Assessing Leadership Skills Essay

This paper will provide information about the theoretical approaches that I will use to enhance my leadership effectiveness, it will discuss my leadership style and the reason I choose the style. This paper will also explain the leadership skills and qualities I already possess, with the skills and qualities that need improvement, along with how to implement the leadership/follower interaction to improve the organization where I would like to work, and finally describe one point of action that I’ve learned from my Self Insight papers, that will include a description of how each point will be implemented. Let’s begin by defining leadership; leadership is the influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes. (Draft, 2011, p.5) Leadership is a people activity and is different from administrative paper work or planning activities. Leadership happens with people, it is not something done to people. (Dr aft, 2011, p.6) The theoretical approaches that I will use to enhance my leadership effectiveness will be to incorporate the democratic leadership style; along with the Fiedler’s Contingency Model. The democratic style of leadership delegate’s authority to others encourages participation, relies on subordinates’ knowledge for completion of tasks and depends on subordinates respect for others. (Draft, 2011, p.44) Democratic leadership style is similar to Theory Y Democratic leaders treat subordinates as fully capable of doing the work on their own. Democratic leaders work with subordinates they encourage, they treat each one fairly. They don’t put anyone down, they see themselves as guides. They give suggestions, rather than trying to change them. Democratic leaders provide information, in their evaluation they give objective praise and criticism. (Northouse, 2009) Although a Democratic leader will make the final decision, he/she encourage other members of the team to have a say in the decision making process. This not only boost job satisfaction by connecting employees or team members in what’s going on, but it also help to develop  people’s skills. Employees and team members feel in control of their own destiny, such as the promotion they deserve and so are motivated to work hard by more than just a financial reward. As participation takes time, this approach can lead to things happening more slowly but often the end result is better. The approach can be most suitable where team work is essential and quality is more important than speed to market productivity. (Bhatti, N, et, al.2012) The outcomes of democratic leaders are mostly positive, first it results in greater group member satisfaction, commitment, and cohesiveness. Second, there is more friendliness, mutual prates, and group mindedness. The teams members interact with each other in a positive manner, and the goal is has the group in mind with making we statements opposed to I statements. Lastly, democratic leaders result in stronger worker motivation and greater creativity, and under a democratic leader group members participate more and are more committed to group decisions Fiedler’s Contingency Model; this model was designed to enable leaders to diagnose both leadership style and organizational situation. (Draft, 2011, p.68) This model was also designed to diagnose whether or not the leader is task oriented or relationship oriented and match the leader style to the situation. The Tasks oriented people are goal oriented. They want to achieve. Their work in meaningful, they are doers. Then we have Relationship oriented people they find meaning in being rather than doing. Like the democratic style, relationship oriented people they want to be connected to people. There is also Task leadership and Relationship leadership. Task relationship behaviors facilitate goals accomplishments; they are behaviors that help group members to achieve their objectives, while re lationship leadership behavior help subordinates feel comfortable with themselves, with each other, and with the situation which they find themselves. The reason why I choose these models is because they best fit my leadership style, and I think it’s a productive way of leadership. In utilizing this skill I‘m ale to listen to other perspective, and welcome an assortment of resolutions. My best leadership qualities are in the category of a transformational leader. Transformational leaders are a leader that influences, inspire, move and literally transform followers to achieve organizational goals beyond their self-interests thus initiating about positive change. They also introduce new business models, products and services because of their ability to  create new organizational visions, strategies, cultures, and structures through committed followers. Transformational leaders positively change follower’s lives, lifting spirits and even the commitment to ethics and morality (Weiss, J. (2011) My preference would be a transformational leader because they deal more with the person rather than the task. They build relationships with their team members, they encourage and motivate, and I think that their followers will get more work done because of the rapport that is made with the team. Another quality that I posses is â€Å"Stewardship† stewardship involves the support and belief that leaders are deeply accountable to others as well as to the organization, without trying to control others, define meaning and purpose for others, or take care of others. I’m in favor of this type of leadership because it allows the people to do the work without being micro managed. There are four components to this style of leadership, reorient towards partnership assumptions, localize decisions and power to those closest to the work and the customer, recognize and reward the value of labor, and expect core work teams to build the organization. (Draft, 2011, p.176) By using these methods the leader is to lead the organization taking control of the follower. They are able to work together in harmony with team members. By using the stewardship method you are able to treat team members as partners, by sharing power, and maintaining control over their own work. This model also allows relationships to form between leaders and followers that will contribute to the organizations success. Independent thinking refers to thinking, questioning assumptions, and interpreting data and events, according to one’s own beliefs, ideas, not according to prestablished rules, routines or categories defined by others. (Draft, 2011, p.138) I’ve always been an independent thinker. I’m not the type of person that agrees with people for acceptance, or just to go along with the most popular answer. I’m very opinionated, and I’m able to get my views across without being rude or mean. In my current position, I have to always be alert, and able to think critically because systems are always changing Although I fell that I’m a good overall leader my weakest skills falls under administration skills, administration skills. Administrative skills are those competencies a leader needs to run an organization in order to carry out the organizations purpose and goals. Administrative skills are divided into three categories:  managing people, managing resources, and showing technical competence. (Northouse, 2009) I work well with people but dealing with administrative task has always been an issue for me. I’m not the best typist, nor am I well organized. Since becoming a student at AU I’ve become more organized. Another quality in need of improvement deals with system thinking, System thinking means the ability to see the synergy of the whole rather than just the separate elements of a system and learn to reinforce or change whole system patterns. (Dra ft, 2011, p.142) The leadership/follower interaction that I would implement to improve the organization where I would like to work is leader follower collaboration. In the leader follower collaboration leaders and followers have more in common than they think. In my ideal work place I would use this model as the blueprint for my company. Beginning stages of a project or assignment. The leader and follower roles differ significantly in the initial stages of a project. The leader should provide direction in the form of scope, objective, expectations, limitations and guidelines while the follower should ask questions to ensure understanding and should contribute to the project or assignment definition as appropriate. Middle stages of a project or assignment. The leader and follower roles exhibit greater similarities during the middle stages of a project. This is where the bulk of work occurs. Leadership should shift, based upon who possesses the appropriate knowledge or expertise. With egos in check, leaders should permit, and even encourage, followers to initiate ideas and opinions. With cowardice in check, followers should exert leadership by offering ideas and opinions. If leader and follower can fulfill these new roles, a high degree of collaboration will occur and project success will increase. Final stages of a project or assignment In this stage, leader and follower roles again differ. It is up to the leader to define the end of one project and the beginning of the next. For optimal learning, leader and follower might collaboratively engage in a â€Å"lessons learned† dialogue. (Don Grayson & Ryan Speckhart) What I’ve learned from my Self Insight Papers is that I  might be a bit timid in my leadership ability. I thought that I was a good leader but it seems as though that I still have some work to do. Prior to taking this course I thought that I was a very good leader, but it seems as though I have a lot to work to do to improve my leadership skills. In doing an assessment of my strengths and weaknesses, I realized that in order to become a more effective leader I will have to become much more confident in certain areas. The areas that improvement is needed is in my motivation techniques, I thought that I encouraged my team in a positive manner, but what I realized is that I’m doing the bulk of the work while encouraging, what sense does that make? I have to set outlines and allow my team members to make mistakes, and learn from them. Because we get paid by performance is probably why I do that. As a leader, you can develop backbone to accept personal responsibility for achieving the desired outcomes, going against the status quo, and standing up for what you believe. You can learn to push beyond your comfort zone and break through the fears that limit you. (Draft, 2011, p.182) That statement sums it up for me. If a leader can live by that statement everyone will benefit in the end. In conclusion this paper has defined leadership, identified the skills and qualities I possess, in addition to the qualities that need improvement, as well as how to implement the leadership/follower interaction to improve the organization where I would like to work, and finally describe one point of action that I’ve learned from my Self Insight papers, that will include a description of how each point will be implemented. References Bhatti, N., Maitlo, G. M., Shaikh, N., Hashmi, M. A., & Shaikh, F. M. (2012). The impact of autocratic and democratic leadership style on job satisfaction. International Business Research, 5(2), 192-201. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/963357720?accountid=32521 Daft, R. L. (2011, 2008). The leadership experience (5/e). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Northouse, P.G. (2009). Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Weiss, J. (2011) An Introduction to Leadership. Bridgepoint Education, Inc. www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/†¦/grayson_speckhar

How does Shakespeare create Tension Essay

In King Lear, Act I establishes the nature of the conflict between Cordelia and Lear, among Goneril and Regan and Lear, and between Gloucester and Edgar. This first act also establishes the twofold nature of Goneril, Regan, and Edmund, while demonstrating that Cordelia and Edgar are good characters. The remainder of the play’s central characters also make an appearance in this act. At the start of the play Lear intends to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, setting them a test to who loves him most. At the start of Lear’s speech he uses the third person creating the royal ‘we’. ‘We shall express our darker purpose’, this shows that he has self-importance and speaks as a king. The language in Lear’s first speech is one of the first factors effecting the tension of the play. ‘Unburdened crawl towards death’ this adds suspense and tension to his speech as he knows he is going to die. The excessive use of pronouns adds to this as well. The long sentences used also add a sense of continuity. When Gonerill tells her father how much she loves there is a lot of hyperbole language and excessive flattery for example, ‘as much as child e’eer loved, or father found’. As the audience we know this is much exaggerated and the dramatic irony helps to add suspense. Then Cordelia says [aside] ‘What shall Cordelia speak? Love, and be silent.’ Already we begin to get an insight into Cordelia’s feelings creating suspense. This is because we do not know what she is about to say when her turn comes. She also says another aside after Regan, which keeps building up the suspense. When Regan tells her father how much she loves him she uses aggressive tactics with self-confidence to address herself. There is also some sibling rivalry ‘ self mettle’ shows this sibling rivalry. There is also much hyperbole and dramatic irony adding to the suspense. We then move on to Cordelia who says nothing. In disbelief Lear challenges her and as a result she is banished from the kingdom, along with France and move away. This is  the first result of Lear’s old age and creates tensions between Cordelia and her sisters and Lear. The use of metaphors and punctuation add suspense when Lear sends Cordelia away. ‘come not between the dragon and his wrath’ this adds to the suspense of the passage by describing himself as a dragon and telling the others not to get involved. By the way Lear talks to Cordelia also show how it is a male dominated society. Later on in the play we learn that Cordelia was Lears favourite and that he only could of said these things if he was very ill. The monosyllabic language is simple but adds direct and powerful emphasis on how Lear sees Cordelia ‘glib and oily art’ shows this. This helps to add the tension as we see how Lear sees Cordelia and how the family tensions have got worse. ‘Without our grace love, our benison’ this list of three helps to add tension to the banishment of Cordelia as Lear says this as they depart. Showing that the relationship between them is very tense, adding to the suspense in act 1.

One Last Dance Movie Summary

Many people consider dance as a hobby but to others it takes place a big role in their lives. The movie â€Å"One Last Dance† demonstrates how passionate a group of people are about dancing and how it affects their lives. This group is part of a New York dancing company that does performances and is run by their artistic director and owner of the studio â€Å"Alex McGrath†. The company was about to have the big performance of their lives, until tragedy strucks. On an evening of rehearsal, the dancers realize that their artistic director Alex has passed away.Due to the tragedy, the performance gets canceled. After 6 years, no dance performances took place after Alex’s death. The dance studio was getting ready to shut down until three former stars were brought back to help save the studio by resurrecting the dance performance that was unable to be performed. The three former stars are â€Å"Travis MacPhearson,† â€Å"Chrissa Lindh,† and â€Å"Max Del ano. † As they try to get back into shape and mark their routine, they seem to struggle.They begin to go through different emotions and get flashbacks on how tough Alex was them during practices. Alex was a very serious strict man that pushed his dancers till he thought they had enough. The dance performance became a dream to them, so when that very dance got canceled it was heartbreaking. Later, Chrissa introduces â€Å"Bree,† her daughter, to the cast. Max and Travis were unaware of Chrissa having a daughter till she decided to mention it. Travis was surprised about it because before everything happened Chrissa and Travis were in intimate relationship.Before the big day, Chrissa and Travis weren’t communicating so well because of the lacking performance of their dance piece. Chrissa then left their rehearsal session after dancing another piece that brought back some sparks between them. Travis stayed behind and continued to dance when all of sudden he injures h is knee. It’s the day of the performance and Travis hasn’t shown up. Max gets a hold of him and informs everyone that he was getting out of the hospital and is leaving the town that night.Chrissa decides to call Travis after hearing the news and admits to him that Bree is his daughter. The absence of Travis caused Max and Chrissa to step down and let the understudy go on stage instead. After having a successful performance, Travis shows up to the studio. He was glad for the success of the performance but he still felt like preforming their last dance together even with his knee injury. Although they was no audience, Max and Chrissa agreed to preform it. As hey began to dance, people that were still around heard the music and came back to watch them. Finally, after six years they performed their dance piece and couldn’t be any happier. Their dream eventually came true. This movie has such a good ending and a good meaning to it. When you are passionate about somet hing never let anything stop you from doing it. Dance can be a big impact to anyone who is passionate about it. This movie is a good example of how dance affects people’s lives and that we shouldn’t give up on our dreams.

Epidemiology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Epidemiology - Research Paper Example (Friis and Sellers, 2009). Epidemiological activity is used since many decades. The statistical tools are the most powerful device used for identifying the risk factors and the relationship between various factors such as environmental factors, drugs, genetics, hormones, occupation, nutrition and viruses, bacteria. It was the epidemiological studies that revealed the relationship between Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and cervical cancer. (Friis and Sellers, 2009). The US centre for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] estimates that most of the new cases of HPV are teens and young adults. They have estimated that 6 million new cases are recorded every year in US. In 2007, the CDC has announced that one among the four teenage girls ages 13 to 19 are having HPV. Among the teens, 40 percent of the children who had sex were found to have Human papilloma virus. (Lyon and Antoniades, 2009). Similarly CDC has also found that 20 Americans are infected with the HPV and many of them are not awar e of it. Uses of Epidemiology 1. To study the history of the disease and the changes in the disease states. It also helps to study the history of the healthy populations in the locality. 2. To measure the true dimension of the disease and the healthy individuals. The prevalence of the disease based on the risk factors, the distribution of disability and mortality can be understood using epidemiological studies. 3. ... (Friis and Sellers, 2009). 6. To identify the root of the chronic diseases and provide the complete history of the diseases to help the practitioners and people eradicate the disease from the epidemic regions. 7. To confirm the risk factors and causes of the disease using the knowledge obtained through studies for the risky and multiple causative disease. (Friis and Sellers, 2009). Human Papilloma virus: Papilloma viruses are DNA viruses that infect epithelia causing a variety of lesions, warts and carcinoma. Human Papilloma viruses (HPV) are ubiquitous in nature causing cervical and other anogenital cancers. HPV infections are most common in the young and sexually active people within the age limit of 20 – 24. Human papilloma viruses form two groups; Genital and cutaneous HPVs. Most of the papilloma viruses are host specific. Human papilloma virus has an icosahedral symmetry with 72 capsomers arranged in the pentameric structure. It has a circular double stranded DNA of 8 kb long. It has three types of genes: early genes, late genes and control genes. HPV first infects the basal epithelium and inserts itself into the cell. It then dissociates and produces low copy number episomes. The HPV gets loosely linked to the keratocyte differentiation and divides as the keratinocyte undergoes differentiation. The major oncogenic proteins involved in the HPV carcinogenesis are E6 and E7 which interfere in the cell cycle control mechanisms. E6 on binding with the cellular protein AP, degrades the p53 through ubiquitin- directed proteolysis. P53 is essential for DNA repair, when this molecule is degraded; it affects the ell cycle control. The result is genetic instability and accumulation of the mutants

Financial statements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Financial statements - Essay Example report that measures the success of the company operations for a particular period of time and this is used by business and investment people to determine the profitability, investment value and creditworthiness etc (Keiso and Weygandt, 2007, p. 126). Income Statement summarizes revenues, gains, expenses and losses. Sales, fees, dividends and interest are parts of revenues, while expenses take forms of cost of goods sold, depreciation, interest, wages and salary etc. Gains and losses are different types like sale of plant assets or investments, settlement of liabilities etc. Expenses are debited and revenue are credited, and the total of these can be a net debit (loss) or net credit (profit). Income statement evaluates the past performance of the company and provides a basis for future prediction and assessing risk or uncertainty. The Balance Sheet presents the financial position of the business through the main elements that are called assets, liabilities and stockholders’ equity (Davies and Pain, 2002, p. 49). Assets include those that can provide future economic benefits as a result of past transaction (plant, machinery, vehicles and all) and liabilities include those that are probable future sacrifices of economic benefits arising from present obligations- loan, overdraft etc- (Keiso and Weygandt, 2007, p. 173). Assets are regarded to be debit balances and liabilities and stockholder’s equity are credit balances. Balance sheet is always in a balance and hence it can be summarized as: Neither balance sheet nor income statement show or directly analyze some of the key changes taken place in the financial position. They don’t show cash inflows and cash outflows that are in turn, highly important to know and assess the timing and uncertainty of cash flows. Cash-flow statement, instead, provides cash inflows and outflows and it calculates the net changes in the cash position of the business. It comprises of 1) operation activities which are cash effects of

Macroeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Macroeconomics - Essay Example â€Å"Although technology, tastes, and public policy each have important independent influences on the pattern and pace of economic integration in its various dimensions, they clearly interact in important ways. Improvements in the technology of transportation and communication do not occur spontaneously in an economic vacuum. The desire of people to take advantage of what they see as the benefits of closer economic integration—that is, the taste for the benefits of integration—is a key reason why it is profitable to make the innovations and investments that bring improvements in the technology of transportation and communication† (Mussa, n.p.).   Balance of payments is a balance through international operations, expressed in value of all complex economic relations of a country in the form of the ratio of receipts and payments. Balance of Payments is a statistical report that provides data on the foreign trade of a country with other countries over time. Simply speaking, this document reflects economic transaction of a country with the rest of the world. From the accounting point of view, the balance of payments is always in balance. However, deficit or surplus may occur in its separate sections, when receipts exceed payments, or when payments exceed revenues. The principle of double-entry accounting is used in a balance of payments, every transaction has two sides - debit and credit. Under this accounting system total of the debit should always be equal to the total amount of the loan. Generally, any balance of payments consists of two accounts – current account and capital account. A current account reflects operations with real assets, while capital account – with financial assets. According to the majority of experts, current account plays more significant role in the overall balance. For instance, negative current account of the USA has played a tremendous role in negative dynamics of the country’s balance of pay ments. It can be seen on the following graph. The other important theoretical item in international economics is exchange rate. Simply speaking, exchange rate is a price of a motional currency in some particular amount of a foreign currency. There are nominal and real exchange rates. Nominal exchange rate - is the relative price of currencies of two countries, or the currency of one country, expressed in the currency of another country. In turn, the real exchange rate describes the ratio in which products of one country can be sold in exchange for goods of another country. The following law is related to the problem of exchange rates. â€Å"The law of one price is the theory that the price of a given security, commodity or asset will have the same price when exchange rates are taken into consideration. The law of one price is another way of stating the concept of purchasing power parity† (Financial Theory, n.p.). Chapter 9 A curve of production opportunities is dependence tha t graphically illustrates the possibility of simultaneous production of two products based on limited resources spent on producing these products. A simple production possibilities curve is presented on the following picture. The curve is constructed in a coordinate system, each of which reflects the output of one of the products. It restricts the production capabilities so that any point on the curve shows the maximum possible resource constraints on the combination of production of two products. Aggregate supply is the total amount

My thoghts about Was Democracy Just a Moment article Essay

My thoghts about Was Democracy Just a Moment article - Essay Example His arguments go back and forth into time with the objective of providing a resourceful historical analysis of the manifestation of democracy throughout the evolution of government. The inaugural speech by President George W. Bush espouses some of the ideals some of the American ideals that attend to the question of democracy and America’s approaches in spreading the ideology beyond its borders. Basically, the remarks made by President Bush might be considered as representative of the dominant American thought on the question of democracy within and without its borders. The speech is informed by multiple nuances and subtle warnings that give meaning to past, present and future American approaches, methods and intention on the subject of democracy. There are mild threats and incentives throughout the speech, which are meant to highlight America’s intended objective of impressing democratic values in all areas it can spread its influence. One of the weighty assertions mad e by Kaplan in his essay is that the collapse of communism would not necessarily lead to the thriving of Western democracy (Kaplan 1). This assertion is consistent with most of the central themes that are explored in the entire article. In this article, Kaplan provides several examples to build his argument against the place, relevance, and suitability of democracy in the modern world. His central argument is that unexamined application of democratic processes might lead to the same, or even more, disastrous ends than authoritarian regimes. On the other hand, the speech by former President Bush makes the point that the survival of liberty in the United States depends on the success of liberty in other lands (Bush 1). This assertion may appear straight and plain but it condenses America’s foreign policy and its approach and application on the question of democracy. It is important to consider some of the challenges of democracy in light of the assertions made by the two partie s. There seems to be an obvious point of demarcation in the positions adopted by Kaplan and Bush. The tone in Kaplan’s article is essentially critical of the ideals of democracy. Much of the argument is informed by examples and illustrations of the failings of democracy. Kaplan argues how once stable political institutions were wrecked after the imposition of democratic processes. He cites cases in Latin America where seemingly dictatorial or authoritarian regimes appear to be more stable than those that uphold the principles and practices of democracy. An important statement that lies between the lines of Kaplan’s argument is that most of the democratic processes are essentially governed by the other cultural and historical factors. For this reason, Kaplan argues that it would not be very prudent to impose democratic systems of government to countries whose histories and cultures do not resemble those of the west. Kaplan observes that the kind of challenges and histor ical processes that have taken place in the west are conducive for the thriving of democratic processes. Kaplan’s assertion could be examined in light of the difficulties experienced in imposing democratic processes on institutions that are essentially divided along ethnic lines. This assertion fits into the concern of applying democratic processes to sharply divided societies. The consequence as illustrated by various examples in Kaplan’s argument would be the entrenching of divisions and creating of conflicts. The massacres in Sudan and

Planning Project of PepsiCo in the United Kingdom Assignment

Planning Project of PepsiCo in the United Kingdom - Assignment Example To achieve this purpose, the chosen company is PepsiCo. Inc. which manufactures and markets diverse brands. The origin of Pepsi Cola was traced from the talent of Caleb Bradham, a New Bern, North Carolina pharmacist more than 120 years ago. Together with Coca-Cola, these two soft drinks manufacturer has revolutionized the beverage industry through their concoction of carbonated soft drinks (CDS), defined by Canadean (2010) as beverages that include sweetened, non-alcoholic drinks containing carbon dioxide (par. 1). The British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA) (2010) more comprehensively defined carbonates as â€Å"ready to drink including draught dispense; home dispense; regular including sparkling juice; low calorie and zero calorie; cola; lemon including lemonade; lemon-lime; mixers including tonic and bitter drinks; orange; shandy; others including other carbonated fruit flavours, energy drinks, sparkling flavoured water, health drinks and herbal drinks† (British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA) 2010, 9). In the UK, PepsiCo. started operations in 1953 and the Pepsi Max brand was firs t marketed in 1993 (PepsiCo UK & Ireland 2011). believe we should be known not just for the financial results we generate but also for the imprint we leave on society as a whole† (PepsiCo UK & Ireland 2011). To achieve this purpose, the organization designed and implemented strategies that focus on healthier products, protecting the environment, and providing holistic support for personal and professional growth for their people. As such, PepsiCo UK aims to transform their core business into providing products with potential health benefits and ensure that they would be catalysts of change in UK’s food and beverage industry (PepsiCo UK & Ireland 2011). Accordingly, the future thrusts of the organization are to lead in the promotion of healthy products by producing and delivering balanced amounts of fruit, vegetables, wholegrain, fiber, and other positive nutrients and food groups  (PepsiCo UK & Ireland 2011).

Poetry explication with outline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Poetry explication with outline - Essay Example The second row utilized the words "we people", implying that the townspeople documented themselves as organism on a dissimilar level than Cory. Describing them as organism "on the asphalt road" gives the chart picture of people session around on the road staring up at the rich aristocrat on foot by. Beyond the shadow, the third row says Cory was "a man from sole to crown." The word circlet has palpable royal implications, which is additional of Cory being elevated over the townspeople. Cory is not a man from "head to toe", but in its place from "only to crown". The fourth row uses the expression "imperially slender" to explain Cory. The word imposing income "belonging to a territory" or "grand." While regal is not more often than not consideration of as a way to explain slim, it is more of Robinson expressing the significance of Cory. According to the expert analysis the second verse shows how the municipality adores Cory. After the opening stanzas description single strength believes Cory eminent himself over the others. Line 6 disproves this by saying "he was forever human when he converses." Furthermore, this tells the person who reads that Cory talked as although he was on the similar stage as the others, not pretending to be a ruler or noble. Position seven and eight demonstrate more of the towns respect of Cory. The townspeople are explains as having "fluttered pulses" simply by life form told "good-morning" by Cory. The chart picture this gives could be contrasts to a flock of pre-teenage girls fainting at the talk about of a teen-idols persons name. The eighth line and says Cory "glittered when he sauntered." Glittered is an attractive word choice, as it appears like Cory is made of diamonds that reproduce in the sun as he leisurely walks during the city. This research focused on this truth that the third stanza meeting more of Cory life form great, and in fact compares him to a king. In line 9 Robinson uses a

Memo about (Absolute Zero - The Conquest of Cold ) Essay

Memo about (Absolute Zero - The Conquest of Cold ) - Essay Example In addition, the theory also emphasized that heat could neither be â€Å"destroyed† or â€Å"created.† Entrepreneurs like Frederick Jude and Henry Feroe, who started a company that offered shipment services that were preserved by ice which he got from around his place. He knew that ice (cold) could be used as a preservative and hence commercialized its use. The idea became more popular as the world got into the industrial revolution. If not for Joule, the concept of energy conversion from mechanical to heat energy could not have been utilized. Joule demonstrated through his experiment of the possibility of converting Mechanical energy into heat. It is by the help of Thompson that he improved on Joules theory and came up with the Laws of Thermodynamics. The first Law of thermodynamic stated that energy can always be converted from form to form, but cannot be destroyed or created. The second Law of Thermodynamics stated that heat cannot move from a cool surface to a hot s urface. The first substance to be used in artificial refrigerators as working liquid was ammonia liquid. It is evident from the documentary that the invention of the refrigeration system took a very long time as it entailed a cocktail of a number of theories before it was actualized. After the first artificial prototype was made, several attempts to come with a good refrigeration system was put in place and several companies ventured into its production becoming a commercial product. In the documentary, I found it interesting how the refrigerator came to be made. As we live in today’s world, one cannot always appreciate some of the inventions unless they look back into the history involved in its making. It is a fact that the making of the first artificial refrigeration system took many decades before it came in place as it entailed a number of theories and facts before any agreement could be made regarding how it should work. Eventually, through the discovery of the law of conservation

U.S. history between the end of the World War II (1945) and the Assignment

U.S. history between the end of the World War II (1945) and the present - Assignment Example McCann contends that the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 showed that American citizens were no longer secure and safe1. According to McCann, assaults on the US amounted to thirty-seven between the end of the Cold War and 2006. Critics have argued that Clinton and Bush’s administrations failed blatantly to confront the attacks from terrorists2. It has been perceived that the intelligence agents in the United States expressed a lot of laxity in preventing US from terrorism since 19453. Nations have an international obligation to prevent terrorism within and outside their boundaries4. The international community has established crime law to endeavor to deal with the conduct of the non-state terrorist actors5. In this respect, states should not breach their primary obligation to punish, as well as, prevent acts of terrorism. Evidently, the video shows that the impact of the terrorist attacks was tremendous and resulted in death of many people. In essence, terrorism is an issue that has tormented the United States since 1945 to the

I Have a Dream Essay Example for Free

I Have a Dream Essay Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15th 1929. He was a pastor, activist and the prominent leader in the African American civil rights movement and is often presented as a heroic leader in the history of modern American liberalism. He is most famous for his speech called â€Å"I have a dream†. It is about not being segregated or discriminated against and to have equal rights between white and black people. It is now recognized as one of the greatest speeches in history. Martin Luther King used a number of rhetorical devices in his speech. The main rhetorical device used throughout the speech is repetition and parallelism. In each paragraph he repeats different sentences to emphasize what he is saying. He repeats phrases such as ‘one hundred years later’, ‘we can never be satisfied’, ‘I have a dream’ and ‘now is the time’ to make the listener remember the parts he wants to emphasize. It is effective because the people are anticipating it so then they can join in. Also later on in life people will look back at the speeches and remember it for certain phrases because of the repetition. Martin Luther King also uses inclusive pronouns in his speech, for example we, our and addressing the audience as brothers and sisters. ‘The sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.† He makes the audience feel as though it is there duty as well to overcome the discrimination and try and make all the southern states of America united and equal. He also makes the audience feel like it is their dream too and not just his. Martin Luther used different parts of the English language to enhance the meaning of his speech and bring out the details. The different rhetorical devices, allusions to historic documents, and metaphors seemed to have brought about the emotions that King was trying to arouse in his listeners. This helped him influence his listeners towards wanting equality for all and changing what was happening in the present so they didnt repeat things in the past.

Impact of ISO 9000 on Business Performance

Impact of ISO 9000 on Business Performance Introduction International Organisation for Standard (ISO) is based in Geneva. It is a worldwide body founded in 1946 to promote and develop the international standard and related activities to facilitate the exchange of goods and services nationwide (Randall, 1995). ISO inaugurated a technical committee on quality management and quality assurance to develop a universally accepted set of quality standard. In 1987 ISO published the ISO 9000 standard series on quality management and assurance based on the commendable work of the committee (Hoyle, 2006). These standards were also revised in 1994 and 2000 respectively, and the most recent called ISO 9000:2000 family of standard. Many writers have come up with several but related definition of ISO 9000. Hoyle (2006) defined ISO 9000 as: â€Å"A criteria that apply to the management of an organisation when determining customers needs and expectation and supplying product and services that are intended to satisfy those needs and expectations.† Martinez-Costa et al.(2004) also defined ISO 9000 as an effective system for the evaluation of the ability of an organisation to design produce, and deliver quality products and services consistently. Sun et al.(2004) also has it that the standard provides guideline for organisations for establishing of their quality management systems â€Å"by focusing on procedures, control, and documentation†. The Science and Engineering policy Studies Unit (SEPSU) came up with a more summarized definition for the ISO 9000 family of standard. ISO 9000 was defined as being about quality systems and about consistency. It aims to give customers confidence in their suppliers by assuring them that the suppliers have in place management processes that deliver consistency (SEPSU study,1994).The study also stated that IS0 9000 encourages but never in itself directly assures product quality. From the above definitions, it could by deduced that ISO 9000 is only a criteria or process to be followed to achieve quality, and not the quality itself. Research problem and study purpose The definition given by SEPSU study clearly explained the role of ISO 9000. Still, many issues remains unaddressed. Firstly, surveys has it that despite the fact that several organisations spend so much resources in obtaining certification of the ISO 9000 standard , there seems to be other motive for seeking the certification and which therefore influences the outcome of the their business (Gotzamani and Tsiotras,2002; Idris et al.,1996).There are organisations that seek certification just for market purposes (Hoyel, 2007), and some also consider it as path of continuous improvement for the company (Stone,2003; Goetsch and Davis, 2005). However studies have shown that customers prefer products from suppliers that are ISO 9000 certified (Taylor, 1995a; Witcher, 1993). This means organisations are now forced to obtain certification in whatever way possible. As a result of these hurry for certification, the European Commissions Directorate for industry which is a high profile regulatory group has questioned the effectiveness of the certification since many European firms are not sure if the certification actually infuses quality into their organisations (Stratton, 1994). The purpose of this paper is to address the problem above by examining critically if the ISO 9000 standard does improve business performance or not, by testing the strength of the relationship between the ISO 9000 certification and organisational performance. Research Question and study objectives â€Å"ISO 9000 is only a beginning; it provides a mechanism with which to bring about systematic improvement but it does not improve performance byitself†. Paying attention to the above statement made by Hoyle (1994) on the value of ISO 9000 certification and its diverse nature, the following questions will be clearly investigated in this work: Does ISO 9000 certification have a significant positive effect on business performance? What is the organisational attitude towards ISO 9000 certification? Providing answers to these questions above will lead to a clearer understanding of the impact of ISO 9000 certification on business/organisational performance. It will also guide to a realistic management expectation of business value of ISO 9000 certification in an organisation and the knowledge that gaining an ISO 9000 certification is noting similar to creating quality organisation. Research methodology This research seeks to review some extant theoretical literatures and web-based sources on the impact of ISO 9000 on business performance. It is important to acknowledge that major researches on ISO 9000 have been conducted via postal questionnaire (Magd, 2003, 2004, 2008; Bhuiyan and Alam, 2005, Douglas et al., 2003; Batchelor, 1992) which is a more standard, practical approach and gives less room for bias. Literature review The literature review identified quiet some articles that deals with impact of ISO 9000 on businesses in quality and reliability management studies. Despite the perceived benefit of the ISO 9000 certification, only few studies have examined if ISO 9000 certified organisations do actually perform good than non-ISO 9000 certified organisations. These studies include 🙠 Magd, 2008; Terziovski et al., 2003; Lee, 2003; Chow-chua; 2003; Sun, 2000; Dick et al., 2002; Heras et al., 2002a etc.). Several papers associated with ISO 9000 are mainly focused on the qualitative benefits associated with its certification, like communication and general understanding of the companys process, and not the quantitative benefits. Some literatures also focused on what to do to gain ISO certification. Perceived benefit of ISO 9000 certification ISO 9000 certification bodies such as the British Standards Institute (BSI), Lloyds Registers Quality Assurance (LRQA) and SGS, have claimed some benefit of ISO 9000 such as: Bringing recognition and reputation at the market place, increasing customers satisfaction, high profit margin (www.BSI-GLOBAL.com). Reduction in waste, competitive advantage, formalize management system (www.SGS.com). Magd (2008) listed some benefits like improvement in documentation and improvement in efficiency of the quality system are among the top perceived benefits of ISO 9000 in an empirical survey conducted on the Egyptian manufacturing sector. In another investigation in a servicing company in the UK industries, Douglas et al. (2003) found that the main external benefit of the ISO 9000 was the higher perceived quality from the customers, and the main internal benefit being â€Å"good documentation procedure†. In another research carried out by chow-chua et al. (2003), highest numbers of respondents agreed that expansion in international market was the internal motive, and improvement in customer satisfaction as the external factor for seeking ISO 9000 certification. However, an empirical study conducted by Heras et al (2002a) conclusively stated that the major benefits sought from ISO 9000 is profit improvement (see Table i below for illustration). In another negative vein, in a st udy conducted in China involving 194 manufacturing and servicing sector, a good number of respondents expressed the view that ISO 9000 will not have direct effect on companies business performance (Dang, 2007). In fact; Lima (2000) also supports this view. This variation in survey results only proves a point â€Å" That the implementation and the impact of ISO 9000 standards vary from organisation to organisation and from country to country†, these variation is as a result of the various organisational context and the level of the countries awareness of quality management practice ( Magd , 2004). ISO Certification Quality management system Quality improvement Business performance Profitability Certified to ISO 9000 standard The approved quality Management System brings an Increased emphasis on quality and how it may be achieved consistently Internal: Less waste and duplication of effort External: quality received by customers improves Reduced costs Improves Competitiveness Fewer customer defections so sales increase Badge of quality opens more sale opportunities Cost of sales reduces leading to increased profits Profitability benefits from scale economies and lower sales acquisition cost Driving forces for seeking ISO 9000 certification Juran (1995) has said that the main reason for an organisation seeking quality certification is â€Å"maintenance or market expansion†. In a survey by Madg (2008), the question was the deferent reasons for seeking of certification. These options were being limited to 14. The response rate was 35 percent, (see Table ii next page). The participants were asked to rate the significance of these reasons on a five- point scale. In response to improve the efficiency of the quality system and to achieve customer satisfaction took the top position. However, improve employees relations and capturing workers knowledge came below the list. (Table ii): Driving forces for seeking ISO 9000:2000 certification RANK DRIVING FORCES M SD 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. To improve the efficiency quality of the quality system To achieve customer satisfaction Pressure from competitors/foreign partners To maintain/increase market shears Avoid potential export barrier To meet government demands, requirements or pressure To achieve quality improvement To market product in the international arena To use ISO as a marketing promotion tool To be a step towards TQM To achieve cost reduction To meet corporate objectives To improve employees relation Capturing workers knowledge 4.71 4.68 4.64 4.62 4.60 4.56 3.71 3.64 3.47 3.29 3.19 2.24 2.17 2.14 0.42 0.48 0.49 0.50 0.57 0.60 1.02 1.10 1.42 1.30 1.27 1.20 1.18 1.09 NOTE: The Mean score is based on participants level of agreement with each statement on a scale of 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = Strongly agree; a mean score above 4 indicates high, between 3 and 4 indicates moderate and a score of less than 3 indicates a low level of agreement; SD = Standard Deviation. Another good example is the Science and Engineering Policy Studies Unit in the UK (SEPSU study,1994).This study took 28 survey on many different issues among these were the same as Magd (2008), reasons organisations seek certification and the effectiveness of the certification. There appears to be a motive some managers adopt certification. The commonly cited driving force for seeking ISO 9000 however, was customer pressure. This, therefore, results in less improvement in organisational performance (Park et al., 2007; Singles et al., 2001). The problem with this type of analysis is that it lacks the strength to show the relationship between ISO 9000 certification and organisational performance .However, it gives some useful results. Business value of ISO 9000 A more comprehensive empirical survey on quality practice is the International quality study (American Quality Foundation,1991).The study surveyed 500 banking, computer, automobile ,and health care organisations in Japan, Canada, USA, and Germany. The result of this survey was that some quality practices, most especially supplier certificate and process improvement which is aided by ISO 9000 indeed have some significant effect on performance. (Prubhu et al., 2000) also supports this fact. Similarly, a study in Australia by the Australian Manufacturing council (AMC study, 1994) whose approach was to analyze the methods and approach used by the Australian and New Zealand manufacturing organisations in quality management practice. The result was that more than 50 percent of the ISO 9000 certified firms agreed that ISO 9000 certification was a significant factor in the improvement of their business performance. Managers of certified firms has therefore agreed that certification increases customer perception of product quality, and such perception can often be effective in wining new customers (Cermen Escanciano et al.,2001). Firms are been advised in the AMC study ( 1994) that certification is not a substitute for quality product and services. The AMAC study has been criticized for its data analysis methodology (Terziovski et al.,1997). Organisations can achieve certification but still produce a poor quality product (Zuckerman, 1997; Hertz; 1997). Furthermore, certification could cause managers to have a self-satisfied attitude towards quality. There is this risk of also bringing in some poor practices through the certification process. It will be the best practice if organisations could set a quality standard for themselves well above the minimum being outlined by ISO 9000, and also seek ways to improve (Terziovski et al., 2003). Batchelor (1992) surveyed 647 certified manufacturing and service companies in the United Kingdom, and discovered that 15 percent of the respondents that participated thought they had gained business value on nine dimensions of organisational performance, which include: â€Å"customer satisfaction, waste and cost, market share, new customers, procedural efficiency, staff motivation, staff attitudes, and error rate†. A quite impressive body in management and quality literatures has pointed out that the major reason backing organisations decision to adopt ISO 9000 system is due to perceived marketing benefits (Lloyds Register, 1993). A survey carried out by Sun (1999) did some remarkable investigations on ISO 9000 certified firms in Norway. The survey reveals that â€Å"ISO 9000 and quality are correlated†. This was known to be in respect of the reduction of customer complaints, defects, and improvement of business performance in productivity and profitability. Supporting these facts Heras et al.(2001) reported that organisations that has implemented ISO 9000 standard have successfully been able to project themselves to achieve continuous improvement, competitive advantage, and are better-run organisation. Zairi and Baidoun (2003) also supports this fact. Magd (2003) in another study conducted at Saudi Arabia involving 140 ISO 9000 certified manufacturing firms. Using a questionnaire as a means of primary data collection, this relied on the use of five-point likert scale. The study suggested 20 possible benefit of ISO 9000 of which the respondents were asked to rate the extent to which ISO 9000 affect these elements. These rating were to be from â€Å"crucial effect† to â€Å"no effect†. From the results of the survey, improvement in efficiency of the quality system, increased quality awareness in the firms, improvement in customer service, and increase in quality of product was seen as of benefits ISO 9000 certification among the Egyptian manufacturing companies. McAdam and canning (2001) in another assessment of the impact of ISO 9000 on the performance decided to focus his study on the building construction companies in Northern Ireland. The methodology used was to conduct a semi interview with six surveying practitioners on their view on ISO 9000.This finding obtained was then used to develop and structure a questionnaire towards the study purpose. Out of about 66 questionnaires posted, 52 usable ones were returned. The result was that ISO 9000 certified firms indicated some internal benefit in varying degree. 35 percent agreed that they have improvements in management systems, 24 percent had improved service quality, 12 percent agreed they had developed clearer communication, and 6 percent of the respondents believed that ISO 9000 â€Å"increases profit ratio†. In summary, this research brings to light that majority of the respondents share the view that ISO 9000 has a significant impact on business performance, because of there is more benefit as compared to the demerits. In a survey conducted by Douglas et al.(2003) questionnaires were being forwarded to 200 quality managers/representatives in UK industries. Among these 200, 120 were from the service sectors while 80 were from the manufacturing sector. The simple task was for them to indicate the financial benefit of the ISO 9000. 104 usable questionnaires were received. 53 percent claimed they dont perceive any benefit with regards to staff motivation. 45 percent of the respondents said that their organisation did not achieve any benefit with regards to cost and waste reduction. Despite the contradictory figures a whopping 75 percent believe ISO 9000 to be a good value for money. This reaction may likely be in connection with the fact that they now gained the ability to tender for contracts previously not realistic. Another investigation was carried out by Musa et al (2003) which involves a different approach altogether. This survey compared the performance of ISO 9000 certified and non-certified Turkish firms by using their stock market returns. The list of the monthly returnes of these firms was gotten from the Istanbul Stock Exchange ISE (2001) market of Turkey from January 1977 to December 2000.One hundred and three (103) of these firms are ISO 9000 certified while one hundred and seventeen (117) where non-satisfied. Based on the objective of the research, two main hypotheses were made: H1 – ISO 9000 certified firms have higher stock market returns than non-ISO 9000 certified firms H2 – ISO 9000 certified firms have lower variability. This type of analysis of using the stock market returns of firms has some limitation since limited number of companies might meet the criteria to be listed in the stock market. Also the survey was measuring only the exports excluding the regional returns in this analysis. Considering the literature review so far, it appears that some managers have failed to distinguish conformance from performance. This is because they have not yet understood the primary role of ISO 9000 certification. ISO 9000 is a conformance specification that shows that the company has a system which is capable of giving a quality goods and services (Teziovski et al.; 1997). The willingness of the management and the employees to use and accept the standard in their day to day activities also depends on this capacity. Askey and Dale (1994) has it that managers tend to divert from the original practices after gaining ISO 9000 certification, which often result in managers engaging their workforce in preventive actions, after much damage has been done already (Brown, 1994). Performance specification on the other hand falls on the tools and techniques, and requires the employees to use the certification process as part of improvement initiative (Allan, 1993). The major problem that emerges from the review is the managers perception of the ISO certification as the answer rather than a tool to an answer. There is a general view in the literature that certification is a potential path to Total Quality Management (Sun, 2000). Barrier to ISO 9000 effective implementation Some assessments were performed to identify the perceived barriers that might add to the ineffective implementation of ISO 9000 in Egyptian manufacturing organisations by Magd (2008). Some numbers of barriers were extracted to perform this study. The respondents were being required to rate these barriers on a five point scale. From â€Å"strongly disagree†=1 to â€Å"strongly agree†=5. As explained in the research there was consecutive agreement among the Egyptians manufacturer that top management commitment, lack of qualified personnel, insufficient quality education and training, lack of financial resources, and failure to define responsibility were among the top barriers for an effective implementation for ISO 9000. Top management commitment was the most important barrier because if an organisation is lagging in management commitment, the employees do not tend to prioritize the quality management system, which will therefore affect the implementation of the quality m anagement (Lee, 2004; Magd, 2003; Bhuiyan and Alam, 2005). Boiral and Marie-Josee (2007) made it clear that lack of managers and employers commitment, difficulty in understanding the quality management system, meeting and system development, time involved in training and difficulty in overcoming the communication barriers are common factors against the implementation of ISO 9000 standard. Another similar study conducted in Singapore by Quazi and Padibjo (1998) explained that high cost of implementation, extra effort in documentation, shortage of manpower, resistance at supervisory levels, lack of management commitment and employee resistance to change are among the top barriers. These finding should be a significant factor to stakeholders in a business. The barrier to be eliminated can easily be identified so that the standard could be implemented effectively. Criticism of ISO 9000 certification Seddon (1997a) a strong critic of ISO 9000 expresses the view that a number of operations that are associated with ISO 9000 are actually not fully optimized within the work place. According to Douglas et al. (2003) the view of some critics of ISO 9000 is that â€Å"some organisations whose objective was TQM (Total Quality Management), implementing ISO 9000 took them away from achieving that objective†. The issue of cost of registration and implementation has also been stressed (Dick, 2000), in that the costs are greater than the desired benefit. (Douglas et al.,2003) in their survey asked participants to indicate a five-point scale the extent they agree with some statement against ISO 9000 (See table iii). From the survey, 53 percent of the respondents did disagree with Gotzamani and Tsiotras (2001) on the view that ISO 9000 sub-optimize performance in a workplace. On the argument about continuous improvement, Lee (2004) argued that 1SO 9000 only introduces improvement through prevention and correction of non performance. These critics has argued that achieving ISO 9000 certification does not mean quality as organisation may still be certified and still give poor quality output. The consistency and the role of the assessors of this standard have been questioned by previous researches (Killman and Stanford, 1996). Criticism Strongly disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly agree ISO 9000 promotes action which results in sub-optimization of performance. ISO 9000 a step backwards in the guess of TQM. ISO 9000 relies too heavily on other, in particular assessors interpretation of quality. ISO 9000 can only be effective if accompanied by a culture change. It is easy to be ISO 9000 certified yet produce poor quality output. ISO 9000 will only control output; quality is about improving output. 12 14 8 0 1 9 53 65 44 8 19 35 27 19 22 14 9 20 9 2 23 54 54 33 0 0 3 24 18 4 Findings From the random-sample carried out in this research, it will be practical to conclude that quality studies have been able to identify two main sections of which quality impacts business performance: In terms of manufacturing aspect which involves the increase in employee quality awareness, improve in internal quality process, reduction in production cost and increased productivity, reduces defect and wastage, improves operational performance. Marketing aspects where it increases costumers satisfaction, and market performance, and ability to tender for business. It also exposed how companies clutch for ISO 9000 certification as if it was a remedy for their quality control problem. Limitations of the study Several limitation of this study must be mentioned. In contrast to previous studies, which used survey, questionnaires and average monthly stock market returns of the organisations to examine their performance, which is wide, more stable, consistent and provides less room for bias or error. This study is based on collection of secondary data on the impact of ISO 9000 in business performance. Conclusions and Recommendations This work did analyze the result of implementing the ISO 9000 standard in business. From the opinions of researches reviewed in this paper it is of no doubt that the implementation of these standards has an effect on organisational performance. There is a very high consensus regard to the influence of ISO 9000 on a companys results, mainly through operation improvement, and the cost of companies internal activities. Despite the numbers of surveys on the impact of ISO 9000 on business, this review identified that few surveys have focused on Africa. Further researches should be focused on these developing countries because it is on this basis the general impact of ISO 9000 can be determined. References Allan, M.J. (1993), â€Å"Implementation of ISO 9001/2 in large Australian manufactures†, unpublished Research Project, Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne, Melbourne. Australian Manufacturing Council Study, leading the way: A study of Best Manufacturing Practices in Australia and New Zealand, 1994, pp.59-63. Askey, J.M. and Dale B.G, (1994 )From ISO 9000 Series Registration to Total Quality Management†: An Examination, Quality Management Journal, pp.67-76. Batchelor, K. ( 1992 ), â€Å"Badge of quality†, Financial Times, September. Total Quality Management, Vol. 7 No.3, and pp.293 – 303. Bhuiyan, N. and Alam, N. (2005), â€Å"An investigation into issues related to the latest version of ISO 9000†, Total Quality Management, Vol. 16 No.2, pp.199-213. Boiral, O. and Roy, M.(2007) â€Å" Integration rationale and organisational impacts†, international Journal of operations and production management, Vol. 27 No 2, pp 226-247. Chow-Chua, C., Goh, M. and Wan, B.T. (2003), â€Å"Does ISO 9000 certification improve business performance?†, International Journal of Quality Reliability Management, Vol. 20 No. 8, pp. 936-53. Clements, Richard B., Quality Managers Complete Guide to ISO 9000. New Jersey: Prentice Hall (1993). Dale, B.G., Boaden, R.J. and Lascelles, D.M. (1994), â€Å"Total quality management: an overview†, in Dale, B.G. (Ed.), Managing Quality, Prentice-Hall I, international, Englewood Cliffs, NJ pp 3-40. Dang, L. (2008),†The impact of Quality management practices on business performance†:An empirical investigation from China. International journal of Quality and Reliability, Vol. 22 No 8, pp. 809-82. Dick, M.P.G. (2000), â€Å"ISO 9000 certification benefits, reality or myth?† The TQM Magazine, Vol.12 No.6, pp.365-71. Dick, G., Gilmore, K. and Brown, C.J. (2002), â€Å"Does ISO 9000 accreditation make a profound differences to the way service quality is perceived and measured?†, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 30-42. Douglas, A., Coleman, S. and Oddy, R. (2003), â€Å"The case for ISO 9000†, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 15 No. 5, pp. 316-24. Escanciano, C., Ferna ´ndez, E. and Va ´zquez, C. (2001), â€Å"Influence of ISO 9000 certification on the progress of Spanish industry towards TQM†, International Journal of Quality Reliability Management, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 481-94. Goetsch, D. and Davis, S. (2005), Understanding and Implementing ISO 9000: 2000, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Gotzamani, K.D. and Tsiotras, G.D. (2002), â€Å"The true motives behind ISO 9000 certification. Their effect on the overall certification benefits and their long term contributio TQM†, International Journal of Quality Reliability Management, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 151-69. Heras, I., Casadesus, M. and Dick, M.P.G. (2002a), â€Å"ISO 9000 certification and the bottom line: a comparative study of the profitability of Basque region companies†, Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 17 Nos 1/2, pp. 72-8. Heras, I., Casadesus, M. and Ochao, C. (2001) Vol. 9000, â€Å"Effects of ISO 9000 certification on companies profitability: an empirical study†, Integrated Management: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on ISO 9000 and TQM, pp. 60-65. Hertz, H.S. (1997), â€Å"The criteria: a looking glass to Americans understanding of quality†, Quality Progress, Vol. 30 No. 6, pp. 46-8. Howell, J.P., et al,(1986) â€Å" Moderator Variables in Leadership Research,† Academy of Management Review, Vol.11, no.1, pp.88-102. Hoyle, D.(2006),ISO 9000 Quality system handbook, Fifth edition, Butterworth-Heinemann publishers, Oxford. Hoyle, D. (1994), ISO 9000 Quality handbook, Reed Educational and Professional Publicizing Ltd,Oxford. Idris, M.A., McEwan, W. and Belavendram, N. (1996), â€Å"The adoption of ISO 9000 and total quality management in Malaysia†, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 8 No. 5, pp. 65-8. Juran, J.M. (1995), A History of Managing for Quality: The Evolution, Trends and Future Directions ofManaging for Quality, Vol. 109 No 1, pp 43 – 45. Killman, J. and Stanford, M.(1996),†Auditor evaluation System†, Quality world,January,pp10 -11 of ISO 9000†, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 88-94. Lee, Y.C. (2004), â€Å"TQM in small manufacturers: an exploratory study in China†, International Journal of Quality Reliability Management, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 175-97 Lee, S. K. and Palmer, E. (1999), â€Å"An empirical examination of ISO 9000- registered companies in New Zealand†, Total Quality Management, Vol. 10, No. 6, pp. 887-90. Lima, M., Resende, M. and Hasenclever, L. (2000), â€Å"Quality certification and performance of Brazilian firms: an empirical study†, International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 66 No. 2, pp. 143-7. Lloyds Register Quality Assurance Limited: Setting Standards for Better Business, Report of survey Findings, 1993, pp1-10. Martinez-Lorente, A. and Martinez-Costa, M. (2004), â€Å"ISO 9000 and TQM: substitutes or complementaries? An empirical study in industrial companies†, International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 260-76. McAdam, R. and Canning, N. (2001), â€Å"ISO in

The Introduction And History Of Istanbul Tourism Essay

The Introduction And History Of Istanbul Tourism Essay Istanbul is the largest city of Turkey. It is the financial capital of Turkey, making it the busiest city in Turkey. It is located in the northwestern side of Turkey. In the Marmara region having a total area of 5,343 square kilometers (2,063 sq mi). The Sea of Marmara is connected to the Black Sea by the Bosphorus strait, which divides Istanbul into European that is the Thracian side, which is the economic and historic side, and Antolian side that is the Asian side. It has a population of 13.5 million due to which it is listed in one of the largest cities in the world for population in city limits. In the year 2008 in the terms of gross domestic product Istanbul was ranked 34th because of its GDP being US$182 Billion. 27 percent of Turkeys GDP is contributed by Istanbul. Two- fifths of the Turkish economy of the nations tax revenue, is contributed by Istanbul. INTRODUCTION TO THE DESTINATION The university of California, Berkley in the year 2008, September said that Istanbul is the Cultural capital of Europe. In the year 2010, The New York Times rated Istanbul on number 19th for the list of The 31 places to go in 2010. In the year 2010 around 7 million foreign tourists visited Istanbul, which made it worlds tenth- most visited city in the world. Istanbul itself has 17 palaces, 49 churches and 64 mosques, which makes it the most ideal place for cultural tourism. Istanbul is the city of history, culture and diversity. It is now being considered even as a place for educational tourism, as it has one of the worlds oldest universities. The administrative capital of Turkey has always been Istanbul. The worlds busiest waterway is Bosphorous, which is in Istanbul. It is located between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Sarayburnu had found Istanbul around 600 BC. Istanbul is a muslim dominated country. After the end of Ottoman Empire this city has become for cosmopolitan. A fter muslims this city is dominated by orthodox Christians. This city has always been considered as the cultural hub. In the 19th century it was considered the artistic center for regional purposes. Istanbul has a lot of shopping centers from the modern period as well as the historic period. The city has a Mediterranean climate. The northern part of the city has a lot of humidity due to the water bodies and the sea. Fog is a common site in the city. Winters are very cold. During winters black sea faces lake effect snow.Exhibition conducted in Tate Modern in the city of London on Global Cities on 27th August 2007 had Istanbul featured along with London, Cairo, Shanghai and Los Angeles. In which it was compared to all these cities for their size, speed, form density and diversity. The slogan that the Tourism board of Turkey uses to promote Istanbul is also Historically Dynamic. Making it the most apt city for foreigners to feel close to the culture and history. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In the entire world, cultural and historical heritage and tourism have had many links throughout. According to the economic justification given by people tourism is a tool used for the preservation of heritages, artifacts and the folk life of the destination (Hall, 1994). This report summarizes and focuses on the kind of tourism in Istanbul. It is known for its cultural tourism, since the government of Turkey also promotes Istanbul as the most historically sound city. LITERATURE REVIEW OF ISTANBUL John Cleave in the year 2008 described Istanbul as the city of two continents. The mayor of Istanbul Kadir Topbas explains that Istanbul is a country not a city. In the year 1980 Istanbul did not even have enough electricity supply for the famous skyline. Few years back Istanbul had midnight curfews and even the supply of Turkish coffee had gone down. Today Istanbul is not just an immigrant city, it is much more than that, says Murat Guvenc, city planner and curator of Istanbul 1910- 2012. Kirsten Stamn in his online blog carry on in the year 2011 describes that, when some one thinks of Istanbul, people only think of the mosques, the bazaars and the architecture. But he discloses a fact that Turks love jazz. The biggest Jazz Festival every year is held in Istanbul. It is Istanbul where 15 million people come and visit the Grand Bazaar every year (Appleton. K, 2012). Istanbul has always had an East meets west history, due to the Bosphorous strait. The main selling point of Istanbul h as always been bridge between Asia and Europe. According to a survey done in April 2012 by PortTurkey.com the nationalities that visit this city the most re Germans. They took the top spot with 10.4 percent. According to Istanbuls Culture and Tourism Director Ahmet Emre Bilgili, Istanbul is a city, which has a very old history, culture and art, which a lot of people want to experience. It has a very diversified tourism, which makes it the most visited city by the tourists. PART 2 MAIN FORM OF TOURISM Tourism in Turkey mainly focuses on the various historical sites that the city has. In 2011 Istanbuls mainly attracted form of tourism was for culture, spa and health care, which helped it rank the 6th most popular tourist destination in the world. Istanbul just does not have vacationers tourist but even visiting professional literates, for its cultural grounds on literature. Istanbul even caters to the leisure travellers. The shopaholics can have a feast in this city, as Cevahir mall is the biggest mall in Europe and the seventh largest shopping center in the world. Peter Sommer describes that while describing Istanbul it is very hard for people not to speak in superlatives. Istanbul has one of the most finest architectural and art around the world. Istanbul is Turkeys commercial hub, which is also the social, and art capital. In the year 1970 the population of this city was 3 million, which has grown to around 11 million today. The head of Cultural and Social Affairs Department, Nu man Guzey shares that Istanbul has been the capital for three empires in the past that is Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman, which makes it a center of history and culture having a history that is 3,000 years old. The mission statement of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipalitys Directorate of Tourism is that it is the city that has a lot of vibrancy, since a lot of cultures here have crossed and encountered in the centuries that have passed by. Their mission is to promote Istanbul more as a cultural destination known for its heritage making it the most visited and vibrant tourist destinations in the world. CHARACTERISTICS OF TOURISTS In the year 2012 the number of tourists that visited Istanbul increased at a very large scale. Istanbul Culture and Tourism Directorate released the figures of tourists visiting the city has increased by 18 percent compared to the year 2011. Around 4.2 million tourists visited Istanbul. Around 4 million tourists visited Istanbul by plane and the rest by ferries or ships. Wizard Istanbul is a travel guide developed by the Ministry of Culture and tourism is an online website which is available 24 hours to help the foreign tourists. Istanbul had a whooping number of 4,231,000 tourists. Around 26.8 percent of the tourists that entered Turkey visited Istanbul. 4,052,908 tourists arrived by plane and the rest 178,511 came by sea. The majority of tourists who visited Istanbul were from Germany, which was then followed by Russia, America, France, England and Iran. This year there was a decline in the tourists form Israel. Since the year 2007 Spaniards have visited Istanbul a lot more frequen tly. Istanbul has made Turkey the top 10 biggest revenue generators in the world due to tourism. Spending Capacity The Turkish Lira was not stable for quiet some years; euros and dollars are a common currency in most of the hotels and tour operators. Earlier it was a bargain destination, it still has a god value for money when it comes to travelling. A room for two people in three star hotels would cost around $80 per night in Sultanahmet. A decent meal would cost around TL20 to TL25. Public transportation is very cheap and efficient and some of the citys historical places people can visit for free. If the non-residents buy any expensive item from Istanbul they can participate in the national Global Refund. This means that at the time of departure the tourist can present the refund receipt at the airport tax return. This way the tourists get their tax back. DURATION OF STAY Tourists, who generally visit Istanbul, prefer staying there for 5 to 6 days. Tourists, which travel to Istanbul even travel to Cappadocia, which is not very far from Istanbul. The cultural tourists travel for 10 days since they visit the blue mosque. TIME AND SPACE Specific type of Tourist In the year 2004, the maximum people who visited Istanbul were travelling only for cultural perspective. Hence Istanbul had a very high amount of cultural tourism. In more recent years the cultural tourism in this city has increased to 30 percent. 40 percent of the tourists visit the museums and the mosques. The major target markets for Istanbul are cultural tourists. The total amount of visitors every year to the Istanbul museum is 3,932,852 (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 2008). Lot of tourists visit this city for the festivals as well. After the year 2000 the government has taken important steps to celebrate festivals publically, so that not only the residents can take part but also the tourists can be a part of it. The European Union supports the cultural tourism, making this city more convenient for the culturally inclined tourists. The cultural tourists are generally rich and highly educated. The cultural tourists are generally known as upper level tourists. Cultural tourists who travel to Istanbul are dived into two groups according to the attractions they visit. The first groups of attractions are monuments, museums. Theme parks, architectural and sculptures. The second group of attractions is music and dance, events, theatre language, festivals. CONTRIBUTION TO GDP Turkey has become the 15th greatest economy of the world in the year 2012. Having a GDP of $729 billion. Istanbul has always been the economic center for Turkey, contributing a GDP of $174 billion. It generates 22 percent of the GDP just through tourism and 40 percent is generated through the travel and tourism tax. Istanbul has made carved a niche for itself and is now listed in the Global cities of the world. Due to the high GDP in Istanbul, it has started creating more jobs, further improving the countrys balance overall. THE GLOBAL CONTEXT OF CONTEMPORARY TOURISM Travelling is something that everyone enjoys. Travelling makes life interesting, and can bring a new view of living life. The purpose of everyones travelling can be different like some people travel for rich culture, history and some to meet and come across interesting people. A lot of people travel and yet they would not be able to travel the whole world, as they might not have the correct resources. Travelling around the world gives people a better understanding of what is going around in the different parts of the world, and how different is every countries culture and heritage. Traveling even changes a persons perspective towards life. Travelling broadens a persons mind and soul. In basic words it has always been a human desire to travel to different places. Travelling changes a person inside out. Travel for people will always be an invaluable asset. Most of the common reasons why people travel is to try out new things. Different places have different things to see and try, and t his is the motivation which most of the people have. GLOBALIZATION- EFFECT ON TOURISM

The Minimum Wage Should Not Be Increased :: Argumentative Essay, Minimum Wage Essays

â€Å"An increase in the minimum wage will boost income for the poorest workers without the danger of creating more unemployment.†, stated President Obama in September 2014. Is this statement about an increase in minimum wage really true? There are two sides to the debate about minimum wage. The minimum wage is a major issue in the world of economics and politics. Political figures often prey on the public’s general ignorance of economics and promise to increase the minimum wage. Economists, on the other hand, view the long term effects and see the damage it can cause. David Card and Alan Kruegur, two economists at Princeton University conducted a study on New Jersey’s 18% minimum wage increase. They looked the impact on the New Jersey economy and compared the results to the state of Pennsylvania which did not make any change in the minimum wage during the period of the study.. David Card and Alan Kruegur measured the change in employment in New Jersey’s fast–food restaurants between February and December that year. Card and Kruegur found that the number of jobs grew in restaurants where pay had to rise, compared with those already paying more than minimum was and compared with restaurants in neighboring Pennsylvania, where the minimum did not change. The study also found no difference between high- and low- wage states. Most people would be delighted to here the above. They would receive more money and their standard of living would increase. But most people do not take into account the negative side effects of increasing the minimum wage. The survey taken by Card and Kruegur was done over the telephone. Fellow economists charge that the questions were vague and errors crept into the numbers. Another study was done using the businesses payrolls found that New Jersey fared far worse than Pennsylvania. Positive effects of the minimum wage can be the obvious; more money for people. They would have more money to spend , the economy would boom and everyone would be happy. Not so; in fact, this would only encourage inflation and increase prices. Money become lesser in value and producers would have no choice but to raise prices in order to make profit. Another negative aspect of raising the minimum wage is unemployment rising. Supply of workers would exceed the demand for workers.

Interview with an Elderly Woman Essay -- Interview An Elderly Person

In the early 1940’s Marie was born into a small tight knit family living in a small rural Kentucky town. Marie is now in her seventies and has led a very interesting life traveling the country, raising four children, and shaping her chosen profession. Our interview sessions were conducted over a period of time, as Marie is very active and has little â€Å"free time† to spare. Early Life Her parents meet at a social gathering in town and where married shortly thereafter. Marie’s name was chosen by her grandmother and mother, â€Å"because they loved to read the list was quite long with much debate over each name.† If she was a boy her name would have been Francis, so she is very happy to have born a girl. Marie’s great uncle was a physician and delivered her in the local hospital. Her mother, was a housewife, as was the norm in those days and her father ran his own business. Her mother was very close with her parents, two brothers, and two sisters. When her grandmother was diagnosed with asthma the family had to move. In those days a warm and dry climate was recommended, Arizona was the chosen state. Because her grandma could never quite leave home, KY, the family made many trips between the states. These trips back and forth dominated Marie’s childhood with her uncles and aunts being her childhood playmates. Marie’s grandparent’s had an old farm house, which was one of many homes in which she lived, that she remembers most. The house was huge, she learned to walk, climb stairs, and find hiding places in it. The house had a wide wrap around porch with several wide sets of stairs both in front and in back. She remembers sitting on the steps and playing with one of the cats, with which there was a lot of cats living on the farm... ...anizing the boxes of memorabilia into albums for her children, if time permits. The only thing she’ll commit to is that everyone in her family will have a croquet blanket made by her just for them. When looking back over her life, so far, she says not a bad life. Then again she’s not done yet and hopes to have another good ten years. I leave you with her life’s message. â€Å"Follow your heart. Life is not a straight line there are lots of curves, circles, and detours. Each and every experience will give you something valuable. Keep close to those you love and who love you. Family is so important. Always do your best, be honest with yourself and others, have integrity, be dependable, like who you are, change what you don't like, keep learning, keep trying, you are better than you think.† (Rodrà ­guez) Bibliography Rodrà ­guez, Marie. Personal Interview.

A Girl with a Pearl Earring

Samantha Fain Dr. Elizabeth Wise CHM 165 3/15/2012 Book Report: Girl with a Pearl Earring The Girl with a Pearl Earring is a historical fictional novel about the famous painting created by the artist Johannes Vermeer. The story takes place in the 17th century in Delft, Holland. The novel chronicles the actions that led up to the painting of Girl with a Pearl Earring. The subject of the painting is a young girl named Griet, who goes to live with Johannes Vermeer’s family and be a second maid to their growing household. Vermeer really introduces Griet to the world of paint and even goes as far as to employ her as his assistant.Vermeer did not waste any time showing his new assistant, Griet, how to mix paints. Vermeer started off by sending Griet to pick up materials to grind up and make his paints. Vermeer showed Griet how to make paint by grinding up different materials with a muller. Griet finds she is not as quick as the artist, but Vermeer mentions that some materials are ea sier than others to grind. Griet often rubs the paste in between her fingers to check for consistency. Also, the finer the materials were ground, the brighter the colors. Vermeer often used linseed oil and white lead, and bones while creating his paints.Most things in everyday life are made up of many colors that the average person never takes the time to notice. Vermeer first explains this to Griet when he is pointing out the colors of the clouds. Many people would describe clouds as plain white, but Vermeer and Griet point out that many colors make up clouds and they are not pure white. Vermeer carries this thought throughout all his paintings. Vermeer focuses on great tones and hues in his painting making him stand apart from other artists of his time. Light is very important to the painting process, but Vermeer put a special focus on the way that light can affect paint.Vermeer’s studio was where he spent most of his time and it had to be just so. The windows were kept dir ty because the dirt buildup changed the amount of light in the room, and Vermeer was particular about how much light he let in. Vermeer’s paintings showed his knowledge of light because he used it to bring much realism to his work. The use of Camera obscura is another one of Vermeer’s techniques. A Camera obscura is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen. Vermeer showed the Camera obscura to Griet and took the opportunity to get closer to her as they look through the small hole.The Camera obscura helps to see composition and color. Sometimes, a camera Obscura is used to trace the outline of the paint onto the canvas. All in all, Vermeer was an artist ahead of his time who employed many different painting techniques that were revolutionary at the time. By Vermeer taking on Griet as an assistant he introduced her to the world of paint and how it can affect people’s perceptions in everyday life. Griet never thought being a maid and assistant to Vermeer would lead to infamous painting that is called today’s Dutch Mona Lisa.

Response to the book “The Body’s Memory” Essay

The recollection make by a psyche with damage or PWD of the most hurtful things which her clay mat and experienced was explicitly depicted in the 1993 hold back of Jean Stewart entitled The dusts Memory. The most notable excursion from the clear presentation of the true break and emotions of PWD, however, is the remarkable realization exemplified by the subject. The causes clear yet elastic and uncomplaining reminiscence of the air and sacrifices of her luggage compartment which was afflicted and removed with tumor was the crowning(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) significance of the intensity.This is because a PWDs word meaning of the undeniable or irreversible severalize of her embody robustly manifests that indeed the somatogenetic condition serves as the lasting reminder of disability. However, it is the will and the desire to curb much(prenominal) disability which will ultimately throw in the towel a PWD to continue living. Stewarts jump appearan ce in the literary man showcased the character of a 30-year-old woman named Kate Meredith who recounted her bodys management and survival trio years after a tumor was removed from her hip.Through the course of the recollection, Merediths body was faced with and most importantly reminded of its inevitable limitations resulting from the surgery which eventually made her a disabled person for the assuagement of her look (Stewart, 1989). The preface alone already hinted both the disposition and worth of this ledger of ones battle against her disability and ultimate triumph over the sensible condition. As the ledger went on, the authors invitation led the readers into the painful yet attempt efforts of a lively and strong-willed English professor Meredith (Stewart, 1989).Through the words of the author, the readers came in contact and had a peek of the patient of of lifespan that Meredith has lived following her tumor removal. Stewart allowed the earthly concern to be acquai nted with the mountain more or less Meredith, to feel and sympathize with her physical and turned on(p) crucifixions and preceding(prenominal) all, witness her understanding or acceptance and eventual rise above her permanent physical condition (Stewart, 1989).It is commendable to consider that the author has effectively presented the strong character of Meredith whose entrepot or exact account of her bodys pain caused by disability surprisingly pave the way for the meeting of two worlds, that of the familiar people and persons with disability. In order to thoroughly feel the personal battle fought by Meredith, the authors use of the journal type as the writing grammatical construction has succeeded for the character to vividly recall the pains suffered by her body.Additionally, the said literary lick has efficiently conveyed the essence of the story, which is the acceptance of the bodys memory of disability suffering as rise up as the eventual realization of the existi ng disability and expediency towards the reality of living independently. The Meredith journal, as written by Stewart, is a concrete substantiation of a triumphant tale of a PWD whose body will definitely forever remember the pain. However, she used such memory as a tool to overcome her limitation and started living on her own.The book is an ideal chronicle from the point of ruling of a previously normal person who was faced with the reality of never to base on balls once more. It is one of the best whole shebang that depicted a different aspect about the everyday happenings in the life of a person with disability. Utilizing the vehicle of journal writing, the author invited the readers to the world of a PWD and succeeded in making both her main character and the public experience all the ablaze confusions, physical battle, disappointments, bravery, apprehension, self-pity and rejection.In doing so, Merediths eventual realization of herself and her new-found liberty has turn ed the book into a remarkable literary work. An ultimate response to the book is that it is a well recommended story for both normal people and persons with disability because of its generalized reminder that life has to continue beyond the event of a disability. Reference Stewart, J. (1989). The Bodys Memory. new-fashioned York, NY St. Martins Press.

Local and National policies regarding minorities in Japan and China Essay

on that point is no single club in the homos today which does non consist of a nonage group. In to the exaltedest degree cases, the nonage pagan groups and the legal age ar always in conflict, as the minorities be gener whollyy oppressed. This arises mostly as a for crush of cultural misunderstandings. heathen misunderstandings grow become a widespread problem in the contemporary hostel. Cultural identity is a broad notion which is set upd of demographic components such as nationality and social lieu (Schwartz 2007, par.1). However the various presidencys of the manhood imbibe tried and true to protect the rights of the minorities by ensuring that they atomic bout 18 protected in their constitutions. lacquer and china project in truth easily stipulated rights of the nonage in their constitutions however, the minorities atomic quash 18 still subjected to misuse in theses countries. exposition of a nonage A nonage is commonly described as a group of m ultitude in a wedded fraternity with the following characteristics, numeric eachy sm all(prenominal)er than the moderation of the existence of the e landed e domain or a protrude of the earth, which is not in a dominant po modelion, which has no culture, language, religion, race among others, and is distinct from the rest of the race, whose members project a will to preserve the minorities, whose members be citizens of the state where they demand the status of a nonage, and buzz off a long-term presence on the territory where they lived (Smihula 2009, par.1). mainland China Chinese Cultural Centre (2010) states that, From the hinterlands of the north, to the lush jungles in the south, from the mountains of chinaw atomic number 18 in the east, to the top of the world in the west, China serves as home to 56 official heathenish groups. The largest group, the Han, make up over ninety deuce of Chinas Brobdingnagian population, and it is the elements of Han civilizati on that world believes Chinese culture. Yet, the fifty five paganalal minorities, draw close away on Chinas broad frontiers, maintain their own rich traditions and customs, and all are part of Chinese culture.The cultural groups in China live in concert in very vast areas. Others live in small areas, in single concentrated communities which are normally be predominantly by the Han tribe. This is a distribution which has been on that point since clock immemorial in the history of China, as various cultural groups mingled and migrated. Chinas minority groups are scattered all over the land. However, their population is small. They are found in every municipality, provinces and free region under the Chinese Central judicature.In other county-level units, at that place are more than both cultural groups which live together. Currently, the Chinese minority groups are concentrated in autonomous regions like Ningxia, Xinjiang, Tibet, Guangxi, inner(a) Mongolia, Qinghai, Sichuan, Liaoning, Hainan, Hunan, Jilin, Gansu, Guizhou, Yunnan and Taiwan (China UN 1999, par. 3). Generally, in that respect are official efforts which have been made so as to cater for the rights of the minorities in China.The most obvious ones are the assistance of the minorities to get their own language, glorify their legendary heroes by hoard the history of the minorities , restore the medical practice sessions of the minority as strong as suffice them develop literature, compose music and opera ( Debra & Jensen 2002, 175). Policies on minorities Prior to the debut of the Chinese Republic in 1949, in that location was a general imbalance of ethnic minorities. They were denied social and frugal maturement. or so of the minority societies were in the slave sy base of operations, unmannered system and others, in the serf system.Majority of the minority populations in these regions were slaves of feudal lords, temples, nobles and slave owners. The minority groups had n o personal license, and all people would buy and shop them, and even fracture them out as gifts at their own will. The reason why at that place was so much oppression of the minority groups was because of the Sixteen-Point Law and the Thirteenth-Point Laws, which were theorize in the 17th nose candy (China UN 1999, par. 11) The first constitution that protects the rights of the minorities in China states that all(a) ethnic groups record in State Affairs Administration on an equal footing (China UN 1999, par. 14).The Chinese Government has ensures that the Han people and the minority participate in affairs counselling at local anesthetic and state governments. More outstandingly, the government has stated that there is full guarantee of the minority ethnic groups rights so that they can effectively buck part in state affairs caution. For instance, the highest state power organ in China, National deals recounting (NPC), has demo a full support of the ethnic minorities r ights. The topical anesthetic Peoples Congresses (LPC) and NPC have takeoral Law provisions.These provisions state that the minority peoples s abidance have their own deputies to sit in the NPC, and ethnic groups whose population is less(prenominal) than that prescribed for electing one deputy and permitted to elect one deputy (China UN 1999,par. 14) In concentrated communities comprising of ethnic minorities, each of these communities is allowed to have their own deputy. The deputies elected sit in the LPC. Additionally, those who are scattered on vast areas are as nearly allowed to elect their deputies in their LPCs.The takings of people that are represented by the deputies is less than in the concentrated regions, compared to those who are from concentrated communities (China UN 1999, Par. 15). outstanding efforts have been made by the state so as to ensure that there is good remainder of people from the minority groups who are trained to be cadres. This enables them to be of help in the government. The national and local state offices are in like manner comprised of very numerous personnel of the minority proportions. This is in the procuratorial, administrative, judicial and management organs.From year 2000, the percentage of the minorities in the Standing delegation was twenty one percent. This number has been increasing within the years (China UN 1999, Par. 16) Since China became a republic, it has always ensured that appellation of Ethnic Minorities (China UN 1999, par. 17) is another constitution which they should continually use. Previously, onward independence, there was no figure which revealed the total number of the minority groups in China. It only started this in a bid to implement the comparison policy among all ethnic groups.As a conduce, there were hale organized large scale investigations which were meant to identify ethnic groups since 1953. Since then, all ethnic groups, catchless of their social development level and the areas they have inhabited are all regarded as equal. Several minority groups which were not recognised in old China became recognized as a result of the change. They had the privilege of enjoying equal rights with the other ethnic groups in China (China UN 1999, par. 17). Before 1951, there were no proper recognizes given to the minority ethnic communities in China.This was considered as oppression and ethnic contrast by the Chinese government. In fact, most of the names that were given to the minority groups portrayed implications of high class ethnic discrimination. Therefore, the Central Peoples Government promulgated an order, which was meant to tug monuments, inscriptions, place names, tablets and appellations. Additionally, all inscriptions which had discriminative contents were all abolished. Some ethnic appellations which never implied insults were also changed so as to tolerate the wishes of certain ethnic groups.For instance, the Tong ethnic group was converted to Zhu ang (China UN1999, par. 18). Acts or words which were aimed at inciting discrimination and dislike against ethnic groups, and those which also aimed at sabotaging unity and equality among the people was regarded as a rectitude violation. all(a) the ethnic groups that were subjected to oppression, insults or discrimination were given rights to strike up to their respective judicial institutions. At this point, all the complaints would be dealt with accordingly.China even joined some(prenominal) planetary conventions which were meant to protect the rights of all racial groups. Some of these let in outside(a) Convention on the Suppression and penalization of the Crime of Apartheid, The external Convention on the riddance of every(prenominal) Forms of Racial Discrimination and Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. These organizations have helped the republic to continually advocate the national and local policy on equality in the Republic of Chin a (China UN 1999, par. 20).The Chinese constitution also had provisions which intensify the unity of the ethnic groups. The Chinese constitution has a policy which emphasized on the need to do away with group chauvinism, especially the Han chauvinism, as well as the local ethnic chauvinism. The Government has also worked hard to ensure that the media, literary works and publications groups are prohibited from revealing contents which damage ethnic unity among all Chinese communities (China UN 1999, par. 20). China has a diversity of religion. The main religious groups include Islam, Buddhism, Christianity and Taoism.Most of the ethnic groups have religious beliefs. The Chinese government has outlined specific policies which are meant to ensure that the independence of all ethnic groups is safeguarded, and all the ethnic minorities are guaranteed normal religious activities (China 1999, par. 22). Additionally, they have been given freedom to use and develop their own mouth and b ecome verbally languages (China 1999, par. 23). There are specialists who have been kept away so as to make investigations of written and spoken languages of the ethnic minorities.Additionally, there are special organizations which have been started so as to help people search in languages and train specialists in the resembling languages (China UN 1999, par. 23). gardening is a peoples way of life. killing the culture of a certain ethnic community would mean killing its future generation. In a bid to protect the culture of the ethnic minorities in China, the Chinese government has formulated plans which are meant to collect, edit, fork out and publish elements of culture.These studies are of a huge help as they give the ethnic minorities the rights to eat the diet they prefer, to perform their various rites and rituals without discrimination. Additionally, the ethnic Chinese communities are well cognise of practicing traditional medicine. The government has strengthened u niversities and research institutions so as to ensure that the ethnic minority groups that practice traditional medicine continue, at a more overtured level. In regard to art, the Chinese government has come up with a policy which promotes all their music and literature, therefrom, binding them together as minority ethnic communities.No discrimination is allowed in the studyal circles, as the constitution has stated. All children are entitled to a good education (China UN, par, 40-50). sermon of the minorities by the Chinese society heedless of the Chinese constitution which has stated clearly on the preaching of the ethnic minorities, there has been a great amount of discontent among the ethnic minorities. As a result, they have always complained to the local and national state officials in regard to this treatment. Many at times, the law has not been taken seriously.When the officials do not give heed to the cries of the ethnic minorities, they end up protesting. A good exam ple of recent protests which have evoked international concerns, and have actually revealed the treatment of the ethnic minorities in China is the Uighurs protests. The Uighurs are just a representation of the rest of the ethnic minorities, who have been denied their rights disrespect of them being stated clearly in the Chinese constitution. The Chinese government has not been so deplore in the way they handle the East Turkestan and Urumqi, and there has been a general unrest in these regions (Kadeer 2009, par. 1).The number of the Uighurs that died during the protests were over quaternion hundred, and scores of them were seriously injured. As a result, there was a curfew imposed in their dwelling region, Xinjiang province. Additionally, security was beefed up, so much so that every house has two policemen guarding it (Kadeer 2009, par. 5-6). The reason why the protests had occurred was because the Chinese government had gone back to the habits of the eld before China became an independent. It has continued encouraging a national streak among the Han Chinese as it seeks to convert the bankrupt communist ideology it used to promote (Kadeer 2009, par.10). The major reason why the Uighur people turn outd was because of the destruction of an ancient Uighur cultural problem, The Old city of Kashgar. Despite of the governments claim to protect the culture of the minorities, they failed to demonstrate this through their action. This old city has served as an example of their civilization for very many years (Times on product line 2009, par. 7). japans National and Local policies on minorities Despite of the fact that both lacquer and China are states in East Asia, there are fewer numbers of minorities in lacquer as compared to China.The minorities in Japan form four percent of the total population (Faqs 2008, par. 1). The Japanese minorities have for a long time suffered oppression as a result of cultural and psychological factors. The ethnic minorities in Japan consist of the Koreans, Ainu, Burakumin and Okinawans. The numbers of the Burakumin minorities existent in Japan are between terce to four million. They are of the lower Indian castes, and therefore are generally discriminated. The other major minority group is the Korean group, which mostly inhabits the Kinki region of Japan.The name Burakumin is discriminative, and traces its origin from the early Buddhist teachings prohibiting the killing of animals. All those people who were actively involved in the evil and ignoble task of killing animals were referred to as the Burakumins. This is because they were considered as polluted. All contacts with these people were shunned. As a result they have been a discriminated ethnic minority in Japan even in the current age (Karan 2005, 184). The policies in Japan and China are not different. The Japanese government has tried its best to create the participation of minorities in the region.The attitudes of the Japanese government towa rds the minorities stem more from social attitudes continuation than the ideologies from official state policy. Japan has a human rights and liberal constitution, which is standardised in many ways to the Chinese constitution. The system is keen on the culture and a, its aspects, including religion, literature, art and music. It also advocates for the education of all the children from the minority groups, as well as proper representation of the ethnic minorities is the Japanese government (Faqs 2008, par.10). Even though Japan is known of having a human rights constitution, it maintains strong and regressive attitudes to several of the minority citizens. This is clearly revealed by the racialist attitudes towards the treatment of Koreans and the other minority groups (Faqs 2008, par. 10). The Japanese constitution stipulates in Article 14 that all people are under the law. Japan is a member of the International Covenant on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights (ICESCR), and the In ternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).These bodies are involved in the prohibition of discrimination on ethnic or racist grounds (HRDC 2002, par. 1). discussion of minorities by the Japanese society The accompaniment in Japan is no different from that of China as far as the treatment of the ethnic minorities is concerned. The Japanese authorities have always acted against the minority groups since time immemorial, regardless of the policies that the Japanese government has enacted concerning the ethnic minority treatment. A good example of an ethnic society that has been for a long time discriminated is the Koreans.In 2006, lots of Osaka policemen and women were mobilized so as to search shops which were run by Koreans in Japan. The aim of this activity was to ensure that there was safety in the region. Additionally, the Central Hall, the main hall of the Korean residents in Tokyo, was another bone of rival (Korea 2006, par. 3). This is because unlike what t hey authorities had promised before, tax had to be salaried for the hall (Korea 2006, par. 1). There was also the quelling of the Chongryon movement. This was the reversion of what Japan had been described as, a constitutional state (Korea 2006, par.3). Chongryon is an organization which was formed by the Korean people, and its usage is to defend all the rights of the Koreans as far as democracy is concerned. The authorities claim that they would dissolve the group, as it was meant to attack the Japanese government (Korea 2006, par. 3). Several people have been against the racism and discrimination that has been subjected on the Japanese minorities. Due to this level of discrimination, UN specialists have stated that it is important to introduce new legislations to combat racism, as the situation has gone out of hand.The government has failed totally to consider the seriousness of discrimination and racism in the region. As a result, the minorities have been segregated from the other tribes in spite of the laws that are present to protect them. These minority groups have been left to wallow in poverty in Japans poorest dwelling places like slums. Politicians in Japan have used nationalist or racist themes so as to whip up popular emotions. The only way that Japan would be able to curb the discrimination problem would be through cooperation of the government, the non-governmental organizations and the people.This would only be possible if the minority groups would be consulted first (BBC 2010). Conclusion The local and national policies regarding the minorities in Japan should be enacted afresh. This is because a society with a constitution which is not strictly adhered to is the same as having no constitution at all. Japan and China should listen to the cries of the minorities so as to advance in all their sectors. References China UN 1999, National minorities policies and its practice in China, Information Office of the State Council of the Peoples Repub lic of China, viewed 25 May, 2010 Chinese floriculture Center 2010, Ethnic minorities in China, Chinese culture, viewed 25 May, 2010 Chris, Hogg 2010, Japan racism deep and dusky, BBC, viewed 25 May, 2010 Debra, Susan & Jensen, Lionel 2002, China Off Center subroutine the margins of the middle kingdom, Hawaii, University of Hawaii Press. 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