Homophobia

Homophobia among University Students The term homophobia, sometimes referred to as homonegativity and sexual prejudice, refers to an unreasonable fear, avoidance, and discrimination of homosexuals. Society has greatly changed their views on homosexuality over the years, yet homophobia still exists today. Extensive research has been conducted on homosexuality and how it affects our society. A previous study aimed at measuring homophobia examined literature on the topic since 1987.It was found that while society has seen a reduction in homophobia over the past twenty five years, discrimination still remains to be an issue (Ahmad & Bhugra, 2010). Another study was conducted at a university that examined the impact of college sexuality classes on students’ attitudes toward homosexuality. This study used a comparison group and had participants of both groups take two surveys, one at the beginning of the semester and one at the end.This study found that a sexuality curriculum can he lp to reduce homophobia by exposing students to accurate information (Rogers, McRee & Arntz, 2009). However there continues to be issues with measuring such a sensitive theme for reasons such as, measuring an attitude is difficult to do, and acquiring honest responses can also be a challenge. The present study aims at measuring homophobia among university students by asking a wide range of questions around the central theme. Methods ParticipantsParticipants were ( ) male and ( ) female undergraduate psychology students from a California university. Materials A survey was developed around six main themes. Those sixt themes were then divided among six groups, three in each lab, and each group developed five to ten questions that would measure their assigned theme, and research five to ten more questions from research articles. Seventeen questions were developed to measure homophobia. One question asked if marriage between homosexual individuals is acceptable.Another question asked whe ther homosexual couples are as qualified to raise children as heterosexual couples. Another question asked the participant if they would end a friendship upon discovering a friend was gay. Most answers were presented on a likert scale, using anchors 1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neither agree nor disagree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree. 1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neither agree nor disagree; 4=disagree; 5=strongly disagree. However to ensure increased reliability, some questions were deleted and replaced with new ones and the survey was administered a second time.Procedure The survey was posted on psychsurveys. org for three days. Participants were emailed a link to access to and complete the survey. After the survey was complete, a reliability analysis was done, and some of the questions were replaced with new ones. Participants then had another three days to log back into the survey and re-take it. Results Discussion In order to increase this scale’s reliability, a larger survey should be used in the future to assess homophobia, with more in depth questions about feelings and attitudes around homophobia.Directly asking participants whether or not they are homophobic would create a floor effect because it is unlikely that anyone would identify themselves as homophobic. Instead, many carefully thought out questions should be used. Developing questions to assess a feeling like homophobia is a difficult task. Questions need to be worded in such a precise way as to not lead the participant into answering untruthfully. Questions need to be neutral so that the participant does not feel pressured to answer a certain way.In addition, the answer format was not ideal for all questions in the homophobia section of the survey. Answers were mostly reported on a likert scale for statistical purposes, while open-ended responses may have been more insightful. Furthermore, the sample used in the current study was all college students from California. Had this survey been administered to non-students from a more conservative state, or at a religious gathering, the results that were obtained may have been greatly different. Conclusion ReferencesMcCann, P. D. , Minichiello, V. , & Plummer, D. (2009). Is homophobia inevitable? : Evidence that explores the constructed nature of homophobia, and the techniques through which men unlearn it. Journal of Sociology, 45(2), 201-220. Retrieved from http://jos. sagepub. com. libproxy. csun. edu/content/45/2/201. full. pdf html (McCann, Minichiello & Plummer, 2009) Ahmad, S. , & Bhugra, D. (2010). Homophobia: An updated review of the literature. Sexual and relationship therapy, 25(4), 447-455. Retrieved from http://web. bscohost. com. libproxy. csun. edu/ehost/detail? [email  protected]&vid=1&hid=122&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ== (Ahmad & Bhugra, 2010) Rogers, A. , McRee, N. , & Arntz, D. (2009). Using a college human sexuality course to combat homophobia. Sex education, 9(3), 211–225. Retrieved from http://web. ebscohost. com. libproxy. csun. edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? [email  protected]&vid=1&hid=122 (Rogers, McRee & Arntz, 2009)

Carrie Chapter Three

â€Å"‘No, I won't,† she said. â€Å"Momma says good girls don't.† She looked strange for a little girl, half sad and half self-righteous. ‘I could hardly believe it, and the first thing that popped into my mind also popped right out of my mouth. I said: â€Å"Well, I'm a good girl. And doesn't your mother have breasts?† ‘She lowered her head and said something so softly I couldn't hear it. When I asked her to repeat it, she looked at me defiantly and said that her momma had been bad when she made her and that was why she had them. She called them dirtypillows, as if it was all one word. ‘I couldn't believe it. I was just dumbfounded. There was nothing at all I could think to say. We just stared at each other, and what I wanted to do was grab that sad little scrap of a girl and run away with her. ‘And that was when Margaret White came out of her back door and saw us.' ‘For a minute she just goggled as if she couldn't believe it. Then she opened her mouth and whooped. That's the ugliest sound I've ever beard in my life. It was like the noise of a bull alligator would make in a swamp. She just whooped. Rage. Complete, insane rage. Her face went just as red as the side of a fire truck and she curled her hands into fists and whooped at the sky. She was shaking all over. I thought she was having a stroke. Her face was all scrunched up, and it was a gargoyle's face. ‘I thought Carrie was going to faint – or die on the spot. She sucked in all her breath and that little face went a cottage-cheesy colour. ‘Her mother yelled: â€Å"CAAAARRIEEEEEE!† ‘I jumped up and yelled back: â€Å"Don't you yell at her that way! You ought to be ashamed!† Something stupid like that. I don't remember. Carrie started to go back and then she stopped and then she started again, and just before she crossed over from our lawn to theirs she looked back at me and there was a look †¦ oh, dreadful. I can't say it. Wanting and hating and fearing †¦ and misery. As if life itself had fallen on her like stones, all at the age of three. ‘My mother came out on the back stoop and her face just crumpled when she saw the child. And Margaret †¦ oh, she was screaming things about sluts and strumpets and the sins of the fathers being visited even into the seventh generation. My tongue felt like a little dried-up plant. ‘For just a second Carrie stood swaying back and forth between the two yards, and then Margaret White looked upward and I swear sweet Jesus that woman bayed at the sky. And then she started to †¦ to hurt herself, scourge herself. She was clawing at her neck and cheeks, making red marks and scratches. She tore her dress. ‘Carrie screamed out â€Å"Momma!† and ran to her. ‘Mrs White kind of †¦ squatted, like a frog, and her arms swooped wide open. I thought she was going to crush her and I screamed. The woman was grinning. Grinning and drooling right down her chin. Oh, I was sick. Jesus, I was so sick. ‘She gathered her up and they went in. I turned off my radio and I could hear her. Some of the words, but not all. You didn't have to hear all the words to know what was going on. Praying and sobbing and screeching. Crazy sounds. And Margaret telling the little girl to get herself into her closet and pray. The little girl crying and screaming that she was sorry, she forgot. Then nothing. And my mother and I just looked at each other. I never saw Mom look so bad, not even when Dad died. She said: â€Å"The child-!' and that was all. We went inside.' She gets up and goes to the window, a pretty woman in a yellow no-back sundress. ‘It's almost like living it all over again, you know,' she says, not turning around ‘I'm all riled up inside again.' She laughs a little and cradles her elbows in her palms. ‘Oh, she was so pretty. You'd never know from those pictures.' Cars go by outside, back and forth, and I sit and wait for her to go on. She reminds me of a pole-vaulter eyeing the bar and wondering if it's set too high. ‘My mother brewed us scotch tea. strong, with milk, the way she used to when I was tomboying around and someone would push me in the nettle patch or I'd fall off my bicycle. It was awful but we drank it anyway, sitting across from each other in the kitchen nook. She was in some old housedress with the hem falling down in back, and I was in my Whore of Babylon, two-piece swimsuit. I wanted to cry but it was too real to cry about, not like the movies. Once when I was in New York I saw an old drunk leading a little girl in a blue dress by the hand. The girl had cried herself into a bloody nose. The drunk had goitre and his neck looked like an inner tube. There was a red bump in the middle of his forehead and a long white string on the blue serge jacket he was wearing. Everyone kept going and coming because, if you did, then pretty soon you wouldn't see them any more. That was real, too. ‘I wanted to tell my mother that, and I was just opening my mouth to say it when the other thing happened †¦ the thing you want to hear about, I guess. There was a big thump outside that made the glasses rattle in the china cabinet. It was a feeling as well as a sound, thick and solid, as if someone had just pushed an iron safe off the roof.' She lights a new cigarette and begins to puff rapidly. ‘I went to the window and looked out, but I couldn't see anything. Then, when I was getting ready to turn around, something else fell. The sun glittered on it. I thought it was a big glass globe for a second. Then it hit the edge of the Whites' roof and shattered, and it wasn't glass at all. It was a big chunk of ice. I was going to turn around and tell Mom, and that's when they started to fall all at once, in a shower. ‘They were falling on the Whites' roof, on the back and front lawn, on the outside door to their cellar. That was a sheet-tin bulkhead, and when the first one hit it made a huge bong noise, like a church bell. My mother and I both screamed. We were clutching each other like a couple of girls in a thunderstorm. ‘Then it stopped. There was no sound at all from their house. You could see the water from the melting ice trickling down their slate shingles in the sunshine. A great big hunk of ice was stuck in the angle of the roof and their little chimney. The light on it was so bright that my eyes hurt to look at it. ‘My mother started to ask me if it was over, and then Margaret screamed. The sound came to us very clearly. In a way it was worse than before, because there was terror in this one. Then there were clanging, banging sounds, as if she were throwing every pot and pan in the house at the girl. The back door slammed open and slammed closed. No one came out. More screams. Mom said for me to call the police but I couldn't move. I was stuck to the spot. Mr Kirk and his wife Virginia came out on their lawn to look. The Smiths, too. Pretty soon everyone on the street that was home had come out, even old Mrs Warwick from up the block, and she was deaf in one ear. ‘Things started to crash and tinkle and break. Bottles, glasses, I don't know what all. And then the side window broke open and the kitchen table fell halfway through. With God as my witness. It was a big mahogany thing and it took the screen with it and it must have weighed three hundred pounds. How could a woman – even a big woman – throw that?' I ask her if she is implying something. ‘I'm only telling you,' she insists, suddenly distraught. ‘I'm not asking you to believe-‘ She seems to catch her breath and then goes on flatly: ‘There was nothing for maybe five minutes. Water was dripping out of the gutters over there. And there was ice all over the Whites' lawn. It was melting fast.' She gives a short, chopping laugh and butts her cigarette. ‘Why not? It was August.' She wanders aimlessly back towards the sofa, then veers away. ‘Then the stones. Right out of the blue sky. Whistling and screaming like bombs. My mother cried out, ‘What in the name of !' and put her hands over her head. But I couldn't move. I watched it all and I couldn't move. It didn't matter anyway. They only fell on the Whites' property. ‘One of them hit a downspout and knocked it on to the lawn. Others punched holes right through the roof and into the attic. The roof made a big cracking sound each time one hit, and puffs of dust would squirt up. The ones that hit the ground made everything vibrate. You could feel them hitting in your feet. ‘Our china was tinkling and the fancy Welsh dresser was shaking and Mom's teacup fell on the floor and broke. ‘They made big pits in the Whites' back lawn when they struck. Craters. Mrs White hired a junkman from across town to cart them away, and Jerry Smith from up the street paid him a buck to let him chip a piece of one. He took it to B.U. and they looked at it and said it was ordinary granite. ‘One of the last ones hit a little table they had in their back yard and smashed it to pieces.' ‘But nothing, nothing that wasn't on their property was hit.' She stops and turns from the window to look at me, and her face is haggard from remembering all that. One hand plays forgetfully with her casually stylish shag haircut. ‘Not much of it got into the local paper. By the time Billy Harris came around – he reported the Chamberlain news – she had already gotten the roof fixed, and when people told him the stones had gone right through it, I think he thought we were pulling his leg. ‘Nobody wants to believe it, not even now. You and all the people who'll read what you write will wish they could laugh it of and call me just another nut who's been out here in the sun too long. But it happened. There were lots of people on the block who saw it happen, and it was just as real as that drunk leading the little girl with the bloody nose. And now there's this other thing. No one can laugh that of, either. Too many people are dead. ‘And it's not just on the Whites' property any more.' She smiles, but there's not a drop of humour in it. She says: ‘Ralph White was insured, and Margaret got a lot of money when he died †¦ double indemnity. He left the house insured, too, but she never got a penny of that. The damage was caused by an act of God. Poetic justice, huh?' She laughs a little, but there's no humour in that, either †¦ Found written repeatedly on one page of a Ewen Consolidated High School notebook owned by Carrie White: Everybody's guessed/that baby can't be blessed/'til she finally sees that she's like all the rest †¦ Carrie went into the house and closed the door behind her. Bright daylight disappeared and was replaced by brown shadows, coolness, and the oppressive smell of talcum powder. The only sound was the ticking of the Black Forest cuckoo clock in the living room. Momma had gotten the cuckoo clock with Green Stamps. Once, in the sixth grade, Carrie had set out to ask Momma if Green Stamps weren't sinful, but her nerve had failed her. She walked up the hall and put her coat in the closet. A luminous picture above the coathooks limned a ghostly Jesus hovering grimly over a family seated at the kitchen table. Beneath was the caption (also luminous): The Unseen Guest. She went into the living room and stood in the middle of the faded, starting-to-be-threadbare rug. She closed her eyes and watched the little dots flash by in the darkness. Her headache thumped queasily behind her temples. Alone. Momma worked on the speed ironer and folder down at the Blue Ribbon Laundry in Chamberlain Centre. She had worked there since Carrie was five, when the compensation and insurance that had resulted from her father's accident had begun to run out. Her hours were from seven-thirty in the morning until four in the afternoon. The laundry was Godless. Momma had told her so many times. The foreman, Mr Elton Mott, was especially Godless. Momma said that Satan had reserved a special blue corner of Hell for Elt, as he was called at the Blue Ribbon. Alone. She opened her eyes. The living room contained two chairs with straight backs. There was a sewing table with a light where Carrie sometimes made dresses in the evening while Momma tatted doilies and talked about The Coming. The Black Forest cuckoo clock was on the far wall. There were many religious pictures, but the one Carrie liked best was on the wall above her chair. It was Jesus leading lambs on a hill that was as green and smooth as the Riverside golf course. The others were not as tranquil: Jesus turning the money-changers from the temple, Moses throwing the Tablets down upon the worshippers of the golden calf, Thomas the Doubter putting his hand on Christ's wounded side (oh, the horrified fascination of that one and the nightmares it had given her as a girl!), Noah's ark floating above the agonized, drowning sinners, Lot and his family fleeing the great burning of Sodom and Gomorrah. On a small deal table there were a lamp and a stack of tracts. The top pamphlet showed a sinner (his spiritual status was obvious from the agonized expression on his face) trying to crawl beneath a large boulder. The title blared: Neither shall the rock hide him ON THAT DAY! But the room was actually dominated by a huge plaster crucifix on the far wall, fully four feet high. Momma had mail-ordered it special from St Louis. The Jesus impaled upon it was frozen in a grotesque, muscle-straining rictus of pain, mouth drawn down in a groaning curve. His crown of thorns bled scarlet streams down temples and forehead. The eyes were turned up in a medieval expression of slanted agony. Both hands were also drenched with blood and the feet were nailed to a small plaster platform. This corpus had also given Carrie endless nightmares in which the mutilated Christ chased her through dream corridors, holding a mallet and nails, begging her to take up her cross and follow Him. Just lately these dreams had evolved into something less understandable but more sinister. The object did not seem to be murder but something even more awful. Alone. The pain in her legs and belly and privates had drained away a little. She no longer thought she was bleeding to death. The word was menstruation, and all at once it seemed logical and inevitable. It was her Time of the Month. She giggled a strange, affrighted giggle in the solemn stillness of the flying room. It sounded like a quiz show. You too can win an all-expenses-paid trip to Bermuda on Time of the Month. Like the memory of the stones, the knowledge of menstruation seemed always to have been there, blocked but waiting. She turned and walked heavily upstairs. The bathroom had a wooden floor that had been scrubbed nearly white (Cleanliness is next to Godliness) and a tub on claw feet. Rust stains dripped down the porcelain below the chrome spout, and there was no shower attachment. Momma said showers were sinful. Carrie went in, opened the towel cabinet, and began to hunt purposefully but carefully, not leaving anything out of place. Momma's eyes were sharp. The blue box was in the very back, behind the old towels they didn't use any more. There was a fuzzily silhouetted woman in a long, filmy gown on the side. She took one of the napkins out and looked at it curiously. She had blotted the lipstick she stuck into her purse quite openly with these – once on a street corner. Now she remembered (or imagined she did) quizzical, shocked looks. Her face flamed. They had told her. The flush faded to a milky anger. She went into her tiny bedroom. There were many more religious pictures here, but there were more lambs and fewer scenes of righteous wrath. A Ewen pennant was tacked over the dresser. On the dresser itself was a Bible and a plastic Jesus that glowed in the dark. She undressed – first her blouse, then her hateful kneelength skirt, her slip, her girdle, her pettipants, her garter belt, her stockings, She looked at the pile of heavy clothes, their buttons and rubber, with an expression of fierce wretchedness. In the school library there was a stack of back issues of Seventeen and often she leafed through them, pasting an expression of idiotic casualness on her face. The models looked so easy and smooth in their short, kicky skirts, pantyhose, and frilly underwear with patterns on them. Of course easy was one of Momma's pet words (she knew what Momma would say to a question) to describe them. And it would make her dreadfully self-conscious, she knew that. Naked, evil, blackened with the sin of exhibitionism, the breeze blowing lewdly up the backs of her legs, inciting lust. And she knew that they would know how she felt. They always did. They would embarrass her somehow, push her savagely back into clowndom. It was their way. She could, she knew she could be (what) in another place. She was thick through the waist only because sometimes she felt so miserable, empty, bored, that the only way to fill that gaping, whistling hole was to eat and eat and eat-but she was not that thick through the middle. Her body chemistry would not allow her to go beyond a certain point. And she thought her legs were actually pretty, almost as pretty as Sue Snell's or Vicky Hanscom's. She could be (what o what o what) could stop the chocolates and her pimples would go down. They always did. She could fix her hair. Buy pantyhose and blue and green tights. Make little skirts and dresses from Butterick and Simplicity patterns. The price of a bus ticket, a train ticket. She could be, could be, could be Alive. She unsnapped her heavy cotton bra and let it fall. Her breasts were milk-white, upright and smooth. The nipples were a light coffee colour. She ran her hands over them and a little shiver went through her. Evil, bad, oh it was. Momma had told her there was Something. The Something was dangerous, ancient, unutterably evil. It could make you Feeble. Watch, Momma said. It comes at night. It will make you think of the evil that goes on in parking lots and roadhouses. But, though this was only nine-twenty in the morning, Carrie thought that the Something had come to her. She ran her hands over her breasts (dirtypillows) again, and the skin was cool but the nipples were hot and hard, and when she tweaked one it made her feel weak and dissolving. Yes, this was the Something. Her underpants were spotted with blood. Suddenly she felt that she must burst into tears, scream, or rip the Something out of her body whole and, beating, crush it, kill it. The napkin Miss Desjardin had fixed was already wilting and she changed it carefully, knowing how bad she was, how bad they were, how she hated them and herself. Only Momma was good. Momma had battled the Black Man and had vanquished him. Carrie had seen it happen in a dream. Momma had driven him out of the front door with a broom, and the Black Man had fled up Carlin Street into the night, his cloven feet striking red sparks from the cement. Her momma had torn the Something out of herself and was pure. Carrie hated her. She caught a glimpse of her own face in the tiny mirror she had hung on the back of the door, a mirror with a cheap green plastic rim, good only for combing hair by. She hated her face, her dull, stupid, bovine face, the vapid eyes, the red, shiny pimples, the nests of black heads. She hated her face most of all. The reflection was suddenly split by a jagged, silvery crack. The mirror fell on the floor and shattered at her feet, leaving only the plastic ring to stare at her like a blinded eye. From Ogilvie's Dictionary of Physic Phenomena: Telekinesis is the ability to move objects or to cause changes in objects by force of the mind. The phenomenon has most reliably been reported in times of crisis or in stress situations, when automobiles have been levitated from pinned bodies or debris from collapsed buildings, etc. The phenomenon is often confused with the work of poltergeists, which are playful spirits. It should be noted that poltergeists are astral beings of questionable reality, while telekinesis is thought to be an empiric function of the mind, possibly electrochemical in nature †¦ When they had finished making love, as she slowly put her clothes in order in the back seat of Tommy Ross's 1963 Ford, Sue Snell found her thoughts turning back to Carrie White. It was Friday night and Tommy (who was still looking pensively out the back window with his pants still down around his ankles; the effect was comic but oddly endearing) had taken her bowling. That, of course, was a mutually accepted excuse. Fornication had been on their minds from the word go. She had been going out more or less steadily with Tommy ever since October (it was now May) and they had been lovers for only two weeks. Seven times, she amended. Tonight had been the seventh. There had been no fireworks yet, no bands playing ‘Stars and Stripes Forever,' but it had gotten a little better. The first time had hurt like hell. Her girl friends, Helen Shyres and Jeanne Gault, had both done It, and they both assured her that it only hurt for a minute – like getting a shot of penicillin – and then it was roses. But for Sue, the first time had been like being reamed out with a hoe handle. Tommy had confessed to her since, with a grin, that he had gotten the rubber on wrong, too. Tonight was only the second time she had begun to feel something like pleasure, and then it was over. Tommy had held out for as long as he could, but then it was just†¦ over. It seemed like an awful lot of rubbing for a little warmth. In the aftermath she felt low and melancholy, and her thoughts turned to Carrie in this light. A wave of remorse caught her with all emotional guards down, and when Tommy turned back from the view of Brickyard Rill, she was crying. ‘Hey,' he said, alarmed. ‘Oh, hey.' He held her clumsily. ‘It's all right,' she said still weeping. ‘It's not you. I did a not-so-good thing today. I was just thinking of it.' ‘What?' He patted the back of her neck gently. So she found herself launching into the story of that morning's incident, hardly believing it was herself she was listening to. Facing the thing frankly, she realized the main reason she had allowed Tommy to have her was because she was in (love? infatuation? didn't matter results were the same) with him, and now to put herself in this position-cohort in a nasty shower-room joke-was hardly the approved method to hook a fellow. And Tommy was, of course, Popular. As someone who had been Popular herself all her life, it had almost seemed written that she would meet and fall in love with someone as Popular as she. They were almost certain to be voted King and Queen of the highschool Spring Ball, and the senior class had already voted them class couple for the yearbook. They had become a fixed star in the shifting firmament of the high school's relationships, the acknowledged Romeo and Juliet. And she knew with sudden hatefulness that there was one couple like them in every white suburban high school in America. And having something she had always longed for – a sense of place, of security, of status – she found that it carried uneasiness with it like a darker sister. It was not the way she had conceived it. There were dark things lumbering around their warm circle of light. The idea that she had let him fuck her (do you have to say it that way yes this time I do) simply because he was Popular, for instance. The fact that they fit together walking, or that she could look at their reflection in a store window and think. There goes a handsome couple. She was quite sure

Film Extreme Measures Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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The Heart Symbol Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Heart Symbol - Essay Example As a religious symbol, it entails a powerful tug to express and convey a message to the observer the greatness of God’s love for his children. In the Christian religion, the symbol of the Sacred Heart stands for the three trilogies; faith, hope and charity. It conveys four great messages; God’s movement towards humankind through Jesus’ pure heart, the movement of the human hearts toward God, the joining together of human heart with God, and the joining together of human hearts in sacred friendship and brotherhood. Ancient Egyptians called the heart symbol Ieb (â€Å"Heart†), believing it was the center of all consciousness, the center of life itself. The heart religion is also used as an icon in other religions like Buddhism, Islam, Taoism and etc. Generally, the heart was depicted and understood as the center of a human’s being and consciousness. In more realistic depictions of the human heart though, morbid messages of death and violence are conveyed, which is in contrast to the usual messages associated with the symbolic heart. Unusual presentations of the heart symbol also exist. For example, people from Sweden associate the heart symbol to restrooms or toilets and defecation. The heart symbol has evolved from being religious icons. The heart symbol has also evolved in its use of slang language, the slang expression â€Å"I â™ ¥ U† (I love you or I heart you) is gaining popularity today in expressing love or affection with occasionally an implication that the feeling is shallow or immature. The slogan "I NY" (I love New York), is a well known pop-style icon that directly promotes the urban pride of New York. No matter how the heart symbol is depicted or illustrated, its impact and power on religion and contemporary views is undeniable. A brief look at a heart symbol brings an unmistakable instant message of affection, totaling to love. For that, it is continually used over time, slowly evolving and taking different forms, bringing with them new ideas. List of References "Symbols 20:18". Online Encyclopedia of Western Signs and Ideograms. 7 May 2006.

Managers Duties in Terms of the Four Functions of Management Essay

Managers Duties in Terms of the Four Functions of Management - Essay Example When we say the word planning, we are referring to defining objectives and goals for the organization and then formulating a path of action for their achievement. As far as I have seen, this HR manager is pretty much involved in employees’ planning such as how many employees need to be hired in the coming quarter and how and what kind of training should be given to the existing employees so that they are better able to contribute towards that attainment of organizational goals. Â  The organizing function of management refers to the arrangement of sources and people for the attainment of goals and objectives (Heather Rothbauer-Wanish, 2009). The HR manager is usually seen involved in the division of work so that the goals can be achieved in an organized and clear manner. For instance, if a new project is announced, after designing a recruitment plan, he would assign for himself, HR officers and admin person different tasks such as giving advertisement in newspaper, writing job descriptions, defining a career development plan, identifying training needs, sorting resumes, making interview calls such that the process be carried out systematically. Â  Leading is all about having such an influence on the employees which acts as a motivator for them. This HR manager is keen in communicating with his subordinates on a day to day basis. He discusses problems and their solutions, counsels, motivates and guides them as well as educates them on appropriate behavior. Â  Controlling as a management function means ensuring that all efforts towards goal achievement are being properly carried out. Our HR manager keeps a check on employees’ performance and behavior and corrects them where necessary. Â  The HR manager seems to be carrying out the four management functions effectively.

Health Care Reform Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Health Care Reform - Essay Example With Federal Government playing a pivotal role and funding at the national level, a community network of public/private health care should be developed by identifying people and localities where high quality care is lacking. Both public and private agencies should be engaged to arrive at expert consensus on end-of-life care models sensitive to the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of the patients and their families. Health care professionals should be trained to be proactive and to give personalized care with proper communication amongst care providers, patients and their families. Funds should be made available at the community level to all possible support services that are non-medical with the objective of providing dying patients and their families with the best comfort possible during their last days. (Citizens' Health Care Working Group 2007) These recommendations will soon be in the hands of the new American President for implementation. The two presidential candidates Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party and Jon McCain for Republican Party have already spelt out their about their stand on health care as part of their election campaigns. Hillary Clinton is on record having spelt out her remarks on health care. Universal health care is her key word as other wise she fears millions and millions of people will be left out.

Create a 2015 campaign for Turkish Airlines in Chinese Market Coursework

Create a 2015 campaign for Turkish Airlines in Chinese Market - Coursework Example establish an effective marketing mix and the promotional mix the company needs to establish an effective and efficient market communication strategy (Kola & Akinyele, 2010). Communication is very important for building a sound relationship between the organization and its stakeholders. Marketing communication is considered as a strategic tools and tactics, to get the desired marketing feedback. These strategies support the company to identify the target markets for further expansion of the business to gain market share and high profitability. There are several marketers derive benefits by applying the marketing communication mix. Moreover, marketers will be benefited by the application and adoption of marketing communication, which will be helpful to understand about their competitors (Fill & Jamieson, 2006). In this paper, the objective is to frame a campaign regarding the establishment of Turkish airlines in the Chinese market with the help of marketing communication plans. The Turkish Airliners is one of the renowned airlines of Europe. Most of the times, the Turkish Airlines is known as a Flag Carrier Airlines. The head quarter of the Turkish Airlines is in Istanbul. It was founded in the year 1933 in Turkey. The main aim of the company is to provide cargo services to its customers in the domestic and international base. It provides services in about 41 and 206 domestic and international airports respectively. It is considered world’s fourth largest carrier airlines in terms of serving about 247 destinations to its customers (Turkish Airlines, 2012). As per the ranking is concerned in the year 2014 it is 5th in the airline industry (Skytrax, 2014). Now, the Turkish Airlines is trying to establish its business in the market of China. However, the Turkish airlines are one of the famous airlines of Europe but it did not get the much success in capturing the Chinese market (1Turkish Airlines, 2012). The objective of the study is to project that an effective

Analysis of the movie Seven Years in Tibet Essay

Analysis of the movie Seven Years in Tibet - Essay Example We see a cold, harsh man at the beginning of the film –a man who doesn’t want the son he and his wife are expecting and goes off to conquer a mountain in the Himalayas– turned into a human being, someone we can respect and trust, even as the Dalai Lama shows him respect and trust, considering him to be not only worthy of looking up to in some ways, but also to be a friend. The transformation comes about through a series events, the most important of which is the contact with the people and culture of Lhasa, where Heinrich and his friend Peter -after having endured hardships like being in a P.O.W. camp, traveling on foot for hundreds of miles in severe weather conditions, injuries and frostbite- are accepted into the home of a high government official. The draw of the Tibetan culture and the Holy City is so strong that Heinrich and Peter decide to stay there, and Peter even ends up marrying the town seamstress or â€Å"tailor,† as she so unequivocally points out, after both men compete for her affections and Peter ends up winning. They come to refer to the city as Paradise, and indeed after the invasion of the Chinese under the command of Mao Tse Tung, one has a definite feeling of Paradise lost. The remoteness and mystery of the city are a key part of the movie, and appear to be part of the director’s intention of showing Tibet as an almost otherworldly place with a moral fiber that most people can only hope to aspire to, a place of true holiness, and not just a rigidity based on routines and rituals with no real substance to it.

Pharmacy Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Pharmacy - Personal Statement Example Initially, I was intrigued and perplexed of how drugs could make a person lose his or her life; after all, I was regularly given medicine to remedy occasional flu and fever. Nevertheless, with time, I have come to understand why I was taking a spoonful of medicine rather than a whole bottle and why taking an overdose is lethal. As I proceeded to secondary school, the science subjects helped me to gain knowledge on the uses and benefits of medicine, and why medicines should be utilized safely and efficiently. Fortunately, such cases of a drug overdose are rare and accidental as most people use medication as a straightforward remedy to their illnesses. Other patients with complicated illnesses are required to take a â€Å"cocktail of medications† and will have to battle the side effects, expenses, and risks of non-adherence. This is what brings the art and science of pharmacy into life as one has to motivate the patients to continue with medication and collaborate with health care providers so as find the suitable course of treatment in managing the disease devoid of compromising their quality of life (Galiano 2001, p.38). Between 2008 and 2012, I served in the librarian board, while, in 2012, I was the head of the digital department. I also actively engaged in other favourable pastimes including sport, whereby I have been a state player for golf between 2010 and 2011 and bowling between 2009 and 2010, besides engaging in extracurricular activities such as undertaking a course in advanced baking (2012) and bread and flour confectionery (2011). In early 2014, I also volunteered programme in Tzu Chi as an assistant to a pharmacist in a community dispensary. The placement aided me to attain vast knowledge on various drugs, their characteristics and classes, functions, and side effects. Most importantly, I gained insights regarding prominent drugs to treat prevalent diseases in the

Aspects of individuals Essay Example for Free

Aspects of individuals Essay The study of the aspects of individuals who become Presidents is a rich field with many different perspectives. Scholars utilize many different factors in determining two basic ideas about the presidency. Those ideas are the characteristics needed to become the President and the characteristics needed to do a good job being president. One of the perspectives of presidential research is the psychological perspective. Using this perspective, scholars claim to be able to identify some characteristics of â€Å"successful† presidents. There are many difficulties attached to this concept. The first is that, from a psychological perspective, the sample pool is extremely small, another is the ambiguity attached to the notion of applying personality traits to person based on their entire lives, and the final difficulty is in evaluating the presidency in terms of success. In trying to determine what personality traits are most amenable to becoming president, scholars are limited by the simple fact that there have only been 44 presidents, and of those, only 43 were ever elected (President Ford was an appointee to Replace Nixon). Also, when examining personality traits of a pool of individuals, it is important to control for factors other than personality that may be contributing factors. This further limits scholars because all presidents to date have been male, all but one have been white, none have served or been elected below the age of 42, and nearly all of them came from privileged socioeconomic circumstances. As all of these demographic elements can have significant impact on personality, it is difficult to associate personality alone with any commonalities noted in this group. A second difficulty in assessing personality as a function of presidential success lies in the study of personality itself. In the field of psychology there are dozens of tests, measures, and categories that can be used to type an individual. One of the problems with these measures is that they rely, at least in part, on self-reporting. Thus, for any president who has never participated in such an evaluation (most of them), and attribution of traits or categories of personality would be speculation at best. Further complicating the issue is attempting to discern whether a President’s behavior either in or out of office is consistent enough across his life to be considered a personality trait. Scholars have only the reports of the Presidents themselves and their contemporaries to make that determination. Political scientists, therefore, cannot have much ground to associate personality traits with presidential success. The field of personality study is sufficiently ambiguous that, given the small sample of presidents, nearly any conclusion can be supported by some evidence. In addition, a scholar would run into the question of causation when determining the Presidents’ personality. If, for example, a President is deemed to be decisive based on their conduct in office, the question would remain as to whether that trait was a result of being President when many critical decisions had to be made, or whether the President was always decisive. Even if scholars could quantify personality traits on a consistent basis, presidential performance is even more difficult to quantify. A President may be judged a success or failure on any one of a number of categories. Even the Presidents’ career path offers differing notions of success. One segment of Presidential success is the ability to be elected or re-elected. A second is their performance while in office. A third might be their conduct and life after the presidency. Scholars have picked and chosen the criteria for a successful president, but those choices are largely self-fulfilling, and often, beyond the control of the Presidents. Presidential performance is predicated on the historical context more so than any other job. A President who was, for example, very conservative fiscally could gain the reputation as a â€Å"good† President when economic times are flush (as with Coolidge in the 1920s) and a President with the same ideals and personality could fail miserably if conditions were different during their presidency. i. e. Hoover) The Illustration of Coolidge and Hoover brings to light another problem with evaluating the performance of a President. Although he presided during an economic boom, Coolidge was in fact responsible for the policies that led to the financial crisis which began in Hoover’s Administration. In contrast, Hoover was given a window of barely four years to â€Å"fix† a depression that he neither caused nor was chosen to deal with. A further point is that the president who is credited for ending the crisis may have been nothing more than the fortunate beneficiary of a huge worldwide conflict that would have stimulated the economy regardless of who was in the White House. Unfortunately, one of the most popular ways of assessing presidential success is on the basis of popularity polls. This is unfortunate for a number of reasons. Most notably, those who respond to those polls are relying on incomplete information. The average citizen may be able to identify Abraham Lincoln, for example, as the President who preserved the union, but few could identify James K. Polk as one of the few Presidents in history to have kept all of his campaign promises (including the promise that he not seek a second term). Depending on the measure of performance applied, the â€Å"most popular† Presidents can actually be among the worst. For example, if foreign policy success were the measure, George Washington, an avowed isolationist, John F. Kennedy, whose actions embroiled us in Vietnam, and Bill Clinton, whose administration failed to capture Osama Bin Laden after a 1993 attack on the World Trade center might be ranked among the worst. In contrast, Richard Nixon (opened talks with China, achieved Detente with USSR) was probably among the best. Even in the abstract, it is difficult to identify personality traits that would make an effective president. The job changes on an almost daily basis, and the actions and behavior of the president must be flexible enough to deal with new situations and a near-constant air of crisis. Most historians and presidential scholars admit that it takes at least a generation or two after the presidency to even begin to evaluate its success, and doing so on the basis of personality traits is extremely problematic. Question 2 The Modern presidency is a result of over two hundred years of trial and error with respect to the use of power. Over the time of the nation’s history, the Presidential usage of power has varied from near-inertia, to near-dictatorial powers. In the modern era, the Presidency has become increasingly powerful. Using the tools of command of the Armed Forces, executive orders, and political influence, the Modern president is now a political creature totally different from that envisioned by the framers of the Constitution, and while not necessarily in keeping with democracy, the modern Presidency is much better equipped to deal with crises than a Presidency as viewed by the framers of the Constitution. The President exercises much authority in foreign policy through his command of the armed forces. The congressional check on this power by the president is twofold. First, congress issues forma declarations of war, and second, it provides the money needed for extended military actions. Modern trends have completely neutralized both of these checks. In the first case, the United States does not need to formally declare a state of war in order to send troops into combat. In Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, among other places, the US has entered combat without a formal declaration of war. The second check, the so-called â€Å"power of the purse† has been neutralized by modern politics. If congress refused to fund a military effort, they would be painted as being â€Å"against the troops† and would face political repercussions. Thus, politically and practically, the Modern president has nearly unilateral control over the military. This, while not the intention of the Framers, is not necessarily a bad thing. Modern technology causes events around the world to happen much more quickly than in years past, requiring, at times, quicker responses than one is likely to get from Congress. The ability of the President to react unilaterally to military crises is a necessary development in response to a changing technological and geopolitical circumstance. The modern President has made a habit of circumventing the proper law-making processes through the use of executive orders and agency regulations. Since the executive branch is meant to enforce the laws of Congress, it is left with the power to formulate a mode of enforcement that suits its own interpretation of the intent of the law. Again, this goes well beyond the intention of the framers of the Constitution, who feared exactly this sort of power invested in a single individual. Fortunately, modern government being as large and cumbersome as it is, not all policy decisions are made directly by the President. A vast majority of them are made by underlings following general guidelines of the administration. This practice has made it so domestic policy in particular does not reflect necessarily to will of Congress. Historically, the President has used executive orders to circumvent the constitution, going so far in recent years as to deny citizens certain protections provided in the Bill of Rights. This practice is neither new nor unique among Presidents. From the time of Abraham Lincoln, presidents have used the exigency of war as justification for ignoring the Constitution. At times, it seems that this mode of lawmaking is actually advantageous, given the partisan bickering that accompanies Congressional lawmaking, and, again, in times of crisis, when quick, rational action is needed, Congress is better off outside the loop. The modern President also uses his role as head of the Political party to exercise policy control. Particularly if his party controls the majority of Congress, he may make his law-making wishes known and receive a good deal of support in Congress for his initiatives. Using his veto authority, he can make sure that policies contrary to his parties’ views do not become law, unless met with overwhelming support from both sides. This practice is more in keeping with the intention of the framers. Congress can still overrule the President if there is sufficient sentiment that a given law is necessary, but, for the most part, the modern President sets lawmaking priorities for a friendly Congress. This is in keeping with the Ideal of democracy in only a limited way. The people choose the President through the means of the Electoral College, but have very limited input into policy once that decision is made. The framers set thins up intentionally in this manner because they feared direct democracy. They only went so far as to allow the people to choose their representatives in the hopes that they would pick able people who could exercise their own judgement in determining the best interests of the nation. The unilateral nature of the Presidency has had mixed results in modern history. It has allowed the nation to respond quickly in crises such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the First Iraqi War, but has also sent us into ill-advised military actions in Vietnam, Central America, Africa, and the Second Iraq War. The power of the presidency was utilized well to handle crises such as the attacks on the world trade center, but not as well in response to some natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina. On the whole, it seems that it is better to have the ability to act quickly in the modern world, than not be able to do so. However; it is in the nature of reality that the first response to a problem is not always the best one, and some issues require deliberation and time to solve. If a president recognizes these facts, and acts accordingly in the appropriate situations, he or she can be a very effective leader while honoring the spirit of Constitutionality. Question 3 The Modern Presidency has become a centralized and politicized position, more so than in any other era. More than any time historically, citizens cast their vote for one of two parties, relying on their platforms to indicate how they will conduit the government. As a result, the Presidency has become the centralized embodiment of principles that appeal to the mainstream of political thought. This politicization was not what the framers intended, but the centralization has served the nation reasonably well in practice. In the modern era, scrutiny on presidential candidates is extremely close and getting closer and closer. Since the first televised debates in 1960, unprecedentedly large numbers of people have been privy to the record, reputation and history of presidential hopefuls. This forces the candidate to be careful to articulate viewpoints in a manner that will be least offensive to the most people. Part of this dynamic is the fact that those with more radical viewpoints, no matter which side of the political spectrum they lie, have a disproportionately loud voce in modern media to support or decry a given candidate. If a candidate is unfortunate enough to offend one of these groups, he or she is facing opposition from an extremely well-funded, vociferous group. Because of this, political hopefuls, particularly presidents have to be, or at least appear, to be politically moderate. This engenders an environment where the politically moderate become the primary pool from which candidates are selected. The result has been, in recent elections, that barring an extremely charismatic candidate, the choices are so near each other politically as to be nearly indistinguishable. The elections of 2000 and 2004 are examples of this phenomenon. The absence of a charismatic challenger made it impossible for the voters to distinguish between the candidates, resulting in one of the closest elections in history in 2000, and one of the poorest-attended elections in 2004. The Framers of the United States Constitution did not envision a two-party system when they designed the government. Nevertheless, one quickly developed, first in the debate for ratification of the Constitution, and later around the principles of federal power. Although the foundations of the various parties have varied historically, the two-party system has remained in place for most presidential elections. The modern era may be witnessing a major change in the party system. One of the parties suffered a severe defeat in the 2008 election cycle and appears to be reevaluating its platform. If the party chooses to embrace the more extreme portions of their platform, it could lead to the creation of a new centralized party, which would draw support from the more moderate elements of the two major parties. A large amount of institutional inertia has been set against this development, but there is nothing in the Constitution that forbids it, nor is such an event unprecedented in the history of American politics. These developments illustrate a move from the extremism that had dominated politics since the beginning of the Cold War. More and more individuals are becoming sensitive to the voice of reason, cooperation and compromise, which weakens the position of the radical groups, and limits their ability to influence policy or elections. While it is important and permissible for these radical opinions to be heard, it is equally important that be considered from an even-handed and rational perspective, which is what a centralized president offers. Centralization of the Presidency is more in keeping with the notions of Democratic government than politicization. The more people whose viewpoints are represented by the President, the more democratic the government. A centralized presidency philosophically meshes with the majority of citizens. This observation is circular in nature. Absent compelling events such as war, the a majority of voters will embrace a more moderate candidate, and thus, candidates will endeavor to be more moderate in order to court such votes. Politicization is a positive thing in the political process. It allows all viewpoints to be aired and discussed. Centralization of the presidency is also a positive thing because a moderate president will be more likely to make pragmatic choices, rather than ones based in dogmatic ideals with little relationship to reality. Additionally, a moderate president is more likely to act in interests that mirror those of the majority of citizens. Thus, a moderate, or centralized presidency is good for both the execution of government, and the promotion of democracy.

Richard Branson Management Analysis

Richard Branson Management Analysis Virgin is a company established in 1970 by Richard Branson as a mail order company for sale of records. The company name Virgin was suggested by an associate of Mr Branson and was adopted as proclaiming their commercial innocence, while possessing some novelty and modest shock-value (Grant, 2010:808). Over the years, the company has grown rapidly and became a leading branded venture which diversified into other businesses. Today, Virgin is widely recognised and has become one of the most respected brands owing to successfully grown businesses in areas such as the airline industry, telecom, financial services, music etc. So far, the company has more than 200 individual companies or ventures which are owned and controlled by 20 holding companies that operate under one umbrella Virgin. Most of these companies own assets, employ people, offer goods and services (Grant, 2010:816). Even though all Virgin companies and ventures are separate entities, each is empowered to run its own affair s. They share common resources and capabilities that link them. Grant (2010) noted that the principal commonalities between this diverse range of enterprises are, the Virgin brand, and the role of Richard Branson as their instigator and major investor which is discussed below. Resources and capabilities defined by Grant (2010) are productive assets owned by a company and what the company can do. Resources are not productive in themselves they need to be converted into capabilities by being managed and co-ordinated (openlearn.open.ac.uk). For a company to gain competitive advantage, the company requires to focus on key strengths in resources and capabilities and ensure both work together instead of in isolation. In the case of the Virgin Group, one major resource is its founder Branson, who founded the company in 1970. His strong leadership is vital to developing new capabilities for Virgin. As noted by Grant (2010), his strength as a businessman was in conceiving and implementing new business ideas. Richard Branson is not only the founder, he is also an instigator and major investor in the company. His enthusiasm and devotion for business led him to establish a series of other Virgin companies such as Virgin Records, Virgin Airline, Virgin Rail, Virgin C ola etc. He is famous worldwide, his leadership of the Virgin Group extended beyond his role as a source of entrepreneurial ideas. As creator of Virgin and its unique corporate culture, and the primary promoter of its image and entrepreneurial spirit, Branson was synonymous with Virgin (Grant, 2010:814). He does not believe in corporate culture and bureaucracy, he prefers to do things differently by transition from rule Britainnia to cool Britainnia. Informality and disrespect for convention were central to Bransons way of business (Grant, 2010:814). Over the years, Branson has become more of strategic and charismatic leader of the Virgin Group instead of mere hand-on manager and his business vision has been a driving force for the success of Virgin. Another link is the Virgin Brand. Brand names and other trademarks are a form of reputational asset, their value is in the confidence they instill in customers (Grant, 2010:128). Grant (2010), described it as the Virgin groups most valuable asset. He noted that the values and characteristics that the Virgin brand communicated are inseparable from Branson the entrepreneur. The Virgin brand was also identified with innovation and unconventional strategies and marketing that characterised most Virgin start-ups (Grant, 2010:813). With the brand, the group was able to create other companies representing quality of services and value for money. It enabled them to create a range of products and services over other markets. Even though a brand name is an intangible asset, the value to organisational growth and competitive advantage sometimes can be immeasurable. The success of a firm to build a strong consumer brands have a powerful incentive to diversify which the Virgin group have succeede d in doing (Grant, 2010:130). The Virgin brand allowed the group to diversify to unlikely business areas in countries around the world like the US, Australia, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong etc. The success of Virgin can also be traced to its organisational structure and culture. Organisational culture as identified by Jay Barney and cited by Grant (2010) is a firm resources of great strategic importance that is potentially very valuable which relates to its values, traditions and social norms. Virgins ability to operate effectively with so little formal structure or management systems owes much to the groups organisational culture as defined by Bransons own values and management style (Grant, 2010:818). He draws inspirations from the ideas of others and encouraged submission of new business ideas to its corporate offices. Employees are encouraged to develop business ideas for new businesses. Grant (2010) pointed out that the idea of Virgin Bride was actually from a Virgin Atlantic employee appalled of products and services offered by bridal stores in the UK. Employees have stakes in the group and strive to make the company succeed, allowing them to manage and control the co mpany and also to enjoy the benefits of their success. In 1993, Branson summed up Virgins relationship with employees as staff first, then customers and shareholders. Virgins capability is in using employees competence and commitments in achieving organisational goals which can only happen where there is an open workplace structure and culture. Virgin has done well in the establishment and management of new businesses over the years, but some of its businesses are no longer what they used to be considering the current the world economic downturn. Virgin must look inward and see some of its ventures that are no longer economically viable and consider divestment. A few of them should be considered like Virgin airline, Virgin money, Virgin cola etc. Virgin dominated the airline industry due to its management style and offering customers value for money, but this came at a price. The airline industry is capital intensive. As a matter of fact, in 1992 Branson sold his most profitable and successful business, Virgin Music for  £560 million to fund Virgin Atlantic (Grant 2010:809). Even though the airline still makes profit but it is not as profitable as it used to a decade ago. People no longer travel as much, and competition in the entire travel industry is rife. Nowadays, airlines are always trying to win customers over by of fering low prices and unique packages, compounded with substitutes to air travel etc. There are other factors affecting the profitability of air travel such as government regulations and deregulations, high jet fuel price, taxes etc. Considering all these, it will be best for Branson and the Virgin group to divest Virgin Airline. Branson is always known as trying to stick it the big boys, but his involvement in financial activities seems to be a business that should be left to the big boys by divesting and concentrating on other areas. Customers will prefer products and services from institutions with a long history and good track record such as banks and other financial institutions. With more established players in the field, his involvement is a little tricky. Virgin is not a bank and does not have all the infrastructures to ensure full banking activities, and as a result its effort to bid for 318 RBS branches in England and Wales failed, and was ran over by Spanish banking giant Santander, a clear indication for Virgin to divest Virgin money. Virgin cola, another of Richard Bransons effort to stick it to the big boys should also consider divestment. It is a known fact that brands fail when they move into unknown territories. Even though, Virgin cola might be cheaper than the likes of Coca-Cola and Pepsi, these are two giant coke makers known worldwide. It will be hard, if not impossible for Virgin Cola to make an impact competitively in the world market. Coke and Pepsi take competition seriously and will not fold arms while Virgin Cola try to unseat them. It is believed that strong brands exploit competitors weaknesses. Though Virgin is a strong brand, but its Virgin Cola is not a strong brand when compared to Coca-Cola and Pepsi. By 1997, Virgin Cola was losing  £5 million on revenues of  £30 million (Grant, 2010:813). Still trying to take on the big boys will come at a detrimental costs to Virgin. So, it will be wise to also divest Virgin Cola. As a result of diversification, a firm can expand its range of products and services and sell to existing customers or create new markets in different parts of the world thereby increasing value and growth. Grant (2010), described it as risk reduction strategy that enables shareholders spread risks. He noted that the focus of diversification analysis has been to identify the circumstances in which multi-business activity can create value (Grant, 2010:406). To determine if diversification will create shareholder value, Grant advised to apply Porters essential tests the attractiveness test, the cost of entry test and the better off test, Grant (2010:408). He explained that without diversification, firms are practically prisoners in their own industry. Branson successfully built companies from ground-up but strategic alliance with firms with the resources and capabilities might be beneficial. Alliance is something Branson knows well. In 2007, he negotiated an alliance with an Indian co mpany Tata to establish Indian Virgin mobile. Branson should do the same by diversifying into road construction in developing countries like Nigeria. An alliance with an already established company in Nigeria with the resources and capabilities such as Chinas Shanghai Shibang Machinery company (SBM) will be ideal. SBM provides construction companies with large amounts of stone crushers, sand making machines and industry grinding machines. Virgin has economies of scope as a result of tangible and intangible resources due to its brand name, this can be exploited to increase value through licensing or franchising. Virgins operating styles have been designed by Branson. Things have changed, Virgin should adjust its financial structure. Branson should consider looking within the group and consolidate or divest companies that are not performing well. Grant (2010) noted that to obtain the tax relief from Virgins loss-making firms, there are clear advantages to consolidation. Branson argued that Virgin companies operate on a standalone basis but consolidation of some in similar businesses such as Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Blue and Virgin Express, Virgin Retail and Victory Corporation will create more financial stability. This will also cut down the overhead of conducting multi businesses and offer customers more diversified service range. Virgin is a successful brand of small companies that run independently, its organisational structure has been as styled by Branson. The structure has worked to an extent but Virgin should allow its brand name to be used by other small good companies through franchise and collect royalties. Grant (2010), described the Virgin brand as its most valuable asset. The benefit of franchising the brand means Virgin can reduce risk, provide the much needed cash that it requires to run other profitable businesses, watch the business grow with minimal involvement, freely expand to other businesses and enter new markets in new countries. Franchisees are very important source of new  market offerings  and product concepts. Many companies have done well through franchise such as McDonalds, Trump hotels etc. The management structure of Virgin has been centred on one man, Branson and operated with little formal structure or management systems, this will not last forever. An organisation as big and diverse as Virgin should have a top-bottom management system instead of decisions being made by Branson and a few close pals. It is important that a well detailed management structure is in place instead of no-building, no-headquarters type of management he operates. The system may have worked under Branson does not mean it will work after him. Virgin is not a one-man business, it is a multi-national corporation and if Branson was to become less active as chief entrepreneur, public relations director and strategic architect without a defined management structure in place, who or what would take his place (Grant, 2010:822)? A centralised and systematic way of managing the future without Branson is what Virgin needs like Apple Inc.

Dishonesty in The Great Gatsby Essay -- The Great Gatsby Essays

Lies are a treacherous thing, yet everyone tells a few lies during their lifetime. Deceit surrounds us all the time; even when one reads classic literature. For example, F. Scott Fitzgerald makes dishonesty a major theme in his novel The Great Gatsby. The falsehoods told by the characters in this novel leads to inevitable tragedy when the truth is revealed. Jay Gatsby, one of the main characters in the novel, fails to realize that when one tells a lie, it comes back to bite you. For example, he initially tells his neighbor, and potential friend Nick, that he had inherited his redundant sums of money from his family. One night, the night Gatsby reunites with Daisy, he and Nick are admiring his substantial house. During the conversation, Gatsby slips out, â€Å"It took me just three years to earn the money that bought it† (Fitzgerald 90). By this, one can see Gatsby lie about how he acquired the wealth he has. When Nick questions his inheritance of the money, Gatsby automatically stutters with another lie- that he lost his family fortune in the panic of the war and had to earn all the money again by himself. Gatsby may have not realized he let this lie slide out from under him due to the rush of emotions connected with the reunion of his long lost love. Nevertheless, he did lie to Nick about his past, along with many other people , including Daisy. When he and his love first meet, he lies to her and comes off as a rich, stable man, she would be lucky to fall in love with. This is not the case, however. He is not as innocent as to have just inherit the wealth he gloats. Fitzgerald states, â€Å"He might have despised himself, for he had certainly taken her under false pretenses. I don’t mean that he had traded his phantom millions,... ...of events, leading to many deaths. On the other hand, because Gatsby was lying and deceiving people to try to reach a goal, should his actions be considered ambitious? Since Tom and Daisy were not truly in love, and simply did not want to hurt the other, should their actions be considered thoughtful? Maybe there is a good intention behind the lies, but never a good outcome. Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. 1925. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2004. Print. Hermanson, Casie E. "An overview of The Great Gatsby." Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Literature Resource Center. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. Sutton, Brian. "Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby." Explicator 59.1 (Fall 2000): 37-39. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Linda Pavlovski. Vol. 157. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.

Juvenile Stats On Crime :: essays research papers

40% of all residential burglary charges filed in 1997 were committed by juveniles -- up from 9% in 1996. 28% of all non-residential burglary charges filed in 1997 were committed by juveniles -- up from 5% in 1996. 29% of all Residential Entry charges filed in 1997 were committed by juveniles -- up from 18% in 1996. 19% of all Theft charges and 18% of all Receiving Stolen Property charges filed in 1997 were committed by juveniles -- down from 22% (Theft) and up from 6% (Receiving) in 1996. 18% of all Auto Theft charges filed in 1997 were committed by juveniles -- up from 6% in 1996. 16% of all Criminal Conversion charges filed in 1997 were committed by juveniles. 37% of all Child Molesting charges filed in 1997 were committed by juveniles. 25% of all Handgun Violation charges filed in 1997 were committed by juveniles. 12% of all Marijuana Possession charges filed in 1997 were committed by juveniles. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Secure Detention Costs The per diem costs to Morgan County of placing juvenile delinquent offenders in the Johnson County Juvenile Detention Facility decreased in 1997, as compared to 1996. According to the weekly detention statistics maintained by the Morgan Superior Court No. 2, the total costs of secure detention of juvenile delinquent offenders in 1997 was approximately $179,900.00 (average cost: $3459.00 per week). By comparison, the total costs of secure detention of juvenile delinquent offenders in 1996 was approximately $214,686.00 (average cost: $4128.00 per week). Juvenile Probation Supervision Stats As of January 1, 1997, 154 juvenile delinquency cases were under supervision by the Juvenile Probation officers of Morgan County. During 1997, 302 new probation cases were referred to probation supervision; of that total, 164 Delinquents and Status offenders were placed under formal probation supervision, and 125 Delinquents and Status offenders were placed under informal probation adjustment and supervision. Also during 1997, 246 probation cases were completed and closed. As of December 31, 1997, 210 juvenile delinquency cases were open and under supervision by the Juvenile Probation officers. Here is a table summarizing Juvenile Delinquency Probation Cases supervisions for 1997: Total Supervisions Pending on 1/1/97 154 Total Supervisions Opened during 1997 302 Formal Probation - Delinquents 101 Formal Probation - Status Delinquents 63 Informal Adjustment - Delinquents 54 Informal Adjustment - Status Delinquents 71 Transfers in: Intra/Inter State 2 Supervisions Completed/Closed during 1997 246 Supervisions Pending on 12/31/97 210 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Waiver of Jurisdiction in Juvenile Delinquency Cases to Adult Court

Is Globalisation a Myth or a Fact? Essay -- essays research papers fc

The term globalisation describes the process of becoming worldwide in scope or application, and the increasing interdependency of nation-sates. At least - that gives us one loose definition for globalisation, but as Scholte (2000) realises, globalisation is a thoroughly contested subject, with arguments extend across the issue of definition as well as measurement, chronology, explanation and normative judgement. In fact, Scholte identifies five contrasting definitions for the word 'globalisation' as used by a number of the subject's commentators and critics - internationalisation, liberalisation, universalisation, western/modernisation and deterrioralisation are (2000: 13). In choosing a definition of globalisation, one is also selecting how they wish to interpret it, and what points they wish to convey. For example, the choice of western/modernisation leads to a view that globlisation sees the economically and politically powerful west globalising the rest of the world, whilst universalisation leads to a more neutral stance, taking it's root from the dictionary definition of the word 'gloalise', meaning to universalise. To judge whether or not globalisation is a myth or fact therefore requires the full understanding of what the term means to it's critics and advocates, and in which ways they belive it to be myth of fact. Giddens simplifies the debate into two main schools - the sceptics and the radicals. A radical himself, he writes that "According to the sceptics, all the talk about globalisation is only that - just talk" whilst "The radicals argue that not only is globalisation very real, but that its consequences can be seen everywhere" . Sceptics are seen by Giddens to hold a politicially left view, with their argument that globlaisation is "put about by free-marketeers who wish to dismantle welfare systems and cut back on state expenditure" (1999: 7-8). Key to his own argument, Giddens realises that globlisation is not just economic, but also political, technological and cultural. It appears that some sceptics of globalisation take their definition of the word not as a verb but as the resulting noun, 'globalised'. The argument is that globalisation does not exist because we're not living in a fully globalised world. For example, economists may argue that we are not living in a total global economy and use this as pro... ...hat globalisation doesn't exist. In fact, they do quite the opposite - they illustrate various ways in which the economy has become more global over the years. Through the literal meaning of globalisation (an act or process), suggesting that globalisation is a myth is ludicrous. Globalisation is the process of becoming worldwide in scope or applicaing and the increasing interdependency of nation-states. It is a commonly accepted definition of globalisation that is required to put an end to some rather pointless debate. With such a definition in place it is then possible to start truly analysing globlisation - looking at why it's happening, what it's leading to and in which ways its acting. A current fully globalised world is a myth, globalisation is not. Bibliography =============== Cohen & Kennedy (2000) Global Sociology, MacMillan: Basingstoke Germain, R (2000) Globalisation and its Critics, MacMillan: Basingstoke Giddens (1999) Runaway World, Profile Books: London Helt et al (1999) Global Transformations, Polity Press: Cambridge Rosenberg (2000) The Follies of Globalisation Theory, Verso: London Schulte (2000) Globalisation: a Critical Introduction, MacMillan: Basingstoke

Proposal: to Increase Breastfeeding Rates in New York

Public Budgeting Professor Lynch Spring 2009 Proposal to: Increase Breastfeeding Rates in New York Introduction In a time when overwhelming research shows that human milk is superior to any sort of manufactured human milk substitute, with great economic benefits for breastfeeding families, the health care system, and society in general, breastfeeding is no longer seen as just an individual choice, but as a public health challenge that deserves more publicity to create supportive systems and environments for mothers to breastfeed. Human milk is more than food, it’s a living substance like blood that have active germs fighting and health ingredients to help protect babies against all kinds of common or un-common infections. Human milk have all the necessary nutrients and a low protein content a baby will need and any period of breastfeeding a women can give either short or long would be of benefit. The national goals set by Health People 2010 are for 75% of women to initiate breastfeeding, for 50% to still be breastfeeding at 6 months and 25 % by 12 months. Billions of healthcare dollars would be saved if more infants were exclusively breastfed and for a longer time. The United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) Page 2 estimates that $2 billion per year are spent by families on infant formula and that $3. 6 – 7 billion dollars could be saved each year in preventable conditions if breastfeeding rates were increased to the recommended levels. Breastfeeding is one of the most important aspects of infant health. When babies are fed with formula rather than breast milk they are more likely to be sick more often and more seriously. The health problems that infants encounter for not breastfeeding are gastrointestinal, respiratory, and ear infections. There are negative health consequences to not breastfeeding for the mother also. The mothers experience more postpartum bleeding and delayed uterine involution, return or no return to pre-pregnancy weight and increase risk of ovarian cancer. Additionally, formula feeding is not good for the environment since it burdens our landfills and required more fuels for its manufacturer and preparation. It also creates pollution from required products during the manufacturing of plastic bottles and containers for the storage and delivery of infant formula Despite evidence that in New York State there has being a decrease in the number of women who initiates breastfeeding, minority and low income women are still being reluctant to promote breastfeeding. According to the New York State Department of Health is goal is to provide the physical and emotional well-being of childbearing mothers and their infants by increasing the rate and duration of breastfeeding in the State. Page 3 The overall percentage of New York women breastfeeding is 76. 3% higher than that of the entire United States. However, the overall rate of women New York exclusively breastfeeding for the first 6 months is only 8. 4%, 3 months exclusively 25. 5% and 12 months 24. 6 %. Existing Law Several laws have been enacted in New York to protect a woman’s right to breastfeed. In August of 2007 Governor Eliot Spitzer sing into legislation protecting rights of nursing mother in the workplace, that requires employers to provide uncompensated time and private space to express milk or nurse their children for a period of time. A bill was introduced to amend the public health law in relation to breastfeeding mother’s bill of rights. The public health law was amended by adapting a new section 2505 which specifies that a patient bill of rights for breastfeeding should be posted in a public place in each maternal health care facility. The Breastfeeding Bill of Rights was re-introduced for breastfeeding practice and the New York State Rules and Regulations for more to be done to protect mother’s right to breastfeed her child, but also empower and supports new mothers as they seek to breastfeed their children. Page 4 Proposal To address this issue I am proposing breastfeeding legislation that would: 1)Change a hospital stay policy that does not provide adequate time for mother’s milk to come in or for appropriate education and support. )Recommend that all licensed nurses working within a maternity unit of a hospital receive a minimum of 18 hours of training on basic lactation management and demonstrate a specified level of competencies; and 3)Recommend teaching all licensed doctors in Obstetrics and Child Health to diagnose and treat the medical problems that comes between baby and mothers whom are breastfeeding; and 4) To recognize the importance of breastfeeding in maternal child health Women experie nce many barriers to successful breastfeeding, the proposed legislation would address three of the many problems that occurs during the most vulnerable time. The early postpartum period is critical to the successful establishment of lactation making what occurs during this short time extremely important. A breastfeeding woman can always switch to formula feeding very easily; the decision to bottle feed is very hard to reverse after only a few days. Page 5 Rationale for restricting formula marketing: Women need to feel confident in their ability to adequately nourish their babies. Exposure to formula marketing and free samples of formula has been shown to undermine a woman’s confidence, especially if she is encountering difficulties to establish lactation. The use of supplements has the negative effect of decreasing a woman’s milk supply and further interfering with adequate and early weaning from the breast. Restricting formula marketing during the early postpartum period allows women to make a more informed decision about feeding, based on personal preference and available resources. Marketing formula to women during the vulnerable postpartum period is unethical from a public health standpoint. Some healthcare professionals are collaborating with the industry by accepting materials, incentives and financial assistance (discharge packs, free supplies, lunches, sponsorship of in-services and conferences, upgrade and construction of maternity facilities, etc. ) from formula companies. Instead of formula samples and messages, health care institutions should provide women with medically accurate breastfeeding support and information, such as the direct cost of buying artificial milk, including the cost of consumers advertising. Besides perfect nutrition of human milk, there are many other benefits in breastfeeding for babies, mothers as well as society, such as easily digested, higher IQ, protects infant guts, prevents hemorrhaging after delivery, no worry of which brand of milk Page 6 s best, the milk is never been recalled due to manufacturing problem, no issues of contamination, etc. Major Obstacles/Implementation Challenges Breastfeeding may not be for all women, therefore the decision to breastfeed or formula feed is based on their comfort level, lifestyle and medical conditions that they might have, as well as, class and racial implication of breastfeeding, such as economic and cultural constraints could make it difficult for a woman to nurse. Women need and should have the right to receive medically accurate, evidence-based information about lactation from health care providers before delivery that provides nutritional, medical and psychological benefits of breastfeeding and after delivery for adequate assistance and support during the critical postpartum period from nurses/doctors who possess accurate, up to date information and skills in basic lactation managements is essential to helping women breastfeed. During the early postpartum period, nurses are often the most influential and trusted sources of information about infant feeding. But, many do not possess the knowledge or skills to adequately provide the support needed to help women to initiate lactation. Nurses who have not been trained in breastfeeding management cannot be expected to give mothers effective guidance and provide skilled counseling. Page 7 Lactation management is often omitted from curricula in basic training of nurses and is currently not a required part of on the job training. Opponents of this training may argue that the resource for this is beyond the scope of the New York State government’s duties or that it may cost too much. Upon examining the program, however, one will note that some of the burden could be assume by the federal government to improve the quality of care mothers’ receive after post-partum on breastfeeding. Looking at the cost on implementing these trainings and certifications no one institution should cover the cost. Given the rapid growth of new mothers, there would be no better time to implement these trainings, although the decision to breastfeed is a personal one. Breastfeeding do come with some challenges for both women and babies such as plenty of patience and persistence, personal comfort, time and frequency feedings, etc. U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. HHS Blueprint for Action on Breastfeeding, Washington, D. C. U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. HHC People 2010; Conference Edition – Volumes I and II. United States Department of Agriculture, â€Å"The Economic Benefits of Breastfeeding† A Review and Analysis. Food assistance and Nutrition Research Report No. 13 (20001) American Academy of Pediatrics. Policy Statement: Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk (RE9729). Pediatrics 1997; 100(6) 1035-1039 D. A. Frank et al, â€Å" Commercial discharge Packs and Breastfeeding Counseling: Effects on Infant-Feeding Practices in a Randomized Trial. Pediatrics 80 (1987): 845-854. www. Baby center. com â€Å"Breastfeeding† www. Kids Health. com â€Å"Benefits of Breast Feeding† New York State Department of Health: â€Å"Breastfeeding Mothers Bill of Rights† See generally the websites for the Center for Disease Control: [http://www. cdc. gov/breastfeeding] and the National Women’s Health Information Centers’ Resources on Breastfeeding: [http://www. 4woman. gov/breastfeeding]. 6 S e e American Academy of Pediatrics home page at [http://www. aap. org/advocacy/bf/brhist. htm]. http:/www. state. ny. us/governor/press/0822072

American Apparel Case Analysis Essay

Key Facts of the Case (no analysis) -Who is the decision maker? (Remember: in analyzing a case you have to put yourself in the position of the decision maker and try to figure out what YOU would do in his/her position). -maximum 5 key facts that summarize the case. Key Decision Maker Board of Directors (AA is a publicly traded company) Key Facts American Apparel minimized their use of outsourced labour. They localized their manufacturing activities and were known for their anti-sweatshop practices The company was also praised for their environmentally friendly practices such as using organic and recycled materials in several of their products, and participating in charitable causes Their advertising campaigns stirred up a lot of controversy for the company, as some consumers believed them to be too sexual and borderline pornographic Charney (CEO) took the ad pictures himself using women he found on the streets or his own employees. As a hiring practice, employees were required to provide full length self-portraits to him Charney brought heat to the company via sexual harassment lawsuits and by creating a hostile working environment (using foul language, walking around in his underwear, flirting with employees, etc.) Problem(s) Statement -What is the main problem(s) or opportunity(s) that you (as decision maker) must deal with? -How urgent and how important is this issue and why? Main Problem The main problem presented for American Apparel is that there are discrepancies between their controversial advertisements and workplace practices and their positive business initiatives, which has resulted in a loss of sales for the company. They must determine how they are going to move forward and inspire a turnaround. Urgency Moderately urgent The company forecast a turnaround by 2015 (3 years to the future) Problem(s) Analysis -What is the background that has led to the problem(s)? -What are the key points that the decision maker must consider when figuring out a solution? (eg. constraints that limit the possible solutions or opportunities that could arise) -If a financial analysis is required, outline that in this section. -Perhaps a different format for analysis is more appropriate? (eg. SWOT, PEST, Porter’s Five Forces). Background American Apparel strived to promote raw natural beauty. To do this, they used real, non-photo-shopped, airbrush-free models in their advertising campaigns Their signature advertisements featured women in racy outfits and poses Charney took the pictures himself and either found women on the streets or used his own employees Charney said it was the company’s way of marketing to millennials, targeting contemporary adults who desired sexual freedom, and fighting against the pressures on women to achieve perfection Charney’s strange and inappropriate workplace behaviours made some employees feel uncomfortable SWOT Strengths Pro-labor practices Anti-sweatshop Made in USA label Pay their employees nearly double minimum wage Provide job security and good benefits for employees Environmentally friendly practices Use of organic and recycled materials Strong international presence – 253+ retail stores in 20 different countries Reasonably priced and good quality products Weaknesses Provocative advertisements Store environment makes some customers feel uncomfortable – â€Å"reeked of sexual sin† CEO Dov Charney’s workplace behaviour and practices which have led to complaints and lawsuits The company’s cost of production is likely higher than their competitors because of their â€Å"made in USA† policy High labour costs $120 million in debt Opportunities The company has the opportunity to tame their provocative advertising campaigns They can also steer the focus back onto their positive business initiatives Ethical buying habits are on the rise – consumers are becoming more conscious of the environment Expand online and catalog business sectors – Focus product lines – eliminate those that aren’t as successful and profitable – Reform advertising campaign – focus more on AA’s  positive political activism and â€Å"homegrown† products – Restructure corporate-executive-suite and construct a more positive public image Expand online and catalog business sectors – Focus product lines – eliminate those that aren’t as successful and profitable – Reform advertising campaign – focus more on AA’s  positive political activism and â€Å"homegrown† products – Restructure corporate-executive-suite and construct a more positive public image Threats Their competition who offer similar products at equal or lower price points, and have cheaper production costs Threats of lawsuits against Charney which create a negative public image Threats of consumers shopping elsewhere due to dissatisfaction with AA’s sexual advertisements SWOT Findings: The SWOT analysis shows that American Apparel needs to bring the focus back onto the strengths of the company. They need to remind consumers of the ethics the company was built on and their goodwill and valuable contributions. Their weaknesses primarily revolve around being too overtly provocative, whether this is towards consumers or within the workplace itself. The company clearly cannot continue with this controversy, as they risk overshadowing the positive aspects of their business. Decision Criteria for Solutions -What goals or objectives must be achieved by any potential solution to the problem? (eg. Must maximize market share) -What constraints limit the range of solutions (eg. Can’t cost more than $1 Million) Goals and Objectives The goal is to save the company’s reputation which will in turn stop their money-losing streak Constraints Must not incur further debt 10 Identification of Realistic & Practical Alternatives available to the Decision Maker – In most situations there will be at least 3 alternatives, one of which can be status quo. One or two short sentences to describe each. – Each alternative MUST be a stand alone solution to your problem(s). Alternative 1: American Apparel should fire their current CEO, Dov Charney,  and elect a replacement. Alternative 2: American Apparel should change their advertising strategy by toning down their sexual nature and focusing on their business strengths to create positive publicity. Alternative 3: American Apparel should continue with their current advertising strategies. Pros and Cons of each Alternative Alternative 1 Pros Charney’s provocative vision and proneness to scandal will leave the company with him It shows that AA will not stand for sexual harassment and inappropriate workplace behaviours The company can bring in a new vision and have a fresh start Cons The company may lose customers who supported Charney and his vision The replacement CEO may not be any better than Charney at running the business Alternative 2 Pros It helps AA to fix the disconnect between their ethical and unethical practices It reminds consumers of the company’s positive values Cons Charney may not go for the new vision; he may push back It doesn’t solve the issue of unethical workplace incidents The company may lose customers who support the provocative and â€Å"natural† ads Alternative 3 Pros No changes will need to be made, therefore employees will not need to be trained or guided through any change The controversy surrounding the company may actually bring in customers Cons Discrepancies of the company’s business practices will not be solved Consumers who do not like the provocativeness of the company may continue or  start to avoid it Recommendation & Implementation Plan – You must have a sentence that says, â€Å"I recommend alternative†¦Ã¢â‚¬  – Do not combine alternatives. Pick just one. – Defend your choice of alternative. Explain WHY it is better than the others. – If applicable, explain how the alternative will be implemented. (who, what, where, when, how) Recommendation I recommend alternative 1 – firing Dov Charney. I do not believe alternative 3 is an option because the unethical advertisements and workplace practices would likely catch up with the company and really affect their performance in the long run. The reputation of American Apparel would just continue to deteriorate if nothing is changed, which would deter consumers from shopping there. Alternative 1 is a better path to take than alternative 2 because it really gets at the root cause of all the issues – Dov Charney. The provocative and controversial advertisements were largely inspired by the CEO himself. Simply changing the company’s advertising campaigns is good and well, but there is no guarantee that Charney will even go for that. And what’s to say he wouldn’t go back to his old ways in the future? Also, alternative 2 doesn’t fix the issue of employee complaints and sexual harassment lawsuits that have given the company a bad image. Alternative 1 has the potential to resolve both the advertising strategies and the inappropriate workplace incidents. Implementation Who Board of Directors What Fire Dov Charney Where At a board meeting When As soon as possible How Gather all documentation of Charney’s inappropriate behaviours Review the termination agreement that was made at the time of hiring Charney Review the company’s succession plan for the CEO – determine who may be able to take Charney’s place in the interim Seek counsel from the company’s lawyers on the best method to fire Charney Overall Quality (logical consistency & readability)