the British, but they were in fact appreciative of their help and did not feel that they were repressive. ‘Without British protection we would not be completely oppressed by their majority.’ This extract was from a Muslim shoe merchant, Hafiz Hussain, investigating Hindu-Muslim riots during the civil disobedience campaign in 1931. This extract is useful and also reliable as it is from a common Muslim who would have no reason to lie and would give an overview and insight into the situation. As Hafiz Hussain is talking about the pressure the Hindus put the Muslims under to close their shops as a mark of respect for an executed terrorist, he is glad that the British are protecting them as they would have no choice in closing their shops as the majority would oppress them into doing so. This shows that this hostility towards the British was not caused by the Amritsar Massacre but that of the execution of a terrorist. This suggests that the Amritsar Massacre was not the only reason widespread and long-lasting hostility among Indians towards British rule was created, it shows that other factors came into play. The view that the Amritsar Massacre created widespread and long-lasting hostility among Indians towards the British is shown mainly within source 11, as it is the most useful and reliable source, but also source 10 as well. Although source 12 does suggest that there were other factors leading towards the hostility among Indians towards the British its provenance is not as great as those of sources 10 and 11 combined. As source 10 is the most useful and reliable at showing the widespread and long-lasting hostility among Indians due to the Amritsar Massacre it outweigh the points given by source 12. Suggesting that that the Indian people did have widespread and long-lasting hostility towards British rule because of the Massacre.