Wednesday, November 27, 2019

The Restructuring of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited Essays

The Restructuring of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited Essays The Restructuring of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited Essay The Restructuring of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited Essay Application Exercise Strategic Management Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), where I am employed, is engaged and exploration, refining, distribution and marketing of petroleum product across the country. In downstream product marketing BPCL, has bouquet of products on offer, ranging from Petrol, Diesel, to Aviation Fuel, to Cooking Gas to Auto Lubricants. It is a global major and ranked 225th in the Fortune Global 500 rankings of the worlds biggest corporations for the year 2012. The ChangeOpening up of the Indian economy in the nineties brought with it more competition and challenges to BPCL, kindled by the phased dismantling of the Administered Pricing Mechanism (APM) on petroleum products and emergence of additional capacities in the region in refining and marketing. Increasing globalisation, new products and services, and innovative marketing resulted in a very market savvy consumer. The production-based success philosophy of marketers was replaced by a customer-oriented philosophy.Bharat Petroleum took cognisance of this situation well in time and took radical steps to keep itself attuned to the changing times, realising that the future belongs to those who listen and adapt to their customers. Application of 7-S Framwork To assess the effectiveness of the implementation approach in BPCL in late 90s, I have applied below the 7-S Framework, which is based around seven key elements of any organisation, with the view that in order for it to operate successfu lly, all the elements in this model must align synergistically together.The factors are split into two groups: hard or soft. The hard elements are those that can physically be seen when in place, whereas the soft are more intangible and cannot readily be seen. Hard Elements| Soft Elements| Strategy| Shared Values| Structure| Skills| Systems| Staff| | Style| Shared Values Shared values are the pinnacle of the model and therefore in any organisation. They form the underpinning culture, strategy, effectiveness and performance, linking to every other element in this framework.They link all that is of the organisation: how people behave, the structure, its systems and so on. Getting this balance right means getting the culture right. In 1996, Bharat Petroleum went through a process of visioning, involving people at all levels, which evolved a shared vision and a set of shared values. Visioning exercise started with the board, facilitated by external consultants. The exercise was extended across the organization in a snowball approach flowing from top management to the junior management, facilitated by the external experts, specifically trained for this purpose.Thus emerged the core of the vision for BPCL which was owned by every management staff. The core of vision as articulated by the organisational members across the organization is given below – Be the Best| Make the workplace exciting| Improve boundary management| Fulfill social responsibilities, be ethical| Apply the best technology| Make systems strong and dynamic| Establish first-class brands and corp. image| Excellent customer care amp; service| Go for excellent performance and operational efficiency| Make people source of improvement|The visioning exercise the provided for articulation and aspirations of the people. The process brought the whole organization out of lethargy, increased the energy levels and expectations on individuals, teams and the organizations. Since, the vision was iterated thro ughout the organization, there was greater buyin for the change. Strategy Bharat Petroleum recognised that all strategic initiatives must conform to the overall vision of the Corporation and improve the economic value.Based on the assessment / visioning exercise carried out across the BPCL, following strategic gaps and opportunities emerged – 1. Collective dissatisfaction with status quo 2. Low customer focus and customer orientation 3. Huge gap between the vision and capabilities to achieve it a. Increase refining capacities to reduce the dependence on other oil PSUs for product support. Invest in refineries to cater to marketing aspirations in south, east amp; north India. b.Backward integration to invest in exploration and production to make up for the margins pressure in down stream activities. BPCL relentlessly worked towards fulfilling these gaps by taking following initiatives – Product Security Initiatives: To improve product security, BPCL acquired two standal one refineries – Kochi refinery (9. 5 MMTPA) in South and Numaligarh Refinery (3 MMTPA) in Assam. Investment in 9 MMTPA refinery in joint venture with Oman Refineries in Madhaya Pradesh to cater to Northern India, where BPCL was dependent on other PSUs for product support.Backend Integration Initiatives: Bharat PetroResources Ltd (BPRL) was incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary company of BPCL with the objective of implementing BPCL’s plans in the upstream exploration and production sector. The exploration and production activities of BPRL and its subsidiary companies extend to 26 exploration blocks where they hold participating interests (PI). Of this, 11 blocks are in India and 15 are abroad. Besides India, BPRL has blocks in Australia, Brazil, East Timor, Indonesia, Mozambique and the United Kingdom.BPRL’s total acreage in all these blocks is around 68,000 sq. km, of which approx 89% is offshore acreage. These blocks are in various stages of exploration w ith definite finds. Brand Initiatives: In the highly competitive scenario, it has become imperative to own dominant brands. BPCL introduced new generation branded fuels Speed, Hi Speed Diesel and Speed 97, to introduce premium fuel brands in the Country, keeping pace with the technological advancements in the automobile industry leading to introduction of new generation vehicles.BPCL also recognized the customer need for pure quality and correct quantity of fuel for their vehicles and launched the flagship initiative of Pure For Sure (PFS) offering the guarantee of pure quality and correct quantity of fuel to our customers. The petrol pumps displaying a prominent Pure For Sure signage became landmark destinations. Automotive Lubricants Initiatives: Bharat Petroleum launched the full range of Automotive Engine Oils, Gear Oils, Transmission oils, Specialty Oils and Greases under the umbrella brand MAK, offering range of benefits to the users of present day modern vehicles.Structure Th e older structure was functionally organized. There were mainly four functions – Refineries, Marketing, Finance, and Personnel – each headed by a Functional Director. Other support departments like corporate affairs, legal, audit, vigilance, coordination and company secretary were directly under Camp;MD. Whole of India was divided into four regions and further in 22 divisions. Each region was headed by Regional Manager who was incharge of all activities within the region. Across the marketing function, every individual and role was focused on multiple customer segments.Hence, there was low customer awareness in terms if unique needs of different customer segments and marketing strategy was formulated by people who were far from the customer and had low understanding of customers they were targeting. Thus the old structure had created a bottleneck between strategy formulators and implementers in terms of regional structure and between the field staff and the corporate o ffices and the refinery. The early traumatic experience of huge loss in market share amp; profitability in auto lubricants, after it’s deregulation in 1990, forced the strategists for due reflection.BPCL then embarked upon the journey of restructuring. Bharat Petroleum realised that, in the long run, success can only come with a total reorientation and change in approach with the customer as the focal point. In a proactive move to adapt to the emerging competitive scenario and support the emerging strategy (discussed earlier), function-based structure was carefully dismantled and replaced with a process-based one. This made the company more responsive to its customer needs. BPCL therefore was restructured into a Corporate Centre, Strategic Business Units (SBUs) and Shared Services and Entities.The organisational design comprising of five customers facing SBUs, viz. Aviation, Industrial and Commercial, LPG, Lubricants and Retail and one asset based SBU, viz. Refinery, is based on the philosophy of greater customer focus based on the specific needs of each customer segments. Systems Bharat Petroleum has always been on the forefront of harnessing technology initiatives for BPCL has been on forefront in harnessing technology, maximising efficiency and achieving greater customer satisfaction.Bharat Petroleum became the first PSU to implement Enterprisewide Resource Planning (ERP) solutions SAP. The challenge of SAP implementation was to ensure that all the integrated elements work seamlessly across the length and breadth of the country, including the remote locations. Bharat Petroleum reaped huge benefits of the integrated system in many areas of its operations like, tracking customer-receivables, monitoring credit-management, inventory management, besides easing the operations in a large number of areas. SkillsAs a Strategic Business Partner, HR supports skill-upgradation and multi-skilling of staff by identifying target segment and requirements from each SBU, evaluation of on the job performance post deployment in the job requiring those skills sets. BPCL designed Structured Standard programs’ which is implemented across the organization on BPCL Core Values amp; Culture / Identification and Development of Talent / Coaching Skills / Understanding of PMS Process and its timeliness / Understanding of New Manager Assimilation Process for Senior Managers having experience of handling a team.Impact of training is assessed and evaluated through proper framework. HR designed integrated Talent Management process with 360 degree assessment of all management staff on competencies, engagement and aspiration. Based on these inputs, individual development plans are designed. The purpose of the exercise is to ensure that talent is retained, encouraged and groomed to take over leadership position in near future. Staff Various HR initiatives were also taken by BPCL. Some of them are listed below –Engaging Employees: BPCL realizes tha t event based engagement is not sufficient instead employees needs continuous engagements so that their grievances are addressed, they are hand held, if needed, feel secured and appreciated and get committed to their work and corporation. Performance Planning amp; Appraisal System: PMS system in BPCL facilitates achievement of the Vision and Business Plans of the Corporation and foster development of every management staff, thereby gaining competitive advantage in the industry.The objectives of PMS in BPCL is to create awareness of Corporate and SBU/ Entity goals, translate such goals into tangible objectives and measures at the individual level through discussions between Appraiser and Appraisee, identify managerial attributes/ competencies for each role necessary to achieve the goals, establish a formal process of continuous feedback on performance and identify developmental plans to enhance performance.Manpower Planning: Based on inputs from SBUs / Entities, HR either relocate th e already employed resource from other facility, based on the strength of the employee and the job requirement or initiate the process of recruitment. Career Planning: To bring HR closer to work place, BPCL has embedded HR with each SBU / Entity, who hand hold these set-up in HR matters in consultation with central HR set-up.Every year, embedded HR, alongwith corporate HR to discuss the talent development, career planning of individual staff to decide on inter-functional movement and short to long term career path. Conclusion The Quantitative impact of re-structuring, which placed BPCL ahead of its time among Oil PSUs, has been amazing over the period of time and helped it embark on path of successive progress.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

How Fluorescent Lights Affect You and Your Health

How Fluorescent Lights Affect You and Your Health Fluorescent lights are a common light source in office buildings and shopping markets. With the advent of compact fluorescent lights, they are becoming commonplace in most homes as well. Fluorescent lights are less expensive to buy compared to how long they last (about 13 times longer than regular incandescent bulbs) and they are much less expensive to operate. They require a fraction of the energy that incandescent bulbs use. But they can have negative impacts on your health. The Problems There were hundreds of studies done over the last quarter of the last century that showed causal links between elongated exposure to fluorescent lights and various negative effects. The foundation of most of these problems is the quality of light thats emitted. Some of the theories about negative effects or dangers stem from the fact that we evolved with the sun as our main source of light. It is only relatively recently, with the proliferation of electricity, that humankind has taken complete control of the night and interior spaces. Before that, most light came from the sun or a flame. Since flames dont give much light, humans usually woke along with sunrise and worked outdoors or, later in our history, by windows. With the light bulb, we had the ability to do more at night and to work in enclosed rooms without windows. When the fluorescent lights were invented, businesses had access to a cheap and durable light source and they adopted it. But fluorescent bulbs do not produce the same type of light as the sun gives us. The sun produces a full spectrum light: that is, a light that spans the entirety of the visual spectrum. In fact, the sun gives a lot more than the visual spectrum. Incandescent lights give off a full spectrum, but not as much as sunlight. Fluorescent lights give off a rather limited spectrum. A lot of human body chemistry is based on the day-night cycle, which is also known as the circadian rhythm. Theoretically, if you do not get sufficient exposure to sunlight, your circadian rhythm gets thrown off and that, in turn, throws off your hormones with some negative health impacts. Health Effects   There are a number of negative health effects that have been linked to working under fluorescent lights that are theorized to be caused by this disturbance to our circadian rhythms and the accompanying body chemistry mechanisms. These negative health effects may include: MigrainesEye strainProblems sleeping, due to melatonin suppressionSymptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder or depressionEndocrine disruption and poor immune systemsFemale hormonal/menstrual cycle disruptionIncreases in breast cancer rates and tumor formationStress/Anxiety, due to cortisol suppressionSexual development/maturation disruptionObesityAgoraphobia (anxiety disorder) Flickering The other main cause of problems with fluorescent lights is that they flicker. Fluorescent light bulbs contain a gas that gets excited and glows when electricity is passed through this. The electricity is not constant. It is controlled by an electric ballast that pulses on and off really quickly. To most people, the flicker is so fast that it looks like the light is on constantly. However, some people can perceive the flicker even if they cant consciously see it. This may cause: MigrainesHeadachesEye strainStress/Anxiety Additionally, fluorescent bulbs, especially cheaper bulbs, may have a green cast to them, making all the colors in your environment more drab and sickly looking. There is some theory that this, at the least, affects mood. The Solutions If you are forced to work/live beneath fluorescent lights for extended periods of time each day there are a number of things you can do to combat the negative effects. The first is to get out in the sun more. Getting sun exposure, especially for stints in the morning, midday, and late afternoon, can help maintain your circadian rhythm. Putting in some windows, skylights, or solar tubes to bring sunlight into your interior environment can help as well. Short of bringing in sunlight itself, you can bring in a light source with a fuller spectrum. There are some full spectrum and daylight spectrum fluorescent lights on the market that have a better color temperature spread than regular fluorescent lights, so they do help, but they dont replace sunlight. Alternately you can put a full spectrum light filter over your fluorescent bulb or light fixture lens that alters the light coming out of the fluorescent bulb and gives it a fuller spectrum. These tend to give off more Ultraviolet (UV) rays that may cause skin problems, prematurely age materials like plastic or leather, and cause photos to fade. Incandescent lights do a decent job of providing a good spectrum of light that most people respond to well. Another benefit of incandescent lights is that they are a constant light source that doesnt flicker. If you perceive the fluorescent flicker, having a single incandescent light bulb on in the room can be enough to cover the flicker and keep it from affecting you. These bulbs can also balance out any green tint given off by the fluorescent bulb. In some cases, phototherapy, or light box therapy, can counteract lack of sunlight exposure. This is a common treatment for Seasonal Affective Disorder and it uses an incredibly bright light for a limited amount of time to help keep your body chemistry regulated. Optometrists have long prescribed glasses with a very light rose-colored tint on them to counteract the effects of working under fluorescent lights, especially in women who are experiencing hormonal problems. Finally, flicker problems can be improved by using fluorescent light fixtures that use electronic ballasts as opposed to magnetic ones.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Merit Award Application Scholarship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Merit Award Application - Scholarship Essay Example The National Society of Collegiate Scholars is the only honor’s society in the U.S. that recognizes outstanding academic achievement among first and second year students (Illinoisstate). The NSCS can serve as a launching point for a student’s future academic career by providing a wide array of opportunities for campus student involvement, community service and encouraging student members to become involved in their communities and become leaders in their communities. By becoming a member of the NSCS it demonstrates an individual’s drive for outstanding achievement and personal excellence. Being an active member provides the opportunity learn and grow professionally and personally by being able to share concepts, ideas and visions on how to improve our communities future through community involvement and developing our community and local economy. The scholarship opportunities are an additional benefit of joining the NSCS.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Contract Law Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Contract Law - Coursework Example The element of mutual agreement requires parties to agree on the terms of the contract. It stresses that the agreement must have an offer and acceptance. Finally, the element of consideration required for one party to agree to agree to a specific set of terms at an agreed price. The doctrine of consideration is one of the most crucial and controversial issues in the law of contract.1 It is crucial because for a contract to be valid, consideration must be present. In the absence of consideration, a contract is considered to be invalid and not binding to the parties involved in the contract. This is referred to as â€Å"nundum pactum†, that is, a promise made with no supporting agreement. The two main rules of a consideration are that is required to move from the promisee but does not have to move to the promisor, and it does not have to be adequate but needs to be sufficient. The cost-benefit analysis of contracts aims at making sure that parties do not enter into contracts that they will not benefit in one way or another. The doctrine of consideration has over the years developed as seen in the case of Williams v Roffey Bros. and Nicholls(Contractor)Ltd [1991] 1 QB 1.2 In this case, it is clear that little is needed in a contract for consideration to exist. However, even with consideration, not all contracts are fair, and consideration is not sufficient in dealing with these new problems. The doctrine of duress has become crucial in solving complex business relationships especially in monopoly situations. Economic duress is unacceptable uses of economic power aimed at making the victim submit to demand. Its development has affected the doctrine of consideration. Contracts are considered to be an exchange of agreements or promises between parties, which binds them legally. However, the mere fact that there is an agreement does not make a contract legal. The doctrine of consideration is very crucial yet

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Establishing a Planned Giving Program Essay Example for Free

Establishing a Planned Giving Program Essay Charitable institutions play an important role in society, now more than ever, as socio-economic issues mount. The essence of charitable institutions is to facilitate the sharing or transfer of resources from those with excess to those who are wanting. The culture of giving emerged as a means of ensuring overall social welfare by pulling excess resources to segments of the population having more than they need to people without resources. Charitable institutions develop fund raising activities and schemes to encourage philanthropy as well as manage funds to translate this into programs for the targeted beneficiaries to fulfill this role effectively and continuously. The philosophy of fund raising for charitable work is that philanthropy plays an important role in democratic societies and fund raising is inevitable to philanthropy so that fund raising becomes an absolute necessity to democratic societies. (Kelly, 1998) Over the years, charitable institutions developed many fund raising processes or systems to ensure the short and long-term flow of funds necessary to support their important function. Planned giving is one long-term fund raising program that emerged. This works by providing donors with the option, other than outright giving, to defer giving to charitable institutions years after expressing the giving behavior, usually upon the death of the donor. This then focuses on assets instead of income as the measure of the capacity of donors to give. (Kelly, 1998) The rationale for this option is to facilitate the passing of assets from one generation to another through a system that allocates assets from their estates to charitable institutions upon their death according to their preference (Harrington, 2004). If people elect to pass their assets to charitable institutions then they can do so through planned giving. This also finds support in the governance system by providing incentives to philanthropy in the form of tax exemptions. II. Review of Literature A. Important Concepts and Definitions in Planned Giving Kelly (1998) conceptualized planned giving as the managed effort by charitable institutions to raise funds from gifts of assets of donors utilizing estate and financial planning processes and tools. The purpose of planned giving is to generate major gifts by offering donors with another option aside from outright giving. This fund raising scheme expands the prospect pool of donors by centering on assets, instead of income, as the determinant of the capacity to give. The sole concern of planned giving is facilitating the philanthropy of individual donors as compared to the other fund-raising efforts directed at the public. Previously, this fund raising method was known as deferred giving because financial benefits for the recipient charitable institution usually are postponed until years after the donor has set-up the gift, usually upon death resulting to the appropriation or management of the estate. The description explained planned giving in terms of the implications to charitable institutions and donors of the benefits from financial planning and incentives for planning giving. Weinstein (2002) defined planned giving, also known as charitable gift planning, as the giving of charitable contributions with some level of professional guidance. Most planned gifts have the effect of reducing the estate taxes, income taxes, and/or capital gains taxes of the donor. Charitable gift planning supports the charitable intentions of the donor while at the same time helps donors better manage their assets for their families and loved ones. Usually, planned gifts are bequests, which mean deferred actual receipt by charitable institutions. Non-profit organizations receive the bequest after the death of the donor. There are also other planned gifts, such as donations of appreciated stock, which accrue current contributions for the charitable institution. This definition focuses on planned giving as a process or system and the manner this works in supporting the fund raising activities of charitable institutions and asset management of donors. Hopkins (2005) explained that planned giving ideally concerns â€Å"long-term capital gain property† (p. 245) that is likely to increase in value. The greater the increase in value, the greater would be the charitable deduction as well as the income from tax savings. Value appreciation comprises a core concept in planned giving so that a planned gift is essentially interest in money or an item of property of the donor. Planning giving involves the transference of partial interest in property based on the concept of property as having two interests, which are income and remainder interest. The income interest from an item of property depends on the income generated by the property at the current time while the remainder interest from an item of property pertains to the projected value of the property, or the property produced by reinvestments, at some future date. As such, the remainder interest is the amount equal to the present value of the property when received at a subsequent point in time, which is higher than the income interest assuming that the property is appreciating. Measuring these two types of interest in property is through the consideration of property value, donor’s age, and the period when the income interest will exist. An income interest or a remainder interest in property could be subject to charitable donation. However, a deduction is almost never available for a charitable gift of an income interest in property. By contrast, the charitable contribution of a remainder interest in an item of property will likely give rise to a charitable deduction with compliance of all technical requirements. This provides an explanation of the manner that the system works and serves as an elaboration of the previous definitions. The explanation also provided a rationale for planned giving since remainder interest, which accrues in the future is usually always subject to charitable deductions when compared to income interest accruing at present. Hopkins (2005) further explained the two basic types of planned gifts. One is legacy or charitable giving contained under a will. This is a gift coming out of the estate of a deceased as a bequest or devise. Planned giving in the form of a legacy works through the inclusion of a charitable institution as a beneficiary of the estate of the donor with entitlement following the death of the donor. As such, this perpetuates the philanthropy of individual even in death. The amount assigned to the charitable institution comprises a tax exemption that decreases the estate tax. The other is a gift made during a donor’s lifetime, using a trust or other agreement. An example is charitable gift annuity that commences when a donor gives a charitable institution a certain amount of money that the institution can use, similar to a premium paid for insurance, but with the condition that a beneficiary receive payment of a certain amount every year. The amount given by the donor is subject to tax exemption. After the payment of annuity ceases such as with the death of the beneficiary, the charitable institutions gains the amount paid and all other interest accruing from its appropriation. This explains the options available to donors, with options supporting the charitable intentions of donors and providing them with convenient options for financial planning. B. Basic Steps in Establishing Planned Giving Program for a Non-Profit Organization Establishing planned giving program for a non-profit organization should involve some basic preparatory steps similar to a business plan in profit organizations. The first step is preparation. This involves an assessment of the capability of the organization to manage a planned giving program to determine areas requiring improvements to accommodate the program. Another must do is obtaining the feedback from the board over the development of the planned giving program since the board’s support determines a successful program. This step also involves a feasibility study to determine whether the intended program meets two criteria. One is whether the leaders and members of the organization together with donors believe in continuing its existence in the long-term and the other is whether donors express their belief in the longevity of the organization through significant gifts. (Barett Ware, 2002) In satisfying these criteria there is a higher probability of success. Second step is planning. This step covers the identification of goals and specific objectives of the program, the changes in organizational structure including the creation of committees and sub-committees and assignment of leadership positions and tasks, the plan for staffing such as part time or full time, the budget to cover all aspects of the program, and the timetable for the phases of the planned giving program. (Dove, Spears Herbert, 2002) These areas should receive focus to cover all planned program to support viability. The third step involves the identification of the program’s core and specific features. The idea of planned giving is to provide givers with various options on the ways through which they prefer to actualize their charitable intentions and manage their assets in the process. This means the need to identify the particular planned giving options that the non-profit organization would make available to its donors together with the details of how these works. (Ashton, 2004) This is for the benefit of the staff who would be directly dealing with donors and for the benefit of donors wanting to learn more about giving options offered by its preferred charitable institution. The fourth step is policymaking. Guidelines and protocols are inevitable in actualizing the planned giving program. Policies should cover issues such as legal advice, confidentiality of information, conflict in interest and authority in negotiations. Guidelines should also thoroughly explain procedures in executing and accepting planned gifts, valuation of donations, according of credit for planned gifts, investing managing and administering of planned gifts, and limitations and terms of planned gifts. Lastly, the policies should also establish the functions and roles of the committees and administrators. (Barett Ware, 2002) The fifth step is promoting the planned giving program to individual potential donors as well as the community in general. There are a number of ways for non-profit organizations to promote their planned giving programs including the handouts or leaflets, newsletters and other widely distributed publications, hosted events, seminars, and personal testimonials or referrals. The important thing is to introduce the program to people as a means of developing interest in planned giving and reaching out to existing donors who could be interested in different options. (Reiss, 2000) The sixth step is prospecting. This involves a two-fold consideration. On one hand, this involves the determination of the likely uptake of the program by considering potential donors including the involvement in planned giving by members of the board themselves. This results to identification of anticipated long-term fund raising position of the organization. On the other hand, this also involves the determination of the impact of the program including the possible issues and problems to support contingency planning. (Rosso, 2003) C. Establishing Goals and Objectives for Planned Giving Program Goals comprise statements of the position or outcome that the organization wants to gain while objectives set out the manner of achieving this position or outcome (Lewis, 2006). Establishing the goals and objectives of the planned giving program also goes through a series of interconnected cyclical processes. The first process is communication and clarification of issues, problems, challenges or opportunities that provide a context for establishing the program. These support the determination of goals. If a challenge is giving options then the goal would be diversified giving options for donors and the objective is the development of a planned giving program. (Lauer, 1997) The second process is evaluation of alternative solutions to express needs and requirements into goals and objectives through measures of success that would also constitute the criteria for evaluating the extent of fulfillment of the goals and objectives. (Lauer, 1997) The third process is articulation by drawing the participation of all stakeholders in providing perspectives over the areas for improvement and drawing consensus on actions (Lauer, 1997).

Friday, November 15, 2019

Five Imporant Events Of The 19 :: essays research papers

Five Important Events of the 1960s Assassinations   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the 1960s the world was hit with four different assassinations of some of the leaders in the world who were out to change the way things were. Although some disagreed to the changes that they were trying to do and even threatened them, they still continued to pursue their idea of change.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ngo Dinh Diem became the first president of South Vietnam in 1956 he was a catholic who opposed Communism and sought for an independent Vietnam while it was under French power. Although he was viewed as brutal, corrupt, and prejudice against non-Catholics and Buddhists, he did however help make Vietnam an independent country from France and help prevent Communist rule over all of Vietnam. In 1933 Ngo Dinh Diem was appointed Minister of the Interior by Emperor Bao Dai, at the same time during the 1930’s Ngo Dinh Diem began to disapprove of the French rule over Vietnam. He decided to leave the government and follow the many Vietnamese nationalists who were also against French rule. In 1950 he left Vietnam and headed for the U.S. after Vietnam had fallen under rule of Viet Minh in August of 1945, seeing Communism as a threat to his values as a Catholic and to an independent Vietnam. President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s administration fearing Communist take overs in Southeast Asia saw Ngo Dinh Diem as a Vietnamese nationalist capable of overturning Communist Viet Minh. In 1954 Viet Minh defeated the French and he won control of Northern Vietnam, thus splitting the country in half. Southern Vietnam remained under the control of Emperor Bao Dai, who was supported by the U.S. greatly. The U.S. appointed Ngo Dinh Diem as Prime Minister under Bao Dai. In 1956 elections were held in South Vietnam and Ngo Dinh Diem was elected the first president of the newly established Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). The U.S. military was sent into South Vietnam to form and train an army for the republic, thus becoming the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). While Ngo Dinh Diem was president he forcibly moved peasants and rural villagers from their homes and put them into controlled settlements in order to suppress Communist activities. He also drafted all males from the villages into the ARVN. As a result of his acts a group called the National Li beration Front (NLF) was formed in order to overthrow his power as president.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

CA Technologies: Bringing the Cloud to Earth Essay

CA Technologies wanted to be viewed as the leader of their business sector, offering quality service while keeping their organization aligned and thriving in a strong corporate culture. However, the leaders of the organization did not agree on how the organization should achieve these goals nor were they confident that their business structure could sustain them. Overall, CA Technologies financial performance is viewed as stable and growing. The organization had shown growth in revenue, income from continued operations and stock holders equity between March 2007 and March 2011. Furthermore, the company had grown their assets and reduced their long term debt during the same time frame (Annual Report). CA Technologies focus was/is creating solutions to contribute to their customers businesses and support them in a challenging IT environment (p2). Their main customer focus was 1000 of the Fortune 2000 organizations that were $2 billion businesses and above. None-the-less as their product line changed so did their customer base, to $300 million to $2 billion sized companies (p1,13). Their customer base is international consisting of companies from the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Their consumers come from various industries including banks, insurance companies, financial services, governments, manufactures, technology companies, retailers, educational institutes and health care providers. Their product line consists of service management and assurance, mainframe, project and portfolio management, security, virtualization and automation, and cloud computing (Annual Report). CA Technologies chooses to go to market through their own sales and marketing team and by leveraging partners. They have selected strategic partners to help them enter into new markets, grow their product awareness and integrate different technologies. At the same time they have their own direct sales team to create rapport with customers and to use initial consumer’s feedback to cannibalize on new opportunities (Annual Report). It is imperative that they use multiple ways to go to market because this is a highly competitive industry. At one point the organization’s â€Å"merger and acquisitions team had about 250 to 300 companies on their radar at one time† and in nine months they had acquired nine organizations and within twelve months they had invested close to $1 billion in acquisitions (p11). Some of these organizations are going to be commentators and others are direct competition, none-the-less there is a lot of competition. Furthermore, this market is not saturated as it is changing every day and has potential for new entrants. When the focus is on cloud technology and not their full portfolio, calling cloud technology highly competitive is an understatement. To display how competitive the industry is there is an online newspaper called â€Å"CloudTimes† that has a list of the top 100 Cloud Computing Companies (Martin Tantow). The CRN (online technology cite) goes as far as listing the coolest cloud computing vendors by their business category (CRN). There are several other articles such as â€Å"The Top 150 Players in Cloud Computing†, â€Å"85 Cloud Computing Vendors Shaping the Emerging Cloud† and more (Ray DePena). The buyers have a great deal of bargaining power. With so many organizations offering cloud services and offering to customize their services for customers business needs, there is a lot of competition. The CRN breaks down Coolest Cloud† companies by the top 20 in each cloud specialization. These specializations are: Platform and Development, Infrastructure Vendors, Security, Storage and Data Center, Applications and Software (Mark Tantow). CA Technologies was listed under â€Å"Coolest Cloud† top 20 for security. This specialization may give them a leg up especially in the Security market. On the other hand, if an organization is looking for a generalized cloud function, this may discourage that organization from choosing CA technologies. The suppliers in this situation are the employees and they have an immense amount of bargaining power. With there being hundreds of Cloud companies currently, more starting and existing companies expanding their cloud products, the job market is large. Microsoft alone has reported they will create 14 million jobs from 2011- 2015 due to public and private cloud computing (John Callaham). CA Technologies has 13,400 employees, 4,000 are in sales and marketing and 4,400 employees are in product development (Annual Report). Selling, marketing and product development are the rolls that will be created and that other companies are looking to fill. If not all employees, nearly two thirds of the organization’s employees have a great deal of bargaining power due to the expansion and demand for experienced workers in this field. There are several substitutes to cloud computing and most of them are what organizations were using prior to cloud computing. Some of these substitutes are main frames, networks, and email. The plus is CA Technologies already offers the substitute services. There are many commentators to cloud computing right now that we use every day, for example Microsoft is a complementor to Google.Docs. A company that offers the cloud also has the power to decide what complementors are going to work with their cloud, some of these complementors can be calendars, emails, word processors and many other every day applications. On the Treacy and Wiersema 3-D Chart the organization would fall under the product differentiation and customer responsiveness category. Even though the organization would like to see themselves in the middle of these two categories, realistically, they were not, when this article was written. The case states the organization was functioning vertically in all divisions, which made it difficult to focus on the customer and created inefficiencies in development (p10). With this being said, they would fall closer to the axis between the two categories on this chart. Before the reorganization, the business strategy, organization strategy and information’s strategy were not aligned. The organization was running like a manufacturing company, internally focused (p11). The mission of the organization that can be gathered from the case is that the organization wants to offer superior customer service, to create the most innovative and leading technology in an effective manner and sustain a thriving corporate culture. However, this mission was not achievable because they went to market vertically and that is not what their customers needed. The different structures of the organization worked independently which meant many inefficiencies and repetition in development (p11). The organization was not set up to reach the business needs of superior customer service and creating innovative leading technology effectively. Furthermore, the information strategy was unattainable due to the organization strategy. In the moment of truth the organization decided to reorganize. They created five focus areas to focus the information strategy and product development. Furthermore, they split the organization into 3 main categories which focused on customers, go to market and innovation. The new strategy helped align the business, organization, and information strategy. On the strategic grid, CA Technologies was acting like a factory. They were not prepared to make changes that would be necessary for future success such as creating a prosperous cloud system. They were working on their already existing product line and even showing signs of complacency with that product line. However, once they began reorganizing to a new strategy their organization went into the turnaround phase, splitting the business into a customer innovation focused. This is where they began working on getting the proper structure to create a sustainable business in the cloud revolution. On the grid, the organization would fall in the top turnaround stage close to strategic. Their management is learning new ways to go to market and handle customers and at the same time the business is going to be shaped by their future innovation. Overall, I do not believe that the organization had a choice whether or not to embrace the cloud. By 2011, they had already entered into the market and were seen as leaders in their already existing technology systems. If they backed out at this point, they may be viewed as not willing to move forward with the direction of future technologies. Furthermore, the market is fast and highly competitive, but CA Technologies has an advantage due to their rapport with already existing customers and their seniority in the industry. The cloud made the organization re-evaluate their strategy and now they will be a stronger organization in all categories due to their reorganization. The cloud is not going anywhere; however their legacy way of thinking would not be relevant if they did not move forward with cloud innovation. Bibliography Callaham, John. â€Å"Microsoft: 14 Million Jobs to Be Made via Cloud Computing.† Neowin.net. 5 Mar. 2012. Web. 21 Sept. 2012. . CA Technologies. Annual Report. One Goal Our Customer Success. Islandia, NY: CA Technologies, 3/2011. Annual Reports-CA Technologies. http://investor.ca.com/annuals.cfm CRN Staff. â€Å"The 100 Coolest Cloud Computing Vendors Of 2012.† CRN. 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 21 Sept. 2012. . DePena, Ray. â€Å"90 Cloud Computing Companies to Watch In 2011.† Business Innovations. 1 Jan. 2011. Web. 21 Sept. 2012. . Tantow, Martin. â€Å"CloudTimes Top 100 Cloud Computing Companies.† Top 100 Cloud Computing Companies. 24 Apr. 2012. Web. 21 Sept. 2012. .

Sunday, November 10, 2019

The Evolution of Courtship

CHAPTER 1I. IntroductionA. DefinitionCourtship is the process or period of courting. Through the years, it is evident that there has been a significant change in the way courtship is done. Especially in the Philippines, where culture is dynamic and ever-changing, it has to the researcher’s attention that there has been great changes in the way courtship is done between Filipino males and females. With this, the researcher would like to interpret the evolution of courtship. The landscape of male and female interaction has changed over the past 100 years, revealing a very sharp contrast in shape and form.One significant area where this is clearly seen is in the area of courtship and dating. In 1896, the word â€Å"dating† was known to be lower-class slang in reference to prostitution. Basically, going on a date was an understatement for paid sex. By the 1900s, the word â€Å"Calling† (or courtship) was introduced into households. Calling was the process of a man, t he suitor, coming into the home of a young woman to meet her and get to know her and get to know her better and eventually end up marrying her.This was highly preferred by parents since the meeting between the man and young woman was highly supervised – everything from the length of the meeting to what food they would eat (Discroll, 2009). Furthermore, it gave parents a sense of safety since it protected adolescents from any kind of danger like rape, and involved the maximum participation of family members. In this, however, the process of courtship was not always perfect. It was seen that it only placed itself in the households of the rich and not the lower-class (hence the lower class slang).It would seem that courtship was too expensive an activity for the lower-class. They simply could not affor the luxury of fine dining in a parlour and/or traveling to meet with their sweetheart (Discroll, 2009). In this, the progression and seeming perfect balance did not last long. As population, poverty, technology, economy, and innovation grew, change in the lower and higher classes rose. Because of this, they had to find more adaptive solutions as to how they would interact and meet with the opposite sex; a great change was seen throughout the years effectively changing the landscape of courtship.Today, technology has made easy interaction even more possible. With the dawn of the internet, men and women no longer need to be with each other physically or in the woman’s home to interact; it can all be done with a simple click of a few buttons. Now taken into the context of the Philippine setting, changing trends and patterns are not so much different from their western counterparts. Over the past decades, Filipinos have taken a more practical approach towards the relationships involved in their lives due to the increased use and innovation of technology and change in social landscape (Ogena, 1999).So like their western counterparts, no longer do men apply the idea of Chaperonage or Panliligaw (courtship) with the opposite sex. And as patterns have changed, the main influencers – parents – have found the style of dating more acceptable (Ogena, 1999). A study done by UPPL & DRPF called the YAFS (Young Adult Fertility and Sexual Study) for the Philippines showed that there was a significant number of adolescents going on dates.Another significant YAFS data shows that from 1982 to 1994, a majority of the youth (40.4%) group dated but later split to single dates (39. 7%) which enabled more intimate encounters with each other, with Filipino teens engaging in sexual activities (9. 7% for males and 2. 9% for females). As dating became a more regular activity among the youth, intimacies heightened. This resulted in an increase in the corresponding proportions of the youth engaging in petting and sexual intercourse, 16. 3% and 8. 1%, respectively (De Guzman,1997).B. Significance/ RelevanceIt is clear that Filipinos have changed the way they see courtship. Especially that technology has affected lives of teenagers today that it is now easy to communicate with anyone. It is then the researcher’s privilege to show the evolution of courtship. The study will also be beneficial to the general public to make them aware of how courtship worked then and now. The study will serve as a reference on the processes, style, and evolution of courtship.C. Research ObjectivesThis research paper aims to answer the question: 1. How has courtship evolved throughout the years? To answer the question/ problem, the researcher will investigate the following sub-questions: 1. What was the courtship process then? 2. What is the courtship process now? 3. How did courtship evolve throughout the years in terms of: a. Process of Courting b. Socialization c. CommunicationCHAPTER 2I. Review of Related LiteratureA. Local LiteratureCourtship is known in the local language as Panliligaw or Ligawan and is also synonymous to pandidiga o r digahan from some of the Tagalog-speaking regions in the Philippines. It has rooted from the Spanish word ‘diga’ which means to ‘to say, express. ’ The term manliligaw refers to a man who tries to court a woman and pursue her for marriage. On the other hand, the term nililigawan refers to the woman who is being pursued, hence, the one being courted.Courtship in the Philippines is known to be moderate and to ba taken under control unlike those of the western cultures. Traditionally, it has been done with the first step of the man visiting the woman’s house and presents himself to her parents in an official manner. It is generally unacceptable to most Filipino families to court the woman without knowledge of her family. The most usual trend to be acceptable to the woman’s family is from the saying â€Å"courting a Filipina means courting her family too† (Business World, 2002).Courtship in the Philippines involves the suitor working hard for his love even if he has to go through a long time of courtship. Traditional courtship would entail men serenading (harana) the â€Å"women at night and sing songs of love and affection† (Business World, 2002). Others would give love notes to express their feelings. It would also entail going to the woman’s house to bring her flowers and other sorts of gifts. And in some cases, men are shown to be courting the woman’s parents to get their acceptance before he could actually court the woman.Courtship allows women to enjoy the attention they get from men by being treated in a special way and receiving gifts from them. Because of this, some women even delay their marriage so that they have more time to experience what it’s like to be showered with attention and affection. (Molina, 1983 as cited in Courtship in the Philippines Today) Parents and family members are very much involved in courtship because of the Filipino viewpoint that marriage doesnâ€℠¢t just involve a man and woman, but their families as well.It became important for a person to choose well to enhance his or her family’s image. Dating as an activity in courtship, has become very popular, as it was an influence from the western culture. But even before people were influenced and dating became popular, the Philippines already had come up with its own courting practices. These practices were passes on by their families to use when entering into courtship. (Medina, 2005 as cited in Courtship in the Philippines Today)B. Local StudiesIn a 2012 study entitled â€Å"E-Courtship: A Descriptive Study† by Pamela Concepcion Panganiban, she explained that when two human beings start developing emotional attachments to one another, the relationship often tirns from simple friendship to a romantic kind (Tucker, 2008) and once feelings are established between the two parties, the individual then pursues the person his or her interest (Tucker, 2008). It is therefore appropriate to say that when an individual, much like a male, pursues a female, it signifies the act of courtship (Akiteng, N. D. ).Courtship often precedes itself as the stage where a male signifies his interest for an established romantic committed relationship with another person or before each can call themselves â€Å"official. † The study of Brinas, Ramirez, and Ty on â€Å"Ang Proseso ng Pagliligawan† (1996) mentioned that there are many reasons why men court women. Aside from the usual reason of preparing for marriage, a man courts a woman because first, he could be physically attracted to her. Men are visual creatures; that is why the physical appearance of a woman may be a big deal for them.Another reason is he wants to feel loved. A man courts a woman so that he could show love and at the same time, hopes that he receives that kind of love from the woman as well. The next reason is that a man wants to have someone to be with all the time because men treasur e companionship. He wants to have someone to be with because this makes him happy, especially during special moments in his life. A man courts a woman also for his own satisfaction. For a man, a woman seems to be like a reward or a challenge to him. So courting a woman – and eventually getting her makes him satisfied.These reasons vary, depending on the person. Looks and physical appearance may be a major factor for some men, but for others, this might just be a bonus. A common reason for a man to court a woman is because he is pressured by his friends and family to get a girlfriend. There are also some men who only want to court women who are attractive to show them off to the people around them. This is not an ideal reason to court a woman, but this happens especially when the man isn’t that mature yet as a person. The last reason is because a man simply has feelings for a woman.(Continuado, Marcos, and Renton, 2007) A 2009 study entitles â€Å"Courtship Among Emerg ing Adults in the Philippines: Definition, Activities, Influences and Motivations (Fabic, Feliciano, & Nery, 2009),† focused on the difference of understanding of the middle and lower class Filipinos about courtship. They conducted surveys from middle class groups and lower class groups living in the slum areas. But according to the results of the study for both male and female, the difference is not that big among the two different groups with their ideas of courtship.Most of them defined courtship as a process of knowing someone and â€Å"showing a girl how a guy feels towards her. † Proving Social Cognitive Theory’s assumption of having different factors (personal and environmental factor) affect that way people behave, act or think towards courtship, the said study found out that the topmost factors in their idea of courtship are â€Å"friends, media, family, and culture. † These factors are what motivates them and influences them if they will court so meone or if they want to be courted.There is no major difference with the activities done on courtship with those in the middle class and lower class group. Both classes agreed that â€Å"spending time with the other person, giving gifts, and basically just putting one’s best foot forward† are the most evident things to be done in the courtship stage. (pp. 78-78) The 2012 study entitled â€Å"Mix & Match: A Descriptive Study of Filipinos’ Ideals in Social Relationships (Olalia and Ylagan, 2012)† also proved how different factors influence a person’s behaviour or point of view towards courtship and marriage.Although the study focused on â€Å"ideals,† they concluded that â€Å"a number of informants shared that they patterned their ideal boyfriends or girlfriends and husband or wives from their parents. † One male respondent, 27, shared that because he grew up in an environment where his mother is more strong-willed than his father, he also wanted a girlfriend who is more strong-willed than him, which is true to his current girlfriend. Another informant (Ellaine, 22) shared that she wants someone who is like her brothers or her father.C. Foreign LiteratureIn the book â€Å"Boy Meets Girl,† Joshua Harris defines courtship as â€Å"dating with a purpose† and a â€Å"relationship between a man and a woman that has a purpose of being actively and intentionally together to consider marriage. † It is a process that has a direction and a purpose and involves knowing a person better to see if they are right for each other, and eventually, if they are, leads to marriage. A courtship can be considered successful when the man and woman find out if they are right for each other or not.They pursue marriage when they find out that they are for each other, and they end the courtship if they see that they are not right for each other. When a man and a woman understand the purpose of courtship, it is much eas ier for both of them to move on when their relationship doesn’t work out. Courtship is like a new season of friendship. It is something that should be entered into when a man or woman is ready for marriage. According to Joshua Harris, courtship is a relationship guided by the principle that â€Å"the joy of intimacy is the reward of commitment.† (Harris, 2005)Before courtship actually commences, a man and woman must have a deeper level of friendship than that of just an acquaintance. Normally, the second phase, or the actual courting stage will be initiated by the man asking permission from the woman’s father to begin courtship with his daughter, and the man’s obvious reason is to know if they both want to get married to each other in the future. The father usually acts as the initial â€Å"protective screening test. † Both the man’s and the woman’s families must be involved.â€Å"They ought to understand, through experience, each pa rt of the other person’s life as much as possible. † Instead of interrupting each one’s daily routines to make way for their alone time, couples in the courtship stage will most likely try to involve each one in their daily routines. It is important for a man and a woman who enter into courtship to have good communication to be able to know where they are in their relationship and how they feel towards each other. If everything is going well, they can spend more time alone together and take on activities like watching movies and concerts, going to the mall or having dinner alone.When men court women, they are usually romantic, and they buy flowers or cards to make the women feel special. When the man gets the blessing of the woman’s father, he then proposes to her. When the woman accepts the proposal, they would get married and live together as husband and wife. (Gianforte, 2008) Back then, it involved the control of women because it’s the men who g o to their homes to get to know them better.But as courtship evolved into a more free and liberated type, it has now been occurring outside the home, which means it’s now more of the man’s control because he is the one paying for the date. Since women started working and had more time to spend with men outside the house, new rules of engagement were formed where the men were able to take women out on dates. â€Å"The entire romantic system moved out from under the parent’s supervision, and like an eloping couple, it never wanted to go back.† (Gianforte, 2008)In Joushua Harris’ book â€Å"I Kisses Dating Goodbye,† he described dating as an act of a man and a woman going out to have a good time, nothing more, nothing less. He even added that people date because they want to be able to enjoy the physical and emotional benefits of being intimate without the need to be In a real commitment. This generation’s pursuit of fulfilment in relati onships, especially in dating, is that they want intimacy without the responsibility, sex with no expectations, and love without hard work and sacrifice.  (Harris, 2004)Today, the intent of dating ranges from getting to know the person to wanting to marry the person. (Gianforte, 2008) But because of the western influence today, courtship has been delivered to be vanishing. Contrary to that, the said study by Fabic, Feliciano, and Nery (2009), also found out that courting is still manifested in the local society. Depending on the respondent’s point of view, the definition of courtship will vary but will still lead to a common idea â€Å"which is the process of a guy expressing how he feels towards a girl by pleasing her, so that in return, the girl will like him back.†Prominent among the results is the idea that courtship is still initiated by the men. What varies now is the way men do their courtship especially because the use of technology is already inevitable toda y. This is what most people refer to now as â€Å"modern courtship† just as revealed in â€Å"an Asia-wide survey that was conducted during 2002, not only that the Filipinos say I love you through text messaging (Ellwood Clayton, 2006 as cited to court a woman through electronic devices. † (pp. 69-70)D. Foreign StudiesEven with the emergence of technology that makes it easier for young people to connect with other people, they still prefer the traditional style of courtship. Even if they use technology in communicating with their loves, they still prefer face to face communication and interaction rather than just texting or meeting online.Internet video started with a little film called â€Å"The Spot† by a filmmaker Scott Zzakarin in 1995 (Letizia, 2011). â€Å"The spot† was a simple film and into a two-inch two-inch screen and attributed to it were lol quality images at the same time were not equipped to handle the flop of Zakarin’s project, it i s considered today one o the first web or â€Å"webisodes† to hit the internet.

Friday, November 8, 2019

The serial killer

The serial killer Albert Fish was born as Hamilton Howard Fish in Washington, D.C. on 19 May 1870. Most of his family members had a standing history of mental instability; for example, his uncle suffered from religious obsession, a brother was admitted in a mental hospital, another brother had suffered from hydrocephalus, which had made him to pass on.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The serial killer- Albert Fish specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More More so, his sister had a mental affliction, three â€Å"other close relatives suffered from chronic mental illnesses, and his mother was believed to suffer frequent aural and/or visual hallucinations† (Chamblee, 2004). Fishs mother, forced to look for another source of livelihood due to her inability to take care of her son following the death of his father, took him to Saint Johns orphanage in Washington. While here, Albert together with other boys could be frequently battered and wh ipped in front of one another by their teachers. He eventually came to relish physical pain from the communal beatings and related sadistic acts of brutality. By 1880, his mother got a fairly better government job and was able to take care of him; however, his behavior started to take a negative twist more so due to the kind of relationships he established, for instance, he adopted weird practices like taking human urine and â€Å"visiting public baths where he could watch other boys undress† (Wilson (1988). By 1890, Fish had arrived in New York City, where he became a male prostitute; and at the same time began defiling and murdering young boys, a crime he kept committing not necessarily seeking sexual gratification, but because he enjoyed feeding on flesh of children (Hopkins, 2003, p. 3). First incarceration Even after starting his professional life as a house painter, Fish’s ‘appetite’ for assaulting young children especially boys continued to grow; mo reover his attention turned to mentally ill men, with a case in point being the relationship he had with a mentally impaired man, who at a given time he attempted to castrate. As if this was not enough, Fish started visiting brothels frequently where he could be whipped and flogged; and in 1903, â€Å"he was arrested for embezzlement and was sentenced to incarceration in Sing Sing† (Kray, 2007). In 1917, Fish’s wife left him for John Straube, a rejection that caused him to start indulging in self-harm; for instance, he would always insert pins in his groin and removing them, a behavior that persisted until he could no longer remove the pins he had inserted (Newton, 2006, p. 78). Moreover, his psychological problems that involved elusions and hallucinations grew so much that he began to abduct, castrate, and torture young boys, a practice he claimed to have been directed by spiritual voices.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help yo u! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Early attacks and attempted abductions Fish happened to commit his first attack on a child, Thomas Bedden in the years 1910, and nine years later, he stabbed a mentally retarded boy in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. However, the most astonishing case was witnessed in the 1920 when Fish turned cannibal by kidnapping, killing and subsequently feeding on flesh of a ten-year girl (Philbin and philbin, 2009, p. 7). Apparently, many of his intended victims would be either mentally disturbed or black Americans. However, his efforts to murder Beatrice Kiel were futile when the latter’s parents noticed his ill intentions and kept him off. Second incarceration, arrest and trial Fish remarried in 1930, in New York; however, this marriage could not as well last for long as he eventually divorced his wife within seven days of marriage. In addition, Fish was later arrested in May 1930 for sending an obscene letter to a woman who answered an advertisement for a maid (Wilson, 1988). This was after a psychiatric observation Bellevue psychiatric hospital in 1930 and 1931 for observation, following his arrests; but two years before this, Ford had kidnapped Grace Budd, which led him to be arrested six years later. Fish’s trial started in 1935 during which he defended himself alleging that he was insane. After much examination and trial, he was found both guilty and sane by the jury after which he was sentenced to death, followed by an execution a year later (Wilson, 1988). Underlying cause for the evidence for the cause of Albert Fish’s behavior An analysis of Alvin Ford serial killer’s case is very closely related to that of Albert Fish. In 1986, the â€Å"United States Supreme Court used Florida’s procedure for determining mental competency for execution as a test case for banning execution of the mentally ill;† indeed, under Ford v. Wainwright â€Å"the eighth amendment pro hibits the state from inflicting a penalty of death upon a prisoner who is insane† (Miller, and Radelet, 1993). Although Florida’s procedure may now be constitutional on its face, in practice, Florida continues to execute the mentally ill. In 1974, Florida charged Alvin Ford with murder, after which he was sentenced to death. At the trial level, Ford raised no competency issues but after imprisonment, he showed symptoms of delusion, confusion, and psychosis. A fourteen months examination by a defense psychiatrist revealed that Ford was suffering from paranoid Schizophrenia with suicide potential that hindered him the potential to defend his life. Other three governor- appointed psychiatrists examined him for only thirty minutes and discovered that although he exhibited mental disorder, he understood his total situation including his death penalty and the implications thereof (Wilson, 1988).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The serial killer- Alb ert Fish specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More After the defense psychiatrist examined Ford, he concluded that Ford suffered from paranoid schizophrenia; however, although the examination of other three governor-appointed psychiatrists revealed that Ford suffered from mental disorder, they concluded that he understood his total situation, including his penalty and its implications. When the case reached the Supreme Court, the Court’s plurality observed that no states allowed the execution of mentally retarded persons. The Justice in concurrence with Ford suggested a procedure used by Florida today that does not require full sanity prior to execution and an individual’s need to assist the counsel in his or her defense. Even though the court left the standard and procedures open-ended, it clearly indicated that Florida’s procedure totally violated the eighth Amendment in three ways. (1) by denying the prisoner a mechanism to ch allenge the findings and impeach the findings of the governor appointed psychiatrists, (2) by placing the entire competency determination in the hands of the governor and (3) by preventing the condemned from playing any relevant role in the quest for truth (Chamblee, 2004). Conclusion In comparison to Albert Fish’s case, Dempsey termed Fish as ‘a psychological phenomenon’. Psychiatrist Wertham also examined and found Fish to be obsessed with religion, cannibalism, and communion. Fish himself pleaded insanity; however, although the jury found him sane and guilty, the reports, and examinations from other psychiatrists, rendering him insane should have been put into accurate consideration (Wilson and Seaman, 2004, p. 176). Fish’s activities totally reveal that he was mentally retarded, and if this is true, then the jury totally violated the United States Supreme Court’s eighth amendment. References Chamblee, L. E. (2004). Time for a legislative change: Florida’s stagnant standard governing competency for execution. Retrieved from www.law.fsu.edu/journals/lawreview/downloads/312/chamblee.pdf. Hopkins, A. (2003). This Cannibal loved Kids Literally. Weekly World News, Vol. 24, No. 19. https://books.google.com/books?id=GPMDAAAAMBAJpg=PA3dq=The+serial+killer-+Albert+Fishhl=enei=66e1TLWYGoKBOpiryZYGsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=2ved=0CC0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepageq=The%20serial%20killer-%20Albert%20Fishf=false.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Kray, K. (2007). The world’s worst crimes of 20 killers and their 1000 victims. Brooklyn, John Blake. Miller, K. S. and Radelet, M.L. (1993). Executing the mentally ill: Criminal Justice System and the case of Alvin Ford. Michigan, Sage Publications. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=S-B-iky44zECpg=PA1dq=Executing+the+mentally+ill:+the+criminal+justice+system+and+the+case+of+Alvin+Fordsource=gbs_toc_rcad=4#v=onepageqf=false. Newton, M. (2006). The encyclopedia of serial killers. Edition2. NY, Infobase Publishing. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=DwNVbOcTncwCpg=PA78dq=The+serial+killer-+Albert+Fishhl=enei=66e1TLWYGoKBOpiryZYGsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=5ved=0CD4Q6AEwBA#v=onepageq=The%20serial%20killer-%20Albert%20Fishf=false. Philbin, T. and Philbin, M. (2009). The Killer Book of Serial Killers: Incredible Stories, Facts and Trivia from the World of Serial Killers. Texas, Sourcebooks, Inc. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=SZ TPdM97kq0Cpg=PA15dq=The+serial+killer-+Albert+Fishhl=enei=66e1TLWYGoKBOpiryZYGsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepageq=The%20serial%20killer-%20Albert%20Fishf=false. Wilson, C. and Seaman, D. (2004). The Serial Killers. London, Virgin Publishing Ltd. Wilson, P. (1988). ‘Stranger’ child-murder: Issues relating to causes and controls.  Forensic Science International, Volume 36, Issues 3.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Equilibrium Constant - Chemistry Definitions

Equilibrium Constant - Chemistry Definitions The equilibrium constant is the ratio of the equilibrium concentrations of the products raised to the power of their stoichiometric coefficients to the equilibrium concentrations of the reactants raised to the power of their stoichiometric coefficients.For a reversible reaction:aA bB → cC dDThe equilibrium constant, K, is equal to:K [C]c ·[D]d/[A]a ·[B]bwhere[A] equilibrium concentration of A[B] equilibrium concentration of B[C] equilibrium concentration of C[D] equilibrium concentration of D There are several different types of equilibrium constants. These including binding constants, association constants, dissocation constants, stability constants, and formation constants. Factors that may affect the equilibrium constant include temperature, ionic strength, and choice of solvent. Source Denbigh, K. (1981). Chapter 4. The Principles of Chemical Equilibrium (4th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-28150-8.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Juvenile Justice System in the USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

Juvenile Justice System in the USA - Essay Example This will help in developing best methods of dealing with the resistance process and in creating screening tools for a good decision and for risk management. Â  The main purpose is to evaluate the best rehabilitation and therapeutic methods that we can employ to help the juvenile criminals successfully rejoin the society without repeating the criminal acts. The rehabilitation program put in place in conjunction with therapeutic methods will address the main cause of juveniles indulging in criminal activities. This will involve management of drug and substance abuse regarding the minor in question, giving jobs to the juvenile criminal, providing housing for those with no family to house them, and training them to acquire necessary skills that will enable them to get jobs. In addition to these, the juvenile criminal has presented a chance to interact with peers and family members. Â  This study will examine minors in disorderly behavior over a period of three years with cases in court. The study will involve a sample of 1,119 male lawbreakers who are minors. We will use a growth mixture model and create five groups whose characteristics as age, rebellious history, origin, felonious father, substance use, psychosocial development, and culture. The persistent group is 8.7% while the desisted group is 14.6% of the sample. Some characteristics of rebellious acts will be assessed from the report of many offenders; this means that the groups of offers who desist and those who continue need further concern on what factors really lead to this. During the study, the juvenile criminals will be placed into groups and a set of characteristics on each studied.

Friday, November 1, 2019

African history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

African history - Essay Example of how a powerful leader might approach changing ideologies within his own homeland in order to both reach the common people as well as the important figures at court. To understand how this came to be, a brief summary of Sundiata’s story is necessary. Born into a Muslim household to a deformed woman who seemed to have passed the idea of deformity onto her son, Sundiata’s beginnings were humble enough for a born prince. He is described as lazy, glutinous, seldom spoke and was unable to walk on his own. Nevertheless, his father provided him with a powerful griot in the belief that he would someday be king. Through a desire to help his mother stop crying, he was able to begin walking. To keep him safe from his elder half-brother, who had already sent his half-sister and griot away to the enemy king Suomaoro of Sosso, Sundiata and his mother fled to far-away lands where Sundiata learned how to hunt, fight and gained in wisdom. When he learned Suomaoro had overtaken his homeland of Mari, Sundiata returned, gathering fighters along the way. Through several battles involving aspects of both religions, Sundiata finally prevails over Suomaor o and founds an empire of his own. Elements of the traditional African religions can be seen traced throughout the book. Even before he is born, it was the voice of the soothsayers that led Sundiata’s father to marry his buffalo-woman mother, saying that one day he would make a great king. It is again the soothsayers of the old religions that have already prepared a great iron bar against that day when Sundiata would call for it in order to help him gain his feet. â€Å"The master of the forges, Farakourou, was the son of the old Nounfari, and he was a soothsayer like his father. In his workshops there was an enormous iron bar wrought by his father Nounfari. Everybody wondered what this bar was destined to be used for.† Witches are called to destroy him, but cannot because he is good of heart. His sister is also a