Monday, August 19, 2019

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn Essay -- revenge, chillingwort

Revenger consumes the soul of the extractor, and leaves him a shell of his former self. Revenge often leads him down an irreversible path that ultimately proves to be detrimental to him. Such acts are especially grave according to Puritan belief, which holds that vengeance belonged only to God. As a Puritan, Nathaniel Hawthorn knew about such believes, and as a master of words, a literary genius who had a deep understanding of human emotions and boundaries, he develops a story whose central theme was revenge. Hawthorne uses The Scarlet Letter to reprimand revenge as a detrimental act never allows a person to be satisfied and in the end, destroys him. He uses Chillingworth’s conversations with others to characterize Chillingworth’s radical transformation from a scholarly person to a devil whose sole purpose was to torment Dimmesdale as retribution for committing adultery with Hester. In his exposition, Chillingworth, a learned man justly demanded that his wife’s fellow sinner speak up and identify himself. This was no doubt a perfectly normal response for a man, who after being in the company of Native Americans for over three years, happens to come to the right place at the right moment to see his wife on the scaffold, humiliated by the overbearing sin of adultery. In his conversation with Hester in jail, Chillingworth made it clear that he did not intend to harm neither Hester nor Pearl. He contended that had he been a more open caring husband, and not devoted his youth to books and the pursuit of wisdom, such an incident would had never occurred. In admitting partial responsibility for Hester’s sins, Chillingworth is characterized as a humble and sagacious man, which Hawthorne employs as the peak from which he strips away Chil... ...intellectual force – seemed at once to desert him† (254). As a man whose sole purpose thereof was to extract revenge, when death moved one-step ahead of him, he had no more purpose in life, and thus too died within the year. Through an analysis of his dialogue with other characters, the reader can witness Chillingworth’s transformation from a leaned man to a vengeful demon. Hawthorne reveals the detriment of revenge, which ultimately drove Dimmesdale and Chillingworth himself to their unintended death, and condemns it as an act that only God can execute. Only Hawthorne could have conjured such an elaborate love story whose central theme is the devastating effects of revenge. This novel serves to remind people of the harmful consequences of extracting revenge without constraint, and how once a person embarked on the path of vengeance, his demise is set in stone.

Mother Teresa Essay -- essays research papers

Biography Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born August 26, 1910 in Skopje, in Macedonia. Her childhood was comfortable and prosperous due to her father’s success. Her father encouraged his children to be generous and compassionate to those less fortunate. Her mother was very religious and she took the children to morning mass. Agnes often helped her mother deliver parcels of food and money to the poor and prayed with the whole family every evening. The family’s life changed dramatically after their father’s death, when Agnes was 9. Although now poor themselves, they continued to help those less fortunate. Christianity became increasingly important in Agnes’ life. From the age of 12, she was aware of a desire to devote her life to God. As Agnes thought about what she could do for Christ, she started to feel a call for God. In the two years she decided to become a nun. Agnes spent longer periods of time going on retreats and received guidance from her Father Confessor. At th e age of 17, she made the decision to become a nun, because she had been taught that chastity is a special and pure grace. This was an important moment for Agnes as she chose a life of self-sacrifice. Agnes was just 18 when she decided to join the Sisters of Our Lady of Loreto, who were very active in India. On December 1, 1928 the crossing to India started. In the beginning of 1929 they reached Colombo, then Madres and finally Calcutta. The journey continued to Darjeeling, where she completed her training. Agnes was trained in prayer, scriptures, theology, and the spirituality and history of her Order. She started to learn Hindi and Bengali and to improve her English. She taught at the local school and worked in a small medical station. On May 24, 1931, Agnes took her first vows of poverty, chastity and obedience as a sister of Loreto. She chose her name in religious life as St. Theresa of Lisieux. Soon after she went to Calcutta to begin her teaching career. She went to Loreto and for the next 19 years she lived the life of a Loreto nun and an educator of girls in a form of semi-enclosure. Her main subject was geography until she became head mistress. Whenever she left the compo und to teach at another school, she would see the slums. Calcutta was a deeply troubled city due to famine, floods and cyclones, which destroyed harvests and the number of beggars in search of food greatly increased. S... ...ers to â€Å"Give Christ to the world, do not keep him to yourself and in doing so use your hands.† Mother Teresa on the significance of death said â€Å"For me that is the greatest development of the human life, to die in peace and dignity, because that’s for eternity.† She is a Christian following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. The heart of the Christian message is forgiveness, and in Mother Teresa’s own words â€Å"Without forgiveness there can be no real love.† She fully understood the Gospel of love; she practiced it with her whole heart, and through the daily toil of her hands. Through Mother Teresa’s work, many other charities were started. She had a dream, which became a reality. She provided a refuge of last resort for the dying when the alternative was to die alone on the street. The belief that God mandated Mother Teresa is shared by all of her Sisters. The way her life touched others particularly in the West, will probably be considered a far greater achievement than anything she did to change Calcutta. She devoted herself to helping the dying, the destitute, lepers, AIDS victims, orphans and society’s outcasts around the world because she saw in each person the human face of God.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Dysfunctional Families In Cana Essay -- essays research papers

Dysfunctional family relationships form the basis of many Canadian short stories. Often, tragedy is the end result of severe family breakdown. In other cases, personality defects are directly traceable to poor family dynamics. In the stories â€Å"Hurt†, â€Å"Fall of a City†, and â€Å"The Sound of Hollyhocks† there were very profound family problems. The difficulty in the father/son relationship in â€Å"Hurt† reflects a role reversal. Even though Stevie is only a young boy, he took care of himself and his father. Stevie made his own meals and when his father was inebriated, he â€Å"...went down to the store and got him a couple bottles of vanilla to sober up on.† (pg. 195) In a family situation a young child such as Stevie should not have the responsibility of taking care of his parent. Moreover, even when Stevie’s father was sober, Stevie could do whatever he liked without consequence. Skip described such a freedom when he said that â€Å"Stevie went to school when he wanted to go...† (pg. 193) This lack of rules or an authority figure demonstrates the dysfunctionality of this family. Also, Stevie’s father was a violent alcoholic. Skip observed that somedays Stevie’s father would be â€Å"...pounding on the walls with his fists and swearing and crying all at the same time...† (pg. 195) The parent/child role reversal , the lack of structure, discipline, and authority in the home and the violent episodes demonstrate the degree of dysfunction in this family. â€Å"Fall of a City† depicts the dysfunctional...

Saturday, August 17, 2019

India’s Soft Drinks Industry Essay

1. 1. 1 INDIA’S PHYSICAL RESOURCES India is a country rich of raw materials, resources and land. For this report, we will focus on those physical resources that are essential for the soft drinks industry – water, sugar, aluminium, power sources. With a land space of over 2. 9 million square kilometres (sq km) and a population of 1. 22 billion people, India has only 314,070 sq km of water (CIA World Fact book, 2012). Even though the Indian government has done many things do improved the situation by building water plants and water piping in the urban and rural areas, there are still about 18. 5% of the population (226 million) that lack access to clean, drinkable water (CESS INDIA, 2004) With a sophisticated water purification installed in our soft drinks plantation, A. G. Barr are able to process the unclean water into safe, drinkable water and use it for the basis of the final products. Hence, A. G. Barr will be able to offer an alternative drinking source for the citizens with our soft drinks products. Next, with a total arable territory of about 1. 2 million sq km, agriculture is the biggest industry and plays a major role in the socioeconomic growth of India (Maps of India, 2012). According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2012) and the Maps of India (2012), India is the 2nd biggest world producers of sugarcane (sugar) with about 453 sugar mills located all over India. INCLUDEPICTURE â€Å"http://faostat. fao. org/DesktopModules/Faostat/Images/T20/ChartPic_3nemzw945otecriq01oo. png? 3f2841b2-add0-4841-9dc7-5707a2a011f0† * MERGEFORMATINET Table 1: Top Production – Sugar cane 2010 Source: FAO Thirdly, for aluminium, India is the fifth biggest producer in the world after Australia, Guinea, Brazil and Jamaica (Maps of India, 2012). Finally, to obtain vast economic growth and a flourishing industrial sector, the Indian government has invested and given top precedence to the power sector of the nation and as of the 21st century, India is able to generate about 90% of its own energy through (Maps of India, 2012): Thermal/Coal Power Hydro Power Renewable Resources Power Nuclear Power With most of the raw materials and resources readily available in India, the price for these materials will be relatively standard and low. Hence, this will lower the cost of production. This is a key factor in venturing into the India market as A. G. Barr require a huge amount of clean water and sugar to produce the soft drink products. 1. 2 THREATS 1. 2. 1 INFRASTRUCTURE The infrastructure in India is one of the most problematic and unreliable in the world. As stated previously, even though India is able to generate 90% of its power, due to the poor financial position of many power supply companies, the power supplies are always inconsistent and frequently being cut-off (‘India: Risk overview’, 2011). Hence, companies, offices and industrial plants need to have their own back-up power facilities to ensure no interruption to the production processes (‘India: Risk overview’, 2011). The road and railway system in India is still undependable and many traffic congestions are resulted due to the inadequacy. Pan (Asiamoney, 2010) notes that while the Indian government are investing US$1 trillion in infrastructure from 2012 to 2017, political bureaucracy and lack of good projects are hindering the developments of infrastructure. At the same time, Roy (Euromoney, 2010) reports that while Mr. Rajiv Lall, chief executive of state-run lender Infrastructure Development Finance Company believes India infrastructure has been slowly improving, the dependable relationship between the public sector and the private sectors in infrastructure will lead to corruption and thus may hinder the progression of big infrastructure projects. Therefore, any company that wish to venture into India soft drinks market will need to spend a sizeable amount on power generator and water purification facilities. This huge expenditure will put a dent on the initial capital investment and A. G. Barr need to take this into account and plan on how much of the expenditure to be transferred over to the final consumers through the products. 1. 2. 2 EDUCATION AND LABOUR According to several organizations; CIA (2012), US Department of State (2011) and WEF (2011), India’s literacy rate is only at 61%. The education level in India is low as many of the population live in poverty or the slump and unable to afford going school. Moreover, the Indian government lacks of provision of education is hindering its people to learn and receive knowledge. This result in a low skilled workforce and the unemployment rate for youth age 15 to 24 in India is high at 10. 5% (CIA World Fact Book, 2012). While a soft drink company with high technology facilities and processes requires employees with minimal skills, it is still essential for these workers have a basic understanding and motor skills to operate the high-tech, expensive machineries. Another end of the spectrum is those highly educated Indians where the information technology (IT) sector is booming. These IT personnel and engineers are viable to our company as they able to manage, supervise and suitable of the higher ranking jobs. Hence, to ensure the workers hired have the essential skills, A. G. Barr will need to frequently conduct training programs, skills development workshops and have simple instructions which are easy to follow. 2. DEMAND CONDITIONS With the relaxation of the Indian government policy on FDIs and foreign companies, the soft drinks industry had change tremendously. As the US and EU markets are highly saturated, companies are looking into the Asian markets to expand and gain more revenues. Apart from China, Japan and South Korea, India is the 4th leading Asian soft drinks market and the market is still growing and has yet to reach its saturation point. In 2010, there is a substantial demand for soft drinks as the market has grown by 10. 4% (Datamonitor, 2011). Datamonitor (2011) even predicts that by 2015, the Indian market will grow to a value of $5. 8 million. Table 2 shows the growth of India soft drink market from 2006 to 2010. Table 2: India soft drinks market volume: million liters, 2006–10(e) Datamonitor (2011) also reports that as of 2010, the soft drinks industry has generated total revenues of $3. 8 billion and with 50% of the total revenues, carbonates sale is the most profitable category. Table 3: India soft drinks market segmentation: % share, by value, 2010(e) It is essential to note that currently there is a growing trend of â€Å"vitamin water† or â€Å"nutrient water† in the world as many people are becoming more health conscious. The Times (London) (2012) reports that even India is not spared from the trend as PepsiCo, together with Tata Global Beverages, intend to market the â€Å"nutrient water† to India’s urban, middle-class consumers where a bottle of such product will cost slightly higher than a standard bottled water. Hence, this could greatly affect the retail sales of carbonates. A. G. Barr has already altered its products to regular variants to low calorie and no added sugar variants in accordance to the gradual shift towards healthly living in the UK (A. G. Barr, 2012). For example, its popular porduct, IRN-BRU now comes in a sugar free variation, the ‘IRN-BRU sugar free’. Thus, the â€Å"nutrient water† market is another sector A. G. Barr could develop into not only in UK but also in India. 3. India has huge supporting industries for the soft drinks market and the availablity of the main components for a soft drinks company in India is high. There are 453 sugar mills in India and the top 6 growing states are located in the Northern, Southern and Western regions of India (Maps of India, 2012). Noteably, the Indian government has been extentsively investing in the agriculture sector to ensure that the process of the sector from raw materials to warehousing and merchandising flow smoothly. And as for the aluminium industry, India has a sizeable number of aluminium plants located mainly in Northern and Southern regions. 3. 2 BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS As inputs are readily available, suppliers are unable to provide their services or sell their products at a higher price than their competitors as it is of no loss to the soft drinks company since the company is able to get the same or better services and products from other suppliers. A. G. Barr is able to obtain the primary inputs for its products through several sources in the region or state. Thus, the bargaining power of suppliers such as the packaging producers and raw materials and soft drinks ingredients producers are relatively low (Datamonitor, 2011). 3. 3 BARGAINING POWER OF BUYERS The power of the retailers and distributors in this market is weak as most soft drinks manufactures work closely with the local bottling companies to distribute the ready for sale products to buyers within a certain region or sector (Datamonitor, 2011). Datamonitor (2011) also reports that with 46. 3% of the total market volume, the independent retailers such as the small family mart shops are the main distribution channels for soft drinks but this could change with the introduction of super and hypermarkets. Thus, consumers will have a wider range of soft drinks brands to choose from. In order to gain relatively significant market share, A. G. Barr needs to do plenty of advertising and promotion. One of the strategies A. G. Barr could adopt is to set their soft drinks at a lower price than the main competitors, TCCC and PepsiCo in the rural areas while maintaining the same price in the urban areas where most of the middle-income and high-income classes have high consumer purchasing power. 4. FIRM STRATEGY, STRUCTURE AND RIVALRY 4. 1 CULTURAL IMPACT ON FIRM STRATEGY AND STRUCTURE A. G. Barr core strategic focus is based on the following 7 platforms (A. G.Barr, 2012): Core Brands and Markets Portfolio development Route to market Partnerships Efficient Operations People Development Sustainability To ensure these strategies and structure is maintain in other country, A. G. Barr has to train its overseas employees, make them understand and cultivate the A. G. Barr working culture. However, this will be a tough challenge in India due to the poor education and different socio-culture. Thus, A. G. Barr needs to accommodate its Western working culture with India working culture, however without losing its main mission and strategy. To ensure this is excuted properly, A. G. Barr needs to obtain a specialist in the Indian market and culture. 4. 2 RIVALRY AMONG EXISTING COMPETITORS In India, the soft drink market is dominated by three main players – The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC), PepsiCo and Parle Bisleri Ltd – securing 74. 1% of the total market volume (Datamonitor, 2011). Table 4: India soft drinks market share: % share, by volume, 2010(e) BBC News (2011) reports that TCCC planned to invest $2 billion in India to boost its market share and expected India to be in its top five markets by 2020. Meanwhile, PepsiCo intend to launch a new product, â€Å"nutrient water† with Tata Water targeting at the young urban consumers to gain more market shares (Pagnamenta, 2012). This shows how competitive the rivalry in the India soft drinks industry where the two major market shares are actively investing and developing new products to gain more shares. 4. 3 THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS The big players of the India soft drinks industry are actively improving themselves and distinguishing their products through various methods. Furthermore, TCCC and PepsiCo are renowned world soft drinks brands which have been existing in the India market for many years. Though new companies in the industry may have difficulty competing with the existing players, it may accomplish small success by using different production method or focusing on the lesser ventured catergories of the soft drinks markets such as health drinks and energy drinks (Datamonitor, 2011). This could be a major break through for A. G. Barr as its most popular products; the IRN-BRU; is low in sugar and contains additional benefits of an energy drink. In addition, the Rockstar series which are designed to target those who lead active lifestyles may be able to attract the young, urban consumers. With several advertising accolades, A. G. Barr has the knowledge and is able use the power of media to attract potential consumers and gain more market shares. 4. 4 THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES The main substitutes for soft drinks markets are traditonal tea and coffee, homemade juices and fresh water from the water plants or piping system. As A. G. Barr and other leading soft drinks companies have diverse products to cater to the different needs of the consumers – carbonates, bottled water, juices etc – this will narrow down the threat of substitutes. However, the threat is still relatively moderate as retailers and distributors may give more shelf space for traditional tea and coffee products as they may be stored at room temperatures (Datamonitor, 2011). 5. GOVERNMENT BBC News (2011) reports that India is ranked 95th out of 183 nations in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions (TICP) list. Due to the high corruption scandals among its government officials, low or invisible legislative work, red tape and bureaucracy, India has dropped from 87th in 2010 to 95th (BBC News, 2011). Despite its numerous intervention, corruption in India is an issue which is very difficult to get rid off since most of the political members and officals have their own agendas and are resistant to change (‘India: Risk overview’, 2011). Hence, foreign companies will faced many setbacks when they venture into the India sectors. 6. ROLE OF CHANCE The role of chance plays a small part in factoring the soft drinks industry as most of the technology are at it most advanced state. The only main issue currently is the Iran oil crisis. As India still refuses to cut Iranian oil imports, this may lead to a huge setback if USA decides to attack Iran and ignore India’s relation with Iran (CBS News, 2012, Kennedy, 2012). With a potential strain relationship with USA, this could lead to severe freeze in the trade and foreign direct investments. Furthermore, the other two traid nations, EU and Japan, may follow suit USA’s decision to cut ties with India for refusing to withdraw the purchasing of Iranian oil. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the soft drinks market in India is huge though it is predominately hold by 3 major key players. To venture into this territory, a new company need to set itself apart from the majpr players through unique advertising, differentiated production method and diverse product offerings. New companies may set an initial low price of its products to attract consumers however; this should not be a long term strategy. Companies need to have a huge capital investment to counter the corruption, trade policies and poor infrastructure. Thus, expenditures and initial start-up cost will be high and companies will have to redistribute part of the cost to its final consumers in order to gain profits. PART B: CRITICAL EVALUATION OF PORTER’S NATIONAL DIAMOND MODEL Michael E. Porter is a well renowned economic strategist whom has writen 18 books and over125 articles (HBS, 2008). With a core field in competitive strategy, Porter has written and developed a number of strategic frameworks such as the Porter’s National Diamond model and Porter’s 5 Forces analysis. Since the model was based on eight developed countries and two industrialized countries, an analysis on developing, growing countries such as India is flawed. This is because these developing countries are not on the same economic level as the 10 countries. Thus, though the Porter’s National Diamond (PND) model analysis almost every aspect of India’s profile, it still lacks in-depth analysis and companies should not base their analytical evaluation on the PND model alone. As supported by Van Den Bosch, and Van Proojien (1992), both authors believed that PND model provide limited analysis on the control of national culture on the competitive advantage of nations. Similar to the EU countries, India too has a diverse set of culture which plays significant role in the management of the country’s economy, laws, trade policies and governance. There are limited sources on India and the soft drinks market due to the lack of legistative work from the government officals. Furthermore, some of the reports or statistics may not be entirely accurate due to the high corruption level. For example, reports may state that India is able to generate 90% of its power but the power plants are inconsistent and supplies are frequently distrupted. Also, to what extend is the literacy rate of India is correct? The literacy rates may be higher than stated as with 1. 22 billion people, India officials may have a tough job collecting the accurate datas. Moreover, with high poverty and low income, most of Indian citizens have the ‘thrifty mindset’ whereby they prefer things which are basically free even though it maybe harmful such as drinking untreated water. These are the pros of the PND model for India: Analysis different aspect of the country profile Takes into account the role of Government which is the most essential for India These are the cons of the PND model for India: Limited credible sources for analysis Little depth as India is a huge country with various swinging factors. Limited analysis on the cultural effect on a country’s competitive advantage Ways to improve the PND model for India: Supporting the model with other analysis model such as PEST, SWOT, Porter’s 5 Forces and Fons Trompenaars’ Seven Cultural Dimensions. Intentsive research on the market and the growth of the market. REFERENCES A. G. Barr (2012) About Us. Available at: http://www. agbarr. co. uk/agbarr/newsite/ces_general. nsf/wpg/about_us-our_strategy (Accessed: 22 March 2012). BBC News (2011) Coke plans $2bn India investment in bid to boost growth. Available at: http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/business-15731884 (Accessed: 20 February 2012). BBC News (2011) India Transparency International corruption index blow. Available at: http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/world-asia-india-15979646 (Accessed: 01 March 2012). CBS News (2012) U. K. : Attack on Iran has â€Å"enormous downsides†. Available at: http://www. cbsnews. com/8301-202_162-57380838/u.k. -attack-on-iran-has-enormous-downsides/? tag=mncol;lst;1 (Accessed: 20 February 2012). India. CESS (2004) Right to Drinking Water in India. Available at: http://www. cess. ac. in/cesshome/wp%5CWater. pdf (Accessed: 22 March 2012). CIA (2012) South Asia, India. Available at: https://www. cia. gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in. html (Accessed: 20 February 2012). FAO (2012) Faostat. Available at: http://faostat. fao. org/site/339/default. aspx (Accessed: 01 March 2012). HBS (2008) Harvard Business School Faculty & Research. Available at: http://drfd. hbs. edu/fit/public/facultyInfo. do? facInfo=bio&facEmId=mporter (Accessed: 10 April 2012). ‘India: Risk overview’ (2011) Business Asia, 43, 14, pp. 10-11, Business Source Premier, EBSCO [Online]. Available at http://searchebscohost. com (Accessed: 22 March 2012). Kennedy (2012) US Pleas for Asia to Cut Iranian Oil Imports Fall on Deaf Ears, Oilprice. Available at: http://oilprice. com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/US-Pleas-for-Asia-to-Cut-Iranian-Oil-Imports-Fall-on-Deaf-Ears. html (Accessed: 20 February 2012). Maps of India (2012) India Agriculture.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Describe and Evaluate Milgrams Agency Theory

Milgram’s agency theory basically states that you the state of mind you are in determines if you’re obedient or not. He argued that normally we operate in the autonomous state, where you assert control over yourself and what we do. An example of this is when faced with danger, most people will turn away to try and avoid conflict. Even if you decide not to walk away, this is still the autonomous state because you’re deciding what to do. There is also the agentic state which says you are subconsciously acting as an agent to some authority figure and that you do what they tell you because you feel as if you are an agent of that person.An example of this would be during the trial of Nazi’s Adolf Eichmann said, â€Å"I was just following orders to kill Jews†. This clearly illustrates that he only did what he did, followed orders, because he was told to and he felt like an agent to Adolf Hitler. Milgram also posed the idea of something called moral strain . This is when you obey an order although it goes against your morals, you feel that what you are doing is wrong but you have no choice. An example of this is in the study of obedience carried out by Milgram.The participants objected to shocking learners by saying that they wouldn’t do it and consistently standing up to avoid it, but still carried on anyway. The first strength to Milgram’s study is that his theory has practical application. Practical application means it can be applied to explain real life behaviours. An example of this is during the trial of Nazi’s Adolf Eichmann, he said, â€Å"I was just following orders to kill Jews†. This shows he was in the Agentic State because he saw himself as an agent of Hitler when helping him to complete the Final Solution.Another advantage is that in Milgram’s study of obedience the study had experimental validity. This is when the experiment is carried out so well that the participants believe that it is real. One participant, Fred Pozi, showed physical signs of distress indicating that he thought he was actually harming a man. He stood up multiple times during the experiment, was holding his head in his hands and was nervous laughing throughout the experiment. This indicates moral strain because he did carry out what the researcher asked, but this behaviour clearly shows that he was under stress and unhappy with what he had been asked to do.There is also evidence to support this theory which serves as a strength. In his theory of obedience Milgram found that 65% of participants went to 450 volts and 100% went to 300 volts. From this he concluded that American men would obey an authority figure even if they harmed a stranger. As the participants obeyed the authority figure it shows that they were acting as agents to help the researcher with his study, this illustrates the agentic state. On the other hand there are disadvantages to Milgram’s study as well, for example; Mil gram’s study lacked ecological validity.Ecological validity is when the study takes place in an environment that is familiar to the participants. The experiment took place in a lab and Fred Pozi, a plumber, would be more comfortable in a house or bathroom. As he was not in his natural environment his behaviour might have changed because of it. This will therefore reduce validity because he would not be behaving in a natural way. Another disadvantage to Milgram’s study is that he deceived his participants. He did not tell them what the study was actually researching and there for broke ethics.However he did perform a full debriefing at the end of the study which rectified the problem. There is an alternative theory to the Agency Theory called, The Social Powers theory. The Social Powers theory states that authority figures use reward power to gain obedience. Reward power is when an authority figure uses a reward to get the person to obey. For instance when a parent says if you do your homework you can go to your friends house. The Social Powers theory says it is power and not the mental state of someone that leads to obedience, Milgram’s theory is incomplete.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Arguments Against Mandatory Voting Essay

Popular participation is often cited as one of the fundamental principles of democracy. The right to vote being a freedom that has, and continues to be, sought after by people all over the world. Despite the value of many political systems’ movement toward universal suffrage, the few countries that have confused the right to vote, with a requirement to, have arguably deteriorated the significance of this achievement. Australia is part of a considerable minority that implement obligatory voting laws, and of an even smaller subset that enforce them. Although the proponents of mandatory voting will be considered, the incompatibility of compulsory voting with implied freedoms, with broad theories of democracy and the overall inefficacy of producing a more engaged public, serve as perspectives that substantiate the notion that voting should no longer be compulsory in Australia. The Australian Constitution raises a number of questions about the constitutional validity of mandatory voting. Given this evaluation of an issue so pertinent to political rights, the implications of these challenges coming from a source as authoritative as this cannot be understated. The existence of a legal responsibility to vote can be perceived as incongruous with the implied freedom of political communication that was proved in Australian Capital TV v Commonwealth 1992 and recognised ever since. This inconsistency extends to the right to vote being proved as an implicit right in s7 and s24 of the Constitution, which, as reported by Dr. Anthony Gray, is an entitlement to vote that includes the freedom not to. Whilst advocates for the current system of compulsion may contend that voting is a civic duty, such reasoning can be seen as unconvincing as it fails to acknowledge that abstention is a perfectly valid form of political expression. Through an analysis of mandatory voting from a wider democratic perspective, the idea that compulsion is an infringement of free will becomes increasingly apparent. In addition to the obvious paradox that a democratic country forces its constituents to vote, a truly free nation should allow for the demonstration of dissatisfaction and make provisions for a refusal  to identify political beliefs. Although commentators in favour of compulsion may assert that the ability to provide an informal or ‘donkey’ vote facilitates this, the inefficiencies these contribute to as well as its inherent irrationality, given they are discounted, are persuasive arguments against such an opinion. Moreover, although there is a certain degree of legitimacy in the claim that obligatory voting serves to augment the democratic ideals of equality and participation, compelling a person to vote is ultimately, according to academic Katherine Swenson, antithetical to the concept of individual freedom. A common belief maintained by supporters of compulsory voting is that it creates a more politically active electorate. Whilst in theory this is conceivable, its practical limitations make the alleviation of indifference a distant reality. In support of this, a 2007 experiment conducted by Peter Loewen et al. in a Quebec election found that required voting had â€Å"little or no effect† on the knowledge and engagement of its participants. In the Australian context, despite the assumption that the problem of participation is solved by mandatory laws, in the last election around one-fifth of eligible Australians failed to cast a usable vote. It is argued that candidates and parties rely on these laws to get voters to the ballot. If this is the case, perhaps the solution is to abandon compulsory voting and thus force parties to organically incite a politically active populace through enticing and innovative policies. The dichotomy of democracy is that it demands both individual freedoms and equality. A great difficulty of modern politics has been the ability to strike a balance between these paradigms, and to determine at what point one must be truncated to enhance the other. Through an analysis of compulsory voting through a constitutional, democratic and practical context, it has become clear that such a regime has no place in a society that strives to exist as an epitome of democracy. The time has now come for Australia to abandon its paternalistic voting laws and entrust its political future with the voluntary voice of the Australian public, and not in a piece of legislation that commands it to speak. REFERENCE LIST/ BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. Chong, D, Davidson, S & Fry, T 2005, ‘It’s an Evil Thing to Oblige People to Vote’, Policy (St Leonard’s NSW), vol. 21 no. 4, pp. 10-16. 2.Gray, A 2012, ‘The Constitutionality of Australia’s Compulsory Voting System’, Australian Journal of Politics & History, vol. 58, no. 4, pp. 591-608. 3.Hoffman, R & Lazaridis, D 2013, ‘The Limits of Compulsion: Demographic Influences on Voter Turnout in Australian State Elections’, Australian Journal of Political Science, vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 28-43. 4.Krishna, V & Morgan, J 2012, ‘Voluntary voting: Costs and benefits’, Journal of Economic Theory, vol. 147, no. 6, pp. 2083-2123. 5.Lever, A 2010, ‘Compulsory Voting: A Critical Perspective’, British Journal of Political Science, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 897-915. 6.Loewen, PJ, Milner, H & Hicks, BM 2008, ‘Does Compulsory Voting Lead to More Informed and Engaged Citizens? An Experimental Test’, Canadian Journal of Political Science, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 655-672. 7.Singh, S 2011, ‘How Compelling is Compulsory Voting? A Multilevel Analysis of Turnout’, Political Behaviour, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 95-111. 8.Swenson, KM 2007, ‘Sticks, carrots, donkey votes, and true choice: a rationale for abolishing compulsory voting in Australia’, Minnesota Journal of International Law, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 525-552. Gordon, SB & Gary MS 1997, ‘Cross-National Variation in the Political Sophistication of Individuals: Capability or Choice?’, Journal of Politics, vol. 59, no. ?, pp. 126-147. Hooghe, M & Koen,P 1998, ‘Compulsory Voting in Belgium: an Application of the Lijphart Thesis’, Electoral Studies vol. 17?, no. ?, pp.419-424.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Hospital Automation System Essay

The team has planned to develop a Hospital Automation System for the well knownhospital called Pannipitiya Nursing Home. Currently the client company depends on an error   Ã¢â‚¬â€œ prone software system and a large amount of manual work. Development of a new systemwill help the client company to minimize the work load they handle manually and to eliminatethe faults and errors of the existing software system.This proposed system handles the entire hospital work load under seven major functions namely; OPD, IPD, Medical laboratory, Pharmacy and stores, Doctor services, Alertsystem and report generation and Billing system. The new system will be having key benefitsover existing system such as; high performance due to the immediate updating service provided by the system, reduce errors of putting unnecessary purchase orders, access to fullydetailed description about the patient regarding their medical reports, doctors will be pre -alerted about the appointment details of the day and th us the doctor can manage visiting time,reduce human effort and the cost spends to train new employees etc.