Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Applied Anthropology Domains of Application Essay

Applied Anthropology is difficult to fully implement into a being’s existence. When using applied anthropology, many factors must be taken into account such as the Darwin approach, theological approach, or any other specialized field of anthropology. All can have an effect on human culture and relationships, but all have their benefits and harms that can behoove or dismay a human individual in their field of study. The study of humanity is unfortunately as fallible as humanity itself, and to gage what applied anthropology actually is—we must understand the harms and benefits of the many different approaches. To me, applied anthropology is just the analysis of the way humans function as a whole and consists of a†¦show more content†¦The most important branch for my field of study would be the linguistic and cultural subfield of anthropology; this could be debated by others in my same field as they could say that physical anthropology would be the best to helping out the patient, because you have to look at the patient’s articulators and know what medicine can help them. These opposing viewpoints establish that anthropology is debated and complex, giving a unique outlook to what society understands of what applied anthropology actually is and just how many subcategories there actually are (Borofsky 463–480). This adds more detail to an already complex topic. With so many details and complexities, why would anyone want to use these types of studies for humanity? This issue should be recognized and is one of the reasons why applied anthropology can harm society. Applied anthropology tries to convey an umbrella of details and topics under a given study—and humans are so individualized that the study not always coincides with the human individual’s thoughts, physicality, or ideals, thus projecting harm to society’s understanding of anthropology. Concordantly theological applied anthropology and Darwin applied anthropology have greatly opposing viewpoints as well and continues to fuel the debate of how humanity should function. Despite the opposing views given, there are many benefits that help society when understanding each branch of anthropology. Some of these benefits (as mentioned before) helpShow MoreRelatedANTH 1120 Midterm Exam Review2818 Words   |  12 Pagescultures in terms of the culture in which they are found. Relativistic Fallacy: The idea that it is impossible to make moral judgements about the beliefs and behaviours of members of other cultures. 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It is closely related to cognitive science and influenced by computer science, philosophy, neuroscience, linguistics, biology, physics, and anthropology. Cognitive psychologists are interested in how people understand, diagnose, and solve problems, concerning themselves with the mental processes which mediate between stimulus and response. Recently, cultural and social factors have also becomeRead MoreTruth I s Culturally Relative1639 Words   |  7 Pages2) said, no man ever look at the world with pristine eyes. He sees it edited by a deï ¬ nite set of customs and institutions and ways of thinking. W. H. R. Rivers brought Relativism on field, by leading some of the earliest fieldwork in anthropology on cross-cultural perception (Strodtbeck, 1964). With his researches, which focused on the possibility that members of different cultures might present differences in perceptual acuity, he opened the doors to many other social scientists, who arguedRead MoreMajor Traditions Of Western Theology Essay1608 Words   |  7 Pagesbased on foundational beliefs, including high esteem for Scripture (infallible and inerrant) and a theocentric-focused posture that states the triune God should be center of Christianity (as opposed to only Jesus). These beliefs are applied to all of creation and domains of life, not just spiritual matters. The Anabaptist tradition is not characterized by a distinctive theology, but shaped by the communal living out of implicit beliefs. Believing that the Reformation did not do enough to restore aRead MoreCultural Anthropology6441 Words   |  26 PagesAnt hropology 1A03 Exam Review Week 7 Monday October 18-Thursday October 21 â€Å"Expressive Culture† (Miller Text Chapter 11) Expressive Culture October 18: Expressive Culture is: Behaviour and beliefs related to art, leisure, and play. - linked to other cultural domains such as: Exchange: pot latching art and dance, Bodily modification. Decorations, tattoos Religion: clothing, practices, etc. What is Art? Art is application of imagination, skill and style to matters movement, and soundRead MoreThe Ethics Of The Nursing Science3059 Words   |  13 Pagesthey are intended to produce knowledge about human beings , and nursing is related to nature and structure all over that human knowledge. Incorporated in this, the disciplines are classified of science, such as physics, biology, sociology and anthropology, and in the humanities, such as philosophy, ethics, history and the arts. Within that archetype they distinguish the professional disciplines as those professions whose objective is to learn to apply, describe, or prescribed knowledge, and academicRead More Exploring Research Methodologies: Positivism and Interpretivism2119 Words   |  9 Pagescommonly employed.†(Lawson, 1997) There are divisions of opinion amongst sociologists about the extent to which sociology is capable of producing objective understanding of life. The positivist concept is that the principles of science can be applied to the study of people. Therein lies the main question a researcher must consider: Can sociology, or any form of social science, be considered to be scientific? â€Å"†¦the principle legacy of positivism today is an enduring belief in the dichotomy betweenRead MoreExploring Research Methodologies: Positivism and Interpretivism2143 Words   |  9 Pagesmost commonly employed.(Lawson, 1997) There are divisions of opinion amongst sociologists about the extent to which sociology is capable of producing objective understanding of life. The positivist concept is that the principles of science can be applied to the study of people. Therein lies the main question a researcher must consider: Can sociology, or any form of social science, be considered to be scientific? Â…the principle legacy of positivism today is an enduring belief in the dichotomy between

Monday, December 16, 2019

An Analysis of Kurtz in the Heart of Darkness Free Essays

Heart of Darkness tells the tale of a man named Marlow and his quest to find the almost mythical figure of Kurtz. Kurtz is a station chief working for a Dutch trading company at the very end of the Congo river. Kurtz, along with the other station chiefs who are working at various stations along the Congo river, are charged to harvest the plentiful natural resources of the large African continent, primarily ivory. We will write a custom essay sample on An Analysis of Kurtz in the Heart of Darkness or any similar topic only for you Order Now Marlow, who is an experienced sailor and river boat pilot, is charged by the company that employs Kurtz to lead an expedition into the heart of the African Congo to find Kurtz and figure out why he has stopped shipping ivory. Marlow eventually finds his man, only to discover that Kurtz has slipped into madness. Kurtz dies on the trip back out of Africa, only to utter his last words, â€Å"The horror! The horror! †. Kurtz has also scribbled all over his report which he was to turn in to his superiors on the situation and people of the African continent. The scribbling read â€Å"EXTERMINATE ALL THE BRUTES†. These two phrases hold important meaning in Heart of Darkness, as it describes how Kurtz really felt at the end of his journey. Kurtz was described several times to Marlow before and during the trip as a different type of man. This colonial period was famous for the hypocrisy of the European Empires, who in their double edged mission of spreading the culture of the white man while harvesting resources of the foreign lands of the world, horribly failed on the former and were astonishingly successful at the latter. Kurtz was supposed to be a different kind of man. He was described to Marlow as being a true humanitarian, a man who would not only turn a profit for the company but at the same time uplift and civilize the natives of Africa. Marlow was immensely impressed with Kurtz and was eager to finally see the man for himself. What Marlow found couldn’t have been further from the truth. When Marlow finally see’s Kurtz and his compound for the first time, he’s shocked to find that the man is almost held in reverence by the villagers. He has also taken an apparent mate from the villagers. Marlow soon discovers that Kurtz used his arrival on the boat and his possession of firearms as a means to awe the villagers into accepting him as their demi god. Marlow eventually finds Kurtz, who is by now extremely sick both physically and mentally, crawling along a jungle path at night towards a village celebration. Marlow cuts him off and decides that if Kurtz won’t go with him of his own free will, he will kill him right then and there. Kurtz relents and allows Marlow to take him back to civilization. The next morning Marlow loads Kurtz onto the boat and they begin their journey back to Europe. It is during this trip on the river out of Africa that Kurtz, who is slowly dying, has a moment of clarity. His last words are â€Å" The horror! The horror! †. These words are symbolic of what Kurtz felt at realizing that he had become even more â€Å"savage† than the so called savages. Kurtz entrusts his papers that he was writing to Marlow. The papers were intended originally to be a humanitarian paper on the good Kurtz had done for the villagers. Scribbled across the papers now, were the words â€Å"EXTERMINATE ALL BRUTES! †. These words are an irony for the mission that Kurtz intended to fulfill. His humanitarian mission had degenerated into a mission of violence and exploitation. He no longer intended to help the people of Africa, he intended to kill them and take as much from them as they could. Kurtz in the end revealed in his final words what becomes of a man who willingly walked into a new land thinking he could be a savior to a people he thought beneath him. In reality, he ended up turning into the true definition of a â€Å"savage†. He became a person who killed with no mercy in order to take what he wanted. In his moment of clarity, he realized the horror of the what he had become. His mission of exterminating the brutes had been successful until his sad, lonely death. How to cite An Analysis of Kurtz in the Heart of Darkness, Papers

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Impact of Gender Differences in Australia-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Impact of Gender Differences and Education Level on Unemployment Rate in Australia. Answer: Introduction The following is the report on the research project on impact of gender differences and education in unemployment in Australia. The research is a topic of human resources management. Getting the insights in the employments aspects in Australia is very essential. Job availability in Australia is dependent upon many factors and thus the interest has aroused. The literature review is given from the different journals that have been found about the chapters. The major factors that have been identified for further investigation are education level and gender differences. Further, the research aims and objectives are given in the following and the research questions. The literature review summary is given in the following and based on the research questions the secondary data has been collected from the government websites. Thus the finding and analysis of the questions have been given. The research methodology, that have been chosen for this deductive descriptive analysis is also highligh ted in the report. The Project aims and objectives The aim of this project is to analyse the factors affecting the unemployment in Australia by Gender differences and Education level. The Primary objectives of this research is To analyse the implication of gender difference influences in unemployment rate in Australia To analyse the implication of three different education level on the unemployment rate in Australia Research questions Is the female unemployment rate higher than the males? How does gender differences impacts unemployment rate? Do the civilian labour forces define the available job market? Are the professionals are paid according their skills and experiences? Hypothesis H1: Gender differences and education level affects the unemployment rate of Australia H0: Gender differences and education level does not affect the unemployment rate of Australia Literature review summary The following is the literature review of the unemployment rate of Australia and how it is affected by the gender difference and education level. General discussion Unemployment is common macroeconomic element in any economy of world. No matter how remarkable any economy performs, a minimum level of unemployment is visible that is known as Natural Rate of Unemployment and is derived from aggregate data. It is not possible to absorb every individual of the population into jobs since population consist of people of different ages including child and old persons. The existence of unemployment above the level of natural rate of unemployment is crucial call for the nation as it has various negative impacts on the economic operation and performance as a whole (Coates, 2015). The microscopic impact of unemployment is financial backwardness, deprivation of basic amenities of life, poverty and psychological frustration. The macro lens view of the impact unemployment has on the economy as well is massive. The aggregate demand of the economy decelerates through the mechanism of consumption spending which falls with rising unemployment and lesser to no inco me. Continued unemployment disallow the consumption which is source of demand of any nation and driving factor of stimulating production. This further impedes the economic growth of the nation. Thus, unemployment receives prime concern of the policy maker as the higher rate of unemployment exerts a recessionary impact on the economy over long term of period hence symbolic of bad health or poor economy. Unemployment Theory In general term unemployment means no availability of employment or people remaining unabsorbed into the poduction system. In economic terms the unemploymnet rate is dervided from the crude estimation of total unemployment in any nation. The rat eof unepmloyment refers to the percentage estimation of the labor force that remains idle or unemployed. It is widely acknowledged as major economic indiactor that influences strongly the direction investmnet channelization into an economy. The unemployment rate is calculated following the formula shown below: Unemployment Rate = No. Of unemployed persons/ Labor force The concept of labor force is of utmost importance. Labor force does not include all the poulation who are unemployed. It categorizes first on the basis of willing people looking for employment since currently they are unemployed and currently employed ones who are already working (Faccio Marchica Mura, 2016). There are unemployed people who is not able to work or mentally discouraged to work.they are not accounted into the labor force. To account for how much of participation the population is incorporating in to the labor force is idnetified by the labor force participation rate. The rate mesures percentge of adult population who is included in the labor force. Labor Force Participation rate = Labor force/ Adult Population Different Labour market structure Composition and characteristics of different labour market have different impacts on the state of unemployment. Markets that allow labour to derive long term unemployment benefit through various schemes, presence of strong union, bargained wages and poor maintenance of standard lead to worsening of unemployment. Labour markets with featured with strict regulation and legislation regarding the benefits to the unemployed people push them for job search (Santos, Roomi Lin, 2016). Gender differences and disparity in education level are important factors too that affect unemployment rate. Implication of gender difference Difefrence sof gender ha sserious impact on unemployment. Through general perception it is belived and proven that female are less active than men in the labor market. This might be due to lesser motivation, encouragement or opportunities that hinders them form participating in labor market. The social structure law and politics of any nation play pivotal role here in order to stimulate and ecourage female labor participation. There is discreapncy of the remuneration received by male who tend to get paid higher (Albanesi ?ahin, 2017). This is another reason behind lesser female workforce. There are many other obstacle swomen has to face in terms of child bearing and family leave. These take saway the focus of them from work that further deteriorates the skill sets they have and could apply in national production and its growth. The surveys and reasearches hsow how child birth and responsibilities of domestic affairs leads to fall in the female employment rate and the falling rate po f child birth has remarkably incraesed the female empployment level. The advent of modern world now faces higher growth in fenale participation rate with increase in education and awareness. But keeping parity with the wilingness if the jib rates are not growing in same proportion then the unemployment issue is inevitable. Influence of education With passage of time and more technological advances the requirement and functioning of the labour market has also been changing. Technology driven labour market opts for technically sound and knowledgeable workers in comparison to the huge supply of unqualified labours in the market. Here comes the role of the education to make people sound as the humans are being replaced through machines and knowledge of operating and handling these machines are mandatory. For this various vocational training and learning programs are required. People having expertise learning or degree along with skill sets are few in numbers and lie outside of the problem of unemployment. Mass suffer due to having poor educational qualification due to various social and economic issues (Brannen, 2017). Many people faced loss of job or being unable to be hire due to lack of proper skill and attaining this skills are very important now at this point of time. The government expenditure focusing the issue and more i nvestment to facilitate more programs in to the educational courses can help the situation to improve. Moreover, the cost of education should be reduced through subsidy as this is one of the obstructing component of attaining higher education in Australia. Other considerations: Apart from gender differences and educational impact few of the other things concern the unemployment too. Future consideration regarding the labour market structure, wage scale, employment benefits and schemes for the unemployment to help them battle the struggle are of crucial importance. Informal workers in the labour market always get paid less compared to the formal workers besides all the other benefits received in the employment. The incentive for holding the job is more for formal worker than informal workers who would prefer looking for better opportunities now in terms of benefits and employment facilities. This stimulates the migration. Moreover technological advances, geographical structures play important role in driving the migration and finding new jobs through surviving (Neuman, Robson, 2014). Developed countries whose service and manufacturing sector are strong have better source for the employment compared to developing country which is more of agriculture based an d have fewer scope of expanding employment. Findings and reasons: The ABS report of unemployment and Productivity Commissions report in Australia predicts slowdown in the employment rate during the Global Financial Crisis hitting the economy worse. But in recent time over the years adoption of proper fiscal and monetary policy has been able to let the country achieve a growth rate in the labour force by 2.1% per annum (Milner, Page Lamontagne, 2014) The reason behind such growth has been identified in the higher migration that increased the competition in labor demand as well as supply market. The immigrants are the perfect substitute of the local workers, they are available to work for lower rate of wage that pushes down the overall wage rate of the economy, and this helps more labour demand by the employer. This lead to more labour intensive production method. The jobs of the immigrants are obtained at the cost of the native workers who lose the competition and fall victim of unemployment as their scope of employment would reduce. Research Methodology Research philosophy Research philosophy is associated with the belief however, there are three types of research philosophies that are ineterpretivism, positivism and realism. Philosophy helps to carry out in-depth analysis of the research by using various model and theories (Mackey Gass, 2015). In this study positivism, philosophy has been selected. However, positivism philosophy enables the researcher to carry out the research study through a critical and logical process. Research Approach Inductive and deductive are the two types of approaches that are used in the research methodology. In this current study, deductive approach has been taken by the researcher. However, the deductive approach is based on the existing theories and model associated with the research topic. Inductive approach is generally excluded by the researcher as it is associated with the development of new theories and models (Mackey Gass, 2014). Hence, it is difficult for the researcher to provide proper information and lead the research in a right direction. Research Design Descriptive, explanatory and exploratory are the three types of designs that are followed by the researcher. In this present study descriptive design has been selected. In order to give the detail information it is important to use descriptive or analytical design (Taylor, Bogdan DeVault, 2015). This allows the researcher to get in depth information regarding the research topic. Detail idea about various theories can be obtained by using such research design Research Strategy Research strategy enables the researcher to carry out the research in a right direction. Case studies, survey, interview, article review and focus group analysis are categorized under the research strategies (Flick, 2015). However, in this current study, government sites have been analyzed as the research strategy. This allows the researcher to collect information over the impact of gender differences and education level on the unemployment rate in Australia. However, authentic data is gathered by reviewing government websites. This current study requires the perspectives of the people regarding the impact of gender difference and education level on the unemployment rate. The author wants to improve the management skill and in order to improve the human resource technique. Thus, unemployment rate is required to understand for him. Sampling Techniques Probability and non-probability techniques are two types of sampling techniques. In this research study probability technique is used. However, data is collected from the government websites. 240 individuals are selected as the sample size where 120 were male and 120 were female unemployed candidates in Australia. Statistical data is collected over the gender differences based on the year 2007 to 2017. On the other hand, statistical data is collected over the education level based on the year 2007 to 2016. Such data enables the researcher to reveal the impact of gender differences and education level on the unemployment rate in Australia. Data Collection Method and Data Analysis Data has been collected through the secondary data collection method. However, secondary data collection method is beneficial for a research study to get valid and authentic data (Silverman, 2016). Government websites are taken through the database by using inclusion and exclusion criteria. Therefore, statistical data has been taken from the different government websites www.abs.au has been used as the authentic website to get valid and reliable data over the impact of gender differences and the education level on the unemployment rate of Australia. However, the secondary data enables the researcher to analyze the existing information. Data analysis process includes the representation of the data through table, graphs and charts. On the other hand, regression method is used to analyze the data regarding gender differences. Therefore, two sample T-test method is used to analyze the data regarding the education level variable. Ethical Consideration The researcher should follow the ethical consideration while conducting the research. Strict ethical rules should be followed in this research. The researcher should comply with the legal requirements. Therefore, no data should be manipulated during the secondary analysis (Flick, 2015). Proper citation is required while representing the data from secondary sources. Accessibility, Reliability and Validity issue Short frame of time hampers the data accessing process. Therefore, often some websites are in paid version that are hard to access for the researcher. On the other hand, reliability issue is big issue of a research as some journals and the websites are failed to provide authentic information (Taylor, Bogdan DeVault, 2015). On the some websites and journals are not currently published that are rejected. Findings Sample composition Gender data observations of 120 male and 120 females unemployed. Years - 2007 to 2017 Education level- three independent variables Years 2007 to 2016 Findings Analysis 1: Unemployment Rate and Gender Is the female unemployment rate higher than male unemployment rate Table : Independent Sample t-test Males Females Mean 347.0518 303.7158 Variance 3082.581 1976.906 Observations 120 120 Pooled Variance 2529.743 Hypothesized Mean Difference 0 df 238 t Stat 6.674 P(T=t) one-tail 0.000 t Critical one-tail 1.651 P(T=t) two-tail 0.000 t Critical two-tail 1.970 Analysis 2: Unemployment Rate and Education Table : Regression Coefficient Coefficients Standard Error t Stat P-value Intercept 1.409 0.240 5.870 0.001 BUPPSRY 0.252 0.112 2.256 0.065 TRY 0.396 0.199 1.992 0.093 UPPSRY_NTRY 0.285 0.158 1.803 0.121 Unemployment rate Education: Total Education = 1.409 + 0.252*BUPPSRY + 0.396*TRY + 0.285*UPPSRY_NTRY BUPPSRY - Below Upper Secondary TRY - Tertiary UPPSRY_NTRY Upper Secondary Non-Tertiary Table : Regression Statistics Regression Statistics Multiple R 0.9908 R Square 0.9817 Adjusted R Square 0.9726 Standard Error 0.1047 Observations 10 Interpretation Therefore, from the above analysis of the gender data collected from Australian government sites it can be said that fluctuation of the trend lines in the above statistics reveals the males employment rate is higher than that of females employment rate. Though the variance of the data of female employment rate is less than that of Male which reveals that the rate of employment of females have been very less fluctuation. Therefore, the question number 1 in the research question place is answered in the part that female employment rate is slightly lower than males in Australia. The independent sample t-test done on the sample of 120 different observations are reflected in the genders of two different valuation of Australia. According to the two sample t-test the average number of male unemployed during the last decade comes to approximately 347,000 and females data comes to 303,000 females. The education level of the population are divided in three different level as the upper tertiary means that the individual has graduated and upper secondary means that individual has passed out the high schools and the other is divided in the population of lower than that of high school students. The sum of squares interprets the change of variability of the data. However, the regression statistics are given to be the less than 1 and coefficient of determination of the regression analysis of the sample is less than 1 but more close to 1. The three level of education is identified to be in correlation and the coefficient of correlation is calculated in the above analysis. The R square rate interprets as the variability of dependent variable and gives the predictors in analysis. The three independent variable identified and total education level as the dependent variable are calculated and a model has been build on the intercepts as the variable. The level of dependency is high and non -professional individuals who have completed the tertiary level of education have higher chances of being employed or is already employed. Discussion Therefore, from the above findings and interpretations it can be concluded that education level of the population as well as the individual affects the employments rate according the survey data analysis. The regression analysis of the data is given as per the interpretation among the three education level the tertiary level of education, which is a independent variable is more dependent on the total education. The upper secondary non-tertiary level of education comes second as the coefficient of the variable has more dependency level than the other two independent variable. From the 10 years data of education level the regression of the data is less. The gender dependability of the data collected shows, which have more variance in males than that of females, which can be interpreted as the males in Australia have suffered from unemployment compared to the female population. Conclusion Therefore from the above report it can be concluded that Gender differences and education level has huge impact on the unemployment rate. The research questions have been developed and based on the questions the data have been collected on gender and education level of sample population. The findings and analysis of the data have been given. The research methodology with the research philosophy, justification of the strategy chosen, data collection method, research design and approach are outlined. The way the research has been done discussed thoroughly in the report. The data has been gathered in the excel and developed two sample t- test and regression statistics based on that. Recommendation Therefore, from the analysis it can be seen there is gender biasness in unemployment in Australia. The Females are less employed than males over the years. It can be recommended that the Females should be given more chances in the working environment to eradicate the unemployment disease. Education level has more significance in the employment rate. The identified three level of education were given more emphasis, and therefore, the tertiary level of education is were more higher though others were less. Therefore, more emphasis must be given to the secondary and upper secondary level of education. References Albanesi, S., ?ahin, A. (2017).The gender unemployment gap(No. w23743). National Bureau of Economic Research. Brannen, J. (Ed.). (2017).Mixing methods: Qualitative and quantitative research. Routledge. Bryman, A. (2015).Social research methods. Oxford university press. Clarke, A. E., Fujimura, J. H. (Eds.). (2014).The right tools for the job: At work in twentieth-century life sciences. Princeton University Press. Coates, J. (2015).Women, men and language: A sociolinguistic account of gender differences in language. Routledge. Cohen, L., Manion, L., Morrison, K. (2013).Research methods in education. Routledge. Crdoba-Doa, J. A., San Sebastin, M., Escolar-Pujolar, A., Martnez-Faure, J. E., Gustafsson, P. E. (2014). Economic crisis and suicidal behaviour: the role of unemployment, sex and age in Andalusia, southern Spain.International journal for equity in health,13(1), 55. Faccio, M., Marchica, M. T., Mura, R. (2016). CEO gender, corporate risk-taking, and the efficiency of capital allocation.Journal of Corporate Finance,39, 193-209. Flick, U. (2015).Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research project. Sage. Mackey, A., Gass, S. M. (2015).Second language research: Methodology and design. Routledge. Milner, A., Page, A., Lamontagne, A. D. (2014). Cause and effect in studies on unemployment, mental health and suicide: a meta-analytic and conceptual review.Psychological medicine,44(5), 909-917. Neuman, W. L., Robson, K. (2014).Basics of social research. Pearson Canada. Nordt, C., Warnke, I., Seifritz, E., Kawohl, W. (2015). Modelling suicide and unemployment: a longitudinal analysis covering 63 countries, 200011.The Lancet Psychiatry,2(3), 239-245. Panneerselvam, R. (2014).Research methodology. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.. Punch, K. F. (2013).Introduction to social research: Quantitative and qualitative approaches. Sage. Ritchie, J., Lewis, J., Nicholls, C. M., Ormston, R. (Eds.). (2013).Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science students and researchers. Sage. Santos, F. J., Roomi, M. A., Lin, F. (2016). About gender differences and the social environment in the development of entrepreneurial intentions.Journal of Small Business Management,54(1), 49-66. Sekaran, U., Bougie, R. (2016).Research methods for business: A skill building approach. John Wiley Sons. Silverman, D. (Ed.). (2016).Qualitative research. Sage. Taylor, S. J., Bogdan, R., DeVault, M. (2015).Introduction to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and resource. John Wiley Sons.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

Treatment for Cleft Lips and Palate free essay sample

This paper explores the various options for surgical and medical management of cleft lips and palates and the ways in which these interventions can help children with these particular birth defects. The paper begins with an overview of the condition and causes of cleft lip and palate. It then examines treatment options available and presents other alternatives. The writer then discusses the specific language acquisition problems related to clefts and concludes by accessing the effectiveness of various treatments and surgery. Cleft lips and cleft palates are among the most common of birth defects and if left untreated can lead to serious speech problems as well as psychological damage that can result both from those speech and communication problems as well as from the ostracism that a child with a facial deformity may face. However, while the consequences of cleft lips and palates can be severe and long-lasting, these can be averted by medical intervention, especially if it is done as early as possible. We will write a custom essay sample on Treatment for Cleft Lips and Palate or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This paper explores the various options for surgical and medical management of cleft lips and palates and the ways in which these interventions can help children with these particular birth defects.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Sinornithosaurus - Facts and Figures

Sinornithosaurus - Facts and Figures Name: Sinornithosaurus (Greek for Chinese bird-lizard); pronounced sine-OR-nith-oh-SORE-us Habitat: Woodlands of Asia Historical Period: Early Cretaceous (130-125 million years ago) Size and Weight: About three feet long and 5-10 pounds Diet: Probably omnivorous Distinguishing Characteristics: Small size; bipedal posture;  long tail; feathers About Sinornithosaurus   Of all the dino-bird fossils discovered in the Liaoning Quarry in China, Sinornithosaurus may be the most famous, because its the most complete:  the perfectly preserved skeleton of this early Cretaceous dinosaur shows evidence not only of feathers, but of different kinds of feathers on different parts of its body. The feathers on this small theropods head were short and hairlike, but the feathers on its arms and tail were long and distinctively birdlike, with tufts of intermediate length along its back. Technically, Sinornithosaurus is classified as a raptor, on the basis of the single, oversized, sickle-shaped single claws on each of its hind feet, which it used to  tear  at and disembowel prey; on the whole, though, it bears a greater resemblance to the other dino-birds of the Mesozoic Era (like Archaeopteryx and Incisivosaurus) than it does to famous raptors like Deinonychus​ and Velociraptor. At the end of 2009, a team of paleontologists generated headlines by claiming Sinornithosaurus  to be  the first identified venomous dinosaur (never mind that poison-spitting Dilophosaurus you saw in Jurassic Park, which was based on fantasy rather than fact). The supposed evidence in favor of this behavior: fossilized pouches connected by ducts to this dinosaurs snake-like fangs. At the time, reasoning by analogy with modern animals, it would have been surprising if these sacs werent exactly what they appeared to berepositories of venom that Sinornithosaurus used to immobilize (or kill) its prey.  However, a more recent, and more convincing, study has concluded that the supposed  pouches of Sinornithosaurus were created when this individuals incisors loosened from their sockets, and arent evidence of a venomous lifestyle after all!

Friday, November 22, 2019

The campaign to ban the bull - Emphasis

The campaign to ban the bull The campaign to ban the bull In our e-bulletin, we like to take a wild specimen of business-writing bull by the horns and tame it, so that it can be understood by all. The Ban the bull campaign was inspired by our gobbledygook amnesty back in 2009, which brought us the following offending sentence. And, despite the subject matter, theres nothing natural about this sentence In respect of a natural habitat, the sum of the influences acting on a natural habitat and its typical species that may affect its long-term natural distribution, structure and functions as well as the long-term survival of its typical species within, as the case may be, the European territory of the Member States to which the Treaty applies or the territory of a Member State or the natural range of that habitat. This 72-word monster is more likely to leave you dizzy than well-informed about natural habitats, assuming you even make it to the end. Sentences that have to be re-read numerous times are only going to annoy your reader, and could well make them put your document aside permanently. This sentence has actually been doing the rounds in several slightly modified forms in assorted EC Directives and national regulations for over a decade. (It speaks to the dangers of repeatedly using cut-and-paste, that this example is perhaps the worst.) Where it was previously broken up into numbered points, these have now been crammed together, with additional phrases haphazardly piled onto the end. So how might we re-build this into something more manageable? Start plainly Even bearing in mind that this is taken out of context, the opening is vague and unclear. In what sense is it in respect of? It would be best to make this obvious at the beginning, so the reader is prepared with a premise to add the rest of the information to as they go on. After a little research, it seems this is probably defining an official way of deciding the conservation status of any natural habitat. Would the reader have known that? This would be better: The conservation status of a natural habitat can be measured by looking at Punctuate Avoid such overly long, opaque constructions, typical of the language of legislation. Even when lacking in individually mystifying jargon words as this one mostly is the sheer length of such sentences is a huge obstacle to clarity. Effective use of punctuation is vital for making meaning explicit, so use it wisely: an infinite number of commas wont clarify a poorly put-together sentence. Break it up When youre dealing with a list in your text in this case, a list of factors consider using bullet points. These instantly make the piece more accessible, because the reader is no longer faced with a block of text. They also help to make separate ideas more distinct. Cut the filler Phrases like as the case may be sound rambling and wishy-washy. Better to actually state your case, and cut these out. Keep it simple Unless youre sure every reader will understand a particular word, pick a more straightforward one. So that would leave us with: The conservation status of a natural habitat can be measured by looking at: every influence, both environmental and human, that affects that habitat and the species within it how these influences will affect that habitats long-term distribution, structure and function; and on the future survival of its typical species. In this context, these definitions apply to the range of natural habitats within Member States of the European territory included in this Treaty. Now, armed with this knowledge, we can all move forward into a world where business writing is safer for everyone. If you ever spot any baffling business-speak, be it in a report, letter, email, flyer, website, or proposal, please join our campaign by sending it to us to unravel. Alternatively, just leave a comment here at our business writing blog.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Importance of an entrepreneurial leader Assignment

Importance of an entrepreneurial leader - Assignment Example Entrepreneurial leaders have the drive to be successful and their flexibility leads to adaptability. Entrepreneurial leaders are result-oriented and have high levels of enthusiasm that ensures full commitment to the goals and objectives of the organization. The role of an entrepreneurial leader is different from other leader roles since they are take personal responsibility of the growth of the organization. Their roles are different from other leader roles since they continuously search for new opportunities that will lead to innovative products and ideas rather than ensuring the success of the already established products and ideas. The entrepreneurial leader will assemble and coordinate resources towards attainment of organizational goals and will take personal responsibility for the failures of the team and utilize such challenges in ensuring the organization attains its objective. Unlike other leader roles, an entrepreneurial leader plays the role of a risk-taker through investi ng in new and innovative ideas that will enhance the growth potential of the organization. An entrepreneurial leader role is different from other leaders since an entrepreneur is a change catalyst and champions creative. An entrepreneurial leader is important in an organization since he continuously searches for new opportunities and ensures creativity that ultimately leads to new and innovative products and ideas. The entrepreneurial leader roles are different from other leader roles since he or she is a risk-taker and acts as a change champion.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

All about Coal Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

All about Coal - Research Paper Example The reason for the gathering of coal was primarily for household uses, namely heat. It was later discovered that it played an important role with its heating capabilities in smelting, alloy production and the generation of electricity. Sir George Bruce created a loading island where he sank a shaft connected to two others for drainage purposes and ventilation. This form of technology was extraordinary in coal mining during medieval times, often considered an industrial wonder of the time. In the 17th century many advances in the techniques used for mining were discovered, including test boring and drainage of the collieries, to allow the coal to be brought to the surface easier and more safely. Definition Merriam-Webster (2011) defines coal as â€Å"a piece of glowing carbon or charred wood†. This is a curious definition, as most would think of coal as simply a dirty, black rock that creates heat and is great for summer barbecues. The fact that it is defined as â€Å"glowingà ¢â‚¬  and â€Å"charred wood† leave the mind to wonder how was coal formed then? If it is already â€Å"charred wood†, why would we use it? It’s already been burned up, so what use can it be? The answer lies in the reason and process through which coal was formed. How coal was formed The formation of coal began around 300 million years ago, while most of the earth was covered by swamps, giant ferns and different mosses. Layer after layer of these plants died and subsequently were compressed and covered with new soil. As these new layers of soil covered the dead plants, the lack of air stopped the decomposition processes of the plants. This created peat, and throughout the years with heat and extensive pressure, it forced out oxygen and hydrogen, leaving carbon-rich deposits known as coal. As the carbon content of the coal increases, its compression is increased and the moisture content drops further. Thusly, there are four types of coal that form in subsequent order, each with its own grading scale, known as a â€Å"rank† (Speight, 2005). (stovesonline.co.uk) III. Four Categories of Coal The four categories of coal are lignite, subbituminous, bituminous and anthracite. Each one has its own ranking, based on the degree of which the original plant materials have been turned into carbon. These ranks are also used an estimation of how old the coal is. In general, the older the coal, the higher the carbon content. Lignite coal is the youngest of the four, and is most often used in the generation of electric power. It is a brownish black color and has a high moisture and sulphur content. It is more similar to soil than rocks and has a tendency to fragment when exposed to the elements. Subbituminous coal is often referred to as black lignite, although its moisture content is lower. It is also used for the generation of electricity, but also used for heating. Bituminous coal is a soft coal. iIt is dense and black with stripes of vibrant an d dull materials. This is the most commonly found and used type of coal, for coke (a residue of coal used in the steel industry), electricity, and heating as well. The last of the four, anthracite coal, is the hardest, oldest and best of the four types. It is black, glossy and very hard like a rock. It has the lowest sulphur content and the highest carbon

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Patient Risk Essay Example for Free

Patient Risk Essay This example of a reflective essay is presented in association with Price, B and Harrington, A (2013) Critical Thinking and Writing for Nursing Students, London, Learning Matters. Readers are introduced to the process of critical and reflective thinking and the translation of these into coursework that will help them to achieve better grades in nursing courses. Stewart, Raymet, Fatima and Gina are four students who share their learning journey throughout the chapters of the book. In this essay on the assessment of pain, Raymet demonstrates her reflective writing skills near the end of her course. Raymet had by this stage written several reflective practice essays and gained good marks. This time though she was encouraged to deepen her reflections, speculating selectively on how the account of pain experienced by a patient (Mrs Drew) might help her to work more creatively with patient perceptions and reported needs. N.B. Remember, copying essays such as this, submitting them as a whole or in part for assessment purposes, without attributing the source of the material, may leave you open to the charge of plagiarism. Significant sanctions may follow for nurses who do this, including referral to the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Assessing Mrs Drew’s Pain Mc Caffery and Pasero (1999) state that pain is what the patient says it is. If we accept that point, then nurses need to explore the patient’s perceptions of pain, as well as their report of experiences. The two are not quite the same. Patients may report their pain in a variety of ways, dependent on the nature and the intensity of pain and the context in which it is felt (e.g. whether they are ever distracted from the pain). Their perception of pain is a little more though and it includes the meaning that the pain has for them. It includes explanation of why the pain is there in the first place, what it indicates about their body and what it could  suggest might happen in the future (getting better, getting worse). The nurse assesses the account of pain shared by the patient, and this may be given in the form of a story. This is how it began, this is how it felt, this is what that meant to me and this is what I did about it (Mishler et al. 2006) In this essay I explore the assessment of pain as conducted with one 60 year old patient whom I will call Mrs Drew. Whilst the essay describes an assessment of pain with a single patient, I try to share too some ideas and questions that this provokes within me about pain assessment more generally. Mrs Drew made me think about other patients, future assessments and what I had to do as a nurse to help patients. To help structure this essay I use the framework described by Gibbs (1988). Whilst the episode concerned relates a stage in Mrs Drew’s illness when she challenged her treatment protocol, it also includes some of the memories and thoughts that this patient refers to regarding her earlier illness and past ways of coping with pain. In particular, it prompted me to question to what extent I as a nurse should recommend analgesia, drawing on what I had been taught about the effective control of pain. I had learned that it was better to control rather than to chase pain ( e.g. Mann and Carr, 2006; Forbes, 2007). Mrs Drew was diagnosed with lung cancer a year earlier and had initially had her illness treated by chemotherapy. This had helped her to achieve a remission that lasted for nearly ten months (Hunt et al, 2009 describe the prognosis of this disease). The cancer had returned though and spread to her spine and it was here that she experienced most of her pain.It was at this stage that the doctors explained that her care would now be directed towards her comfort rather than a cure—to which she had replied, ‘you mean palliative care’. Mrs Drew was supported at home by her husband Neil and visited on a regular basis by community based nurses to whom I was attached as part of my student nurse training. She was prescribed oral morphine and could decide within stated limits how many tablets she could take in any one 24 hour period. The situation I had visited Mrs Drew on several occasions over the period of a month when the community nurse and I were confronted by a tearful patient who announced that she did not wish to take the oral opiates quite as often as we were recommending. As she spoke she held her husband’s hand tightly, looking across to him as she described her experiences and feelings about the matter. Yes, there had been some bad nights when the pain had woken her and she had to sit up and watch television to try and distract herself. Yes, sometimes the pain made her feel nauseous, but she was alarmed at how frequently she was taking the ‘pain tablets’ and how this made her feel about herself. However well meant the medication was, it didn’t feel dignified to be so reliant on drugs, or quite so sleepy and unresponsive for such a high percentage of the day. Whilst the analgesia was working well when she took the tablets, the quality of life wasn’t what she wanted. The community nurse listened patiently to Mrs Drew and then explained that it was normal to have panic moments about such medication. Morphine had a reputation, one that people associated with misuse of drugs, rather than their therapeutic use. Used on a regular basis, the drug wouldn’t cause addiction and it would provide a great deal of reassurance to Mr Drew as well. The community nurse stated that she was quite sure that he respected his wife’s need to sleep when she wished and to build the rhythm of the day around her needs. At this point Mrs Drew shook her husband’s hand, and said, ‘tell her†¦tell her what we’ve talked about!’ Mr Drew then explained that his wife was used to dealing with pain, she had suffered recurrent pain in her neck and shoulder after a road traffic accident some years before. The pain had sometimes been severe, but he had massaged her shoulders and used heat packs that she found soothing. They had decided that they wished to use this technique now, keeping the morphine for absolute emergencies, when she was losing sleep and couldn’t eat as a result of the discomfort. The community nurse assured them that they were in charge of the analgesia and would be allowed to make their own decisions. She started to make notes though, and announced that she was making a referral to the cancer pain clinic, something that would help them to take stock of the situation. There was very good reason to suppose that this might be a problem associated with choosing the right dosage of the  morphine, rather than using supplemental pain relief measures. Mrs Drew responded sharply, ‘You’re not listening to me though Jane (the community nurse’s name—a pseudonym is used here), I want to use heat packs instead of morphine, at least during the day. I want to be more alive with my husband.’ The community nurse assured Mrs Drew that she had heard what she had said and respected her point of view. There would though be nothing lost by using the clinic to gain a further check on this matter. With that she excused us, explaining that we had a further appointment that morning and we left, having checked that Mrs Drew had a sufficient supply of her different medicines. As we walked to the car the community nurse empathised with Mrs Drew’s plight, saying that if she had lung cancer she would probably grasp at straws too. She would reach out for things that seemed more normal, and then observed, ‘but this isn’t normal is it, the pain she has isn’t normal. It’s not just a whip lash injury and old age.’ Feelings I remember that during this episode feeling a mixture of confusion, surprise, anger and impotence. Mrs Drew had surprised me by the way she had spoken, using what seemed to be a planned announcement. They had waited for and perhaps rehearsed this moment. Nothing in my experience to date had prepared me for such an encounter, at least in such circumstances, where we as nurses were so obviously working to support the patient. It was only later that I called the episode a confrontation. Mr and Mrs Drew had confronted the community nurse and I had been the largely silent witness to the event. As the discussion proceeded I remember making supportive noises, remarking how useful heat packs sometimes were and glancing across at Jane, who seemed to be signalling with her expression that I should leave this debate to her. I was trying to read her reactions to the Drew’s points and concluded that if I couldn’t support her arguments to the patient, then I should remain silent. The re were issues here that I perhaps hadn’t enough experience to deal with, at least, whilst ‘thinking on my feet’. My initial anger (with Mrs Drew for not acknowledging all that we were trying to do) quickly became displaced towards my colleague Jane. During the event I couldn’t explain why that was, but afterwards, when I made notes, I realised that it was because she seemed to have set the agenda in her own mind and to be requiring the patient to comply with concerns of her own. Put rather crudely, Jane seemed to be saying, listen I know about these things, this is a phase, an anxiety; you can work through all this. I believed at this point that she had missed the significance of the event, the way in which the Drew’s had arranged the conversation. For them, this was not a phase at all, but a considered and very important decision, one that they wanted the nurses to accept (Freshwater, 2002 and Edwards and Elwyn, 2009 emphasize the importance of negotiated care planning). My feelings of impotence were associated strongly with my lack of clinical experience. I have met this before. No matter how many placements I do, no matter how good the mentoring I receive, I keep meeting situations where I am unsure about how to respond next. I feel younger, less knowledgeable than I should be at this stage in my training. I want to reassure patients, to support colleagues and to give good advice, but there is not enough confidence to do that. If I felt unsettled and uncertain about Jane’s response to the Drew’s, right then I couldn’t easily explain that. I couldn’t offer a second opinion, couldn’t suggest an idea that might help support the patient. To my annoyance I couldn’t manage that either as we left the house. Jane had made some fair points, she  clearly seemed concerned about the patient’s needs, but perhaps she hadn’t spotted the right need—for Mrs Drew to determine in greater part how she de alt with her illness. Experience evaluated Afterwards, this short episode prompted doubts and debates about several important aspects of nursing for me. Setting aside the etiquette of learning in clinical practice, not challenging a qualified nurse in front of a  patient, there were problems here associated with supporting patient dignity, with my assumptions relating to analgesia and pain control strategies, and I realised, with my assumptions about types of pain and who had the expertise to define these. Dignity is more than simply using the appropriate terms of address, protecting the privacy of patients and attending to their expressed concerns (Price, 2004). It is about clarifying the ways in which they live and accommodate illness or treatment. It is about finding out what benchmarks they use to say that ‘yes, I am doing well here, this makes me feel good about myself’. Upon reflection, I sense that we on this occasion had not worked hard enough to discover how Mr and Mrs Drew define quality of life, or being in charge of their situation. We were more concerned with providing resources, sharing research or theory about medication and questioning the familiar misconceptions associated with morphine. To put it simply, we were ‘missing a trick’, reading the encounter as something that had happened many times before—the report of problems or anxieties, a request for help, rather than a decision that the patient and her carer had already come to. Reading situations well seemed, with the benefit of hindsight, to be the first basis for dignified care. ‘What is happening here, what will help the patient most?’ were questions that we perhaps assumed that we already knew the answer to. I realised that in my training I had already accepted the argument that patients would wish to remain pain free come what may and that the tackling of fears about prospective pain, was something that nurses engaged in. I assumed that because cancer pain represented such a major threat, because it was greater and more all encompassing, that there was little or no doubt that it should be removed. What was so unsettling, and took so much time to examine, was that Mrs Drew acknowledged the possible severity of metastatic cancer pain, but that she still preferred to respond to it using measures that had worked for her whiplash neck injury. Mrs Drew was willing to trade off a pain free state for something that gave her a greater sense of control and which perhaps enabled her husband to express his support for her in a very tangible way (preparing heat packs, massaging her back, rather than simply giving her the tablets). Mr and Mrs Drew questioned all my assumptions about best analgesia pr actice, and seemed to write a large  question mark on the textbooks I had read about chasing rather than controlling pain in palliative care situations (Mann and Carr, 2006). Reflections (learning opportunities) The episode with Mrs Drew left me uncomfortable because my past approach to pain management was theoretical. I (and I believe Jane too) regularly made use of science to decide what could be done as regards pain relief and to assume that patients would wish to achieve all of those benefits. This wasn’t about local applications of heat versus morphine, Mrs Drew could use both, it was about choice and how patients made choices—why they reached the decisions that they did. It was for me, about accepting very personally, that providing that patients are given all the relevant facts, alerted to the options, that they really are able to make choices that work for them. The very fact that Mrs Drews illness was now incurable, that she and her husband usually tackled pain together, meant that her solution to the challenge was different to those that many other patients arrived at. Having dealt with this pain for some time, knowing that it could and probably would get worse, meant that she was better equipped than other less experienced patients to make a decision here. This took nothing away from the benefits of sharing further discussion with pain clinic experts. I thought, Mrs Drew will stand her ground, she will insist on doing things her way if her husband is strong too. What it did highlight though was the importance of listening to patients, hearing how they perceive pain, how they narrate not only the pain but what they did about it. In this instance the narration was all about dignity, and coping, and finding ways to help one another and how this enables us to feel in the face of such a terrible illness. So, in telling us about her pain, what she did about it, using morphine when it was ‘absolutely required’, Mrs Drew was not reporting her ignorance of what could be achieved if the medication was used differently, but what she preferred to do as it enabled her to achieve different goals. Mrs Drew’s goals were about liveliness, alertness and stoicism, showing that she could bear at least a measure of pain. I wondered why I hadn’t listened carefully enough to such a story? Was it because of time pressure, or perhaps complacency, that Jane and I felt that we already knew what account would be  shared? Did we think that the patient would ask for help, more help, as the pain continued? If so, then our guesses had prompted us to behave as experts, and problem solvers, on the patient’s behalf. Perhaps hearing a patient narrative is about discovering what sort of role they would like you to fulfil. If so, then it might be a difficult role. I thought hard about how hard this was for Jane. She was going to be asked to witness Mrs Drew’s future pain, one that was now less perfectly controlled. She was going to be asked to reassure, to suggest measures that might help, without reminding the patient that she ‘already knew that you couldn’t manage pain that way!’ When I think about it now, that is very stressful for a nurse. It is about caring and allowing patient’s to make choices that we personally might not make. Conclusions I have drawn then three conclusions from the above reflection. First, that being patient centred is never easy and requires real listening and interpretation skills. My criticism of what Jane chose to do, to try and dissuade Mrs Drew from a course of action, recommending further appraisal of the situation, is an easy one to make. Nurses confront situations such as this relatively unprepared and react as considerately as possible. It is easy in hindsight to recommend other responses, a further exploration of what motivated Mrs Drew’s pain management preferences. Second, that experience can be a valuable teacher, the equal of textbooks. If nurses are interested in care, then we should be concerned with the sense that patients make of their own illness, the treatment or support that they receive. We need to understand what patients have to teach us and have to acknowledge that this means that we won’t always seem in control ourselves, expert and knowledgeable. Our expertise might be elsewhere, helping patients to reach their own decisions. Third, that one way to understand patient perspectives on illness or treatment, on pain management in this example, is to hear how they talk  about the situation. How do they describe the pain, how do they refer to what they did about it? The way in which the story is shared, how we coped, how this made us feel, is as important as the facts related. Sometimes a patient needs to feel stalwart, even heroic in the face of illness. Future care It would be foolish and unprofessional to recommend to other patients that they might not wish to remove pain, or that overcoming pain doesn’t always mean we don’t continue to experience it. For every Mrs Drew there may be many other patients who would welcome the complete removal of pain, so that they can die calmly, quietly, with their own version of dignity. But it does seem to me, that it will be worth thinking about the diversity of patients and how they prefer to cope when I assess pain and help manage this problem in the future. I won’t be able to walk away from the responsibility of debating whether I have explained all that I could, detailed the strengths and limitations of different ways of coping. I will need to find reflection time to ponder what patients have said and if necessary to go back and say, ‘I’ve been thinking some more about your words last week..’ knowing that this doesn’t make me any the less professional. References Edwards, A and Elwyn, G (2009) Shared decision-making in health care: achieving evidencebased patient choice, 2nd ed. Oxford, Oxford University Press Forbes, K (2007) Opiods in cancer pain, Oxford, Oxford University Press Freshwater, D (2002) Therapeutic nursing: improving patient care through self awareness, London, Sage. Gibbs G (1988) Learning by doing: a guide to teaching and learning methods, Oxford, Oxford Polytechnic Further Education unit Hunt, I., Muers, M and Treasure, T (2009) ABC of lung cancer, Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell/BMJ Books Mann, E and Carr, E (2006) Pain management, Oxford, Blackwell McCaffery, M and Pasero, C (1999) Pain: Clinical manual, Mosby, Philadelphia Mishler, E., Rapport, F and Wainwright, P (2006) The self in health and illness: patients, professionals and narrative identity, Oxford, Radcliffe Publishing Ltd Price, B (2004) Demonstrating respect for patient dignity, Nursing Standard, 19(12), 45-51

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Narrative Voice in Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye Essay -- Toni Morris

  The narration of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye is actually a compilation of many different voices. The novel shifts between Claudia MacTeer's first person narrative and an omniscient narrator. At the end of the novel, the omniscient voice and Claudia's narrative merge, and the reader realizes this is an older Claudia looking back on her childhood (Peach 25). Morrison uses multiple narrators in order to gain greater validity for her story. According to Philip Page, even though the voices are divided, they combine to make a whole, and "this broader perspective also encompasses past and present... as well as the future of the grown-up Claudia" (55). The first segment of each of the seasonal sections in the novel begins with Claudia's memories of that season as a young girl. Her first person narration gives a childlike perspective to the story, while the simple sentences echo the primer passages (Bellamy 22): "Our house is old, cold, and green. At night a kerosene lamp lights one large room... Adults do not talk to us - they give us directions" (10). Linda Wagner views the order of details in the novel as one a child would choose (Bellamy 22). For example, while some of the key plot elements in the novel are saved for the end, such as Pecola's being sexually abused by her father or her slow descent into insanity, other comparatively less important details are given precedent, such as Pecola ministratin' (menstruating) for the first time or the incident with Maureen Peal. Yet this childlike perspective is not consistent throughout the novel, as Claudia's perceptions are too often far beyond the capabilities of a child (Bellamy 22) . Her opening sentence for "Autumn" is as follows: "Nuns go by quiet as lust, and drunken men with so... ...n the ironically-named Breedlove family should impregnate his own daughter" (Peach 27) and how Claudia and everyone else were also involved in Pecola's tragedy. The three narrators, the younger Claudia, the omniscient voice, and the older Claudia, combine to give a view of the past, present, and future within the novel and increase the validity of the story. As Valerie Smith contends, "the narrative process leads to self-knowledge because it forces acceptance and understanding of the past" (Page 55).    Works Cited: Bellamy, Maria Rice. â€Å"These Careful Words . . . Will Talk to Themselves†: Textual Remains and Reader Responsibility in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy. Web 23 May 2015 http://www.cambridgescholars.com/download/sample/58336 Morrison, Tony. 1994. The Bluest Eye. New York: Penguin. Peach, Linden. Toni Morrison. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Importance of accountability Essay

I have been tasked with writing this 1000 word essay on the importance of accountability of sensitive items within the military. The reason I have been assigned to do this task is due to my failure of being attentive and securing my weapon and having it with me at all time. I failed by leaving my M9 Berretta at home in my safe before I left in support of the Boston Marathon. I was told by certain individuals to leave it at home, but I failed as an NCO to ask my section leader on how to properly secure my weapon. I did what I thought was best and left it to at home limit the amount of time I traveled with it. In doing so was wrong, if anything would have happened to that weapon there would have be severe consequences that not only myself would have to face, but individuals in my command that would have been affected due to the negligence of my actions. This whole process is new to the unit and me on how to transport a weapon properly and safely from California to Massachusetts. I secu red my weapon in weapon case with and lock and a slide lock following JetBlue regulation and TSA regulations. Once I landed in Massachusetts I would secure my weapon in the 1st CST safe for safe keeping. A day prior to the Boston marathon I would be issued it again and along with 45 rounds of hollow point ammunition from the 1st. Once the Boston Marathon was over I would have the weapon remain with me until my departure back to home station. In AR 710-2 (Supply Policy below the National Level), AR 735-5 (Policies and Procedures for Property Accountability) and AR 190-13 (The Army Physical Security Program). All these Army Regulation cover the Army policy for property accountability. Some sensitive items are your weapon, military ID card, communication equipment, etcetera. Sensitive items are anything that can be used by opposing forces or the enemies to counter attack, weaken forces, and gain information, and so on. Throughout our lives we come across many things of value. Some things are more valuable than others, either because they cost more money or they hold a sentimental value that we keep close to our hearts. In the military regardless of what branch you are, it is instilled in our heads that our weapon is the most valuable thing you will ever have. You train with it, you eat with it, you sleep with it, you use is to protect yourself and your battle buddies and you take care of it like it was your child. In the end it becomes a part of you and you cannot foresee yourself without it. Your weapon is considered a sensitive item because if it ends up  in the enemies’ possession, it could possibly be used against you and your comrades. Keeping track of where your weapon is or having it on you at all times will help prevent any of that happening. An so I forget the value of my weapon and what it means to me. Always having your sensitive items is very important and I should have treated my weapon as one of those. Instead I chose to leave in my safe thinking it was just another items that I needed to bring. Compared to the active army side the very smallest punishment for misplacing a weapon, if it’s found within a reasonable amount of time, is a â€Å"Company Grade Article 15.† That means you can lose one grade of rank, a week of pay, and two weeks of extra duty. If that’s all you lost, you got off very, very lightly. More often, and especially if you lose your weapon in a combat zone, you’re looking at a â€Å"Field Grade Article 15† if your chain of command is feeling very generous. You would risk losing at least one or as many as three grades of rank (E-4 to E-1), one half of your base pay for two months, 60 days restriction, 45 days extra duty. That’s only for enlisted though. If you do the same as an officer, you won’t get the same slap on the wrists as a punishment. Your career is over. You may as well start looking around for a new job and hope you don’t get a bad discharge. So we check our sensitive items religiously. Normally I check to see if I have my sensitive equipment with me thru out the day or we do a check at the end of each exercise to make sure each one of us on our team is not missing valuable equipment. Most of the times our gear is either on your person, or locked up somewhere secure. Accountability and personal responsibility for your equipment is something the military takes so seriously it’s not even funny. Because if there’s a fight, and you don’t have your weapon, then you’re a huge liability to everyone. You also can’t be trusted to do certain thing due to fact of not being able to hand the responsibility. It is very important to know that my action don’t affect me but everyone around me. I now know that because my failure I will be always sure to get my proper information from senior leaders before making a decision or do my research more extensively. I don’t want to be a liability but an asset that everyone can rely on to get task or mission done, in a time and correct manner. I won’t make the mistakes like leaving my sensitive equipment at home or unsecure. I will also come to my section leaders first  in the event I have a serious question. I am sure they will be able to guide me in the right direction every time. From Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free, â€Å"It is important that we forgive ourselves for making mistakes. We need to learn from our errors and move on.† and moving on is exactly what I am going to do from this experi ence.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Emily Dickinson Essay

American poet, Emily Dickinson, is a great example of the transition from the wordy Romantic style of writing to literary transcendentalism. Dickinson’s elliptical style and compact phrases are heavily exemplified in her poem 1577(1545), â€Å"The Bible is an antique Volume. † This piece is full of satire as the speaker questions society’s blind obedience to Christianity and ultimately suggests the embracing of a new religion. The speaker gracefully degrades the Bible’s right as the solitary means to interpret humanity and proposes that the audience finds something new to believe. In the first line, the metaphor referring the Bible as merely â€Å"an antique volume† speaks volumes. Dictionary. com defines volume in this context as, â€Å"a collection of written or printed sheets bound together and constituting a book. † The speaker views the Bible as an â€Å"antique† anthological collection of stories that can be priced rather than the acronym –Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. In the second and third lines, the validity of the authors of the Bible is questioned. Faded Men† and â€Å"at the suggestion of Holy Spectres† connotes the men where told what to write and didn’t experience that life themselves. These lines, and the entire poem, are mostly bereft of the elaborate syntax communal in Dickinson’s other poems. Those familiar with biblical persons understand the significance of Satan, Judas, and David and the impact of their roles in the Christian faith. As a Christian reader, the simplicity of the lines, â€Å"Satan—the Brigadier, Judas—the Great Defaulter, David—the Troubadour†, reduces the persons’ history. Although the descriptions denote some truth, there is more to them than that. Satan, the â€Å"prince of the air (Ephesians 2:2)†, is responsible for tempting Eve into eating the forbidden fruit hence leading to man’s â€Å"distinguished precipice. † David wasn’t just a psalmist, he was one of Israel’s greatest kings and he is part of Jesus’ lineage. Dickinson’s literary genius foreshadows what is happening in the twenty-first century. Today, being a Christian isn’t popular and life is harder for teenagers and young adults. This is demonstrated perfectly in â€Å"Boys that â€Å"believe† are very lonesome†. Believers can’t do what nonbelievers are doing without being convicted (1 Peter 1:14- As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance). The nonbelievers are â€Å"lost† and don’t know any better. Traditional churches push the â€Å"lost† farther away because of the hypocrisy and arbitrariness of renowned religious leaders. The holier-than –thou leaders are the worst offenders because they are doing what they teach will â€Å"condemn† you. As a result, â€Å"Orpheus’ Sermon captivated† and Christianity is shunned. Both atheists and Christians can appreciate the theme of this poem- everyone has to believe in something. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith best as â€Å"the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. † Unless a person has a personal relationship with God, they won’t really understand the meaning of faith- the essence of Christianity. The speaker encourages readers to not rely solely on what they are told but to challenge it and learn for their self.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

How to update your LinkedIn profile for 2018

How to update your LinkedIn profile for 2018 Whether you’re planning a full-scale job search in 2018 or just thinking about your next steps, career-wise, it’s time to do some prep work in your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is one of the first places potential employers scope you out and it can be a recruiting tool as well, so you want to make sure you’re getting the most out of your profile. Update your headline and summary.Your headline and summary are the first things that will be read when a recruiter or potential employer sees your name in a search. That means these have to be on point. You don’t need to fit in all of your qualifications- focus on the ones that you want to feature most prominently. Here are some examples of clear, no-nonsense headlines:Top-Performing Sales Associate2018 Accounting Grad Seeking Entry-Level OpportunityInnovative Graphic DesignerIf you already have a job and will be searching on the DL, make sure your headline doesn’t announce too obviously what you’re up to- remember, your headline will show up in public searches and you never know who’s looking. If you’ll be subtly looking for new jobs, make your headline describe what you do or how you want to be perceived (professionally).Your summary should be more of a narrative of where you are in your career, your best professional attributes, and your biggest accomplishments. To make your summary section 2018-ready, include your most recent projects, achievements, and lessons learned. That means ones from the past year or so, so that you’re including the latest and best information. It’s okay to take out information that feels outdated or is more than a few years old if the summary is getting a little long. The length is at your discretion, but keep in mind that recruiters and hiring managers may have little time to read and don’t want to get bogged down by a full-on memoir while they’re browsing LinkedIn.Update your photo.If your current LinkedIn h eadshot is that one of you as an eager new grad 10 years ago, it’s time to upgrade. No need to get glamorous Hollywood-grade headshots. These days, anyone with a solid smartphone camera can take a solid photo of your face that you can use as a professional avatar photo. It should be a fairly natural, friendly solo photo- you don’t want it to look like a passport photo or, worse, a mug shot. Candid photos are fine as long as you look professionally appropriate. If you’re having trouble figuring out if a photo is appropriate, take a look around at other profiles in your field, around your level, and see what people are using.Open up your availability.One of the easiest and best ways to leverage your LinkedIn profile to help create opportunities for yourself is to update your privacy settings. In your Account settings, click on â€Å"Job Seeking,† click on â€Å"Let recruiters know you’re open to opportunities.† This is what opens up LinkedIn f rom â€Å"living resume† to â€Å"next-level job search tool.† It doesn’t replace the need to go out and search for job openings or proactively send out your resume, but it increases the chances that someone will find you (the needle) in the database (the haystack) for a potentially great job opportunity.It’s a way of letting the recruiters and hiring managers of the world know that you’re available, without putting up a big, honking neon sign (visible to, say, your boss) that you’re looking to leave your current job. It flags your availability behind the scenes.Update your key words.Given that you’ve opened up your profile to recruiters and potential employers, you need to make sure that you’re giving them what they’re searching for in 2018. That means updating your skills, job history, and summary with the words that are important in your industry now- not three years ago. This step is especially key if you’ve h ad a profile that has kind of languished, un-updated since you got your current job.So how do you figure out what key words to use? Search for current job postings in your field. What kind of skills are they emphasizing? What qualities are they seeking in candidates? Once you know what companies are looking for right now, you can work that language in to your profile and increase the chances of a) matching their search criteria and b) holding interest once someone clicks through to your page.Refresh your profile content.The hardest part of making your LinkedIn profile ready for 2018 is keeping up with it after you’ve made the initial updates and changes. Some of the information you put in is going to stay static for a while, especially after you’ve updated your projects and skills from 2017. That means you should turn your attention to live content on your profile page. This is basically a blog where you’re able to write what you want. It’s not a personal blog- it should be entirely focused on your field and your professional life. If you don’t feel comfortable waxing on for 500 words about your career philosophies, you can share links to articles by others in your field or offer commentary on trends. How-to posts are also very popular, if you have a particular skill or area in which you can teach others.According to OKDork, the most successful LinkedIn content posts:Have a headline of fewer than 50 characters.Contain pictures, but not videos or other multimedia, to avoid awkward device and readability issues.Are divided into separate headings for ease of reading.Include lists or how-to tutorials.Are substantial (approximately 1000-2000 words).Are not controversial.Are readable for a broad audience (like the lay person who doesn’t know much about your field, as well as someone who already works in your field).And as you’re thinking about what you want to write and share on your LinkedIn profile, remember: always keep it professional. You’re presenting your best career self, so don’t derail that by airing your political grievances, or responding in kind to negative comments. And I assume we all know this already, but just in case- no smack talk about people in your industry. If you disagree with someone, and want to talk about it publicly on LinkedIn, do it politely and respectfully.Another key step is editing and proofreading your content before it goes live- you want to make sure you sound intelligent and put-together, and nothing derails that quite as quickly as five typos in the first paragraph alone.Set a LinkedIn update schedule.At the beginning of the year, set reminders for yourself to update your profile so that you’re keeping it as fresh as possible. Consistency is the key to a well-maintained LinkedIn profile, and it shows you’re engaged. If you go on a hot streak, posting stuff for a month, and then a recruiter sees that you haven’t bothered fo r the past three months after that, it looks like you’ve abandoned your page. Reminders and a schedule (say, monthly) for posting new content (and updating your existing skills and projects) will help ensure an active, consistent vibe for your page.If you’ve been a more casual user of LinkedIn, or you just haven’t spent much time updating your info, this is a relatively easy way to help set up your 2018, career-wise. Even if you’re not sure whether you’ll be looking for a job, you’re getting ready for â€Å"just in case,† and saving yourself valuable time and energy if you find yourself needing to start a job hunt on short notice. It’s also a handy tool for keeping track of information you’ll need to set your professional goals or if you need to come up with a snapshot of your achievements and skills for a promotion or self-review. Updating your LinkedIn profile is a great way to get organized for the coming year.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Unity in Paragraphs and Essays

Unity in Paragraphs and Essays In composition, unity is the quality of oneness in a paragraph or essay that results when all the words and sentences contribute to a single effect or main idea; also called wholeness. For the past two centuries, composition handbooks have insisted that unity is an essential characteristic of an effective text. Professor Andy Crockett points out that the five-paragraph theme and  current-traditional rhetorics emphasis on method reflect further the expediency and utility of unity. However, Crockett also notes that for rhetoricians, the achievement of unity has never been taken for granted (Encyclopedia of Rhetoric and Composition, 1996.) Pronunciation YOO-ni-tee Etymology From the Latin, one. Observations Most pieces of effective writing are unified around one main point. That is, all the subpoints and  supporting details are relevant to that point. Generally, after you have read an essay, you can sum up the writers main point in a sentence, even if the author has not stated it explicitly. We call this summary statement a thesis. (X. J. Kennedy, Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Marcia F. Muth, The Bedford Guide for College Writers, 8th ed. Bedford/St. Martins, 2008)Unity and CoherenceA good check on unity is to ask yourself if everything in your paragraph or essay is subordinate to and derived from the controlling idea. Make sure that your controlling idea- the topic sentence or thesis- indicates the subject and the focus on that subject...​ (Lee Brandon and Kelly Brandon, Paragraphs and Essays With Integrated Readings, 12th ed. Wadsworth, 2012) Rules of Thumb for Writing Unified Paragraphs Be sure your paragraphs focus on one idea and state that idea in a topic sentence.Place your topic sentence effectively within your paragraph. Let the purpose of your paragraph and the nature of your evidence guide you.Let your paragraphs evidence- the selected details, the examples- illustrate or clarify the idea expressed in your topic sentence.Make sure you explain the relationship between your evidence and your idea so that it is clear to readers.Think about unity among paragraphs when writing essays. Be sure your paragraphs are related, that they fit together and clarify your essays idea.​ (R. DiYanni, Scribner Handbook for Writers. Allyn Bacon, 2001) A Note on Topic Sentences Paragraphs may not have a topic sentence, but they must have unity and purpose. All the ideas in a paragraph should relate to a clear point readers will easily understand. (Mark Connelly, Get Writing: Paragraphs and Essays. Thomson Wadsworth, 2009) Counterviews on Unity Unity is the shallowest, the cheapest deception of all composition... Every piece of writing, it matters not what it is, has unity. Inexpert or bad writing most terribly so. But ability in an essay is a multiplicity, infinite fracture, the intercrossing of opposed forces establishing any number of opposed centres of stillness.(William Carlos Williams, An Essay on Virginia, 1925)

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Food Safety Management Systems exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Food Safety Management Systems exam - Essay Example One of the main factors that results in organizational change is the desire for growth (Branson, 2008). Organizations which want to attain certain levels of growth or expansion are always forced to change how they operate so that they are can align procedures with the new status that they want to achieve. A very classic example in the food industry is Subway sandwich chain that began its operations using different names in the 1960s. During this time, the company struggled to achieve its goals or even grows. After changing its name to Subway and also aligning its operations to be able to allow for franchising, it was able to open up several units in the United States of America. This however required the employees to also change the way they carried out their duties so that it was in line with the new desired status. The second factor which results in organizational change is the need to improve processes (Kotter & Cohen, 2002). A food business or venture which wants to implement new production process in order to be more efficient is required to carry out changes that will facilitate this. There are also food production and selling enterprises like Kraft Foods which have implemented leaner production procedures such as sigma six so that they can reduce their costs of operation and enhance efficiency. Food retailing stores like Walmart have also come up with high level service delivery systems which ensures not only the provision of quality services but also enhance and improve the entire operations and processes. The third primary factor for organizational change is the government regulations. Wyman (2001) states that the changes in government regulations directly impact on how businesses are run. Among the food processing organizations, when safety and quality regulations are changed and implemented by the government, it is usually important for the organization to change its

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Strategic Management and Leadership Techniques Efficiency Research Proposal

Strategic Management and Leadership Techniques Efficiency - Research Proposal Example The present century is mostly expected to do his own works like typing emails and reports and also handling his own computer apart from his abilities towards budgeting and forecasting. In an age where information plays a major part in the framing of strategies, it is important even for the manager to avoid the luxury of an assistant in every trivial job in order to maintain privacy and security. Organizations are therefore becoming flattered and the â€Å"†¦ modern workplace is more stressful, moves at a faster pace, and is more demanding than before† (Teik, 2009) The use of technology has brought about the dehumanization of the workforce and human resource has turned into a product which can easily be discarded on grounds of effectiveness (Green, 2008). The modern day’s leaders need to alter their tactics and ways of dealing with the subordinates in order to keep parity with the changing time. Therefore, their strategies towards management will also change. The layers of management are gradually being eliminated such that costs might be reduced and decisions are made faster than usual. This gives rise to a flatter organizational structure. This again imparts greater responsibilities to the managers who will now have more workers reporting to them. The managers need to work under stress and empower themselves with coaching abilities such that some of their tasks might be passed on to their subordinates. This also gives rise to team leaders who are designated to take care of their small teams. No more can an autocratic structure be used in the firm. Motivation is the main factor where the managers need to lay stress upon. However, owing to the enormous stress at times the managers forget the small notes of appreciation towards those who are indispensable to the organization in terms of know-how.  

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Project 3 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Project 3 - Assignment Example Make this personal (as opposed to simply providing a book answer). Will you experience the consequence(s) of this behavior anytime soon, or do you not truly see this as a threat to your well-being in the next 5 years? 2. Using your knowledge of nutrition, list 3 advantages of the target behavior you selected. Again, please don’t just provide a book answer. What might changing this behavior provide to you today as opposed to 10 years from now? Is that worth the perceived â€Å"sacrifice† of changing whatever it is you’re currently doing? Why or why not? 7. Start to recognize any successes you have had in practicing this behavior, no matter how small. Look over the records you kept and/or assessments you completed. When were you successful in following the desired behavior even a little? Why do you think you were successful? 9. Increasing your knowledge of the advantages of practicing this behavior and/or the disadvantages of failing to do so can help motivate you for change. Using what you have learned in class so far, and/or other resources as needed, write a paragraph describing how you will benefit from making your target behavior a part of your lifestyle. If you need help finding a resource to help you, contact your instructor. 4. What are some of the obstacles that you have encountered that make it difficult to consistently practice this behavior? (Common obstacles are stress, lack of time, travel, and boredom.) List each of the obstacles you encounter (or anticipate encountering) and write one or more potential solutions to keep this obstacle from getting in your way of achieving your

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Resource Based View Strategy Formulation

Resource Based View Strategy Formulation Resource-based view (RBV) is a tool to determine strategic resources and how it affects the performance of the firm based solely on reviewing its internal environment while the external environment remains fixed. Firms using RBV competes in terms of their resources and capabilities. The aim of this paper is to study the factors that influence firms performance. The RBV emphasizes on the firms resources as the essential elements of competitive advantage and performance. It assumes two assumptions in examining sources of competitive advantage which are that the firms are heterogeneous in terms of the resources they control and that resource heterogeneity can continue over a period as the resources used to implement their strategies are not easily portable across firms (Bridoux, F, n.d).. The RBV method of analyzing firms performance is focused that other vital factors tend to be disregarded. Resources are not valuable of themselves; instead they are valuable because they allow firms to perform activities that in return create advantages for them. The competitive value of resources can be enhanced or eliminated by changes in technology, competitor behavior, or buyer needs which an inward focus on resources will overlook (Sheehan, N Foss, N, 2007). Resource uniqueness is essential as this differentiates between the firms. However, resource uniqueness is not sufficient to achieve sustainable competitive advantage and thus the resources must also be valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and non-substitutable. RBV suggests that business processes that exploit valuable but common resources can only be a source of competitive equality; business processes that exploit valuable and rare resources can be a source of temporary competitive advantage; and business processes that exploit valuable, rare, and costly-to-imitate resources can be a source of sustained competitive advantage (Bridoux, F, n.d). The merits and demerits of RBV as the best strategy route One of the important contributions of RBV is the ability of it to measure and identify the internal environment of the firm. The importance of using RBV as a strategy route is to be able to work the inside-out approach. This means that companies using RBV focus on their internal strengths more as it is the root of their competitiveness. Furthermore, RBV recommends that effective management of operations can create uniqueness in the firms resources. Louis Vuitton is one firm in a competitive industry which has the edge over their competitors because of their product uniqueness. Louis Vuittons expertises are their design skills and manufacturing efficiency (R. Duane Ireland, Robert E. Hoskisson, Michael A. Hitt, 2008). While they may not be able to control the external environment, Louis Vuitton can use the RBV model and analyze their position and work on their strategies. Many organizations have been faced with dilemmas on how to use their resources strategically. Organizations that fail to efficiently convert their resources and capabilities into business processes cannot expect to recognize the potential competitive advantage of these resources. The RBV has little contribution in terms of predicting firm performance because of its nature of being tautological (Truijens, O. (n.d) and its focus is too narrow. Also, as a measure which only focuses on the internal environment, the RBV cannot be taken as the best strategy route. Many firms which focus mainly on the internal environment encounter competitive disadvantages to their business. For example, when IBM, a successful company achieved its success many of their competitors entered into the market. IBMs competitors included other big names such as Hewlett Packard (HP), Dell and Compaq (McNeilly, 2000). IBM did not pay close attention to their competitors because they were focused greatly on their in ternal strengths and not those of their competitors. Some other firms which have experienced failures from the strategies are Marlborough. Marlborough took the price cut strategy too far as they did not consider their competitors possible moves. The CEO of Marlborough started a price war by reducing their prices to attract consumers and gain more market share. However, their competitors also followed in reducing their prices which resulted in Marlborough facing losses. (McNeillly, 2000). RBV is not the only factor which determines performance of the firm. In industries such as the airline industry, other external factors such as timing and marketing are also essential. Entering into the industry requires good timing and this can be influenced by the economic position and consumer choice of quality and lower price. For example, Southwest airlines which are one of the well-known low cost carriers in the United States used the niche market strategy to maintain competitive advantage from its rivals. They avoided large airports, focused mainly on short flights which are ideal for families and business people, as well as excluded seating requirement and on flight meals to reduce their cost (Anonymous, 2010). Porter also mentions the common strategy of lowering cost, and product differentiation allows firms to access its strengths. Firms achieve superior positions based on being a cost leader or earning price premiums at the activity level (Anonymous, 2010). In the cost leader method of achieving sustainable competitive advantage, the firm would sell its products either at the average price to earn profits or below the average price to gain market share. The broader market usually adopts cost leadership. Wal-Mart is a cost leader. Their strategy was to form a close relationship with their suppliers which allowed them to reduce cost when purchasing in bulk (Walden University, 2010). Differentiation is another strategy mentioned by Porter. Firms produce products that vary from others and have unique features to compete against their competitors. This uniqueness of the product also allows firms to charge higher prices for their product. However, there are a few different types of differentia tion strategies. The few common ones include differentiation based on additional features, packaging, and design and positioning (Scribd, 2011). Louis Vuitton is an example of a firm that applies differentiation through design and positioning. Exploring processes, capabilities and the ability to appropriate rent and Porters industrial analysis Porters framework discusses the role of firms in formulating appropriate competitive strategy to achieve superior economic performance, and competitive approach. Also, the source of profits is not to be found in the firm but rather in the structure of the industry, especially the nature and balance of its competitive forces (Bridoux, F, n.d). However, the assumption of any relationship between firm performance and rent generation may be inaccurate. The RBV states that performance consists of rent generation and rent appropriation and we cannot predict firm performance from rent generation only. One such example is IBM. IBM assembled the strategic capabilities that built most of the modem for the personal computer industry. Yet Intel and Microsoft were ultimately able to appropriate a lot more of the related rent (Russell W. Coff, 1999). The factors that allow resources to generate rents should be valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and non-substitutable. This issue was addressed by identifying the conditions under which a firms resources become valuable by bringing the external environment into the resource-based view. Through nurturing the internal competencies and applying them to an appropriate external environment, a firm can develop a viable strategy. Thus, for a firms resource to become valuable, it must allow the firm to exploit opportunities or neutralize threats in the firms environment (Russo, M Fouts, P, 1986). Resources as an option or real options refer to resources which are bought in present time and are either used or kept to be used in a later period. For example, land can be bought and used right away or it can be kept for use later. Real options create strategic flexibility for firms and when used effectively they can retain or increase in value. These types of resources are very useful in indus tries that have high competitiveness and use high technology. The pharmaceutical industry is one industry where there is high competitiveness. Firms such as Johnson Johnson, and Pfizer invest hugely in research and development in order to develop large numbers of drugs which can used to treat different illnesses although most of the time these drugs fail. Due to the uncertain nature of the products, these firms have to focus widely (R. Duane Ireland, Robert E. Hoskisson, Michael A. Hitt, 2008). However, firms resources on their own accord do not contribute to competitive advantage. Thus, these resources must be combined to form capabilities which in turn develop into core competencies and are used by firms to create value. Capabilities result from combining resources. Honda uses its capabilities in product design, engineering and manufacturing. Moreover, they place a great deal of emphasis on their workforce. Honda encourages their engineers to dream. This allows their employees to discover new things which add to their knowledge. This knowledge in turn will simplify their daily work. Core competencies are the capabilities which the firm pursuits and performs well. Core competencies have a competitive edge when the firms add value and outperform their competitors. The factors of core competencies which lead to a competitive advantage are valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and non-substitutable (R. Duane Ireland, Robert E. Hoskisson, Michael A. Hitt 2008). Conclusion In conclusion, the RBV cannot be accepted as the best strategy route due its nature of being narrowly scoped and ignorant of the external environment. This measure does not provide accurate information on the firms performance. However, in a stable industry the RBV can be considered as one of the best strategy route. A firms performance should undertake many other factors which include timing, marketing, and advancement of technology, competitor behavior as well as the needs of consumers. I disagree that RBV is the best route as external factors are also very crucial in determining the performance and rent generation of firms as other external factors must also be considered. Porters external environment analysis focuses on the external factors that affect a firms performance. Dynamic industries focus more on the external environment thus preferring to use Porters theory In order for the RBV method to be more effective and efficient; it has to be studied along together with the exter nal environment. That way, firms are aware of their resources and capabilities and can nurture the internal competencies to apply them with appropriate external environment, which will allow the firm to develop practical approaches.