Epic of Beowulf Essay - Honor and Dishonor :: Epic Beowulf essays

Beowulf:   Balance of Values  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Symbolizing honor and strength, control of the "wine-hall" passes into the hands of the victor, under the traditional laws of the Danes and Geats. As Beowulf triumphs over the fiend, Grendel, he casts off the shame and dishonor which would have befallen him, and full control of the wine-hall, as well as territorial supremacy, are clearly his. Only later in the poem does Beowulf begin to lose the primacy that had been exclusively his domain. Even in death, however, Beowulf is immortalized by the members of his tribe, and by the writer, as he passed into glorious history His funeral pyre, and monument on the coast, bore witness to his greatness. It seems that the avoidance of shame and dishonor in one's youth establishes a life-long pattern in Geat Society, whether minor failures are registered later in life or not. Once a great warrior, Beowulf remains one. His people thrive on his noble character and triumphs; his opponents tremble at his name, in awe and respect. Further, inter-tribal generosity and openness, for example, during scenes of thankfuness for the victory over Grendel, are also qualities which shine forth throughout this saga, further advancing the premise that this Geat warrior-king and his people embody all of the characteristics thought noble and high-minded in the eyes of his tribesmen. The obvious premium placed on the "honor of victory", and the "shame of defeat" is demonstrated again and again in violent confrontations which punctuate this dramatic tale. The narrator seems to persist in focusing on the same acts of valor, varying the descriptions only slightly, as one passage melts into the next. On many occasions, women surround the victor; wine, treasure or tribute are exchanged and valiant acts are praised in song and dance. Nonetheless, destruction of one's reputation is possible, as well, as the poet points out in the tragic episode dealing with Haetheyn who inadvertently killed his own kinsman.

Women in Leadership

Movie Analysis – The Devil Wears Prada PG-13 Starring: Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, Emily Blunt 20th Century Fox Directed by: David Frankel Produced by: Wendy Finerman By: Marsha Buehler 1. What are the most obvious leaderships portrayed? Miranda Priestly embraces her role as an authoritarian leader as Editor in Chief at Runway Magazine. She delegates with an expectation of perfection. She has a strong and demanding presence that spreads fear amongst the office personnel. Employees are hopping to please Miranda. Derogatory statements are commonality for Miranda.The core staff has a fearful admiration of Miranda, they respect her obvious knowledge of the business of fashion as well as her well laid out network which enable some aspects of her success. The office atmosphere was chilly. It was obvious that Miranda was not interested in personal relationships; she was strictly business, and did not value relationships. Her staff was up to par regardless of their sit uation or they could find themselves unemployed at any given turn. This was a power that Miranda yielded upon her staff and reaped the benefits of everyone trying to be the perfect employee.Miranda expects Andy to do more than her professional job, she has her buying gifts for her children and walking her dog. The way Miranda throws her coat and handbag on Andy’s desk is demeaning to Andy but Andy is determined to do whatever it takes, believing that if she can st ick it out a year that it will help her career. Andy learns to network and mostly is able to live up to Miranda’s unrealistic expectations. Miranda is controlling – she uses insulting criticisms to control her staff into trying to jump over the moon. Miranda’s opinion is the only one that matters.Miranda puts Andy in the position of telling Emily that she will be going to Paris instead of her. Miranda delegates this unpleasant task to Andy and drives a wedge between Emily and Andy just as they a re developing a better rapport. This creates a divide in the office and of the synergy that Andy and Emily had when they worked together. It seems as if Miranda is trying to justify her cold actions by making Andy make the tough decisions to succeed. Andy revives Emily’s faith in their relationship when she gives her all the clothes from Paris when Miranda decides she doesn’t want Emily to go to Paris.Dragon-lady, career obsessed, Ice queen. – a description that Miranda Priestly uses herself to describe the view the world has of her. Towards the end of the movie when Andy over hears Miranda and her husband arguing, Miranda shows her human side and surprisingly shows some emotion when she confides in Andy about her divorce from her latest husband. After a brief show of her humanity, Miranda jumps back into the role of no nonsense business woman and keeps pushing forward with business even in the wake of heartache and personal drama. umps back into the role of no nonsense business woman and keeps pushing forward with business even in the wake of heartache and personal drama. Emily styles her leadership after Miranda’s authoritarian style. Emily is somewhat condescending and insulting, yet gives Andy some helpful tips and saved her from Miranda’s wrath on occasion, not really as much for Andy’s sake, but for her own – to make herself look better for saving the day as she throws Andy under the bus. Emily is relying on Andy to make her look good because she feels her reputation is on the line.She does on occasion help Andy, but does not show compassion to her. Emily is efficient, but nervous. Emily thanks her when Andy can remember the Ambassadors name when she couldn’t. Nigel is respected and has years of service with Miranda. He helps Andy out with a pair of high heels, already anticipating what would help Andy have the outward appearance that he knows Miranda expects. Nigel calls Andy on her wining and give s a different perspective. He eventually softens his walls and shows some compassion to Andy.Nigel has worked with Miranda for years he has gotten to the point to where he can anticipate her next whim. Nigel gets excited about a job opportunity being a partner with a designer, when the rug is pulled out from under him by Miranda Priestly in a public forum. He realizes this, but stays optimistic while Andy calls him on his statement that Miranda will pay him back at a later time. When she asks if he was sure about that and he answered honestly he didn’t know†¦But this optimistic attitude will help him to move on in a positive way and not let the disappointment and obvious betrayal bring him down.Andy shows passion and is full of drive to succeed, but ignores the politics of the fashion industry until Nigel helps her improve her style. Andy realizes that Nigel can help her improve her style more towards the fashion world’s expectations. Andy embraces fashion and rea lizes the changes it can make in the way she interacts with the world at work and in life in general. Andy is determined to get Harry potter manuscript which she gets through networking in the industry. This shows Miranda that Andy is making big progress and she starts to show some appreciation and a little admiration of Andy.Keeps using excuse – I didn’t have a choice, but eventually she realizes she does have a choice and she makes that choice at the end of the movie and walks away from Miranda. Andy gets the ultimate compliment from Miranda when she is asked for a recommendation on Andy and tells the editor that Andy was her biggest disappointment, and that he is crazy if he doesn’t hire her. Christian – Is charming and turns out to be a great connection who helps Andy out and gives supportive advice, but Andy finds out that he is highly involved in the politics of the fashion world and doesn’t want a part of the betrayal. . Is there a leadershi p theme? Fashion industry seems to worship and still dictate the cold, surface of the political atmosphere†¦There is an authoritarian theme throughout the movie. Driven from the top down, by Miranda Priestly. 3. What aspects of the leader made them successful or unsuccessful? No nonsense, authoritative, knowledge of business, respected by peers and industry experts. Miranda sets the stage for cold, get down to business leadership style and does not waiver.It does keep her staff on their toes and they strive to do everything perfectly for fear of the backlash of insults and the ever present ominous fact that she could fire them at any time. Unsuccessful attributes – insulting, emotionless, dismissive behaviors hurt her relationships with her staff. 4. Which leadership theory stands out to you most? Delegation is the theme in this movie. Everyone delegates down once they realize their place in the political arena. 5. What is your overall assessment of the main leaders? Women in Leadership For the longest time, women have been perceived as weak citizens who can only follow what is demanded of them. They have been called different names, oppressed beyond recognition. However, women have reached the bottom, and are now raising themselves to positions that were not initially designed for them. This is to be affirmed by the different institutions that are campaigning for women leadership today. It was discovered out through their organizational websites that women in leadership do not only refer to female leaders but also to how women leaders help other female individuals in becoming leaders as well. Introduction In the past, women were not allowed to even speak out in society. They were expected to stay at home, to bear children, and to also be ready when her husband is struck with the mood. She was expected to marry as soon as she becomes fertile. She cannot speak out beyond a respectable whisper. Her role is to stand by her husband's side through all he decisions he will make. She is a mere follower. Today, tables have somewhat turned. The women, through the years, were able to raise themselves from the judgmental and patriarchal society. They fought back when she thought that the men were already stepping all over their lives with selfish ideologies, and they succeeded. She surpassed the concept that women can only follow because they cannot think for themselves. She made a leader out of herself. With this in mind, this research paper aims to find how women in leadership are evident through the use of exploring different organizations with this specialization. From their respective organizational websites, their ideas and programs will be discussed, as well as their history. This is to find out the establishment of women in leadership of current times. The primary objective of this strategy is to also help alleviate the different traditional assumptions about women. With the help of the information to be discussed below, the objects and ideologies of women will also be shared. This is to give a sort of clarity to the ongoing question about the role of women in society. The institutions included in this paper are the following: (1) Institute of Women's Leadership, (2) Women in Leadership Foundation, (3) The Center of Women's Leadership at Babson College, and (4) Rutgers' Institute for Women's Leadership. To further emphasize their silent campaigns, established leading women will also be discussed in this paper. All of these are for the formation of a contemporary view of women as leaders. Discussion Institute of Women's Leadership According to their website, the Institute was found 1991 by a woman named Rayona Sharpnack. Their organization is all about delivering leadership programs that will guide individuals about the necessary things to know and do for them to be at their most effective. As part of their objective is to also help in creating change that would last for a very long time. Their ideology about extraordinary leaders lies more on who these individuals are, and how well they are able to harness the wide array of resources present in their environment. Those are the points where they concentrate. As part of their training, they will examine the underlying context of their decisions related to business. This aims to help these individuals in discovering and practicing the idea that when they change the context of how they do business, they are making a breakthrough as well as a whole new exciting reality. The reason behind their choice to change and develop women as leaders lies on their belief that these kinds of changes in organizations will promote the increase of their collaboration, performance, as well as innovation in the organization. It will help the total efficiency, not just of the organization, but also in their respective communities. It will also help these individuals in a personal level. One of their programs is called Women Leading Change. They designed the program to be highly interactive with regards to leadership development. They also included the application of projects that are real-time and real-life. This means that the scenarios used in the programs are highly relevant to their respective situations. Furthermore, to maximize the objectives of the program, the members of this organization made use of coaches who are internationally recognized. The logic behind this is that these individuals have had years of experience, and they will be the best teachers in this field. The alumni community will also be involved in this three-day program. Another program by this institution is called Partners Leading Change. This program, on the other hand, is a co-educational approach. Similar to the previous program, this is also highly interactive as it involves co-ed teams. To sustain more than satisfying results, participants are put under one-on-one coaching. They do not also use hypothetical case studies. They train by always involving the realities in the business world. They are also provided with coaches who are internationally recognized in their respective fields. They will guide their participants through individual and team training for leadership. Furthermore, the participants are exposed to a broad set of alumni, as well as successful professional partners. Women in Leadership Foundation Women in Leadership (WIL) is a non-profit organization that stretches on a national scope. According to their website, they have a dedication towards the advancement of women in attaining leadership roles. They aim to accomplish this through delivering inspirational programs all over Canada. This is in light with their current and succeeding leaders. This year, they are entering their 6th year of providing programs across the major cities of the country. The primary objective, as written in their website, is to promote the women in gaining the leadership role. The second most important objective is to make profiles of the successful women, and use these as role models for their respective fields. As part of their campaign, they will also be the ones who will facilitate the development of these women in becoming leaders. Most importantly, they aim to be able to deliver programs that are innovative. They target connection, information and inspiration. Their website also mentioned that they will support the growth of these women through non-traditional activities. It is important that they are strengthened to raise their potentials in their respective careers at their highest levels. The programs by WIL are designed to expose hopeful women to other women who have been through the same endeavors. With the help of these role models, they are also able to expand a network for the next generation of members. Furthermore, with the help of these partners in the same community, as well as in the industry, they are able to develop a group that will progress through collaboration. Important aspects of the organization will also be given just attention in its development since there members who are more inclined to work because of the design of their institution. With the idea of expansion, programs by this organization are aimed to reach out to the employees of their partners as well. The Center of Women's Leadership at Babson College This organization, on the other hand, has a dedication towards the accomplishment of assisting women through the different stages of their careers. According to their website, they are also after the advantages of in raising the talents and power of women in different organization. The center is about the different executive and educational programs that are aimed to support the different professional development of women being leaders and entrepreneurs. Furthermore, through extensive research, and faculty of experts, the organization claim that they are the best institute designed to help women in their respective professional fields, as well as to help achieve their personal goals. The school made it a point that their female students undergo this center. They have been recognized as the top college for girls. In addition, their MBA program â€Å"Opportunities for Women† was also recognized by Princeton Review. Their programs welcome women and men alike. But their spotlight lies on women in business as entrepreneurs and leaders. This is also a means of changing the face of role models to expand different points of view, as well as aspirations and expectations. Furthermore, they make use of educational events as a means of reaching out to its participants. This is through including successful women, who are entrepreneurs in different companies. Some of these companies are Palm and New Century Brewing Company, as well as Reebok, Aetna, Fidelity, Dell Inc. , and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The institute also has a commitment towards the women who felt the impact of the diversity of demographics and students in the campus. One of their programs, Women’s Leadership Awards, is aimed to offer financial support to selected women students for them to experience an easier enrollment. Today, the institute also has a regular program that is open to the entire campus. A number of 150 students attend panel events, and 535 at their recent annual conference for women’s leadership. From the year 2000, the Center brought more than 250 women executives and entrepreneurs, who are the best in their respective fields, into the school campus. According to their website, they took this as a means of raising the aspirations of the women who attends these programs. It is all about providing different role models closer to their reach. It is also important for the attendees to get close with these role models, to know their lives and stories, as a form of inspiration. The Center also provides the Women’s Leadership Program. This program is called to be co-curricular program as it provides the knowledge and skills in the different opportunities in developing, networking and mentoring opportunities for undergraduate and graduate female students. Their website also mentioned that the career of a woman is not always as good as many assume. Although it was found out that women take almost half of the managerial positions in the US, the problems with gender-based challenges are still high, and it hinders them from progressing further. They recognize the need to understand the different organizational and individual elements of these challenges to find solutions. Through a collaborative deliberation, they do not find the problem that difficult. This is for the empowerment of women in the different aspects in the competitive arena. Rutgers: Institute for Women's Leadership This institute under the State University of New Jersey comprises of six units. Together with its members, the center is at the Douglass College campus. They conduct research, as well as develop and sponsor programs, and other initiative for public service. They are engaged in preparing women of difference ages, races and ethnic backgrounds, for them to play constructive and active roles in the public. The institute is dedicated to examine different issues about leadership and women’s advancement in leadership. They also involve the decisions made in different arenas. This kind of interaction among the participants is a form of encouraging explorations, both scholarly and practical, of how institutions that are formed by race, gender, and ethnicity can be introduced to understanding the concept women’s leadership. According to their website, New Jersey is one of the states ever to have elected a governor who is a woman. On the other hand, despite this fact, their overall record of women electing for public office is relatively low. The state is part of the bottom ten among all the states in relation to the women in its legislature. Their program Ready to Run is an opportunity for the female potential candidates to listen to the elected officials, as well as party officials and campaign consultants on how one should be able to position themselves in the appointed offices. This does not necessarily mean the political offices, but also in their respective organizations. The program is a one-day event. It began in 1998, a joint effort with the Center for American Women and Politics. Another program by the institution is called CLASP, which is a hands-on training for female students. It is a five-week internship with the organization called New Brunswick. They attend three days a week. It also includes a weekly seminar, as well as $500 for the food and transportation expenses. Students will be able to complete 3 course credits upon completing the program. CLASP, according to their website, is a service-based learning program. It offers their female students first hand experiences in an organization local to Central New Jersey. The internship includes activities that are focused on empowering the youth, eduction on art, and prevention of domestic violence. In addition, these activities are also for the promotion of public health and literacy. The students are taught how to address the concerns of the community in regards to their social, economic and political difference. With their weekly commitments, students are given the opportunity to confront issues, like social justice, immigration and poverty. This way, they are guided to reach the idea of undergoing social change. The Women in Leadership Across Time Another website used for this research listed some of the landmarks of history. They aimed to declare to the women of today of who their foremothers are. This is a mere hint of the female rulers who made a big difference in the progress of man. They began with saying that the Egyptians Queens are believed to have begun their reign 3000 BCE. The first of these women was named Ku-baba. She ruled over the Mesopotamian City-State during the 2500 BCE. It was not after the First World War that the women became part of the revolutionary governments in Hungary, Russia, Ukraine and Ireland. Nina Bang was the first female minister elected democratically in a parliamentary government. It was a slow development. According to the website, it was not close to the end of the 20th century that these female ministers ended becoming unusual. The first female President and Prime Minister is named Sirivamo Bandaranaike. It was in 1960 at Sri Lanka where the world's first female elected Prime Minister. In 1974, a woman of Argentina named Isabel Peron became the world's first female president. Today, only two countries remain to not have had a female representative in the government. These countries are Monaco and Saudi Arabia. According to their site, Vatican had a female Assistant Vice-Minister. Sweden, on the other hand, became the first country to have had more female than male minister. Last year, the Finish government comprised of women by 60%. Today, in the United Nations, there are 192 female members, with 2 external independent states. In addition are the a couple of self declared independent states, and self ruling countries. Simultaneously, there are 19 female leaders. In countries of monarchies, Queens rule over 3 countries: United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Denmark. The first is represented by Governor Generals who are also female. There are 6 female presidents across the globe as well. These countries are Philippines, Liberia, Ireland, India, Finland, Chile, and Argentina. Subsequently, there are 7 female Prime Ministers in countries: Germany, Moldavia, New Zealand, Mozambique, Ukraine, Netherlands Antilles, and The Aland Islands Conclusion After all the institutions have been laid out, it is evident from their nature and programs that their pursuit is to raise the women higher from where she already is. They are training these women to target entrepreneurship, and well established positions in businesses. They are teaching the women to reach farther from where they are expected to stand. With the women of broad experiences as their role models and guides, they have cleared a path for them to take. Their goal is to go further, to not stop from raising their aspirations. They are given the opportunities to succeed, and the tools to guide them. The objective of this paper is to find what women and leadership today means, and these institutions helped establish a certain definition. It is all about empowering women, opening their eyes to the reality that women can raise themselves from stereotypes and biases. That, in itself, is leadership. There are unsung women who fought through history, and lead women and men alike in different scenarios. They might be overpowered by the achievements of others. But the idea is not to lift their own names. Women leaders are also inclined to raise their fellow women.

Csr Essay

â€Å"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently. † Warren Edward Buffet, Entrepreneur. Social responsibility of business is a very contradicting topic and there clearly can be no perfect answer as to what extent corporations should employ it. Milton Friedman and Ivar Kolstad have contrasting opinions on the issue, and both of them listed weighty arguments for their positions. In this essay I would like to express my view on the problem presented in the articles.The argument can in fact be called â€Å"shareholders vs. stakeholders†. Management is bound to be responsible to shareholders; otherwise there will be some other management who will be responsible to them. In this respect, management does not have a choice. But they do have a choice whether or not to be responsible to other stakeholders as well, that is, employ some general and non-legislative principles of doing business. Sh areholders are central in Milton Friedman’s opinion. He believes that a company exists in order to satisfy the shareholders and give them the most possible out of it.I cannot agree with this view and I think that it is quite narrow, because most companies are so much more than just profit-generators for stockholders. Of course companies need to make profit – otherwise they cannot survive, but owners should indeed feel the difference between fair profits, fair return on their money, and unlimited profits created at someone’s expense. Let’s look at managers’ choice between maximizing profits and caring for stakeholders from the perspective of different schools of normative ethics.Kantian deontology states that there are actions that are always good and actions that are always bad, and humans should act according to their moral duties, not to selfish motives and wishes. In the world of capitalists, this theory is quite hard to apply, since businesses inherently pursue the goal of profit generation, which is selfish by its nature. However, an idea of universal law can be used to evaluate moral actions: if one manager chooses to deceive his customers, let’s assume that all managers choose to deceive their customers. What would the result be?All customers would be deceived and would no longer trust the companies. So when making decisions, Kant suggests thinking in terms of universal laws. The opposing theory – consequentialism, suggests that the moral value of an action only depends on its consequences. However, let’s imagine that an employee of a nuclear power station decides to talk to his friend on the phone instead of controlling the process. If everything goes right and no catastrophe happens, can his action be considered ethically good? In this sense, the theory is not very useful.However, if we are talking about managers’ decisions, they should always think about consequences that their actions ca n cause. Another theory is utilitarianism, which evaluates the moral value of an action in terms of the summed happiness of all members of society that resulted from it. Shareholders make themselves â€Å"happy† by maximizing profits at any expense, but a whole lot of stakeholders are left â€Å"unhappy†. Therefore, owners of the company minimize the good in society by maximizing profits. On the other hand, a company can make a lot of people deliriously happy by giving out its products for free, and soon go bankrupt.So where does the thin line lie between maximizing customers’ value while staying financially sound and giving up profit opportunities for ethical motives, getting no or a very moderate return? It’s a very hard question, but in my opinion, companies should try to avoid doing harm to customers, employees and environment whenever they can. Another school is called classical school, and it states that the moral value of an action depends on its n ature, motives and consequences. In my opinion, this theory is the most sensible one, because it comprises all other theories and does not look at actions from a narrow perspective.As long as customers are concerned, CSR is integral when dealing with them. If customers are dissatisfied with the quality of a product or service they get, or a company somehow deceives them, thus maximizing its profits, it receives a bad reputation and as a result can lose all of its customers and the shareholders would not get any returns. However, all too often companies cut costs at the expense of their customers’ well-being: for example, feed chickens with hormones that can have adverse effect not only on an individual, but also on his genes; or use low-cost resins in the production of furniture that poison humans’ breathing system.Frequently customers do not know about these hazards and assume that the product is of decent quality. I am not saying that companies should openly declare that their products are harmful, but rather that from the ethical point of view it would be right if the customer could have an overall image of the product that he is purchasing. It makes sense to also mention the billboards advertising make-up products where all women seem perfect and consumers subconsciously think that if they buy the product, they would be closer to the perfect image presented to them.However, it appears that most of these photos are heavily photoshoped and there is no way a real woman can look like this. However, these images do affect the overall standards of beauty, and make many women depressed about their appearance and many men to admire not the real natural beauty, but a fake photo of a woman he might never notice in the real life. In this sense, Dove has made quite an ethical move and launched a â€Å"Campaign for Real Beauty† (although it may as well be that this so-called â€Å"responsible† campaign was nothing but a fresh marketing move) .However, it attracted attention to the topic and made more people aware of it. From Friedmanian point of view, can good quality goods be seen as a deviation from maximizing profits? Or should a company’s managers strive to cut costs, but so that it is not so evident to customers, in order to get more money? For example, a manager of a food company knows that he can substitute one ingredient for another, cheaper one, which may cause cancer if often consumed, and the customers most probably won’t realize it, because the appearance and the taste of the product will not change.Should he maximize profits in this case? According to Friedman’s view, if a manager knows about the possibility but decides not to use it, he taxes the shareholders who would not get this additional profit. In the end it all comes down to the agent-principal theory, which states that managers have skills and knowledge that the shareholders do not themselves possess, therefore owners often can not estimate, whether or not the management is doing a good job, so they need to trust the management.It follows that the management indeed has a choice, because shareholders do not really know to what extent management acts in owners’ interests. And again, shareholders most often can go away, sell their shares and have nothing more to do with the company, so they are likely to involve with strategies that damage other stakeholders. If we talk about employees, would it be fair to use child labor or underpaid labor in some third world?Kolstad says that companies have bigger responsibility in poor countries than in rich countries because poor countries’ governments cannot guarantee their citizens’ rights. I agree with him and I believe that there should be some sort of a moral code for companies, which defines that a company cannot exploit these unethical means of getting profits and involve in such â€Å"dirty† operations. Also, if we talk about layoffs, w ould it be fair to dismiss employees who have worked in a company for many years and who actually created its image and reputation?Shareholders are sort of blank in this sense – they are not involved in the development and production and often they do not put anything personal into the company, nor are they loyal – if the company does not promise good returns, they simply invest their money somewhere else. It is rather an ethical question whether these people need to be a priority for the management. Sure, their expectations need to be met, otherwise management will be dismissed, but a company is not its shareholders – in fact, they can be anyone.I believe that the main principle a company can adopt in relation to its employees is guaranteeing that everyone involved in the process gets a fair return. This means that there should be no miniscule salaries, regardless of where a company does business. However, if we talk about countries’ differences, surely a salary of a worker in China would be lower than that of the same worker in Finland. The point is that a company should not aim to just exploit the labor force of the country it chooses for its production, but rather think about how to make life for the workers better as well.If workers in a China are prepared to work for 100$ a month, but in this case it only gives them a chance to get by and not die, it would be very ethical from a company’s point of view to pay them 140$ a month. It would still be many times cheaper than hiring the same worker in Finland, but at least a company would give Chinese workers a chance to live decently. So all in all I believe that a company should not aim at employing people at the lowest possible salary in order to cut costs, but instead respect employees and ensure they get a fair return on their work. Another dimension of corporate responsibility is environment.It is special because the environment cannot cry for help, and if not enough att ention is paid to it by the state or people, and a company does not treat it healthily, it becomes absolutely insecure. European and American companies that have factories in the third-world countries have no pragmatic interest in caring for the environment. Governments of these countries have to make a difficult choice between food and goods for its citizens and pollution caused by First World companies that choose Third World because environmental laws are much less strict there than in developed countries.So how should a company behave in regard to the environment? I believe that it is integral that a company does not just exploit it and leave the state and the population of the country dealing with the negative consequences. For example, managers are frequently tempted to cut costs by not installing waste filters and pouring unfiltered dump into rivers, lakes and soil. They can foresee that the consequences of this negligence can be disastrous, but they just do not care because they can always move their factories to another poor country with loose environmental legislation.This behavior is morally ill from the point of view of classic school of normative ethics. The nature of an act in obviously damaging – they pollute the environment. Their intention is to cut costs by involving in this negligence, and is by no means noble. The circumstances are bad and the managers actually could foresee it, but they are either too happy themselves with the stream of money or shareholders make the decisions for managers and make them behave in an environmentally harmful way.In this case managers become â€Å"Dams† and the organization can be considered ethically ill. However, who could directly punish companies for such actions? Their customers in the First World may have some idea of this irresponsibility, but they like the cheap product and most of them still are not so environmentally conscious. Home government does not really care what the company does in some Third World country. So in the end it all falls down on the Third World country, its government and especially people.It also has to be said that all environmentally irresponsible decisions are relatively short-term from the whole mankind’s point of view, because for now we have only one planet with the fixed amount of non-renewable resources. However, the safety and sustainability of nature is always dependent on numerous individuals who face trade-offs between clean environment and their own advantage, and people are generally prone to choose what is best for them. In conclusion, it has to be said that there are no perfect companies – each business inevitably pursues its own selfish aims.However, in modern globalized world, where corporations have a lot more influence and power than ever before, they also have a lot more responsibilities to the society. Unfortunately, managers all too often forget that they are the ones who can make all the difference to a c ompany that is avoiding its responsibilities. â€Å"It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities† Josiah Charles Stamp, English Economist and President of the Bank of England

Becoming New Yorkers

Many changes happened in the world in the past years. One of the most notable modifications that are observed is the development of international relations that involves different countries around the globe. Almost every state are giving due importance in strengthening their diplomatic ties with other countries.This kind of practice only shows the increasing vitality of the interdependency and collaboration of each nation from another especially during this time of globalization. Another essential phenomenon that is also a clear implication of globalization is the immigration of the citizens of one country into another nation.There has been a dramatic increase in the immigration of people coming from developing countries to go to developed states in order to seek for greener pasture. Being the case, this kind of situation is also changing the very way of life of the countries that they go to. There are specific places in a certain country wherein the immigrants are concentrated. Due to the difference in cultures of the immigrants as well as the native born of the country that they went to, it cannot be prevented that an assimilation of culture will take place.Nevertheless, assimilation is most observable in the second generation of these citizens wherein an immigrant will give birth to her child in the foreign land and raise him or her with the values and principles of two different cultures. As such, the dominating existence of these immigrants will largely contribute in modifying the perspective of people with regards to different important issues in the place they are in. It can also reach a point that these second generation of citizens will create their own culture, which is a mixture of the way of life of their immigrant parents and the foreign country that they lived in.The phenomenon of immigration and the situation of second generation of this type of citizens are discussed in the book entitled â€Å"Becoming New Yorkers. † This book is a collec tion of the studies conducted by numerous researchers with regards to immigration and its effect in the certain places of a country were immigrants composed the majority of the population. Their study is specifically focused in the situation of New York, which is considered as one of places in the United States of America where immigrants are larger than the actual native-born citizens of the country.The methodology that the researchers use in the duration of the studies deal with qualitative case studies about second and â€Å"1. 5† generation immigrants in New York. 1. 5-generation immigrants are those people whose parents were immigrants but they were born or substantially raised in the United States (Kasinitz et. al, 2004). The participants of these studies are all young adults that are defining their path of life in a complex and often very tough city. Most of them considered themselves as very different from their immigrant parents.They work in various kinds of jobs and they have various educational opportunities. They view about race and ethnicity differently from their parents and they also have varying stand about important issues like love and marriage, relations with relatives, and the way to raise children. At the same time, only a minority of these young people considered themselves as â€Å"mainstream† Americans. In their everyday lives they have to establish a balance between the ideas of foreign-ness and native-born entitlement.It is a struggle between the statuses of an insider from an outsider. This eventually creates tension that is often referred to as the reason that makes them very much â€Å"New Yorkers† (Kasinitz et. al, 2004). In this case, it is vital that the concept of assimilation is discuss in order to understand the effects of immigration to the American culture and its citizens may they be native-born or immigrants. Assimilation is defined as the â€Å"process by which the characteristics of member of immig rant groups and host societies come to resemble one another† (Brown and Bean, 2006).It is also known as integration or incorporation. The process of assimilation has both economic and socio-cultural dimensions. It started with the immigrant generation and persists through the second generation and beyond (Brown and Bean, 2006). Social scientific observers that studied the last great wave of immigrants to the United States, which are largely European, assumed that assimilation was desirable and inevitable. Social scientists during the midtwentieth century perceived assimilation as synonymous to upward mobility.However, during the late 1960s, this idea was greatly debated because of the relation of assimilation with America’s loss of confidence in terms of the racial and ethnic problems that it brought about. It is at this moment that assimilation was greatly regarded as historically for â€Å"whites only† (Kasinitz et. al, 2004). Another issue that emerged with re gards to the concept of assimilation is the idea of â€Å"becoming American†. Critics of immigration believed that it is impossible to have immigrants that are 100 percent Americans and even their offspring cannot be considered as true Americans.On the other hand, the supporters of immigration believes that through time these immigrants will be able to acquire the American way of life and eventually forget and lose its ties with his or her native land (Kasinitz et. al, 2004). Similar with the arguments of the researchers of this book, I believed that it is indeed impossible for immigrants to become true or pure Americans. The recent developments in communication technology as well as the cheap cost of foreign travel even make it easier for immigrants not to lose their connection with their native land.In relation to this, I also believed that the process of assimilation indeed has its benefits and consequences. It is capable of creating conflict through the confusion of balan cing various cultures but it also creates spheres of cooperation that allow more people all over the world to relate and interact with each other. The outcome of the second generation’s assimilation is very difficult to foresee especially with the debate on the real meaning of assimilation in this present time.However, I deem that one thing is sure that assimilation will indeed produce cultural loses and cultural gains. References Brown, S. K. , & Bean, F. D. (2006). Assimilation Models, Old and New: Explaining a Long- Term Process. Retrieved December 19, 2008, from http://www. migrationinformation. org/feature/display. cfm? id=442. Kasinitz, P. , Mollenkopf, J. H. , & Waters, M. C. (2004). Becoming New Yorkers: Ethnographies of the New Second Generation. U. S. A. : Russell Sage Foundation.

The Billingual Instructors for Bilingual Educations

The amount of non-English-speaking minorities in the United States is continuously increasing. Be that as it may, there are people in today†s society that feel that English should be the only language spoken. It is for that reason bilingual education may be eliminated from many public schools. Low academic outcomes from students also contribute to possible abolition of bilingual education. If schools don†t obtain better methods to ease the transition from one language to another, bilingual education will be faulty and seen as useless. In turn, many students will be denied the chance for an equal education. American students have learned the language easily because it has been incorporated into everyday events from an extremely early age. An adolescent has had at least 5 years to learn English vocabulary, and continues learning through high school. Many bilingual programs have students on slower learning tracks where they barley learn English and from which they may never emerge. However, society wants bilingual students to learn English and learn it quickly. By eliminating bilingual education, society is telling the student to learn English, but not giving him a place to learn it. The student is not given an adequate chance, which results in bilingual persons having poor reading, writing and speaking skills. Bilingual students can keep up academically with their English-speaking peers if they are taught at least partly in their native languages while learning English. There are many ways that bilingual education can be improved. By hiring bilingual teachers that communicate clearly when giving directions and accurately describing tasks will help ease the transition from a native language to English. If new information was introduced by using strategies such as thoroughly explaining, outlining, and demonstrating, comprehension of instructional tasks may be maintained. Promoting student involvement, communicating expectations of students', and explaining success in completing instructional tasks would give students motivation so they feel at ease. A new language is difficult; approaching bilingual students with methods such as these could improve their learning. An effective way to have positive student outcome is to value and respect students' languages and cultures. This value and respect needs to go further than the food and holiday celebrations that may be the only recognition of cultures in many schools. Teachers should involve themselves by learning about students' experiences in native countries and communities in the United States, while encouraging and supporting the development of the English language. These actions and attitudes show a student she is valued and respected; this, in turn, supports a more comfortable atmosphere for her. Furthermore, it builds self-esteem and improves academic achievement by incorporating the students' cultures into classroom instruction. Building lessons from things in students' experience and backgrounds promote more active engagement and increased learning. The will always be a need for bilingual education. There are many ways in which schools, teachers, parents as well as the student herself can improve. Answers to all of the questions posed by bilingual educators may not be available, but ideas about features of effective bilingual schooling are available. People involved in schooling need to work together to set realistic goals and strategies to promote success of bilingual education.

Apartheid in Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Apartheid in Africa - Essay Example Therefore, apartheid system of governance referred to legal racial segregation which although was used by many colonizers in various colonies in Africa, was majorly dominant in South Africa. This paper examines apartheid system of leadership, its effects and the way in which Africans rose to oppose it with specific attribution to South Africa. Substantial amount of empirical studies point it out that racial discrimination and separations existed before the NP became took over power (Beger pp1; Welsh pp 146 & Hemmel pp 4). The system only utilized racial discrimination as tool to oppress Africans and other non whites during those periods. South Africa was colonized both by the Dutch and the English from seventeenth century (Hummel pp. 4). In fact, the racial separation was introduced by the Europeans who by late 15th century were already combing various parts of the world in search of new sources power and wealth. These quests led to enslavement, racial inequalities and oppression of the natives of the lands they conquered. They also ruled by extensively exploiting the natural resources grabbing lands they felt were good for their settlement and forced the original occupants to dwell in certain area. The racial segregation and white dominance employed by NP party mimicked the aforementioned aspects. Foremost, the Dutch descendants also referred to as the Boers or the Afrikaners established colonies in areas of Transvaal and Orange Free States. Later on, the discovery of diamond on these areas around 1900 century caused English invasion. This pointed out their thirsts for economic resources and the extent at which they are willing to go grab them. Secondly, the government at this time, which was a coalition between the two powerful Europeans, passed the Native Land Act of 1913. The legislation saw many Africans being forced to live in reserves and banned from accessing certain public areas or

Hospitality management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Hospitality management - Essay Example Though I had passion in this field, I had to read and understand many facts about this academic discipline. From void literature to noteworthy complex materials, I embarked on a journey of seeking knowledge. I must admit that although I got varied interpretations, the messages were clear and interesting. Additionally, I must admit that I have been a thinker right through my course as a student of hospitality management. Nonetheless, I must say that through continuous class attendance and personal studies, my skills continue to increase tremendously. As compared to the past, I now know much more and this is something that inspires me most. My critical analysis skills have increased greatly, and undoubtedly, in everything I learn or do, I always ask myself â€Å"why† on very many instances. Although being only a first year student, I have learnt on how to challenge myself by digging deep into manuscripts where I will probably find the necessary details that will not only satisfy me, but also help me in my academic journey. Most importantly, I believe that through education and hard work, one can become successful in life (Annie, Howard & Mildred, 1996, p. 2). To start with, academic skills are a compilation of learning strategies, learning tendencies, and time supervision contrivances, which will enable a student to achieve his or her expectations in school or at college. Many students, me included, understand that learning entails many more things other than accessibility to information. For instance, our tutors always incorporate academic skills in their lessons to help us understand and master the necessary skills and concepts. In fact, these skills help us to tackle exams and tests, and additionally, they are imperative in the days ahead. As a college student, I have attended various workshops to nurture my academic skills. In my first workshop I attended barely