Saturday, August 31, 2019

Jonathan Edwards – Sinners in the hands of an Angry God!

Jonathan Edward’s most recognizable sermon was entitled â€Å"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God†. This was a very stimulating and reassuring speech containing religious instruction because as you read it you will be able to engage yourself easily. He used some statement that may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but it is rarely meant to be taken literally. Just like the sinners that he spoke of briefly was illustrated as one that stood or walked in slippery places. We will never know the instantaneous or abrupt devastation waiting ahead of us because of the things or situations that might happen.He never threatened anyone but he tried his best to imply the possible consequence or consequences. One more thing that he wanted to share with us was that the sinners that stood or walked on slippery ground needed nothing but their own weight to throw them down. They were liable to fall of themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another. The sinners must decide on their own without being pushed or influenced by other. I never thought introducing fear gradually through sharing can be an effect means of bringing people to God. It was a matter of choosing the right strategy of convincing them.I admired Edwards because during his time he delivered the sermon effectively. In my opinion, he wasn’t constraint the people or the listener to believe him but he just showed them the reality of what might happen if the wrath of God would not be suspended. On Calvinistic doctrine of predestination, it accented that humans were unqualified of adding anything to obtain redemption and that God alone was the initiator at every stage of salvation, including the formation of faith and every decision to follow Christ. Calvinism stressed the sovereignty or rule of God in all things — in salvation but also in all of life.In this belief, the only choice that we have is to accept and have faith in God because he is t he one and only way for us to be saved from hell. Because of God’s love, he gave his only begotten son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Thus, we must believe and follow Christ because He is the only way for us not to go to hell. There was no contradiction between the concept of predestination, central to Calvinism and Edward’s Covenant of Grace because both of them signify that salvation was not bestowed to us upon any condition, but freely and for nothing.We were to do nothing for it; we were only to take it. This taking and receiving was faith. It is very improper to say that a covenant is made with men, any otherwise than in Christ; for there is an immeasurable difference between a free offer and a covenant. The promise was made with Christ, and in him with his mystical body; and the condition of the covenant is Christ’s perfect obedience and sufferings. The Covenant of Grace was described by Christâ€⠄¢s open and free offer of life, whereby he holds it out in his hand to sinners, and offers it without any condition.Faith cannot be called the condition of receiving, for it is the receiving itself: That’s why, the only reason why Christ died on the cross was for our salvation. God loved us so much that He won’t allow us to go to hell. He offered the salvation freely just believe and have faith. I think Calvinistic Doctrine is popular because in the history of America, two-thirds of the colonial population was trained in the school of Calvin. It means most of the individuals were fascinated and knew the teaching of Calvinism. Never in the world's history had a nation been founded by such people as these.Furthermore, these people came to America not primarily for commercial gain or advantage, but because of deep religious convictions. It seems that the religious persecutions in various European countries had been providentially used to select out the most progressive a nd enlightened people for the colonization of America. Until now, the Christianity that spreads in America was born through the existence also of Calvinism. That’s why I was convinced that Calvinism is not dead but accepted and widely practiced by many. Jonathan Edwards – Sinners in the hands of an Angry God! Jonathan Edward’s most recognizable sermon was entitled â€Å"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God†. This was a very stimulating and reassuring speech containing religious instruction because as you read it you will be able to engage yourself easily. He used some statement that may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but it is rarely meant to be taken literally. Just like the sinners that he spoke of briefly was illustrated as one that stood or walked in slippery places. We will never know the instantaneous or abrupt devastation waiting ahead of us because of the things or situations that might happen.He never threatened anyone but he tried his best to imply the possible consequence or consequences. One more thing that he wanted to share with us was that the sinners that stood or walked on slippery ground needed nothing but their own weight to throw them down. They were liable to fall of themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another. The sinners must decide on their own without being pushed or influenced by other. I never thought introducing fear gradually through sharing can be an effect means of bringing people to God. It was a matter of choosing the right strategy of convincing them.I admired Edwards because during his time he delivered the sermon effectively. In my opinion, he wasn’t constraint the people or the listener to believe him but he just showed them the reality of what might happen if the wrath of God would not be suspended. On Calvinistic doctrine of predestination, it accented that humans were unqualified of adding anything to obtain redemption and that God alone was the initiator at every stage of salvation, including the formation of faith and every decision to follow Christ. Calvinism stressed the sovereignty or rule of God in all things — in salvation but also in all of life.In this belief, the only choice that we have is to accept and have faith in God because he is t he one and only way for us to be saved from hell. Because of God’s love, he gave his only begotten son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Thus, we must believe and follow Christ because He is the only way for us not to go to hell. There was no contradiction between the concept of predestination, central to Calvinism and Edward’s Covenant of Grace because both of them signify that salvation was not bestowed to us upon any condition, but freely and for nothing.We were to do nothing for it; we were only to take it. This taking and receiving was faith. It is very improper to say that a covenant is made with men, any otherwise than in Christ; for there is an immeasurable difference between a free offer and a covenant. The promise was made with Christ, and in him with his mystical body; and the condition of the covenant is Christ’s perfect obedience and sufferings. The Covenant of Grace was described by Christâ€⠄¢s open and free offer of life, whereby he holds it out in his hand to sinners, and offers it without any condition.Faith cannot be called the condition of receiving, for it is the receiving itself: That’s why, the only reason why Christ died on the cross was for our salvation. God loved us so much that He won’t allow us to go to hell. He offered the salvation freely just believe and have faith. I think Calvinistic Doctrine is popular because in the history of America, two-thirds of the colonial population was trained in the school of Calvin. It means most of the individuals were fascinated and knew the teaching of Calvinism. Never in the world's history had a nation been founded by such people as these.Furthermore, these people came to America not primarily for commercial gain or advantage, but because of deep religious convictions. It seems that the religious persecutions in various European countries had been providentially used to select out the most progressive a nd enlightened people for the colonization of America. Until now, the Christianity that spreads in America was born through the existence also of Calvinism. That’s why I was convinced that Calvinism is not dead but accepted and widely practiced by many.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Adaptive effectiveness Essay

The business environment is dynamic and changes constantly thus making it complex. As a result, our understanding of the environment and ability to predict its response to management actions becomes limited. In conjunction with the changing social values, a knowledge gap emerges which results in ambiguity regarding the most appropriate way to manage an organization. Despite the ambiguity, managers have to make decisions and implement organizational plans. An adaptive model of management therefore comes into perspective in providing a proper way for managers to proceed sensibly with their decisions and plans in the face of uncertainties (Nyberg, 1999). An adaptive model of management can be valuable to organizations in testing, refining and improving their policies and objectives. Despite the fact that development and implementation of organizational policies and objectives is based on the best available information and expertise, the organization is required to implement numerous new and experimental strategies. See more:  Masters of Satire: John Dryden and Jonathan Swift Essay In such situations, the organization is faced with questions regarding how best to implement the strategies such that they are aligned with its objectives and the best actions for the implementation (Nyberg, 1999). In addressing such questions effectively, an adaptive model offers the most appropriate approach. An adaptive model of management entails â€Å"integration of design, management, and monitoring to systematically test assumptions in order to adapt and learn† (Salafsky, Margoluis & Redford, 2001). A comprehensive research is incorporated into conservation action to ensure the model is effective and produces best results. Moreover, the model seeks to use management intercession as a tool to examine the functioning of the ecosystem through testing of its key hypothesis (Resilience Alliance, 2010). Uncertainties are first identified and methodologies for testing their hypotheses are established. In addition to management being utilized as a tool for changing the system, it is also used as a tool for learning about the system. This paper seeks to explore the Model of Accessing Adaptive Effectiveness in organizations and its role in the realization of organizational success. The appreciative inquiry approach, a technique that supplements the adaptive model, will be examined as a result of its influence on organizational changes. Moreover, in probing the adaptive model, business impact assessment is crucial in evaluating the changes realized and their effects on the organization’s position. This paper will therefore examine the features of this model and its impact on organizational changes.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Case Study on D.I.a Baggage Handling System Essay

According to the initial plan, the project was to span from 1989 to 1993 and cost $1.7 billion. The opening of the airport was delayed four times due to problems with the baggage handling system. Overall 16 long months and a final cost of $4.5 billion. Several factors contributed to this fiasco, ranging from deficient scheduling, simple and untested technology, complexity of the systems and requirements that changed throughout the project itself. Let us take a look back at why Denver International Airport would take on such a project. The vision was to implement the largest automated baggage handling system the world had seen and allows Denver International Airport to be hailed as the air transportation hub, the largest in the United States with a capacity to handle more than 50 million passengers annually. The airport was to replace the Stapleton International Airport, a facility that had experienced serious congestion issues. Of course in order to handle that kind of capacity part of this plan involved implementing an automated baggage handling system, this was the critical piece of the plan. This report discusses the difficulties encountered as a direct result of a poor project plan, communication and implementation. Analyses have been done by many groups regarding this debacle and the failures itself are examples that are used to show the improper project management that was used. First, let us briefly discuss what tried to be accomplished. The Denver International Airport wanted to introduce a baggage system that when operational would rely on a network of computers (approx. 300) to route the bags and then approximately 4000 auto-cars to drive the luggage on a 21-mile track, completely autonomous. There were to be laser scanners used to read bar codes on luggage with tags and that would route them to the correct terminal or location. Sounds simple enough however BAE was the company that would try to bring this all to reality and would be one of the largest airports built in the United States since 1974. United Airlines was one of the main drivers and reasons for the push for a high-speed automated baggage system (http://www5.in.tum.de/~huckle/schloh_DIA.pdf). This was all requested and scoped early in the planning phase. Now prior to deciding how to proceed the officials had thought each airline would develop its own systems, but this failed to occur so the Airport looked into purchasing a system to handle all terminals baggage. The scope of such a project would not find traditional methods as those were too investigated. A man named Frank Kwapniewski, would be the site project manager â€Å"lucky† enough to call this project his â€Å"baby†. BAE had more than twenty some programmers working undistracted for two years to write software to handle all the automated needs of luggage, the engineers, which took just as long in their initial efforts of development. The initial design’s failures were inconsistency, so BAE sought to reduce such confusion and mishap, and wanted to understand the complex nature, however even a more scrutinous view would have foreshadowed the mishap of making such a large system functionally. Richard de Neufville stated in an excerpt from his book that the theoretical studies, models and reports regarding the automated baggage system at Denver were avoidable and should never be repeated (Neufville). BAE’s design flaws of complexity and the effects thereafter were a result of improper project planning and scope. The complexity of what it would take to operate and control automated machinery was never addressed or fully tested prior to implementation. Even after work ended when it was turned on and expected to work as intended, Denver officials were surprised at how poor it performed even enough to turn off the system. Let us take a moment to look at how complex this system truly was and how BAE design and planning failed to gain a glimpse of what it would take to operate such a daunting task. An empty cart is called and needs to go from one track to another, albeit simple sounding, this type of activity would have had to take place over a thousand times a minute under normal operating conditions. Since there were differences or variances in demand for empty carts throughout the airport, empty ones must continually switch direction, change tracks or completely change to another loop in the circuit. This is a logistics nightmare as one can imagine on such scale, so many variables to account for and they must do it error free. This was not using modern technology but even still it would have had to been almost instant decision making on again an error free basis. Typical systems with around 10k function points are cancelled approximately 65 percent of the time (capers Jones). In Denver, though the system’s workload hindered the network terribly to around 4000 tele-cars or auto-cars. These 1994 computers were tracking so many cars that several times a minute they mis-t racked just simply due to timing limitations. The planning of such a system was again originally contracted by United in 1991 to build, however after several years into it, BAE was concerned that the city of Denver still had not contracted for a baggage system. Sadly, the baggage system was nothing more than an afterthought of the design of the airport, AFTER construction began, let me make sure you understand that AFTER construction had begun and only then did the details surrounding the baggage handling system start to begin. This of course caused major problems due to limitations of resources that were not allocated properly which would contain the baggage system’s tracks and other components. The system then was made to fit in the underground tunnels and space available, not designed. These auto-carts had sharp turns now to make which again was not part of any plan. The schedule that BAE or timetable rather that they had set for the grand opening was not remotely realistic and as all good projects should do, have taken into consideration any potential issues along the way. BAE officials were even quoted as stating â€Å"We knew that was not long enough and we said so. It is a job that ought to take twice as long† (Why Technology Projects Fail). They knew but accepted the timetable of 4 years when they knew it should take 7 to 8 years for such a task. Denver Aviation Director James C DeLong even stated they just misjudged the timeline completely. The project as most will when unrealistic deadlines are given will continue to fall behind more and more, which then calls for more rapid work, longer hours which can lead, as the case here, to human error since the training and testing period were almost non-existent to meet the make-believe deadline. One of the other common misnomers in this project was the frequency and number of changes to its requirements, not a refining of them, but completely adding new functionality along the way. When the company BAE, took on the task, unrealistic as this sounds they took it on with anticipating no changes at all. As soon as work began though, Denver officials began changing plans and timetables without consulting either the airlines or BAE. Sadly, when changes were made to one piece of the system, the ramifications they made to other pieces was not clearly understood or the system as a whole. Again to reduce costs and save time, it was decided to remove an entire loop of track, from one of the concourses, this saved them 20 million, keep that figure in mind as later the system as a whole would cost them much more in the months after being deployed. Other such changes were made to save money, such as relocation of stations and addition of middle sub floor for baggage platforms that they referred to as the mezzanine baggage platform. Another airline also demanded the request for large baggage link. As the project matured, prior to implementation its scope size and complexity, along with design changed which increased the systems difficulties on a technical level that would continually deter progress. BAE then later chooses to decentralize all of the tracking and sorting computers, all these changes to scope should have led to review of alternate or contingency planning or delayed launch dates. However due to the shortened development and testing timetable, on the fly changes which should have required major pushback from core team members were â€Å"duct-taped† as I like to refer to it. One of the directors of engineering for the DIA, stated that BAE should have paid more attention to the programming issues early enough in the design phase. Lack of system testing, what I have I continuously stated all semester long about system testing and end-user testing, as a project manager most would agree, more than 75% of all IS projects are hampered by quality issue and 1 percent which are completed on time. I see reasons behind such statistics is not enough testing. I would advise any IT PMP to read ePMbook which is an online e-book regarding scope and project control, as was the case here a project that started out to be huge, got even bigger and eventually spiraled out of control. The ePM Book will has an excellent section that the BAE, airline and Denver City officials should have read prior to beginning step 2 of the project. They should have implemented any change coming through a request known now as a Change Request form. These forms are used to control the project’s scope and allow for the Project Lead, along with the core team, which requests can and will be made part of the original project and which can be sla ted as next phase or next step after implementation. It almost sounds as if this project never had a Change Control Process (CCP) whatsoever, if it did whoever was in charge of such did a horrible job, this CCP should exist throughout a project. It allows for requests to acknowledged in a timely fashion within a phase, and most important to determine impact in the planning for the next phase. This as stated on the site can be easier than de-railing the entire project due to shortening length of next step phases in the project path due to scope creep. Airlines kept changing the requirements, which resulted in numerous issues. One of the major reasons the whole thing went awry stems from BAE, the company that designed the system had previously implemented a similar system in Germany. The IT infrastructure was inadequate and design was not meant for such a large scale as that at the DIA. Well sadly it was not just a lesson for the DIA, BAE and Denver, but the taxpayers also ended up with a $1 million PER DAY cost, totaling $500 million by the end of the whole ordeal. Remember that 22 million they saved, good thing huh. Now let us think about how more time spent in analysis and design phase, let alone a Change control process, saved Colorado taxpayers millions of dollars. Since every project has a set of deliverables, assigned budget and expected closure time, there are agreed upon requirements and tasks to complete prior to the closure of a project. These constitute a project’s scope. The PMBoK clearly speaks to creeping scope and defines it adding features and functionality without addressing the effects on TIME, COST, and RESOURCES or without customer approval (PMBOK Version 4). References A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK ® Guide) (4th ed.).(2008). Newtown Square, Pa.: Project Management Institute. Brooks, F.P. (1995). The mythical man month: Essays on software engineering. (Anniversary Ed.). Boston: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. JOHNSON, K. (2005, August 27). Denver Airport Saw the Future. It Didn’t Work. – New York Times. The New York Times – Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. From http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/27/national/27denver.html?pagewanted=al lchloh_DIA.pdf Neufville, R., & Odoni, A. R. (2003). Airport systems: planning design, and management. New York: McGraw-Hill. New Denver Airport: Impact of the Delayed Baggage System — GAO/RCED-95-35BR. (n.d.). RITA | National Transportation Library. Retrieved December 6, 2012, from http://ntl.bts.gov/DOCS/rc9535br.html Scope & Change Control. (n.d.). Project Management and Program Management – The FREE ePMbook by Simon Wallace. Retrieved December 2, 2012, from http://www.epmbook.com/scope.htm Wiegers, K. (2003). Software Requirements (Second ed.). Redmond: Microsoft Press. Why Technology Projects Fail. (n.d.). Calleam Consulting – LLC. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from http://www5.in.tum.de/~huckle/DIABaggage.pdf

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Organizational Structure and Decision-Making Hierarchy Case Study - 17

Organizational Structure and Decision-Making Hierarchy - Case Study Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that a  formal structure would limit the abilities of employees to make immediate decisions. Apart from the owners, the two part-time employees also need to be in a position to make decisions as and when required. Since the business is consumer-oriented, delays may be having a negative impact on the company. Also, the two owners still do not have well-defined roles and responsibilities, hence it does not support a formal organizational structure. Therefore, it is best to have an informal organizational structure to start with.  Alex and Pat must adopt a vertical decision-making hierarchy in their coffee shop. The part-time employees will still have the ability to make immediate decisions at the basic level. The topmost authority with respect to strategy must be Alex because he spends more time in the shop. This means that he will have better knowledge about ground realities than Pat does and also will not have any extra responsibilities. Pat on the other hand also works at the advertising firm and has extra tasks and responsibilities to fulfill. Therefore, the two part-time employees will report to Alex. Even though Pat will play an equal role in strategy making the final say will remain with Alex as he is better equipped to make the decisions. This situation can remain until Pat is able to dedicate his full time to the coffee shop.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

The Lewis Spacecraft Mission Failure Investigation Board Report Term Paper

The Lewis Spacecraft Mission Failure Investigation Board Report - Term Paper Example After launch and successful insertion into orbit, the spacecraft lost contact with the ground station and later became a total loss. An Investigation Board inquired into the loss and determined that a problem with the Attitude Control System led to the loss (NRC & NASA 54). They also identified several factors that may have contributed to the catastrophic loss in the management and engineering rigor applied in the project. This paper relates to the shortcoming and the lesson that a systems engineer in charge of a similar project can learn from it. The Lewis Spacecraft Mission Failure Investigation Board (LSMFIB) identified two direct factors, and several indirect factors contributing to the mission failure. The first direct factor identified was flawed design and simulation of the Attitude Control System (ACS). The design of the ACS was such that in safe mode, the spacecraft would be in a â€Å"power positive orientation† (LSMFIB 9). However, an imbalance in the thrusters caus ed the spacecraft to face away from the sun in such a way that the sun’s rays hit the edges of the solar panels powering the spacecraft. This led to draining of the batteries at a quick rate because of the â€Å"power subsystem and thermal subsystem Safe Mode design† (LSMFIB 9). ... The first reason was that there was pressure on the spacecraft development team to cut costs hence they implemented a single shift. This made the discovery of anomalies very difficult. In fact, the actual problems occurred when no one was on duty. The second reason is that the ground crew failed to declare an emergency even after noting problems that would have justified such a declaration. These problems included the fact that the spacecraft was using the B-side processor when it reached orbit instead of the A-side processor. The second anomaly was that the â€Å"solid state recorder would not play back the data previously recorded†, which included the flight data that would have shown the anomalies that affected simulation (LSMFIB 11). The third anomaly was that the ground crew failed to get the space telemetry signal only for the spacecraft to reappear with an â€Å"uncontrolled attitude† (LSMFIB 11). The fourth anomaly was that after leaving the spacecraft in safe m ode for duration, it took on spinning with the edges of the solar panels facing the sun. Any of these anomalies warranted the declaration of an emergency, which did not happen. The indirect causes of the mishap were actions taken that did not conform to industry standards. If the development teams stuck to the standards, then it is likely that the catastrophic failure would not have occurred. These include project scope creep, cost and schedule pressure, inadequately planned relocation of some production units that affected technical review and testing, frequent changes to the personnel working on the program, and insufficient engineering and management discipline (LSMFIB 12-14). The reasons

Monday, August 26, 2019

Quality in Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Quality in Management - Essay Example In this paper, the researcher has summarised the wave of quality management that has been taken by the organization in UAE in reference to Agthia. Agthia is one of the largest Food and Water product manufacturing company based in UAE. The company mainly focuses on delivering better customer experience (Agthia, 2014). In this context, quality management is an important parameter that helps to differentiate organizational product from other competitors. Thus, quality management is an essential tool not only to create advanced quality products and services, but also to meet needs and requirements of the customers. Some of the quality and excellence initiatives launched by the UAE economy play an important role to provide the organization insights towards the excellence. W. Edwards Deming, Joseph Juran and Philips Crosby, three major contributor of quality philosophy, has developed different aspect of TQM (Ho Tang, 2009). Each of the view, suggested by them, needs to be examined to understand difference in their approaches regarding TQM. Deming, worked with the Japanese automobile manufacturers to improve their product quality and gaining competitive foot within the industry. His philosophy is based on 14 points of TQM which can be summed up by saying that, the management team must redesign their production strategy into four different steps, namely, plan, do, check and act. In planning segment, business should design quality of the product and service as per the needs and requirements of their customers, and at the same time reduce waste and decrease the production cost. Next, businesses should construct their work by putting the plan into action and must continually seek ways to do things better way (Hendricks and Singhal, 2008). The check strategy is implemented to monitor the changes that supposedly take place, for example, removing barriers to the quality by providing right job at right time. Finally,

Comparison Papper Malcom x vs William Shakespeare Essay

Comparison Papper Malcom x vs William Shakespeare - Essay Example Both assailed calumny or manipulation which in Shakespeare’s speech from Brutus justified his murder and villainy by alleging that he killed Caesar because he is ambitious and that Rome he is better off with Caesar dead. This was in the passage; In Malcom X’s speech however, this came from the gerrymandering of white (caucasian) politicians that when Negroes became concentrated in one area that is enough to become a political power, the political subdivisions are changed to disenfranchise the Negro. All sorts of effort were done to â€Å"con† and undermine the negro’s right to vote as exegete it saying as â€Å"senators and congressmen standing up filibustering and doing all other kinds of trickery to keep the Negro from being able to vote†. Both speakers were also addressing an undiscerning and unsophisticated crowd. In Malcolm X, the speech referred to the Negroes â€Å"dumb vote, your ignorant vote, your wasted vote put in an administration in Washington, D.C., that has seen fit to pass every kind of legislation imaginable† while in Shakespeare, both Brutus and Anthony were addressing a mob who would agree to whatever they will say until Anthony won them over with a speech that effectively refuted Brutus speech that Caesar has to be killed because of his ambition; Both also justified violence or murder as a political solution. Albeit Brutus was more brutal because he personally slew Caesar under a shady motive even if Caesar is his close friend. Worst, he made it appear as if Caesar deserved it and his death is good for Rome by saying â€Å"Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?† Malcolm X speech however was replete of justification why it has to come to ballots or bullets. He argues that the eyes of the negroes are already open and his consciousness is already alive and he will

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Anthropological linguistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Anthropological linguistics - Essay Example Phonemes, Morphemes and Grammar Phoneme is considered to be the first building slab of language. These are the most fundamental unit of our speech; an individual sound. Phoneme is the common feature of all languages. English uses around forty phonemes. They can have further distinctive classifications and features like voiced or unvoiced components. Phonemes are so fundamental that they do not convey any meaning until put together. (Kendon, 2000) Morpheme is the second building slab of language. A morpheme, as defined by linguists, is the smallest meaningful unit of language, produced from an arrangement of phonemes. As far as their further classifications are concerned, morphemes are of two types, the first ones are content morphemes and the second ones are function morphemes. The basic meanings of a word are held by content morphemes while prefixes and suffixes work as function morphemes. The main characteristic of function morphemes is this that they add a little additional meanin g to the word. Grammar is considered to be the last and final building slab of language. According to grammarians, grammar is the collection of set rules of language that stipulate how phonemes, morphemes, phrases and words should be arranged and combined to communicate meaningful thoughts. Besides this, grammar also governs how to employ different classes of words and their inflections. Grammar is a combination of two ingredients; syntax and semantics. (Kendon, 2000) Syntax is the set of grammatical rules that state in what order the words and phrases should be arranged in a sentence in order to convey meaning. In human life development, by the time one is proficient to read, his or her syntactical perceptive sense is exceedingly developed. Furthermore, this makes it sound like even sentences that are composed or based on of unfit or apparently odd words make sense because they follows appropriate syntax. Syntax and syntactical rules are different and diverse in every language. (Ke ndon, 2000) For example, English speaking people place adjectives prior to nouns while many other languages place the adjective after the noun. Another important field of linguistics is semantics. Semantics are the meaning itself or study of meaning derived from morphemes, words and sentences. Semantics depend upon a variety of relevant factors such as word choice, context and whether the speaker’s intent is figurative or literal. All these are building slabs of human language and are integral part of all human languages in anthropological linguistics. Without these building slabs humans, speaking any language of the world, would not be able to converse with each other. These are the core rules and units of speech which are all significant components to help convey our opinions, thoughts, ideas, feelings and personal experiences through language. Non Verbal Communication Non-verbal communication is used so often that we actually forget that we are using it. We do not realize how much we rely on non-verbal communication; the reason for this is due to the fact that most non-verbal communication transpires on a level that is below our conscious awareness. (Kendon, 2000) While many aspects of nonverbal communication are culturally specific, some, e.g. facial expressions and gestures, appear to have near universal levels of recognition. Non-verbal messages are also viewed as more authentic because behavior cannot be restricted as effortlessly as spoken words. (Kendon, 2000) Perhaps the most

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Industry approach for addressing the vexing issue Assignment

Industry Approach for Addressing the Vexing Issue - Assignment Example Error-tracking system, which is already implemented by the healthcare professional reports, based on the medical errors that are getting pervasive and is the main cause of the death taking place in the USA. The report has also presented that medical errors often takes place due to the systematic problems, while delivering the health care services, rather than while improving the performance of each individual. Healthcare industry is adopting different approaches, such as the development of error-tracking mechanisms, extensive investigation, allocation of available resources for the initiative of error protection, and root cause analysis of the problem (Fialova & Onder, 2009). According to the ACA report, there are four approaches for mitigating the issues related with the healthcare profession, such as identification and understanding through the errors related with the voluntary and mandatory reporting systems, set up national efforts for enhancing the knowledge linked with the medical safety, increase in standards and expectations in order to bring improvements in safety through increasing involvement of medical professionals, and establishing delivery level safety systems within the healthcare organizations (Fialova & Onder, 2009). ACA report sparks the debate among the health policymakers in the USA for appropriately responding to the problem. ACA improve its quality or made it worse through restricting the funds In America, lawmakers are putting more emphasis on the healthcare quality with the introduction of protection of patients and Affordable Care Act. Through the reduction in 30 days readmissions, American hospitals have started taking initiatives for fulfilling all the requirements, has even adopted best practices, which results in the improvement of healthcare quality and readmissions between the community providers and hospitals.

Friday, August 23, 2019

Obesity and health clubs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Obesity and health clubs - Essay Example The reason for this could have been due to the rise in membership fees, which account for 75% to 85% of health club earnings. An alternative cause could be that health clubs are spending less than before, which accounts for a decrease in company expenditure. According to a report by Mintel (2011), the health and fitness club market has 5.33 million users, and as previously mentioned, this figure is predicted to increase with the upcoming Olympics. Market Trends The health club market has had some positive turns due to increasing awareness of obesity problems, and negative turns due to the economic crisis. Obesity In the UK, the high rate of obesity is a very serious problem that requires action to be taken. The following statistics by Keynote (2011) are obesity predictions for 2050: 60% of men, 50% of women, and 25% of children. This is a very large percentage of the population. In 2010 (confirm year), the government created a scheme in England called ‘Change4Life,’ whic h aimed to change the lives of the population of England by altering diet and exercise habits. This public encouragement of exercise could have influenced the rise we now see in health club use. Public and Private Health Clubs However, due to the current economic crisis, it is becoming difficult for health club members to pay the annual fees. In addition, as people are looking to decrease spending, health clubs are likely to be considered unnecessary during hard times, despite member loyalty. With an increase in government spending on health and welfare, public health clubs have seen improvements and increases in available resources. However, this does not benefit private health clubs like Virgin, which rely on membership numbers to generate profit. Distribution Health clubs provide a service in exchange for payment of membership fees. Some clubs also charge a joining fee. Once fees are paid, members can utilise the facilities as they please within the timeframe they have purchased. Health clubs often have an additional system where consumers can pay less for access to fewer facilities. At health clubs, members can also purchase items like water bottles or food, and often health-related products such as protein shakes and powder. Virgin Active is a chain of health clubs with 194 locations throughout South Africa, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Australia, and the United Kingdom. As of April 2011, Virgin Active had 69 health clubs in the UK, with a total of 265,000 members; this averages at 3,841 members per club. The fee to join a Virgin Active health club ranges from a monthly fee of ?50 to ?90. Virgin Active’s Competitors According to Mintel (2011), the leading fitness and health clubs in the industry in 2011 were: David Lloyd with 450,000 adult members, Virgin Active with 419,000 adult members, Fitness First with 400,000 adult members, DW Sports Fitness with 250,000 adult members, LA Fitness with 215,000 adult members, Bannatyne Fitness 180,000 adult members , and Nuffield with 150,000 adult members. After Virgin Active’s purchase of the Esporta business, the company moved into second place;

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Black Elk Speaks Essay Example for Free

Black Elk Speaks Essay In the article, Black Elk Speaks with Forked Tongue, Couser is giving his opinion on how he thinks that Neihardt was in actuality suppressing the Lakota way of life and Black Elk’s story. His opinion is backed by some good points from the text and as well as other scholars who have the same opinion as himself. Couser does believe that Black Elk Speaks is a well written book and he even respects and commends Neihardt in his attempt to honor Black Elk, â€Å"before detailing the short comings of Black Elk Speaks I would like to acknowledge the considerable efforts Neihardt made to honor Black Elk’s narrative† (Couser). Couser then dives into the idea that this book as an autobiography should be a thing of the past. I think Couser then gets carried away with an opinion about how Black Elk was being censored and the truths were kept secret. Couser’s argument is good but his tactic and tangent near the end could have been left out; it does not hurt the argument but it also is too absurd to help the argument as well. Couser states that one of the problems with Neihardt is just the sheer fact of the language barrier; he uses DeMallie as an example of a person who thought the same thing. While there is good translation at times there are horrific and even completely made up parts in the book; this goes back to Couser’s argument that the book is not qualified to be called a Native American Biography. Neihardt had Black Elk’s son translate while Neighardt’s daughter would take notes; this action alone makes it inevitable that there will be some miscommunication and misinterpretation. It was then Neihardt who, in order to fill in the loss in translation, put in his own creativity and somehow turn a story into a piece of literary work. Due to the language barrier it was inevitable from the very beginning that Neihardt would have to change things around for literary purposes. Couser seems to only point out the bad parts of the book and never goes into depth about any of the good things, for instance: had Neihardt gone verbatim what Black Elk said he would have gotten factual information wrong, â€Å"After we had danced, she spoke to us. She said something like this: ‘I am sixty-seven years old. (Neihardt 177); this is just one example where Neihardt saw a mistake and corrected it just as any good editor would do. A literal translation of every word Black Elk spoke is not plausible due to a difference in culture as well as language. As a writer it was Neihardt’s job to put it in a form that is readable. It was his job to try to convey the emotions Black Elk was portraying in the telling of the story. Seeing what Neihardt put in and left out did not make much of a difference and it seemed to be well done for as big of a barrier he faced. Couser also argues that Neihardt’s free translation, not just language barrier but also that Neihardt could fill in things with his own creativeness, debunks the argument that Black Elk Speaks is a true Native American Autobiography. He believes that Neihardt’s attempts to change and convey emotion are merely Neihardt using his own opinion and creativeness. The text in the book is not verbatim and therefore Neihardt did his own thing. Couser later argues that Neihardt creating much of the story is still a kind of suppression and is conveying a dominant power. Neihardt used creativity just as any other writer would have done. â€Å"There were many lies, but we could not eat them. The forked tongue made promises† (Neihardt 172); that sentence is Neihardt’s and it may not be what Black Elk said but it could have been something that Neihardt could see Black Elk saying. Just because something is creative does not mean that it is an absurd thought. He used creativity to convey what he was seeing from Black Elk himself. Had Neihardt only gone by words I think more would have been lost in translation; not only is there language that has to be translated but also an emotional language. Neihardt took it upon himself to convey the emotion and had someone else transcribe the notes. Even though the translation was not word for word I think he portrayed the emotion quite well in the text. Couser then starts his tangent about how in this â€Å"autobiography† the white man is still suppressing the Native American Indian. He discusses little things like how Neihardt should not have addressed Black Elk as Black Elk. He also accuses Neihardt of trying to make the book too Indian like. He criticizes Neihardt’s writing of Black Elk. Couser then argues that the reason that Neihardt did not mention as many rituals or customs in the text is due to a dominant culture trying to eradicate and hide another culture, the Native American Indian culture. All in the same argument Couser suggest that the book is a sign of cultural imperialism; he says that the books was meant to escape cultural imperialism but in the end the book seems to be all about cultural imperialism I believe that Neihardt wrote the book and went off, as closely as possible, Black Elk. Neihardt approached Black Elk, not vice versa; had Black Elk approached Neihardt the book would probably be totally different then what it is today. Neihardt had every right to do what he did in the book due to his poetic license. It should be a given that Neihardt was going to do some of his own things; however, that does not mean that the book is a cultural imperialist book or a historical fiction. For some reason Neihardt changed his intentions for the interview; they were going to go towards his poetry but for some purpose he turned to a novel. I believe Neihardt was doing the story telling in a way that had never been done before, in a literary way. Black Elk told the story in an oral and story form and Neihardt then transformed the story into a literary work. Couser did have a strong argument and I do agree with what he said about how the book should not be taken as a Lakota bible or a Native American Biography; I do not agree with his argument that the book is a form of suppression upon the Native Americans. The flaws in the book are minute enough that it can still give a considerable amount of history and background on the Lakota people. However, it should not be taken as a bible for the Lakota people, after all not everything of what was said about the tribe and rituals is in the book and one must do more research than just read and study Black Elk Speaks. All Neihardt was expected to do was his best and I think he did accomplish his goal of creating a fairly accurate portrayal of the Lakota people and the Indian life of Black Elk.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Traditional Litigation and the Non-Traditional Alternative Dispute Resolution Essay Example for Free

Traditional Litigation and the Non-Traditional Alternative Dispute Resolution Essay There are many ways to handle a dispute. Many people chose to use the traditional litigation system, which are lawsuit being brought forth in the courts and some people choose alternative routes which may not always be involved in the court. The formal definition of traditional litigation is â€Å"the process of bringing, maintaining, and defending a lawsuit. This is also called judicial dispute resolution because courts are used to decide the case† (Cheeseman, 2010). Alternative Dispute Resolution is defined as â€Å"methods of resolving disputes other than litigation† (Cheeseman, 2010). Alternative Dispute Resolution By far the most common form of ADR is arbitration, however other types of ADR exist such as negotiation, mediation, conciliation, mini-trial, fact-finding, and the use of a judicial referee. â€Å"Negotiation is a procedure whereby the parties to a dispute engage in negotiations to try to reach a voluntary settlement of their dispute† (Cheeseman, 2010). Negotiations can go on for an extended amount of time to ensure that both parties are satisfied. Mediation is another type of ADR in which all parties involved in the issue select and agreed to use neutral third party that assumes the role of an intermediary that between both parties. The sole purpose of this intermediary is to facilitate a settlement between the parties. If an accord is reached by the disputing parties, then a settlement agreement is written and executed by the parties. Conciliation is a method of ADR frequently used when the parties involve do not wish to face each other in a confrontational venue. In this method an interested party known as a conciliator assists the party’s dispute to reach a settlement. The conciliator facilitates this process by the communicating offers and counter-offers of settlement between the two parties. Traditional Litigation System The traditional litigation system is where two parties (defendant and plaintiff) go forward in a court of law to solve a certain issue that they have with each other. In a traditional legal system the contents of the case publicity is not considered because adverse publicity is what is associated with litigation. The expenses in the traditional litigation system can become expensive and costly; this is the reason that some people chose Alternative Dispute Resolutions. Differences between Systems The two legal systems have some major differences. In the ADR system the resolution is usually less formal and less intimidating than in the traditional legal system. The resolutions are quicker and less expensive, the dispute is usually heard by an arbitrator or mediator and at the end of the â€Å"trail† the respondents will receive an opinion which can be filed with the court to become binding and turned into a judgment. The traditional legal system or trials are usually a more formal and slower process. The trials are more expensive because of the length of the trials. Trials are often heard before a judge and the judgments are binding through the court systems. Conclusion A person has to choose to decide which of the legal systems work best for them. It is important for a claimant to compare and contrast the impact that either of the systems would have on their particular situation.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Mergers and Acquisitions: Indian Banking Consolidation

Mergers and Acquisitions: Indian Banking Consolidation Globally it has been found that the mergers and acquisition have become one of the major ways to corporate restructuring which has also struck the financial services industry which has experienced merger waves leading to the emergence of huge banks and financial institutions. The main reason for mergers is intense competition among the companies in the same industry which put focus on economies of scale, efficiency in cost and profitability. Some other factors leading to the mergers is the too big to fail principle followed by the authorities. In few countries like Germany, weak banks were forcefully merged to avoid the problem financial distress arising out of bad loans and erosion of capital funds. Several academic studies have analyzed merger related gains in banking and these studies have adopted two approaches. The first approach deals with evaluating the long term performance of the merger by analyzing the accounting information such as return on assets, operating costs and eff iciency ratios. A mergers is considered to have led to improved performance if the the change in the accounting based performance is superior to the changes in the performance of the comparable banks that were not involved in the merger activity during that period. Another approach is to analyze the gains in stock price of the bidder and the target company around the announcement of the merger. In this approach the merger is assumed to create value if the combined value of the bidder and target banks increase on the announcement of the merger and the consequent and the stock prices reflect the potential value of the acquiring banks. The objective of this paper is to present a panoramic view of merger trends in India and to ascertain two important perceptions of stake-holders, shareholders and managers and to discuss dilemmas and other issues of this topic of Indian banking. Review of Literature for impact of mergers The two important issues which are examined by various academic studies relating to bank mergers are: impact of mergers on the operating performance and efficiency of the banks Impact of mergers on the market value of the equity of both bidder and the target banks. Cornett and Tehranian (1992) and Spindit and Tarhan (1992) provided evidence for increase in post-merger operating performance. However the studies of Berger and Humphrey (1992), Piloff (1996) and Berger (1997) did not find any evidence in increase in post-merger operating performance. Berger and Humphrey (1994) also reported that most of the studies that examined pre-merger and post-merger financial ratios found no impact on operating cost and profit ratios. The reasons for mixed evidence are: lag between completion of merger process and the realization of benefits of mergers, sample selection and the methods adopted in the financing of mergers. Further, the financial ratios may be misleading indicators of performance because they do not take into account for product mix or input prices. On the other hand researches may also could have confused scale and scope efficiency gains with what is known as X-efficiency gains. Recent studies have explicitly employed frontier X-efficiency met hods to identify the X-efficiency benefits of bank mergers. Few studies have also analyzed the potential benefits and scale economies of mergers. Landerman (2000) explored diversification benefits to be had from banks merging with non banking financial service firms. Simulated mergers of US banks and non-bank financial service firms demonstrated that diversification of banks into insurance business and securities brokerage is optimal for reducing the probability of bankruptcy for bank holding companies. Wheelock and Wilson (2004) found that expected merger activity in US banking industry is positively related to management rating, size of the bank, competitive position and geographical location of banks and is negatively related to market concentration. The second issue determined was the analysis of merger gains in terms of the gains in stock price performance of the bidder and the target banks on announcement of merger. In this case a merger is expected to create value only if the combined value of the bidder and target companies increases after the declaration of the merger. However a lot of studies have failed to find any direct relationship between the merger and the gains in performance or in shareholder wealth. But there are reasons for mixed evidence as a merger announcement also takes in to account the way the deal is financed .If equity offerings are used it may be interpreted as overvaluation by the issuer. Therefore the negative announcements returns to the firms that are bidding can be attributed to the negative signalling which is completely unrelated to the value which is created by the merger. Returns to the bidders companies shareholders is greater when the merger is totally financed with cash than in mergers in whi ch financing is done through equity offering. There is one more problem with this event study analysis as if there is a consolidation wave going on; mergers are anticipated by stockholders and analyst. Potential candidates for the mergers are highlighted and made popular by the financial press and the stock market analysts. In these cases the event study analysis may fail. Therefore an analysis of mergers across the world and a literature review does not provide strong evidence on the benefits gained by banks in the mergers in the banking industry. Also the findings of the literature also contrast with the findings of the consultants who find a considerable cost savings and operational efficiency achieved through mergers. The reasons why academic study do not find cost benefits and the consultants highlight this fact are Consulates may study a potential cost savings which may not materialize They tend to highlight potential cost saving activities and the economist study all the activities. They tend to be biased towards successful cases and ignore the unsuccessful ones. They tend blow up the benefits achieved while the benefits may be miniscule if accounted on a relative terms. The academic studies provide motivation for the examination and evaluation of two important issues pertaining to the mergers and acquisition to the Indian banking. Do mergers help in improving the operational performance and result in cost savings However in India most of the mergers are forced by the central bank in order to protect the interest of the depositors and avoid financial distress therefore the above mentioned reason is rarely found in the mergers activities. Do merger provide abnormal gains and returns to the acquirer and the target banks upon the declaration Consolidation Trends Observed in India Improving the operational performance and cost efficiency has always been a priority in Indian banking sector and has been a major issue of discussions in the policy formulation by the government of India in the consultation and with the central bank (Reserve Bank of India). Several committees have also been formed in order to suggest structural changes to achieve this objective. Some of the major committees formed are Banking Commission, 1972 Chairman R.G Saraiya, 1976 chairman : Manubhai Shah Committee for the functioning of public sector banks, 1978 chairman : James S Raj These committees have suggested the restructuring of the Indian banking system with an objective to improve the process of credit delivery and also suggested the idea of having around 3 to 4 large banks which have a pan India presence and the rest of the bank should be present at the regional level. The major thrust on consolidation started with the Narasimham committee in 1991. It emphasised and embarked upon consolidation and merger in order to make the Indian banks huge in size and also comparable to the global banks. A second Narasimham committe was also formed in 1998 which suggested mergers and consolidation among the strong banks in public as well as private sector and also with other financial institutions, NBFC (Non Banking Financial Companies). Now we will have a look at some of the recent trends in consolidation in Indian banking. Restructuring of weak Indian Banks Amongst other routes government of India has adopted mergers as a means to achieve restructuring of the Indian banking system. Many banks which are small in size and are weak are merged with other banks which are stronger and are larger to protect the interest of the depositors and also to avoid financial distress. These types of mergers can be termed as forced mergers. Hence when a banks shows symptoms of sickness like increasing size of NPAs, reduction in the net worth and substantial decline in capital adequacy ratio, RBI forces moratorium under the section 45(1) of the Banking Regulation act 1949 for a specified period on the activities and the operations of the working of the sick bank. In this period a strong bank is identified and asked to prepare and present a scheme of merger with the weak bank. In this case the acquirer banks takes hold of all the assets of the weak bank and ensures the depositors of their money in case they want to withdraw. The mergers which took place in the pre-reform period fall into this category. In the post reform period 21 mergers have taken place out of which 13 are forced mergers where RBI has intervened. The main reason for these mergers was the protection of the depositors interest and avoids the financial distress. Mergers which took place voluntarily Apart from forced mergers there have been few mergers in which expansion, diversification and growth were the major motives and in which RBI did not intervene or force. The first merger of this kind took place in 1993 when the Times Bank was acquired by HDFC bank which was followed by acquisition of Bank of Madura by the ICICI Bank. The latest of these is merger of Lord Krishnan Bank with Centurion Bank of Punjab. Although in all these deals the target bank suffered with low profitability, Increase in NPA and lack of alternate revenues in order to provide cushion for capital adequacy but these mergers were not forced. There was no regulatory intervention in these mergers however the motives behind these mergers may not necessarily be scale of economies and achieving market power. For instance ICICI bank acquired bank of Russia with a motive of entry in to Russia although it just had one branch. SBI acquired 51% stake in Mauritian Bank through Indian Ocean International Bank which wil l be integrated with the State Bank of Indias International business as a subsidiary. Integration of Financial Services and Achieving Universal Banking Model Several developmental financial institutions have been formed over a period of time in India in order to improve the efficiency of allocation of resources to different segments of the economy. However because of the flexibility given by the RBI to the banks in the credit delivery process the banks have increased and diversified their loan portfolio to various areas such as project finance, long-term loans, and other specialised sector lending. This is the reason why DFIs have become redundant. A working capital group (1998) was appointed by RBI which has recommended the universal model of banking by exploring the possibility of mergers between various sets of financial entities based on economical considerations. Similarly in the private sector ICICI merger with its subsidiary bank and IDBI (industrial Development Bank of India) was incorporates as a public sector bank which acquired private sector bank IDBI bank in 2004. In order to provide integrated financial services and achieve operation efficiencies many public sector banks have acquired their subsidiaries, for instance Andhra Bank acquired its housing finance subsidiary Andhra Bank Housing Finance LTD, Bank of India acquired BOI finance Ltd and BOI Asset Management Company Ltd. Acquisition of similar types took place in the private sector as well. Alignment of Operations of Foreign Banks with Global Trends As the Parent banks went under reconstruction process their parts operating in India also started restructuring. For example, Standard Charted Grindlay bank was formed due to acquisition of ANZ Grindlay by the Standard Charted Bank. Similarly due to acquisition of two Japanese banks like Sakura Bank and Sumitomo Bank Ltd the Indian operations of Sakura Bank were merged with Sumitomo Bank in 2001.Forign banks were permitted to enter into merger and acquisition transaction with any of the private sector bank in India with a condition that the overall investment limit limit will be 74 per cent after the second phase of WTO commitments which commenced in April 2009. This may lead to further consolidation in the Indian banking sector. Merger and Consolidation of Cooperatives, RRBs and UCBs Small banks present in India apart from other banks are co-operative banks, Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs). These are formed for fulfilling the credit requirements of agriculture, small traders and SSI and other rural economic activities. All of these institutions are suffering from bad loans, operational inefficiencies, and Poor recovery of loans. This proved to be a barrier for further lending and financial intermediation. A committee formed under Jugdish Capoor suggested voluntary amalgamations or merger of these co-operatives based on various criterias like economies of scale, especially in areas where the operations of these banks have become unviable and there are no more in a position to supply credit to agriculture sector. 28 RRBs were consolidated into 9 new RRBs in September 2005.A high powered committee on Urban Co-operative Banks (1999) recommended that UCBs which are sick should be liquidated in a time bound manner as the operation of lar ge number of financially sick banks is devastating for UCBs and also for the interest of depositors. Due to this more mergers are expected in the future and RBI also has taken a lot of new initiatives for restructuring of banks including the issuance of guidelines in May 2005. Shareholders Perception of Merger As stated above the Indian banking sector has experienced two types of mergers – focussed and voluntary mergers. Forced mergers were initiated by RBI and their main objective was to protect the interest of the depositors and prevent financial distress of the banks. Whenever a bank showed symptoms of sickness like huge NPA levels, erosion of net worth etc, RBI intervened and merged the weak bank with a stronger one by force. Thus we can form a hypothesis that in case of forced mergers the target banks shareholders will gain abnormally with the declaration. The second type of merger is voluntary type where the motivation behind the merger is to achieve cost reduction, increase in size, diversification, strategic entry into a market. In these cases the acquired banks reaped the benefit of branch network and customer clientele of the banks acquired. In these cases both the acquirer bank and the target bank must have had benefit out of the merger. In this paper the mergers between 1993 to 2006 are considered. There were 21 mergers out of which only five were voluntary. These are mainly mergers of private sector banks with other private sector banks. Two cases are conversion of financial institution to commercial bank where the objective was to form a universal bank model which offers a wide range of financial services. Ina study conducted which is presented in this paper six cases of forced mergers were selected for the purpose of analysis as in other cases the target banks were not listed and the size of the banks were much lower than the acquirer banks therefore these cases are of less merit for further analysis. In this study the wealth effects of almost all the banking mergers during the period 1999-2006 is analyzed. The event study analysis used in this analysis is very straight forward and conventional. The merger period consist of four days prior and four days after the event. The reason for taking such window is to analyze the change in wealth of the shareholder around the day of the declaration on the merger. Daily adjusted closing prices of stocks and the market index is taken for the analysis. The abnormal returns are calculated as follows. ARit= Rit – [a + BRm] Here Rit: daily return on firm ‘i on day ‘t Rmt is the return on the bench mark index a and B are the regression parameters. The abnormal return is calculated for both the acquirer and the target firm and the significance of these values are tested by finding standard error and the t-value : Analysis of Research Results In forced mergers case the stockholders of target banks have not achieved any significant returns on the declaration of the merger. However in the case of Nedungadi Bank, the stockholder did gain significant on the 2nd day of the announcement but after that no abnormal returns were found. In the case of GTB the stockholders had deeply discounted the merger. As it was a case of serious case of bank failure the merger did give a confidence to the depositors but the merger declaration did not provide any abnormal returns. United bank did gain marginally on the announcement but it was not significant statistically. Thus the hypothesis that target banks shareholders welcome merger announcement as a safety net can be rejected. The shareholders of the acquirer bank lost their market value of equity. In case of ICICI bank, it was signalled as an emergence of a large private sector bank and hence due to which the banks shareholders expectations go up with significant increase in the returns. In other cases of acquisition the acquirer bank lost on merging with the weak banks. Hence in all the forced mergers neither the acquirer bank nor the target bank gained on declaration of the merger and the stockholders of the acquirer bank lost wealth as the announcement of the merger was taken as a negative signal. It is argued that merger of weak banks with strong ones is essential for restructuring of banking system and also a step in the consolidation of the banking sector. But in almost all the mergers it was found that the target banks for the merger were determined at the time when they were at the verge of getting collapse. The acquirer bank which was forced by RBI was left with no option but to accept the proposed merger. It is recommended that RBI should pursue Prompt corrective action system and should determine the weak banks on the basis of some defined criterias so that the acquirer bank can choose the target banks on the strategic issues which benefit all the parties . Abnormal Returns of Target Banks Abnormal returns of Bidder banks In case of voluntary mergers it can be seen that the target banks have obtained higher returns that the acquirer banks. Both the acquirer and the target banks stockholders benefitted on declaration of the merger. Therefore the stock market welcomed the merger which will lead to growth and efficiency aspects of the merged entity and benefitted the shareholders of both the banks. For instance in the case of acquisition of times banks by HDFC bank it was viewed as a positive signal by the shareholders of both the bank. At the time of the merger the Times Bank was crippled with increasing NPAs and low profitability, the acquisition by the HDFC bank gave relief to the depositors of the Times Bank. On the other hand HDFC bank emerged as the largest private sector bank by gaining from the retail portfolio of the Times Bank. In case of BOM acquisition by the ICIC bank the BOM gained the advantage of being able to provide services like Treasury management, cash management services to its cust omers and ICICI bank increased its size by acquiring BOM and reached the position of large private sector banks in 1999. At the announcement of the merger there was a steep rise in the gains which was reaped by the BOM shareholders however the stockholders of ICIC bank did not get any significant returns. In all the even study analysis revealed that neither the acquirer bank nor the target bank stock holders have perceived any potential gain on the declaration of the mergers. Hence the share holders who are important stakeholders of the banking companies did not consider the mergers as a signal of improving health, economies of scale and the market power of banks. Managers take on the Mergers Managers provide highest priority to the merger of the two public sector banks which provides a signals the banking sectors view on the need for consolidation of public sector banks. Managers do not prefer the merger of bank and NBFCs or financial services entities There are some issues which are needed to be taken care of while proposing a merger of banks according to the managers Valuation of the Loan portfolio of the target bank This is one of the main factor which is needed to be considered at the time of the merger. As in the management of the credit portfolio the accounting and the exposure norms suggested by the RBI are the same which helps in figuring out the book value of loans easily. However Indian banks have adopted divergent practices in rating the borrowers, loan pricing and maintenance of collateral securities therefore a detailed audit of the loan portfolio, cash flow generation and collaterals is very essential in order to get an opinion on the value of the loan portfolio of the target bank. Valuation of Intangible assets The valuation of the assets of the banks is a very critical factor for the success of any merger or consolidation. The tangible assets of the bank are loans, investment part apart from other fixed assets like buildings, ATMs and the IT infrastructure the bank owns. A commercial bank also holds a lot of intangible assets like clientele based on core deposits, safety value contracts, computer softwares, human resources, brands and goodwill. Determining the inherent strength of the bank based on the valuation of the intangible assets is also very important. Determination of the value of equity Determining the value of the target banks assets, liabilities and valuation of its equity value is the major aspect of a merger process. Various approaches can be used like dividend discount model, cash flow to equity model and excess return model. However banks have totally different operations than a normal manufacturing firm as they are highly leveraged because they have more than 90% of the resources as borrowed or as debt and banks are highly regulated institutions and regulatory instruction have vast implication in asset and income recognition. Interest rates volatility, regulatory capital adequacy ratios and restriction on dividend pay put ratios also have influence on the earnings of the banks. Human Resource Issues It is the most complicated issue in the merger process.HR issues like the service condition, strategy for rewarding people, employee relation, benefit plans and compensation, provision of pension, law suits and the trade union actions are very critical for the viability of the merger and the deal to go through. Cultural Issues This is also a critical issue in the pre-merger and post merger period. It is central to an organizational environment and recognizing cultural friction is very difficult as it results in various problems such as poor productivity, riff in the top management, increase in the turnover rates, delays in the integration process and failures in realizing the projected synergies. Information Technology platform integration In todays banking banks are highly dependent on the information technology. It has become a key strategic issue due to the impact it has on the operation of the bank. A significant portion of the synergy depends on the information technology integration. Divergent IT platforms and software systems have proven to be major constraints in the consolidation. Customer Retention Customers also major stakeholders of banks and are needed to be communicated properly about the merger and the customers of the target bank should be attended with utmost care. Various studies have shown that firms borrowing from target banks are very likely to lose their relationship with the bank on its merger.

Critique of the Movie Educating Rita Essay -- Movies Film Educating Ri

Critique of the Movie Educating Rita Director: Lewis Gilbert Screenwriter: Willy Russell Released: 1983 With Julie Walters, Michael Caine, and others Rita (Julie Walters) is a twenty-six years old hairdresser from Liverpool who has decided to get an education. Not the sort of education that would get her just a better job or more pay, but an education that would open up for her a whole new world--a liberal education. Rita wants to be a different person, and live an altogether different sort of life than she has lived so far. She enrolls in the Open University, a government program that allows non-traditional students to get the kind of higher education that used to be reserved more or less for the offspring of the upper classes, and mainly for male students at that. "Educating Rita" describes the trials and transformations that the young hairdresser has to go through to develop from a person with hardly any formal schooling at all into a student who passes her university exams with ease and distinction. In the course of telling this story, the film also suggests what the essence of a liberal education may be. The story is presented in the form of a comedy, a comedy that revolves around the personal and pedagogical relationship between Rita and her main teacher, Dr. Frank Bryant (Michael Caine). Frank Bryant teaches comparative literature, and it is his job to prepare Rita for her exams. Unfortunately, Frank Bryant has lost all enthusiasm for his academic field and its related teaching duties. He loathes most of his regular students, and the main function of the rows of classical works that still fill the bookshelves in his office is to hide the whiskey bottles without which he is not able to get through the day and the semesters anymore. When he teaches his regular classes he is frequently drunk, and in response to a student's complaint that students are not learning much about literature in Bryant's class, the burned-out teacher gruffly advises: "Look, the sun is shining, and you're young. What are you doing in here? Why don't you all go out and do something? Why don't you go and make lo ve--or something?" Frank Bryant is a disenchanted intellectual who has no real use anymore for literature, culture, or the life of the mind. Introducing working people in particular to the world of higher education seems utterly pointless to him. When he find... ... having overcome the limitations of her old world through education, and by recognizing the limitations of what she has acquired at the University, she finds herself in the same situation as Frank: in some sort of existential Australia where "everything is only just starting." She has choices to make, and it is her having grown beyond old forms of life that gives her the freedom to make these choices. This in the end is the essence of her education, and the essence of any liberal education as such: the knowledge-based ability to step back from all form of life, the capability to deliberate freely, and then to embark on a course of action that does not grow out of established patterns and unexamined impulses, but out of critical reflection and informed decisions. What Rita thanks Frank for at the end, and what has made him a "good teacher" during all her trials, is that he has helped her to get into this position: "You have given me a choice." Education, in other words, is liberat ion. It is the emancipation of a person from a state of being a mere extension of a given environment to an active agent who can choose who she or he will be: a potential creator of his or her own world.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Xuela’s Character in Jamaica Kincaids Autobiography of My Mother Essay

  Many critics of The Autobiography of my Mother have remarked on the unrealistic facets of Xuela's extremist character. Her lack of remorse, her emotional detachment, her love of the dirty and "impure," and her consuming need for total control over everyone and everything around her give her an almost mythic quality. A more well-rounded, humanistic character would have doubts and failings that Xuela does not seem to possess. In light of Xuela's deep-seated resentment of authority, stubborn love of the degraded and unacceptable, intense rejection of the à ¬master-slaveà ® relationship, and--most pointedly--her hatred of the British and British culture, many critics have embraced the idea that Xuela is highly symbolic of the conquered, colonized races whose blood makes up her own. There are many complex parallels between Xuela's character and the collective psyche and cultural beliefs of Dominica's "conquered" races. Yet, instead of sinking in despair, Xuela refuses to gracefully accept her lot in life. Early on, she rejects the imposed cultural perception of herself as inferior. Her description of her elementary schoolteacher is prescient: "a woman of the African people, that I could see, and she found in this a source of humiliation and self-loathing, and she wore despair like an article of clothing, like a mantle, or a staff on which she leaned constantly, a birthright which she would pass on to us" (15). Xuela then explains the distinction between Africans and Caribs in her Dominica. "My mother was a Carib woman, and when they (the class) looked at me this is what they saw. The Carib people had been defeated and then exterminated, thrown away like the weeds in a garden; the African people had been defeated but had survived. When... ...den. She understands it, although she does not share it. Xuela also possesses a deeply rooted need for control over her personal realm, possibly brought on by her hatred of the control exerted by the British over Dominica, as well as by her unhappy childhood. Above all, Xuela makes it her project in life to love herself, and, as one reviewer remarks, "she does so with a remarkable dedication" (Mead 52). Her own body becomes a temple to her, a place in which to feel safe and loved. Xuela says that she loves herself out of necessity, for the world she lives in is cruel and has little love to give her. Xuela's character is hard to take, from any standpoint. She is almost inhumanly resilient, and her hatred of all that is Western and white is all-consuming. For these reasons Xuela is sometimes seen as an abstraction, a symbol of an entire people's suffering.   

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Power in the Workplace Essay example -- Management

The ability to possess power over individuals is an intense trait that all individuals behold. The outcomes of situations are based on the use of this power. Power can be viewed as an art and a skill if used properly to promote productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness within an organization. However, contrary to that, it can be used in a deviant manner to prohibit success. The following analysis will analyze the most productive use of power and the impact of power in a specified organization. The organization chosen for this illustration will be the Directorate of Resource Management, which fall under the Department of the Army. Is the ability to possess power an art or a skill? In answering this question, one must be able to accurately define the definition of power is. While there are multiple definitions of power, The American Heritage Dictionary has multiple definitions of power. For the purpose of this examination, power will be defined as â€Å"the ability or official capacity to exercise control; authority† and â€Å"a person, group, or nation having great influence or control over others† (American Heritage Dictionary, n.d.). These are two of the most common interpretations of what power is in the workplace. Power is both, an art and a skill. One must have the intuition to understand the consequences of the use of power. In addition, the actual implementation of power is achieved by experience and knowledge of the subject. Career Coach, C.J. Liu wrote an article titled ‘Power in the Workplace’ that outlines some critical details about power and its existence within an organization. Liu wrote, â€Å"Generally, it’s not power, but what people do with the power they have, that gives power a bad rap† (Liu, 2009). Lui con... ...wer can also heal the sick, create wonderful products and services, and do great good in the world. Like electricity, which can help to cure or kill, power is a mutable force† (Baker, 2007). Works Cited American Heritage Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2010, from Yahoo! Education: http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/power Baker, C. (2007, July 26). The Englightened Manager Blog. Retrieved November 24, 2010, from The Enlightened Manager: http://blog.emergenceconsulting.net/2007/07/power-in-the- wo.html Liu, C. J. (2009, June 4). Power in the Workplace. Retrieved November 24, 2010, from Carrer Planning Blog: http://blogs.payscale.com/career-coach/2009/06/the-positive-and- negative-aspects-of-power-in-the-workplace.html Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational Behavior. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Heart of Darkness Parallels

Heart of Darkness V Apocalypse Now The fictional novel Heart of Darkness by author Joseph Conrad is a book written in first person. The setting of the novel is in the Congo Jungle, with most of the book occurring on the Congo River. The novel describes Marlow’s story and his many strange encounters while traveling up the Congo River. Marlow is on a mission to retrieve the very successful ivory merchant Kurtz, who has been separated from his company. Heart of Darkness deals with themes of colonialism, racism, and savagery. While also exploring the potential darkness that can be seen in the heart of man.Apocalypse Now is a movie directed by Francis Coppola came out in 1979. It is set at the height of the Vietnam War. U. S. Army Captain Willard is sent on a top secret mission into the jungles of Cambodia. His mission is to seek out and destroy Colonel Kurtz, who is believed to have gone completely insane. The novel Heart of Darkness and the movie Apocalypse Now have many parallel s. Both works follow the same story line but presented in completely different contexts. Even though Apocalypse Now is based upon the book, there are still many differences in themes, characters, and events.The largest of these differences is the setting and time of the two works. While watching Apocalypse Now the viewer is able to observe many scenes that are similar with the novel Heart of Darkness. One of the most apparent of these scenes is when the natives attack the men on the boats. After the attack Coppola and Conrad both use fog to show the uncertainty the characters have in regards to completing their tasks. The men in the novel begin to randomly shoot into the jungle once the attack begins. They are unable to see their attackers so they are shooting completely blind.After the attack is over a large cloud of smoke from the men’s guns floating in front of the boat. Marlow then continues to lead the men of the boat blindly up the Congo River. In Apocalypse Now after t he attack by the natives, a fog also surrounds the boat. In the movie the fog is used to represents Willard’s thoughts. Captain Willard is not sure whether what he is doing is worthwhile. He has no idea what he is getting himself into; one of his men has just died without even knowing the purpose of his mission. The fog in both stories is used to represent the leader’s uncertainty of their missions.In both Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness madness is represented during the attack. In the novel the Helmsman goes crazy and in the novel Chief is the character that succumbs to madness. In Heart of Darkness when the natives attack the boat the Helmsman begins to go crazy, jumping up and down going absolutely mad during the attack, acting like a complete animal. He begins shaking his empty rifle and screaming at the men on the shore he is unable to see. In the movie, Chief begins to go mad when he realizes that not even Willard knows the location of where they are headed. When the boat is to be attacked by the natives with harmless arrows the Chief goes absolutely absurd. Screaming at the shores completely exposing himself to his attackers. A huge mistake because as soon as Chief exposes himself a spear that turns out to be deadly hits him. There are many parallels between the novel Heart of Darkness and the movie Apocalypse Now. Throughout the entire movie there are scenes that are nearly identical to the novel. During the attack seen parallels with fog and madness can be seen in both Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark Essay

I have chosen to evaluate a scene from Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indiana and Sallah uncover the Well of Soles where the lost ark is hidden. We open the scene at 57:03 with Indiana leading a team of diggers up a hill to the spot where they will dig for the ark. As the scene opens we hear the diegetic sounds of the diggers and commotion taking place in the background. We also hear non-diegetic music that will be referred to as the â€Å"ark theme† playing as Indiana climbs the hill and has his men start to dig for the ark. The slow and sort of creepy tone that makes up the ark theme reminds us of the continuing quest for the ark and also that the ark may very well be close by. At 58:00, the non-diegetic music briefly cuts for about four seconds but then picks up once again as Indiana turns around to whistle for his men to start digging. As the digging begins, the music picks up and gets louder and louder. The rise in the non-diegetic music builds the suspense and excitement of the scene and foreshadows the big discovery that lies ahead. At 58:26 the scene dissolves into a shot of the dig site from afar. Although the non-diegetic music ended, we pick up with the diegetic music or sound of the tune that the workers hum as they dig. We can also hear the diegetic sounds of the wind howling and we see the sun setting in the background showing us that a cold night is approaching. The coloring from the sun set gives the shot a feel that something great is about to happen yet provides a sense of mystery for those who don’t know what is to come. In this shot we cannot see a detailed view of our characters, rather just the shadows of the digging men and Indy. We are easily able to pick out Indy despite only being able to see character shadows simply because we see him put on his trademark hat which he is famous for wearing. At 58:44 the shot cuts to yet another shot of the digging site at night fall. Immediately we hear booms of thunder and strikes of lightening from an approaching storm which sets the tone of this portion of the scene. The thunder and lightning and building anticipation seem to foreshadow the discovery of the ark yet again, which we initially hink is a good thing, however, the dark and evil sounds of the storm represent bad things will eventually come from the ark and show us that in hindsight, the ark should not be disturbed. Anticipation continues to build as we hear more diegetic sounds of thunder and a spooky wind howling in the background. We see a shot of Indy and see the worried look on his face as the storm continues to approach. At 58:56 Sallah informs Indy that they hit stone and here we see an eyeline match from Indy leading to the next shot of the uncovered stone. As the workers continue to uncover the stone, the diegetic sounds continue. The lack of non-diegetic music emphasizes the roar of the thunder and helps the view focus on the big find that is about to occur. As the stone is lifted and the tomb is uncovered, we hear the diegetic sound of an animal howling in the background at 59:50. This gives the viewer a spooky feel of the tomb. At 59:55 we see and hear a stinger brought on by non-diegetic music. The thunder roars with a lightning strike which lights up the opening of the tomb which reveals a scary-looking creature with jagged teeth. As this is revealed the non-diegetic music spikes and Sallah shouts from being startled which all creates this stinger effect. The stinger also proves to be the cue that re-starts the creepy, non-diegetic music. After questioning the moving floor, at 1:00:15, the non-diegetic music spikes into a high pitch shriek, as Indy drops his torch. The non-diegetic music lowers to a creepy tone once again but then spikes into a high pitch flute sound at 1:00:22 as the camera pans over the creepy view of the snakes. The non-diegetic music continues into a low-pitch brass sound which continues to provide a creepy feel but also foreshadows the evil that lies ahead. At 1:00:42 the camera lifts back to Indy as he rolls over and delivers his famous line; â€Å"Snakes.  Why did it have to be snakes? † Sallah then crawls over to Indy and at 1:00:59, Sallah utters over the non-diegetic music, â€Å"Asps. Very dangerous. You go first! † This line then cues the diegetic sounds of a snake rattling and a loud boom of thunder which cues the end of the scene. Throughout this four minute clip, there are tons of diegetic sounds and a lot of non-diegetic music. The sounds and music play a huge roll in this scene as it builds emotion for the find of the Well of Soles yet foreshadows the danger and adventure that lies ahead in the remainder of the film.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

History Quiz Essay

Religion plays a big role in the life of man. It gives us hope, faith and makes us believe that there is a Supreme Being out there that makes things possible for us. Religion has played a big part in our cultural, social, moral and even political history and is still continuing today. There are several religions being practiced all over the world today. Christianity ranks first having 2. 1 billion believers and followers, Islam is next having around 1. 5 billion Muslims and the third worlds largest is Hinduism. Majority of those who practice Hinduism come from India, as this is because Hinduism originated from this country. Hinduism is more of a way of life, as it has been incorporated in the Indian’s way of living and not just as a religion. The primary text of the Hindus are the collection of Vedas which contain hymns, incantations, and rituals, namely the Rig Veda, the Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and the Atharva Veda (Hinduism). There are several beliefs that encompass all forms of Hinduism. First is their respect for the authority of the Vedas and the Brahmans. The Brahmans are the source of all things and is found in all things hence like a Supreme Being (Hindu beliefs). They also believe in reincarnation and karma. For them, when a person dies, its soul is transferred to another being. This being may or may not be human in form; it may be an animal or an insect, depending on your behavior from your previous life. If you were able to be good and do things the Hindu way, you will have good karma, and your soul maybe transferred to a body of a human with high place in society. If you have bad karma, your soul might become trapped inside an animal or an insect or in the body of a slave. Hindus are also expected to pass through the four stages of their life successfully. First is to pass the brahmacharga, then the grashta, the vanaprastha and finally the sanngasu. In the first stage the individual is supposed to acquire knowledge and develop character and is usually experienced during the school age. The second stage, the grastha, focuses the middle years of your life on finding pleasures such as getting married and having a family and establishing a career. The vanaprastha is the stage to increase time in focusing on spiritual things and finally the sanngasu, the last years of one’s life offered for contemplation (Hindu Rituals and Practices). Buddhism ranks fourth, after Hinduism with 324 million followers. Buddhism is based on the teachings of Siddharta Gautama, the enlightened one. Gautama Buddha, after having several years of privileged living as a prince, he decided to live a solitary life of a hermit in the woods. There he dedicated his life to meditation, which is at the heart of Buddhism (What is Buddhism). Like the Hindus, the Buddhists also believe in reincarnation. The soul will be â€Å"recycled† and after some time, if the soul releases itself from worldly desires it can now achieve Nirvana, a state of freedom from liberation and suffering. Buddhism includes the three trainings or practices, the four noble truths, the five precepts and the eightfold path among its teachings. The three trainings or practices consist of the Sila, the Samadhi and the Prajna. Sila is the morality which is based on two principles, the principle of equality and reciprocity. Samadhi is the mental development which controls and strengthens the mind. And finally the Prajna, which is wisdom. Buddha’s four noble truths are as follows, the Dukkha, Samudaya, Nirodha and the Magga. The Dukkha tells us that there is suffering; the Samudaya says that there is a cause, the Nirodha, that there is an end to the suffering and the Magga, to end the suffering the eightfold path should be followed. Just like the Christian’s Ten Commandments, the Buddhists have 5 precepts, and these are: do not kill, do not steal, do not lie, do not misuse sex and do not consume alcohol or drugs. Finally, the eightfold path consists of the right understanding of the Four Noble Truths, right thinking, right speech, right conduct by following the Five Precepts, right livelihood, right Effort, right Mindfulness and right concentration, which is meditation (Buddhism based on the). Judaism ranks sixth with 14 million followers around the world. Majority of the Jews live in Israel, in the United States and in France. One of the oldest religions in the world, the Jews believe in an all-knowing divinity and that all things within that world were designed to have meaning and purpose as part of a divine order. The Jew’s sacred text is the Torah, and they are preached by a Rabbi. Their symbol is the Star of David and they do not allow the name or the spelling of their deity in full. They that the Ten Commandments are the most important teachings from the Torah: 1. I am the Lord your God 2. You shall not recognize the gods of others in My presence 3. You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain 4. Remember the day of Shabbat to keep it holy 5. Honor your father and your mother 6. You shall not murder 7. You shall not commit adultery 8. You shall not steal 9. Do not give false testimony against your neighbor 10. You shall not covet your fellow’s possessions The Jews do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. For them, the Messiah will be a human being from King David’s family. The most widely-accepted list of Jewish beliefs is Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon’s thirteen principles of faith. He says that God exists, is one and unique, incorporeal and is eternal. Also, that prayer is to be directed to God alone, the words of the prophets are true, and that Moses was the greatest prophet, and his prophecies are true. The Torah was given to Moses and that there will be no other Torah. In addition to those, he says that God knows the thoughts and deeds of men, God will reward the good and punish the wicked, the Messiah will come, and that the dead will be resurrected (Basic beliefs of Judaism). Indeed, we have come to realize life’s emptiness without having faith. We may not entirely believe in a religion, but it still holds true that as human beings, our lives need direction and guidance. References About, Inc., A part of The New York Times Company. (2007). Basic Beliefs of Judaism. Retrieved January 01, 2007, from http://judaism. about. com/od/abcsofjudaism/a/beliefsbasic. htm About Buddhism. (2007). What is Buddhism. Retrieved January 01, 2007, from http://www. aboutbuddhism. org/what-is-buddhism. htm/ Adherents. (1998). Top 10 Organized Religions in the World. Retrieved January 01, 2007, from http://www. adherents. com/misc/rel_by_adh_CSM. html Religion Facts. (2004-2007). Hindu Beliefs. Retrieved January 01, 2007, from http://www.religionfacts. com/hinduism/beliefs. htm Religion Facts. (2004-2007). HinduRituals and Practices. Retrieved January 01, 2007, from http://www. religionfacts. com/hinduism/practices. htm Religious Tolerance. (2005-AUG-26). Hinduism A General Introduction. Retrieved January 01, 2007, from http://www. religioustolerance. org/hinduism2. htm Religious Tolerance. (2005-AUG-26). Buddhism based on the teachings of Siddharta Gautama. Retrieved January 01, 20 07, from http://www. religioustolerance. org/buddhism. htm