My Plays Last Scene Essay

Death is a key theme in a number of John Donne’s poems, including ‘Death Be Not Proud’ and ‘This Is My Play’s Last Scene’. I have decided to compare these two poems with Emily Dickenson’s ‘Because I Could Not Stop For Death’. From the two Donne poems he releases a mixture of feelings including terror and fear however Donne introduces quite a quantity of Christian images to present death. This could have a lot to do with the multiple times Donne came close to death himself and the pressure and constant fear of death whilst being a Catholic under Jacobean England. Donne’s father also known as John Donne died in 1576, leaving his wife, Elizabeth Heywood, the responsibility of raising his many children. A few months after the death of Donne’s father, his two sisters Mary and Katherine died in 1581. Donne’s uncle William Harrington was tortured on the rack, hanged until not quite dead, then was subjected to disembowelment, this is thought to have had a great effect on John Donne and resulting in him questioning his Catholic faith. Emily Dickinson There are many ways which Donne shows his fear of death, one of which is the way he personifies it making it seem like a feared image that is actually standing next to him. In ‘This Is My Play’s Last Scene’ Donne refers to death as ‘gluttonous’ making us think that death is greedy for more victims and waiting for more people that ‘he’ can swallow up. Donne’s use of capitol letters whilst referring to death makes it seem more like a real person. Similarly, Emily Dickenson also personifies death in her poem ‘Because I Could Not Stop For Death’’ similarly to Donne by her use of capitol letters for ‘death’. Donne says ‘†¦will instantly unjoint’ making it sound like being ripped apart from earth and taken to another life against your own will. Antonio S. Oliver once said about Donne ‘’ Some poems depict death as insignificant while others present it as something he, and therefore humans, should fear’’. I agree with this quote because ‘This Is My Play’s Last Scene’ greatly emphasises the fear that Donne quite obviously had towards death whilst writing this poem. This fear of death was probably generated by the Catholic climate in the late 16th Century and early 17th century. It was dangerous to be a Catholic in England at this time. You could not, if you remained faithful to your religion, hope to play any part in public life, and you were debarred from graduating university, something which Donne experienced firsthand. Donne was educated privately from the age of 11. After three years at Oxford he was admitted to Cambridge, where he studied for a further three years. He was unable to obtain a degree from either institution because of his Catholicism, since he could not take the Oath of Supremacy required of graduates. However, Donne uses euphemisms as a way of reassuring that death is not as fearful as he otherwise makes out. In ‘This Is My Play’s Last Scene’ it says ‘’and I shall sleep a space’’, this sibilance and the euphemism of death simply being falling to sleep seems like a way of Donne trying to calm himself of his nerves that come with living in stress and constant fear of death being close every moment of his life. Antonio S. Oliver said about Donne ‘’His faith in theology calmed his fears and doubts.’’ I strongly agree with this statement as religion was a big part of Donne’s life at the time. In 1621 Donne was made Deacon of St Pauls, a leading and well paid position in the Church of England and one that he held until his death in 1631 which emphasises just how much of his life he devoted to his religion. Emily Dickinson’s poem ‘Because I Could Not Stop For Death’ is basically an ongoing metaphor. Dickinson get’s into ‘’the carriage’’ with death and is taken through a journey of her life. At the end of her first stanza Dickinson says ‘’and immortality’’ which shows us that similarly to Donne she is comforted by the idea of life after death and is curious about what happens behind the grave. Antonio S. Oliver said about Donne ‘’His poetry is highly paradoxical, a quality that only adds to its richness and attractiveness much to the delight of its readers.’’ A lot of Donne’s poems end in paradoxes which make the reader feel frightened and comforted at the same time as well as possibly a little unsure about the actual message of the poem. ‘Death Be Not Proud’ ends with a paradox which says,  Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die’’ This is a statement of clear religious beliefs. Donne is literally saying that death one day shall actually die. Donne is still personifying death by using capitol letters. The use of alliteration for ‘death’ and ‘die’ is quite a deafening and bold sound. From this paradox it is hard to understand whether Donne is underneath quite scared about coming close to death or whether he has overcome his previous fear and by saying that one day death will die is his way of bringing death down to size. ‘This Is My Play’s Last Scene’ also ends with a paradox which says,  Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Impute me righteous, thus purg’d of evil, For thus I leave the world, the flesh, the devil.’’

Positive nonverbal messages Essay

From the way we dress to the way we move, our nonverbal signals can reveal a great deal about our emotions, perceptions and intentions. When a person is talking or listening, he sends continuous messages consciously or unconsciously through his body movements, such as the way he holds his head, the angle at which he hold his body, his movements of limbs and his changing facial expressions. This kind of communication in which no verbal language is used comes under the category of non verbal communication. According to Knapp & Hall (2002) non verbal communication refers to communication that is produced by some means other than words, e. g. , eye contact, body language or vocal cues. The significance of nonverbal communication, in establishing interpersonal relationships, is far greater than any one can think of. According to experts, a substantial portion of our communication is nonverbal. On the basis of its effect nonverbal communication can be classified under following three categories. 1. POSITIVE NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION – Positive nonverbal messages puts the other person at ease. When a person expresses an open and positive attitude towards the person with whom he is interacting, it creates a supportive and collaborative atmosphere. Use of positive non-verbal communication helps a person to become more effective and successful. It significantly affects the level of interpersonal relationship. It also determines the overall impression people form about a person. There are several types of positive non verbal indicators. For example turning face to the sender, leaning slightly forward towards him indicate that he is interested. , Nodding to express understanding, smiling or touching the person gently are other types of positive non verbal cues. The eye contact is most effective non verbal cue to achieve the goal of gaining someone’s trust. The way one uses his body and limbs, his eyes and face, will have a major influence on how his non verbal messages are perceived. 2. NEGATIVE NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION – Sometimes non verbal body movements, gestures and facial expressions generate disinterest & distrust. It creates a state of confusion on the part of the receiver. The type of communication which comes under the above category is known as negative nonverbal communication. Negative nonverbal messages hampers collaborative and supportive environment. To ensure effective communication one must avoid giving such type of cues. Staring or gazing at other can create pressure and tension between the receiver and the sender. Negative facial expression, shifty eyes, too much blinking suggest deception Eyebrow muscle draws the eyebrows down and toward the center of the face if someone is annoyed. Talking to someone without maintaining the eye contact is distracting and often interpreted as insulting. If a person keeps talking on phone or keeps working on the computer during the conversation, it shows that he is not interested. 3. NEUTRAL NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION –This is the type of nonverbal communication which have neither positive or negative effect on the receiver. The type of body movements , postures and tone which have neutral effect on the receivers feelings and emotions comes under this category. It is very difficult to label any non verbal cue as neutral. People attach meaning even to a neutral message. During listening one rarely can stay silent for long, silence in some instances may be treated as neutral non verbal communication. If it lasts more than for 5-6 seconds then it turns into a negative cue. Sounds like ‘Mmm’, ‘Ah’ and ‘Hmmm’ when used in a neutral way invite learner to continue talking. CONCLUSION – Sending clear nonverbal messages and understanding correctly the message send by someone, largely depends upon the way how you are perceiving the total situation, and the person with whom you are communicating. Your mind set and the environment in which the communication is taking place also determine how you interpret and react to the non verbal messages. Interpretation of the messages depends upon past experiences,feelings, attitude and socio cultural background of the receiver. Communication can be misperceived if the source and the receiver does not share common experiences and common frame of reference. REFERENCES Knapp,M. L & Hall, J. A (2002) Non Verbal Communication in Human Interaction, Crawfordsville, IN : Thompson Learning Smith,T. E, & Gartin B. C, Murdick, N. L, &Hilton,A (2006) : Positive Indicator Of Non Verbal Communication Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall retrieved on 13th May,2010 Windle,R & Warren, S Communication Skills retrieved on 13th May 2010 from http://www. directionservice. org/cadre/section4. cfm

Cognitive Dissonance Classic in Psychology

Cognitive Dissonance Classic in Psychology Areej Alemer [Instructor’s Name] [Class Title] Cognitive Dissonance Classic in Psychology Introduction There were famous experiments conducted in psychology and many of these experiments gave scientists a new perspective on understanding people. In the 1950s, scientists began conducting test about the effect of social pressures and influence to the behavior of people. Among these scientists is Leon Festinger. He became a well known scientist about the topic social influence through his famous theory of cognitive dissonance[1].Cognitive Dissonance Festinger came about this theory in the 1950s at a time when a doomsday cult attracted media attention. The cult worshipped a certain god named Sananda. Cult members believed that Sananda gave them these warnings The uprising of the Atlantic bottom will submerge the land of the Atlantic seaboard; France will sink†¦. Russia will become one great sea†¦ a great wave rushes to the Rock y Mountains†¦ for the purpose of purifying it of the earthling and creating a new order. [2] Believers claimed that these warnings would happen in midnight of December 21.Festinger got interested with the cult and in his mind he had these questions: â€Å"What would happen when on the midnight of December 21, nothing happens? Would the group lose faith? How do human beings react when prophecy fails? †[3] Festinger found out that when the prophecy failed the believers did not lose their faith. They found ways to justify the failed prophecy. One of famous explanation was earth was spared because the cult members went into action and believed in the prophecy. Christians and Jews will find this justification not hard to believe.In the book of Jonah in the bible, Jonah prophesied that Nineveh would be destroyed by fire (Jo. 3:1-10). The people of Nineveh believed and decided to fast and put on sackcloth to show that they had repented. Even their king fasted, sat on ashes and put on sackcloth. Eventually Nineveh was spared and destruction did not happen. So when cult leaders told their members that the earth was spared because of believing Sananda's message, the members bought it, but not Festinger. To him the explanations are a bunch of lies, which he politely called â€Å"cognitive dissonance. Festinger saw the effort of cult leaders in lyng to the media in making excuses to their failed prophecy. They contacted TV stations ABC and CBS, they welcome New York Times, the phoned the writers of Life, Time and Newsweek and gave dozens of interviews to reporters. [4] These actions according to Slater were â€Å"attempts to convince the public that their actions and beliefs were not in vain. † The attempts of cult leaders to justify their actions and beliefs became the basis of Festinger’s theory and experiments on cognitive dissonance[5].Through his readings about history, people tend to proselytize (a sort of desperate defense mechanism) when their belief is disconfirmed. He also found out that the â€Å"disjunction between what one believes and the factual evidence is highly uncomfortable. †[6] When prophecy of a cult fails members would attempt to convince everyone to join the cult through false justification. The more people join the group, the more the members feel that they were not mistaken. Is it possible for people to engage in extreme lying just to reconcile their seemingly irreconcilable ideas?Festinger found out that people indeed lie in order to avoid dissonance. In fact, he discovered several forms of dissonance. According to Cooper , what Festinger observed in the cult, he called it the belief disconfirmation paradigm[7]. When he conducted experiment regarding dissonance and money, he called it the insufficient reward paradigm. In his last research he also identified another dissonance- induce compliance paradigm[8]. To understand cognitive dissonance theory it is important to review Festingerâ€⠄¢s experiment. The ExperimentBut to be able to explain Festinger’s experiment and his theory of cognitive dissonance, discussion of the actual experiment is necessary. Festinger’s experiment is considered a classic in psychology and can easily be retrieved in the net. It was first published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology and was entitled â€Å"Cognitive Consequence of Forced Compliance. † The experiment objective is to investigate how cognitive dissonance takes place when people are force to comply. Slater simply called cognitive dissonance as â€Å"irreconcilable ideas†[9].Social Psychology authors such as Brown simply defined cognitive dissonance as a state of opposition between cognition such as beliefs, views and opinion[10]. It is a perceived inconsistency within a person’s mental processes, in which he believes in something then acts in a different way from what he believes. Festinger exp[11]eriment aimed to measure the cognitive diss onance effect during force compliance and to test the validity of the following two statements: â€Å"If a person is induced to do or say something, which is contrary to his private opinion, he tends to change his opinion to bring congruence to what he has done or said. and â€Å"The larger the pressure used to elicit the overt behavior (beyond the minimum needed to elicit it) the weaker will be the above-mentioned tendency†) Festinger and his colleagues hypothesized that the larger the reward the lesser would be the subsequent opinion change. Therefore, if one puts their words in research method statements, the main hypothesis would be â€Å"there is a significant relationship between the amount of rewards and the magnitude of cognitive dissonance†[12]     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To test the validity of the hypothesis, Festinger divided his subjects into three groups, one controlled group and two experimental groups.The two experimental groups are named- one-dollar g roup and twenty-dollar group respectively, the name correspond to the amount of money that the two groups will received in order to comply. The subjects for the experiment were college students and the primary technique utilized by the researcher was deception. The subjects were told that the experiment is about their behavior on a monotonous activity. However, the real experiment would only begin when the researcher tries to deceive them, by telling another group will be exposed to a variable in which a confederate will tell them that the activity is enjoyable.However, the original confederate will not come and that the experimenter needs the respondents to act as proxy and be the one to tell lies to the other subject (who herself is also a confederate) on the other room. The persuasion involves a monetary reward a one-dollar for the first group and a twenty-dollar for the other. The rewards are  intended to affect the subject’s behavior or the dissonance effect. Deception was not included in the control group to be able to control its effect. The first experimental group receives a one-dollar amount in order to tell lies. The other experimental group receives 20 dollars.The authors theorized that the one-dollar group would have a greater magnitude of dissonance compared to the 20 dollars group[13]. By applying statistical treatment and comparing the responses of the experimental group with the control group the researcher found out that the one dollar group came to believe that the experiment as enjoyable where in fact, the control group finds it extremely boring, the twenty dollar group find the experiment slightly boring not far from the control groups answer. These results support the theory that the smaller the award the greater is the magnitude of the dissonance.Hence the authors accepted the hypothesis. Festinger’s experiment also has limitations. It is only limited to the response of the subjects who were mostly college students. The r esults might be different if conducted on professionals and middle age adults. Impact of the Experiment to Psychology Festinger’s findings were considered a milestone in psychology. It gave convincing explanations to mysterious human behaviors. Gawronski[14] provided an example. During the Korean War she wrote, the Chinese were able to convince American prisoners to become communists.They did this not by torture but by offering a bit of rice or candies. In exchange of these goodies, Americans were asked to write an anti-American essay. After the essay writing many American soldiers espoused communism. Ordinary people might find such behavior baffling and stupid. Why throw democratic principles in exchange of a bit of rice? It would be easy to accept that these Americans were tortured and went through a near death experience that is why they converted to communism. It is a rational explanation and very acceptable. The fact that Americans embraced communism for a candy is somet hing people could not accept.Cognitive dissonance theory provided an answer- the simpler the reward for engaging in behavior that is contrary with one’s beliefs, the higher the tendency of the person to change his or her beliefs[15]. Even though this answer seems to make no sense, it really happens. The one and twenty dollar experiment supported it. According to Petty, there is a rational explanation for changing one’s belief. It was such a horrible thing to sell one’s self for a piece of candy[16]. The emotional pain would be so great. The person may lose his feeling of self-worth and may look at himself an undignified individual.Slater coined this feeling a â€Å"schmuck. To avoid such a feeling, the person should come up with a better explanation for selling his principles for a very cheap price. Festinger’s theory provided an alternative explanation for behaviorism. Formerly Skinner had said rewards reinforce and punishments extinguish. Skinner expla ined human behavior through his reward theory. Humans operate in their environment and through this operation they learn certain behaviors. Humans acquire behavior through operant conditioning. Skinner took away the mental element of humans. He made humans simple machines that behave through the means of conditioning.After cognitive dissonance theory, humans were seen as punishment driven beings that act not because of conditioning but because of mental processes. Festinger added the element of thoughts in explaining human behavior. His theory challenges the behaviorism. Behaviorism claimed that mind and thoughts are not worthy of psychological investigations because they belong to the realms of philosophy and not empirical science. Festinger discovered that behavior is influenced by the way people think. Psychologists cannot set aside the mind and thought processes in explaining human behavior.Without considering the mind and thought processes, psychologists would never understand why American soldiers embraced communism in exchange for a piece of candy or a bit of rice. Human beings are not only motivated by rewards and punishment. For, if this were so, the Chinese will have a hard time convincing Americans to espouse communism because their offer of rewards were not actually rewarding. Festinger has drawn a concrete conclusion from his cognitive dissonance theory. Human are hypocrite beings. They are beings motivated by minds that must be made comfortable.Reward theory alone can never explain human behavior. Human beings think. They engage in the most amazing mental gymnastics, all just to justify their hypocrisy[17]. Explaining Mysterious Human Behavior Cognitive dissonance theory is not only an elegant explanation for mysterious human behavior. It is also became a tool to discredit religion especially Christianity. Using the belief – disconfirmation paradigm, one can conclude that the spread of Christianity was due to cognitive dissonance and lack of deep knowledge of human behavior during the early years of Christianity.Everybody knows for a fact that Christianity spread through the effort of Jesus’ disciples. Ancient critics of Christianity suspected that early Christians had engaged in mass hysteria[18]. They collectively had seen unreal things. Before, cognitive dissonance theory, such accusation of mass hysteria was dismissed because of the martyrdoms of virtually every apostle of Christ. The apostle would not sacrifice their lives for something that is founded by fallacy. They were burned at the stake, cut into two, crucified upside down and immersed in boiling oil all because they refused to decant their faith.To avoid such horrible tortures, all they had to do was to tell the emperor that they there were no truths in their claims about Jesus and presto they will be released. But they chose death, indicating that they were not under mass hysteria but had really seen Christ resurrects from the death. This is a si mple Christian defense; it stood unchallenged for thousands of years until Festinger discovered cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance explained that when prophecy fails, people will not leave their beliefs instead, they would create lies in order to justify the failed prophecy perhaps even to the point of death [19]. The apostles of Christ were expecting him to free Israel from bondage. This is the duty of the messiah. They expect Jesus to liberate Israel and establish a new Jewish kingdom. The apostles believed that Jesus was the messiah. They gave up everything in order to become Jesus’ disciples. They were promised to receive an important position in Jesus kingdom. They expect that the earth will be destroyed by fire and a new heaven and earth will be created. The kingdom of Jesus will be established in this new heaven and earth. The apostles will co rule with Jesus. But Jesus was killed and everything that they have believed turned to ashes.Some left Jerusalem and st arted a new life. Others were left and continue to meet secretly. This gathering can be likened to the case of the doomsday cult, in which members did not go home and confessed their mistakes; instead, they change their behaviors, speeches and way of thinking to explain carefully their failed prophecy. They began attracting more followers despite of the fact that their prophecy failed. They engaged in pathological lying just to convince people that they were not wrong. If ordinary people in the doomsday cult had engaged in lying when prophecy failed, then it was also possible that the apostles had also lied.Cognitive dissonance theory states that it was possible for the apostles not to recant their faith even until death. Hence, Christianity martyrdom defense is weak. After his death, his apostles claim that Jesus is coming very soon and judgment day is at hand. Like in the case of the doomsday cult, believers also had sold their belongings and give the money to the apostles. The ap ostles have all died but judgment day did not come. Despite of these, believers became more aggressive in recruiting new members and Christianity grew in numbers. Two thousand years have passed but Christ did not return and judgment day was nowhere to be found[20].Yet, Pastors and priest were able to find plausible explanation for the delayed second coming and people really buy it. No offense to Christian readers, but after reading chapter five and Festinger’s original study, it was very hard for this writer not think that cognitive dissonance was really involved in Christianity. Cognitive dissonance is not just a simple social psychology experiment. It is a mind opener, a myth buster and a truth engine. If religious fanatics explore its basic concepts, they might leave their faith. Cognitive dissonance theory explained that humans would lie in order to avoid dissonance.It is the best explanation why religious cults and organizations do not cease to exist even though their pr ophecy and beliefs fails or contradicts reasoning. Festinger’s theory is all about the tendency of humans to lie to avoid discomfort. It is about the selfishness of human nature. This is the only conclusion one can derive from his experiments. Humans are hypocrites and engage in all sort of mental gymnastic in order to justify their hypocrisy. Conclusion Slater believed in cognitive dissonance theory but disagree with Festinger’s revelation on the selfishness of human nature.Do humans lie because of selfish motive, i. e. to avoid the pain of being a â€Å"schmuck† or was there something else. Festinger forgot to mention the good side of human nature. All he saw was its tendency to deceive and lie[21]. To show that dissonance is caused by other elements aside from selfishness, Slater told a story about Linda Santo. Linda Santo has a bed-ridden daughter named Audrey whom she takes care of for the past couple of decades. Her daughter got an accident when she was th ree and became bed ridden from that time on. Linda patiently took care of his daughter since then.Her husband left her a few months of the accident. Linda took care of Audrey. Audrey though invalid is a miracle worker, Statues of Mary and Jesus were put near her and these statues produce miracle oil. The oil was used to heal sickness of any kind. Linda finds an explanation and was not mystified with the miracles. She knew that her daughter was a â€Å"saint, that God had chosen Audrey to be a victim soul, to take on the pains of other people so that they could be healed (121)† It’s a classic example of cognitive dissonance, the mother finding an explanation for her daughter’s dreadful fate.It was not clear whether Linda manipulate the miracles and told people that her daughter takes away people pains. But according to Slater , if ever she lied, there was no selfishness in her heart, but love, which makes Festinger view of human nature somewhat wrong. People do n ot lie only because they avoid of being a schmuck but also because they are loving creatures. Linda was found to have breast cancer. She regularly underwent therapy. She now takes care of herself alone aside from taking care of her daughter. Slater wondered why Linda would not ask her daughter to heal her.Perhaps she knew that the miracles were a fake. She simply told Slater that mothers do ask something from their child; it is they who give something to their child. Slater concluded that dissonance is not always about selfishness; it’s also about love. Slater was a mother and understands very well why Linda was doing all this[22]. Perhaps, there is another form of cognitive dissonance paradigm that Festinger failed to identity. To conclude, Festinger experiments were indeed convincing but he failed to consider the other aspect of human nature such as love and caress.Some people engage in dissonance not because of cognitive pain but because out of love just in the case of Lin da Santo. Bibliographies Brown, Richard, Social Psychology 5th Edition New York McGraw Hill. 2006. Cooper, John. Cognitive dissonance: 50 years of a classic theory. London: Sage publications. 2007. Gawronski, Brand. Cognitive consistency: A fundamental principle in social cognition. New York: Guilford Press. 2011. Myers, Steven. Social psychology  . Toronto: Graw-Hill Ryerson. 2006. Petty, Ronald . The Meta-Cognitive Model (MCM) of attitudes: Implications for attitude measurement, change, and strength.Social Cognition. 2007. 25(5), 657686. Chen Mark Revisiting the Three Choice Paradigm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2010. 99(4), 573. Slater, Laura Opening Skinner’s Box New York, Penguin Books. 2005. ———————– [1] Myers, Steven. Social psychology  . (Toronto: Graw-Hill Ryerson, 2006) 90-120 [2] Slater, Laura Opening Skinner’s Box (New York, Penguin Books, 2006) 110 [3] Ibid 111 [4] Cooper, John. Co gnitive dissonance: 50 years of a classic theory. (London: Sage publications, 2007). 90 [5] Slater, Laura Opening Skinner’s Box (New York, Penguin Books, 2006) 111 [6] Cooper, John.Cognitive dissonance: 50 years of a classic theory. (London: Sage publications, 2007). 91 [7] Cooper, John. Cognitive dissonance: 50 years of a classic theory. (London: Sage publications, 2007). 90 [8] Petty, Ronald . The Meta-Cognitive Model (MCM) of attitudes: Implications for attitude measurement, change, and strength. Social Cognition, 2007. 25(5), 657–686. [9] Cooper, John. Cognitive dissonance: 50 years of a classic theory. (London: Sage publications, 2007). 92 [10] Brown, Richard Social Psychology 5th Edition (New York McGraw Hill, 2006) 91 [11] Slater, Laura Opening Skinner’s Box (New York, Penguin Books, 2006) 115 [12] Cooper, John.Cognitive dissonance: 50 years of a classic theory. (London: Sage publications, 2007). 99 [13] Myers, Steven. Social psychology  . ( Toronto:Gra w-Hill Ryerson, 2006) 95 [14] Gawronski,Brand. .  Cognitive consistency: A fundamental principle in social cognition. (New York: Guilford Press, 2011) 106 [15] Slater, Laura Opening Skinner’s Box (New York, Penguin Books, 2006) 114 [16] Petty, Ronald . The Meta-Cognitive Model (MCM) of attitudes: Implications for attitude measurement, change, and strength. Social Cognition, 2007, 25(5), 658. [17] Petty, Ronald .The Meta-Cognitive Model (MCM) of attitudes: Implications for attitude measurement, change, and strength. Social Cognition, 2007. 25(5). [18] Myers, Steven. Social psychology  . (Toronto: Graw-Hill Ryerson, 2006) 99 [19] Brown, Richard Social Psychology 5th Edition (New York McGraw Hill, 2006) 91 [20] Chen Mark Revisiting the Three Choice Paradigm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2010. 99(4), 573. [21] Slater, Laura Opening Skinner’s Box (New York, Penguin Books, 2006) 125 [22] Slater, Laura Opening Skinner’s Box (New York, Penguin Books, 2006) 150

Beautiful Minds Movie project HRM 511 Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Beautiful Minds project HRM 511 - Movie Review Example The movie further shows how love can win misunderstanding (Goldsman & Nasar, 2002). However, the characters in the story wanted to show the course of admiration and that a disorder is not a barrier to a healthy existence. A Beautiful Mind shows a lot of effectiveness and esthetic beauty from the way the stage director has arranged the work. It must have a strong opening that evokes the emotion of the audience (Indick, 2004). Another element that we expect in dramaturgy is how the art is presented, how the directors capture the turning point and bringing out the climax. Nash suffers a lot because of the false impression that many at times take control of his life. It is evident in the story that during the time when Nash is in a state of delusion, he sees imaginary things, for instance, his comrade, Charles. The movie addresses the state of delusion that Nash is in at any time. The video controller creates a scenario where Charles is brought out as a real person greeting Nash at his time of joining the university. However, the state of delusion that Nash at times fi nds himself in is not a conscious occurrence (Goldsman & Nasar, 2002). At times, Nash gets into a state that the ego part of his mind takes control, for instance when his wife, Alicia decides to leave him he goes and stands in front of the car. That is a behavior that can only be seen in a child. The major problem in the case of Nash is that he is unable to draw a line between veracity and delusion. Due to the mental problem with Nash, he is not able to control his moods and attitude because it keeps on changing from intelligence to absolute stupidity. Therefore, there is a competing conflict between emotions and behaviors and attitudes. It is the conscious part of mind that directs the attitude and behavior, however, when there is short of the brain control system

The Muses in Greek Mythology and Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Muses in Greek Mythology and Art - Essay Example History of Greek Muses has different in a different author writing over the course of time. But the bottom line or the core idea always remains the same. Muses are associated with various arts and cultural activities, which often helped the people of the ancient time to overcome any kind of mental difficulties or stress. The Muses, as per the views of the earliest writers, was the inspirational goddesses of song, whereas according to a later set of people, theologies ruling over the various kinds of poetry along with other science and cultural activities. They were initially viewed as the sprites of inspirational wells, close to which they were loved. Later on, the Thraco-Boeotian adoration of the nine Muses started to spread out from Boeotia over other parts of Greece, and eventually became normally recognized.The origin of all these 9 Muses is not similar as there is a number of theories associated with the origin of them. Few people or the most common concept associated with the o rigin of all 9 Muses was they were the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and born in Pieria, at the foot of Mount Olympus. There was another set of theory which suggested that they were the daughters of Uranus and Gaea. For a period of 2500 years, people used to believe that all 9 Muses were the base of any kind of cultural activities. Throughout all the Western Civilization, people accepted the fact that all their inspirations, creativity, and incredible talent come from his muse.

How does Social learning theory positively impact the training program Literature review - 1

How does Social learning theory positively impact the training program - Literature review Example The social learning theory, as postulated by Albert Bandura, has been applied widely in organizations as the most appropriate way of allowing employees to acquire the desired skills, knowledge and abilities. This paper presents a review of past research on the application of the social learning theory in a training project for employees within organizations. The paper aims at demonstrating the models, theories and factors which are involved in the social learning theory approach within a training project. Social Learning Theory In accordance with the works of Bandura on the social learning theory, it is postulated that employees or individuals within organizations learn appropriately and effectively within the context of a social environment (Harris & Kleiner, 1993). The learning or training that applies the social learning theory and approach is achieved through learning concepts and models such as observation and modeling (Knights & Willmott, 2007). As a result, various models have been put forth and applied in training projects. This is because the application of models in training programs and projects has been described as the most effective way of achieving change in behavior within organizations or companies (Boyce, 2011). However, past research has demonstrated heated debate on the effectiveness of social learning theory in meeting the training needs of an organization. The critics of the theory base their arguments that the models used within the social learning theory are not as effective and efficient as they are presented by the theory’s proponents (Clarke & Caffarella, 1999). On the other hand, reports of scientific investigation reflect a recommendation for organizations to employ the social learning theory as a learning tool within its training projects (Kalliath, Brough, O'Driscoll, Manimala, & Siu, 2010). Such research is backed by evidence and illustrations on the effectiveness of the theory in achieving the goals and objectives of trai ning projects within small, medium size and large organizations. In the light of these observations, the literature review within this paper will analyze, evaluate and discuss past research on this theory in relation to its application in promoting the effectiveness of learning projects within organizations. Workplace Training and Employee Development The focus of many researchers has been within various aspects of the contemporary knowledge community or society. As a result, past researchers commonly refer to the modern knowledge society as post-capitalism, post-Fordism or post-industrialism (Boyce, 2011). Nonetheless, many researchers who investigate the role of social learning theory in organizational training refer to the contemporary knowledge society as late-capitalism and post-modernity (Bartol, Tein, Matthews, & Martin, 2005). The models within the observational learning approach, as postulated by Bandura in his social learning theory, have specifically attracted the attenti on of researchers. According to Bandura’s social learning theory, a live model is an observational approach which is a description of an individual who is depicting the desired characteristics and behavior. Researchers

Managing Preformance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Managing Preformance - Essay Example The important aspect in managing performance is the leadership skills that can be enhanced alongside attitudes, interpersonal skills and behaviours.(Abbey,2007). It helps to retain and maintain people who embody the basic human capital of the organizations as they are the one responsible for the execution of the strategic plans of the business. (Abbey,2007). This essay includes the analysis of the issues in managing performance by citing cases in an organization that involves performance management. The views and opinions of several organizations about the affectivity of the management are cited. The disadvantage and advantages of the performance management are enumerated to further support the importance of such management. Based on the studies that will be presented in this essay effective performance management will result in an increase in sales and greater profitability. Managing performance involves the evaluation of the employee and an appropriate compensation for the job. Companies and managers have conflicting ideas about this. In the study done by Harris (2001), it involves two phases. It is about the argument that the importance of managerial values and assumptions about rewarding individual performance has been an overlooked and underestimated dimension in the design and application of individual performance-related pay processes (IPRP). ... ' perspective on the effectiveness of performance-related pay processes in terms of encouraging the types of behaviours employers stated they were seeking from their employees. The study done by Harris (2001) wants to prove that a well compensated employee will result in a well done job and thus increases the output and the profitability of the company. It is the responsibility of the managers to fill in the gap between the missing links of aspirations and results, by motivating their employees, through management of their performance.(Abbey,2007). The organizations are aware that the success of the strategy is dependent on the effort and capabilities of their employees to implement the strategy that makes all the difference to their flourishing business.(Abbey,2007). In the study done by Harris (2001), 78 percent of respondents identified a non publicized objective which is to increase employee commitment and improve individual motivation through a fairer reward system more focused on business objectives. This was referred to by the study as an official agenda. Another objective identified as an hidden agenda was concerned with the control aspects of performance management system, which changing the culture, making managers manage, dealing with issues of under-performance, reducing staffing levels and costs while increasing workloads. Another important objective is to increase the potential of an organization, in order to achieve its strategy; it is important that organization develops and creates the capabilities of its employees. Effective people management is the only key to improve the businesses performance. The most important purpose of Performance Management is to increase the effectiveness of the employees. This should be done, in order to improve the

Marketing and consultancy for food trucks Lab Report

Marketing and consultancy for food trucks - Lab Report Example The consulting services for concepts, menu, and the graphics are availed (Festa, 2012). There are five key stages of the management consultancy process that are quite essential for a food truck industry. Once apparently followed the chances of the project failing are minimal. This stage is a major determinant of the food truck consultants, which provides they provide value that relies on the people that are served. The expectation from the team is frequently set at this point. When the roles are set, the parties involved are aware of what they are supposed to do to attain the goal of the business (Food company consultancy, 2009). The staffs are very flexible, and the choice of who to head the business is never a big deal. The flexibility offers a chance to select the most competent and the profitable personnel from the crew. The food truck consultants echo the cry of the crucial steps while signing the clients should be the establishment of the well-defined expectations to have defined roles. Once that is done, there is no likelihood of the friction while on the road since everyone knows his or her roles. This step is quite imperative in the food truck industry. The overall expectations on the touch points and the derivable set the project and let the clients know what their expectations and what they cannot expect. It is always important to take care not to be too ambitious at this stage. The next step to undertake while after this is to make sure that all that is set can be attained or if possible exceed the objective. At this point, it is imperative to get the team and gear to the customers to survey the field and have a clear expertise of the ground (Magazine, 2012). After getting the food truck industry, the consultants will spend their precious time with the customers in this phase. At this stage, problems may occur, so it is always the high time to figure out the probable source and act appropriately (Magazine, 2012).

Nietzsche's program for a new europe Assignment

Nietzsche's program for a new europe - Assignment Example Nietzsche advocated the idea of â€Å"New Europe†, a utopian concept that described Europe as a continent without national boundaries which is united not on the basis of a common economic benefit and financial guiding principle but by the aspiration to cultivate the Dionysian, his basic principles based on the Greek philosophies and concepts of totality (Deleuze, 12). His idea of a new Europe was inspired by the Jewish populace in Europe. For him, the Jewish represented his description of the spiritually and mentally exceptional creatures. Nietzsche believed that such spiritual could perform creatively in a set up devoid of national institutions. . For this reason Nietzsche bestowed the Jewish with such a crucial role in the formation of an extraterritorial and a supranational (Golomb and Wistrich, 12) continent of the future where their bountiful power will surge into the great spiritual persons and their works, which would ultimately act as an everlasting consecration for Eu rope. He believed that the Jewish would turn out to be the creator and originator of values and also the catalysts in the transfiguration of values. He believed that the feeling of extreme nationalism often comes in the way of creative and spiritual emancipation. Nietzsche’s idea of a New Europe is inspired and developed on the basis of several factors which include his philosophies, the cultural, political and social influences and also the spiritual aspects that have been mentioned above. Nietzsche was fascinated by the history of the Jewish people and it was a great source of mystery for him. He was enthralled by the pattern of the Jews in the Diaspora and their aptitude as well as their capability to create a successful spiritual and cultural empire in Europe not on the basis of any nation or territory. Despite their apparent political and physical limitation, he referred to the Jews as the

A Growing “Threat” to Society Essay Example for Free

A Growing â€Å"Threat† to Society Essay The Internet is one of the most powerful sources of information today. Thus, it has the capacity to enlighten, as well as to mislead. This double-edged potential has turned the Internet into the latest avenue for terrorism. Terrorists are now harnessing the power of the Internet to wreak havoc among the public (Conway, 2002). Terrorists use the Internet mainly as a propaganda tool – it is a venue wherein they publicize their cause or explain their ideological justification without misinterpretation or censorship. As of 2002, a majority of the 33 groups deemed foreign terrorist organizations by the United States State Department had their own web sites. There are also many other websites, that, despite not being related to any terrorist group, provide information on how to commit terrorist activities such as bomb-making. The latter often escape criminal prosecution due to the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech to the general populace (Conway, 2002). The very idea of cyber-terrorism, however, is not without contention. For one, it is still not clear as to what differentiates cyber-terrorism from freedom of expression. Also, there are certain Internet-related crimes that cannot be considered as cyber-terrorism, although they inflict damage upon the public. Indeed, terrorism in itself is already a notoriously difficult concept to define. The addition of computers to it further complicates the idea (Conway, 2002). The Internet: A New Weapon The Internet was originally intended as a means of resuming contact in the event of a nuclear attack. But due to its speed and convenience, it is currently a major venue for information, communication and commerce. As of September 2006, there were more than 1 billion Internet users worldwide (Vatis, 2006). With just one click of a mouse, an entrepreneur in Germany can deposit funds to a bank account in Switzerland and talk to a London-based cousin face to face through a web camera. A student in California, meanwhile, can learn everything about the Great Wall of China with merely a few keystrokes. After 9/11 It was only after 9/11 that the very concept of cyber-terrorism was actually developed. Before 9/11, Internet-related crimes were usually in the form of sending pornographic email to minors, defacing web pages, stealing credit card information and launching computer viruses (Conway, 2002). After 9/11, however, US officials realized that terrorist organizations could use the Internet to generate more bloodshed (Weimann, 2004). Al-Qaeda, for instance, could launch missiles or biological weapons to the US by simply pressing the â€Å"Enter† button of a laptop (Stohl, 2006). To a certain extent, the fears of the US were well-founded. In November 2000, an electronic attack was carried out from Pakistan against the Washington-based pro-Israeli lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Aside from defacing AIPAC’s site with anti-Israeli commentaries, the attacker likewise stole some 3,500 email addresses and 700 credit card numbers, sent anti-Israeli diatribes to the addresses and published the credit card data on the Internet. The Pakistani hacker, known by the alias â€Å"Dr. Nuker,† claimed responsibility for the incident. It turned out that â€Å"Dr. Hacker† was a founder of the Pakistani Hackerz Club, an organization whose objective was to â€Å"hack for the injustice going around the globe, especially with (sic) Muslims† (Conway, 2002). The aforementioned cyber assault was not without precedent. The Lebanese Shiite Islamic group Hezbollah established its collection of web sites in 1995. At present, the group has three websites that can be viewed in either English or Arabic – one for its press office, another to describe its attacks on Israeli targets (http://www. moqawama. tv) and a third, Al-Manar TV, for news and information (http://www. manartv. com). These websites regularly provide the latest information about Hezbollah, including press statements, political declarations, photos, video and audio clips. An email address is also provided as contact information (Conway, 2002). After 9/11, as a result, federal agents issued subpoenas and search warrants to almost every major Internet-based company, including America Online, MSN, Yahoo! and Google. In addition, many web sites were subjected to official closure by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Included among those that were closed down were radical Internet radio shows such as â€Å"IRA Radio,† â€Å"Al Lewis Live† and â€Å"Our Americas. † The â€Å"jihad web ring,† a collection of 55 jihad-related websites, lost dozens of its sites due to pullouts by Yahoo! Lycos Europe, meanwhile, created a 20-person team to filter its websites for illegal activity and terrorist-related content (Conway, 2002). Cyber-terrorism: Is There Really Such Thing? One of the most common arguments against cyber-terrorism is that it is an imaginary threat (Lacey, 2007). Contrary to popular perception, there is a minimal chance that cyber-terrorists would exact harm on innocent people by attacking corporate and governmental computer networks. As of this moment, terrorist organizations use the Internet only for fundraising, communications and propaganda. There is the possibility that terrorists might use computers as weaponry to a significant degree, but this will â€Å"probably happen in the (distant) future† (Conway, 2002). At present, terrorists would draw more attention to their cause by setting off bombs instead of hacking bytes (Conway, 2002). Instead of getting extremely paranoid about cyber-terrorism, the government should instead focus on eliminating cyber attacks against companies. As of July 2002, hackers had successfully launched at least 180,000 Internet attacks against more than 400 public, private, governmental and non-profit organizations. The brunt of these attacks fell on the power and energy industries, as well as on the technology and financial services. If left unchecked, these cyber attacks would be very detrimental to consumers – in order to make up for their losses to hackers, owners of the above-mentioned industries will have to raise the prices of their products and services (Fishman, Jospehberg, Linn, Pollack, Victoriano, 2002). Conclusion Paranoia over cyber-terrorism is very dangerous. Aside from diverting attention from more serious crimes such as cyber attacks, it violates civil rights and liberties. Under the guise of â€Å"fighting terrorism,† even websites whose only crime was to express radical ideas were closed down. While it is the duty of the state to safeguard its constituents from danger, doing so should not infringe their inalienable rights. It is true that terrorism might turn to cyberspace in the future in order to spread even more fear and bloodshed. But before the government rushes out to eliminate â€Å"cyber-terrorists,† it must first have a clear-cut concept of what constitutes cyber-terrorism and what makes a cyber-terrorist. Otherwise, the government will end up worse than the terrorists that it aims to get rid of. References Conway, M. (2002). What is Cyberterrorism? Current History, 101, 436-442. Retrieved October 17, 2008 from Academic Research Library. Fishman, R. M. , Josephberg, K. , Linn, J. , Pollack, J. , Victoriano, J. (2002). Threat of International Cyberterrorism on the Rise. Intellectual Property Technology Law Journal, 14, 23. Retrieved October 17, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global. Lacey, D. ComputerWeekly. com. (2007, April 29). How Real is the Threat of Cyber Terrorism? Retrieved October 17, 2008, from http://www. computerweekly. com/blogs/david_lacey/2007/04/ how_real_is_the_threat_of_cybe. html Stohl, M. (2006). Cyber Terrorism: A Clear and Present Danger, the Sum of All Fears, Breaking Point or Patriot Games? Crime Law Soc Change, 46, 223-238. Retrieved October 17, 2008 from SpringerLink. Vatis, M. (2006). The Next Battlefield: The Reality of Virtual Threats. Harvard International Review, 28, 56-61. Retrieved October 17, 2008 from ABI/INFORM Global. Weimann, G. United States Institute of Peace. (2004, December). Cyberterrorism: How Real Is the Threat? Retrieved October 17, 2008, from http://www. usip. org/pubs/specialreports/sr119. html#threat

A Report On The Fiji Water | Environmental Analysis

A Report On The Fiji Water | Environmental Analysis The factors which contributed to the marketing success of Fiji Water were its unique product positioning, innovative packaging, premium-product pricing, effective distribution, and image-creating publicity. Due to its light mineralization, FIJI Water was characterized by a smooth taste and no aftertaste. The light mineralization also gave the water a clean, pure taste. In addition to superb taste, the water had a high level of silica, the ingredient that was believed to promote rejuvenation and anti-aging. Also, the water is very pure as the source of the water was a virgin, unpolluted ecosystem. Another important element was packaging. For many years, all bottles containing natural water were the same round, with paper labels. Natural Waters of Viti Ltd. was the first company in the industry to use a square bottle. Furthermore, since FIJI was the only brand that came from a tropical paradise, the packaging reflected that in an artful and compelling way: consumers could see that immediately when they looked at the unique square bottle bearing bright, three-dimensional graphics. Similarly to packaging, a premium-price policy reinforced the products high-quality image. Another important factor that had contributed to FIJI Waters success was its distribution. Having good distributors was important in that it enabled the brand to be well-placed in and readily available to the market. Building an image of the high quality, uniqueness and class of the product was another aspect of this successful marketing campaign. The brand achieved an explosive growth early on, mostly through word-of-mouth advertising, free product placement and targeted sampling. FIJI Water targeted locations and venues that resonated with the brands premium image. What does it mean for FIJI Water to go carbon negative?How does one measure and report carbon footprints of products?Is the carbon footprint of FIJIWater big compared to other products? Answer: In response to the environmentalists criticism, in 2008 FIJI Water launched a carbon negative PR campaign. As part of its carbon negative campaign, FIJI Water was planning to offset its total carbon footprint by 120 per cent, by removing from the earths atmosphere not only all the emissions its activities produced, but also an additional 20 per cent. In that sense, the companys impact on carbon emissions would be negative. While measuring its carbon footprint, FIJI Water calculated its carbon emissions across every stage in the product lifecycle: starting from producing raw materials for packaging, through transporting raw materials and equipment to the plant, manufacturing and filling bottles, shipping the product from Fiji to markets worldwide, distributing the product, refrigerating the product in stores, restaurants, and other outlets, to disposing/recycling the packaging waste. It estimated that about 75 per cent of its carbon emissions resulted from the operations of supply chain partners. Fiji is using staggering amounts of energy, water, and fossil fuels to take a naturally occurring product, put it in an inherently problematic container and then have that forever-container tossed into landfills or incinerators all over America. A few important figures for environmental impact included: 5,500 miles per trip from Fiji to Los Angeles for transportation 46 million gallons of fossil fuel 1.3 billion gallons of water 216,000,000 pounds of greenhouse gases produced What is greenwashing and how can it be identified?Do you think FIJI Water is engaged in greenwashing?What could the company do to gain environmental credibility? Greenwashing is defined as Disinformation disseminated by an organisation so as to present an environmentally responsible public image. As part of its carbon negative campaign, FIJI Water was planning to offset its total carbon footprint by120 per cent, thereby becoming carbon negative. FIJI Water claimed to have already implemented several measures to reduce its carbon emissions. By optimizing its logistics, the company had reduced trucking miles by 26 per cent on average. FIJI Waters 1.5-litre bottle had been redesigned to reduce the packaging by seven per cent. The company had also managed to reduce motor fuel consumption in Fiji by 50 per cent by using more fuel-efficient trucks in transporting its products from the plant to ports. Conservation groups however, argued that the new website launched by FIJI Water in 2008 (www.fijigreen.com) to sell its carbon negative message failed to provide a detailed description of the actual calculation of its carbon footprint and its reduction by the measures that were promised to be implemented in the future. At the same time, the groups pointed to the basic carbon footprint advantages of consuming local tap water. They argued that the new slogan every drop is green was straightforward greenwashing pushed to its limits. Green researchers found that the manufacture and transport of that one kilogram bottle of Fiji water consumed 26.88 kilograms of water (7.1 gallons), .849 kilograms of fossil fuel (one litre or .26 gallons) and emitted 562 grams of Greenhouse Gases (1.2 pounds). So, we can say that Fiji Water engaged in Greenwashing. In order to gain credibility, it will have to live up to its promise of becoming a carbon negative company. Any attempt to engage in greenwashing will be quickly identified and protested by environmental groups. Keeping true to its slogan every drop is green will require substantial new investment in a renewable energy plant and equipment and in tree-planting offset activities. Designing and implementing a sustainable growth strategy and a socially and environmentally responsible marketing plan will require dealing effectively with the promise to go carbon negative as well as meeting the demanding needs of customers, clients and other stakeholders.

Growth Kinetics of Microorganisms in a Shake Flask

Growth Kinetics of Microorganisms in a Shake Flask Abstract This experiment is carried out to study the growth kinetics of microorganisms in shake flask. E.coli is grown in a LB broth medium and being fermented for 24 hours. Throughout the fermentation, the cell culture is taken out for every 3 hours and protein test, glucose test and cell dry weight are being performed. As for the optical density analysis, the absorbance reading from the spectrophotometer is taken while for the glucose test, the reading of glucose level is taken from the YSI 2700 Select Biochemical Analyzer or can also being performed by using DNS reagent and the absorbance value is taken. These absorbance values will then being compared with the standard curve to get the glucose concentration inside the shake flask at particular time. The cell dry weight, in the other hand, is taken after the mass concentration is being dried overnight in the oven. The weight of the viral which contains the biomass before and after the drying process is recorded to get the dry cell weight. For the optical density of the cell, the absorbance value showed an increment which indicating that the cell was growing and number of cell is increased in the shake flask. The glucose concentration, however, cannot be determined as the absorbance values were increased and decreased unevenly and comparison cannot be made with the standard curve as the data for the standard curve are not consistent giving inaccurate curve. Therefore no conclusion can be made about the glucose concentration in the shake flask. Supposedly, as the number of cell increased, the glucose concentration would decrease as the glucose consumption by the cells is increased. The dry cell weight in the other hand can be seen that there is an increment from the beginning of the cultivation until the 6th hour and showed unstable changes until the 24th hour. Supposedly, as the number of cell increased inside the shake flask, the cell dry weight also should be increased. Introduction Fermentation can be carried out as batch, continuous and fed-batch processes. In this experiment, the shake flask fermentation is being used. Shake flask fermentation is the example of batch fermentation. In shake flask, the culture flask usually Erlenmeyer flask is being used to place and growing the microorganisms. It is the cheapest and easiest way to culture microorganism aerobically, in small volumes of nutrient broth. It is a small scale equipment which equivalent to stirred tank bioreactor. In order to prevent any contamination to the culture, shake flask must be plugged. Different plug can be made of cotton-wool, glass wool, polyurethane foam, gauze or synthetic fibrous material. The plug has to prevent airborne microorganism from getting into the medium while at the same time allowing free flow of air into the flask. The cultures are incubated at certain temperature and shaking frequency in an incubator shaker to achieve a required growth rate. The shaking agitates the medium and the culture to keep the mixture relatively homogeneous and also to ensure aeration, creating an aerobic condition. In batch culture, there is neither input supplied nor output generated throughout the fermentation. The medium culture is initially inoculated with the microorganism. The growth keeps increasing until at certain extent, the growth is inhibited because of the decreasing substrate concentration and the presence of toxic metabolites. Aims To study the growth kinetics of microorganism in shake flask experiment To construct a growth curve including lag, log, stationary and death phases To determine the Monod parameters Theory Shake flask fermentation is one of the examples of batch fermentation. Batch culture is an example of a closed culture system which contains an initial, limited amount of nutrient. The inoculated culture will pass through a number of phases. After an inoculation there is a period during which no growth appears to take place. This period is referred as the lag phase and may be considered as a time of adaptation. In a commercial process, the length of the lag phase should be reduced as much as possible. Following a period during which the cell gradually increases, the cell grows at constant, maximum rate and this period is known as the log phase or exponential phase. The exponential phase may be described by the equation below: =  µx -1 where x is the concentration of microbial biomass t is the time, in hours  µ is the specific growth rate, in hour -1 on integration, equation (1) gives = 2 where is the original biomass concentration is the biomass concentration after time interval, t hours During the exponential phase, the organism is growing at its maximum specific growth rate, for the prevailing conditions. Equation 2 predicts that growth will continue indefinitely. However, growth results in the consumption of nutrients and the excretion of microbial products. Thus after a certain time the cell growth rate will decrease until growth ceases. The cessation of growth may be due to the depletion of some essential nutrient in the medium when there is limitation in substrate. The decrease in growth rate and the cessation of growth due to the depletion of substrate may be described by the relationship between  µ and the residual growth-limiting substrate as follows:  µ = where = maximum growth rate s = residual substrate concentration = substrate utilization constant The stationary phase in batch culture is the point where the growth rate has declined to zero. In the other word the growth rate is equivalent to the death rate. The cell death is might due to the nutrient limitations due to their incorporation into cells during log-phase growth or a build-up of toxins due to their release of fermentation products also during log-phase growth. The death phase is the result of the inability of the bacteria to carry out further reproduction as condition in the medium become less and less supportive of cell division. The nutrient is extremely insufficient for the growth of the microorganism. Eventually, the number of viable bacterial cells begins to decline at an exponential rate. Industrial fermentation is usually interrupted at the end of the exponential growth phase or before the death phase begins. Apparatus and material E.coli Luria Bertani Broth Distilled water Shake flask Cotton-plugged Incubator shaker Cuvettes Centrifuges Micropipetor Pipette tips Laminar flow 70% ethanol Lighter and Bunsen burner Graduated cylinder Schott bottle DNS reagent Procedures Part 1: Preparation of inoculated fermentation medium 500ml shake flask, bunsen burner, measuring cylinder, LB broth and inoculums are brought into the laminar flow. Under aseptic technique, 50 ml of media is transferred into 500ml shake flask. Then 6 ml of inoculums is added into the shake flask resulting in final volume of 56ml. The shake flask is plugged with cotton-plugged. The shake flask is swabbed with 70% ethanol. The shake flask is incubated at 350 rpm; T=30ËÅ ¡C; 24 hours. Part 2: Sampling for cell dry weight 1ml of biomass concentration is taken out. The 1ml biomass concentration is transferred into micro centrifuge tube. An empty micro centrifuge tube must be weighted first. The sample is then centrifuged for 10 minutes at 10000 rpm. After that, the supernatant of the sample is taken out carefully without taking out any biomass. The biomass is then left dried inside an oven at 80C for overnight. The dried biomass is then being placed inside a dessicator to let it cool before rapidly weighing on an analytical balance. Part 3: Glucose analysis 1ml of biomass concentration is taken out. The 1ml biomass concentration is transferred into micro centrifuge tube. The sample is then put onto turntable of YSI 2700 Select Biochemical Analyzer for direct analysis of glucose concentration. Another method of glucose analysis is by using DNS reagent. 1.5ml of DNS reagent is added into 0.5ml of the biomass sample inside a capped test tube The mixture is heated at 90ËÅ ¡C for 10 minutes to develop the red-brown colour. The heated mixture is then cooled to the room temperature for 2-3 minutes in a cold or ice water. The mixture is then being diluted with 10ml of distilled water. The absorbance is checked with a spectrophotometer. Part 3: Sampling for absorbance analysis/ optical density 2ml of biomass concentration is taken out and being transferred into micro centrifuge tube. The spectrophotometer is calibrated to zero by blank consisting of 2ml LB Broth. The biomass concentration is then being transferred into a cuvette and optical density measurement is taken with wavelength set at 600nm. More absorbance means higher number of cell. Part 4: The preparation of glucose standard curve The 20g/L, 40g/L, 60g/L, 80g/L and 100g/L of glucose concentration is prepared by weighing the suitable amount of glucose and diluted with 10ml of distilled water. 1.5ml of DNS reagent is added with 0.5ml of the glucose sample inside a capped test tube The mixture is heated at 90ËÅ ¡C for 10 minutes to develop the red-brown colour. The heated mixture is then cooled to the room temperature for 2-3 minutes in a cold or ice water. The mixture is then being diluted with 10ml of distilled water. The absorbance is checked with a spectrophotometer Discussions This experiment is carried out to study the kinetic growth of microorganism. E.coli is selected as the cell and being cultivated inside a shake flask. The growth of microorganism in shake flask is a simple method of fermentation. The nutrients for the microorganism are being supplied by the media which contain the carbon sources. The flask is shaken during the cultivation to mix the cell and the media; increase the homogeneity between these two and also to provide aeration for the cells. The culture is gone through the fermentation process for 24 hours. Within that period, the biomass/cell sample is taken out for every 3 hours to analyze the concentration of the cell (g/L), the cell dry weight and the glucose concentration. In order to analyze the concentration of the cell inside the flask, absorbance reading for the optical density is taken from the spectrophotometer. The higher the absorbance reading means higher number of cell presence inside the flask at a particular time. As for this experiment, the absorbance reading is increase from the beginning of the experiment until the 21st hour and decrease slightly at the 24th hour. It can be explained that the number of cell increase throughout the cultivation indicating that the cell is growing. In the other hand, the decrease in cell number in 24th hour indicating that the cell growth has reach its deceleration phase where the growth of the cell is started to slow down. The decelerating growth phase is where the culture is in a transient state. During this stage there are feed/back mechanisms that regulate the bacterial enzymes involved in key metabolic steps to enable the bacteria to withstand starvation. There is much turnover of protein for the cultu re to cope with this period of low substrate availability. In cell growth, the cell will go through several phases like lag, exponential, deceleration, stationary and death phase. In cell cultivation, the cells themselves need food or carbon sources like glucose for growth. In batch fermentation for example in this experiment, the glucose can be the limiting factor for the cell growth or we called it as substrate limiting growth. For this condition, the Monod equation can be used to predict the growth rate and the cell concentration inside the shake flask. In addition, the glucose concentration can be known by testing the cell sample into the glucose analyzer and the direct glucose concentration can be obtained. In other way, the glucose concentration is also being obtained by mixing the sample with DNS reagent. The DNS reagent will be reduced to 3-amino,5-nitrosalicylic acid in the presence of free carboxyl group (glucose) and absorbance reading can be taken through the spectrophotometer. As for this experiment, the glucose test showed no pattern of changes in absorbance values. These values increase and decrease unevenly. This might be due to some mistakes occurred during the glucose test where the volume of sample and DNS reagent that need to be mixed is incorrectly taken. This has affected the accuracy of the absorbance reading. From the absorbance reading, the concentration of the glucose can be obtained by referring to the glucose standard curve. The glucose concentration should be decreased as the number of cell inside the flask is increased. This is because as the number of organism increases, nutrients are consumed and becoming lesser. However, this cannot be shown from the results obtained due to some mistakes occurred throughout the experiment. Another analysis that can be performed to analyze the cell sample is by taking the dry weight of the cell. In this method, the cell is being taken out from cultivation flask and transferred into viral tube. The tube is the being centrifuged to separate the supernatant with the cell. The remained cell is then being dried inside an oven for 24 hours. The dry cell weight is finally taken to know the weight of the cell that present at particular time during the cultivation. In this experiment, the cell dry weight is increased from 0th hour until 6th hour and gradually decreased from the 9th hour to 12th hour and increased until the 24th hour. The cell dry weight should increase when the number of cell increased inside the shake flask. Conclusions At the end of this experiment, microorganism is suitable to be fermented inside a shake flask and it is a simple method to investigate the growth kinetics of the microorganism. Knowledge of microbial growth kinetics is essential to determine when to harvest the culture for different purposes. For a growth-linked product, it is desirable to harvest the culture at the late exponential growth phase. On the other hand, for a non-growth-linked product, it would be desirable to harvest the culture at the stationary growth phase. As microorganism will go through several phases in their growth, several analyses on the cell need to be done to know the growth kinetics of the cell and the duration for each phase. This includes the cell concentration, glucose concentration and also the cell dry weight analyses. This method can be done in the laboratory before the fermentation or the cultivation of microbes in large scale is performed. Growth kinetics deals with the rate of cell growth and how it is affected by various chemical and physical conditions. During the course of growth, the cells is continuously changing and adapting itself in the media environment, which is also continuously changing in physical and chemical conditions. In conclusion, the microbial culture in batch culture system (shake flask system) goes through a lag phase, exponential growth phase, decelerating growth phase, stationary phase and sometimes the death phase depends on the end product desired. The substrate concentration in the culture medium and growth parameters, such as glucose concentration changes correspondingly throughout the growth phases. Thus, the physiology of the microorganisms is always in a transient stage, subjected to a continually changing culture conditions. Consequently, product formation is confined to a certain period of cultivation, for example antibiotics would only be produced in the decelerating and stationary growth phases. The batch culture system is still widely used in certain industrial processes for example brewery industry because of its easy management of feed stocks. These advantages allow the use of unskilled labour and low risk of financial loss. Low level of microbial contamination in fermented products is at time tolerable, as long as the microbial contaminants are not pathogenic and do not alter the desired properties of the product, such as taste, colour and texture. Recommendations Aseptic technique must be practised when handling biomass concentration to avoid any contamination. Cuvette must be wiped cleanly to prevent any scratch that would affect the spectrophotometer reading during protein test. This experiment must be carried out under the laminar flow to prevent any contamination to the culture. The supernatant of cell concentration should be taken out carefully without any taking out of the biomass. The cap of the viral must be opened to fasten the drying process of the biomass in the oven. Wash hand after handling the culture. Disinfect the work area with 70% alcohol before handling the culture. Dispose of all contaminated materials in appropriate containers.

Telling America s Story Essay -- William F. Lewis Essays

Telling America 's Story The three essays of rhetorical criticism, Telling America 's Story: Narrative Form and the Regan Presidency by William F. Lewis, The "Promiscuous Audience" Controversy and the Emergence of the Early Woman 's Rights Movement by Susan Zaeske, and Medicine, Rhetoric, and Euthanasia: A Case Study in the Workings of a Postmodern Discourse by Michael J. Hyde each employ a variety of strategies to examine the rhetoric of three distinct situations. This paper will attempt to dissect each of the essays in a comparative manner. Specifically, it will evaluate the introductions, how effectively they are constructed, and how the essays follow according to the expectations set forth in the introductions. In Telling America 's Story, Lewis starts by providing a quick explanation of the country's status as Regan entered office. The reader is instantly introduced to "the Western world's most gifted communicator." Lewis does not leave the reader with that viewpoint for long as he goes on to explain the views of Regan's critics. Arguments of Regan's "ideology without ideas" and the New Republic editor's comment that "Ronald Regan has never let the facts get in the way of a good story" begin to steer the reader toward a more objective state of mind. A fair balance of the two viewpoints is maintained throughout the piece, but the overall feel of it seems to be geared toward the latter. It is not until half way down the second page of his essay that Lewis clearly states his purpose, to "account for the distinctive reputation, style, and effect of Ronald Regan's discourse". He even lists the two objectives that his essay will accomplish, which are explained later under headings that bear the same name as the stated ... ...ike Lewis's topic. The question/answer method is effective in this essay because it gives the reader something to prepare for. The reader knows what to look for in the rest of essay and will be more attentive when reading. She does not leave the reader hanging; the rest of the essay is distinctly laid out and easily answers all questions. The review of these essays showed that while rhetorical criticism does need to have formal structure, there are many ways for a critic to accomplish their objectives within the confines that basic structure. Although it is not always best choice for every situation, I feel that a shorter, more direct approach to an introduction, as in Hyde's piece, is the most effective. I also thought that the question/answer format worked well for Zaske. It may have been the topic, but I found that the Hyde essay was the most engaging overall. Telling America 's Story Essay -- William F. Lewis Essays Telling America 's Story The three essays of rhetorical criticism, Telling America 's Story: Narrative Form and the Regan Presidency by William F. Lewis, The "Promiscuous Audience" Controversy and the Emergence of the Early Woman 's Rights Movement by Susan Zaeske, and Medicine, Rhetoric, and Euthanasia: A Case Study in the Workings of a Postmodern Discourse by Michael J. Hyde each employ a variety of strategies to examine the rhetoric of three distinct situations. This paper will attempt to dissect each of the essays in a comparative manner. Specifically, it will evaluate the introductions, how effectively they are constructed, and how the essays follow according to the expectations set forth in the introductions. In Telling America 's Story, Lewis starts by providing a quick explanation of the country's status as Regan entered office. The reader is instantly introduced to "the Western world's most gifted communicator." Lewis does not leave the reader with that viewpoint for long as he goes on to explain the views of Regan's critics. Arguments of Regan's "ideology without ideas" and the New Republic editor's comment that "Ronald Regan has never let the facts get in the way of a good story" begin to steer the reader toward a more objective state of mind. A fair balance of the two viewpoints is maintained throughout the piece, but the overall feel of it seems to be geared toward the latter. It is not until half way down the second page of his essay that Lewis clearly states his purpose, to "account for the distinctive reputation, style, and effect of Ronald Regan's discourse". He even lists the two objectives that his essay will accomplish, which are explained later under headings that bear the same name as the stated ... ...ike Lewis's topic. The question/answer method is effective in this essay because it gives the reader something to prepare for. The reader knows what to look for in the rest of essay and will be more attentive when reading. She does not leave the reader hanging; the rest of the essay is distinctly laid out and easily answers all questions. The review of these essays showed that while rhetorical criticism does need to have formal structure, there are many ways for a critic to accomplish their objectives within the confines that basic structure. Although it is not always best choice for every situation, I feel that a shorter, more direct approach to an introduction, as in Hyde's piece, is the most effective. I also thought that the question/answer format worked well for Zaske. It may have been the topic, but I found that the Hyde essay was the most engaging overall.

Iago’s Manipulation in Act One of Shakespeares Othello :: Othello essays

Iago’s Manipulation in Act One of Othello The events that occur in the first half of Act 1 are all in anticipation of the lead character Othello who we are not immediately introduced too. We learn Iago’s name in the second line of the play and Roderigo’s soon after, but Othello is not mentioned by his name once. Instead he is referred to as ‘he’, ‘him’ and is frequently described as ‘the moor’ (1.1.58) he is also described as having ‘thick lips’ (1.1.67) and later as being a ‘Barbary horse’ (1.1.111) is continuously described by his critics, mainly Iago, as a ‘moor’, demonstrating Iago’s frequently concerning nature of race and also portraying Othello as something of an alien. From this reference we are able to immediately understand Iago’s true feelings and motives for Othello. The audience at this point know nothing of Othello that is gained by their own opinion, instead we are lead to believe from Iago’s race related description that Othello is a threatening and evil moor, whose beastial sexual appetite, conveyed by Iago’s cries to Brabantio, telling him that ‘an old black ram is tupping’ his ‘white ewe’ (1.1.89), is something of a rapist. Iago’s coarse animal related language conveys Iago’s feelings against Othello’s marriage in a much more pronounced way. The image of an ‘old black ram’ gives the audience nothing but negative images of Othello, especially when this ‘old black ram’ is being associated with the innocence of a ‘white ewe’. Iago then associates Othello with the image of ‘the devil’ (1.1.92) because of Othello’s colour, Iago warns Brabantio that he has ‘lost half [his] soul’ now that Desdemona is married to Oth ello. Iago here emphasises the biracial nature of the marriage, already showing his ability to manipulate people, in this case he is manipulating Brabantio, to believe in Iago’s own opinions and in theory to eliminate all thoughts that Brabantio might of had of his own about the marriage. Despite the negative foregrounding of Othello’s character by Iago, our first impressions of Othello in Act 1 are of a noble and well-spoken man, his nobility is conveyed through his speech ‘most potent grave and reverend signiors’(1.3.76) to his future father-in-law Brabantio of Othello’s love for his daughter Desdemona in Act 1 Scene 3. This is a very different character to what we expect from Iago’s preparation for the introduction of Othello. Where we are expecting an angry and possibly violent character, we instead are met with something completely surprising, a quiet and calm man who dismisses Roderigo’s insult and even avoids the prospect of a conflict.

A Checklist on Effective Team Working

Abstract This paper presents a checklist of the qualities that make individuals effective team members. The checklist comprises of seven qualities which are communication skills, commitment towards attaining the team objective, competence members’ respective fields of specialty, creativity, support and respect for other members, effective organization and management skills, and responsibility and accountability. A further explanation of the relevance of these qualities is also presented. Introduction Teamwork is defined as the collaboration of several associates, each playing a role that will contribute to the attainment of the whole group’s objective (Hill & Parsons, 2014). Effective teamwork requires team members to possess certain qualities in order to facilitate a constructive relationship amongst them (Galbraith & Webb, 2013). This paper presents a checklist and rationale of teamwork qualities. The checklist is developed from my personal career experiences. Checklist of Qualities of a Team Player Effective communication skills Commitment towards attaining the team objective Competence in one’s field of specialty Creativity Respect and support for other team members Effective management and organization skills Accountability and responsibility Rationale This section presents an explanation of the relevance of the above qualities to team work. Reference is also made to academic sources to provide a more detailed explanation of these qualities.Communication SkillsIn order to function successfully in a team, members ought to be able to effectively communicate on both emotional and intellectual levels (Lencioni, 2012). Possession of this skill enables one to effectively present their ideas to other group members or express their displeasure in certain ideas without being threatening. Communication also involves listening, which is vital for internalizing the ideas presented by other team members. The present–day technological advancements like the internet and mobile phones have further eased the communication process, which is also advantageous for team work and has led to the ‘virtual team’ phenomenon (Duarte & Snyder, 2011). Lack of communication skills often lead to conflicts within the team or groupthink, where some team members agree with ideas without any constructive debate.Commitment to Attainment of the Team ObjectiveThe level of team members’ commitment to collaborate and accomplish the team’s goals is a critical contributing factor towards the success of the team (Dunin-Keplicz & Verbrugge, 2011). All teamwork projects involve the contribution of individual members towards the attainment of an overall objective. Therefore, commitment starts by their acknowledgement of the fact that what they are working to achieve cannot be solely done by one individual (Mohammed & Harrison, 2013). Committed team members have a high regard for the roles that they have been allocated and work as hard as possible to ensure that they are well accomplished within the allocated time. Commitment however depends on how organizations motivate the team members (Sheng et al., 2010).CompetenceAllocation of roles and responsibilities in team work is done according to the specialty of each team mem ber (Lencioni, 2012). For instance, it is expected that a marketing role will be delegated to an individual who has a rich background in marketing and not engineering. By exercising competence in the roles they are allocated, team members create a sense of confidence in team leaders and other members that they will deliver the required level of quality (Galbraith & Webb, 2013). It is also necessary for team members to only accept roles in which they are sure of delivering paramount quality (Dunin-Keplicz & Verbrugge, 2011). The lack of the required levels of competence results in poor delivery of individual roles, which adversely affects the overall results of the team.CreativityCreativity is defined as the ability to come up with ingenious solution for certain issues or problems (Mumford, 2012). In teamwork, it is a very important tool, especially when the problem at hand has no pre-defined approach of addressing it. When a team has creative members, one of the main advantages is t hat the project at hand will not be hindered by common challenges that may arise in the course of its progress. Whereas creativity can be considered as an individual quality, Foss et al. (2013) also argued that creativity can be nurtured within the team because team members provide different suggestions of approaches that can be used in solving problems.Effective Management and OrganizationIn the course of a team project, there are short-term objectives to be met that contribute to the attainment of the larger goal (Mohammed & Harrison, 2013). It is therefore vital for team members to effectively manage and organize time and resources that they have been allocated to accomplish their roles. The lack of management and organization skills is likely to result in delays or failure of some team members in accomplishing their roles within the allocated time schedule and resources (Galbraith & Webb, 2013). Management and organization also determines the punctuality of team members in atten ding meetings or reporting the progress of their allocated duties.Respect and Support for other Team MembersOne of the pillars of teamwork is the acknowledgement of the roles played by each member of the group (Duarte & Snyder, 2011). This eliminates the subscription to the ideology by other team members that their roles are more important than others. According to Sheng et al. (2010), support of other team members who may be experiencing difficulties exemplifies a sense of loyalty towards one another. Expressing respect and support rather than playing the blame game builds confidence in team members and contributes towards a constructive working relationship (Galbraith & Webb, 2013). It also increases the possibility of successful collaboration in future projects.Accountability and ResponsibilityAccountability and responsibility play a major role in instilling self discipline among members when handling projects they have been assigned to (Graham & Englund, 2013). Whilst not all te am members can be allocated a leadership position in the team, they have to be responsible for the small roles they have been assigned and ensure that they deliver them on time (Sheng et al., 2010). Accountability in team work ensures that every action taken in contribution to the team project is justifiable. It is however argued that accountability limits creativity because of the fear of mistakes that can arise when trying out creative problem solving procedures (Mumford, 2012). Conclusion Teamwork is an inevitable phenomenon in any organization. It is therefore necessary for individuals to hone skills that enable them to be better team players. This paper has outlined some f the qualities that are considered as being vital for anyone who wants to be successful team player. Whereas I possess all of the discussed skills, I also intend to improve my level of perfection in them in order to be a better team player in future. References Duarte, D.L. & Snyder, N.T., 2011. Mastering Virtual Teams: Strategies, Tools, and Techniques That Succeed. San Fransisco: Josey-Bass. Dunin-Keplicz, B. & Verbrugge, ?J., 2011. Teamwork in Multi-Agent Systems: A Formal Approach. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Foss, L., Woll, K. & Moilanen, M., 2013. Creativity and implementations of new ideas: Do organisational structure, work environment and gender matterInternational Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 5(3), pp.298-322. Galbraith, D.D. & Webb, F.L., 2013. Teams That Work: Preparing Student. American Journal Of Business Education Teams For The Workplace, 6(2), pp.223-33. Graham, R.J. & Englund, R.L., 2013. Creating an environment for successful projects. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Hill, F. & Parsons, L?., 2014. Teamwork in the Management of Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties. New Jersey: Routledge. Lencioni, P., 2012. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: Intact Teams Participant Workbook. San Francisco: Pfeiffer. Mohammed, S. & Harrison, D.A., 2013. The clocks that time us are not the same: A theory of temporal diversity, task characteristics, and performance in teams. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 122(2), pp.244-56. Mumford, M.D., 2012. Handbook of Organizational Creativity. London: Elsevier. Sheng, C.W., Tian, Y.F. & Chen, M.C., 2010. Relationships among teamwork behavior, trust, perceived team support, and team commitment. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 38(10), pp.1297-305.

Internal and External Constraints Affecting Top Gear plc Essay

In this task I shall discuss the many difficulties facing Top Gear plc and the internal and external constraints that may affect the company. I will also include constraints that the Personnel Manager will have to keep in mind when he is preparing job advertisements, and, use examples to show how these constraints will affect the decision makers of Top Gear plc. I will discuss internal constraints first and later go on to discuss the external constraints that affect both Top Gear plc and the Personnel Manager. When preparing a job advertisement the Personnel Manager will have to look at several internal constraints before hand. One thing the Personnel Manager may do is check there is actually a job for a new employee or that a new employee is needed. There is no point in recruiting more employees if there are already sufficient employees to do the amount of work that needs to be done. He will also have to look at the payment of new employees. The Personnel Manager will have to discuss this with the manager of the department looking to recruit new employees, or whichever department is paying for the new recruits, and see whether their budget can afford to pay for a new recruit. Another area the Personnel Manager would have to think about is whether the company can accommodate new employees. For example if the job required an office to work from, and Top Gear plc didn’t have any offices remaining, they would be unable to accommodate a new employee. Also the company may be required to have parking spaces for each individual employee’s. Also the Personnel Manager would have to examine if there are enough resources for a new recruit to carry out the job they have been hired for. If Top Gear plc hired someone to make deliveries, and then found they did not have enough vehicles for the new recruit and existing staff, they would be paying for someone who was doing nothing. The Personnel Manager would also have to consider, if there were an inadequate amount of resources, whether it would be cost-affective to buy more of the required resources or whether it would be cheaper to not recruit any new employees. Another constraint may be that the company uses a specialist type of equipment or software package and the Personnel Manager would have to include this as part of the job advertisement. For example, Top Gear plc may use a certain graphics package when designing new clothes, so, new employees involved in the design department of Top Gear plc would have to be able to use that certain graphics package. If they could not use the graphics package then they would require training and this would cost more money, and, if Top Gear plc was only looking to recruit one employee it may be considered a waste of time and money to train one individual employee. Internal constraints also affect other areas of the company. One instance in which the directors of Top Gear plc are going to have to take internal constraints into very serious consideration will be when they put their idea of introducing a website to the company into practice. Top Gear plc will have to recruit new people and buy new equipment to use and maintain the new website and other things associated with the introduction of the website such as more vehicles for the expected extra deliveries. Also new recruits, and current employees, if they are to be used, will have to have the right skills and qualifications required to make the new website work. These are just a few of the internal constraints that would likely affect a company such as Top Gear plc. There are also many external constraints affecting businesses such as Top Gear plc. When preparing a job advertisement the Personnel Manager will also have to take several of these into consideration. Some of the major constraints that will have to be focused on are included in Employment Legislation. Such legislation includes Acts such as the Health and Safety at Work Act, Race Relations Act, Equal Pay Act and the Sex Discrimination Act. These mean that the Personnel Manager cannot be either sexist or racist in his advertisement and that he will have to be careful that he doesn’t inadvertently produce an advert containing anything that could be interpreted as though he was being racist or sexist or discriminate to other such individuals as disabled people. The Personnel Manager must make sure the payment for the job is fair otherwise he is going against the Equal Pay Act. If one person is being paid à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½500 a month in Top Gear plc and a job vacancy appears for someone to do the same job for only à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½400 this would be unfair to the new employee. It is very unlikely an employee would work for less money than someone doing the same job and would be a bad idea to pay them less as Top Gear plc would get into trouble and would soon find themselves with one less employee and another vacancy. The environment were the company is based will also have an affect on the company. If Top Gear plc were based in an area with high employment, such as London, the chances of getting a high skilled worker for a low payment are quite slim as there will probably be many other jobs that are willing to pay more to have highly skilled employees, so the Personnel Manager will have to take this into consideration when deciding and publishing the amount which the job will pay. If the vacancy requires new offices to be built, or an expansion of factory space, Top Gear plc will have to adhere to local government planning regulations and may also annoy some local environmental pressure groups which will try and stop the new buildings being built. The Directors, as well as the Personnel Manager, would have to decide whether it is worth having new buildings, or current buildings extended, and whether the possibility of causing local pressure groups to take action against the company is likely. Top Gear plc want to have a good reputation. If environmental pressure groups take action against the company it will spoil Top Gear plc’s reputation and construction would be slowed if not completely stopped as the people complain about the company. Other pressure groups will also be considered in decisions of the company such as Trade Unions and Consumer Groups. Top Gear plc will not want Trade Unions taking action against them so they will probably employ people to make sure the work environment is as safe and as fair as possible so that Trade Unions are happy. Consumer Pressure groups will also be taken into consideration and so Top Gear plc will do their best to make sure products conform to Consumer Legislation such as the Trade Descriptions Act, Sale of Goods Act and the Weights and Measures Act. This means that goods sold by Top Gear plc must be as described, be free from any defects, be of a decent merchantable quality and must be the correct measurement labelled on them. The Finance department also have certain external constraints such as Taxes. There are many taxes including corporation tax and VAT. Top Gear plc has to pay these taxes on the profit they make, the things they buy such as equipment, vehicles etc. Top Gear plc can claim VAT back from customs and excise. The Finance department will also have to take exchange rates and interest rates into consideration when buying or selling items abroad or when taking out loans or other such borrowings. A big external constraint is competition. The Personnel Manager may have to take this into account when preparing a job advertisement as if a competing company also have a vacancy for a similar job they may try and make their job seem more attractive by offering better payment, better bonuses or other such things. The Personnel Manager may take this into account and try to make the job sound as interesting as possible. Competition will also affect the prices Top Gear plc sells its products at and may be the cause for a reduction in prices as Top Gear plc are competing to have more customers than other companies. In conclusion there are many types of internal and external constraints that affect any company especially one like Top Gear plc. The Personnel Manager will have many constraints to consider when preparing for the advertisement and must think carefully about what is included within his final advertisement. The directors of Top Gear plc, who are the main decision makers, will also expected to put a lot of thought toward external constraints also as the wrong decisions could mean disaster for the company.