Saturday, August 31, 2019

Relationship between Systems Theory and Healthcare Delivery in the U.S.

Discussion of the relationship between systems theory and healthcare delivery in the U.S.System theory is a science that studies systems. System theory studies the way systems communicate, how they are successful or why they fail. Given this information it is obvious how systems theory can be applied to health care. Health care delivery is a system. The health care delivery system is composed of many different parts. Doctors, nurses, social workers, patients, family, pharmacists, government programs to name just a few. The health care system is responsible for life and limb so must work cohesively. Studying the healthcare system and applying the systems theory helps healthcare delivery increase optimal patient outcomes in the U.S.(Petula, 2005)Discussion of the relationship between diffusion of innovation theory and the change process within healthcare delivery in the U.S.Diffusion of innovation theory explains how new information including new technology spreads through a culture. D iffusion of innovation theory explains how the imformation is introduced, communicated and applied. Diffusion of innovation theory also explains how long it takes for the information to be communicated, spread, as well as by whom and why. The study of this theory helps many industries create change within their systems.This theory can be applied to almost any situation where new imformation and innovation needs to be introduced successfully. Diffusion of innovation theory is very important on how evidence based practice is introduced to the the U.S. healthcare field. By understanding how evidence based information and innovation is accepted and implemented we can increase the likelyhood that it will be accepted and used. Quick adoption of evidenced based care can optimize patient outcomes and satisfaction. Change within the U.S. health system can be difficult. Analyzing the change process through the diffusion of innovation theory can help the change in healthcare be more successful ly done.Discussion of the relationship between systems theory and current nursing practiceCurrent nursing practice is a result of the application of systems theory to nursing. Current healthcare's, as a result of systems theory,   focus is treating the processes of healthcare i.e. thecommunication of the various heathcare parts as important as the parts themselves. It   is not enought to hire the best care givers but to make sure the care givers have the best tools to use to work together in the most optimal   manner. Interdisciplinary relationships in healthcare are important and supported under systems theory. Systems theory supports   interdisciplinary collaboration and behavioral compatency as well as skill compentancy.(Petula, 2005)Discussion of the relationship between diffusion of innovation theory and current nursing practiceMuch of the new information related to improving healthcare rely on the understanding of Innovation theory. With the understanding   of how he althcare innovation is introduced and implimented, a new or healthcare innovation can be incorporated quickly and reach   successfully the goal of implimentation, quality improvement, and optimal patient outcomes in healthcare. Understanding diffusion of   innovation theory can help Supervisors and other implementors of change provide the necessary tools for change to occur among nurses.Diffusion of Innovation theory in current nursing practice is especially needed with the changes that nursing is going through at this time in history. With the courtywide implementation of the electronic medical record mandated by the U.S. government as well as the Affordable Healthcare Act the understanding of how to succefully implement these changes in nursing is very important. With the mandate of the government in place diffusion of innovation theory is and will be an important tool in the success of incorporating new nursing skills into the nursing profession.Summarization of the search st rategies used to acquire information on the specified theoriesMy primary tool in searching for systems theory was Google. In this way I was able to garner multiple sites dedicated to systems theory. When I wanted to tie systems theory into nursing I added the word nursing to systems theory in the search bar. In this manner I was able to view many articles from nursing journals about systems theory and how it related to nursing.I was also able to view information on systems theory on Wikipedia. I conducted similar searches for diffusion of innovation theory. I googled diffusion of innovation theory first then incorporated nursing into the search bar to receive information on how they tie into each other. CINAHL was also used in my searches.It was fairly easy to use but not as easy as google. I was impressed with how much information specific to nursing was available. With CINAHL when conducting my searches there were a few more steps. The first step was to log onto the WGU site then log onto the library. I also had to click on the Federated database search then choose CINAHL. There was a search bar where you can enter your subject matter and add tie ins such as mine, nursing.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Kramer vs. Kramer

Kramer vs. Kramer is the story of a custody battle, but in its time (1979) and place it becomes a battle of mothering vs. fathering and over how men and women should lead their lives.   Ted Kramer, a Madison Avenue art director is so consumed with his career that he doesn’t understand the basic needs of his son or even the grade he is in school.   Joanna Kramer, a former employee of Mademoiselle, had left her career to care for their son, Billy.   Joanna finds herself overwhelmed with feelings of worthlessness and leaves her son and husband to find herself.   Ted is forced to learn to be a parent and Billy loves being with his father more.   After a period of fifteen months, Joanna returns.   She is not looking for forgiveness but rather to obtain custody of their son.   Their battle leaves us questioning the very definition of gender in our society. Ted and Joanna Kramer had a life that was defined as our society would have seen fit.   Joanna, being biologically suited, would remain at home and care for their son.   She provides for the emotional needs of the family.   Ted, operating in the public sphere, would provide for the families material needs.   This is what American culture has defined as the nuclear family.   This is the standard that our society would define as desirable. This ideology is so clearly spelled out in the courtroom.   Part of the case that Streep  presents for herself during the custody trial is a simplistic appeal-to-the fact that motherhood is  powerfully persuasive as a social institution.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I'm his mother. He's my child. I love him. He needs me more  than he needs his father. I'm his mother.† The simple fact that Streep as the boy's biological mother is supposed to outweigh, in  court, any particularities of their individual case. And on the basis of this argument the court  grants custody to Streep. As Hoffman's lawyer says, â€Å"They went for motherhood right down the  line.†Ã‚   The movie insists that gender is the primary factor in child custody determinations at the  time of divorce. Having established gender as the key, the movie then goes to court, where  proceedings are seen from a distinctly male perspective. Attorney Shaughnessy warns Ted Kramer that courts favor mothers in custody battles over young children. The task, Shaughnessy is certain, is to prove Joanna is an unfit mother. Shaughnessy also apparently overlooks the fact that the parties had already divorced, and Ted had custody, so the issue was not custody but rather custody modification. Even assuming a maternal preference rule, modification hearings place great weight on maintaining child care continuity.   fictional Judge Atkins sees things the way attorney Shaughnessy does. Atkins' award of custody to Joanna Kramer relies almost completely on the â€Å"tender years† When the Kramers do in fact have their day in court, viewers are propelled to defend Ted.   It seems unfair when Joanna's attorney asks Ted on the stand about his move from one advertising agency to another for lower pay. Viewers are angered by the suggestion that it was Ted's negligence that caused Billy's playground fall. But somehow, this does not seem quite as bad when Shaughnessy questions Joanna about her sexual liaisons since the time of her divorce from Ted. Even Ted sympathized with Joanna at the legal proceedings seems. With Joanna wilting on the stand from a brutal cross-examination, Ted shows no vindictive pleasure. With Joanna struggling with the question â€Å"Were you a failure at the most important personal relationship of your life?† Ted establishes eye contact and supportively shakes his head no. Even after the legal proceedings conclude with a decision adverse to Ted, we continue to reflect on developments from Ted's perspective. When Ted asks Shaughnessy about an appeal, Shaughnessy warns that it would be necessary to put little Billy on the stand. Ted realizes how destructive this would be. The viewer shares his appraisal of the legal process' twisted ways and seconds his decision to back off for Billy's sake. Ted continues to win our sympathy. Kramer vs. Kramer, this issue is gender inequality.   In New York, where the movie takes place, the courts were no longer going to rely on gender to decide custody battles, but gender was still a topic on the minds of the public in the 1980's, when the movie was released.  Ã‚   I believe that in a large proportion of our population today, there continues to be gender issues when parenting or custody issues are reviewed.   There still exists the notion that women are built to be parents and nurture a child, something men are not emotional enough to do. In this case, Kramer vs. Kramer, the court’s finding of Joanna as the custodial parent, does not appear to have been a decision based on anything other than gender.   The decision was made on the societal belief that a mother will be the better parent, it is what women were built to do.   Ted is denied custody on the basis of gender, he cannot possibly be a better or even equal parent. The demonstration that Ted is not an adequate provider because he lost one job and took a lesser paying job, and that this somehow makes him unfit because as the father he is to be the breadwinner and this outweighed the fact that Joann had abandoned her child.   The belief that Joanna should have stayed with her family, despite her own desires or wishes, and the portrayal of her as promiscuous because she had other relationships, further highlight the gender issue. The inequality of the decision in this case, is inequality to both the parents.   Both Ted and Joanna had the ability and means to be a good parent.   The court did not evaluate the case on that basis.   The court evaluated the case on the basis of gender roles and who should be doing what given the society beliefs present.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Work Right ( marketing plan) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Work Right ( marketing plan) - Research Paper Example In career counseling we can help students figure out the kind of job they want. In training services, we will introduce courses where student can learn communication skills, computer skills etc. This start up will be for a good cause as it creates employment opportunities for students who have to pay their tuition fee and support their families. Market Research is a strategy that ensures an entrepreneur’s safety before he starts a new venture. It is important because the entrepreneur can weigh the pros and cons of doing business in a particular industry before making an important business decision. Market research comes before finance and legal formalities as it is the starting point for any enterprise. The nature of our service will be that it will consist of a website that will help students of Texas A&M University-Commerce (TAMU-C) to find jobs. This is an important service as it generates employment for fresh university students as well as for people who want to switch their present jobs. It depends on the producer how narrowly or widely he defines his target market and audience and it is this target market or audience that determines the amount, type and price of the producer’s output. My brand is a website for students at TAMU-C so that they can find jobs that match their degrees and skills. The name of my brand is WorkRight and the webpage will be hosted by the university. From the inception of a product till the end, a thorough analysis of the market is done and demand conditions are determined. The young students that WorkRight is targeting have a sophisticated demand for jobs (as they are educated and well-informed) and they keep themselves abreast with the changing employer requirements. I conducted surveys and handed out questionnaires to students at TAMU-C in order to see whether they liked the idea of a website that can help them in getting employed. The primary focus of WorkRight will be the students who do not have a family

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Licensing and Accreditation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Licensing and Accreditation - Essay Example Thus, long-term health facilities are defined, approved by, and maintained according to state as well as federal standards set for this purpose. Besides the two aforementioned authorities, there are other voluntary organizations which are devoted to accreditation and licensing purposes such as the Joint Commission. The Arizona state as well as Federal government embodies certain rules and regulations with respect to health care provisions. Such provisions include licensing requirements of long-term health care services too. The Arizona state rules are contained in the Arizona State Statutes, which includes all the rules concerning different facilities in the state. The law concerning the 'certification, licensure, and monitoring of long-term care facilities, facilities and services' is contained in title 36-409, whose requirements can be summarized in the following points: The Department of Health Services will perform all the essential functions regarding licensing and certification and take care to conform and implement concerned federally approved standards for this health service facility; The nursing care hospices and institutions will have to maintain financial records which they have to show to the Arizona health care cost containment system administration (Arizona State Legislature). The department further holds the right to issue quality ratings too, which help in determining whether the long-term health care facility provides quality service or not. It does so according to the results obtained out of a licensure survey. Further, the licensure granted to a nursing facility depends much on the quality rating it receives (Arizona State Legislature). However in all cases, the state law prescribes that no nursing institute shall hold a license for more than three years. The initial license application for any long-term healthcare service facility shall further require the applicant to submit the following: The application form of the Department which would include the address and other contact details of the health care institution; Tax ID number; The class or subclass as listed in R9-10-102; Owner Information; The details and particulars of governing authority; The details of the chief administrative officer; and others which vary according to the details of the plot and related documents (Arizona Department of Health Services). The Federal government details the requirements for states and long term care facilities in its PART 483 and subpart B (Title 42-Public Health). It requires healthcare facilities in states to meet certain requirements to be considered as long-term facilities such as Medicaid and Medicare. Some requirements such as the facility having a transfer agreement with certain hospital are essential for a facility to gain recognition as a long-term healthcare facility. besides the requirements are based upon other factors such as resident rights, quality of care, quality of life provided, nursing services, physician services, dietary services, and others (Title 42-Public

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Born global firms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Born global firms - Essay Example Considering the long history of Beiersdorf and its presence on international markets, in this part,the expanding strategies of this company in the last 20 years will be examined. In the 1990s, Beiersdorf sales were coming mostly from the Nivea brand, brand that was constantly expanded by the company, starting from skin creams (including those for men), sun care creams, antiwrinkle creams, baby creams, shower products, to deodorant (Jones and Lubinski, 2011). Taking this into account, in 1993 Beiersdorfs has reacquired the rights to the Nivea brand name in the United Kingdom, rights that had been held by an English company since World War II. The company set up in 1994 a joint-venture with a state-owned chemical company in Shanghai called Daily Chemical Factory No. 2 in order to produce its products in the Asian market. Also, in this period, Beiersdorf contracted a 60% longtime joint-venture with Japanese consumer products giant Kao Corp. to market Nivea in Japan. By the end of the 1990s, Beiersdorf had 74 international affiliates and generated almost 70% of its sales outside its origin country - Germany. This multinational continued its policy of opening up to new countries and new product categories (e.g. synergistic expansion) even in 2000s (its presence globally can be seen in Figure no. 4). Synergistic expansion of Beiersdorf consisted of acquisition of the plaster brand Elastoplast in 2001 (which was the market leader in many countries, including the United Kingdom and Ireland). Following the acquisition, Beiersdorf has positioned itself as a global leader in this market. In 2008, Beiersdorf acquired C-Bons, a personal care firm from China and planned other acquisitions to expand further in China. This acquisition was a further initiative in the implementation of the company’s consumer business Strategy, enhancing the company’s business in China and in addition its activities in the growing hair care segment.

Monday, August 26, 2019

Corporate Communication Strategy-Toyota case Essay

Corporate Communication Strategy-Toyota case - Essay Example The unintended acceleration was attributed to floor mat issues, brakes and sticky gas pedal. The company has since recalled nearly 8 million cars of different models that were deemed to have potential problems with gas pedal mechanism which could lead to unintended acceleration (McKenzie & Scott, 2010). 2. Environmental scanning of the company Toyota has enjoyed an unblemished reputation within the auto industry. In the fast transforming business dynamics, the various environmental factors become crucial paradigms to maintain competitive advantage within the industry. PESTLE and SWOT analysis become vital tools for firms to identify and evaluate elements that can help them compete and succeed in the highly competitive business environment (Burnes, 2009). They promote the wider understanding of socio-political environment within which the firms operate. They were conducted to understand Toyota’s market position prior to the crisis and how it was impacted in post crisis period. (Refer to Appendix A) 2a. PESTLE analysis for America In the current environment of rapid globalization, practice of international businesses is considerably impacted by the different political, economic and legal systems of nations (Hills, 2004). The businesses therefore need to become more flexible and adapt to the changing technologies and work environments. PESTLE analysis of Toyota has been conducted for America because the case focuses on the Toyota’s American market and the performance and quality of its various models in America. PESTLE has emerged as critical issues that need to be incorporated within the business strategy when firms expand across globe. 2a.1 Political environment America is one of the largest democratic states of the world. The public is hugely empowered with information and the socio-political environment promotes proactive participation of people in issues which affect them. Thus, businesses need to be more accountable in their actions and take in to account the expectations of the people at large. The sticky pedal case of Toyota had drawn more public attention towards the firm undermining it’s hitherto brand reputation of quality, dependability and value. 2a.2 Economic It is a very important factor because the market is driven by the demand and supply that is mainly dependent on the buying capacity of the consumers. It has big market in America. Despite the current environment of recession, the networking solutions have become the critical part of industrial success and therefore, an intrinsic part of business strategy. Toyota therefore has huge economic stake in the American market and needed to restore public trust by responding favourably to the crisis situation. 2a.3 Socio-cultural paradigm There is huge socio-cultural diversity amongst the masses. With multi-cultural society, the demographic factors are vital ingredients that have huge cascading effect on the market. The demographic changes vis-a-vis population s ize, age distribution, gender ratio, income group etc. have immense influence on the changing consumer preferences and consequently on the profitability of the firm. Kotler et al (2007) emphasize that in the fast changing global business, demographic compulsions have significant impact on market position and therefore, they need to become intrinsic part of the market strategy of the

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Arab culture class Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Arab culture class - Research Paper Example laimed that women involved in the social service project had two significant reasons; engaging in such projects, where they would expand the horizons, gain practical knowledge and direct focus outwards. The other reason was that the projects would confront the perceptions towards women as objects of pleasure and people who need protection. The paper will focus on exploring the life of Huda Shaarawi; by identifying some of the events, she was involved, whereby leading to a significant impact to women in the society. Shaarawi was raised in harem system that was attributed to women isolation and obscurity, whereby the families with affluence were separated from the rest of the population in order to protect their women, and function as massagers of international issues. Moreover, the term harem referred to the rooms that women stayed, where they were separated from men, though the women, either poor or rich were against the obscurity, except for the peasants in the countryside. In addition, there were cultural traditions of harem system, which was followed by the Jewish, Christians and Muslim. Shaarawi established the Egyptian Feministic Union in 1923, it is still function in the present and they focus on various issues such as inclusion of womens suffrage and education (Shaarawi, 10). Moreover, Shaarawi worked enthusiastically against restriction of women in terms of dressing, and freedom movement that were key issues in harem system. She underwent evolution thought her life, under the influence of the inequalities that she withstood in life, education, during her marriage, and the dynamism in the world. In fact, there was the announcement of independence in Egypt, in 1922, whereby women were required to revert to their initial life in harem, when they were fighting for their freedom. Shaarawi focused on the elevating problems faced by the poor by establishing charitable activities of those who were wealthy, in terms of the contributions to education programs. In

Saturday, August 24, 2019

A Street Car Named Desire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A Street Car Named Desire - Essay Example This aspect comes out clearly in streetcar named desire whereby all the characters involved in the play have a need or desire that makes them stay in the relationship. The paper will explore how drama surrounds the individual and not the relationship by use of examples from the streetcar named desire. In the play, there are different characters that have been named according to their roles. There is Blanche Dubois, who is a classy woman that comes from an affluent part of the Mississippi (Williams 1-87). The other character is Stella Kalowaski who is a woman under constant duress most of which comes from the husband Stanley Kowalski. The other prominent character is Mitchel Hartford. He is a friend and a poker playmate of Stanley. All the characters named above are seen as the main character in that the theme of the play revolves around them. However, other minor characters support the role of the main characters such as the deceased husband of Blanche, the post boy, the man that was found with Blanche’s husband. An analysis of Blanche indicates that in all the relationships that she formed her inherent approach to the narrations of her past are fallacies (Williams 1-87). She is a character that lacks a stand such that the information that she provides about the loss of her house is not real. She does not want to accept the disgrace that came with the death of her young husband. This makes her selfish gains to have a central role in the decision-making process. She is so unstable in her relations such that she has earned the attention of the soldiers. At the beginning of the play, the character is unwilling to stay with Stella and her husband since she does not approve of their living standards (Williams 1-87). However, he lacks and wants makes her accept to stay since this is a last resort measure. In fact, she established the relationships in order for her to attain her individual goals.  

St. augustine rejected the theories of manicheanism.research this Essay

St. augustine rejected the theories of manicheanism.research this gnostic religion in more detail.what does it teachHow is it diiffernt than Christianity and w - Essay Example The fortuitous discovery of Manichean manuscripts in Turfan in the beginning of the twentieth century has thrown light on the history of the religion and its’ founder. Mani was born in Mardinu, a village in Babylon, in 215 – 216 A.D. to Fatak Babak and Marmajam, of noble Iranian lineage. Mani was a honorific and his true name does not survive, although it is postulated to be Shuraik. At twelve, Mani apparently had a revelation, in which the angel, ‘At Taum’ or ‘the Twin,’ urged him to embrace chastity, and later, to spread the doctrine of his new religion to others. On March 20, 242 A.D. when Sapor 1 was crowned King of Babylon, Mani proclaimed the birth of his new religion to the public: â€Å"As once Buddha came to India, Zoroaster to Persia and Jesus to the lands of the West, so came in the present time, this prophecy through me, the Mani, to the land of Babylonia† (Arendzen, The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies Web site). Maniâ€⠄¢s teachings found little acceptance in Babylon, until he gained access to the royal court. Later, he was exiled and spread his message to foreign lands, as afar as India and China. He was reinstated in court by Ormzud in 274. However, the machinations of the Zoroasterian priests led to King Bahram ordering him to be tortured and killed in 276 - 277. His corpse was publicly flayed, stuffed and crucified as a deterrent to other followers of this ‘heretical religion.’ The teachings of Manicheanism centered on the distinct dualism of mind and matter, of light and darkness, of good and evil. Salvation can be attained by liberating light from the engulfing darkness. Mani used an effective combination of myth, preaching and reasoning to spread his new religion. At the origin of the universe, the eternal Paradise of Light extended limitlessly towards the North, West and East, presided over by the Father of Greatness and

Friday, August 23, 2019

Organization as a Machine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organization as a Machine - Essay Example It also adopts British Telecom as the case study. Overall functioning structure of traditional organization using machine metaphor Evidently, machine metaphor concept has immensely contributed to growth prospects of various institutions due to its noble ideals and synergies. Morgan (2007) asserted that, it has in stilled basic elements and ideals, which organizations should embrace. He further stated that, organizations are all about effective interaction, predictability, reliability and controllability at various points of activity through structured systems, which instills sanity. In particular, machine metaphor concept is a system, which provides a comprehensive view of institutions through detailed interaction of various elements, which facilitates predictability, and control of events (Odubiyi, 2012). Clearly, organizations must adopt predictable and reliable business practices including market positioning to ensure sound performance, which is a critical aspect for most institut ions. Mechanistic view is a noble concept, which considers institutions as holistic entities, which operate under strong combination of manageable components. As indicated by Odubiyi (2012), major components, which requires effective management includes organizational chart, job description, policies, operational plans and people. Critically, machine metaphor concept facilitated growth in various traditional institutions due to its effective management and control ideals, which ensured delivery of services based on quality policies. Consequently, the concept enhanced organizations competitive capacity through development of superior production and business techniques, which were accurately coordinated in similar form as machine operation. Functional structure is also a vital pillar, which influences growth in various in situations. As noted by McCrimmon (2012), functional structures enhances decision making process in institutions hence should be effective and operate within set gui delines. He stated that poor functionality of various organizational components through inferior guidelines have contributed to liquidation of many institutions globally. As such, corporations should adopt viable and well structured operating levels with comprehensive job delegation to enhance quality in choice making. Clearly, machine metaphor provides requisite incentives through its structured network system, which enhances management and control at various levels towards formulation of quality decisions (Morgan & Rotunda, 2006). Ideally, modern institutions require credible systems, which ensure business accountability and structured way of executing duties at various levels of operation. Evaluation of organizational functional departments

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Energy Conservation Essay Example for Free

Energy Conservation Essay Energy conservation is the reduction of quantity of energy used. Energy conservation supports the eco friendly lifestyle by providing energy, which saves your money and at the same time saves the earth. When you decrease the amount of energy you use you automatically make efforts to reduce increasing global warming. Source of Energy Conservation: Solar Energy: Solar power uses the suns energy and light to provide heat, light, and electricity for homes. It is the primary source of all energy forms on the earth. It is one such energy which helps in maintaining the ecological balance through the process of photosynthesis and green house effect. We have been using sun to dry clothes and boil food for generations. But now number of techno powers which have been developed to make full use of solar energy such as: Photovoltaic systems : By these systems the electricity could be produced directly from the sunlight. Solar Process Space heating and cooling : It is the commercial and industrial use of suns heat. Solar Hot Water : The process to heat water with the solar energy. Solar Power plants : Producing electricity bu using the suns heat. Passive Solar heating and daylighting : Use solar energy to heat buildings. Wind energy : Wind energy is often used to generate the mechanical power or the electricity. In the country like India, wind energy holds the great importance because of large hilly, coastal and desert areas. In the rural areas it is used to pump water and grind grain. The benefit of wind energy is that it is fully pollution free and is eco friendly too. It costs low and the generation of power is continuous. It is the most effective way to conserve the energy and prevent the environment. Geothermal Energy : Geothermal energy is used in the form of thermal energy, electrical energy, nuclear energy, mechanical energy, chemical energy and light energy. It uses heat energy from beneath the surface of the earth. It was first used to produce electricity in the Itlay in 1903. Geothermal energy has the major environment benefit as it prevents air pollution. It is particularly important in the inland nations such as Indian Oceans and the pacific regions. Energy generation from geothermal sources is only possible in few places under unique geographic conditions. Wave energy : Ocean waves contain large amount of energy, which can be extracted through Ocean winds, Ocean currents, Ocean Geothermal etc. if the barrage is built across the river, electricity can be obtained by by the flow of water through turbines as the tide rise and falls. Hydroelectric energy : Another renewable source of energy is the hydroelectric energy, which is produced from fast flowing water. The process is pollution free. The movement of water spins the turbines which in turn generate electricity. Biomass energy : Biomass is the plant and animal waste which is used as the energy. Biomass energy like manure from livestock, plant waste etc can be used to generate electricity, fuel, light, and heat. We get biomass energy directly from plants and indirectly from the animal waste.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Theories Of Management And Leadership On Strategy

Theories Of Management And Leadership On Strategy Different Management and Leadership theories are adopted by the organisations to achieve their goals. Leaders possess a certain type of skills, which enables them to follow any theory in a given situation. The decision making process need to be flexible enough to adapt any kind of environment since outcome from it will be have a great impact on organisation, that impact can be on strategy, goals or its culture. Theories of Leadership and Management Different Leadership and Management theories are: The Trait Theory This theory is derived from the great man theory, which identifies the key characteristics of a good and successful leader. They have personality, dominance, charisma, self-confidence, achievements and ability to formulate a clear vision It is believed that through this approach critical leadership traits could be isolated and that people with such traits could then be recruited, selected, and installed into leadership positions. The table below lists the main leadership traits and skills identified by Stogdill in 1974. Traits Skills -Adaptable to situations Alert to social environment Assertive Cooperative Decisive Dependable Dominant (desire to influence others) Energetic (high activity level) Persistent Self-confident Tolerant of stress Willing to assume responsibility Clever (smart and intelligent) Conceptually skilled Creative Diplomatic and tactful Fluent in speaking Knowledgeable about group task Organised (administrative ability) Persuasive Socially skilled Impact on Organisational Strategy A leader with these traits and skills is able to drive the organisation. It is of this reason that Armed Forces around the world look for these traits in the candidates for the commission. For-example: At PCW, where high dedication from Manager is required, if they dont have a charismatic figure or lack self confidence than how they will motivate their team or employees. Before a leader leads other, it needs to lead itself, this is called self-leadership. It begins with introspection and development of ones emotional intelligence. They need to explore their inner self before they lead others. Leader is responsible for everything the team does or fails to do. Since they are in direct contact with employees so they need to have following traits and act as a role-model. At organisational level, leaders are required to influence the whole organisation by managing the cultural norms, rewards and recognition programs, and communication. When they get at a high level where they have to lead a city, state or a multi-national corporation, they require power of persuasion and charisma, if they are going to get elected. Their self-confidence enables them to challenge change, and their communication skills helps them to gain trust of others, since they have persuasion power. The point where Traits Theory fails is when following questions are asked Do these traits produce successful leaders? Is leadership more than just bringing change? Leaders are born or can they be made? The trait theory unfortunately does not prescribe the most effective traits that successful leaders should have. Nonetheless, the theory makes good sense when interpreting successful leaders with their remarkable traits. The most important problem in applying it is how leaders can know better about themselves and their leadership qualities. Transformational Theory James MacGregor wrote in his Burns Leadership was the first to put forward the concept of Transforming leadership. To MacGregor transforming leadership is a relationship of mutual stimulation and elevation that converts, followers into leaders and may convert leaders into moral agents. He also identified that: [Transforming leadership] occurs when one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and moralityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ This theory is based on charismatic leaders, who have additional characteristics such as vision and development, and abilities to motivate it followers. Impact on Organisational Strategy Howell and Avolio (1999) assert that transformational leadership with its five key pillars vision, inspiration, stimulation, coaching, and team building. And a leader with such characteristics will bring tremendous payoffs in business performance and innovation. There are certain transformational leadership factors identified by Nahavandi, which are: intellectual stimulation to generate new ideas and empowerment charisma and inspiration to overcome resistance to change, individual incentives and consideration to motivate and encourage the followers. Since our current business environment is very dynamic, so does the need for change in leadership style. For-example: Back in days at PCW, managers with certain charismatic qualities were effective in Generation X, and were able to drive their followers. However this cannot be feasible for Generation Y, which is current situation. People values most on personal skills and development and prefer to work outside of the organisational boundary. Hence a Transformation theory is required. In the same way, management theory practices in China cannot be practiced in US, since there are cultural differences, and this has a direct impact on organisational strategy. Transformational Leadership is also not very perfect, it has its own flaws. This theory fails when a leader thinks that they have achieved everything; the false connection when its team members / followers do not respond appropriately and become yes-man; the fear of betrayal from followers. Create a Leadership Strategy that supports organisational direction As per Leadership Theories, a good leader has certain characteristics and skills. Leadership is not only a function of a position on an organisational chart, but also individual performance. Anyone ar any level of the organisation can be a leader. They are recognized for their leadership in setting the pace and high standards in their work. STRATEGIC SKILLS AND ABILITIES Leaders at all levels require skills and abilities in three broad areas: Technical knowledge and skills required in the position, especially about executive information systems. Interpersonal/communication knowledge and skills. Conceptual skills which allow the strategic leader to make decisions and cope with the level of complexity associated with a particular position. Leadership Strategy for PC World Self-Leadership: Before Leaders commit to lead others, they need to commit to themselves. Leaders need to ensure that they have qualities and characteristics of a good leader. They need to create a personal vision. They need to explore themselves first. What they can achieve with their talent, tools and time. They need to create a big picture of their vision and align it with that of organisation. Once that is down, the next step is to bring their followers on board, and align their motivation with PCWs strategy. To create a charismatic figure or to act as a role-model, leaders need to show concern for their employees. In old Model practiced that PCW, Leaders were in control of everything and they were driving the teams. They were doing what they wanted to do. Since the environment is changing so leaders need to transform themselves. They should give what the teams need not what they want. Leaders need to be available to the employees all the time, this is done by implementing open-door policy in the organisation. Leaders need to be democratic and should have a two way communication with the followers, unlike the old one-sided communication. This way they can get good feedback and complete tasks. Team Leadership This is very important in order to empower team member and their networking activities. It is helpful at PCW since there are people with different ethnic backgrounds and cultures. Everyone has different skills and fields of specialization. It is important for leaders to ensure that team members are selected on the basis of their field of specialization, unique talents, skills and share a same vision. Every team member need to play its own part and should not depend on others. Like in sales team, every member has its own sales target, which they have to achieve on their own. But this does not mean that members cannot take help from each other in case of stock control. Empowerment is promoted in the project teams, which enables them to make certain decisions, like sales assistant is empowered to make a sale or refuse it, or if they like to entertain the 2% discount on certain items. When leaders are acting as a role-model they motivate the team and show them the good picture of the future. Mentoring Mentoring is another good strategy, for project based teams. It acts in two ways, one way is that people learn from their good leaders. The formula is to observe their leaders and learn from them. This is the idea of transformational leadership theory; the followers become leaders for others. On the other side it helps team-members to develop their personal skills. A sales assistant can follow the steps of their team leader and become a leader or a role model for other team-members, this way it can acts as a motivating factors. Leaders acting as a mentor need to provide assurance and personal reflective space, coaches set goals, identify solutions to problems, and provide feedback on the subordinates performance.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Frida Kahlo and Tracey Emin: Psychoanalytic Approaches

Frida Kahlo and Tracey Emin: Psychoanalytic Approaches Case Study One: Frida Kahlo 2000 The intention of this dissertation is to define links between psychoanalytic theories and fine art. In this chapter the artists Frida Kahlo and Tracey Emin are discussed and compared to see how psychoanalytic approaches differ when employed with contemporary and traditional art. Frida Kahlos work is associated with Surrealism, an art movement first written about by Andre Breton; it was founded in 1924 developing from Dadaism and was inspired by the psychoanalytic works of Freud. In the surrealist manifesto Breton identifies the movement as a means by which the subconscious could be expressed, verbally, written or painted. The surrealists believed that our conscious mind interferes with the subconscious part, which is heavily based on Freuds theory of the ego and the id. The surrealists believed that this is why we have dreams; when we are asleep the reasoning mind cannot control the subconscious. Surrealism used a method called free association, originally Freuds theory, whereby Freuds patient would automatically say what they are thinking, in the case of an artist they would paint without thinking. Consequently, it seems surrealism is not necessarily a style but a method of painting. By looking at the both Kahlo and Emin, the two can be compared to distingu ish the ways in which psychoanalysis differs in the opposing styles of work, one of traditional movement and the other a contemporary style. Kahlos work deals with a diverse range of subjects, from her own identity and pain to politics, the Mexican artists work has been deliberated over by many critics and art historians as her oeuvre covers many aspects of art. It is hard to place as surrealist as it mixes a world fantasy with surrealism while also dealing with sexuality, race and gender. However, it is contended that Kahlos work does support psychoanalytical theories as there are many connections between her work and Freuds work which is a factor that the surrealist movement was heavily based upon. In contrast the work of Tracey Emin does not use symbols for her audience to guess at, instead her work has a very clear and concise in meaning, through her highly personal work she leaves her audience unquestioning with no ambiguity surrounding it. However, it would be interesting to look at the psychological effects that the production of this type of work may have on the artist and to investigate how the process creating art work of such personal nature has any psychological impact. This will enable understanding of the intentions behind such personal art work; she articulates details about herself that a majority of people would rather keep to themselves. In a similar way to Kahlo, both artists draw on their own experiences to produce art work. In Kahlos painting, Tree of Hope (see figure one), she presents the audience with a definite divide between night and day. This use of this strongly imply a state of dream, to explore R.D Laings theory of the unembodied self where the individual experiences him self as being more or less divorced form his body(Laing1965:69) this applied to Kahlos work suggests that the severe act of cutting the image into two halves defines the feeling of separation from her conscious body. The spectator is aware of the false self being portrayed within the image. According to Laing such separation denies the unembodied self of any actual interaction with everyday life. The theory suggests the unembodied self becomes a spectator of the life in which the actual body lives, so therefore does not connect with any experience the physical body encounters. This psychoanalytical process occurs due to stress within ones life that the ego cannot deal with, the disassociation is the ids way of protecting the e go. In Kahlos piece Tree of hope the painting is not clothed in the prosaic language usually employed by our thoughts represented symbolically by means of similes and metaphors (Freud, 1953:633) The image renders narrative, through the day harsh reality is awakened; Kahlo collides with a profusion of pain, while at night she is set free from her anguish by her dreams, the subconscious mind allows her to escape. The use of colours and choice of composition has allowed her to deliver her innermost anxieties and fears to the audience. These anxieties, according to Freud, are unpleasant inner state that people seek to avoid, it can act as a signal to the ego that things are not going right, as humans we suffer from neurotic, reality and moral anxieties, in order to deal with these Freud states that we therefore go into defence mechanisms that protect the ego from conflicts caused by the id, the id being the unconscious part of your brain, the ego is the conscious rational mind. The stress caused by daily lives is relevant to Freudian theory of sublimation. In Freuds book The ego and the id (1923) he established the theory of sublimation through superior recognition and puts forward that the superego is an internal moral agency of the parents (Wright: 1995). He assumed that there are two separate sets of drives, both contained within the mind. The instincts consist of self-preservation, which is associated with the ego; the second is sexual instincts which are associated to the libido or id. These instincts direct all human conduct until he generated the existence of narcissism. These theories differ over the various writings due to the topic and their affiliation to each other. To further this, if Freuds theory about anxiety is applied to Tracey Emins work it can be suggested that she goes through the process of sublimation; her work is a healthy redirection of an emotion which is mainly found through art, it is the process of transforming the libido into a chievements that are accepted by society. Emins work is similar to Kahlos in the way that her own personal stories of her body reiterate stories in the media. Emin expresses graphic descriptions of her most intimate feelings as her work is based solely on her life experiences. For example, in Emins work The last thing I said to you was dont leave me here the audience is confronted with a photograph of a vulnerable girl, who is tucked in a corner of some small shack, suggesting she has been some sort of victim of abuse. Lacans theory of the gaze is a theory that can be tested on this photograph, as the set up of composition makes the audience feel as if they are standing behind this naked, vulnerable person, so the viewer is made to feel as if they are gazing upon her, the spectators take on the role of the voyeur. Emin poses the question, is she the object of desire? There is a certain amount of irony within the photograph as a majority of viewers are hardened to the image of naked women due to media; mediated imagery is usually of very confident, provocative women, this perplexing view unsteadies the viewer due to the uneasy ambience. This is because photography can in a literal sense turn the depicted person into an object, which will distance both the v iewer and the viewed. With her back to us she unaware of who is looking, which creates a sense of naivety within the work, so therefore the viewer becomes uncomfortable with the role of the voyeur. This work has subtle implications that are more suggestive compared to a majority of Emins work which has a great sense of immediacy and provocative substance; she makes strong statements that judge the gaze of society that is put upon women. In contrast Kahlos works show the audience how she gazes upon herself, in theory Kahlos paintings are able to talk to the viewer as they express something about the artists emotions which people can relate to on many levels, through their personal attributes. This supports Derridas theory of deconstruction, where by deconstruction of a body of text is not just one, it can have several different meanings, and this theory can be applied to artwork because artwork itself can have more then one interpretation. In the essay Derrida two paintings in paint: a note on art, discourse and the trace, Jeff Collins argues that Derrida indicates a certain failure of discourse in the face of artworks (Holdridge, 2006:213). Collins contends that Derridas theory suggests art is a confrontational method which challenges anything that refuses to accept or surpass it; the author denotes artwork that does not have a dialogue to deal with this theory. Kahlos work can be contradictory in meaning for each viewer; which can be associated with the notion of death of the author; according to Barthes, the viewers own beliefs can change the authors original intensions, the layering of meaning can only be derived from the viewers point of view, as they will see the work and interpret it according to their own context, beliefs experiences or personal attributes. The viewer needs to be able to set apart the artist from the work to release the interpretation from any prejudgment. Barthes believe that this is dependent on the spectators experience of Kahlos work, being a renowned artist many people will be familiar with her histories and will derive an interpretation from that in itself. However, many audiences are not familiar with the work will read it in an entirely different light. Kahlo also uses messages and paradoxes within her work. In The little wounded deer (see figure four) she portrays herself as this wounded animal, which has been shot at by numerous hunters. The arrows are metaphors for the pain she feels, in my opinion this could symbolize her injuries from her accident or it could represent suffering from numerous disappointments in her life. She appears calm, tranquil and relaxed while she is watched by, what we assume is a hunter and dripping with blood. Kahlo was Mexican and they believed that a newborn human has an animal counterpart and that persons fate was tied to that of the animal that represents the calendar sign of the day of their birth. So she could be suggesting that her animal counterpart is dying and therefore metaphorically she is going to be rid of the animal that matches her and through her rebirth she will gain a new one. This painting it therefore a representation of her thoughts, which is her subconscious, by using dream logic strategies of displacement and condensation, Kahlo sets out to create a fabled identity for herself; the self-portrait consequently becomes a format for a parody of her own individuality. In my opinion, surrealism and representing the mind is difficult because it is the unknown, questioning it and giving possible answers through painting. Through her art Kahlo is attaining control of herself, she portrays her emotions which attain psychological relief. Emin also has a need to attain control would, in Freudian terms this would be classified as a form of hysteria. Hysteria in current psychological terms is described as two categories, one being somatoform whereby mental problems such as stress can cause brain to feel physical pain. The second is dissociative which occurrs when a persons psyche cannot handle a particularly traumatic event. However, in Freudian terms this hysteria created by the subconsious part of the mind, which was protecting the ego from the id. This is also relevent when looking at Kahlos work, the subconsious creates this form of unreality which is evident in the paintings. The straight lines and defined edge to objects of natural enities creates an order, an element of control over something which is not controllable. This can be tested with Deleuzes theory of percept. According to Deleuze, art requires simple modulations whereby the artist is consciously thinking and making decisions about the evolution of the piece of artwork; percepts are a psychological imprint of something, for example, the way an individual artist sees one thing will be varied from another. Percepts represent more than decision, they symbolize how the artist is feeling about that piece of art at the moment in time, or the subject which it is based on. According to Deleuze the making of the decision is not as important as modulations, MÃ ¼nter has put boundaries around the manmade objects, the modulationsreveal the forces that populate the world, that affect us, that make us become' (Sutton, 2008:75) Kahlo keeps her images separate, in Tree of hope (see figure one) she has a definite divide between night and day, by doing this she accentuates definite boundaries that the colours alone would not achieve, this establishes a ha rsh boarded image with restrictions. It shows a definite division between the human and the natural, while addressing this we may also consider that the artist may feel the two cannot be combined. These percepts also occur in the works of Kahlo, What Water Gave Me (1938) is a painting of Kahlos that is particularly relevant to Derridas theory, other then her many self-portraits, within this painting, Kahlo has painted her legs from the baths viewpoint, her legs are partially obscured by the bath water, and her toes stick out at the end, the painting has an uncanny aspect to it, we have all see this viewpoint so there is a familiarity to the work. Kahlo is allowing her audience to see things from her perspective. Through the composition we are able to see her thoughts swimming about as she contemplates everything that has occurred in her life. The modulations in this piece are life and death, something that is uncontrollable yet is inevitable. Everything moves according to one law-li feAnguish and pain, pleasure and death are nothing but a process in order to exist. (Kahlo) Her written views are contrasting to that expressed in her paintings. This painting is affective because it invites the viewer into the work; in affect the spectator completes it. Through this image Kahlo displays herself bare for every one to see; which adds a certain irony to the painting, as it is almost a nude portrait. In addition, this painting fits the classification of Surrealism because she utilizes imagery, which combines dream imagery with reality. In this chapter, the discussion of Kahlos and Emins work have given insight into the way in which psychoanalytical theories can be used in conjunction with artworks. It defines how the use of these theories can induce more depth into a painting which may not have had much substance to begin with. This in itself comfirms Deleuzes theory of percept showing how the artists mind is both in the real wold in which the body exists and in the world of the self, this theory will be challenged further in correlation with Cindy Shermans work in the next chapter.

Monday, August 19, 2019

John D. Rockeffelar and Northern Securities :: history

John D. Rockeffelar and Northern Securities In 1859 John D. Rockefeller started one of the greatest monopolies of the progressive era. The Standard Oil Company grew to dominate the oil industry and became one of the first big trust in the United States. In 1870 the Northern Pacific Railway which span from Duluth and St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon. Northern Pacific Railway was the first to offer passenger and service across the Western U.S. John Rockefeller was born July 8th, 1839, the second of six children. He took a business course at Folsom Mercantile College in 1855. He was employed as an assistant bookkeeper by Hewitt and Turtle. He was paid only $50 for 3 months of work. Moving up to a cashier he made $25 a month. With $1,000 saved and another $1,000 borrowed form his father, Rockefeller formed a partnership in commission business with Maurice B. Clark. In the same year the first oil well was drilled at Titusville in western Pennsylvania, give a rise to the petroleum industry. Cleveland soon became a major refining center of he booming new industry. In 1863 Rockefeller and Clark entered the oil business as refiners. With Samuel Andrews as their new partner they named the company Andrews, Clark & Co. In 1865 the partnership was broke because of disagreement in management. Rockefeller bought the Company for $72,500 and with Andrews it was named Rockefeller & Andrews. The oil industry began to expand because of the use of kerosene lamps. Rockefeller renamed the business to Standard Oil Company when his brother William, Andrews, Henry M. Flagler, S.V. Harkness, and others joined his partnership. The company reached a capitol of $1million. By 1872 Standard Oil had purchased and controlled nearly all the refining firms in Cleveland, also two refineries in New York. The company was able to refine 29,000 barrels of crude oil a day and had its own cooper shop manufacturing wooden barrels. In 1882 Standard merged all its properties into Standard Oil Trusts, increasing the capitol to $70million, and 42 certificate holders. Ten years later the trust was broke up by Ohio court decision. The companies that made up the trust later joined in the formation of Standard Oil Company (New Jersey), since NJ had adopted a law that permitted a parent company to own the stock of other companies. Standard Oil owned three-fourths of the petroleum business in the U. John D. Rockeffelar and Northern Securities :: history John D. Rockeffelar and Northern Securities In 1859 John D. Rockefeller started one of the greatest monopolies of the progressive era. The Standard Oil Company grew to dominate the oil industry and became one of the first big trust in the United States. In 1870 the Northern Pacific Railway which span from Duluth and St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon. Northern Pacific Railway was the first to offer passenger and service across the Western U.S. John Rockefeller was born July 8th, 1839, the second of six children. He took a business course at Folsom Mercantile College in 1855. He was employed as an assistant bookkeeper by Hewitt and Turtle. He was paid only $50 for 3 months of work. Moving up to a cashier he made $25 a month. With $1,000 saved and another $1,000 borrowed form his father, Rockefeller formed a partnership in commission business with Maurice B. Clark. In the same year the first oil well was drilled at Titusville in western Pennsylvania, give a rise to the petroleum industry. Cleveland soon became a major refining center of he booming new industry. In 1863 Rockefeller and Clark entered the oil business as refiners. With Samuel Andrews as their new partner they named the company Andrews, Clark & Co. In 1865 the partnership was broke because of disagreement in management. Rockefeller bought the Company for $72,500 and with Andrews it was named Rockefeller & Andrews. The oil industry began to expand because of the use of kerosene lamps. Rockefeller renamed the business to Standard Oil Company when his brother William, Andrews, Henry M. Flagler, S.V. Harkness, and others joined his partnership. The company reached a capitol of $1million. By 1872 Standard Oil had purchased and controlled nearly all the refining firms in Cleveland, also two refineries in New York. The company was able to refine 29,000 barrels of crude oil a day and had its own cooper shop manufacturing wooden barrels. In 1882 Standard merged all its properties into Standard Oil Trusts, increasing the capitol to $70million, and 42 certificate holders. Ten years later the trust was broke up by Ohio court decision. The companies that made up the trust later joined in the formation of Standard Oil Company (New Jersey), since NJ had adopted a law that permitted a parent company to own the stock of other companies. Standard Oil owned three-fourths of the petroleum business in the U.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

The Godfather :: Film Review,Coppola, The Gangsters

Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972) is among the best films ever produced. Consistently ranked as one of the top three films by the American Film institute, this gangster film sits among the likes of Citizen Kane (1941), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and the more recent Schindler’s List (1993) (American). When it was released, The Godfather was nominated for ten Academy Awards, and won three: Best Picture, Best Actor (Marlon Brando), and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film was adapted from the best-selling novel, with the same name, by Mario Puzo (Mast & Kawin, 332). The film takes place in a ten-year span between 1945 and 1955. It follows the Sicilian family headed by Vito Corleone who is played by Marlon Brando; Corleone is also the godfather or head of the Corleone Crime Family. Coppola’s film is not the first big screen version of a gangster film: Scarface (1933), The Public Enemy (1931), and Little Caesar (1931) are all pre-production code gangster films, but American Movie Classics’ Tim Dirks believes The Godfather â€Å"reinvented the gangster genre† (Dirks). Still, The Godfather’s has many similarities to pre-production code gangster films especially with its use of violence, and its portrayal of corruption of both the gangsters and the ‘good guys.’ The gangster films of the 30s and 40s had all but disappeared until The Godfather revived the genre. These films were not new to Hollywood: The Public Enemy (1931), Little Caesar (1930), and Scarface (1932), but the production code put an end to the style of the early gangster classics. Two production code principles for films made during its time, 1934-1967, were that â€Å"No picture should lower the moral standards of those who see it†¦the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin† and â€Å"[l]aw [†¦] must not be belittled, ridiculed, nor must a sentiment be created against it† (The Production code). These principles along with the film noir era essentially ended the way gangster films were made. Following the enforcement of the code, the focus shifted from the gangsters to the ‘good guys’ (Dirks). David Stirritt, film critic for the Christian Science Monitor, says Coppola’s film â€Å"revived the ga ngster genre† (Dirks). This revival helped other gangster films to make it to the big screen: Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas (1991) and Casino (1995), and Mike Newell’s Donnie Brasco (1997). The similarities between The Godfather and early gangster films are evident when they are compared.

Freud And Marx :: Sigmund Freud Karl Marx compare Essays

Freud and Marx   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Freud and Marx it can be argued were both, as individuals, dissatisfied with their societies. Marx more plainly than Freud, but Freud can also be seen as discontent in certain aspects such as his cynical view of human nature. Each were great thinkers and philosophers, but both seemed unhappy. Perhaps the social ills and trouble each perceived in the world about them were only the reflections of what each of the thinkers held within themselves. Each person observes the same world, but each of us interprets that information in a different way. They both saw the world as being injust or base. Each understood the disfunctions in society as being caused by some aspect of human greed or other similar instinct. They did however, disagree on what the vehicle for these instincts' corrupting influences are. Freud claimed that tension caused by the stuggle to repress anti-social instincts eventually was released and caused the social evils he observed. Marx also saw instincts at work but not the tensions and Id that Freud saw, Marx simply credited man's greed and the subsequent oppression of other men as the root to all that was wrong with civilization. It is interesting to note that both Freud and Marx saw conflict but each traced it back to sources each was respectively educated in.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Freud was a Psychoanalyst and his understanding of the mind was very conflict oriented. He saw man as a kind of glorified animal who had the same desires and needs as any other animal. The only true difference between the human-animal and other animals was that the human-animal possessed an intellect. Freud divided man's psyche into three parts, the Id, Ego, and SuperEgo. What differed the human-animal from any other animal was the SuperEgo, which arose from man's intellect. The Super-Ego as Freud theorised it is the values of one's parents internalised. He went further to then explain that unhappiness in life is caused by the conflict between the Id and the SuperEgo. As stated, all of Frued's philosophy was very conflict oriented so it is not difficult to understand then how Freud applied this view macrocosmically to society as a whole.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Freud addressed this in his essay, "Civilization and It's Discontents". In it, Freud claimed that civilizations are developed through the channeling of anti-social erotic and aggressive urges into constructive outlets. He went further and explained that social ills are caused by those members of society who are not satisfied with the substitutes supplied by the channelling of anti- social instincts into social creative energies. Such repression causes a certain tension which after awhile cannot be repressed and is released in socially

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Salvador Dali the Burning Giraffe

Salvador Dali The Burning Giraffe 1. Structural Frame In Paris in the mid sass's surrealism became the new art movement and was widespread and lasting. The movement was characterized by pictures that contained detailed, strange and unnerving objects with dream like character. The art has a visually striking, controversial and bizarre quality, which was the result of the rejected ‘need' for rational thought and behavior. Salvador Dali described the art as hand painted dream photographs†.This description pinpoints the realistic detail hat was contrasted with surreal images. ‘The Burning Giraffe' Salvador Dali was painted during his exile in the United States, but shows his personal struggle with the battle in his home country of Spain. It was painted before the Second World War and Dali believed the burning giraffe was a premonition of war. Dali interpreted the image of a giraffe with its back ablaze as â€Å"the masculine cosmic apocalyptic monster†. The paint ing illustrates ideas of death- through war, loss of individuality and the weakness of society.In contrast to the usual surrealist obsession with unconscious thought, Salvador Dali described his technique as the â€Å"paranoiac-critical method. † He employed this technique to create ‘The burning Giraffe' which allowed him to paint many optical allusions to create a dreamlike state. Surrealists painted with a high level of detail to create a sense of realism within the ‘dream'. Dalais style is precise and this enhances the ‘dream' or ‘nightmare' effect of ‘The burning Giraffe'. Dali used thinned oil paints s well as dense oil paints on a panel, which were traditional at the time.Salvador Dali was one of the many surrealist painters that often incorporated images of women into their work. Many male surrealist painters had a typical male attitude towards women such as worshipping them symbolically through stereotypes and sexist norms. Surrealists in cluding Salvador Dali had an interest in the concept of psychoanalysis developed by Sigmund Freud. This influence combined with his desires towards women enhanced the nightmare effect of his painting, which the realist painters tried to create. 2.Cultural Frame Women were often made to represent higher values and transformed into objects of desire and mystery. ‘The Burning Giraffe' depicts two women that are slim and curvaceous. One has a drawer opening from below her breasts and several more down her leg. This imagery gives an underlying impression that she is a sexual object as the open drawer could be a symbol of her sexual offerings and favors. The head, hands and part of the arms of the closest female are stripped down only to e the muscles beneath the skin whilst one figure holds a piece of meat.The meat is another symbol of an offering, giving the impression that the women were possibly seen as ‘meat', meaning they possibly were used for sexual favors. Dali shows a state of exhaustion by the uses of the crutches that hold and support the women. This image is symbolic of weakness and is present in many of Dalais work, consistent to address different themes with same effectiveness. Dali believed that both The Burning Giraffe and The Invention of Monsters were premonitions of war.Both of these paintings contain the image of a giraffe with its back ablaze, an image which Dali interpreted as â€Å"the masculine cosmic apocalyptic monster†. He first used this image of the giraffe in flames in his film L ‘Age door (The Golden Age) in 1930. The Burning Giraffe appears as very much a dreamboats, not simply because of the subject but also because of the supernatural aquamarine color of the background. Against this vivid blue color, the flames on the giraffe stand out to great effect. In the foreground, a woman stands with her arms outstretched.Her forearms and face are blood red, having been stripped to show the muscle beneath the flesh. The woman's face is featureless now, indicating a nightmarish helplessness and a loss of individuality. Behind her, a second woman holds aloft a strip of meat, representing death, entropy, and the human races capacity to devour and destroy. The women both have elongated phallic shapes growing out from their backs, and these are propped up with crutches ‘ Dali repeatedly uses this symbolism for a weak and flawed society.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Cash Pooling

Name: Dina Mohanna Rbea’an Subject: Cash Pooling Supervisor: Dr. Nasser Abu Mustafa University: NYIT? Cash Management: Cash pooling Abstract The role of the corporate cash manager has been continuously revised over the past few years, as a result of the demand for more effective and efficient ways to support the core needs of the organization. This has resulted in new responsibilities for the corporate treasurer and cash manager. The cash management function is demanding more accurate and continuous information on its cash position to provide responsive forecasting data and handling, so that availability of liquidity at the right time and price can be ensured. So this paper studies the Cash Management concept and focus on the cash pooling and whether it’s applied in the Middle East. Introduction The objectives of cash management are straightforward – maximise liquidity and control cash flows and maximise the value of funds while minimising the cost of funds. The strategies for meeting such objectives include varying degrees of long-term planning requirements. Also, like everywhere in the world, much treasury activity in the organizations is concentrated on cash management. This includes financing the corporation, administration of debts (loans, bonds, commercial papers, etc. ), good relationships with the banks, payments to suppliers and collections from customers, control of foreign currency and interest positions according to the company’s needs for finance, and finally the reporting and technical support of all these functions. The use of cash pooling as a global standard for concentrating cash into the main bank account of the firm has very quickly found favour in corporations. Cash pooling enables corporate groups to minimize expenditure incurred in connection with banking facilities through economies of scale. Under a cash pooling arrangement, entities within a corporate group regularly transfer their surplus cash to a single bank account (the â€Å"master accountâ€Å") and, in return, may draw on the funds in that account to satisfy their own cash flow requirements from time to time. The master account is usually held by the parent company or by a â€Å"Treasury Company â€Å"established specifically for this purpose. Depending on the type of cash pooling arrangement, the participating entities may transfer either their entire cash surplus (â€Å"zero balancingâ€Å"), or cash exceeding a certain surplus level (â€Å"target balancingâ€Å"). In general, all entities participating in the cash pooling arrangement will be liable for any negative balance on the master account, irrespective of the amount they have contributed. Transfers and draw-downs of funds to and from the master account by the participating companies have the nature of the grant and repayment of intra-group loans. In addition to physical cash pooling there is also â€Å"notionalâ€Å"(also known as â€Å"virtualâ€Å") cash pooling. This does not involve the physical transfer of funds, but rather the set-off of balances of different companies within the group, so that the bank charges interest on the group‘s net cash balance. This optimizes the position of the group as regards interest payments, but does not achieve optimal allocation of liquid funds as between the group members. Notional cash pooling will not result in the creation of intra-group loans, since funds are not physically transferred. As such, many of the risks outlined in this brochure do not apply to a purely notional cash pooling arrangement. In practice however, a notional cash pooling arrangement will frequently involve the grant of cross-guarantees and security by the participants to the bank, in order to maximize the available overdraft facility. To this extent, many of the risks outlined in this article could be relevant, even if the cash pooling arrangement is predominantly notional in nature. The specific structure of individual cash pooling arrangements can vary. For example, transfers to the master account may be undertaken by each participating group member individually or may instead be undertaken automatically by the bank on the basis of a power of attorney given by the relevant group company. In addition to the facility agreement with the respective bank, each participating group company will usually enter into â€Å"cash pooling agreementâ€Å". These agreements must be carefully structured in order to minimize the risks of civil or criminal liability of the participating group companies and their officers. Tax issues must also be carefully considered when structuring cash pooling agreements. Types of cash pooling Banks generally offer the following types of cash pooling: ?zero-balancing cash pooling, ?notional cash pooling, ?multicurrency cash pooling, ?Cross-border cash pooling. ?Zero -balancing cash pooling : Real cash pooling is based on a transfer from bank accounts to a master account, with balances on all bank accounts except the master account being zero at the end of the working day. It means this money physically ‘moves’ from the junior accounts to the master account. Real cash pooling requires companies to keep careful records of cash transfers, interest received and paid, and records of investments. Structure of a â€Å"Zero-Balancing-Pool† ?National pooling: Requires a company’s subsidiaries to use branches of the same bank, usually in the same country; although with the adoption of the euro, single-currency cross-border pooling has become rather common in Europe. All the excess and deficit balances in the company’s subsidiary accounts are summed each day to calculate the net interest earned or due. Funds are not actually transferred; rather, they are simply totalled for the purpose of calculating interest. Banks usually require credit facilities to support any deficit balances in the pool. National pooling generally requires extensive cross-guarantees among subsidiaries which many companies find very difficult to implement. Some countries disallow national pooling . among them are the United States, Germany, Mexico, Japan and Brazil. In countries where national pooling is not allowed, the zero balance pooling method must be used. Structure of â€Å" National pooling† ?Multicurrency cash pooling: Bank account balances in different foreign currencies are swapped to one agreed currency, which is the base for the interest rate calculations. ?Cross-border cash pooling Cross-border cash pooling helps corporations avoid the bureaucracy intrinsic to transferring cash across countries and different clearing systems, as well as different legal entities and the headache associated with the additional inter-company loan administration. While there is a selection of solutions in the marketplace, most of these operate on an interest enhancement basis where corporations are rewarded for servicing their liquidity through their chosen bank, but the bank is unable to achieve a balance sheet offset due to the complexity of multiple jurisdictional and regulatory barriers. Czech banks now offer cross-border pooling, both notional and real, for accounts in the domestic Czech koruna, euro, US dollar, Central European currencies (such as in the Slovak koruna, Hungarian forint and Polish zloty) and pound. These principles are used both in the Czech Republic and in the rest of Europe, and are therefore similar; any differences are the result of the legal requirements of each country. As mentioned above, the Czech Commercial Code does not recognise anything like ‘concern’ or a product like cash pooling. It is necessary to fulfil several conditions to prevent problems concerning taxation and reporting to minority shareholders. It is practically impossible to implement a cash pooling agreement between companies without a majority share. It is normal practice that a cash pooling system has to be agreed by a general meeting of the company and there is a strict requirement for signed control agreements. Sometimes, it is necessary to change the company articles of incorporation. †¢Reasons of Cash pooling : Reduction of financing costs on group level, -Improvement of investment-deposits by using economies of scale, -Simplification of liquidity-management on domestic level, -Reduction of expenses for financial intermediaries through centralization, -Improvement of planning cash flows through coordination of financial cycles, -Optimization of your financial image by decreasing external financing and better use of internal financial potentials, -Break-Even at about EUR 200'000 permanent liabilities on the accounts. Cash management in the Middle East: As in the rest of the world, cash management in the Middle East is benefiting from automation. How is this affecting different sizes of corporate, and what does the future hold in this area? The Middle East region, which includes countries like UAE, Oman and Qatar, has kept pace with the growth in such business ambitions and cash management is also not to be left out of this race to riches, as businesses continually explore opportunities to make more money, more profits and reduce costs. The excellent growth climate in countries like UAE, fuelled by ambitions and visions of the rulers and the business community, has resulted in opportunities, growth of infrastructure, access to international and other funds through opening up and freehold real estates, trading environments, the presence of more ‘free zones', creating a healthy and open competition for the survival and growth of the fittest, etc Multi-national corporate Middle East, especially the UAE, has recently seen an influx of many multi-national companies (MNCs) setting up their regional offices, treasury offices, marketing offices, etc. n UAE and managing the global operations. To attract such MNCs into the region, financial and general free zones plus offshore financial centers have sprung up everywhere with the intentions of inviting the best of MNCs to come and have their shops opened in these countries. The absence of tax regimes has added to the attraction in these markets. These companies typically need 24 hour Internet access, sweeping and pooling of funds and balances across banks and branches, competitive FX and deposit rates, competitive temporary overnight overdraft interest rates and credit interest on overnight floats. The ideal location of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in the global map, the growth of communication, infrastructure, Internet, etc. have led to the explosive growth of such companies in the region Local corporate GCC is predominantly dominated by a number of local corporate or companies or family owned businesses, which are typically owned by large local/national families of businessmen. Most of these families have very successful and historic track records and have been associates/local representatives/agents for most of multinational brands from all over the world. The local regulations for a sponsor from a national has been a great aid in ensuring that the multinationals tie up with these local corporate for mutual success of business lines. While the MNC does the production, transport, marketing support, service association, etc. , the Local Corporate typically takes the local marketing and sales realization risk, like any MNC agency. This combination of MNCs and local corporate has worked very well historically in the GCC with the result that there is a successful association of MNC brands and families in the GCC. In many of these countries, the lack of restrictions such as taxes, financial regulations to publish books of accounts and audit, etc. have made the operations of such corporate mostly family driven. Recently, and especially in the last four to five years, GCC business families have started expanding into other countries in the region and also into countries in East and North Africa and other parts of the world, where investments in assets and business yields good and long-term returns for the business houses. In other words, the local corporate have been the opposite of the MNCs coming and operating into the GCC, and typically such local corporate are slowly growing and reaching the sizes of MNCs, albeit the growth into other competitive countries like Singapore, UK, other parts of Europe and the US have been very limited or generally non-existent. Mid-sized trading companies GCC has been historically characterized by a host of mid-sized trading companies, thanks to the general economic growth, healthy competition, absence of taxes and rules regime and a general absence of governmental red tape. Today, people of most GCC nationalities could come and start a business in any of the Free Zones in their own name, or if they choose to partner a national, they can start the business anywhere in these countries, with very limited capital and resources. The laws and business conditions have been very conducive for the mushrooming growth of such mid-sized companies, which have thrived, in the general economic upswing in the Middle East. While it is extremely difficult to list out the number of these companies, it is generally felt among banking community that the number of mid-sized corporate or companies (along with the small and medium enterprises (SMEs)) might currently be in the region of 15,000 numbers in UAE alone. This brings an exciting opportunity for smart entrepreneurs who thrive on such opportunities as also for smart bankers who have built a portfolio of such assets and relationships. On the cash management front, such small companies do not have many demands except that they require immediate and urgent funds clearance, remittances for payments, overnight float interest, good interest rates for deposits, etc. Many of them are also computer or Internet savvy and would be happy to use such online services to transact with their banks. Small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs have been the sleeping giants in the GCC business world, but they have now woken up to be a mid-sized monster. While banks are repeatedly facing the ever-decreasing margins (be it in interest rates, commissions, charges or any form of income to the bank) in the MNC and large corporate segments, it is the SME that has come as the boon for the dwindling revenues of banks. SMEs have been the ideal examples for the usual risk philosophy of ‘higher the risk, higher the return'. SME segment today offers the highest interest rates and margins in terms of lending – sometimes as high as 600 to 800 basis points over LIBOR/DIBOR, not to mention the amount of charges and commission. The risks of such SMEs have been mastered by many banks to offer an excellent basket of spread-out lending while keeping an eye on high margins. These SMEs will be the lifeline of banks in the next six to 10 years, and I personally believe that among the corporate income of banks, SMEs will represent the largest amount of this income. They could represent 70-80% in four to five years from now. This is an educated guess on what may happen, based on what is happening today. †¢Economic overview: There has always been a strong correlation between crude oil prices and the state of the Middle Eastern economies. With oil receipts accounting for 90% of government revenues in several Gulf countries and public projects dominating the markets, economic growth is largely dependent on the local government's expansionary policies. In view of the oil industry's cyclical nature, governments have become cautious in planning their annual budgets. An IMF study revealed that the Middle East countries, which were the beneficiaries of windfall oil export revenues in 2000-01, are using these gains prudently so as to be well equipped to deal with any sudden fall in oil prices over next few years. In addition, the governments have recognised the importance of economic diversification, and are now encouraging economic activity in sectors other than oil. Much of this effort has gone into developing manufacturing, trading, and tourism. Figure 1: Regional Macroeconomic Data and Forecasts †¢Financial Environment: The Gulf countries offer some of the most liberal financial environments, with fully convertible currencies, stable exchange rates, minimal exchange controls, and nil-to-low tax regimes. The relative political stability and increased economic cooperation between regional countries are some of the positive developments that attract big players to look at the Middle East as a viable investment alternative. Many of the Middle East countries that carefully protected themselves against the threat of foreign investors for so long are now inviting foreign capital to diversify their economies. Even the highly conservative states, such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, are gradually extending investment and ownership rights to foreign nationals. Free-trade zones, which were pioneered by the UAE and are now a common feature of all Gulf countries, have been instrumental in providing sole ownership and control to foreign investors. Apart from simplified registration and licensing procedures, free-trade zones offer tax holidays and world-class infrastructure facilities; thus, they are attracting new investors. †¢Banking System: The banking activities in the Middle East are largely domestic. The financial sector is engaged in a whole range of activities, from traditional public sector-dominated banking to state-of-the-art project finance and investment banking. Some banks are starting to obtain ratings from international agencies to pave the way for a more regional role. The governments have also been attempting to strengthen the banking sector by recapitalizing the domestic banks and ensuring that international capital requirements are met. There is a move towards encouraging smaller banks to merge and to develop domestic capital markets. Overall, there are many ongoing reforms designed to develop a sound banking system. The banking system in the Middle East is relatively flexible, and allows the opening and operation of a wide variety of accounts. However, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia do place some restrictions. Details of possible account structures are given in Figure 2 below. †¢Clearing System: All the countries in the Middle East, except for Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have a manual clearing system. Saudi Arabia has a real-time settlement system called the Saudi Riyal Interbank Express (SARIE). The SARIE is capable of interfacing with the electronic banking platforms of clearing participants for the online settlement of transactions. In the UAE, the Central Bank has recently introduced a real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system to facilitate interbank payments. Some other regional countries are also considering introducing such systems. The settlement days for manual clearing depend on the local practices and the level of sophistication in each country. The average time to clear a local currency cheque ranges from one to three working days in major cities. Outstation cheques take anywhere from between five and 10 working days for realization. Foreign currency cheques take between five and 15 working days to clear. The lack of automated clearing and settlement systems has hampered the automation of payment services, such as high-volume and low-value payments. Banks have worked around this by accepting payment instructions electronically, and then effecting payment through cheque printing or bank-to-bank transfers. †¢Liquidity Management Products: The availability of several account types is further augmented by a liberal regulatory framework that supports the setting up of domestic and cross-border concentration and pooling structures. In Saudi Arabia, there are no explicit laws on various aspects of liquidity management set-ups. Egypt allows pooling and cash concentration between resident and non-resident accounts, and also between two different legal entities. Bahrain and the UAE also permit pooling and cash concentration among different legal entities. However, it is advisable to seek legal opinion before establishing a liquidity management structure. †¢Cash Management Overview: As the regional markets grow in sophistication, there is a corresponding need for corporate to improve their operational efficiency and cost competitiveness. Over the last year, several banks have introduced electronic banking services – both Internet and non-Internet based – to provide services ranging from simple account information to transaction automation. Despite the presence of the underlying framework, locally owned corporate have been slow to subscribe to electronic banking mainly due to fears of loss of control. Even multinational corporations (MNCs) have been unable to implement an efficient and integrated cash management system due to low volumes and a lack a full array of cash management products and services with the banks. Figure 2: Cash Management for the Middle Eas †¢Current Practice by Corporate, and Trends in Cash Management: The concept of cash management is fast catching on in the region. With an increasing number of companies looking beyond their domestic frontiers to sustain growth, there is a need to optimize costs and manage risk. While MNCs have the concept filtered down from their group offices, large professionally-managed domestic companies with a well-diversified portfolio are increasingly looking at cash management as an important risk management tool. In the Middle East, companies are looking at online banking information and the automation of transaction processing by the use of an integrated banking platform, preferably interfaced with their back office system. This trend is growing as companies adopt enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Cash management requirements among corporate vary depending on the size and nature of operations. MNCs and large corporate look for more comprehensive cash management tools involving non-resident accounts, interest-bearing deposit accounts, cross-border cash concentration, and notional pooling. Also, those corporate with clearly defined collection and payment processes perceive accounts payable as a non-core business activity and look to outsource these services to banks. Meanwhile, the huge middle-market corporate, which are not really geared towards full automation, are limited to piecemeal use of electronic banking services. Banks offer varied cash management services and product ranges. In general, the international banks, which have a better regional network and offer more sophisticated electronic banking platforms and domestic and cross-border liquidity mechanisms compared to domestic banks, are clearly the leaders in cash management business. Domestic banks score better on in-country branch networks †¢What Does the Future Hold For Cash Management in the Middle East? Direct debits: Wherein based on a standing debit authority, utility and other bills will be directly raised by utility companies to banks who will debit the customer account and pay. †¢Bulk upload of salaries to debit cards and withdrawals through ATMs specially located in customer premises. †¢Complete debtor/invoice payments follow up on behalf of customers to ensure that invoices are collected in time. †¢Complete and automatic link up of all payments for purchases/supplies, wherein banks will automatically pay for the purchases made by customers, based on invoice details uploaded automatically. Secured payment gateways between the top 100 to 200 companies in the world, wherein a global clearing player (could be a top class global bank) will act as a central clearing bank for such companies and any funds or payments for them will be routed through the clearing bank globally. †¢Conclusion: The economic stability and the world class infrastructure offered by the Middle East makes it an attractive destination for setting up of shared service centers (SSCs). Locations such as Bahrain and Dubai have already emerged as preferred centers for setting up of regional hubs covering the Middle East and some African countries. Banks in the region are waking up to the tremendous potential of e-banking, and are investing heavily in technology. The next few years present exciting times for the business and service providers, as the new and existing players gear up to meet the challenges being offered by the New Economy On corporate cash management in the GCC, V. P. Nagarajan, executive director at Emirates Trading Agency – Ascon Group says: â€Å"Corporate cash management is an important tool of corporate finance today and, as days pass by, cash management will be the centre point around which the functions of finance will revolve. If we have a financial crystal ball and look into the future, we can visualize a corporate cash manager juggling his financial resources across the world in a computer the size of his palm. At the press of a button, he will be traveling over the notional financial super highway (which should take about a few seconds to reach the other parts of the globe and the universe) for a virtual reality decision across. Some of the easier decisions in those days will be there will no physical currencies (saves a lot of printing and paper expenses), no multiple branches of banks (all of them will be operating from internet or computer driven global centers), and still there will be the cash management sales bankers who will come and try to sell what they do not have. † Hopefully corporate cash management will see a world of change as we move forward. †¢References: 1-http://www. gtnews. com/article/6920. fm Cash Management in the Middle East Rajeev Babel, HSBC Global Payments and Cash Management 2-http://www. gtnews. com/article/4172. cfmCash Management – The Middle East PerspectiveVenkatesan Thiagarajan, Barclays 3- Essentials of treasury management second edition (association for financial professional) . 4- De Gidlow, R. , Donovan, S. (2005), Cash Management Techniques. In: The Treasurer’s Handbook 2005, Act, London 5- Heezius, D. , Polak, P. (2006), Country Guide: The Czec h Republic. In: The Treasurer’s Handbook 2006, Act, London.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Facebook Should Be Banned

Social Network: an online community of people with a common interest who use a Web site or other technologies to communicate with each other and share information, resources(dictionary. com). There are almost 500 million users of social networks and spent over 700 billion minutes a month using them. Is this hindering our social skills? There are many ways that people interact with each other such as e-mail, texting, a social network but the least used interaction is face to face.A negative impact that social networks have on our relationships is that social networks might strengthen our relationship with acquaintances and people we don’t see often; social networks weaken our strong relationships and also bring about physical social isolation. The term â€Å"social network† leads you to believe that you are in fact being social when these sites are used more for a phone book or search engine.Instead of calling your friend and asking what they have planned for the night o r weekend, you can just look at their posts to find out. This contact is very impersonal and allows the least amount of interaction between two parties Social Networks allow you to overestimate the level of intimacy you have with someone. Social networks allow you to think that a person is more committed to a relationship or friendship more than they actually are. You need to be sure you are putting in a balanced time of online and offline relationships.According to a study by John Cacioppo (researcher at the University of Chicago), those who use social networks are more susceptible to the emotional contagion effects. An emotional contagion is the tendency to catch and feel emotions that are similar to and influenced by those of others. In his studies, it was found that loneliness alone was transmitted through social networks. Also, his study showed that 52% of those who have direct social network interactions with a lonely person they too will become lonely.Those who have a â€Å" friend of a friend† connection with said person will be 25% more lonely. You’ve probably also seen that sometimes normal courtesy and politeness—aspects we would utilize in our face-to-face interactions are sometimes missing in the online space, that we would use in face to face interactions. Many of these social networks have a chat feature. Because of this many people don’t pick up on humor, sarcasm, and sympathy. Along with this, if you were in a face to face interaction you have the added facial expressions and body language.Along with this chat feature people don’t have to talk directly so it is easy to hide behind the internet because you won’t have to directly address the problem. Because of social networking many people lose their ability to hold a conversation. Many people who use social networks lose the ability to spell correctly because they use shorthand such as U, tomoro, k and many others. Social Networks are very harmful, but if you balance out your online and offline relationships and don’t let social networks become your ‘hangout’, it shouldn’t be a problem.