Knowledge and reality Essay

The quest for knowledge remains a perplexing problem in the field of philosophy. Even nowadays mankind continue to seek to understand himself and the world around him he is thirst to know were exactly our knowledge comes from. The question of knowledge appears to be a battle between the empirisists who believed that knowledge is acquired through sense experience and the rationalists who believed that knowledge can only be required through reasoning. Although there are a lot of people who abides with these groups in my essay in my essay I will only deal with John locke who in this case argues that knowledge is acquired throughsense experience thereby representing the empirisists group and Rene Descartes who argues that knowledge comes fronm reasoning thereby representing the rationalists. Diffrent scholars have also shown their appreciation to the work which was done by the two groups. Rene Descartes who is the rationalist have claimed that the ultimate starting point for knowledge is is not the senses but reason. According to Cottingham,Descartes argues that knowledge of a particular subject matter is underwritten by intuition or rational insight and deductive reasoning rather than experience of that subject matter(1984). Descartes in this case is of the opinion that the only way one can acquire knowledge is through deductive reasoning ,reasoning that aims at exactitude. In one way or other that exactitude is the one which we can now call knowledge Descartes maintain that without prior categories and principles supplied by reason wen could not organise and interrupt one’s sense experience in any way (Kenny:1986). In this case one would be faced with just one huge ,undifferentiated,kaleidospic whirl of sensation ,signifying nothing(Kenny:1986). Rationalism in its purest form goes so far as to hold that al our rational beliefs and the entirety of human knowledge consists in human principles and innate concepts. According to Russel Descartes believes that men are born with innate ideas or ideas that we are born with (1946:548). He argues that those innate ideas are generated and certified by reason along with anything logically deducable these first principles. Furthermore on innate ideas ,a number of mankind still how can reason supply ay mental category or first principle at all? The question is a bit easy for such people like Descartes who claimed that we are born with several fundamental concepts or categories in our minds ready for use(Stitch:1975). Descartes went own to argue that this gives us innate knowledge . This might be through certain categories of space ,time,cause and effect. In one way or other Descartes argues that people thinks in terms of cause and effect and this helps one’s experience of the world(Stitch:1975). A ccording to Stitch Descartes argues that people think of themselves as seing some things causing other things to happen,but in terms of our raw sense experience ,one sees certain things happen before other thing happen and remember having seen such before and after the sequences at earlier times (1975). One can come up with an example like ,a rock hits the window and then the window breaks. We don’t see the third thing called causation but we believe it has happened. The rock hitting the window caused it to break but this is not experienced like the fight of the rock or the shattering of the glass. Descartes argues that experience does not seem to force the concept of causation on us. On this case Descartes bis denying the fact that knowledge comes fron sense experience but reasoning. Descartes also claimed that the foundations of our knowledge are propositions that are self-evidently true. A self-evident proposition has the strange property of being such that ,on merely understanding what it says and without any further checking or special evidence of any kind. One can just intellectually see that it is true(Caruthers:1992). If A is greater than B the B is greater than C and therefore A is greater than C. In this example the claim is that once these statements are understood ,it takes no further sense experience whatsoever to see that they are true . Descartes was athinker who used sceptical doubt as a prelude to constructing a retionalist philosophy. He was convinced that all our beliefs that are founded on the experience of the external senses could be called into doubt ,but that with certain beliefs like ‘I am thinking’,there is n o room for creating and sustaining a reasonable doubt(Pojman:1991:72). Descartes then tried to find enough other first principles with immune to rational doubt that he could provide an indubitable ,rational basis for all other legitimate beliefs. According to Pojman Descartes thought that mathematics gave a paradigm or model of certain knowledge or of attaining such knowledge (1991:73). He argued that mathematical knowledge is based on self evident axioms ,or first principles. In this case those principles are clear and distinctly persued as self-evident and in other words they are indubitable that is to say it is hard to doubt them. They are intrinsically valid on self-certifying . Dscartes argues that once we have such self-evident truths ,then with the rules of reasoning or logic ,theories can be validly deduced from them (Spinoza:1905). Descartes wanted to apply the method of philosophy as he argued that in mathematics ther is no appeal to sense experience . Human reasoning is the sole source of mathematical knowledge (Spinoza:1905). In this case Descartes claimed that by poor reasoning one can achieve knowledge. It was this method of doubt that Descartes used to get at the indubitable starting point which will be unshakable foundation of the edifice of knowledge hence to doubt means to think and think means to be(Pojman:1991). On the other hand we have the empirialists who in this case are being represented by John Locke. Locke is of the view that knowledge is acquired through sense experience. Locke was actually influenced by Descartes writings in which Descartes was arguing that knowledge comes from reasoning and the issue of innate ideas. According to Pojman Locke believes that the senses we maintain ,gives us all our raw data about the world and without this raw material their would be no knowledge at all(Pojman:1991:83). To Locke perception starts a process and from this process come all our beliefs . In its purest form ,Locke and his collegues believes that sense experience alone gave birth to all our knowledge. Locke was influenced by Descartes writings because what Descartes believes was the opposite of what Locke and his collegues believed mostly on the issue of innate ideas hence he decided to put on his suggestion on were exactly our knowledge comes from. Locke argues that innate ideas are suppose to be inborn ideas and they are their in the human mind since birth (Locke:1894). He argues that these ideas are neither created by us nor derived from our experiences. Locke argues that the human mind is a ‘tabula rasa’ meaning to say it is blank and it looks like a white sheet of paper without any content or ideas. According to Pojman there are no inborn ideas in the human mind(Pojman:1991). Ideas denote the content of human mind and consciousness. This then supports the idea that all ideas spring from experiences. According to Spinoza ,Locke argues that all knowledge is formed as and ultimately derived from sensational or inner reflection(1905) To add more the empirisists argue thatideas acquired through sensation and reflection are simple ideas. According Russel Locke argues that the mind has the power to reject ,compare and combine them to then form complex ideas(1946:551) . The simple ideas are the materials of the mind or consciousness. The mind elaborates them in defferent ways and this knowledge is developed(Russel:1946:551)Simple ideaas in this case are thus produced in the mind by the outer things through external experiences and simple ideas posseses valididty. The two theories presents different ideas on were exactly we get knowledge but I think I am convinced with the theory of Descartes which says knowledge is acquired through reason. Although the theory was mainly meant for the mathmaticians I think it is good for me because a men ought to reason so as to find knowledge. To me reasoning shows that someone really is thinking deeper so as to find whatever he wants . The method of doubt which he uses convince me also because I think through doubting you will be able to find knowledge. The Christians might want to say Thomas was wrong but in one way or other Thomas made Christians to know that realy the man they saw was Jesus and Christians were made to believe that really there is resurrection and this was through doubting Thomas. I cant just believe what I have not see without doubting because nowadays people tend to lie so as to get whatever they want in their lives . Therefore the theory of Descartes to me is good one on how we aquire knowledge . ? BIBLIOGRAPHY Carruthers. P.(1992)Human knowledge and human nature,Oxford: Oxford University Press’ Cottingham. J. (1984)Rationalism,London:Palada books. Fieser. P. (1991) Introduction to Philosophy. Oxford:Oxiford University Press Kenny. A. (ed). (1986)Rationalism,Empiricism and Idealism ,Oxiford:Oxiford University Press Locke. J. (1690)An essay on human understanding. (ed)R. Woolhouse. (1997). London:Panguin Books Louis. P. (2007)The theory of knowledge ,classical and temporary readings. Belment CA:Wadsworth Stitch. S. (ed)(1975)Innate ideas ,Berkely CA:Carlifonia University Press Russell. B. (1912)History of Western Philosophy . Oxiford:Oxiford University Press.

IT and Organizational Structure Alignment

Information technology has become a vital aspect to any large corporation. Managing information to effectively balance control and coordination is a challenge to business leaders. Correctly aligning structure with information technology can save valuable time and resources. Understanding the relationships between the flow of information and how it relates the chain of command is important to utilize information. Businesses use a variety of structures to align information technology with the organizational structure. In order to effectively align information technology with an organization's structure, the goals of the company and the goals of the information system must be determined. The development of a new structure to accommodate technology is becoming commonplace in business. For example, USAA an insurance provider decided they needed to increase customer satisfaction by providing faster and more effective service. Prior to the change departments were independent from each other and control was highly centralized. The old organization was preventing quick responses in a company where response time is the single most important criteria for the customer. The company flattened its structure and coordinated departments with information systems. This gave employees decision-making power and allowed for quicker response times to the customer. (Garreth, 379) In a production-based company, the information requirements are different. Hewlett-Packard underwent serious change in organizational structure in 1989. The high-tech company was struggling to provide new products at the rate of its competitors. The CEO traced the problem to the product development process. The process was sequential and was wasting time in a highly competitive industry. He redesigned the hierarchical structure of the company and improved the process. He reduced the time-consuming committee based decision-making process and flattened the structure by eliminating two levels of management. The result was interdependent departments that communicated using information technology. This new structure has dramatically reduced the time it takes to introduce new products to the market (Garreth, 382). Business is constantly changing and an organization must be ready to adapt. In today's constantly changing business world, organizational structure and information systems must constantly be evaluated. An organization must be willing to redesign the structure and determine how IT can streamline the process. The coordination between IT and organizational structure can be directly traced to customer satisfaction and profit. Taking advantage of information technologies can greatly improve the performance of a business.

Characteristics of abusers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Characteristics of abusers - Essay Example For example, domestic abuse or violence is associated with substance abuse. Reports from even civilized countries showed that the relationships have lost its meaning even in families. There are many cases in which the children were abused by their parents under influence of alcohol or drugs. This paper briefly analyses the role of substance abuse in domestic violence Domestic abuse is a term used to describe abuse by family members or intimate partners such as a spouse, ex-spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend, ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend. It can take many forms, like intimidation, threats, violent behaviors etc to gain power and control over another person (Welcome to Chapter 1 of the Verbal Abuse Tutorial!, 2005). There are lots of reasons attached with the substance abuser’s behavior. These reasons can be physical as well as psychological. Sometimes these reasons can have deep roots in the childhood experiences. For example, some children might have witnessed their parents engaged in substance abuse which may motivate them when they grow up. They may develop their personality and attitude based on such experiences. They will think that such substance abuses are normal in the society and no need to refrain from it. â€Å"There must be 100 studies showing a genetic basis for abusive personalities and for many of the disorders† (MedicineNet, 2010). Heredity plays an important role in the making of a substance abuser. Parents with substance abusive character can have children of the same caliber. Most of the traits or behavioral characteristics of the parents will be transferred to the offspring through genes and hence the children unknowingly develop such abusive behaviors even when they brought up in a healthy environment. Some people often confess that they were engaged in substance abuse unknowingly. â€Å"Brothers and sisters will sometimes experiment, exploring sexuality. In alcoholic families, where boundaries and roles aren’t

Legal aspect of nursing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Legal aspect of nursing - Case Study Example The first part is the knowledge of the problem in question and this is followed by duty to care and finally failure to take necessary preventative measures against foreseeable harm. The physician had already conducted X-ray as a professional and signed a contract to undertake surgery on the boy the following day. This qualifies to make it clear that the physician had already established the existence of a problem (Bar, Drobnig, Alpa & European Commission, 2004). Â  The next action he ought to have considered is the duty to care which was pegged on his professional know how in the mind of any normal person like Jones parents. This means that he ought to have foreseen any possible harm that would arise from any of his actions. Administering of sedation by the anaesthesian amounted to failure to take preventative action against the impending harm. There was also the vicarious liability which was associated by the health center since the physician and the anaesthesian were its employees . By being an agency to the healthcare Center, the management of the healthcare facility was likely to be brought into this legal battle. In other words, this case constitutes negligence and breach of contract which caused loss to the parents and harm to the patients. Contractual agreement between the hospital through its agency in the physician failed to live up to its role forcing the healthcare sector to take liability.This case presents a scene of negligence on the part of the Physician. Jones parents entrusted the physician. with the safety of their son in the sense that he was expected to have reasoned from his professional knowledge and these parents had only one option which was to believe in him. It turns out that the physician negligently procured sedatory drugs that only worsened the pain of the boy which later turned him into disability. The physician out of his skills and knowledge about the effects of the drugs ought to have advised the parents appropriately so that th ey would give consent with full knowledge of such a possibility of outcome (Cornford, 2008). By taking this unprofessional move and exploiting the ignorance of the parents and the patients about medical issues, he was bound by the law to have become liable to the subsequent disability that Jones experienced. The physician and the anaesthesian are bound to be liable to the damages caused to the parents and the disable boy. They were trusted with the life of the boy due to the expected knowledge endowment and it was therefore important that they foresee the danger of using sedation. The healthcare center employed the physician and the anaesthesian and this make them to be the agents of the center. In this respect, there was vicarious liability on the healthcare center and a joint liability between the anaesthesian and the physician (Bar, Drobnig, Alpa & European Commission, 2004). However, the ruling of the judge had to drop the healthcare center from the case since the physician must have acted outside the instructions and duty descriptions by the center. In such a case, the physician and the anaethesian did not work in the interest of their employer. The

Contract Law, The Law of Personal Property Essay

Contract Law, The Law of Personal Property - Essay Example exemption clauses. According to the provisions of this act there are three broad divisions of control: first, is the control over contract terms that exclude or restrict liability for 'negligence', secondly, control over contract terms that exclude or restrict liability for breach of certain terms implied by statute or by common law in contracts of sale of goods, hire-purchase etc. Thirdly, a more general control in consumer contracts and standard form contracts over terms that exclude or restrict liability for breach of contract, or which purport to entitle one of the parties to render a contractual performance different from that expected or to render no performance at all. If the term of the contract comes within the purview of this act then the control regime will take its form in either of the two ways i.e. the restriction or exclusion of liability may be rendered absolutely ineffective or it may be effective only in so far as the term of the contract satisfies the test of reasonableness. ... It can be said that subject to certain exceptions, the Unfair Contract Terms Act,1977 only applies to contract terms 'excluding or restricting' specific types of liability; but they are extended to include terms such as : (a) making the liability or its enforcement subject to restrictive or onerous conditions;(b) excluding or restricting any right or remedy in respect of liability, or subjecting a person to any prejudice in consequence of his pursuing any such right or remedy, (c) excluding or restricting rules of evidence or procedure. The practical difficulty, however, is to distinguish such terms from provisions that prevent a contractual duty from arising or circumscribe its extent, or which merely allocate the responsibilities under the contract between the parties(5) The Courts should determine whether a term in a contract 'excludes or restricts' liability by asking whether it deprives a contracting party of the contractual performance which the parties reasonably expected(6). The Unfair Contract Terms Act,1977 for most part exclude or restrict 'business liability'. It means liability for breach of obligations or duties arising - (a) from things done or to be done by a person in the course of a business.; (b) from the occupation of premises used for business purposes of the occupier. As a general rule, greater protection is afforded by the act to a person who deals as consumer than to one who does not. In order that a party should have dealt as consumer, two conditions must have to be satisfied. First, the party must not have made the contract in the course of a business or held himself or herself out as doing so. Secondly, the other party must have made the contract in the course of a business. 'R.&B

BRL Hardys post-merger success Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

BRL Hardys post-merger success - Term Paper Example They also made similar acquisitions in France and Italy and these acquisitions were particularly targeted as credible organisations. It became relatively easier to effectively operate in the industry since there was a clearly defined network of distribution channels. The main advantage of mergers and acquisitions is that they give the company competitive advantage in that the resources are pulled together and new knowledge is introduced to the company by the people crossing the floor from the other company. The company immensely gained from the wealth of knowledge brought by people who moved from the other companies. On the other hand, it can be noted that acquisitions of reputable companies helped the company to gain a competitive advantage as a result of clearly defined distribution channels that already existed in the market. The other factor that contributed to BRL Hardy’s post merger success is a result of the stance taken towards changing the culture of the organisation. However, the new management which assumed top jobs at the merged companies was comprised of ex-BRL executives and focus was primarily aimed at the Australian market which was believed to be supportive of the company’s quality concerns. However, the company adopted a decentralisation approach whereby the middle managers were given the autonomy to make decisions in their operations as a way of improving the overall operations of their responsible departments. As such, the managers were empowered to make decisions while at the same time holding them accountable to their actions as a way of ensuring that there is conformity with the set organisational goals. By virtue of allowing the managers to make decisions in their operations, the organisation is likely to positively grow given that they will be motivated such that they w ill also develop a sense of belonging to it. Empowering the managers also helped them to be creative which positively contributed to the growth of the organisation. The other factor of BRL Hardy’s post-merger success can be attributed to the stance it took in sourcing the grapes used in wine production. Having realised that there were risks associated with the production of the grapes, the organisation decided to form joint ventures with different farmers in an attempt to ensure consistency in supply of the grapes even during periods of unprecedented events that can negatively affect supply. On the other hand, the company acquired expansive land to grow grapes and this was a good move given that it was always assured of abundant grapes should anything unfavourable occur in the environment. On top of that, the post merger success of the organisation in question can be attributed to the marketing strategies implemented such as the branding and labelling strategies. Whilst it is generally appreciated that branding a product like wine is a bit challenging from a global perspective, the company adopted a labelling approach especially in UK where it witnessed improved sales of different brands that were offered on the market. 2. Basically, the main essence of tensions between Steven Davies and Chris Carson is mainly concerned with the marketing strategies to be implemented. The head office in Australia was particularly concerned with endorsing the Australian brand of wine while Carson who operated in UK was of the opinion that this brand had been eroded especially in UK hence there was need for branding. This was the major source of tension especially with regards to the marketing strategy. Basically, branding is a basic tenet of marketing strategy given that it makes a clear distinction between different brands. Carson is of the view that there is need to relabel, reposition and relaunch the wine brand particularly in UK but this

Miscommunication within a hotel hierarchy Research Paper

Miscommunication within a hotel hierarchy - Research Paper Example The management operations with reference to an organization involve employee relationship, facilities management, public relations, efficient utilization of resources, accounting and finance as well marketing and customer relationship. Efficient communication at all levels is important for the successful operation of a company. The communication in general parlance within the hospitality industry, especially in hotels is mostly customer-centric or customer oriented because the organization needs to be in constant touch with the customers, unlike other industries where the customers are usually dealt with by sales and service departments. Therefore, the customer relationship is the central theme, and all the administrative and management functions are focused on personalized service to the customers aiming customer satisfaction. It is very important to identify the areas where there are chances for miscommunications for taking corrective measures to improve the operational efficiency of the management with a view to improving the management operations and the level of customer satisfaction. The customer profile is varied on account of various factors which include cultural differences, nationalities, languages spoken and economic differentials to name a few which could act as barriers to communication or lead to miscommunication or misinterpretation. Also, the type of customer and reasons for their stay could be classified under several categories such as business, tourism, government service, etc.local, international, personal, official and so on. The duration of stay varies according to the type of customers and purpose and the type of service varies with the duration of the stay also. There are individuals and corporate companies as customers. The business in respect of corporate compani

Personal letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal letter - Essay Example Different games would be Operation, Sorry, and CSI board games. The Beatles, The Bee Gees, and Korn are music from different generations. I had to research online about different generations. American schooling was another aspect of the book I read. American schooling is easier that in my homeland. American children also do not go year round. The texts are not as expansive as I am used to. The chapter of Living in a Postcolonial World was enlightening. This chapter showed how American society is made up of many cultures. Every major culture can be found in America. Globalization has made American borders less daunting. The Internet has also promoted globalization in America. In The Buddha of Suburbia, I learned a person does not have to be classified. Karim was Indian and British; gay and straight. Karim faced prejudices because he did not belong to one group or culture. The sex was a bit graphic, but it made the point clearer. This story also shows how post colonialism confuses identities. This story also shows that every individual has a unique story. Not all Indians have to be the same. Due to my cultural differences, I like to work alone. This way no one can see how I struggle with the English language. I can use the library and other methods to check my work. Spell check and hours at the library have helped some. When I did work with others, the experience was pleasant and beneficial. I like my classmates. They are friendly and helpful. My tutors are also very patient. The schools environment is good to learn in. The academia I have learned in America is altered from the schools in my homeland. I thought American schools would be very easy. I could not have been more wrong. Even though I took English courses back home, the courses here are more difficult. Due to my limited English, my need for a tutor, and my performance in class, I deserve no more than a C. I wish I could recommend

Ethical issues with Facebook Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ethical issues with Facebook - Essay Example Many comments are made on Facebook, especially on an individual’s personal profile. For the majority of people these comments do not resolve in conflict, specifically work-related conflict. However, it is getting more and more difficult to separate Facebook from the workplace. Employers are now utilizing Facebook as a means for hire or no hire depending on the profile. An interview may be determined by whether or not an interviewee has photos of him or herself intoxicated with supporting graphic posts that employers do not find desirable in coworkers. Likewise, a presentable profile may increase the chances of a person being hired. Employers are attempting to observe who potential hires truly are and how they carry on in their daily lives as a way to weed out problematic hires. The same is true for an employee’s current boss, or employer who may keep tabs on the employee to make sure he or she is a consistently presentable person as that employee is in some way or anoth er a representation of the company. No employer wants an employee to state that they work for their company on Facebook then flood their profile with vulgar or inappropriate information. Unsuitable photos or language on Facebook is not the only concern potential applicants have when being inspected by an employer (mostly without their knowledge). Facebook gives the user the option to post their religion, race, age, health, and political views making it an unethical resource. Employers should not be granted this information as it may stipulate unjust action. The employer is open to discriminate an applicant based on this information that would otherwise not be at their disposal. â€Å"It is unfair for employers, absent express permission from an employee or potential employee, to find ways to check these sites, which are created, in most cases, for friends, family, and social acquaintances† (Marshall). Not only is that important to recognize when signing up for Facebook, but i t is also crucial to know that future employers are not the only ones who are eager to view and use an individual’s profile page for some thing other than what it is intended. Facebook exploited a new Terms of Service in 2009. It states: You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or th e promotion thereof. (Marshall) The ethical debate in this instance include normative, which determines the right course of action using ethics, and applied, which helps establish what feats need to take place to resolve this case. Ethics is called for in this situation because the issue involves an imposition of rights of Facebook’s users, which is unethical. It is unethical for two reasons. One, Facebook

Auditing And The Public Interest Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Auditing And The Public Interest - Assignment Example Being prepared by either internal or external auditors, audit report gives the evaluation of the performance of a company. The reports are not only essential to the management but also they are heavily relied upon by other parties including the shareholders, government, financial institutions and the general public. It is important to note that auditors only give an opinion as to whether or not the financial statements depict the correct financial position of a company. This paper seeks to discuss whether the current international regulatory environment for the auditing is effective in ensuring that investors and owners are provided with reliable information by external auditors. Public interest in relation to the (accounting and) audit profession According to the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) public interest entails the entity or individuals who are directly affected by the financial reports that are given by auditors or by the accountants. One of the major objectiv es that accountancy profession must strive to achieve is to safeguard the interest of the public. This includes provision of accurate and reliable financial information that is vital in making investment decision. ... essential to note that by ensuring uniformity in the financial statements of various companies, members of the public are in a position to determine the profitable and the well managed organizations. One of the major aspects of accountancy as depicted by Gonzalo (2009) is that in order to attain an efficient economy, it is vital for the financial accounts to be accurate and comparable. In this way, companies can access the risks that may negatively affect the public investments. He also stipulates that proper financial reporting results into efficient economic outcomes and common good while poor reporting adversely affect the performance of an economy. To create public confidence especially in the financial market, it is prudent for companies to provide adequate information that eliminates uncertainty which demotivates individuals to engage in transactions. Provision of independent certification which is the major role of auditors significantly creates confidence among the investors particularly in the current world of asymmetric information (Gonzalo 2009). In the same way, certainty is a key aspect that motivates individual to engage in purchasing of company products. In this regard, auditors should play an imperative role of public certification in order to increase public confidence and reduce uncertainty thus lowering the prices of the commodities. This will not only result to financial stability but also it generates social benefits to the individuals. One of the notable implications of proper auditing and professional accountancy is that they ensure comparability and verifiability of the financial information thus propagating public interest since they result to efficiency of markets. In order to ensure advancement of public interest, it is vital for auditors and

Ideaistic versus materialistic motivations Essay Example for Free

Ideaistic versus materialistic motivations Essay Behind every great society, there is always a story. Today, the nation of America is referred to as God’s own land. With population of approximately 293,500,000 and land mass of GDP of approximately $10. 98 trillion per year, the country commands the respect of many of its fellow nations. The question that readily comes to heart is that; has this always been so? What we see in the nation of America today did not just start in a day. It was a process – one that was filled with patriotism from dedicated hearts. In fact, the wonderful story we hear of the great nation all started from the period called the American Revolution of 1775 when the then thirteen colonies of America gain independence from the British colonial power. Many people have from different schools of thought hold different views about this revolution. Some are of the idea that the revolution was based on the mere idealistic and scholarly works of some philosophers and sages of that time. On the other hand, some are of the opinion that these seeming patriots were merely motivated by their materialistic class interest. To this, I will say both sides have a point. I state the reason for my assertion in the following paragraph. Evidently, ideological belief in the notion of individual liberty and human equality was part of what motivated the revolution. This can be seen in the works of John Locke and Montesquieu. We can also see this in the declaration of independence. On the other hand, looking at it critically, some patriots of this revolution knew that the independence will bring political position to them. Some of the we motivated by the savour of power and authority that will be passed into their hands However, I think that no matter what the motivation was, it was a good fight. Generations to come will forever be grateful to them that they did and their name will be in the sand of time. Reference: Fleming, T. (1997). Liberty! : The American Revolution. New York: Viking.

Approaches to Data Cleaning

Approaches to Data Cleaning Data Cleaning approaches: generally, data cleaning contains several steps Data Analysis: A detailed analysis is required to check what type of inconsistencies and errors are to be resolved. An analysis program should be used along with manual analysis of data to identify data quality problems and to extract metadata. Characterization of mapping rules and transformation workflow: We might have to execute a great amount of data cleaning and transformation steps depending upon the degree of dirtiness of data, the amount of data sources and their level of heterogeneity. In some cases schema transformation is required to map sources to a common data model for data warehouse, usually relational model is utilized. Initial data cleaning phases organize data for integration and fix single –source instant complications. Further phases deal with data/schema integration and resolving multi-source glitches, e.g., redundancies. Workflow that states the ETL processes should specify the control and data flow of the cleaning steps for data warehouse. The schema associated data conversions and the cleaning steps should be quantified by a declarative query and mapping language to the extent possible, to allow auto generation of the conversion program. Along with it there should be a possibility to call user written program and special tools during the process of data transformation and cleaning process. A user opinion is required for data transformation for whom there is no built in cleaning logic. Verification: The accuracy and efficiency of a conversion process and transformation designs should be verified and assessed on a sample data to improve the definitions. Repetition of the verification, design and analysis phases may be required because some faults may appear after performing some conversions. Transformation: Implementation of the transformation phase either by running the ETL process for refreshing and loading a data warehouse or during returning queries from heterogeneous sources. Reverse flow of transformed data: once the single source problems are resolved the transformed data should be overwritten in the base source so that we can provide legacy programs cleaned data and to escape repeating of the transformation process for future data withdrawals. For the data warehousing, the cleaned data is presented from the data staging area. The transformation phase requires a huge volume of metadata, such as, workflow definitions, transformation mappings, instance-level data characteristics, schemas etc. For reliability, tractability and reusability, this metadata should be kept in a DBMS-based repository. For example the consequent table Customers holds the columns C_ID and C_no, permitting anyone to track the base records. In the next sections we have elaborated in more detail probable methodologies for data examination, conversion definition and conflict determination. Along with it there should be a possibility to call user written program and special tools during the process of data transformation and cleaning process. A user opinion is required for data transformation for whom there is no built in cleaning logic. The accuracy and efficiency of a conversion process and transformation designs should be verified and assessed on a samp le data to improve the definitions. Repetition of the verification, design and analysis phases may be required because some faults may appear after performing some conversions. Transformation: Implementation of the transformation phase either by running the ETL process for refreshing and loading a data warehouse or during returning queries from heterogeneous sources. Reverse flow of transformed data: once the single source problems are resolved the transformed data should be overwritten in the base source so that we can provide legacy programs cleaned data and to escape repeating of the transformation process for future data withdrawals. For the data warehousing, the cleaned data is presented from the data staging area. The transformation phase requires a huge volume of metadata, such as, workflow definitions, transformation mappings, instance-level data characteristics, schemas etc. For reliability, tractability and reusability, this metadata should be kept in a DBMS-based reposito ry. To maintain data excellence, thorough data about the transformation phase is to be stored, both in the in the transformed occurrences and repository , in precise information about the extensiveness and brilliance of source data and extraction information about the source of transformed entities and the transformation applied on them. For example the consequent table Customers holds the columns C_ID and C_no, permitting anyone to track the base records. In the next sections we have elaborated in more detail probable methodologies for data examination, conversion definition and conflict determination. DATA ANALYSIS Metadata mirrored in schemas is usually inadequate to evaluate the data integrity of a source, particularly if only a small number of integrity constraints are imposed. It is therefore necessary to examine the original instances to get actual metadata on infrequent value patterns or data features. This metadata assists searching data quality faults. Furthermore, it can efficiently subsidize to recognize attribute correspondences among base schemas (schema matching), based on which automatic data conversions can be developed. There are two associated methods for data analysis, data mining and data profiling. Data mining assists in determining particular data forms in huge data sets, e.g., relationships among numerous attributes. The focus of descriptive data mining includes sequence detection, association detection, summarization and clustering. Integrity constraints between attributes like user defined business rules and functional dependencies can be identified, which could be utilized to fill empty fields, resolve illegitimate data and to detect redundant archives throughout data sources e.g. a relationship rule with great certainty can suggest data quality troubles in entities breaching this rule. So a certainty of 99% for rule â€Å"tota_price=total_quantity*price_per_unit† suggests that 1% of the archives do not fulfill requirement and might require closer inspection. Data profiling concentrates on the instance investigation of single property. It provides information like discrete values, value range, length, data type and their uniqueness, variance, frequency, occurrence of null values, typical string pattern (e.g., for address), etc., specifying an precise sight of numerous quality features of the attribute. Table3. Examples for the use of reengineered metadata to address data quality problems Defining data transformations The data conversion phase usually comprises of numerous steps where every step may perform schema and instance associated conversions (mappings). To allow a data conversion and cleaning process to produce transformation instructions and therefore decrease the volume of manual programming it is compulsory to state the mandatory conversions in a suitable language, e.g., assisted by a graphical user interface. Many ETL tools support this functionality by assisting proprietary instruction languages. A more common and stretchy method is the use of the SQL standard query language to accomplish the data transformations and use the chance of application specific language extensions, in certain user defined functions (UDFs) are supported in SQL:99 . UDFs can be executed in SQL or any programming language with implanted SQL statements. They permit applying a extensive variety of data conversions and support easy use for diverse conversion and query processing tasks. Additionally, their impleme ntation by the DBMS can decrease data access cost and thus increase performance. Finally, UDFs are part of the SQL:99 standard and should (ultimately) be movable across many stages and DBMSs. The conversion states a view on which additional mappings can be carried out. The transformation implements a schema rearrangement with added attributes in the view achieved by dividing the address and name attributes of the source. The mandatory data extractions are achieved by User defined functions. The U.D.F executions can encompass cleaning logic, e.g., to eliminate spelling mistakes in city or deliver misplaced names. U.D.F might apply a significant implementation energy and do not assist all essential schema conversions. In specific, common and often required methods such as attribute dividing or uniting are not generally assisted but often needed to be re-applied in application particular differences. More difficult schema rearrangements (e.g., unfolding and folding of attributes) are not reinforced at all. Conflict Resolution: A number of conversion phases have to be identified and performed to solve the numerous schema and instance level data quality glitches that are mirrored in the data sources. Numerous types of alterations are to be executed on the discrete data sources to deal with single-source errors and to formulate for integration with other sources. Along with possible schema translation, these preliminary steps usually comprises of following steps: Getting data from free form attributes: Free form attributes mostly take numerous discrete values that should be obtained to attain a detailed picture and assist additional transformation steps such as looking for matching instance and redundant elimination. Common examples are address and name fields. Essential transformations in this phase are reorganization of data inside a field to comply with word reversals, and data extraction for attribute piercing. Authentication and alteration: This step investigates every source instance for data-entry mistakes and attempts to resolve them automatically as much as possible. Spell-checking built on dictionary searching is beneficial for finding and adjusting spelling mistakes. Additionally, dictionaries on zip codes and geographical names assist to fix address data. Attribute reliance (total price – unit price / quantity, birth date-age, city – zip area code,†¦) can be used to identify mistakes and fill missing data or resolve incorrect values. Standardization: To assist instance integration and matching, attribute data should be changed to a reliable and identical form. For example, time and date records should be transformed into a defined form; names and other string values should be changed to lower case or upper case, etc. Text data might be summarized and combined by stop words, suffixes, executing stemming and removing prefixes. Additionally, encoding structures and abbreviations should continuously be fixed by referring distinctive synonym dictionaries or implementing predefined transformation rules.

Marketing Strategies Of Kingfisher Airlines In India Tourism Essay

Marketing Strategies Of Kingfisher Airlines In India Tourism Essay This report features the marketing strategies of Kingfisher Airlines in India. The report starts with the analysis of internal and external factors that affect the environment around the aviation industry and how they have an impact on Kingfisher Airlines. As the product under consideration is actually a service industry, 7 Ps of the company have been discussed at length. Moving on, the report discusses the segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies used by the company in detail. On the basis of analysis done, recommendations have been given that might help the company in achieving their objectives and serving their target market more efficiently. 2. CompanyBackground According to UB Group.(2010) The united brewery (UB) Group is one of the Indias largest conglomerates, which has annual sales over US$ 400 million with market capitalisation of over US$ 5 billion. The group has assorted interests in Brewing, real estate, Engineering, Bio technology, Information technology and Aviation. Dr. Vijay Mallaya is the chairman of the group. Kingfisher airline is a private airline owned by Dr. Vijay Mallaya. It started operations in May 9, 2005 with fleet of 4 leased airbase A 320 aircrafts. It provides full facilities to its passenger. With its merger with Air Deccan, the airline nowcaters to all the segments of aviation industry from low to premium. 3. The Environment 3.1Macro Environment Political Factors: Government of India ended the monopoly of Air India and Indian airlines by announcing of its open skies policy. Now the private operators are allowed to offer air transport services.Foreign equity up to 25% is allowed.Non Resident Indian(NRI) investments would be allowed up to 100% for domestic passenger transport. In spite of this no foreign airlines could either directly or indirectly hold equity in domestic airline company. The Government gave freedom to operate non-profit, traveller charter and cargo flights to any destinations. Indian citizens are also allowed to travel on these flights. Fuel prices and high fuel taxes are constantly increasing so the cost will ultimately be placed on the passengers.Safety regulations which also effect aviation industry such as regular flight inspection, recording of flight recorder. Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India.(2000) Economic Factors Indian Aviation industry depends on thedevelopment of its internal market. This can be determined by economic growth of more than 7% Print. (2009, August 6). High fuel costs have definitely worsened the Indian aviation industry. Fuel tax which is charged by most of the states in India is 28%. Indian airlines are growing too fast and too big making over capacity a big issue. There are issues which have overwhelmed the various airlines throughout the world such as High fuel cost, declining passenger numbers and cut throat cost wars but all these have limited influence in India. Regardless of low airport infrastructure in India, there are more than 25 international airlines operating from India. Richardson, B. (2010, January 24) Socio-Culture Factors Around two third of the current population of India consists of young people below 35 belonging to service class. The people belonging to this age group have high disposable income and are potential market targets for consumer and luxury goods. Naukri Hub 1.(2009) Also in country like India, family structure is of great importance, there is a hierarchical system in which all the major household decisions are taken by the elders and earning members of the family. Thus while introducing any product, marketers aim for target audience of that product and decision maker of their family simultaneously. Naukri Hub 2.(2009) Technological Factors: Advances in technology will influence the market in various ways. These days there have been many developments in IT systems and internet which is being used for aircraft maintenance. There have been changes in trends like more customers booking the tickets online. Due to the advancement in technology, the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) has been proposed in cargo terminals, which will link all the stake holders for quick transaction and recent information about the cargo. In many national based carrier services the revenue Yield management system would be increasingly used for adaptable tariffs and to make most of the revenue.The introduction of web check-in service has eased the boarding process in flights. Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India.(2000) 3.2 Micro Environment Company The main goal of kingfisher airline is to provide steady, safe, value based and enjoyable travel experience to all of its passengers Fly Kingfisher 1.(2010). It is the only airline in India which has been awarded with five stars Airline rating by Skytrax. Fly Kingfisher 5.(2010) It has a 19% market share in Indian aviation industry. Customers Customer trend is a fragmentary issue which is required to be considered in order to be successful in the market. Company survives on the basis of fulfilling the customers needs, wants and offer them good benefits to attract more customers. Kingfisher airline fares are standard as compared to jet airways or Air India. They launched kingfisher Red to attract the budget flyers. Supplier Airline needs a consistent supply of fuel, maintenance, food and beverages. Kingfisher airline has a contract with Sky Gourmet for providing catering services, which is a leading airline caterer in India. The Gate group has acquired 74% interest in Sky Gourmet, which will strengthen the capabilities of the company. Gate group is a leader in providing on board services to the organisations which provides services to people on move. So this will ultimately give the benefit to kingfisher airline. Newswire, P.(2010, November 11) Competitor With 19% market share Kingfisher airline faces an intense competition from Jet Airways and Air India which are the two fastest growing airlines in India. Jet Airways and Air India are competing with Kingfisher on premium Executive class of the country with each having market share 26.2% and 17.7% respectively. Director General of Civil Aviation 1,(2010) They provide outstanding services and continuous innovations. Jet airways have acquired Air Sahara, in order to compete strongly in the low cost carrier market. Air Transport World.(2007) Kingfisher airline also competes with other Low cost carriers (LCC) such as Spice Jet, Go Air, Jet Lite, and Indigo Air on short haul routes. These airlines have made record profit by providing cheap tickets to passengers and have captured strong market shares in Indian aviation industry. 4. Organisational Marketing Mix Product/services Kingfisher airline provides three exclusive classes of services to its customers-kingfisher First, kingfisher Class and kingfisher Red. Kingfisher class is highly respected in economy which targets fashionable and ready-to-save middle class passengers. Kingfisher Red is low fare service of kingfisher airlines which mainly targets developing middle class people which are primarily price cognizant. Kingfisher first and kingfisher class both are also available on international journey. Other services included are: Tejas.(2009) Travel insurance in relationship with ICICI Lombard General Insurance. Offer In-flight entertainment to its passengers. Cargo services Lounge and private space Special care facility 3 course Gourmet cuisine Branding Strategies of kingfisher Airlines Kingfisher airlines have adopted Umbrella branding strategy and have broken new ground in the idea of bringing luxury, glamour and lifestyle to the skies. Kingfisher airlines sell the idea of lifestyle through its sensational airhostesses and use red colour, which is the colour of liveliness. They have been trained to provide hospitality in such a way thatgives every passenger a feel like Guest. Kingfisher airlines concept of Flying with Good Times reflects that they are providing a world class services to its Guest. Kingfisher airlines have aggressively advertised itself by becoming channel partner for NDTV Good Times, which is the Indias first lifestyle channel in order to gives its brand a distinct identity. It has also started co branding initiative with American Express corporate card, Airtel, Goa tourism and Malaysian Tourism. It has drafted an agreement with Deepika Padukone ascompanys new brand ambassador. Tejas.(2009) Feedback system Kingfisher airline maintain a proper feedback system and provide the facility of direct email to its chairman if anyone is not satisfied with the services. Company has activated its account on Twitter so that the customer can receive instant updates from Kingfisher airlines; this account has been opened to get feedback from Guests. Campaign India Team.(2009) New Product Development by Kingfisher airlines: Kingfisher airlines offer variety of product developments like: Kingfisher Red launched Frequent Flyer Programme (Little Wings) for young flyers from ages 3 to 12 this would permit young flyer to receive miles when they fly On August, 2010-Kingfisher airlines launched daily direct flights on the Delhi-Ludhiana-Delhi Route.On,1 october,2010-Kingfisher airlines inaugurated services from Bangalore to Mysore. On, 10 october,2010-Kingfisher airlines announced its first SMS-based ticketing service Flybuysms across all mobile networks in collaboration with wireless transactions company Pay Mate. On, 17April, 2010-Kingfisher airlines launch services from Mumbai and New Delhi to Bangkok. They are operating with 22 additional Domestic flights in 2010 for winter schedule from major cities. Kingfisher airlines also provides facility of In- Flight -Entertainment. Fly Kingfisher 2.(2010) Price Kingfisher airline follows differential pricing strategy which is also called dynamic pricing strategy and competes against major airlines in India such as Air India, Jet airways. Newman2, N. (2010). It is a premium airline and charge premium price for its business and economy class and provides high quality of services due to the change in consumers tendency and emerging of new low cost airlines. Kingfisher Red is a low fare section which adopts low fare pricing with full services. The pricing strategy of aviation industry is dynamic and mainly based on the behaviour of crude oil prices, Dollar rates and competition. Fuel prices today accounts for 45 percent of airlines total operating cost. Dr Vijaymallya stated that kingfisher Red is budget airline not a low cost carrier and fares were above those of LCC but lower than the economy class of competitors. ICMR.(2006) Place Kingfisher airline connects all important sectors of business in addition to leisure destinations and provide economical airlines tickets to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Goa, Chennai, Bangalore and other important cities. It provides services over 80 destinations including Domestic as well as international, more than daily 390 departures with 66 aircraft. Bhasin, H. (2010, June 28) they recently proclaim inaugurate of its domestic operations from Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, from 14th November 2010, New Delhi. Services from new terminal will provide smooth process and flawless services among all international as well as domestic connections. Fly Kingfisher 3.(2010) Promotions Kingfisher airline use heavy promotion campaign and spends lots of money in promotions; the team of kingfisher airline demonstrated that airline as The New Flying Experience and use both techniques push and pull promotion strategies as follows: Pull Promotion strategy Kingfisher airlines use advertisement hoardings at airports which represents the fashionable interior of the Funliners, andexpress the youthful, joy filled and world-class image. They organize various fashion shows, celebrity golf matches, New Year parties in order to build its kingfisher brand. The UB group publish their monthly magazine which is called Pegasus which provides information regarding kingfisher airlines. Bhasin, H. (2010, June 28) . Push Promotion strategy Kingfisher airline provides special discounts for all individual serving in the India Armed forced the union government, state government, and employees of all public sector units in country. It was the official airline partner of the DLF Indian premier league (IPL) in season 2009. Special discounts in kingfisher hotels mainly for kingfisher airliner traveller. They provides group travel discount for group of 8 or more travelling in kingfisher class or group of 6 or more travelling in kingfisher first class for common purpose. Fly Kingfisher 4.(2010) People Kingfisher airline is service industry which has two kinds of clients: External clients (passengers) and internal customers (employees). Kingfisher airlines uses the word GUEST for its external client, Dr Vijay mallya has clear instruction to his crew that take care of every guest in the same manner as they have guest in his ownhome. Every crew has been provided a thorough training programme so that they can provide the services as per passengers expectations. Bhasin, H. (2010, June 28) Process Customer can book their air ticket either online through kingfisher airlines website or through a Roving agent web check- in. Customer can book ticket at nearest local kingfisher airline office Kingfisher airlines also provides service of home delivery of ticket on demand Fly by SMS service called king mobile was launched in 2005, in order to inform its passengers regarding flight updates, schedule and flight statues through instant mobile alert. Bhasin, H. (2010, June 28) Physical Evidence Kingfisher Airlines provides varieties of unique services to its passenger such as personal valet at the airport in order to help in luggage handling and boarding, Exclusive lounges and private space together with refreshments and music at the airport. In flight Entertainment facility, Passengers have choice of three Gourmet cuisines. Passengers can feel more comfortable with sleeper seats with extendable footrests. It also provides free food in kingfisher Red airline. Yatra Online Private Limited.(2010) C:UserssahilDesktopsegmentation22.jpg C:UserssahilDesktopsegmentation 222.jpg (Refer to appendix 1, Naukri Hub 1.(2009), and Naukri Hub 2.(2009) for segmentation) Customised Marketing Focused Marketing Differentiated Marketing Target Marketing Strategy Undifferentiated Marketing6. Types of Targeting Strategies Targeting Strategy of Kingfisher Airline Kingfisher airline follows Differentiated Targeting Strategy. It mainly targets three types of customers in India on the basis of this provides three Elite classes such as: Kingfisher First: a business class service which mainly concentrates on business class people who are willing to spend for first class services. Kingfisher Class: is highly respected in economy which targets fashionable and ready-to-save middle class passengers. Kingfisher Red: is low fare service of kingfisher airlines which mainly targets developing-middle class people which are primarily price cognizant. Newman1, N. (2010) Kingfisher Red (Budget Flyer) Kingfisher Class (Leisure Traveller) Kingfisher First (Business Traveller) Kingfisher Airline Differentiated strategy 7. Positioning Strategy of Kingfisher In terms of positioning strategy, Kingfisher airline positioned them self premium airline. Dr. Vijay Mallaya has clearly stated that Kingfisher Red will not be positioned as Low cost carrier (LCC), as passengers consider the attributes of a LCC as low quality of services. He believes that people in India pay for quality and services.This budget airline positioning is not a LCC but lower than the economy class of their competitors such as Indian airlines, Jet airways. It also provides the facility of multiple fare option and auction of its tickets on all travel routes. ICMR.(2006), Newman1, N. (2010) Perceptual Maps High Services offered Kingfisher Airline Kingfisher Red Jet airways Air Indigo Air India Price of Ticket High Low Spice jet Go Air Low Low 8. Recommendation Kingfisher airline should improve its performance on important constraint such as punctuality. As per the research conduct by director general of civil aviation (DGCA) kingfisher has highest flight cancellation rate in 2010. Below figures shows the rate: Director General of Civil Aviation 2,2010) I:cancellation.jpg I:reasons of cancellation.jpg Above diagram explains the reason for cancellations. Based on this, it can be deduced that Kingfisher Airlines still lacks in providing world class service as promised by them. Director General of Civil Aviation 2,2010) Kingfisher airlines market share is still low as compared to Jet airways, as per the data revealed by DGCA. It may be due to the higher fare as compared to other low cost carrier such as spice jet, Air indigo, NACIL (I). Director General of Civil Aviation 1,(2010) I:Untitled.jpg Kingfisher airline should think about applying promotional campaign in mass media, in order to inform people more about Kingfisher Red and Kingfisher services. Also they should reconsider their budget flyer strategy as Low Cost Carriers like Spicejet and Indigo are far ahead in terms of market share.

Walter Elias Disney Essay -- Biography Biographical Disney Essays

Walter Elias Disney Disney has become a household name in American society, but most people are not aware of Walt Disney's struggles before becoming one of the twentieth century's most prominent and successful animators and film directors. Walt Disney is best know for his characters Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Goofy, and Minnie Mouse, but his company can also be credited with achievements such as the first fully synchronized sound picture, "Steamboat Willie", the first full-color animation, "Flowers and Trees", and the first full-length animated movie, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois to Elias Disney and Flora Call. Walt was the youngest of four boys before his younger sister was born. At the age of five, he moved with his family away from the city to a farm near Marceline, Missouri. Walt loved his years on the farm, and his first drawings were of his beloved farm animals. Paper was scarce in the Disney household, so Walt's original drawings were done on toilet paper, one reason why his earliest works were never preserved. Around the time when Walt was eight, his mother gathered enough money to buy him a book for his drawings. Walt's father became ill, and during Elias's recovery, the Disney's three youngest children, Flora, and Elias moved to Kansas City. For more income, Elias forced Walt and his older brother and future partner Roy, to deliver newspapers. Even though there was an age difference of ten years between Walt and Roy, the brothers always remained very close. After Roy ran away, the youngest two children and the Disney parents moved again, back to Chicago, where Walt become the junior editor of his high school news paper "The Voice."... ...ied on December 15, 1966 from cancer, while Walt Disney World, in Florida, was under construction. Walt saw his company rise to greatness, but never in his wildest dreams could he imagine the legacy that he left in this world. Today, the renamed Disney Company still produces full-length animated features that children all over the world enjoy, and trips to Disney theme parks have become pilgrimages for the young and old alike. Works Cited: "Disney, Walt." Encyclopedia Britanica. http://search.eb.com/eb/article?eu=31135 Eliot, M., 1993: Walt Disney:Hollywood's Dark Prince. Carol Publishing Group. New York, NY. Mosley, L., 1985: Disney's World. Stein and Day Inc., New York, NY. Thomas, f. and O. Johnston, 1981: The Illusion of Life:Disney Animation. Hyperion, New York, NY. "Timeline." http://disney.go.com/DisneyChannel/z4/TheMagicIsBorn/timeline.html

Research on Marijuana Essay -- Papers Argumentative Weed Essays

Research on Marijuana Everyone believes Marijuana is a gateway drug. However, some people think it is not because they believe they will not use anything else. If we do not fide some form of way to get rid of this drug or if we make it legal our future generations will suffer. As of now our brains get affected. A solution would be to find away to get rid of this drug and not to make it legal. Marijuana has been around for centuries now and it still grows in use. People say it is good for the body because it helps the body fight of disease and many other things like pain. Marijuana is a very powerful drug and it is believed that it is a gateway drug. This simply means that once your tolerance is so high you will look towards other drugs so that you can get the same feeling as when you first started using marijuana. I know that there is no evidence of such a thing happening but I do believe this is the drug that helps you look toward other drugs. I?ve heard of stories in my high school that kids have tried other drugs because of this one drug they started with. ...

The Joy Luck Club :: essays research papers

The Joy Luck Club   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Joy luck club was a book written by Amy Tan. The story is set here in America and in China and is set in the 1940's and also takes place now. The book is about four Asian women who fled china and their Americanized daughters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are eight main characters four of which were mothers and four of which were daughters. They were Suyuan Woo, Ying-yang St. Clair, An-mei Hsu, and Lindo Jong, who were the mothers, and the daughters Jing-mei Woo, Rose Hsu Jordan, Waverly Jong, Lena St. Clair. In the book it tells the story of each of the mothers and what they went through from the eyes of their daughters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The book mostly focuses on Jing-mei Woo, who takes the place of her mother in the Joy Luck Club meetings after the death of her mother. In the meetings with the other mothers she reminisced about her mother and heard new stories about her mother she had never heard before. She hears stories of how it was her mother came to America and what she left behind in China.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The book starts off in China with a woman imagining what life in America raising a daughter would be like. Hoping that she would be an American but still have her Chinese heritage. But in the end her daughter turns out to be as Americanized as they come not realizing her Chinese heritage. This makes it so that they don't communicate very well and makes it so they don't know very much about each other.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This book shows that now days the traditions of the older generations are slowly being filtered out by the younger generations. An example in the book is when one of the mothers had her marriage pre-arranged by her parents and a friend of the family and the fact that she accepted the marriage.

How and why is surveillance used in cities?

To be able to discuss the issue of surveillance, it is necessary to understand what is meant by surveillance. Surveillance literally means ‘keeping watch over, guarding or supervising'. In the field of sociology, the word surveillance has a much more technical meaning, writers such as Foucault (1977), have often discussed how surveillance is a way to impose social control and order upon society. In society today, surveillance is widely used, particularly to monitor behaviour. In the city, the use and different forms of surveillance has increased immensely over the last thirty years. The use surveillance within the city dates back to the 19th century in the form of police surveillance. The police began walking ‘the beat' in order to reduce crime and in the hope of being more accessible to the public. The practise of ‘pounding the beat,' has continued to modern times, in cities such as Manchester, policing the streets is used for a variety of reasons. Primarily, the police is used for detecting crimes, deterring criminals from offending, and also to reduce the publics' fear of crime. Another reason of ‘pounding the beat,' is to observe suspicious characters. It has been contended that as well as giving a community a sense of security, some have argued that the police can cause tension within a community, especially in communities where there is a distinct lack of social stability. The term ‘suspicious characters' is also too ambiguous, the definition is unclear, do the public know what constitutes a suspicious character; there is no official guideline of what actually represents a suspicious character for the police to follow. The police may consider one certain group more suspicious than another. Due to this lack of formal guidelines, it is possible for one group, e.g. young black males, to be classed as more suspicious, and be targeted more than middle aged females. Policing the streets is a form of surveillance that dates back to the early 1800's, another form of a similar type of surveillance that has increased over the last 20 years, would be the introduction of private security firms. Private security firms are common use today within shops, pubs and clubs, car parks and even in residential buildings. A good example of private security firms being used would be the Manchester Arndale Centre, where there are a large number of overt security guards who are there to monitor the public. Critics of employing the private security firms for surveillance have suggested that, firstly, the companies are a public limited company, therefore, there interests lie in earning profit as opposed to the interest of the public. A second criticism would be about the employees, there are no procedures on the qualification that a security guard needs. How does the security firm decide on who is competent to perform surveillance. These private firms are also used to keep under observation of the closed circuit television (CCTV), but is this infringement on the publics civil liberties this will be discussed shortly. Firstly, consideration of what is the utility of CCTV will need to be analysed. CCTV is probably the most widely used form of surveillance within cities today; an increasing number of streets, building, car parks and more recently, people are putting CCTV in there homes. Manchester is a prime example of using CCTV; Manchester has invested in a multi million pound, state of the art surveillance system. CCTV is used throughout the city and is used to monitor behaviour and detecting criminality. This most up-to-date technology that is in place, can match known criminals to the images that the CCTV captures. Again this is quite controversial, it goes back to the monitoring of certain groups, is it really fair that this group should be monitored more than others, just because they are known criminals, what about the individuals that do not get caught? Research has shown that the use of CCTV within the UK, that because there are no clear objectives of who should be observed, people who look ‘peculiar' or deviant are targeted more than others. In 1992, the city of Newcastle installed CCTV into the city centre after ram raiders and street crime turned the city centre into a ‘no-go area.' The police monitored the CCTV system, the public approved of this, so long as the police and no outside agencies that were the observers. The system worked in Newcastle; the city was opened up by a newfound security that was felt through the CCTV. More arrests and conviction were made as a direct result of the CCTV.1 More recently, forms of ‘hyper-surveillant control' have been developed; Boggard (1996) originally coined the term hyper-surveillant control. As a definition, hyper-surveillant control means, â€Å"Not just an intensification of surveillance, but the effort to push surveillance to the absolute limit.† Boggard was referring to modern day society and included all types of surveillance, including the previously discussed and methods of surveillance, which are more recent, including monitoring consumption patterns when using credit or debit cards. When people use credit or debit cards, banks can monitor where, when, time, what they bought, and all this information is logged and stored. Moreover, every time a form is completed, information is given on all aspects of a person's life, once the form has been completed, the individual can never be clear what happens to the information. Furthermore, in this day of increasing consumerism, where more and more people are using the Internet, websites that have been viewed are stored and then tailor made advertising will appear on screen. The previously mentioned â€Å"absolute limit† that Boggard discussed, is an imaginary line beyond which control operates. This leads to the second part of the question on social control and to what extent is surveillance a just means of social control. Parsons (1951) defines social control as, â€Å"the process by which, through the imposition of sanctions, deviant behaviour is counteracted and social stability maintained.† Is surveillance a means to ensure that these sanctions or rules, which Parsons discussed, are adhered to? Some writers have argued that by attempting to achieve social control, by the increased use of surveillance, of particular crimes or social groups, could lead to the deviancy to be amplified rather that deterring. Does this mean that surveillance is not a just means of social control? Initially consider the moral issue of closed circuit television, some groups have suggested that CCTV impinges on peoples' civil liberties. It is questionable that it is right to watch people, especially if they do not know they are being watched. There is little regulation over CCTV and people are not sure who is accountable when it extends to civil liberties. Some writers have argued that surveillance is not generally a necessity in achieving social control, but social stability of groups within society, community groups and shared values are all more important than surveillance. For example, if there is tension between police and particular minority within a city, when the police are considering increasing the number of police on ‘the beat,' concern over this instability within the community should be taken into account. Surveillance is widely used within all aspects of society and whether people it is right or wrong that someone else has the right to watch over another person, this is not always the issue. There are both advantages and disadvantages of surveillance and these have been discussed, however, to use surveillance as a form of social control will need careful deliberation. If surveillance is made excessively intense, it may be possible that a society where the public are constantly under surveillance could be created, it may be possible that this ‘hyper-surveillant control' that Boggard mentioned, and the absolute limit will be achieved. Surveillance could be classed as a just means of social control, and on the whole, society is willing to except that surveillance is a necessary to ensure that the norms and values are accomplished. The only time that surveillance is not just means of social control, is usually when the form of surveillance intrudes upon people's civil liberties, or intrudes in people's private affairs. Take for example celebrities in the public eye; these people are constantly being watched by the media and paparazzi, is this use of surveillance justifiable? It could be contested that this is intrusive into the lives of the celebrity. When surveillance is concentrated on particular groups within society, this could be considered prejudiced and unfair. Crime may reduce in a specific area of the city, but it is possible that the crime is not simply stopping, it is just being moved to another part of the city. In the late 18th century, Jeremy Bentham came up with the idea of a Panopticon, this idea was a prison, where surveillance enforced complete social control. This prison had no bars, but observation was the key to control, the wardens would be able to see every part of the prison, but the prisoners would not be able to see the wardens. Foucault suggested that the Panopticon worked because â€Å"it induced a state of conscious and permanent visibility that ensures the automatic functioning of power.† As the prisoners are aware that they are being watched, it is said that their behaviour alters because of this. The Panoptic prison was never developed, however, Foucault does argue that the idea did have an influence on other institutions such as hospital, schools and factories. The Panoptic idea was an idea that social control could be enforced through complete surveillance. To conclude, surveillance is crucial within cities in order for social control to be maintained, but contrary to what some have argued, surveillance is not always the most essential ingredient in sustaining social control. Surveillance is a useful tool in the prevention and prosecution of crime, moreover, surveillance gives people the security that they require for them to feel safe from crime. People are willing to except that surveillance is inevitable, but are not will not except surveillance to encourage the extremes of social control where the ‘all seeing eye' is developed and all aspects of social behaviour is controlled through the use of surveillance.

John Locke’s theory about political power

John Locke's theory about political power is based on the idea of â€Å"perfect freedom†, a state everyone is â€Å"naturally in† while conducting personal proceedings and using possessions in normal way without pressing over or depending on other men. A law of nature governs the state of nature teaching that all people are â€Å"equal and independent† but they cannot hurt or destroy another person's â€Å"life, liberty, health or possessions†. God gives to his people different things to use for the best advantage of their lives but no one is born to has a domination over the other.There is a natural way in which a man can express the right to the things that are not beneficial to any other man yet. Then determination of property is given. Locke Justifies property as â€Å"the labor of his body and the work of his hands†. For the property to occur a person takes something from nature, mixes it with things that used to belong to him and adds his labo r. This individual labor is basically a main point from which exclusive right for the property starts and becomes unquestionable for the laborer as long as good enough is left for others.Every man is â€Å"lord† of his own. So, the only reason why man can give up his personal freedom and be bonded by political power of another man is his own consent and wish to unite with others into one mutually beneficial community. This community or government is considered to be safer, more comfortable and peaceful than life in his personal estate that could be endangered to â€Å"invasions of others†. The state of personal freedom is very unsafe and less enjoyable than secure life in society which is concerned about preservation of property.Tyranny is an â€Å"exercise of power beyond right†. It happens when anyone uses his r her power not for the best of others, but for the satisfaction of personal passions such as greediness, ambitions, wish to overpower others against th e law of nature. So, whenever such situation has occurred it has to be opposed because if the law is transgressed it causes harm to other people. Being rich or having an exceeding power is never a reason or an excuse â€Å"for rapine and oppression†.It doesn't matter if this man has a high or low rank, but for the king exceeding the authority is more shameful than for the constable because more trust is given to him. A king is also ell better educated and more acknowledged about right and wrong things to do which additionally obligates him. People willfully â€Å"choose and authorize a legislative† to create laws that will guarantee preservation of properties for each member in the community.People will never choose a legislative that makes laws being able to demolish things that everyone is trying to protect. When a legislative being ambitious or corrupted makes an attempt to go against â€Å"fundamental rule of the society† trying to enslave people, breaking t he trust at that moment his authority is ended. A new government which is ble to work for the protection of society should be chosen in case the old one bitrates the trust of people. Jefferson's text of the Declaration of Independence is mainly based on the ideas developed by Locke.Jefferson's â€Å"truth to be self evident† is basically the determination ot state ot nature in the work ot Locke. â€Å"All men are created equal† having certain rights, such as â€Å"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness†. Governments â€Å"are instituted among men† to protect these fundamental rights. In case the governor rules destructively over the people under his power he deserved nd should be thrown off his position and â€Å"new guards for future security† should be found.Jefferson writes the main part of Declaration describing that ruling of a present king of Great Britain is a history of â€Å"repeated injuries and usurpations†. â€Å"A prince w hose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people†, he says. At this point a direct referral to the Locke's idea of perfect freedom is made. Using Locke's fundamental ideas in Declaration of Independence Jefferson Justifies separation of United States from England.

Popular Approaches to Educational Planning in Developing Countries Essay

Educational planning is a worldwide practice found in both developing and developed countries. The developing countries and indeed all countries have placed a premium on education because of the persistent belief that formal education holds the key to national development and economic growth. In the light of this, the modern conception of educational planning has attracted specialists from many disciplines with each of them tending to see educational planning differently. In view of this attraction, the traditional approach to educational planning could no longer hold sway. In an attempt to find a most suitable approach to educational planning, different models have been developed by scholars. These include the social demand approach, the manpower approach, the cost-benefit approach and other remerging models. The choice of model to adopt is usually predicated on the peculiarities and other prevailing factors in a country. Generally however, scholars have tried to classify approaches to educational planning based on the level of development of a country. And this probably explains why some are called developing countries and others are developed countries. A thorough understanding of these approaches however requires some background information or knowledge. In doing, this we shall adopt the definition of the concept of educational planning as provided by Coombs (1970), identify key planning questions, trace the history of modern approaches to educational planning, and bring out most important planning issues in developing countries with example and illustrations. Educational Planning Because of the ubiquitous nature of education and educational planning, several scholars have offered different definitions. For example, Coombs (1970) in a UNESCO Publication titled â€Å"What is Educational Planning â€Å". says that: â€Å"Educational Planning, in its broadest generic sense, is the application of rational systematic analysis to the process of educational development with the aim of making education more effective and efficient in responding to the needs and goals of its students and society â€Å". Arising from this concept of educational planning are a succession of interdependent actions namely: i. Clarification of educational objectives  ii. Diagnosis of present conditions and recent trends iii. Identification and assessment of alternatives iv. Translation of plans into action and v. Evaluation and adjustment. This analytical process to educational planning entails preparing and subsequently evaluating a set of decisions or future actions aimed at achieving specific set of goals. Educational planning therefore is a fundamentally technical activity related to decision making process. Its purpose in the context of national educational programme and overall developmental objectives is to assess the implications of alternative sets of policy and thereby help decision makers choose that set which is most appropriate to the specified objectives. Events in the recent years have witnessed an increasing emphasis on the need to design educational policy in relation to overall set of objectives for economic and social development. Thus in addition to being a fundamental end in itself, education is now also viewed as an important means or instrument for increasing a nation’s economic and social welfare. This relationship makes it necessary to consider a variety of factors that previously may ha ve appeared irrelevant. The most important of this is to evaluate whether the size of structure of the educational system is appropriate from the perspective of national development objectives – or conversely to determine the educational capacity that will be required to permit a nation to reach its development targets. The second important characteristic of a new interest in educational planning is that it has focused attention on the structural interdependence and efficiency of the educational system. History of Modern Educational Planning A background history of the modern educational planning will greatly enhance our understanding of the emergence of the different approaches to educational planning in the developed and the developing countries. Prior to the Second World War (1939 – 1945), educational system everywhere was simple, less complex in structure and content, smaller in size and less intricately tied to the total life of nations. The only exception is probably the Soviet Union which in 1923 made an attempt to use educational planning to help realise a ‘new society’ through what is commonly referred to as the First Five Year Plan of the young Soviet Union. Before the war, the typical kind of educational planning had the following features a. It was short range in outlook (i.e. plan period was short, usually a year, rarely spreading beyond) b. It was fragmentary in its coverage of the educational system, the parts of the system were planned independently of one another. c. It was non-integrated in the sense that educational institutions were planned autonomously without explicit ties to the evolving needs and trends of the society and the economy at large; and d. It was non-dynamic kind of plannin g which assumed an essentially static educational model that would retain its main features intact year in and year out. However shortly after the world war (especially from 1945 to 1970), educational system and their environment all over the world were subjected to a barrage of scientific and technological, economical, demographic, political and cultural changes that shook everything in sight. The next twenty five years subsequently took Europe (industrialised nations) through four phases of development namely: i. The reconstruction phase  ii. The manpower shortage phase iii. Rampant expansion phase and iv. The innovation phase. Europe and indeed the entire world including the developing countries emerged from the Second World War with their educational system seriously disrupted and facing a heavy backlog of educational needs. Nations everywhere quickly settled for reconstruction and in the process it soon became evident that the conventional pre-war educational planning would not suffice for these reconstruction tasks. This arose because the recovery process was fast (partly on account of Marshall Plan assistance from the United States) and by the early 1950s these rebuilt economies had fully absorbed the available supply of skilled human resources; hence, manpower bottlenecks began to loom as the major obstacle to further growth. This led western economies to become more power minded and to look at educational planning through new eyes. No longer was education seen merely as a non-productive sector of the economy which absorbed consumption expenditure. It was now viewed as an essential ‘investment expenditure’ for economic growth. But as obviously important as manpower needs were finally conceded to be, they paled before another force that soon began to dominate the educational scene and gives sleepless nights to the political authorities and educational planners throughout Europe and North America. This other force was the explosive increase in popular demand for education which led to the rampant expansion phase. Virtually everywhere, the dominant thrust of strategy was to expand the pre-war educational needs as rapidly as possible – curriculum, methods, examinations and all with a view to accommodating a larger number and proportion of the youth population. These eruptions forced the educational system of industrialised nations into yet a fourth post-war phase called the innovation phase. This phase prompted the formulation and adoption of new planning concepts and tools which are now in use and taking shape. Educational Planning in Developing Countries Much of what was said above applies with even greater force to developing countries shortly after the European experience. There educational needs were even larger and more urgent but their educational systems unfortunately were less relevant and less adequate to their needs. It will be recalled that most of the developing nations of Africa were colonies during this period and were gradually fighting for political independence. During this period, the missionaries that introduced western type of education were not focused on rapid expansion of education. The colonial masters too had other pre-occupation. Formal western education was therefore at low ebb. At the same time, the armies and the soldiers including a few educated nationals of these countries have had exposure to Europe and North America and were therefore fairly acquainted with educational system in Europe and North America. Given this background, and starting from the 1950s, the developing countries responded similarly to their new circumstances with an educational strategy of linear expansion. Support was also received from global organisations like United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), International Institute of Educational Planning in this direction. At a series of UNESCO conferences early in the 1960s education ministers of Asia, Africa and Latin America set ambitious regional targets for educational expansion in their respective regions. These targets were widely adopted by individual nations. They called for 100% percent participation in primary education by the end of the target period and sharply increase participation in secondary and higher education. This expansion strategy manifests the adoption of the social demand approach to educational planning in some of the developing countries. A good example of this is the free education policy adopted by the Western and Eastern regions of Nigeria in the 1950s. Same goes for Nkrumah’s Ghana which introduced education for all policy in 1952. We shall examine this in greater detail later. In the view of Coombs (1970) the case for a manpower approach was particularly strong in developing nations because their overall development was conspicuously handicapped by shortages of all kinds of specialised or skilled manpower. Thus, it made sense to give initial priority to educating the most needed types of manpower for economic growth, for without such growth the desired long run expansion in education and other major social objectives would simply not be possible. Unfortunately, the developing countries were not equipped to do the kind of educational and manpower planning that the situation required and worse still, the rest of the world could not do much for them because the global supply of basic knowledge and experts for this kind of planning was acutely scarce. It is noteworthy however that UNESCO and other agencies played active and supportive role to assist.

Gender Role Reversals In Macbeth Essay

William Shakespeare’s tragedy â€Å"Macbeth† explores and challenges the idea of traditional gender roles and/or gender norms. The female characters in this play have a strong sense of masculine traits while the male characters are actually shown with feminine traits, reversing the stereotypical roles of genders. One of the typical gender norms in society is that men are the workers and providers and essentially the strength of the family, as women take more of a nurturing and caring role and are labeled as emotional and inferior. From this, a man’s physical strength is represented as being strong and brave at superior and horrific times, yet in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, it shows that they, the men, can end up weak while the women remain â€Å"strong† as shown multiple times between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. The roles between the Macbeths’ progressively transition throughout the play showing how the stereotypical gender norms are challenged and explored. The Macbeths obviously do not represent the stereotypical husband and wife. Within the first couple acts of the play when Lady Macbeth is being introduced we can see the sense of dominance and power in her character over her husband, Macbeth, which is not the average stereotypical trait of a woman. Lady Macbeth blatantly distinguishes herself as the dominant force in the relationship. For instance, when Macbeth is hesitant of how to manage King Duncan’s visit to their home, Lady Macbeth instantly seizes control of the situation, demanding that Macbeth lets her take control of the situation as shown in â€Å"Let me handle tonight’s preparations, because tonight will change every night and day for the rest of our lives.† (1.5. 57-60). This is an example of how the gender roles are reversed as the men/husbands of our society are usually portrayed as being assertive or dominant to handling situations, not the women/wives. Macbeth and his wife also switch roles in terms of the amount of ambition they show. While both characters obviously crave power, it is Lady Macbeth who is initially presented as the motivating force in the relationship. Her intentions are purely directed toward obtaining immediate power. For example, after first learning about the witches’ predictions, she immediately creates a murder plan and takes charge  of the situation. This is made evident as she emotionlessly explains to her husband, â€Å"You should project a peaceful mood, because if you look troubled, you will arouse suspicion. Leave all the rest to me.† (1.5. 63-65). However, Macbeth’s first reaction to the prophecy is somehow different in that he is hesitant of what actions should be done to successfully seal his future, stating â€Å"The dangers that actually threaten me here and now frighten me less than the horrible things I’m imagining. Even though it’s just a fantasy so far, the mere thought of committing murder shakes me up so much that I hardly know who I am anymore. My ability to act is stifled by my thoughts and speculations, and the only things that matter to me are things that don’t really exist† (1.3. 142-146). Macbeth and Lady Macbeth also exchange roles in terms of their expression of guilt. Initially, Lady Macbeth is completely unaffected by the thought of murder, and even directly after the murder of King Duncan she remains unaffected by the act. This is recognized through the scene (interaction) in which she handles Macbeth when he forgets to leave the gory daggers at the scene of the murder: â€Å"Coward! Give me the daggers. Dead and sleeping people can’t hurt you any more than pictures can. Only children are afraid of scary pictures.† (2.2. 52-55). In contrast, Macbeth is portrayed as a physical and emotional mess, so much so that he refuses to re-enter the room in which the murder took place, â€Å"I can’t go back. I’m afraid even to think about what I’ve done. I can’t stand to look at it again.† (2.2. 50-51). Macbeth is clearly disturbed by the murder and is troubled by the thought even before completing their plan. When talking about King Duncan he states, â€Å"The king trusts me in two ways. First of all, I am his kinsman and his subject, so I should always try to protect him. Second, I am his host, so I should be closing the door in his murderer’s face, not trying to murder him myself.† (1.7. 13-17) showing how hesitant and reluctant he is to betray and proceed with murdering King Duncan. This shows how the typical gender norms are challenged through Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, as the Macbeths’ gender roles are clearly in contrast to the typical gender norms that society has in just about every aspect. The Macbeths’ personalities reflect the inverse of the social standards and expectations, though as the play continues, it is apparent that it becomes reversed as Lady Macbeth begins to lose her edge and assumes the more submissive role, while Macbe th assumes the assertive position. As Lady  Macbeth begins to unravel, Macbeth becomes the more dominant and stronger force. She no longer has to instigate or persuade him to murder; as he starts to do so on his own. Whenever Macbeth fears someone stands in his way to maintain his kingship, he immediately develops plans for their murder. This is made obvious through his lack of care for Banquo when arranging his murder as seen in â€Å"They can be killed, it’s true. So be cheerful. Before the bat flies through the castle, and before the dung beetle makes his little humming noise to tell us it’s nighttime, a dreadful deed will be done† (3.2.41-44). Throughout the play, the Macbeths progressively take up each other’s common behavior. Lady Macbeth is clearly seen manipulating people for her own benefit (which seems to be a common technique for her), such as frequently challenging Macbeth’s manhood, which she uses in convincing him into killing King Duncan as seen here â€Å"When you dared to do it, that’s when you were a man. And if you go one step further by doing what you dared to do before, you’ll be that much more the man. The time and place weren’t right before, but you would have gone ahead with the murder anyhow. Now the time and place are just right, but they’re almost too good for you. I have suckled a baby, and I know how sweet it is to love the baby at my breast. But even as the baby was smiling up at me, I would have plucked my nipple out of its mouth and smashed its brains out against a wall if I had sworn to do that the same way you have sworn to do this† (1.7.48-59). Through launching such insults at him, Lady Macbeth is easily able to convince him to murder. However, after becoming king, Macbeth uses the same strategy when conferencing with the murderers he hired to get rid of Banquo as seen here in â€Å"Now, if you occupy some place in the list of men that isn’t down at the very bottom, tell me. Because if that’s the case, I will tell you a plan that will get rid of your enemy and bring you closer to me† (3.1.103-106). While earlier Macbeth was reluctant to murder and was therefore pressured to do so by his wife, Lady Macbeth, he rapidly changes into an individual ready to kill, while Lady Macbeth insists, â€Å"Come on, relax, dear. Put on a happy face and look cheerful and agreeable for your guests tonight† (3.2.29-31) and even, â€Å"You have to stop talking like this† (3.2.38), which differs from her previous desire and plea for him to take immediate action. In opposition, as the play begins to reach its conclusion, Lady Macbeth finds herself plagued by guilt. Macbeth, however, is no longer troubled by the  guilt of murder, which he makes clear through the increasing number of people he has killed, including Macduff’s entire family. This description of Macbeth’s obvious lack of guilt directly resembles Lady Macbeth’s previous attitudes at the beginning acts of the play. The gender reversals of the Macbeth’s throughout the play are evidently represented in multiple ways such as (but not limited to), their amount of ambition, dominance and assertiveness in their marriage, guilt, and personalities. Shakespeare’s tragedy â€Å"Macbeth† explores and defies the idea of traditional gender standards through the plot progression within Macbeth, in which the roles of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are reversed. Macbeth challenges the explicit gender norms that society has placed on, both past and present, men and women. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth switch gender roles and explicitly show the dominant traits that the other gender clearly possess. Lady Macbeth clearly breaks several gender norms and expectations with her cold-heartiness and evident masculine characteristics as Macbeth did the same with his more feminine characteristics. Yet, the plot progression throughout the play negatively shows how the characters transition into more of their gen der roles and how it leads to their downfall.