Promote communication in health and social care Essay

1.1 Identify the different reasons people communicate: To share thoughts; To share information; To express feelings; To share ideas; To build relationships; To create effective communication; To gain reassurance and acknowledgment; see more:explain how individuals from different backgrounds may use communication methods in different ways. People communicate in order to establish and maintain relationships with others, to give and receive information and instructions, to understand and be understood, to share opinions, knowledge, feelings, and emotions, to give encouragement and show others they are valued. 1.2 Explain how communication affects relationship in the work setting: Communication is very important because without communication lots Of misunderstanding would happen. Communication is a fundamental relationship-building skill in the workplace. If people don’t communicate well they limit their ability to connect, can create conflict. Good communication skills are essential, because they help them to develop relationships and demonstrate that they care. Helps to build trust and relationships. Also it encourages participation, create equality, promote empathy and share understanding. 2.1 Observation 2.2 Describe the factors to consider when promoting effective communication. There are many factors to consider when trying promoting effective communication. There are some of them. Disabilities such as: Hearing loss, impaired vision, mobility problems or speech impairment. Environment: Environment is very important factor to consider as well. Ensure the lights, air, temperature, noise and crowd. 2.3 Observation 2.4 Observation 3.1 Explain how people from different backgrounds may use and/or interpret communication methods in different ways: Communication can be different when related with people from different backgrounds. Communication can be interpreted different ways depending of the person you are talking with. It can be because they don’t speak English, are from a different country or they may not understand you. Communication can be used in many ways by using different methods. Verbal language or non-verbal language such as: Touch Gestures Proximity Tone of voice Language used. People from different backgrounds can use communication by being confident. This shows their personality and will help the communication between them and others around. Different backgrounds of different people can cause misunderstandings when using communication. Therefore cause conflicts. It is important to understand that people who do come from different backgrounds may have different ways of communicating and they may even interpret the way others communicate unexpectedly different. 3.2 Identify barriers to effective communication There are many barriers for effective communication stereotyping is one. When an individual has a preconception about another individual, it makes it difficult for the individual not to see the other’s communication as a prejudice. Not understanding or being aware of an individual’s needs, wishes, beliefs, values and culture. Not making communication aids available or checking they are working A noisy environment A lack of privacy Not allowing sufficient time to listen. 3.3 Observation 3.4 Observation 3.5 Explain how to access extra support or services to enable individuals to communicate effectively: Looking for specialties organisations such as: GP Individual’s family/friends Social worker Specialist nurse Advocate Support groups 4.1 Explain the meaning of the term confidentiality: It means keep information private and safe. It can include that you would have to passing on private information with the permission individual’s permission or only passing on information without the individual’s permission to others, who have a right to it or need to know it. 4.2 Observation: 4.3 Describe the potential tension between maintaining an individual’s confidentiality and disclosing concerns: Breaching a confidence Not respecting the individual’s rights to privacy Putting the rights of others before those of the individual Safeguarding issues. http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/80799-level-3-unit-pwcs-31-principles-of-communication-in-adult-social-care-settings.pdf http://www.studymode.com/essays/Barriers-To-Effective-Communication-77841.html

A time when I felt isolated or lonely

â€Å"Wow! A three days survival camp without a leader or teacher. Cool! Mum, can I join this camp?† I asked my mum eagerly. My mum, who was observing the book section, turned around and looked at the poster, â€Å"This?† â€Å"Yes,† I explained, â€Å"It's a three days hiking camp. I will hike with another two people from an over-sea scout team.† She examined the advertisement for a moment and said, â€Å"But there aren't any teachers following you.† â€Å"That's why I'm so keen to join this camp,† I exclaimed ardently. â€Å"This is the time when I can really use the skills I learnt in the past two months, surviving in the wild. And if I really have problems, I'm sure my amiable team mates can help me.† My mum studied the poster for a few more moments and finally said, â€Å"Well, if you're so willing to join this survival camp, I will let you.† I kept on telling my parents how happy I was like a parrot at dinner time, but my dad's facial expression stopped me from repeating. He had a small encouraging smile on his face, which looked pretty normal, however when I looked deep into his eyes, I could see that he's worried. â€Å"What's the matter, dad?† â€Å"Umm†¦nothing much. It's just that I had a dog's life the last time I had a survival camp, but I'm sure the one you joined is much better. Hope you have fun,† my dad hesitated strangely. I stared at him for a few seconds, figuring what's that statement about. Slowly and uneasily, I replied, â€Å"Course I will.† The field day was a warm sunny day that you could get plenty of wind, perfect for hiking. When I arrived to the starting point, the team leader approached to me and informed me about my team mates who are both French but speak fluent English. Around five minutes later, two teenagers were heading to this direction. They both wore the scout suits but I was more interested on their badges. From what I could see, they had at least three rock climbing prizes, which show that they are brilliant at climbing. The team leader went to them and said, â€Å"I assume you are Dominic (pointing at the taller one) and this is John (point at the fatter one),† they both nodded, â€Å"and this is your team mate Kelvin.† I put out a hand for shaking, but they just stared at me like a foreigner. The leader ignored their reaction, and continued on his speech, â€Å"Before you guys set off, I want to ask you a question, have you got your map with you? (We all nodded), good, do you know where you're going? (We all nodded), good, then I will leave and you may start now. Good luck.† During the next hour, I tried lots of ways to make friends with them but they just didn't respond and what annoyed me the most is their language. I remembered very clearly that they both spoke fluent English, but what I heard is French, pure French. They chatted to each other and laughed very often while I walked on my own. I tried to calm my anger by enjoying the view, but everytime I felt better, they laughed loudly and exclaimed a phrase in French. I just couldn't stand it anymore. I stomped to their side and asked, â€Å"Don't you guys speak English? I'm also your team mate and I don't understand one damn word you're saying. Can you please switch your channel to English and show me some team spirit?† Dominic and John gazed at me for a few seconds like I was a stranger who just interrupted their great conversation, then they went back to their talk. After another fifteen minutes, they started scowling at me, spoke a few sentences to each other, and started smirking. The smirk made me saw the handwriting on the wall but the only thing I could do was to be more careful. I kept observing them to find out what they're playing at but there's nothing wrong for an hour, so I stopped the observation and went back to luxuriate the view. All of a sudden, I heard a loud shivery scream from Dom then I descried a furry gigantic animal being thrown at me out of the blue. An animal I fear the most, spider. I quickly dodged away and screamed as loud as I could. Then, under my shriek, I could hear two people laughing; Dom and John were guffawing their head off. John said breathlessly, â€Å"Do you see how scared he is? That's the loudest scream I ever heard.† Dom nodded, went to the spider and picked it up. Was it my illusion or what? Did I just heard a language that I understand? And how came the spider didn't struggle when Dom picked it up? I thought of a second then everything just came together at once. It's true that they spoke English and I had just been tricked. The spider is fake! I looked at them disgustedly, rushing past them as quickly as I can. Their unbearable action just made me detest them more and didn't even want to look at them. For the rest of the day, I walked in front of them without saying a word or trying to revenge. I decided not to disturb them and desired they would not irritate me, but this never happened. They kept on insulting me on everything I do. I tried to sing quietly to relax, and they cried stop and emphasised what a bad voice I had. I wished to rest for a moment, and â€Å"suck† was the reply. I walked wearily until evening when they wanted to stop and started setting up the tent. The tent was quite big and needed at least three people to set it up, so even though Dom and John wanted me to do all the work, they helped. They got in first and blocked the entrance with their back-pack. â€Å"No filthy Chinks allow in this clean tent,† John yelled. I stood there, looking blankly at the tent, and then a wave of anger filled me like a tsunami. I kicked the tent fiercely and tried to turn it over, but this action didn't last long, John whirled out and grabbed me by my collar. â€Å"You're not welcome in this tent, you Chink,† John shouted and threw me to the ground. I stared up at him, terrified as he thumped back into the tent. I got up slowly, examined the environment, trying to find a place without too many rocks. After lots of effort, I found a place with little amount of rocks near to the tent, I put my mat on it and lied down. Though there's a mat, I could still feel the hardness of the floor, and the tiny sharp stones stinging my back. Small ants crawled on my right leg and bite, but I was too exhausted to scratch them. I looked at the dark blue sky, thinking about the horrible day I had just experienced, then my dad's word faded into my mind, â€Å"†¦I have a dog's life the last time I join a survival camp†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Although today was not as bad as a dog's life, it's not better. â€Å"I should listen to dad, he's always right. I wonder what he is doing now; maybe he's watching TV with mum†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I thought of the cosy bed in my room that doesn't has any insects in it. I thought of my friends who respect me and never leave me alone. When I thought of my buddies, I could feel tears cascaded down my face. My friends and team mates were like angels and devils; two kind of extreme creatures. I kept on thinking of the good I had with my companions; how we laughed at each others' jokes and helped each other out, and slowly I dozed off with a smile on my face. Next morning, I walked in front of them as usual, staying quiet. Not for long, we arrived to a slope narrow rock wall. The wall is similar to every wall you can see in the wild but this one have a rope hanging from the top. â€Å"This must be the string to tie up my safety lock,† I thought as I open my back-pack and found the lock. Dom looked down his nose at me and teased, â€Å"You suck at everything. Why do we need a safety lock for a short wall?† I ignored him, and continued to find the lock. Dom and John jumped on the wall and started climbing. Five seconds later, I heard a shriek of help above me. I quickly looked up and the sight stunned me. About five metres up the mountain, John was trying to make a big leap. Unluckily, he missed for only a few inches, so he tried to clutch on something, but fail. Everything seemed to happen so quickly, he fell on the ground, hand first, then blood started dripping from his hand and knee. Dom slowly got to the floor and looked at his injury but did nothing about it. â€Å"Don't you know how to do first aid?† I questioned. They looked at each other shamefully and shook their head. I really wanted to laugh at them but I knew I should not. They didn't show me respect but that didn't mean I needed to do the same thing to them. I took out my bandage from my first aid box and wrapped it around John's injury arm. I also took out a bottle of ethanol and washed the wound with it. After first aiding, my team mates both looked at me thankfully, â€Å"Thank you†¦um†¦a†¦sorry about what happened yesterday. W†¦we don't mean it.† I put out a hand and say, â€Å"so can we be friends now?† They nodded and shook my hand. From then on, I didn't hear a single insulting word or French from them, and the rest of the journey continued to be remarkable, in a good way.

A white girls Burden

A white girls Burden†, written Amy Finnegan is an article about a social movement, which happened in 2012, this is most commonly referred to as Kony 2012. This movement was started by a group of 3 regular Californian guys who had typical lives who were motivated to started an organization on this situation which is called invisible children, which was first formed in 2003. The video titled â€Å"Kony 2012† is 30 minutes long and quickly made an appearance on many social networks and newspapers across North America, â€Å"sparking wide spread concern about the lords resistance army (LRA) war in central Africa†. Once this video became viral thousands of people became moved about this issue and started to help fundraise thousands of dollars to help the cause from all ages of people. â€Å"Invisible children mobilizes predominantly young, privileged, evangelical Christian, female Americans to participate in a unique form of â€Å" non-wave-making activism† (Finnegan, 2013). Aside from fundraising people were also reaching out to all the contacts and sources they had to further raise the awareness of the war in Africa. Soon after the video was released invisible children had already raised 1 million dollars after a week. The founders of the organization â€Å"invisible children† all had faith and were into religion, however they did not want to mix religion and business. Invisible children made a social movement unlike many others, through social medial and non-violent actions. â€Å"Distinct from activism that seeks to make social change by engaging institutions through civil disobedience or public protests, invisible children promotes legal, institutional forms of engagement. † (Finnegan, 2013). Some major events that invisible children has achieved is hosted the largest lobby day ever about an African issue in U.  S history, they have also successfully gained several minutes of unscheduled airtime with Oprah to raise awareness about this conflict. In â€Å"less than an year, of the lords resistance army disarmament and northern Uganda recovery act, at a bipartisan piece of legislation that mandated that the Obama administration provide funds for the northern Uganda recovery and transitional justice initiatives, and eventually send 100 military advisors to the region in October 2011† (Finnegan, 2013). Invisible children have also being contacted by George Clooney, and other popular films like Blood Diamond. However there are 3 main problems discussed in this article regarding invisible children, firstly the media seemed to misrepresent Uganda and what one knows about it. Secondly, â€Å" invisible children also promoted policies that are highly controversial† and lastly â€Å" Americans shallow an ill-informed understanding of Africa, and a distorted picture of their own role in social change. † (Finnegan, 2013). Invisible children have focused on gaining the attention on young people because these types of people are the future and are becoming more passionate and involved in stories and issues similar to this concern all around the world. Mobilizing young people to become active on these issues is very important and very effective to changing the world, young people are more socially active online and do participate in other subjects such as invisible children and stopping Joseph Kony. This issue is still going on but has gotten better; problems like this cannot be solved overnight but throughout the past 2 years have made a significant difference and will continue to get better. Because of the generous donations and support a lot has been done regarding this issue and has led others to become aware of different problems, situations, organizations, and groups around the world.

Nicolas Roegs Bad Timing Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Nicolas Roegs Bad Timing - Movie Review Example It's a completely different discipline, it exists on its own. I would say that the beauty of it is it's not the theater, it's not done over again. It's done in bits and pieces. Things are happening which you can't get again." When the French poet, theorist-filmmaker, Jean Epstein, first delivered his concept of Photogenie to Parisian salons and academic circles at the Sorbonne in 1923 and 1924, film as an art form was in its infancy. The whole idea of film as a medium worthy of serious scholarship, along with the evolution of the auteur theory, was still decades off. Yet, the seeds were planted and if it wasn't for his early, groundbreaking works, (or in Walter Benjamin's case, "shocking" words), we wouldn't have the concept of "independent film" or cinema as an art form onto itself, something we often take for granted today. The films of director Nicolas Roeg, taken as a whole, have been read as experimental, voyeuristic, brilliant and bombastic. Roeg started out working in the British film industry in London and developed his craft working as a camera assistant. He ended up heading second units on two films for director David Lean, the epic masterpieces, Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago. Roeg then went on to win high acclaim in his own right as the cinematographer of the classic films; Fahrenheit 451, Far From the Madding Crowd and Petulia, for the influential directors; Francois Truffaut, John Schlesinger, and Richard Lester. When Roeg decided it was time to direct his own films, he proceeded with an instinctual knowledge of what he wanted. It is with this sensibility, a way of pursuing his craft by what appeals to the senses, that he approached the film Bad Timing : A Sensual Obsession, a work that many have argued is one of his best, along side the classic Don't Look Now. I will pursue, in this paper, how Epstein's concept of photogenie and Walter Benjamin's idea of the "optical unconscious", from his essay, "The Work of Art in the Age of Technological Reproducibility"2, are seminal to the work of Roeg in the film Bad Timing; in his use of the camera, his approach to the actors (especially in relationship in their use of props), his development of the story in his editing choices and in the final "re-structuring" of the film. Jean Epstein defined his concept of "photogenie", first coined by Lois Delluc as "the art of cinema", as "any aspect of things, beings or souls whose moral character is enhanced by filmic reproduction". He goes on to say: "The mind travels in time, just as it does in space. But whereas in space we imagine three directions at right angles to each other, in time we conceive only one: the past-future vector. We can conceive a space-time system in which the past-future direction also passes through the point of intersection of the three acknowledged spatial directions, at the precise moment when it is between past and future: the present, a point in time, an instant without duration, as

'As large firms embrace the benefits of traditional marketing, they Essay

'As large firms embrace the benefits of traditional marketing, they must also embrace the rigours of Web analytics to measure - Essay Example With big companies spending huge amounts of resources to market their products, it is essential that they make good decisions on how to invest on their marketing endeavors and to measure the returns on these investments. One of the tools used to provide metrics relating to online marketing is web analytics. This paper will discuss the importance of web analytics in measuring organizations’ return on marketing investment. Web Analytics and Its Importance The web has grown to become a very powerful vehicle for communicating and marketing as noted by Burby and Atchison (2007, p1). It makes it easy for businesses to communicate fast and easily with millions of customers spread across the globe in real time. As a result, it has changed the speed at which businesses and their brands can be established and grow. The web has also shortened the distance between the marketer and the customer both physically and emotionally to the period of a click of the mouse Burby and Atchison (2007, p1). With many large organizations appreciating the value of having a web presence, they are prepared to invest if only there is bound to be good returns on their investment (Clifton 2012, p. 1). Organizations have therefore to decide how much to invest in their online marketing endeavours and establish the most cost effective way to market the site and have valuable leads that translate into sales. A few years ago, many organizations with a web presence could not tell who and how many visitors landed on their websites. This is no longer the case today. Many large organizations today have the capability of knowing a lot about the visitors to their websites and the activities that the visitors perform on these sites, thanks to web analytics Burby and Atchison (2007, p. 14). Web analytics involves collecting, measuring, analyzing and reporting data retrieved from the Internet with the aim of understanding and optimizing usage of the web as noted by Peterson (2004, p. 5). Some of the v ariables measured on-site include drivers and conversions. In other words, web analytics is mainly dedicated to generating more leads to an e-business, enhancing brand awareness, and learning more about customers and the business (Loveday & Niehaus 2007, p. 34). The information that the organization in this respect includes how the customers find an organization’s website, how much they spend on each webpage and what they do when they land on the site. An organization, for example, can get to know which of the landing pages on a website lead more customers to purchase its goods or services online. Using this information, the organization can further optimize its web pages or make changes to some of its pages to attract more conversions (Napier 2006, 225). In addition to these, the organization may rely on web analytics to find a clue as to why visitors leave their website or a particular web page (Plaza 2009, p. 478). With this information, an organization can attract more vi sitors to their website and convert them into paying customers. Web analytics can be done on-site and off-site. Off-site web analytics involves the measurement of a websites visibility, potential audience, and buzz on the entire Internet (Farris, Bendle, Pfeifer & Reibstein, 2009, p. 54). On the other hand, on-site analytics involves

Prosperity Without Growth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Prosperity Without Growth - Essay Example This paper illustrates that economists like Tim Jackson have deviated from the notions of economic growth, to incorporate more ideas that lead to sustainable economies. Indeed, the well-being of the individuals and households has taken center stage and the politics have been geared to address these forgotten notions. Indeed, most of the growth that had been the focus of most economies in the past has led to massive boosts in the global economy, but at the cost of the environment and the society. On this grounding, the productions and consumption activities have contributed to more than 60% of the degradation of the eco-systems, raising serious questions on whether this path will lead to sustainable development in the near future. Indeed, only a very small portion of the benefits of the global income is redistributed to the poor, worsening the gap between the rich and the poor. Getting an equitable distribution of resources, therefore, is one of the reasons that the author points to z ero economic growth in prosperity in the world economy. The notion of endless growth has engulfed modern economists, who overlook the social progress related to such kind of growth. Indeed, social stability and development are one of the key pillars of sustainability, which leads to prosperity even in the global economy. In addition, the convening of countless global economic summits to address economic growth and challenges have not prevented the world from going into countless recessions. On this platform, the capitalist movements seem to postulate an endless path of growth, spurred by economic activities of production, looking for new markets and consumption as the main drivers of growth. From this perspective, the postulation of prosperity without growth comes alive, because this continuous cycle may go on indefinitely without improvements in the standards of living of the masses. Indeed, it is imperative to note that any human activity is geared towards the improvement of welfa re, and when such a system fails, it would be preferable to have prosperity even without growth in the world.

Entrepreneurship and Small business. MKT2290 Essay

Entrepreneurship and Small business. MKT2290 - Essay Example The corporate strategy plays a significant role at building a bridge between the company’s inner policies and the undertakings it has with the various stakeholders, who could be from the external marketing settings. (Korzeniowski, 2001) In the world of today, external marketing environment has gained a lot of essence due to the fact that it brings into picture the real role of the channel members, middle line managers and wholesalers as well as other personnel who do their bit towards completing different activities and tasks, coming directly under the auspices of the organization’s hold. (Applbaum, 2004) What is therefore necessary in such a situation is to be open to all forms of criticisms which could be raised by the various stakeholders and parties hailing from the external marketing environment and the related regimes. This will present the said organization with a host of options when it devises a plan to counter the problems which it is facing at the hands of the external marketing environment and the different players present within the very same environmental settings. Problems stumbled upon by the business at one region or at a local franchise would mean that the company should be ready to bear lo sses of an unimaginable cost. More than that, the company will lose its self-won respect and dignity around which shareholders and owners, etc are revolving around. Long range planning can help a particular company gain so much in accordance with its goals and objectives that had been planned and drafted but in the current times more and more attention and emphasis is making the rounds of the discussion as to whether these plans can actually deliver what was expected of them in the first place. Now we shift to the methodology and rationale behind building competitive advantage. This is something that is build over time and requires synchronization between the

Individual Assignment 6 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Individual 6 - Assignment Example Societies with a collectivist culture also shares the same ideals, especially since people in a collectivist culture pay particular attention to the relationship between certain objects, such as developing their trust in the brand depending on the overall reputation of the parent company and how their products contain the values and characteristics they promote (113). The idea of standing out is rather unheard of in feminist and collectivist cultures. On the other hand, highly-individualistic and masculine cultures are much more impacted by humorous and unruly advertisements, and this is mainly due to the common belief of having the need to belong to the strongest, and the desire to rise above everyone else, as well as wanting to shape all individuals into the same winning image (79). Brands become separate entities that are relatively detached from the parent company, and each brand competes for the top of the product category, which is a characteristic that every person can relate to, especially those wanting to be recognized as the best. Also, because there is much more importance in standing out rather than blending in, thus using strong and hard approaches in advertising and directly going straight to the point works far better in masculine and individualist cultures than subtlety and modesty (82). Thus it is more effective to show individual strengths than to elucidate on the

American Intellectual Union Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

American Intellectual Union - Research Paper Example The employees are divided in terms of their position i.e. either they are hourly employees or salaried employees. The employees were also categorized for the tenure which they had spent with the company. This was categorized as the number of employees who had worked for a period less than 2 years, those who had worked from 2 to 5 years and those who had worked for more than 5 years with the company. The overall job satisfaction of the employees while they were on the job, their intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction values and the benefits which they derived was rated as a measure of the survey. Statistics plays a vital role and has significant value in assessing the success of an organization. Statistics possesses a central position in predicting the stability of a business and its overall application in the industry is very wide. It helps in assessing the current performance of the organization. It also assists in designing the future plans which can support organizational growth . Properly using surveys can help in making quick and successful business decisions. Several production decisions which are adopted are based on these calculations. Using statistics can aid in assessing and analyzing the change within the organization. Gender Male 95 Female 95 The survey that has been conducted comprises an even distribution of male and female respondents. Out of 190 respondents 95 are male, and 95 are female. This shows that 50% of the respondents belong to the male population, and 50% belong to the female population. Tenure With Company Less than 2 years 91 2 to 5 years 35 Over 5 Years 64 The tenure of employees with the company has been shown in the chart above. Out of 190 respondents 91 respondents which amount to 48% had worked with the company for less than 2 years. 35 of the respondents which are equal to 18% had worked with the company for 2 to 5 years. 64 respondents which amount to 34% were those who had worked with the company for over 5 years. Tenure Wit h Company Overall Male Female Less than 2 years 91 50 41 2 to 5 years 35 14 21 Over 5 Years 64 31 33 The tenure of the employees distributed according to gender has been shown in the chart above. The distribution shows the number of male and female respondents and the tenure which they have spent with the company. Department Human Resources 52 Information Technology 71 Administration 67 27% of the survey participants belong to the Human resource department, 38% belong to the IT department, and 35% belong to administration department. The mean calculated for the extrinsic value has been shown below Mean For Extrinsic Value By Gender Overall Mean (190 Respondents) 5.042 Male (95 Respondents) 5.276 Female (95 Respondents) 4.807 Probability That an Individual Will Be Between 16–21 Years of Age The probability that the individual selected will between 16-21 years of age is 36.84%. This amount can be calculated as there are 70 respondents in this category and 190 total respondents to the survey. Probability That an Individual’s Overall Job Satisfaction Is 5.2 or Lower The probability that an individual’s overall job satisfaction is 5.2 or lower is 86.32%. This has been calculated on the basis that 164 of the total respondents are those whose job satisfaction is 5.2 or lower.  

Principles of learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Principles of learning - Essay Example Constructivist theorist belongs to the third category, which believes that the learning abilities of students are influenced by prior knowledge and information on the same topic (Brauer & Tittle, 2012). In this paper, learning theories will be discussed in relation to Petra, a polish child living and studying in the United Kingdom with his parents. The paper will discuss the relevance of the learning theories according to her concerns and the strategies that the family and the school can adopt to support her learning process. A number of learning theories have been developed that enhance the process of educating children from different family background like Petra in this situation. According to the sensory stimulation theory, the process of learning can only be effectively achieved if all the senses of the student are stimulated. Laird who noted that the information held by adults has been learnt through seeing first developed this theory. As seeing accounts for 75% of all the information held by an individual, hearing accounts for 13% while smelling accounts for the remaining ratio (Sammut, 2014). This highlights the essence of stimulating the senses during the process of learning before actual information about facts that have been recognized by the sensory nerves can be discussed. As a student undergoing a challenging moment because he is in a non-familiar country and setting, the sensory organs of Petra are less involved in the learning process and this affects her information absorption and retention. As the learning process continues, Petra is absorbed in thoughts about her family and her mother country and this affects her cognitive ability to grasp the information being discussed by the teachers in class (Brauer & Tittle, 2012). By using the sensory simulation theory, the teachers of Petra will engage all his senses in the discussion and enable him to forget the memories of his country and family and focus on

Food industry Essay Example for Free

Food industry Essay Food is the most important element of human survival. Food contains essential nutrients the human body requires to intake. From vitamins to calories, just a few of the nutrients that make a body function. Without food there is no survival; however, the way food is processed in America today, Americans might as well be dead. Furthermore, unhealthy products flood America’s food supply. A vast majority of these products are highly processed foods. Highly processes foods are extremely dangerous to one’s health (Squires). Process foods cause severe harm to the human body and furthermore lead to illnesses such as obesity, diabetes, and high cholesterol. (Squires). The way Food is manufactured in America today causes numerous of illness and sometimes death. Therefore, the United States Food and Drug Administration must rigorously regulate the food industry to efficiently maintain the safety of food. There are three vital motives why the Food and Drug Administration must regulate the process of food. First, without stricter regulation, the quality of the livestock industry will steeply decline.Second, if not regulated, the high usage of high fructose corn syrup will continue to increase. Lastly, if the Food and Drug Administration does not regulate the process of food, the creation of genetically modified food will continue to occur. In all, the Food and Drug Administration must strictly regulate the livestock industry to preserve health of America. The United States Food and Drug Administration must rig orously regulate animal factories to effectively maintain the safety of meat. The Food and Drug Administration cannot allow animal factories to deliberately contaminant the food supply. By allowing existing methods to continue, it puts all consumers at great risk. Currently, animal factories utilize disgusting methods to minimize cost and maximize profit (They Eat What). These horrific methods consist of purposely distorting the nature of animal feed (They Eat What). The Union of Concerned Scientists published an article â€Å"They Eat What? † where they expose the animal factories of their horrific acts. The Union of Concerned Scientists state, â€Å"Many of the ingredients used in feed these days are not the kind of food the animals are designed by nature to eat†(They Eat What). This establishes that factories do what ever they desire; disregarding the fatal effects it can impose on animals let alone on human heath. Animals by nature are not supposed to consume the remains of the same species; however, factories continue to do so, as it maximizes profit by utilizing all parts on an animal (They Eat What). Diseased animals, same species meat, skin, blood, manure, and unhealthy portions of grain are all items consisting in animal feed (They Eat What). Furthering the argument, the Union of Concerned Scientists added. â€Å"Animal feed legally can contain rendered road kill, dead horses, and euthanized cats and dogs† (They Eat What). This low standard production of animal feed is simply repulsive. If the Food and Drug Administration do not enforce stricter regulations on the animal factories, only fatal side effects will follow. Serious human health concerns will steeply arise if this unacceptable method to nurture livestock continues. The outburst of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy also known as mad cow disease is a great example. Mad cow disease is a transmissible form of brain damage that occurs when rendered cattle are fed back to cattle. (They Eat What). This disease is extremely dangerous as it can be spread to humans. Humans can obtain a form of mad cow disease by consuming meat products that carry the disease (They Eat What). The Food and Drug Administration have taken steps in banning any methods that lead to mad cow disease. However, their lack of effectiveness has created of loophole in the system and animal factories are taking full advantage. The Union of Concerned Scientists presented evidence exposing the loophole in the Food and Drug Administration regulations. The Union of Concerned Scientists assert, â€Å"Under current law, pigs, chickens, and turkeys that have been fed rendered cattle can be rendered and fed back to cattle—a loophole that may allow mad cow agents to infect healthy cattle† (They Eat What). This is unacceptable. The Food and Drug Administration inherent purpose is to regulate any methods that cause harm to human beings, yet the fail to do so. It is unjust for the Food and Drug Administration to purposely allow the livestock industry to taint the production of meat. Therefore, if the Food and Drug Administration do not enforce stricter regulations the safety of livestock will only decline at extreme rates. However, there are other motives why the Food and Drug Administration must regulate the process of food. The United States Food and Drug Administration must rigorously regulate the amount of high fructose corn syrup used in food products, as it unsafe to consume. High fructose corn syrup is a cheaper form of sweetener derived from corn (Stossel). High fructose corn syrup is the ubiquitous sweetener in American products, as it is extremely inexpensive to produce (Stossel). Furthermore, the excessive usage of high fructose corn syrup has become the greatest contributor to the epidemic of cardiovascular disease (Flavin). Cardiovascular disease is the primary reason for premature death in America (Flavin). Cardiovascular diseases consist of obesity, diabetes, heart and kidney disease (Flavin). In modern America, the consumption of high fructose corn syrup has drastically increased. Sally Squires, a writer for the Washington Post wrote an article â€Å"Stealth Calories† where she exposed the high usage of high fructose corn syrup. Squires reveals, â€Å"Since the introduction of high-fructose corn syrup in 1966, U. S. consumption has reached about 60 pounds per person per year. †(Squires). This is ridiculous. Consuming such immense masses of high fructose corn syrup severely contributes to fatal diseases. No matter what processed food item an individual decides to eat, the common ingredient is high fructose corn syrup (Squires). High fructose corn syrup has flooded the food industry and continues to grow. The United States Food and Drug Administration must step in and regulate the amount of high fructose corn syrup a company applies to its products. If regulations are not enforced, the doses of high fructose corn syrup will continue to increase. Barry M. Popkin, a nutrition professor for The University of North Carolina, has published an article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that widely display the dangers of sugar-sweetened drinks. Popkin states, â€Å"The increase in consumption of HFCS has a temporal relation to the epidemic of obesity, and the overconsumption of HFCS in calorically sweetened beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity(Qtd. in Hyman). Thus, it can be established that consuming large amounts of high fructose corn syrup does indeed lead to obesity. High fructose corn syrup is absorbed quicker than regular sugar. As a result, high fructose corn syrup prevents the body from signalizing that it is full and thus leads to (Hyman). Therefore, by exceeding the standard caloric intake, symptoms of obesity quickly arise. Hence, it is evident that The United States Food and Drug Administration must strictly control the amount of high fructose corn syrup a company applies to its products. However, there are other important reasons why the Food and Drug Administration must regulate the food industry. The United States Food and Drug Administration must rigorously regulate genetically modified foods because they are unsafe. Genetically modified foods are engineered foods that have been deeply depraved as a result of genetic alteration (Heit). Furthermore, genetic alterations consist of extracting genes from other plants or animals and inserting them in the chosen product to produce desired traits (Heit). However, this method has severely tainted the healthiness of food. A vast number of studies have linked genetically modified foods in an extensive variety of health problems, ranging from organ damage to immune dysfunction (Gutierrez). Not only are genetically modified foods harmful to animals, they can also be harmful to humans. David Gutierrez a staff writer for the Natural News wrote an article â€Å"Doctors Warn About Dangers of Genetically Modified Food† where he exposed the fatal flaws of genetically modified foods. Gutierrez states, â€Å"Animals consuming crops that have been genetically modified to produce the pesticide Bt (approved for human consumption in the United States) have died by the thousands, while animals grazing on a non-GM version of the same crops remained unharmed†(Gutierrez). This evidence is overwhelming. If genetically modified foods are fatal to animals, one can affirm that this harm will carry over to human beings. Animals are dying at exponential rates as a result of consuming genetically modified foods; yet the United States continues to allow these methods of production to occur. By allowing the production of genetically modified foods, the fatality rates of animals and humans will continue to escalate. Hence, it can be established that consuming these genetically modified products drastically increases the probability of developing a fatal disease. Therefore, the United States cannot allow these food production methods to continue. In addition, scientific experiments have shown numerous rats suffer as a result of consuming genetically modified foods (Gutierrez). Through extensive observations, it has been revealed that female rats that have been fed genetically modified foods experience a drastically higher infant death rate (Gutierrez). Likewise, male rats suffer as there testicles change from a pink to a blue color (Gutierrez). As long as the food supply is produced by means of genetic modification, food will continue to mutate genes in a destructive ways. Therefore, it is evident that genetically modified foods will severely harm humans. Similarly, additional analyses have indicated that genetically modified foods contain significantly higher concentrations of allergens and toxins (Gutierrez). As a result of genetic mixing, the allergens and toxins of one item are transferred to the other (Smith). Hence, by consuming genetically modified foods, unknown allergic reactions can occur (Smith). In recent research, scientists have found high dosage of peanut protein in soybeans (Smith). Consequently, an individual who is allergic to peanuts can have an allergic reaction by consuming soybeans (Smith). This is absurd. Consumers are blindly digesting products that may be deadly to their health. It is unjust for consumers to endure an allergic reaction as a result of genetic mutation. Therefore, the United States Food and Drug Administration must regulate genetically modified products to preserve the health of consumers. In all, the safety of all food in America is in a crucial situation. The United States Food and Drug Administration must rigorously regulate factories, scientists and other food manufactories to preserve the health of American consumers. If not regulated, the safety of livestock and crops will only steeply decline and thus affecting the health of human beings. The diseases of mad cow disease, fatal allergies caused by genetically modified crops, and high usage of high fructose corn syrup are the greatest concerns for the Food and Drug Administration. Therefore it is evident that the United States Food and Drug Administration must rigorously regulate the food industry to efficiently maintain the safety of food. Works Cited Dana Flavin. â€Å"Metabolic Danger of High-Fructose Corn Syrup. † Life Extension Magazine. Life Extension. Dec 2008. Web. 1 June 2013. David Gutierrez. â€Å"Doctors Warn About Dangers Of Genetically Modified Food. † Natural News. Truth Publishing International. 25 Feb 2010. Web. 28 May 2013. Jeffery Heit. â€Å"Genetically Engineered Foods. † Medline Plus. [N. p. ]: 7 May 2012. Web. 28 May 2013. Jeremy Smith. â€Å"Genetically Engineered Foods May Cause Rising Food Allergies. † Institute for Responsible Technology. [N. p. ]: May 2007. 30 May 2013. Mark Hyman. â€Å"The Not-So-Sweet Trust About High Fructose Corn Syrup. † Huffington Healthy Living. The Huffington post. 16 May 2011. Web. 29 June 2013. Richard Stossel. â€Å"The Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup. † Natural News. Truth Publishing International. 11 Oct 2008. Web. 28 May 2013. Sally Squires. â€Å"Stealth Calories. † The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. 6 Feb 2007. Web. 1 June 2013. â€Å"They Eat What. † Union of Concered Scientists. SIRS Issues Researcher. 8 Aug 2006. Web. 27 May 2013. â€Å"65 Health Risks of GM Foods. † Institute for Responsible Technology. [N. p. ]: N. d. Web. 1 June 2013.

Winston Smith Needs OBrien Essay Example for Free

Winston Smith Needs OBrien Essay In the novel 1984 George Orwell pictures a monstrous world of tyranny. One of the themes he explores deals with the way an individual perceives his life in such a world. In the world in 1984 loneliness meets despair, hatred allies with brutality, and one has no choice but to find a way out of that nightmare in order to survive. Winston Smith, the main character, chooses self-delusion as an escape from the horrible reality. In the beginning OBrien is just an object of Winstons attempt to believe that there is someone like him, another man who is surreptitiously against the Party. Smith thinks that OBrien will understand him and help him change his life. Ironically, OBrien really saves Winston from the nightmare of reality, by making him accept it and even love it. Winston Smith is a concealed outcast. He behaves as a Party member while hating the principles and doctrines of the Party. In his consciousness Smith is alone against society a thinking individual facing a deceived mass of people who (za mass may e that ama ne sam ubedena)blindly love the(misliq che ne trqbva da go ima izob6to) Big Brother. Winston realizes that to be an outsider in a world in which individuality is a crime is dangerous. He asks himself if he is alone in the possession of memory because he does not want to believe that everybody is deluded, that all the people like to be controlled by the Party (Orwell p. 62). Even in the age of solitude there must be other intelligent men (Orwell p. 30) Only an intelligent person can understand that sometimes the majority in the face of society might be wrong. Winston, being a concealed outcast, feels lonely. He is longing for a soul mate, a friend, someone who would understand him. Winston wants to meet another concealed outcast that would be against the Party. OBrien is an Inner Party member. It is not difficult to guess that he is not unorthodox. Paradoxically, Winston decides that exactly OBrien is the collaborator he needs: He felt deeply drawn to him ( ) because of a secretly-held belief or perhaps not even a belief, merely a hope- that OBriens political orthodoxy was not perfect. (Orwell p. 13) Smiths belief is based only on the fact that OBrien looks intelligent indeed. Imagination does not need facts it can make them up. Smith already has the hypothesis: OBrien is against the Party. He only needs the proofs. Winstons desperate need for collaboration stimulates his imagination. Thanks to it, Winston gradually starts finding proofs of OBriens unorthodoxy: But there was a fraction of a second when their eyes met and for as long as it took to happen Winston knew-yes, he knew! that OBrien was thinking the same thing as himself. (Orwell p. 19) To know that he is not alone in his hatred for the Party even that is an escape from the locked loneliness in which one had to live (Orwell p. 20). People tend to believe what they want to believe. Thus,(sloji tazi zapetaika:)) in Winstons mind OBrien becomes a secret friend who is a political conspirator. Smith is unable to see that OBriens collaboration is simply the necessary illusion. Once happened to believe that OBrien is a member of the Brotherhood, Winston starts interpreting reality in such a way as to keep this impression. In one of his dreams Smith hears somebody saying: We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness (Orwell p. 27). Winston does not see the face of the man talking, but as a consequence of his interpretation, he identifies the voice as OBriens (Orwell p. 27). When Winston starts keeping a diary, he needs to address the diary to a particular person (Orwell p. 84). Again he chooses OBrien: He knew, with more certainty than before, that OBrien was on his side. He was writing the diary for OBrien to OBrien (Orwell p. 84) Winston is sure that OBrien is a friend and there are (mislq che evidence se izpolzva samo v edinstv. Chislo, taka che go promeni za vseki sluchai)not any evidences to support his belief: Nothing but a flash of the eyes and a single equivocal remark: beyond that, only his own secret imaginings, founded on a dream. (Orwell p. 176) Smiths confidence can only be explained by his need and wish to deceive himself. Ironically, Winston turns out to be right about two things OBrien is a man he can talk to and one who really helps him change his life, but by different means. OBrien does not become his collaborator in a conspiracy against the unbearable regime, nor does he introduce himself to the Brotherhood, but makes him one of the brainwashed Party members. In this way Winston is saved from the horror of reality and starts liking it. Smith has always felt attracted to OBrien because of his appearance of a person you could talk to, if somehow you could cheat the telescreen and get him alone (Orwell p. 13). That is an appealing appearance, especially for a man who is longing to be heard. Winston wants to have someone with whom to share his thoughts, and it does not matter if this someone is a friend or an enemy, as long as he is able to understand: Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood (Orwell p. 264). And OBrien is the person to do so: I enjoy talking to you (Orwell p. 271). Even though Winston does not realize it, OBrien has a good reason to listen to him: in order to alter somebodys conception of the world, and even to eliminate it, one must first have a good notion of it. OBrien really succeeds in changing Winstons mind. Using torture to make Smith relinquish all his beliefs and hopes for a better world, even his love for Julia, OBrien deprives him of the sense of life. If one has nothing to live for, the tyranny of the Party does not matter anymore,(sloji zapet. ) and he is not motivated to rebel against it. OBrien is the one to cure Winston from his disobedience: He had the air of a doctor, a teacher, even a priest, anxious to explain and persuade rather than to punish (p. 257). Smith really needs OBriens help in order to accept reality. Winstons despair is caused by the fact that he cannot acquiesce with the formidable reality. Loneliness and helplessness to rebel against the regime of the Party make him suffer. In the beginning of the book OBrien is a needed illusion an imaginary political enemy of the Party for Winston not be alone in his hatred. At the end,(zap. i tuk) OBrien saves Smith from his anguish by altering his mind and depriving him of the sense of his life. In both cases Winston needs OBrien in order to cease suffering and to survive.

Business Process Reengineering and Organisational Change

Business Process Reengineering and Organisational Change Introduction This chapter reviews the Business Process Reengineering (BPR) and its vision of radical business process change, focusing upon the use of Organisational culture change for multidisciplinary team-working. It highlights BPRs superficial treatment of the human dimension of its programme for radical organizational change and raises the question of how HRM specialists are to respond to its trivialisation of the complexities and dilemmas associated with the reengineering of work processes. Business Process Reengineering Following the publication of the fundamental concepts of BPR by Hammer (1990) and Davenport and Short (1990), many organisations have reported vivid benefits gained from the fruitful implementation of BPR. Corporations like Porsche AG (Zinser, Baumgà ¤rtner, Walliser, 1998), CIGNA (Caron, Jarvenpaa, Stoddard, 1994), and Wal-Mart (Altinkemer, Chaturvedi, Kondareddy, 1998) are all acknowledged as having productively implemented BPR. However, in spite of the noteworthy advancement of the BPR concept, not all organisations embarking on BPR projects achieve their intended result. In 1993, Hall et al. claimed that 50-70 per cent of business process reengineering (BPR) initiatives fail to deliver the expected results (Hall, Rosenthal, Wade, 1993). Having BPR constantly at the top of the list of management issues in annual surveys of critical information systems reveals executives failure to either implement properly or attain the benefits of BPR (Stefanescu, Stefanescu, Constantinescu, Constantinescu, 2007). This combination of outcomes makes the concern of BPR implementation very significant. BPR has abundant capability for accumulative productivity through reduced process time and budget, enhanced quality, and superior customer satisfaction, but it frequently involves a fundamental organisational change. As a consequence, the implementation process is multifaceted, and needs to be examined against numerous succes s/failure factors to ensure successful implementation, as well as to prevent implementation drawbacks. Practitioners and Researchers have classified BPR in various ways with dissimilar prominence. Hammer and Champy (1993) described BPR as the primary rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to accomplish spectacular enhancements in significant, modern measures of performance, such as expenses, service, speed and quality (Adeyemi Aremu, 2008). Lowenthal (1994) defined BPR as the fundamental rethinking and redesign of operating process and organizational structure, focuses on the organizations core competencies, to achieve dramatic improvements in organizational performance (Aurand, Schoenbachler, Gordon, 1996). Alter (1990) described BPR as a systematic process that uses information technology to radically overhaul business process and thereby attain major business goals (Grover, 1995). Sethi and King (1998) defined BPR as a redesign and reorganization of business activities that results from questioning the status quo. It search for fulfilling explicit objectives and ca n lead to revolutionary enhancement. It is often interrelated with major cultural and technological changes (Sohail, Daud, Rajadurai, 2006). Nevertheless the idea of BPR began to evolve where many theoretical propositions underlying BPR surfaced (Khong Richardson, 2003). Figure 1 shows some of the developments that BPR has undergone. Although the theoretical propositions differ, similarities are present. Figure 1: Comparison of Perspective and theoretical proposition underlying BPR (Khong Richardson, 2003) Impact of BPR on the organisation The previous segment highlighted the fact that for the BPRs success organizational culture plays a crucial role. In this segment of debate a description is provided on the basis of various thinkers thought that what are the main units or elements of organization, where the organizational culture element stands among them and the inter twinning of these various elements showing that how influencing one can guide rest in the desired direction. As discussed ahead, an organization is an integration of various sub-units or sub sets. For successful implementation of process such as BPR, one needs to consider all these elements simultaneously or to identify the core of these elements so that by influencing that the entire organization can be aligned for the process change purpose. In 1988, Leavitt and Bahrami Diamond model (see Figure 2) accentuates the association between technology, business structure, and people issues and related control mechanisms (Peters Waterman, 2004). They identified these four elements as the core and need to be considered for any change initiative in the organization. Figure 2: The Leavitt and Bahrami Diamond (1988) Again, Weisbord (1978) tries to develop a diagnostic tool for identifying six-box organisational areas, using the categories if structure, purposes, relationships, rewards, helpful mechanisms, and leadership (see Figure 3), where an organization has to perform well in order to succeed (Weisbord, 1978). Figure 3: Weisbords six-boxes Organisational Model (Weisbord, 1978) Further elaborating and developing on this thought McKinleys 7s provide a comprehensive set of factors to assess an organizations readiness for change. These factors recognize seven fundamental components (see Figure 4) none of which should be overlooked before the change process starts (Peters Waterman, 2004). The various frameworks and models have several common aspects. Since, McKinleys 7s encapsulates the important constituents of an organisation and because it has Shared Values (or Culture) at its heart, McKinseys 7s model will be used as a framework to assess the impact of BPR on the organisation. Because of the comprehensive nature and the area of vastness and dimension, McKinleys model holds a bigger degree of acceptance in the literature of Change management in organizations. A further elaboration on the elements identified by McKinleys will make this fact more elucidate to the reader and establish its importance for this research work. Figure 2: McKinseys seven S (Peters Waterman, 2004) Systems Systems are codified knowledge, structured in an analytical arrangement (Zack, 1999). They are management control system, performance measurement and reward systems, planning, budgeting and resource allocation systems and management information systems (Kaplan, 2005). They are the guidelines that direct workforce and administration in their daily tasks. All the BPR explanations, either explicitly or implicitly, imply to these features of systems as the subsequent examples of BPR implementation demonstrate. Rohm, in his examination of BPR at the Principal Financial Group Inc., gives an illustration from its field support transaction. He found that earlier, it has 16 step process involving input from nine people located in several areas and on distinct floors of the home office. The modern structure empowered this process to be diminished to six steps, involving the work of only three people. Consequently, customers were supplied with a single contact individual who could implement and control the whole process (Rohm, 1992). Often, new processes are aided by new technology. Thus, both the new technology and the new multi-function positions demand employees learn new techniques. Structures In 2005, Kaplan describes structures as The way in which tasks and people are specialized and divided, and authority is distributed; how activities and reporting relationships are grouped; the mechanisms by which activities in the organisation are coordinated (Kaplan, 2005). Henley goes on to classify six distinct kind of organisation: Simple structure, machine bureaucracy, professional bureaucracy, divisionalised form, adhocracy cult organisation. Having redefined the crucial processes within an organisation, the next step within BPR is to reorganise the organisation along process lines. Process organisations present a new form of organisation that aims to break away from many of the above traditional types, particularly the bureaucracies and divisional forms. Hammer Champy recommend a move to a widely horizontal structure established around the processes (Hammer Champy, 1993), whereas Davenport recommends a multi-facet matrix structure, with process accountability as a key element (Davenport, 1993). To achieve this, Jon Minerich states: the new organisation must adjust a balance between functional expertise and process involvement and goes on to say it is essential to remove functional barriers (Minerich, 2008). Still, whilst a process orientation is a new organisational structure it will incorporate attributes of the adhocracy: Workforces do not need to be supervised; they are grownups who are willing to take accountabilit y for their work products. Staff Buchanan Huczynski (1997) defines Staff as the quality and quantity of people employed but also adds the management concerns of motivation, reward systems, empowerment, the structure of jobs and team work (Buchanan Huczynski, 2004). The quality concerns will be noted in the Skills section that follows. BPR is often linked to new rewards systems. Davenport (1993) mentions gain-sharing, lateral promotion and a move from role title to process title, and variety through work role rotation. Life time employment, he considers encourage employees to redesign the processes to eliminate their own job (Sabki, Nawi, Mohamed, Azzli, 2005). BPR has certainly made some significant impact on the number of staff. At least in its early phase, re-engineering generally means heavy downsizing and extensive job reorganisation. The role of supervisors gets transformed and the number of intermediate managers usually decreased. At the same time, staffs at all horizontal have new, more receptive roles and specialist roles change fundamentally (Vollmann Brazas, 2004). BPR has indeed become related with down-sizing and right-sizing, and in such situations it is problematic to square with Davenports assertion above, that staffs should ha ve the confidence to redesign themselves out of the process. Skills Skills are defined as The distinctive competencies of the organisation needed to perform difficult tasks to a high standard along the dimensions such as people, management practises, systems technologies (Kaplan, 2005). The word empowerment is invariably associated with BPR. Bambarger (1993) and Anon (1993) illustrate employee involvement in the decision making through brainstorming potential solutions and by developing necessary skills to allow teams to make quick decisions. Hammer Champy (1993) elucidated on changing nature of job from simple tasks to multi-dimensional work, managers role from supervisors to coaches and executives evolves from scorekeepers to leader. Strategy Kaplan (2005) defines Strategy as: The positioning and actions taken by an enterprise, in response to or anticipation if changes in the external environment, intended to achieve competitive advantages. He concluded that strategic decisions are complex in nature, involve a high degree of uncertainty, and involve major changes. Johansson et al definition of the BPR drivers are of a strategic nature: Customers; Competition; Cost; Technology; Shareholders; Politics; Economics, Legislation, and Regulation [i.e. Environment] (headings in pp 37-49). One can see these relate to the Strategy definition given above. Johansson et al first task is to Discover the companys strategy and of what drives competitive advantage in a particular industry; the industrys value chain and the basis for competition, and how a particular company seeks to gain competitive edge (p87). Hammer Champy talk about the three Cs: Customers, Competition and Change (p17). Davenport (1993) advocates a Process Vision that is driven by Business Strategy (p127). BPR decisions, like Strategy decisions, are complex and involves a high degree of uncertainty ([BPR] is a complex undertaking and carries significant risk (Carey, 1993), and as noted under Systems and Structures, BPR involves major change. Style Style is the norms, dominant values and beliefs adopted by managers in their use of leadership (Kaplan, 2005). Hammer Champys New World of Work suggest managers to change from supervisors to coaches and executives to change from scorekeepers to leaders (Hammer Champy, 1993). Davenport (1993) also highlights that communication and commitment building must occur at all levels because changes incurred by process innovation are not only broad, but deep, extending from the vision of managers to the attitudes and behaviours of the lowest-level workers (Marjanovic, 2000). Considerable behavioural factor makes process innovation based change qualitatively distinctive from other forms of large scale restructuring. Process innovation involves immense change, not only in process flows and the culture surrounding them, but also in organisational power and controls (Davenport, 1993). Shared Values Shared values are the core or fundamental set of values that are widely shared in the organisation and serve as guidelines principles of what is important; vision, mission, and values statements that provide a broad sense of purpose for all employees (Kaplan, 2005). Successful reengineered business operations and individual belief systems need to be aligned with the specified beliefs of the organisation. Real value in an organisation is to be gained by looking at shared values that elevate above growth and profit objectives by connecting the ambitions of the organisation to innate human needs and principles (Ridder Wesselink, 2006). Reengineering entails as great a shift in the culture of an organisation as in its structural configuration. Reengineering demands that employees deeply believe they work for their customers, not for their bosses (Hammer Champy, 1993). The new process teams combined with shared values must believe in rewards, self-development and self-management centred on skills used. Critical Success and Failure factors of Business Process Reengineering There are a number of factors responsible for making a BPR process successful; simultaneously there are numbers of factors coexistent which can make BPR unaccepted in organization ultimately resulting in a complete negation of this process. Here is a discussion provided to elaborate on some of these factors so that it can be identified that which factor holds the bigger responsibility for a BPR to succeed or to fail. Success factors of BPR Among the chief success factors are aspiring objectives, a process approach and integration of electronic data processing (EDP), and the deployment of a creative team in problem solving (Peppard Fitzgerald, 1997). Ascari et al. (1995) emphasize four other elements in an organization with regard to successful BPR: Culture, Processes, Structure and Technology (Chang Powell, 1998). Ascaris analysis discovered that the enterprises that implemented BPR consented that its effect on the change of their culture was associated to the organisations reconsidering of its elementary business process. The concentration was also on recognising and enhancing core processes. Conversely, the extent and maturity of the business process architectures and the nature of changes within processes diverge within organisation. Furthermore, there must be substantial changes in structure, exclusively with stress on cross-functional work teams. The extent of the business process architectures is related to the study done by Maull et al. which showed the significant importance of this subject. He defined business process architectures as the definition of an integrated set of business processes (Maull, Weaver, Childe, Smar, Bennett, 1995). In 1999, Al-Mashari and Zairi underlined several facets of the critical success factors for BPR, including management proficiency and support, system composition, project management planning, change management and human resistance to change (Al-Mashari Zairi, 1999). According to Smith and Fingar (2002), BPR aims to achieve business performance and competitive advantage by applying innovative ways of doing business. Among few things, they stated to manage radical change efficiently comprises: communication is crucial to show support to the process change project and effective leadership to coordinate deployment of the resources to accomplish the strategic objectives (Smith Fingar, 2002). Further, to recognise the critical success factor of BPR in an organisation, it is essential to comprehend the organisation itself, since the factors may diverge viewing the type of organisation, including private or public. In the public sector, Hutton (1996) stressed several factors that need to be considered in order to implement BPR. These comprise swift dramatic changes in policy direction, rigid hierarchies, culture, multiple stakeholders, overlap of initiatives, wide scope of activities, and staff resistance that are crucial parts of public sector organisations (Hutton, 1996). However, he suggested that human issues should be considered for BPR to be performed in the public sector. This is supported by Smith and Finger (2002) who emphasized that communication at all levels becomes one of the critical elements here. According to the research done by (Berrington Oblich, 1995), it could be encapsulated that in order to implement reengineering, an organisation must understand it s composition first and ensure the vision was achieved. One of the significant points here is that commitment needs to be sustained and improved through communication. The employee concern rather than the technology concern is seen as vital to be dealt with and disciplined so as to make the change effort a success. The concern of culture becomes an imperative factor for BPR, which was further highlighted by Peppard and Fitzgerald (1997) who inspected the allocation of culturally based management procedures, namely BPR, making explicit reference to the German Organisation and cultural context. Their analysis determined that managers and employees as well should contribute their pledge for change. The conflict-free state will reflect on the sustainability of BPR in the long term. Other factors such as empowerment, culture, organisational circumstances and self-autonomy seemed to be significant for BPR to be effectively implemented. Hall et al. (1993) emphasized the depth factor which is related with shared values or culture in following BPR. This study identified six depth levers roles and responsibilities, measurements and incentives, organisational structure, IT, shared values and skills, which require change to enable successful reengineering. In an addition of methodology from the Hall et al . (1993) composition, Maull et al. (1995) concluded what the concerns are which fortify a BPR programme, by study commenced into a range of companies, located solely within the USA. Unstructured interviews took place with selected leading practitioners who had undertaken successful BPR projects and who were asked to share their experiences. The study was conducted with an individual or, more commonly with a team, which had overall responsibility for the BPR project within the organisation. There were five key issues in this study: scope of change, performance measures, information technology, human factors, and business process architecture. It is fascinating to observe and learn that human factors could become one of the sepping stones for the change to occur. The outcomes in Hall et al. (1993), Ascari et al. (1995), Maull et al. (1995), Hutton (1996), Peppard and Fitzgerald (1997), Al-Mashari Zairi (1999) and Smith and Finger (2002) underlined that Organisational culture and human resistance to BPR could lead to unproductive BPR projects. If the change has not been controlled and supervised carefully, employees would resist it, even it is a top-down approach, i.e. driven from the top. Failure factors of BPR Apart from the success factors, several authors also emphasized various failure factors in deploying BPR. Aggarwal (1998) stressed fiascos of BPR deployment, which were related to managers arrogance, resistance, crisis, expenditure, idea, etc. Hammer and Champy (1993) stressed some failure factors such as failure to have a process viewpoint, a rigid process that is not adaptable enough to be receptive to the requests and requirements, not linking workforce (i.e. bottom-up) in decision making, assigning someone that does not understand BPR, technology constraints, fabricating a project but concentrating on downsizing and cost diminution, processing an ineffectual team, and trouble with communication. Therefore, this research emphasized that reengineering is believed to commence with a new vision, mission and customers. Moreover, the scarcity of human resources, and insufficient IT competence and proficiency posed the main inconvenience in carrying out these programmes (Stoddard, Jarve npaa, Littlejohn, 1996). Other factors are the insufficient support from organisation members, absence of strategic vision, rigid organisational arrangement, and shortage of champion for BPR efforts (Ranganathan Dhaliwal, 2001). It is exciting to observe that, among erstwhile failure factors are poor top management support and human resources (Al-Mashari Zairi, 1999), people resistance to adopt (Stoddard et al., 1996; Peppard and Fitzgerald, 1997; Ranganathan and Dhaliwal, 2001), IT related problems (Al-Mashari and Zairi, 1999; Ranganathan and Dhaliwal, 2001; Smith, 2003), and ineffective BPR teams, lack of project management, and problems in communication (Al-Mashari Zairi, 1999). The point for reiterating with these critical factors is that without another kind of fundamental change, namely, a change in organizational culture, there is little hope of enduring improvement in organizational performance. Although the tools and techniques may be present and the change strategy implemented with vigour, many efforts to improve organizational performance fail because the fundamental culture of the organization-values, ways of thinking, managerial styles, paradigms, approaches to problem solving-remains the same (Quinn Cameron, 2006). Evaluating the above discourse it can be summarised to some extent that although there are numerous factors which make impact on BPR majority of them can be summed under the organizational culture umbrella and those who cant be listed under this head can be guided and impacted by the organizational culture dimension. So here onward the essence is to explore further this crucial dimension of BPR which not only impacts the success of BPR most but can guide it to the way of success. Conclusion Using McKinseys organisational model it was shown that a implementation of any change like BPR will impact on six of the organisational dimensions, and that it is driven by the seventh element i.e. Strategy. One can deduce then, that a full BPR programme will embrace significant organisational change. BPR is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes that result in dramatic improvements especially in meeting customer needs and other external strategic demands. Crucial to prosperous reengineering is not only the formulation of more effective and efficient BPR processes but orientation of organizational culture to support BPR. Since, shared values is placed at the heart of an organisation by McKinsey, one can also infer that a full BPR programme will incorporate substantial organisational culture change. To fully understand this repercussion, the subsequent chapter will investigate the literature on organisational and culture change. Organisational Culture Managing Organisational Change Introduction Previous chapter emphasised that reengineering is not sufficient to attain necessary change in an organisation. It had to be integrated with an overall approach to changing an organizations culture. All prosperous organisations have established something special that surpasses corporate strategy, market presence, or technological advantages. They have found the potential that exists in developing and supervising a unique corporate culture. The failure of reengineering occurred in most cases because the culture of the organization remained the same. Almost every highflying firm has established a unique culture that is visibly recognizable by its key stakeholders. This culture is sometimes shaped by the original founder of the organisation, for e.g. Disney or Microsoft (Schein, The Role of the Founder in Creating Organizational Culture, 1995). Sometimes it is established intentionally by management teams who decide to enhance their organisations performance in systematic ways, for e.g. , G.E or McDonalds (Karp, 2006). But, not all companies automatically acquire a robust and highly operative culture; henceforth further discussion would be on methodology for how to lead a culture change effort in an organization. The potential for professional subculture exists within any organisation employing professionals. Professionals entering an organisation bring with them a large range of cultural knowledge gained both from the wider society and from their professional training schools and previous work experiences. When they join an organisation and meet like professionals, then their previous cultural repertoire gets validated. Even a sole professional within an organisation will find support for his or her existing beliefs and interpretations through interaction with peers outside the organisation, reading professionals journals, and so forth. This sharing of experiences and belief leads to the development and maintenance of professional subcultures which compliments, conflict and counterbalance the primary organisational culture (Bloor Dawson, 1994). To comprehend how culture change can improve implementation of BPR and organisational capability, it is important that we make clear what is and isnt Organisational culture. A description of organizational culture and subculture will be first delivered followed by the clarification of methods for comprehending culture change in the context of organizations. Finally, employee response to cultural change will be described followed by process of initiating culture change is described which can be used in organizational development interventions. Organisational Culture Subculture There is no clear consensus of an organizational culture definition (Zammuto, Gifford, Goodman, 2000). However, many researchers tried to describe organisational culture as below: According to Quinn Cameron (2006), an organizations culture is revealed by what is valued, the dominant managerial and leadership styles, the language and symbols, the procedures and routines, and the definitions of success that make an organization unique. Culture has been an important concept in organisational study for a long period, but there remains significant range in how researchers observe and analyse culture (Martin, 2002). The anthropologist Kluckhohn (1949) defined culture as the set of habitual and traditional ways of thinking, feeling, and reacting that are characteristic of the ways a particular society meets its problems at a particular time (Price Chahal, 2006). Several academicians who have analysed culture and have frequently come up with considerably narrow definitions, or some have used these definitions and merged them into recent, more espousing definitions. For example, Schein define culture as: a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way you perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems (Schein E. , 2004). Scheins definition highlights that culture is something not to do with individuals alone but with groups of people collectively, who through their skills together in the work surroundings, will construct an image of what the organisation is all about and how it carry out its purpose. This image is constructed by knowing how to perform for survival and advancement. Contrary, (Smircich, 1983), support analogous hidden features of beliefs and values, while (Thompson Luthans, 1990) emphasise the behavioural interpretation of organisational culture that is learning through both direct and indirect means. For example, employees observe how they are cared by management and how they infer management treating other people. Accor ding to above theory, two components of behaviour exists: the patterns which are internal opinions of how one should act and the norms which are external observable manifestations of the internal opinions. Ogbonna (1993) asserted that culture may have lost much of its meaning as academics and practitioners use culture to refer to any facet of organisations that does not offer itself to obvious explanation. Also, there is a strong tendency among researchers and practitioners towards viewing organizational cultures as unitary belief systems (Ogbonna Harris, 1998). According to this, homogeneity, harmony and unity are features of organization cultures, and cultural change is understood as an organization-wide transformation process, where the old unity is replaced by a new one (Martin, 2002). This is a common view, although cultural organization studies have provided plenty of reflection on the issue of how organizations are subject to different types of cultural divisions (Lindstead Grafton-Small, 1992). It has also been made clear that the organizational belief systems are not necessarily clearly articulated or internally consistent, but that they may at the same time include inconsis tent and ambiguous elements (Meyerson Martin, 1987). The claim goes that the unitary interpretation can only deliver information regarding beliefs that are usually held within the complete organization. This creates problems such as the inability to reveal subcultures and a multiplicity of views, the inability to handle inconsistencies and the inability to take into account ambiguity in organizational beliefs. But, many theorists such as Morgan (1986) and Sackmann (1992) call for a view of culture that is pluralist with the existence of subcultures (Harris Ogbonna, Employee responses to culture change efforts, 2005). There are many kinds or levels of culture that influence organizational and individual behaviour. At the widest level, a global culture, such as a world religions culture or the culture of the Eastern hemisphere would be the highest level (Quinn Cameron, 2006). At a less general level are national cultures or subgroup cultures such as gender-based cultures, ethnic gr oup cultures, occupational cultures, or socioeconomic group culture. Each of these cultures is generally reflected by unique language, symbols, and ethnocentric feelings. Still less broad is the culture of a single organization (Quinn Cameron, 2006). Subcultures are groups whose common characteristic is a set of shared norms and beliefs. In contrast to subgroups, subcultures need not form around existing subdivisions, such as departmental or functional groups (although they often do), nor do they need to be consciously or intentionally formed (Boisnier Chatman, 2003). The range and variety of subcultures is as diverse as the range and variety of existing organizational cultures. Siehl and Martin (1984) gave three categories of subcultures: orthogonal subcultures, enhancing subcultures and counter cultures. Orthogonal subcultures are those groups of organisational members who accept the dominant values but also hold the

The Benefits of Medical Marijuana Essay -- Pro Marijuana Legalization

INTRODUCTION Marijuana, also known as weed, hemp, cannabis, pot, herb, grass, etc., is the most common illegal drug in the United States. Marijuana is also known to be a gateway drug because it can lead people to do more serious drugs. Marijuana is a dried plant often smoked like a cigarette or in a bong or pipe. A common argument today is why marijuana should be legalized for medicinal purposes. Although some will claim marijuana should not be legalized for medicinal purposes because it has harmful effects and is a gateway drug, I feel that it should be legalized. Marijuana should be legalized for medicinal purposes because it has many positive effects on diseases and health conditions. Marijuana should also be legalized for medicinal purposes because it is safer and less toxic than many other drugs that physicians are prescribing every day. For over 10,000 years, the marijuana plant has been used by humans. Marshall (2005) stated, â€Å"The first record of human consumption of marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes dates back to 2737 B.C., when the Chinese emperor Shen Neng recorded the use of cannabis to treat gout, malaria, beriberi, rheumatism and poor memory.† (p.136). In India, marijuana was being used for medicinal purposes by 1500 B.C., in Greece by 70 A.D., and by the early 1500’s in Europe. (Marshall, 2005, p.136). Over centuries, it continued to grow around the world as people used it for different reasons. Seppa (2010) reported that today medicinal marijuana is legally used to treat different medical conditions in fourteen states in the United States. This requires some paper work and a recommendation from a doctor stating the medicinal purpose of the marijuana. If the patient does not w... ...ription and OTC drugs. Retrieved August 15, 2010, from http://blog.marijuanamedicine.com/?p=50 Marshall, P. (2005, February 11). Marijuana laws. CQ Researcher, 15, 125-148. Retrieved July 30, 2010, from CQ Researcher Online. http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2005021100. Seppa, N. (2010, June 19). Not just a high: Scientists test medicinal marijuana against MS, inflammation and cancer. Science News, 177 (13), p. 16(5). Retrieved July 30, 2010, from Academic OneFile via Gale. University of California - San Diego (2007, October 25). Smoked cannabis proven effective in treating neuropathic pain. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 15, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071024141745.htm Wilson, C. (2005). Miracle weed. New Scientist, 185, 38-41. Retrieved July 30, 2010, from OmniFile Full Text Select database.

Reaction to Mean Streets ::

Reaction Paper to Mean Streets Mean Streets' greatest influence in American cinema was not on directors or scriptwriters (though its influence there was considerable) but rather on actors. The film has Harvey Keitel (as Charlie) at its center, whose solidity and slight dullness as an actor keeps the film from spinning off into total anarchy; but it is Robert De Niro's Johnny Boy (Charlie's wild, self-destructive friend whom he looks out for with all the obsessiveness of an older brother) that gives the film its charge. Johnny Boy dances and gyrates and leaps and spins about the edges of the film, continually threatening to take it into and out of chaos (which he finally does). De Niro's performance, which remains as hilarious and breath-taking as ever - was a revelation at the time. De Niro took naturalistic, "method" acting to new highs, and his Johnny Boy is possibly the very first performance of its kind. It's a genuine portrayal of a street punk whose charm and obnoxiousness are almost uncannily intertwined - you can't despise Johnny Boy, but you can't respect him much, either. You just have to love him. It's easy enough to imagine Charlie's frustration over this kid - De Niro's work here adds depth and veracity to Keitel's, and the two actors work so well together that some of their scenes ? like the one they have together in Taxi Driver - have an almost hallucinatory buzz to them. Aside from its acting, the other major influence which Mean Streets had upon American film-makers was through it's use of a rock n' roll soundtrack (almost perfectly integrated with the images), and in its depiction of a new kind of screen violence. Unexpected, volatile, explosive and wholly senseless, yet, for all that, undeniably cinematic violence. The way in which Scorsese blends these two - the rock and roll and the violence - shows that he understood instinctively, better than anyone else until then, that cinema (or at least this kind of cinema, the kinetic, visceral kind) and rock n' roll are both expressions of revolutionary instincts, and that they are as inherently destructive as they are creative. This simple device - brutal outbreaks of violence combined with an upbeat soundtrack - has been taken up by both the mainstream cinema at large and by many individual `auteurs', all of whom are in Scorsese's debt - Stone and Tarantino coming at once to mind. Reaction to Mean Streets :: Reaction Paper to Mean Streets Mean Streets' greatest influence in American cinema was not on directors or scriptwriters (though its influence there was considerable) but rather on actors. The film has Harvey Keitel (as Charlie) at its center, whose solidity and slight dullness as an actor keeps the film from spinning off into total anarchy; but it is Robert De Niro's Johnny Boy (Charlie's wild, self-destructive friend whom he looks out for with all the obsessiveness of an older brother) that gives the film its charge. Johnny Boy dances and gyrates and leaps and spins about the edges of the film, continually threatening to take it into and out of chaos (which he finally does). De Niro's performance, which remains as hilarious and breath-taking as ever - was a revelation at the time. De Niro took naturalistic, "method" acting to new highs, and his Johnny Boy is possibly the very first performance of its kind. It's a genuine portrayal of a street punk whose charm and obnoxiousness are almost uncannily intertwined - you can't despise Johnny Boy, but you can't respect him much, either. You just have to love him. It's easy enough to imagine Charlie's frustration over this kid - De Niro's work here adds depth and veracity to Keitel's, and the two actors work so well together that some of their scenes ? like the one they have together in Taxi Driver - have an almost hallucinatory buzz to them. Aside from its acting, the other major influence which Mean Streets had upon American film-makers was through it's use of a rock n' roll soundtrack (almost perfectly integrated with the images), and in its depiction of a new kind of screen violence. Unexpected, volatile, explosive and wholly senseless, yet, for all that, undeniably cinematic violence. The way in which Scorsese blends these two - the rock and roll and the violence - shows that he understood instinctively, better than anyone else until then, that cinema (or at least this kind of cinema, the kinetic, visceral kind) and rock n' roll are both expressions of revolutionary instincts, and that they are as inherently destructive as they are creative. This simple device - brutal outbreaks of violence combined with an upbeat soundtrack - has been taken up by both the mainstream cinema at large and by many individual `auteurs', all of whom are in Scorsese's debt - Stone and Tarantino coming at once to mind.

The Naturalist Ideas Essay -- Literary Analysis, Societal Structures

Important aspects of naturalism are the ideas that people are essentially animals responding to their basic urges without rational thought, and the insignificance of man to others and nature. In The Jungle, Sinclair portrays Jurgis as a man slowly changing into animal as well as a man whose actions are irrelevant to the rest of the corrupt capitalist world of Chicago in order to show the reader the naturalist ideas of the struggles between man and society. Jurgis's struggle between human thought and animalistic tendencies are evident in several major events in the book. In the beginning of Jurgis's life in Chicago, he can disregard most of the obstacles thrown at him by the corruption of man and keep his rational thinking dominant of his animal-like instincts. However, when Jurgis finds out that Connor has violated, harassed, threatened, and raped his wife Ona, he reached his breaking point. Jurgis was so overwhelmed with rage, he reverted back to his primal instincts and "sunk his teeth into the man's cheek" (153). We again see Jurgis "animal instincts" when he escapes from the city and lives in the countryside from a while. He has given up on being rational and has resorted to use his survival instincts like stealing and scavenging to survive. Sinclair shows us how these instincts will not help us survive in the end. Whenever Jurgis behaves like an animal, he is punished in some kind of way like an animal. When he attacks Co nnor, he is sent to prison and when he is in the rural area, he does not get any money to help him survive. Moreover, Jurgis does everything he can to help his family and himself survive, but regardless of his actions, the corrupt society plows through him without remorse or regret. Jurgis's op... ...te the flawed example of muckraking by The Jungle, the main reason for the use of muckraking was and still is an effective way of revealing the corruption of politics and businesses. Although The Jungle may not have served Sinclair purposes for social reform, it brought reform to the way food is handled. Without the enlightening view of the meat-packing business, even if false, the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act may never have been created. We still see examples of muckraking today from Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me to magazines like People, Time, Cosmopolitan, and National Geographic. Muckraking is one of the few ways that the average person can find out about information quickly and easily. In certain cases, it even connects the nations together in order to fight a common enemy, whether it is political, social, natural, or supernatural.

Apples and Oranges: a Comparative Essay

Apples and Oranges: A Comparative Essay Is the old adage â€Å"you can’t compare apples and oranges† correct? Besides being food, both of these produce items have much in common. They both are located under the Fruits and Vegetable category of the Canadian Food Guide; they are both spherical in shape, making them fit in the palm of your hand; and they both have a considerable amount of moisture under their skin. However, in both nutritional value and aesthetic appearance the orange far out weighs the lowly apple. Although, according to the Canadian Food Guide, a serving of apples and a serving of oranges are both considered one equal serving within the Fruits and Vegetables category, the nutritional value of oranges is far superior to that of apples. First, oranges have a higher concentration of vitamin C. This vitamin is essential in strengthening and maintaining a healthy immune system. Thus, the greater the vitamin C—within reason—the greater the functioning and resilience of our immune system. Furthermore, peeling an orange often requires extreme dexterity and excellent hand-eye coordination. Thus, when eating an orange one is not only receiving an excellent dose of vitamin C, one is also practicing hand-eye coordination and honing his/her dexterity. On the other hand, apples, although a good source of vitamin C lack the concentration that is obviously present in oranges. Thus, when eating an apple it seems that the apple’s nutritional value is simply calorie intake—fuel for the body. While this function is necessary, oranges ‘play double duty’. They provide us with calories at the same time as helping us to fight viruses and disease. Furthermore, eating an apple only requires a strong jaw and teeth. It does not help us to practice transferable skills such as dexterity. While the nutritional value of the fruits we consume is important, their aesthetic appearance is of greater concern. The appearance of an apple is pleasing; its symmetry, shine, and contours emulate marble sculptures. However, there is one essential flaw in the aesthetic of the apple. It lacks a strong and invigorating aroma. When an apple is bitten, it emits a deep musky smell, one that is unique but in no way mood-changing. Oranges, when peeled emit a heavy citrus scent which, studies have shown, help us to become re-energized. Perfumers have even attempted to capture this scent in their colognes, body washes, and au de toilets. But no synthetic concoction can truly mimetic the revitalizing effects of citrus. The very prestigious study of aromatherapy has verified the mood-changing effects of the citrus scent; â€Å"citrus is often used by psychologist to treat patients with depression with some promising results† (Fakes 2). Thus the orange combats both diseases of the body and diseases of the mind. Although there are many superficial similarities between apples and oranges, oranges are of greater nutritional and aesthetic value. Apples are valuable in their caloric value and their appearance, but they lack both the concentration of vitamin C as well as the revitalizing citrus effects. Therefore, perhaps the old adage is correct: â€Å"You can’t compare apples and oranges†.