Saturday, September 7, 2019
Did the case of Horsham kill the case of Boland Essay
Did the case of Horsham kill the case of Boland - Essay Example The essay "Did the case of Horsham kill the case of Boland?" analyzes two cases about proprietary deviation and the connection between them. The case of Boland is concerned with the violation of wifeââ¬â¢s unregistered right of possession of her matrimonial home in which her spouse had an equal share but had his name alone shown as the registered proprietor of the property in the land register. The husband had mortgaged the property to Williams & Glynsââ¬â¢s Bank without his wifeââ¬â¢s knowledge even though they were living together in the same house. The mortgagee bank also did not care to verify with his wife if she had any interest before lending her husband against the mortgage of the said property. The question was whether the wife had an overriding interest by virtue of section 70 (1) (g) Registration Act 1925.since the appellant had sought to distinguish the ââ¬Å"word actual occupationâ⬠as mentioned in the said section from her real status. The House of Lords ruled that actual occupation had only its literal meaning of physical presence and as long as she was physically present in the matrimonial home with all the rights of an occupied. Hence the wife had an overriding interest even though it could be argued that hers was the equitable interest as a minor interest entitled her interest only in the proceeds of a sale. The mortgagee bank failed to verify the factual position at their peril. Thus an equitable mortgagee does not get priority over an equitable interest of which he is deemed to have constructive notice.
Friday, September 6, 2019
Residential Housing Essay Example for Free
Residential Housing Essay KB Home, one of the major housing companies in the market made a statement telling the public that they do not see housing sector to stabilize by this year. Number of housing companies has been acquiring great losses by the end of 2005 as disposable income of consumersââ¬â¢ declines as the consequence of lowering down of per capita income in the economy. According to the President and Chief Executive Officer of KB Home, Jeffrey Mezger, they have suffered to a staggering loss of nearly $10 per share during the first quarter of 2007 (Steverman 1). à à à à à à à à à à à Deutsche Bankââ¬â¢s economists, Peter Hopper, said that the housing correction works sluggishly just like a ââ¬Ëslow-motion train wreckââ¬â¢ which made worse the housing sector of the economy. Moreover, the said loss of KB Home worse than what they have expected. Analysts expects around $7 loss per share which is very far from the $10 per share loss accounted last quarter. Therefore, with the further worsening of the stock prices in the stock market, this only means that there will be no improvement in the coming first quarter of 2008. à à à à à à à à à à à To make the situation worse, there has been a rumor in the market regarding the bankruptcy of Countrywide which supplies loans and mortgages worth 2 million and 9 million respectively. Countrywide suffered from 25 percent losses as of January 8 of this year. Meaning, there would be a shortage on the supply of loan and mortgages in the financial market just in case Countrywide is really approaching to bankruptcy. Moreover, the shortage of supply of loans and mortgages in the economy will only worsen the purchasing power of the consumers, giving way for a further deterioration of demand to housing industry. à à à à à à à à à à à One possible reason behind the turmoil in the housing industry would be the oversupply of homes in the market creating a pressure for its prices to decline. By the time price level of housing units starts to decline, profitability of housing companies begins to deteriorate giving way for experiencing a low return on investment in the next quarter. Driven by speculation, investors will start to pull out their stocks in the housing sector causing stock prices to turn down. In this regard, the connection between the oversupply of housing unit in the market with the deterioration of stock prices is already established. Moreover, it is not only the oversupply of housing units in the market that caused the instability of the housing sector. The growing competition also adds up to the growth of the problem. At the end of the day, market analysts still believes that housing sector will not recover this year based from the current degree of losses that housing companies and financial institutions had experienced on the last quarter of 2007. Analysis à à à à à à à à à à à It is true that the turmoil in the housing sector started during the last quarter of 2005 when consumers have high disposable income. During then, consumers spent more in the housing market attracting the housing companies to produce more house units next quarter. By the start of the first quarter of 2006, per capita income of consumers starts to decline giving them a limited disposable income for housing sector. At this point, the housing industry experienced oversupply of housing units since companies did not anticipate the deterioration of consumerââ¬â¢s disposable income. The said oversupply caused the price level of the housing companies to decline causing the return on investment to depreciate which later on forced stock holder to withdraw their stocks in the market. The increasing competition in the housing sector also add up to the lowering down of housing unit prices since companies in this industry starts to compete each other through price competition. Meaning, housing companies tries to lower down the prices of their home units in order to attract more customers. à à à à à à à à à à à The negative effects of eh oversupply of housing units will not be that severe if there is only adequate number of financial institutions that will provide loans and mortgages to uplift the purchasing power of the consumers, therefore, improving the demand on the housing industry. But the problem now would be, even financial lenders is also having a hard time providing loans and mortgages due to the low income level of consumers in the market which imposes the threat of bankruptcyà to the financial lenders. à à à à à à à à à à à It would be best if the government would start making action by offering low interest rate on credit. The federal bank must structuralize a special credit scheme for housing sector customers, e.g. low interest rate on borrowing or longer payment period, in order to solve the problem of over supply on the said industry. à à à à à à à à à à à Another way by which the government could solve this instability of housing sector would be to provide financial aids to Countrywide which, as what have already pointed out during the first part of the paper, plays a major role in uplifting the purchasing power of consumers though provision of loans and mortgages that can be used in purchasing housing units. The said government aid may be in the form of monetary of fiscal Moreover, the government could also increase the wage rate of the workers in the economy in order to improve the current level of disposable incomes of consumers in the market. By the time the disposable income of consumers increase, they will now have enough money to purchase housing units which will solve the problem regarding the oversupply of home units. Works Cited Steverman, Ben ââ¬Å"Housing: A Fresh Jolt of Bad News.â⬠8 January 2008. Business Week. 11 February 2008 http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/jan2008/pi2008018_503594.htm?chan=search.
Thursday, September 5, 2019
A critical review of Porters competitive strategy
A critical review of Porters competitive strategy Title: A critical review of Porter's competitive strategy in relation to his five forces model in comparison to other perspectives. ââ¬Å"All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.â⬠Sun Tzu, Chinese General Introduction Strategy originates from military and warfare and according to Stephen Cummings; the word itself has its origins from the Greek word ââ¬Ëstratosââ¬â¢ which meant ââ¬Ëarmyââ¬â¢ (Cummings, 1993, pp 133 ââ¬â 135). A number of ancient generals and scholars have defined the character of strategy. Some famous ones are Sun Tzu, the Chinese general in the 2nd century BC and Sextus Frontinus, the Roman general in the first century AD. Frontinus has defined strategy as ââ¬Å"everything achieved by a commander, be it characterised by foresight, advantage, enterprise or resolutionâ⬠(Cummings, 1993, pp 133 ââ¬â 135). Another Greek military commander Xenophon very aptly defined strategy as ââ¬Å"knowing the business which you propose to carry outâ⬠(Cummings, 1993, pp 133 ââ¬â 135). The importance of clear intent, seeking advantage over adversaries, objectives of survival and expansion, and utilisation of given resources with inherent strengths and weaknesses in a manner that successfully leverages the advantage, are as relevant to a business organisation as to military. Aligning resources to objectives to gain advantage to maximum limits requires strategic thinking. This process can be either logical or creative. Strategy formation itself can be deliberate or emergent. Strategy operates at various levels and contexts. It can operate in a combination of business level, corporate level or network level in industry context, organisational context or international context (Wit and Meyer, 2004, p.14). There are diverse models on strategy and strategic management. However all models focus on the importance of aligning the dynamics of a business system to the dynamics of its environment for meeting its long-term objectives. The goal of strategic management is to gain competitive advantage. According to Wit and Meyer, a business system is the configuration of resources (inputs), activities (throughput) and product/service offering (output) and this configuration is the cornerstone of gaining competitive advantage (Wit and Meyer, 2004 p. 231). There are two broad models on business level strategy. One involves market orientation and the other is focussed on resources. One revolves around the outside-in perspective, while the other is inside-out perspective. Both deal with the ability of a form to acquire competitive advantage (See Appendix I and II). One such prominent strategy model is Michael Porterââ¬â¢s Five Forces model. This assignment critically evaluates Porterââ¬â¢s Five Forces model and compares it with alternative models. Sustainable Competitive Advantage It is important for competitive advantage to be sustainable. But what exactly is competitive advantage and what makes it sustainable? According to Wits and Meyer, ââ¬Å"a firmââ¬â¢s has a competitive advantage when it has the means to edge out rivals when vying for the favour of customersâ⬠(Wit and Meyer, 2004 p. 244). Michael Porter argues that competitive advantage is sustainable ââ¬Å"if it cannot be copied, substituted or eroded by the actions of rivals, and is not made redundant by developments in the environmentâ⬠(Porter, 1980). Wits and Meyer interpret that sustainability is determined by competitive defendability and environmental consonance. Porterââ¬â¢s Five Forces Model The five forces model involves market orientation and is an outside-in perspective. The model proposes that the starting point in determining an appropriate competitive strategy is to understand two dynamic factors, (1) the long-term profitability that determines the attractiveness of the industry in which the firm operates; and (2) the position that a firm occupies within an industry vis-à -vis its competitors. Porter concludes that neither all industries are equal in attractiveness, nor are all firms equal in achieving levels of profitability with in their respective industry. But these positions change and therefore cannot fully determine competitive strategy. On the other hand, a firm can actually shape both (1) the industry attractiveness as well as (2) its competitive position. By understanding of what he calls as the ââ¬Å"rules of competitionâ⬠a firm can create an effective competitive strategy that can alter the balance in its favour. According to Porter, five competitive forces determine the rules of competition. These are: The barriers to entry for new competitors The threat of substitutes The bargaining power of suppliers The bargaining power of buyers The magnitude of existing competition As can be understood that all the above forces have a direct or an indirect impact upon how the prices and the cost that make up business operations within the industry. Whatââ¬â¢s more, the level of investment required by a new comer to get into the industry is also portrayed by these forces. The intensity as well as the importance of these forces varies from industry to industry. But irrespective of the nature of industry the collective strength of these forces ââ¬Å"determines the ability of firms in an industry to earn, on average, rates of return on investment in excess of cost of capitalâ⬠(Porter, 1985). For example, for an industry with low entry barriers, the magnitude of competition will be higher. Similarly, availability of substitutes deflates the price within the industry. Bargaining power of buyers brings down prices and as a consequence the margins for firms within the industry. Bargaining power of the suppliers has a direct impact on cost and availability of raw materials. For an industry, which is intensely competitive, the margins once again come under pressure. The UK supermarkets are clearly operating in an intensely competitive industry albeit with a certain degree of control over their suppliers. However, this is not entirely true for the airlines industry, which is not only highly competitive, but also has a low control over its suppliers, especially for its most important raw material ââ¬â the petrol prices. Therefore the pressure is on both ends ââ¬â the cost as well as the price. Each industry has certain economic and technical features that make up its structure. Industry structure is susceptible to change over a period of time. It is important for a firm to understand the factors that could change the industry structure. It is this understanding that can enable a firm to build an effective competitive strategy that can alter the structure of an industry. Porter argues that a successful strategy is the one that can alter the rules of competition to create a position of advantage for the firm. He states that the merit of the five-forces framework lies in the fact that it ââ¬Å"allows a firm to see through the complexity and pinpoint those factors that are critical to competition in its industry, as well as to identify those strategic innovations that would improve the industryââ¬â¢s ââ¬â and its own ââ¬â profitabilityâ⬠(Porter, 1985). A strategy has a potential of altering the industry structure in a negative manner as well. It can bring about price sensitivity, competitive backlash or lowering of barriers that protect the industry and ensure its profitability. A good example of this is the low-cost airlines where pricing is treated as the strategy. ââ¬ËSmartââ¬â¢ companies take a long-term perspective while making strategic choices, so as not to destroy the industry structure. Industry leaders whose strategic choices can easily alter the industry structure, due to their size and bargaining power, are sensitive to the fact that an altered structure can have a negative impact on the firmââ¬â¢s own growth therefore a leader needs to show an approach that protects the industry structure, rather than destroy it. The importance of industry structure Two key areas are touched by industry structure. These are: Buyer needs, and Supply/demand balance Buyer needs: Serious firms treat the task of satisfying buyer needs as their core objective. The effort is always to create value for their customers. However, industry structure determines how profitable this effort turns out to be. For instance, two industries that create an equally high value for their customers may have different returns. Entry barriers, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of buyers and suppliers as well as intensity of competition, all these forces influence industry profitability vis-à -vis customer value creation. Supply/demand balance: This also has an impact on the industry profitability and at the same time is influenced by industry structure in the long term. Entry and exit barriers exert influence as also capacities. For example, in some industries, even a little excess capacity can lead to price wars and therefore lower the profitability. This is being witnessed in the airlines industry. Competitive strategies The objective of understanding industry structure lies in the need to build a sustainable competitive strategy which results in a position of advantage relative to its competitors. The starting point is in value chain analysis that helps a firm to determine the activities which contribute to creating superior value. The goal is to achieve profitability higher than the industry average. Porter argues that based on this analysis, a firm can have one of the three competitive strategies: Cost leadership ââ¬â by which a firm leverages its scale to bring down the cost of doing business and then passes the benefit to its customers. This is achievable only for firms that display one or more of such features ââ¬â (1) they operate on a large scale, serving multiple segments and perhaps even operating in complementary industries; (2) have proprietary technology; (3) have ââ¬Å"preferential access to raw materialsâ⬠(Porter, 1985). Whatââ¬â¢s more, cost leadership advantage is not at the expense of differentiation and is pursued by seeking cost advantage from multiple operational areas such as marketing, finance, human resources, in addition to production and supply-chain. Porter states that ââ¬Å"a cost leader must achieve parity or proximity in the basis of differentiation relative to its competitors o be an above-average performer, even though it relies on cost-leadership for its competitive advantageâ⬠(Porter, 1985). An example is Tesco. Differentiation: This strategy is aimed at achieving uniqueness on attributes that determine consumer preference. According to Porter, this strategy can emerge from product differentiation, distribution system, and/or marketing approach. This allows a firm to charge premium price and can result in a loyal customer base. However care must be taken that the premium price is more than the cost of differentiation as well as is sustainable in long run. Once again, pursuing this strategy does not mean that a firm can ignore the cost element, which is a vital contributor to its bottom-line. An example of this could be Waitrose. Focus strategies ââ¬â cost focus / differentiation focus: These strategic choices are for firms with narrow target segment. These are achievable only if the ââ¬Å"target segments ââ¬Å"either have buyers with unusual needs or else the production and delivery system that best serves the target segment must differ from that of other industry segmentsâ⬠(Porter, 1985). These are generic strategies across industries and the manner in which these are executed also varies for different industries. Internet and the Industry Structure In recent times, Michael Porterââ¬â¢s five forces model has expanded in scope to include internet and its influence industries. In his article ââ¬Å"Strategy and the Internetâ⬠published in Harvard Business Review in 2001, Porter argues that Internet ââ¬Å"tends to influence and alter industry structures in ways to dampen overall profitability, and it has a levelling effect on business practices, reducing the ability of any company to establish an operational advantage that can be sustained.â⬠He states that the seemingly low cost of doing online business is actually artificially depressed as it does not account for many key activities such as inventory and warehousing which are needed to deliver value to the customer. But he also determines that internet has increased the possibilities for firms ââ¬Å"to establish distinctive strategic positioningsâ⬠that traditional information technology tools could not offer. He concludes that including internet offers a new dimension to a firmââ¬â¢s operations and is unavoidable as a tool in carrying out business. But if real economic value is to be created then internet initiatives must be integrated with the traditional competitive strategy as ââ¬Å"internet per se will rarely be a competitive advantageâ⬠(Porter, 2001). Alternative model: Strategy from inside-out This perspective is exactly opposite to Michael Porterââ¬â¢s Five Forces model. Models based on this perspective are focussed on internal strengths and capabilities for devising a competitive strategy rather than scouring external opportunities. The starting point is an assessment of firmââ¬â¢s resources or competences that have been acquired over a period of time. Whatââ¬â¢s more, if one such resource is not existing within, then how to acquire it? Market positioning is sought in alignment with a firmââ¬â¢s resource based strategy. ââ¬Å"Selected market positions must leverage the existing resource base, not ignore itâ⬠¦.for success resources should be leading and markets followingâ⬠(Wit and Meyer, 2004, p. 252). Two main models have been proposed by leading practitioners of management: Competence based view; and Capabilities based view This viewpoint does not consider just physical resources, but also intangible resources or competences that get uniquely composed within an organisation during its operational span. These could vary from competence in Internet-driven supply-chain management to offline quality process. Firms seeking leadership position make sure that its core competences or capabilities are upgraded on a periodic basis so that competitive advantage is maintained. This is termed as the dynamic capabilities view (Teece, Pisano and Shuen, 1997). It is emphasised that a firm needs to take a long-term view of its competences and take all actions to strengthen these competences. This perspective does not advocate an ad-hoc approach that results in building up of unrelated competences. On the flip side, the challenge is in dismantling of existing competences and building of new competences as market demand changes. One good example of this is the mass-production mastered by American automobile companies could not be transformed swiftly into lean production practiced by Japanese firms such as Toyota, leading to erosion of market share and competitive advantage for giants such as General Motors and Ford. ââ¬Å"â⬠¦companies experience that that their core competences can be their core rigidities, locking them out of new opportunitiesâ⬠(Leonard-Barton, 1995). The perspective is further refined by Miller, Eisenstat and Foote (2002) as they propose the terms ââ¬Å"asymmetriesâ⬠and ââ¬Å"capability configurations.â⬠According to them, a firmââ¬â¢s asymmetries are itââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"skills, knowledge, processes relationships, proper ties, or outputs an organisation possesses or produces that its motivated competitors are unlikely to acquire or copy in a cost or time-effective wayâ⬠(Miller et al 2002). However these can be of disadvantage to a firm unless ââ¬Å"carefully fostered and directedâ⬠¦.by leveraging them via an appropriate market focus, companies may be able to aspire realistically to attain competitive advantageâ⬠(Miller et al 2002). This is the essence of ââ¬Å"capability configurationâ⬠which is a system of reinforcing elements incorporating core capabilities and the organisational design infrastructuresâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ (Miller et al 2002). They argue that the development process of inside-out strategy is emergent and iterative in nature and is characterised by trial and error. Three imperatives suggested by them for deriving sustainable competitive advantage out of an capabilities model are that firms need to: (1) ââ¬Å"discover asymmetries and their potentialâ⬠; (2) ââ¬Å"create capability configurations ââ¬â by designâ⬠; and (3) ââ¬Å"pursue market opportunities that build on and leverage capabilitiesâ⬠(Miller et al 2002). Conclusion Both perspectives have their supporters. It is for a firm to decide the perspective that it wants to take for building its competitive strategy. It is suggested that the inside-out perspective has more depth. The argument is that although market-orientation and ability to capitalise on external opportunities are critical factors in a firmââ¬â¢s success, both (1) market-sensing and (2) customer-linking are distinctive capabilities that get cultivated within a firm over a period of time (Day, 1994). At the same time, Barney (1991) argues that resources become the foundation of competitive advantage only once they meet four conditions. They should be ââ¬Å"(1) valuable, (2) rare, (3) difficult to imitate, and (4) difficult to substituteâ⬠(Barney, 1991). Appendix I: Outside-in versus inside-out perspective Source: Wit and Meyer, 2004, p.255 Appendix II References: Barney, J.B. (1991); Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage; Journal of Management, Vol. 17, No. 1, 1991, pp.99-120 Cummings, S. (1993); Brief Case: The First Strategists; Long Range Planning, Vol. 26, No. 3, June pp. 133 ââ¬â 135 Day, George S. (1994); The Capabilities of Market-Driven Organisations; Journal of Marketing, October 1994, Vol. 58, No. 4, pp. 37-52 Leonard-Barton, D. (1995); Wellsprings of Knowledge; Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA Miller, Danny; Eisenstat, Russel and Foote, Nathaniel (2002); Strategy from the inside out: building capability-creating organisations; California Management Review, Vol. 33, No. 3 Porter, M.E. (1980); Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors; New York: The Free Press Porter, M.E. (1985); Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance; New York: The Free Press Porter, M.E. (1996); What is Strategyââ¬â¢; Harvard Business Review, Vol. 74, No. 6, November-December, pp. 61-78 Porter, M.E. (2001); Internet and Strategyââ¬â¢; Harvard Business Review, March; accessed from Harvard Business Publishing online http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbsp/index.jsp Prahalad, C.K. and Hamel, G. (1990); The Core Competence of the Corporation; Harvard Business Review, Vol. 68, No. 3, May-June, pp. 79-91 Teece, D.J., Pisano, G. and Shuen, A. (1997); Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management; Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 18, No. 7, August, pp. 509-533 Wit, Bob De and Meyer, Ron (2008); Strategy: Process, Content, Context ââ¬â An International Perspective; Thomson, 4th Edition Brief 211514Page 1 of 8
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
How Do The Characters in An Inspector Calls Reflect 1912 Society? :: English Literature
How Do The Characters In An Inspector Calls Reflect 1912 Society? J.B Priestley, born in 1894 in Bradford. He went to Bradford Grammar School but did not decide to go to University but to follow his passion for writing, first he wrote articles for the local London papers before going on to be a playwright. He joined the army in 1914 at the age of 20. After being on the frontline in the Second World War, Priestley became very political and started to involve his political opinions in his work, as in 'An Inspector Calls' which he wrote in the second week after the Second World War which only took him a week to finish. He put his message across to the audience through the play, which states that people of all the social classes must learn to get along with each other since everyday is spent together. The play 'An Inspector Calls' is set in 1912 but written in 1945. The characters reflect the society of 1912 in many ways. There are six main characters that reflect 1912 society and one character, the Inspector, who takes control and who basically expresses the opinions of Priestley. The Birling family are the stereotypical upper class family of 1912, they own a 'large suburban house', the father of the family is a wealthy businessman and all have high social status. Mr Arthur Birling is the man of the house he has his wife Sybil, his son Eric and his daughter Sheila. He is a hard headed businessman, only concerned with wealth, profit and social status. He reflects a stereotypical upper class businessman of 1912 because the husband would go out to work, run the business and earn the money. Mr Birling is the person who got the Birlings their high social position, this is all he cares about for example when he realises that Eric stole money from his office he says, "I've got to cover this up as soon as I can. You damned fool" here he shows how concerned about his social position he is. This is what Priestley gets at. Priestley is annoyed about the fact that the upper-class businessman, such as Birling, had no outlook on others, mainly the working class, and Priestley tries to get his message across to the audience that people in Birling's position should not act as arrogantly as he and realise the value of others across the community. Mr Birling thinks very highly of himself and it shows especially where he talks about the First World War and how war was impossible, "Just because the Kaiser makes a speech or two, or a
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
ENFOREX and don Quijote Spanish schools :: ENFOREX and don Quijote Spanish schools
Hello, I am writing to introduce myself to those of you have not met me. My name is Antonio Anadon and Iââ¬â¢m the president of ENFOREX and don Quijote Spanish schools. We have 32 schools throughout Spain and Mexico and 30 partner schools in the rest of the world. It took us a long time to build the leading Spanish language school organization in the world. By now, you should have received the sad news that AmeriSpan can no longer continue as an agency. ENFOREX has been trying for years to help John, Dorioara and AmeriSpan return to financial strength but the situation is a disaster and impossible. Like you, ENFOREX has not been receiving sufficient payments for the last five years and this is a major financial loss of $300,000 for our organization. After much thought, I have decided that it is in the best interests of the study abroad industry that AmeriSpanââ¬â¢s problem does not cause any more problems in the industry. I have decided to open don Quijote USA, which will be able to bring AmeriSpanââ¬â¢s business to you with our professional way of working and financial support by fulfilling our obligations on time. In the past days, we decided to take all the assets of AmeriSpan including the website, trademark and intellectual know-how from AmeriSpan Unlimited Inc and John Slocumââ¬â¢s control before the situation got any worse. I donââ¬â¢t want that all of us lose anymore from this mismanagement of the organization. I plan to continue working with the majority of the schools of AmeriSpan and grow the business for all of us. I will be hiring some of the AmeriSpan employees and fresh, new people at don Quijote USA. All financial management will be handled by myself from our head office in Madrid. If you are interested in working with don Quijote USA: 1. We will pay for all AmeriSpan students starting after January 1st, 2007 2. We will need a good commission to increase the business & promotion of your school 3. We really want to create a strong partnership with you 4. We will integrate the promotion of your school in our offices in UK, Netherlands, Spain, Mexico,and soon in China. I expect to be contacted by you and many other organizations in the coming days and weeks, please be patient but I will respond to everyone.
Monday, September 2, 2019
Definition of Science Fiction Essay -- essays research papers
à à à à à Perhaps one of the most versatile genres in films, television, books, artwork and any number of things today is science fiction. Many times I have seen a sci-fi movie filed under comedy or drama. That is one of the major things that has led to my love for science fiction, the simple fact that it can be so much more than just science fiction. I would like to present a definition of what science fiction is in this paper. My definition will not be exact, because so many people have a different idea of what counts as sci-fi and, not only that, but we may have found yet another venue for science fiction by the time this paper is complete. In order to define what science fiction is and to support my definition, I am going to give some examples of stories that I think fall into this genre first and then give a semi-solid definition of what I think science fiction is. The first example of science fiction Iââ¬â¢d like to take a look at is Alien. A prime example of straightforward science fiction would be this movie. Space miners (or merchantsâ⬠¦something like that) are awakened from their cryogenic sleep-state much earlier than was originally planned. A distress/warning beacon on an unfamiliar planet caused their ship to awaken them so that help could be dispatched. Of course, it turns out to be a ship that was taken over by the Aliens and the Earthlingsââ¬â¢ ship was soon to be infested. No questions about this one; it is most definitely science fiction. Humans meeting up with aliens and, of course, space travel, instantly places this film into the science fiction category. Another example of science fiction, and one that proves science-fictionââ¬â¢s elusive nature, is Tarzan. This is a fantastic example of a popular story that nobody would normally think of as being sci-fi. Everyone knows the story: A baby is lost in the jungle, raised by apes, and then is discovered years later by some jungle-adventurers. It sounds sort of questionable as to whether this should be considered science fiction, but it remains a fact that this story takes place on Earth and involves a character that has adopted ape-like qualities. One could argue that this is just a fictional story or even fantasy, but it still retains an element of science and, therefore, falls into the category of science fiction. Time travel: is it really science fiction? Some people would not agre... ... is. Science fiction (adj.) [sy-ens fik-shun]: â⬠¢Ã à à à à Some fictional event that was brought about using logical, scientific methods or caused by logical, scientific events. â⬠¢Ã à à à à Sentence use: I watched this science fiction movie the other day that scared the heebie-jeebies out of me! Needless to say, science fiction is a wonderful genre that encompasses a vast number of stories, even ones that we donââ¬â¢t really think of as sci-fi at first. As I have illustrated in these examples, science fiction can be the major genre of a story or it can be merely a piece within a story. Such a debatable concept as this one can be extremely difficult to completely define. For now, weââ¬â¢ll have to settle for a general definition such as the one I have written above, but perhaps in the future someone will define science fiction more clearly. Of course, if we limit the term science fiction to a clear-cut definition, will science fiction have such wonderful stories as it does now or will they end up being bland, repetitive stories? I believe that science fiction will never have a single definition because that just happens to be the nature of the genre.
Sunday, September 1, 2019
John Stuart Mill Essay
In the ethical simulation Aaron Web an employee in the IT department of the company we worked for wrote a blog about some confidential information within in our company. It is against company policy for employees to release confidential information about our company. In this company it is my duty not to reward employees who violate the code of conduct or break the law, to honor employeesââ¬â¢ right to free expression even when they are critical of the company, and to ensure that privileged information about the company is not made public. After some investigation and an anonymous tip from another employee that hacked into Aaronââ¬â¢s home computer I decided that it would be best for our company to let Aaron go, because I felt that simply letting him off with a warning would not send a strong enough message to him and other employees about the seriousness of breaking company policy. Although Jamal Moore who I was told is a good employee and was diligent in investigating the situation to prove that our company network is not secure enough I thought it was best to let him go as well, because hacking into another employeeââ¬â¢s personal computer is also against company policy and two wrongs do not make a right, nor did I think it would be ethical to fire one person for breaking company policy and not another. Personally I would have preferred to let Jamal off with a warning, because his supervisor did tell me that he is a good employee, and without the information he provided it would have been hard to catch Aaron, but to protect the company from a law suit I thought it was best to let him go as well. It was more important for me to think of what would be best for the company as a whole using Utilitarian ethics which focuses on the greater good for the greatest number of people in the company as well as Consequentialist Ethics which focuses on the consequences of a decision or action. I had to think about how other employeeââ¬â¢s would react if this situation was taken lightly, as well as the reputation of our company. I didnââ¬â¢t want the situation to be taken lightly, because I wanted to send a message to any employee working for our company that it is not ok to break company policy for any reason, and I wanted our shareholders to feel that their investment is being protected at all costs. It does personally bother me that I had to make such a drastic decision that may negatively affect the lives of 2 people, but I felt the need to make that decision to make sure that something like this doesnââ¬â¢t happen again. At my job at the West Palm Beach Veteranââ¬â¢s Hospital my supervisor has a no nonsense approach to employees being late, because in the past she has seen that if one person gets away with it there is usually someone one else that might try it, and not only does it make the company look bad, but it effects productivity. Doing this ethics simulation showed me how hard it can be to make ethical decisions in the work place, because they donââ¬â¢t always agree with your personal ethical values. One personal experience where my personal ethical belief did not agree with the policy at my job is when a patient in a wheel chair had to be at another appointment within in the hospital, and needed assistance getting there so that he would not be late. As a medical support assistant it is my job to call aid and assistance to come pick the patient up to take him to is next appointment. It is against company policy to assist in moving a patient unless you are a part of the clinical staff. I know that the people that work in aid and assistant are usually late to pick patients up for their next appointment, and didnââ¬â¢t want te patient to be late, because in many cases when a patient is more than 15 minute their appointment is cancelled. I would have liked to help him get to his appointment, but I did not want disciplinary action taken against me if my supervisory discovered that I had left my desk without consent. Although I was not able to physically help the patient I was able to call the clinic where his next appointment was located and let them know that he might be running a little late. Although I felt it was not ethical for me to not be able to help the patient get to his next appointment I understood why it was company policy, and I followed the rules, but still found a way to help the best I could. I think that there are a lot of things we have to take into account when making ethical decisions, and doing the ethics simulation showed me how to evaluate situation in more depth to reach a decision that is best for everyone involved.
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