Natural Brown Rice

Brown rice is the least processed form of rice where only the outer hull has been removed. After removal of the hull, its quality deteriorates rapidly causing significant decrease in shelf life. The most critical determinant in achieving rice quality is the degree of milling. This requires evaluation of quality according to suitability of specific end use based on a set of criteria described below as standard product specifications for wholesomeness. Grain quality and yield largely determine market price and consumer acceptance.If consumers do not like the flavor, texture, taste, aroma, appearance of the rice then all other attributes are worthless too. The genetic makeup of the grain, handling, and storage are the major factors influencing quality. Brown rice is the most nutritious food that can be found. It is the best substitute for potatoes in meals. Long grain has higher nutritional value and lower in calories than short grain. The length of the grain determines texture and cons istency. When cooked it produces firm, fluffy grains that separates easily.The oil in the bran remains intact making it more likely to become rancid. It is advisable to keep it in an airtight container and consume within six (6) months from purchased. Brown rice standard product specifications Product name: 100% organic long grain Brown rice Pricing unit: kg, lb, ounce Type: organic, long grain Standard/grade: USDA 1-6, percentage broken grains is

Modern Artists and philosophers

Appropriate of all the choices we have at hand. However the instruments we use to define and determine our perception of our world have been leading man on in his quest for knowledge and science has been one of the key elements of this movement. But when looking at the history of the development, one comes to a degree of understanding regarding the evolution of scientific knowledge where one realizes that man has never actually been able to be sure of the legitimacy of his knowledge regarding the world around him (Time Inc. , 1965).Being modified under the most minute of observations and being based upon an infinite process of observations and experimentations has rendered science incapable of bringing man to peace with the world within which he lives. The outward appearance and the elements of the world that constitute it do not blend with each other. But interestingly, subjects of the non-scientific genre such as poetry and philosophy have begun to take the lead in this process of evolution of the perception man hold regarding the world around him (Heelan, 1989). Modern Artists and philosophers have contributed extensively to the cause.So much so that their work has reached well beyond the realm of the mind of the layman and requires delving into in order to be fully understood. The relationship between mind and body has now become even clearer than it was in the past as the scales of reliance of one upon the other have shifted. Modern philosophy has brought the mind of man to be the central element of his existence rather than the body. The body brings man to the elements around him, but it is his mind that allows man to reach a state where he can perceive their existence.The entities that appear to be based on their attributes and properties are in fact, not merely based on their attributes but it is these very attributes that give them existence, and for the same reason, it can be concluded that these attributes indeed, are the very entity itself. Similarl y, the perception of the space around man and all the elements present in space is also a subject matter that has undergone much debate and continues to be analyzed. In, the constituents of the universe each object has its own individual characteristics and attributes that make it an entity.However, the issues of whether the entity is based upon its unique attributes or the attributes together have a relationship amongst each other and come together to form the entity has been a much contested question. Over time philosophers have come to a point where it has been determined that the relationship between man and the entities in his universe amongst which he lives is not a matter so straightforward to comprehend. It is indeed nothing less than a breath taking sense of revelation that elates a person when one looks at the extent to which the perception of man about his world has evolved.From considering the entities around him to be mere instruments that are part of the universe and s erve only a secondary role to that of man, philosophers have come to a point where the entities that surround man are regarded to hold just as much significance as man himself holds. Works Cited Heelan, P. (1989). Space-Perception and the Philosophy of Science. University of California Press. Time Inc. (1965, May 7). The Limitations of Science. Retrieved January 28, 2009, from TIME: http://www. time. com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,898761,00. html

Just Take Away Their Guns by James Wilson Essay

Just Take Away Their Guns by James Wilson - Essay Example This paper illustrates that Wilson assumes various rhetorical choices to explain how the removal of the illegal use of guns must be the focus of the government. In the article, he employs logos or logical appeal with persuasive facts that are likely to appeal to an American audience majority of whom is security conscious and by his own admission, they are likely to control the gun control laws but they are not sure they are going to be effective. In this case, Wilson begins by stating that creation of tougher gun control laws is not an effective method of dealing with illegal possession of firearms. Legal restraint of citizens to possess guns has little effect in dealing with the illegal use of firearms. Many guns are stolen, borrowed, or attained through private purchases and therefore, the government gun laws would be ineffective. Wilson succeeds in selling this particular idea to the readers because, from a logical perspective, he has statistically proven that the guns used in cri me are guns acquired by illegal means which the new laws are not going to have any effect on. By so doing, he has managed to effectively prove that the new laws are redundant and misguided since they will be unlikely to address the problem at hand. Wilson further uses exemplification and appeals to expert opinions, to clarify the importance of ensuring that the public can access guns legally without limitations. Gun control supporters largely disregard the need for self-defense among the citizens citing that the government can provide this necessity. However, Wilson cites Gary Kleck, a criminologist who has conducted research, indicating that every year guns are fired for self-defense purposes more than a million times what the police use. This research, therefore, indicates that the numbers of citizens that defend themselves with guns are more than the number of arrests that occur for violent crimes. Wilson provides an example to show the legitimacy of self-defense that discourages criminal activity. It is evident from the National Crime Survey that citizens that defend themselves with guns are less likely to suffer a loss of property or be harmed than those that do not. Further, statistics indicate criminals are scared of victims with guns in many instances. Wilson adopts the definition rhetoric choice in helping the reader understand the importance of government efforts in seizing illegal firearms. He defines the word â€Å"frisk† as parting down an individual’s outer garments, which occurs during a physical search. Frisk is an important part of the operation that law enforcement agencies must be encouraged to adapt to remove illegal guns from the public. It is thus unequivocal that the government’s effort to search for illegal firearms from criminals is more important than disarming the citizens. This is because the main problem is caused by criminals in the procession of illegal weapons as opposed to law-abiding citizens who have obta ined guns for their own safety. Rhetorical Situation Due to the increased rate of gun violence, there is an urgency that has motivated exigency in the article is created by the call for tougher laws to restrict people from acquiring firearms legally.

Tanning Salons Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tanning Salons - Essay Example As we become increasingly aware of the benefits associated with regular exposure to sunlight and of the importance of managing the risks that can be associated with sunburn and overexposure, more people are turning to indoor tanning facilities to help attain their tans in a controlled environment scientifically designed to minimize the risk of sunburn." (Tanning Truth). Tanning is divided into two groups, indoor tanning and outdoor tanning. As the name suggests, indoor tanning is done indoors in a tanning salon using different artificial methods to tan your skin. Outdoor tanning is when you expose your skin to the sun where your skin tans by exposure to natural rays of the sun which contain Ultraviolet rays which tan your skin. Naturally tanning your skin by exposure in the sun takes time and requires a lot of patience. While a tanning salon is a fast and easy way of tanning your skin. Tanning salons use different ways of skin tanning. It is a known fact that Ultraviolet rays have many harmful effects, like causing skin cancer, skin wrinkles, and skin burns. Tanning salons therefore moderate the way your skin is tanned. For example, the amount of time you spend in a tanning salon on the different ways of tanning is monitored. Indoor tanning in a tanning salon is considered and also called Smart Tanning. ... People are also taught on how their skin reacts to sunlight. It is safe to opt for tanning in a professional tanning salon today because the government regulates indoor tanning in Canada and the United States. In the United States of America, the exposure time for every tanning session is established by a schedule which is present on every piece of equipment, this takes the tanners skin type and the machines intensity to deliver sunlight, which is designed to minimize the risk of sunburns. This kind of controlled tanning is impossible in natural sunlight, where seasonality, weather conditions, altitude and time of the day make outdoor tanning very random and prevention of sunburns difficult. Studies have shown that people who opt for indoor tanning at a tanning salon are less like to harm their skin through tanning than people who opt for outdoor tanning. Tanning salons also teach their customer how to avoid sunburns and protect their skin when exposed to natural sunlight outdoors. It is important to know that while tanning, like in all other things you do in life, it is best to go the moderate way, so you can protect your body from any harmful affects of tanning in natural sunlight or at a tanning salon. There are different ways in which you can tan your skin artificially in a tanning salon. Tanning salons have different methods like, a tan booth, the famous tanning bed, tanning lotions and oils, tanning goggles, tanning pills, and sunless tanning. All these methods require professional guidance from a tanning salon. The most famous and popular way of tanning your skin at a tanning salon is the tanning bed. Tanning beds are light fittings that you lie down on to get your tan. These light emit Ultraviolet

Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words - 1

Entrepreneurship - Essay Example The behemoths of Information Technology industry like. Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, the IT giants, are all results of ‘entrepreneurial vision’ of their founders. Who is an entrepreneur? What are the chief causes for the success of entrepreneurs? What are the attributes required for being an entrepreneur? What makes entrepreneurship different from regular business? How does an entrepreneur with very little resources create wealth and value? We will study ‘the entrepreneur’ along with the special strategies; he makes use of, by researching contemporary literature on entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is the business idea, the set of practices adopted by an entrepreneur for value enhancement and wealth creation. Entrepreneurship is a break from the past; conception and creation of a unique venture through novel means, and a synergy of strategy, technology, material, and human resources. Entrepreneurship involves a high risk factor as it can’t be forecast with certainty whether a particular entrepreneurship idea would succeed or fail. The results often vary between and extreme success and abject failure. Nevertheless, the entrepreneur, by his inherent nature, keeps on experimenting taking risks, losses and failures in his stride, till he hits upon an idea that clicks. Entrepreneurship has been differently viewed, and hence interpreted differently, over a period of time. In the earlier times entrepreneurship was related to buying and selling of commodities, whereupon a trader took upon himself the buying of a product at a certain price, and selling it for an uncertain price (Di-Masi n.d.). One of the earliest definitions of entrepreneur offered by JS Mill (1848) (quoted by Brockhaus, Sr 2000) as â€Å"one who undertakes to start and conduct an enterprise or business, assuming full control and risks† may have held to be

Nursing Ethics and Leadership Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Nursing Ethics and Leadership Assignment - Essay Example They also carry embody the vision, mission and values of the unit and share with their staff. In line with the budget, we are also charged with managing human resource, ensuring patient and staff satisfaction, maintaining a safe environment for staff, patients and visitors, ensuring standards and quality of care are also maintained. Nurse Managers are also responsible for hiring, training and developing employees. That must however be done through a very economical way. It is common knowledge that all facilities are faced with the problem of scarce resources which must meet all the patients need. Nurses are supposed to be empathetic and work according to the Science of Safety principles of safety design. Therefore, as a nurse manager, it is my responsibility to ensure that every patient’s individual needs are met in an empathetic but professional way. For example, a patient may require a special room. This will be done as per the institution values and protocols. Another protocol is involving the patient and family centered care. As such, as a nurse manager, I am tasked with ensuring that their customers get thee best care possible. By having a supportive and very caring environment where the patients are allowed interactions with their patients, this can be a reality (Studer, 2003). They are also tasked with ensuring quality food, translation or sign language services for their customers. Therefore, our operational costs must be all inclusive. It is important to note that as a nurse manager, I am supposed to subscribe to the Joint Commission for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The local government too has a stake in the quality of care delivered by the facilities to the general. It is therefore by default that a nurse manager draw a budget that is compliant with all these protocols lay down. The nursing codes in western countries specify that a nurse’s primary responsibility is to the patient and not the doctors or employees. One of

Mobilising Creativity and Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Mobilising Creativity and Innovation - Essay Example After passing my graduation, I have been working in an organization, which would be a positive aspect for the development of my professional life. More specifically, I always have that eagerness to learn few innovative things in my life. It will be worth mentioning that I have the capacity of quick learning as well as the ability to learn most difficult things in very short period. I also worked as a computer technician in small technical company. As per my perception, my strength is that I can cope up on the basis of the needs of a situation. In addition, I possessed the capabilities to be familiar with every situation. At the initial stage of my career, I fumbled a bit in performing my assigned tasks effectively. However, during such time, I used to be positive in nature, which provided me with a positive support for my career. It will be worth mentioning in this regard that during my career growth, I was little nervous in nature. Additionally, I have been able to overcome my difficulties with my strong will power as well as positive confidence. I always have the ambition to work in a technical working domain. My knowledge in the technical working domain is very weak, but I have that capability to ensure my superior about my flawless work. Accordingly, my intention is to perform my work with perfection. I have developed a perception towards performances that through continuous practices, people can be able to learn and gain knowledge for performing operations with perfection. In a similar context, I have also learnt about the process of rectifying a number of mistakes that can be a vital advantage for my own development process. It is more apparent that people should have the courage to learn how to rectify their mistakes for ensuring a better personal as well as professional future. Therefore, in my early phase, I started working as a computer technician in a small technology firm. During the initial

The confidence of Saudi Consumers in the credibility of seasonal sales Literature review - 1

The confidence of Saudi Consumers in the credibility of seasonal sales of international brands - Literature review Example Current paper focuses on the examination of the perceptions of Saudi consumers on international brands. Particular emphasis is given on the confidence of Saudi Consumers in the credibility of seasonal sales of international clothing brands. The literature published in regard to this subject is critically analyzed aiming to identify the views of Saudi consumers on the seasonal sales developed by the international brands. The performance of international brands in the Saudi market is examined; due to the lack of adequate material on the views of Saudi consumers on seasonal sales, an effort has been made to cover the relevant gap by analyzing the criteria on which the choice of consumers on international brands is based. The strategies used by marketers for increasing the trust of consumers to various products/ services are also analyzed. Furthermore, the international brands of firms operating in the clothing industry in Saudi Arabia are presented. It is proved that the marketing strat egies used in Saudi Arabia for the promotion of these brands have certain characteristics; moreover, it is made clear that the marketing policies used in Saudi Arabia for the promotion of these brands are quite effective. Significant prospects exist for further growth of the firms operating in the particular sector of the Saudi market. 2. ... On the other hand, Fink (2000) notes that in each market, the level of retail sales can be a credible indicator regarding the consumer confidence in the particular market (Fink 2000). It is not explained though whether there are specific marketing strategies that can increase the consumer confidence, which in turn will lead to the increase of retail sales. Referring specifically to the fashion sector, Hirschbichler (2011) notes that the sector’s managers are likely to use two strategies in order to improve the performance of their stores, i.e. increase the numbers of their customers: a) the Quick Response Strategy, a strategy focusing in the establishment of an effective supply chain; it is explained that the above method is particularly valuable in practice, as proved through the case of Zara; by adopting the above strategy the specific firm managed to reduce the time required for responding to the orders of its customers, and its performance has been significantly increased. The above strategy would be also used by retailers in Saudi Arabia, as a tool for increasing the confidence of their customers in the product/ services involved; b) ‘Collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment’ (Hirschbichler 2011, p.6), meaning the cooperation with other members of the team for increasing the effectiveness of the strategies including in a particular marketing plan (Hirschbichler 2011, p.6). Between the two strategies proposed above, the study of Hirschbichler the second one is considered as more effective, covering an important area of the market. Another aspect of consumer confidence is presented in the study of Jacobson et al (2001); in the above study, it is made clear that the most effective way for increasing

Carpet Recovery Recycling-Six Sigma Methodolgy Essay

Carpet Recovery Recycling-Six Sigma Methodolgy - Essay Example and more recently attentions have shifted to service environments. 31 Six Sigma is not just another management catch phrase. Rather, it is a highly disciplined process that helps a business develop and deliver near perfect products and services. By accurately measuring the number of defects in a process, you can systematically eliminate them. Achieving Six Sigma indicates you have less than four defects per million transactions. Needless to say how important it is. Just imagine at three sigma you have at least 54,000 defective drug prescriptions a year, more than 40,500 newborn babies accidentally dropped in the hospital each year and unsafe drinking water almost two hours each month. Comparing with above mentioned at Six Sigma quality level we would get only one wrong drug prescription, in 25 years, three newborn babies dropped in 100 years and unsafe drinking water only one second every 16 years 31 Six Sigma goes beyond small point improvements in product quality to the very fabric of the organization as a whole. It is a process for both improving performance and ensuring consistency in the delivery of a product or service. Most importantly, Six Sigma focuses on the customer. It continuously and rigorously measures those elements the customer identifies as "critical-to-quality." In other words, importance of Six Sigma is in its ability to transform abstract business scenarios into tangible and fact based situations thus minimizing guessing in solving business issues. 32 Bob Galvin former CEO of Motorola stated that the lack of initial investment in the non manufacturing areas of the business over four years was a blunder that cost the business over 5 million dollars (Basu & Write, 2003, p43). However, organisations have implemented six sigma initiatives in transactional frameworks with success- testimonial for six sigma triumphs in services range from American Express and PriceWaterHouseCoopers to local NHS

Immune System and New York Essay Example for Free

Immune System and New York Essay HIV And Its Effects Elizabeth Grundy Psychology 102 Dr Peggy Peach October 10, 2001 HIV And Its Effects 2 HIV AND Its Effects The effects HIV has on a person, symptoms, risks, history and prevention will be explained. HIV is on a rise among sexually active people. According to Packer (1998), HIV, the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), is a member of a family of viruses. The first member HTLV-I and related to STLV-I researchers believe they both have a common ancestor in Africa. (P.13). This will be explained in the following questions: 1. What are the symptoms of HIV? 2. What are the risks to getting HIV? 3. What is the history of HIV? 4. What is the treatment for HIV? This research paper on HIV will be focused on these four questions. 1. What are the symptoms of HIV? According to Nash (1997), when a person infected with HIV has symptoms such as fever, night sweats, weight loss, fatigue, and lymphadenopathy (persistent, unexplained swelling of the lymph nodes), but no opportunistic infections (illnesses that healthy immune systems fight off) or Kaposis sarcoma, he is said to have AIDS-related complex (ARC). The acronym ARC is not used as frequently as it was in the early years of the epidemic. AIDS is now thought of in term of a HIV continuum. It begins with HIV-positive diagnosis in a person who is not experiencing any symptoms. It continues to a symptomatic stage in which the person has opportunistic infections, HIV and Its Effects 3 andKaposis sarcoma, or any of the conditions previously used to define Arc, and the HIV-positive continuum ends with full-blown AIDS diagnosis (p.22). 2. What are the risks to getting HIV? According to Nash (1997) No one is safe if his or her behavior is not safe. You do not get HIV because of a group you belong to; you get HIV from exposure to the virus. HIV can be contracted through unprotected sex with an infected person, by sharing needles when using drugs, or by tattooing or piercing body parts with a needle that has been used on an infected person. (P 24). According to Draimin (1995) the four common most ways HIV can get into the  body, Dirty needles used to inject drugs, unprotected sexual intercourse, mother to fetus or new-born baby, and blood transfusion. (P.11) HIV is transferable through any kind of sexual contact: heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual. The means of transferring the virus is unprotected sex. The safe guards against contracting HIV are to have sex only when you are ready, to know your partner, and to protect yourself from possible infection every time you have sex by using a condom. The HIV virus, like some other viruses cannot live outside the body. It is killed by air. HIV requires a warm, wet place to live and be carried only in blood, sexual fluids, and possibly saliva. Sexual transmission of HIV means that the virus goes from fluid to fluid (semen, vaginal, and blood). The virus has to pass from fluid to fluids to stay alive. (Pp25-26) 3. What is the History of HIV? HIV and Its Effects 4 Hyde and Forsyth (1 996) In 1981, when the first mysterious cases of an unusual type of pneumonia began to appear, scientists have accumulated a large body of knowledge about HIV. The first alarm sounded before aids even had a name, when doctors realized that some formerly rare diseases were becoming common among homosexual men in the United States. The first well-documented cases of what was later called AIDS were found in San Francisco and New York in 1981. A young gay man in San Francisco was found to be suffering from severe fungal infection to which he had little immune reaction. In fact, his immune system did not respond to any disease. Then he developed Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), a type of pneumonia that is caused by a parasite. This disease is usually found only in severely malnourished individuals or people whos immune have been impaired by drugs such as those used in treatment of cancer. (p.56) According to Nash (1997) In 1982, three non-drug -injecting heterosexual men with hemophilia A developed AIDS and were reported to CDC. Hemophilia A, a blood -clotting defect, requires transfusions of blood-clotting factors derived from whole blood. (p.29) In June 1981 the first report of what AIDS, published by CDC described the new disease as a collection of characteristics symptoms among various population groups. It was a narrow definition, involving the presence of one or more opportunistic infections or cancers, and signs that general failure of immune system had occurred. (Nash, 1997) 4 What is the treatment for HIV HIV and Its Effects 5 According to Nash (1997) AIDS symptoms typically takes years to develop after the initial infection.  Scientists are researching what they call immunotherapy. Vaccines to prevent or stop a disease from taking hold; immunotherapy intervenes before symptoms arise and rids the body of infection. Management drugs have come out such as; Azidothymidine (AZT), this is the first of its kind. It interferes with HIV reproduction inside the cell; it slows the process of AIDS down. An HIV- positive person who takes AZT before AIDS symptoms appear lives longer than those who did not. Dideoxycytidine (ddC) and dideoxyinosine (ddI) offer another approach to combine therapy. Death rates are lowered when ddC and ddI were taken in combination of ddC and AZT or ddI and AZT then those patients who took AZT alone. Ampligen-, which did not help the patients when administered, alone-used in combination with AZT increase the effectiveness of both drugs. Epivir (3TC) became the first new initial therapy since AZT. The combination therapy of 3TC and AZT lowered the amount of HIV in patients and boosted their immune system. Invirase (protease inhibitor) is designed to cripple an enzyme vital in late stages of HIV reproduction, which is used in combination of other anti-HIV drugs. They reduce the levels of the virus in some people and increase the number of immune cells in some patients previously depleted by the virus. In 1996 Ritonavir, another protease inhibitor was also approved. HIV and its effects on those we know and love are about learning to manage the illness. People need to practice safe sex and to and to pay attention to safe behavior. HIV and treatment have come along way. Medical science has along time to go before a cure. HIV and Its Effects 6 References Packer, K. (1998). HIV Infection The Facts You Need To Know. New York: Venture. Draimin, B. (1ed)(1995). Working Together Against AIDS. New York: The Rosen Publishing group. Nash, C. (1997). AIDSs Choice for life. Springfield, NJ: Enslow. : Hyde, M., Forsyth, E. (1996). AIDS What Does It Mean To You? New York: Walker.

Effects Of Technology On The Organisations Structure Management Essay

Effects Of Technology On The Organisations Structure Management Essay This essay will investigate the effects of technology on the organisations structure in reference to Perrows Study. In fact, the way Perrow analyses organisations looking into jobs delivered within the business, their capability to influence these roles to deliver various tasks and the choice of outcomes accomplished (Perrow,1979). Perrow states that in order to better understand the variations in structure and the degree of bureaucratization, we must understand the need for structure. Tasks which are not well understood makes such units difficult to bureaucratise is an essential organisational concern in 3DNetworks during its transition to an organic structure due to vendor change eventually affects its future organisational strategic structure. Finally, analysing Perrows prominence on the consequence of introducing a mixture of technologies into organisations (Perrow, 1986), in addition to Galbraiths case that technology can be a main determinant of uncertainty in the organisation and will facilitate easier understanding to the developing structure of 3DNetworks (Robbins Barnewell, 2006). In short, in 3DNetworks Australia, both structural change and technological change are of equal importance, since structural change can affect technological change and the opposite is true. There is some limitations to certain arguments as well as being aware of the importance of its considerations by management personnel will aid in proving whether technology is the sole determinant of organisational structure or whether it is the only one of many factors. During my early months into employment, 3DNetworks duties occupied are in selling a new telephone system, installing it and maintaining that system for number of years. Since 3Dnetworks were aligned with only one vendor this meant the same telephone system is deployed repetitively to businesses, creating ease of delivering systems for that one vendor. Such duties indicate a structure high in Centralisation and Formalisation, yet the most efficient structure was the mechanistic; task inconsistency and problem solving were low due to high predictability like referred by Perrow. He anticipated that task variability and problem analysability were positively correlated (Perrow, 1986). It is odd to find cases within 3DNetwork where duties such as installing a telephone system for the same vendor having few expectations experiencing problems which were not analysable carrying out that duty. Moreover, Perrow highlights in his theory the causes why duties performed with Single Vendor were implicit, predictable, routine and repetitive. 3DNetworks with various facts that the delivery and installation procedures were delivered with repetitiveness and all the risks were anticipated and mitigated. With such an approach, centralised and formal structure was advantageous since it guaranteed reduced training hours, ensured more profit and efficiency (Perrow,1979). As it is clearly obvious in the past year in 3DNetworks, moving from a single vendor to a multivendor technology will eventually translate into moving to a new complex structure over the years to come since the roles are moving to non routine creating uncertainty. Perrow and Galbraith typologies are the perfect fit for 3DNetworks since they both deal with the routines of responsibilities. While Perrow analyses the effect of routines on the level of the people carrying the job out, Galbraith looks deeper into the impact of routineness on parts or the overall structure of the organisation. (Robbins Barnell, 2006). 3DNetworks had to adapt, routinise and adjust to change with efforts given to management to reduce uncertainty in the future market than they are to allowing the organisation continually change and adjust in the interest of efficiency organisations deliberately or not, attempt to maximise the congruence between their technology and structure (taylor, 1990). This has resulted in a high level of formalisation in terms of standardising the tasks so that the presentation of 3DNetworks is uniform across not only Australia, but also across Asia-Pac. Therefore, many of the practices employees engage in routine and repetitive work for example; installing the telephone handsets. This portion of formalisation was vital for 3DNetworks since contracted employees reduced the need for highly skilled permanent ones who were only hired to carry a small range of duties like small office projects. 3DNetworks are currently endeavouring to control the outside influences since the mechanistic organisation seeks to stabilise and routinise its own business processes to establish internal efficiency (Robbins Barnell, 2006). This shows the significance influence of technology in the determination of organisational structure. The way in which technology has promoted levels of standardising employee behaviour is through the explicit rules that specifically state what is expected and what is not (Robbins Barnell, 2006). Moreover, procedures that specify how to deliver, install and support a phone system simplifies job, training and increases efficiency. As defined in our textbook (Robbins Barnell, 2006, p220), the result on one study that looked at 14 medium sized firms concentrating only on the two extreme cells-routine and non routine technologies and found support for Perrows predictions. Also, another study, covering 16 health and welfare agencies confirmed that organisations that do have diverse technologies and that the more routine the work that more likely it is that decision making will be centralised. These reassured Perrows predictions: work that was high in routineness was associated with high formalisation, as evident in 3DNetworks. Furthermore, standardizing duties into process to simplify delivery of new phone systems will reflect at employees behaviour after clarifying the requirements and steps of how to install the new systems. Contingency theories like Perrow argue that most companies attempt to deal with influences on a routine, predictable basis. In 3DNetworks even though managers believe it is the best way to minimise the effects technology has on organisational structure, theorists who hold the natural perspective note that various influences are important and can have a beneficial effect on the organisational goals and hence the structure of organisations. In both cases, contingency theorists as well as those who hold natural perspective provide support for the ideology supporting technology as a major determinant of organisational structure. (Borgatti, 1996) However, months into my employment organisational factors have altered 3DNetworks company structure. The Only one vendor strategy with NORTEL Networks which 3DNetworks was aligned with, declared bankruptcy. 3Dnetwroks realised the urgency to look at other alternative Vendors. The IT market is currently saturated and having to introduce new vendors means that 3DNetworks has to skill up its current employees while retaining its current level of competencies. While deciding on the number of additional new vendors to partner with and the strategy moving forward, the company witnessed a reign of high profile resignations that affected its operations. With these departures, 3DNetworks lost personnel of high calibre, systems knowledge which resulted in being non-routine. Such incident is a part in Perrows ways of how technology identifies the key aspects of structure. Eventually, it became apparent non-routine technologies require greater structural flexibility (Perrow,1986). This leads us to the following conclusion, that the effects of structure driving technological change are multi directional and 3DNetworks Not only does structural change drive technological change, but technological changes also have been driven by structural change. Since current staff are adopting new technologies, unexpected and no-routine duties, this push for structural change led to the emergence of an organic structure. So it is noticeable that technology is a major determinant of changes in structure, particularly for organisations like 3DNetworks. 3DNetworks is expected to be decentralised and delivering routine tasks became non-routine, such units became difficult to bureaucratise toward the end of the year. Moreover, differentiating the staffs duties to be completed are increasing and this will make it more difficult for the current employees to coordinate these new activities into the divisions and more resources is needed to apply in order to coordinate these activities such as training on new Vendor technologies. The existence of a higher interaction amongst all members began to emerge and slowly lower levels of formalisation became obvious. More discretion will have to be given to current staff to help them adjust to the non routines jobs of the new Vendors. The low formalisation, according to Perrow derives from an inability to write rules about constantly set of problems (Perrow, 1979). 3DNetworkss restructure reflects Perrows theory because current staff began performing new ways of phone installations that were unfam iliar and constant as they were performing many tasks normally completed previously by a selected team. Soon the levels of authority became blurred. Hence, our organisational structure changed, becoming more flexible and losing a high degree of its division of labour which led to an increase in the leniency and emergence of an organic structure. (Robbins Barnwell,2006) In addition, many theories argued that becoming the non-routine organisation does not come for free. It comes at a significant price of long periods of personnel training, professional employees, confusion, wasted material and unpredictable outputs (Taylor,1990). The duties variability with multiple vendors strategy exerted pressure and consequences affecting performance across all staff in the 3DNetworks were obvious. Galbraith indicates the importance of the link between duties and information. As duties are increasingly becoming uncertain, the new information required a sign off by internal stakeholders for the new various vendors to achieve the desired level of performance (Cyert March,1992). When 3DNA was aligned with Nortel, the routine duties of selling, installing and supporting a telephone system was all straight forward with programs in place that facilitated ease of delivery. Galbraith proposes the structure followed by any organisation is dependent on the depth of the process information in place and has a direct impact on 3DNetworks change in structure. Due to task uncertainty arises the need to have process information as stated by Galbraith. Current staff began engaging with new unfamiliar tasks for two new vendors introduced by management. This was a challenge for current staff to cope with the current level of work and absorb new tasks for two new vendors at the same time. Current staff had to be skilled up and certified to enable 3DNetworks engage with these vendors. Galbraith also articulated that an organisation should adopt a structure that allowed it to process information appropriate to its needs at an acceptable level of organisational performance (Robbins Barnwell, 2006). However, in 3DNetworks, staff were overwhelmed by the business process and the quantity of information they had to absorb in short notice and it seems like management in 3DNetworks had failed to plan to adopt with this situation and there were very few resources to assist with gaining the right information to complete the new tasks which lead to uncertainty. Once again, it was noticeable the influence of technology on determining organisational structure. In Short, 3DNetworks management failed to recognise effectiveness of organisational structure and thus a more appropriate structure requires the voluntary cooperation of members and actions that promote a positive environment within the organisation. Where this is achieved, high formalisation could have existed .This may also been seen to be present as it is possible to predict the behaviour of organisation members in non- routine situations (Robbins Barnwell,2006). Rather, they allowed low formalisation to emerge under the belief that high formalisation could not co-exist with non routine tasks. The transition to reduced formalisation proved to improve interest in the job, however, the responsibility of having to complete non routine tasks not specified in the job description created confusion and job dissatisfaction. Hence, many more organisational problems that could have been avoided existed under the emergence of the newly adopted structure. On the Other hand, what managers must recognise is the limitations of the measures of technology which easily gets confused by the effects of structure (Borgatti,1996). For example an organisation may not have implemented a mechanistic model and people experienced much uncertainty in what would normally be considered routine tasks. This notion is evident in 3DNetworks presently, as the changing nature of the company has left contracted staff completing tasks that are normally completed by highly paid subject matter experts (SME) and thus seen as routine in the eyes of the managers. However, the departure of these managers has meant contracted staff are now carrying out these routine tasks with a high degree of uncertainty. This has however, ultimately led to the distinguishing finding which is that the effects of structure driving technological change are multi directional (Perrow,1986). Not only does structural change drive technological change, but in 3DNetworks example, technologi cal changes also have driven structural change. As the adoption of new vendor oriented tasks, by contracted staff drove the changes in organisational structure (Borgatti, 1996). Thus, technology is a significant factor in the determination of organisational structure. Structure and Conclusion: The Conclusion summoned from this analysis to set future direction is the perception that companies are not the same, they vary to the type of tasks they engage in and thus differ in structure (Taylor,1990). Also the environment is not predictable and uncertain; Environmental uncertainty or task predictability is the basic independent variable influencing the design of the organization (Galbraith, 1970). In fact, it is suggested within 3DNetworks to align their management practises constantly according to their current environment with the suitable types of technologies. This will guarantee staffs awareness of duties and the evolving structure, as this failed to be achieved presently and is acting destructively on the organisation. In turn, if these changes are adopted, 3DNetworks management may be in a better position to define more carefully the nature of their organisation and determine what types of management practises work and which are likely to fail. Since routinisation strengthens predictability and centralisation, Perrow acknowledges that individuals will attempt to routinise all tasks over which they have authority because routinisation simplifies duties and increases efficiency. Perrow also argues the pros and cons of non routine and routine form of structures and believes that each carry equal benefits depending on the types of tasks performed. As there is no one best way to manage and to be effective, planning, controlling, organising and leading must be tailored to particular circumstances faced by organisations (Perrow, 1979). Therefore, considering such organisational challenges are important to alert management to Perrows argument and try to eliminate the idea in managers minds to execute routinization of tasks and structures in times of error. After all, Perrows theories will always be a useful reference to understand the organisations structure and the ways technology effects reflect upon dealing with non routine and routine tasks. This will raise the importance of awareness of tasks among 3DNetworks management team and will ensure they can determine the arrangement of roles and the extent of goals that could be achieved with certain new technologies. This is also important as identifying a companys goal is critical to understanding structure because goals affect structure On the whole, the investigation above addresses organisational issues through the exploration of other contingency theories and pragmatic facts to conclude that technology might be one of the most significant independent variable in determining Organisational structure, but for sure is not the sole determinant of that structure.

Street Violence and the Media Essay example -- Argumentative Persuasiv

Violence Imitates the Media    In this essay we explore the increasingly apparent connection between the violence brutalizing teachers and kids in our schools, and the violence which the media regularly serves us through films, TV shows, shock jocks, and other supposedly innocuous outlets. Is it any wonder that reporters and journalists are picking up the John Paul II phrase "culture of death" to refer to America's culture? In the anxious hours following the Columbine High School shootings, America's television screens repeatedly showed a slow-motion film clip in which a black-clad, shotgun-toting boy bursts into a classroom and fills his fellow students full of buckshot. The gunman was teen idol Leonardo DiCaprio, the star of Titanic, and the clip came not from a surveillance camera but from Scott Kalvert's The Basketball Diaries, the 1995 movie said to have been a favorite of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the black-clad, shotgun-toting boys who strolled into their school one bright April morning and murdered a teacher, twelve of their classmates, and themselves, leaving behind 51 homemade bombs for the police to defuse. (Basketball) Though The Basketball Diaries was promptly pulled from video stores by the studio that released it, the long-simmering debate over graphic portrayals of violence in the media had long since boiled over. Not that anything new was said-the only difference was the glib immediacy conferred by the shedding of blood. The argument itself remains as agonizingly familiar as a family quarrel: Did movies and television make us what we are today, or do they merely show us what we have become? In the case of The Basketball Diaries, the thing speaks for itself. To watch that horrific clip is to... ...philosophically trained pope is not given to shallow sound bites, and when he speaks of the culture of death, he has in mind a deep-seated, collective nihilism of which illegal drugs, idiot shock jocks, and mindlessly violent movies are mere symptoms. How to break its stranglehold? We all know the answer, but rarely is the question put so starkly to any of us as it was to 17-year-old Cassie Bernall. Trapped at gunpoint in the library of Columbine High School, she was asked by one of her attackers whether she believed in God. "Yes, I believe in God," she replied, and then he shot her dead. It is hard to imagine a more dramatic scene-and harder still to imagine that anyone in Hollywood, least of all Doug Liman, would dare to put it into a movie. Sources Consulted: The Basketball Diaries  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1995/04/975715.html

Desecration of the Flag is an American Freedom :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument Essays

Desecration of the Flag is an American Freedom The American Flag is truly a versatile emblem. The flag’s stars, stripes, and colors represent valor, purity and vigilance—they represent bloodshed, hard work, and mostly, the infallible freedoms known as rights. Paradoxically, those same stitches that compose the flag and bind our freedom contain the right to desecrate and utterly disrespect it. How beautiful: a country that regards freedom so highly that it protects even the most offensive actions of expression; what magnificent grace. The Bill of Rights—left untouched by meddling hands for almost 200 years—secures that grace; the freedoms that allegedly make America different from other countries. It is most certainly not a coincidence that the freedom of expression is the first inalienable right our forefathers chose to protect in the constitution. Unfortunately, our First Amendment is not able to protect itself. It seems as if certain politicians are preoccupied with other issues, such as the necessity of civilians owning assault rifles and exaggerating the size of American flags in classrooms. Now, amongst all other stresses and responsibilities of our government, the United States Senate has somehow miraculously found the time and prerogative to groan about whether or not certain freedoms of expression should be legal. During war and economic crisis, politicians believe it necessary to put the very rights of American citizens in question. How ironic is it that the people we place in enough confidence to elect leaders we cannot place in enough confidence to enact civil rights. In Texas v. Johnson (1989), The Supreme Court ruled flag desecration symbolic of free speech, and thus protected by the First Amendment. The proposed amendment to overturn this decision has failed to get the two-thirds majority needed for passage four times since 1989. Why, then, the Senate is fixated with altering the Supreme Court’s concrete decision is baffling. Stereotypically, it is a conservative idiosyncrasy to be preoccupied with superficial respect but deny necessary principles of unmodified freedom.

C.S. Foresters Lieutenant Hornblower: Success And Failure :: Lieutenant Hornblower Essays

In the novel Lieutenant Hornblower there were a few scenes were Hornblower was a success and a few were he was a failure.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In my opinion the first success of Hornblower was when he used all the cannons on one side of the ship to free them from the mud holding the ship. Another success was when Hornblower suggested a landing attack on Samana Bay. The commanding officer agreed with his suggestion, and they put together a landing party. Hornblower had the whole attack planed and the coordinates marked. His surprise attack on the Spanish at Samana proved to be a success. Once the fort was taken over he was successful in firing red hot shot at enemy ships, even without ever using that technique before. Then when the negotiation with the Spanish took place he had a brilliant idea to mount a nine pound cannon at the upper end of the peninsula to prevent the Spanish from escaping. This enabled them to turn down the terms of the proposal that the Spanish wanted and get what they wanted without giving anything to the Spanish. These achievements made by Hornblower is what later earned him the command of the Retribution, although his command of the Retribution did not come until later when the war started again.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hornblower had also had a few failures that hindered his successes. Among these was when Hornblower was using the red hot shot to sink enemy ships. This was both a success and failure. It was a failure because after heating the shot for a considerably long period of time the shot began to deform. This deformity of the shot wouldn't allow it to fit into the cannon. Hornblower realized his mistake after one of the shots wouldn't fit into the cannon. This slowed their operation down but didn't cause a defeat to them. The situation with Hornblower gambling is mostly in my opinion a success but it could also be a failure. The way I think it would be a failure is that he lost a lot of his

Calculate the Window of Vulnerability Essay

The WoV covers a timeline from the moment a vulnerability is discovered and identified by the IT people. It also includes the time taken to fix the vulnerability. It is also important to explore the device(s) that were targeted by the attack. In this instance, being the SMB server within the LAN. The window of vulnerability is 8 days. 1. The WoV covers a timeline from the moment a vulnerability is discovered and identified by the IT people. 2. The critically of the vulnerability is that while the solution is being search, the network may be hacked and information may be jeopardize. 3. The amount of time between when a vulnerability is discovered and when it is eliminated is usually 8 days. 4. Early detection and responsible reporting helps to reduce the risk that a vulnerability might be exploited before it is repaired. 1 What vulnerabilities exist for this workgroup LAN based on the advisories? List five of them. 2401593 CVE-2010-3213 2264072 CVE-2010-1886 980088 CVE-2010-0255 975497 CVE-2009-3103 98343 CVE-2010-0817 2. Do any vulnerabilities involve privilege elevation? Is this considered a high priority issue? Only two from the five listed in question one are privileged elevation and identified by the asterisk alongside the CVE number. They are of importance but not considered a high priority issue as asked. 3. Identify and document at least three vulnerabilities and the solutions related to the client configurations. Advisory Number: 977981 Solution: This security update resolves four privately reported vulnerabilities and one publicly disclosed vulnerability in Internet Explorer. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights Advisory Number: 979352 Solution: This security update resolves seven privately reported vulnerabilities and one publicly disclosed vulnerability in Internet Explorer. The more severe vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. Advisory Number: 954157 Solution: The update also removes the ability for this codec to be loaded when browsing the Internet with any other applications. By only allowing applications to use the Indeo codec when the media content is from the local system or from the intranet zone, and by preventing Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player from launching the codec at all, this update removes the most common remote attack vectors but still allows games or other applications that leverage the codec locally to continue to function.

Jeff Koons and Unknown Artist Essay

Michael Jackson and Bubbles by Jeff Koons and Painted Sarcophagus Hanunia Tlesnasa by an unknown artist both have subjects that are reclining in similar positions. Michael Jackson and his chimpanzee, Bubbles are dressed in suits that are similar to the Sergeant Pepper uniforms of the Beatles. Jackson is in a combination of sitting/reclining position leaning back on his arm with his hand on the floor for support. His back leg is raised with his foot on the floor while his other leg is bent and but completely resting on the floor. Bubbles is resting in his lap while leaning into his owner. Jackson is has one arm gently placed around the chimp. They are sitting on the blossoms of many flowers and several of the flowers are placed randomly on the two subjects. Painted Sarcophagus Hanunia Tlesnasa is of a large woman with what would be considered today as masculine features. She has her back leg raised with her front leg bent and completely resting on the floor. Her elbow is holding her in a sitting position while propped on a pillow and the hand of that arm is holding an open mirror. The other hand is holding back the long white covering her head. Her dark hair is pulled back and up. Her dress is loose and flowing yet cinched at the waist with a golden cord. She is resting on a Sarcophagus that is decorated with blooms of a large flowers and columns. Painted Sarcophagus Hanunia Tlesnasa has a medium of terracotta and she is painted with the dye like paint that was used during that time period. The terracotta was chosen by the unknown sculpture because that is what type of material a sarcophagus would be made. It was a perfect medium to hold a body and to decorate as well. Michael Jackson and Bubbles is made of ceramic porcelain. While this medium is fragile, it was probably chosen for its easy molding and the sheen after it has been in the kiln. Paint is also very durable when it is baked on the porcelain. Painted Sarcophagus Hanunia Tlesnasa is from the Etruscan Artistic Period. This period is even before the ancient Roman time in northern Italy. This civilization just disappeared so their origins are still a mystery. They did leave behind many pieces of art and the ruins of their architecture. Many of their works of art that survived were their burial and crematory containers and Painted Sarcophagus Hanunia Tlesnasa is a perfect example of the time in which it was sculpted. Both the Painted Sarcophagus Hanunia Tlesnasa and Michael Jackson and Bubbles have the formal element of color. Michael Jackson and Bubbles has a predominant gold and white color that dominate the sculpture. The eyes of both subjects are black and their lips are shocking red, but these colors seem to fade into oblivion when contrasted with the gold. Painted Sarcophagus Hanunia Tlesnasa is white also predominantly white and gold except that there is more white whereas in the other sculpture has more gold. The fact that the subject’s hair is brown stands out since it everything else surrounding it is white. The pillow where she rests her arm is reddish brown, yet unlike the hair, it is hard to discern. The flowers on the sarcophagus are also of a reddish brown and the columns are a dark gold. I chose Michael Jackson and Bubbles by Jeff Koons sculpted in nineteen eighty-eight and Painted Sarcophagus Hanunia Tlesnasa sculpted in one hundred and forty B. C. by the unknown artist more because I did not like them instead of admiration. I particularly did not like Michael Jackson and Bubbles because of the subject. I always thought that Michael Jackson was an overrated musician, then I felt that he was more famous for his weirdness than his talent. I know that he was not convicted of child molestation, but through his interviews, I felt that he was inappropriate behavior, so it is hard to get past the subject of this sculpture. However, I did try really hard to look at the value of Koons’ work. I felt that the there was too much gold for a realistic affect. I came to the conclusion that the gold was symbolic of how money could allow a man who obviously needs help to thrive in a society that accepts anything from people with money. I did not feel that I would like the subject of Painted Sarcophagus Hanunia Tlesnasa if I had known her. Her countenance and position seem to portray an air of arrogance. They both displease me because of the unlikable feel of the subjects and Michael Jackson and Bubbles leave me with a feeling of disgust because of Jackson. Bubbles has nothing to do with the reason that I feel negatively about the sculpture. Works Cited Delahunt, Michael. Artlex. com 10, November 2008 http://www. artlex. com

Dividend Policy and Share Prices

Introduction In this paper the impact of dividend policy of the companies on the firm’s share prices is analysed and different views in the context of the semi-strong form of the efficient market hypothesis are contrasted. The overview of the traditional and most recent empirical investigations of the stock market reaction to the dividend announcements is provided and different findings are discussed and compared. Three companies have been selected from the FTSE All share price index. These companies are Tesco, Burberry and Vodafone. These firms belong to different sectors of the economy.Tesco is the largest retailer in the UK, Burberry is a fashion firm and Vodafone is the telecommunication services company. The dividends and accounts have been retrieved from annual reports of the companies (Tesco, 2011; Burberry, 2011; Vodafone, 2011). The share prices were sourced from Yahoo Finance (2012). The copies of the company accounts are provided in the appendices. Dividend Policies of Companies These three companies were chosen for the following reasons. Firstly, it was intended to choose large companies that have an established dividend policy and revenue of more than ? billion a year. Secondly, the companies from different industries had to be analysed. Thirdly, both services sector and goods sector were intended to be analysed. Finally, it was interesting to compare both pro-cyclical firms (e. g. Burberry) and counter-cyclical firms (e. g. Vodafone). The former are very sensitive to the effects of the economic recession whereas the latter are less sensitive because consumers would still have to use mobile phones and services regardless of their financial position.The dividend payout ratio has been calculated for these companies for the period from 2007 to 2011. The following formula was used: Dividend payout ratio = dividends per share / earnings per share The results are summarised in the following figure. Figure 1 Dividend Payout Ratios Source: Annual Re ports of Tesco (2011), Burberry (2011) and Vodafone (2011) The payout ratios indicate different dividend policies adopted by the three companies. Tesco’s policy is aimed at maintaining a constant dividend payout ratio, which is very common for mature industries such as retailing.In these industries the majority of the large companies are â€Å"cash cows† for the investors and therefore the dividend policy tends to show constant payout ratios, which inspires trust in the company and expectation of future stability. In contrast, the dividend policies of Vodafone and Burberry are not aimed at a constant payout ratio. In fact, as the following figure demonstrates, the policies of Vodafone and Burberry are aimed at dividend growth. Figure 2 Final DividendsSource: Annual Reports of Tesco (2011), Burberry (2011) and Vodafone (2011) However, whereas Vodafone demonstrates a â€Å"steady dividend growth strategy†, Burberry demonstrates the a strategy that does not show a specific pattern but can be interpreted as a signal to the market because in 2009 the company announced the dividends that were equal to the dividends announced in the previous year in spite of the accounting losses suffered by the firm which were reflected in negative earnings per share (Appendix C).This move can be interpreted as a sign that the management attempted to signal the market that the losses are temporary and the company was expected to recover quickly. It is interesting to note that the latter policy is inconsistent with the position that dividends should be paid out of earnings rather than accumulated capital or reserves. Furthermore, the companies could undertake an alternative dividend policy which would imply linking the dividend payout to the investment opportunities that could be managed by firms (Brealey and Myers, 2003).If the company has many projects that offer positive net present value, then it would be recommended that dividends could be retained and reinv ested in the firm. Only residual earnings, which are left after investments in all positive NPV projects could be distributed as dividends (Bodie et al, 2009). Dividend Announcements and Share Prices Dividend announcements and their impact on share prices can be explained by the semi strong form of the efficient market hypothesis (EMH).Efficient market hypothesis implies that the only thing that may impact the stock prices is new information, since all other possibly influencing parameters are already included in the firm’s stock price (Palan, 2004). The efficient market hypothesis may be divided into three forms: the weak form, the semi-strong form, and the strong form. The weak form implies that share prices bear or reflect the past prices and trade volume information, the semi-strong form adds publicly available information to the weak form, and the strong form adds even insider information to the efficiency approach (Harder, 2008).Empirical evidences show that successive changes in stock prices are independent and this independence is in line with the efficient market hypothesis, as markets promptly react to the new information (Fama et al. , 1969). In this context it may be assumed that dividend announcements convey particular positive information about the company and provide signals about future performance of the firm. The decision about paying dividends is made by the firm’s managers and often supported by shareholders’ voting.Since dividend announcements bear useful information, from the efficient market hypothesis view point this information is reflected in the share price changes immediately after the public announcement (Bodie et al, 2009). The three companies that were chosen have been used to test the semi strong form of the EMH and whether the dividends announcements made by Tesco, Vodafone and Burberry had a significant impact on shareholder returns and share prices. So, the null hypotheses of the analysis are the followin g:H0: Dividends have a positive and significant effect on the share prices H0: Dividends have a positive and significant effect on the weekly stock returns. The alternative hypotheses are the following: Halt: Dividends do not have a significant effect on the share prices Halt: Dividends do not have a significant effect on the weekly stock returns. According to EMH in its semi strong form, the information on dividends should be quickly absorbed into the stock prices during the first week and hence the acceptance of the null hypotheses will be consistent with the semi strong efficiency.However, if abnormal returns persist in the longer run, e. g. three months, the EMH in the semi strong form can be rejected. Empirical evidences also provide support for the semi-strong efficient market hypothesis, implying that stock market efficiently and quickly adjusts to new information about dividends (Aharony and Swary, 1980). However, the research of Amihud and Li (2006) finds that the reaction of stock market to dividend announcement is not constant. It is concluded that cumulative abnormal returns promoted by dividend announcements decline to zero in due course.The findings suggest that dividend announcement are less informative over time, and this may be related to the reluctance of managers to pay extra expenses related to dividends (Amihud and Li, 2006). Moreover, the recent decrease in propensity of companies to pay dividends is sometimes related to the lower informational contend of dividend announcements. Since institutional investors are normally better informed and tend to play key roles in public firms, the costly dividends have become a less popular way to provide information (Baker, 2009).The study of Asquth and Mullins (1983) also suggests that stock prices and shareholders’ wealth are impacted by initiation and increase of dividends. Moreover, the effect of dividend increase is stronger than the influence of dividend initiation. The results are in lin e with assumption that dividend announcements bear valuable information for investors. Dividend policy may be used as a simple way to signal managers’ view of the company’s recent and future performance (Asquth and Mullins, 1983). However, it must be stated that dividend policies are not directly influencing share prices and lead to their changes.Instead, dividend policies are changed by managers when some fundamental developments in company’s performance are expected, and these developments cause the change of the share prices. Thus, dividend announcement is only the way for investors to obtain information about these fundamental developments. Similarly, there are no evidences that a company value may be increased through increase of dividends, since dividends only convey signals about fundamental changes in the company and are viewed as only by-products of the changes (Moles et al. 2011). Nevertheless, the study of Shiller (1981) challenges the efficient marke t hypothesis suggesting that the volatility of stock prices are too high to be explained by the future dividends. A more recent investigation of Mehnidiratta and Gupta (2010) supports the semi-strong form of efficient market hypothesis concluding that stock prices promptly and accurately react to the publicly available information, particularly to dividend announcements. The two-stage study tests the share prices response to dividend announcement.The first stage included the evaluation of beta based on post facto returns on stock and market index and predicted returns on every of the stocks. The second stage these values were used to calculate abnormal returns around the day of announcement. The results provide information that though investors do not obtain significant value prior to the dividend announcement day or on the event day, they do gain value after the announcement. Investors move their security positions on the announcement day which implies that after the event day ther e is informational value in dividend announcement.The evidences prove that the increases in dividends imply more positive abnormal stock returns, and this supports the efficient market hypothesis (Mehnidiratta and Gupta, 2010). But there are also empirical evidences of little stock market reaction to dividend announcements at some periods (Hasan et al. , 2012). The event study methodology was used to evaluate the effect of cash dividend announcements on the share prices. The data about abnormal returns around the event day was analysed and the events before, on, or after the announcement day were pooled.The tested assumption states that payment of cash dividends is the most significant factor that impacts all prices around the event days (Hasan et al. , 2012). In the following figures the results of the regression analysis and statistical tests applied to the regressions are presented. Table 1 Effects of Dividends on Investor Weekly Return Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coeffici ents Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) .012 .009 1. 375 .175 Dividend -. 002 .002 -. 143 -1. 030 .308 Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate imension0 1 .143a .020 .001 .03489 a. Predictors: (Constant), Dividend According to the first regression, dividends do not have a significant impact on the weekly stock returns and hence the null hypothesis related to stock returns is rejected. However, the output from the regression of share prices on dividends demonstrates that the former have a statistically significant positive influence on the share price performance. This was evidenced with the t-test. Table 2 Effects of Dividends on Share Prices Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) 151. 362 47. 949 3. 157 .003 Dividend 45. 955 9. 186 .574 5. 003 .000 Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate dimension0 1 .574a .329 .316 191. 66266 a. Predictors : (Constant), Dividend Thus, the null hypothesis related to the effects of dividends on the share prices is accepted. R-squared test has revealed that the second regression had a better fit. Conclusion As the semi-strong efficient market hypothesis suggests, new information including dividend announcement is quickly reflected in the company’s stock prices.Some empirical evidences support the hypothesis (Fama et al. , 1969; Aharony and Swary, 1980). Other findings suggest that the impact of the announcements may decline in the course of time (Amihud and Li, 2006). The recent empirical studies that were reviewed support the semi-strong efficient market hypothesis and find that dividend announcements produce abnormal returns and are positively related to the share prices (Mehnidiratta and Gupta, 2010). But another event study displays different reaction of stock prices to dividend announcement in different years (Hasan et al. , 2012).The analysis in the paper was conducted in th e context of three UK based companies from different sectors. The dividend policies of these companies have been analysed. Furthermore, the relationships between the share prices and the dividends were tested. It was found that the dividends produced a positive and statistically significant effect on the share prices but no significant effect on weekly returns. References Aharyny, J. and Swary, I. (1980) â€Å"Quarterly Dividend and Earnings Announcements and Stockholders’ Returns: An Empirical Analysis†, The Journal of Finance, 31 (1), pp. 1-12. Amihud, Y. nd Li, K. (2006) â€Å"The Declining Information Content of Dividend Announcements and the Effects of Institutional Holdings†, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 41, pp. 637-660. Asquith, P. and Mullins, D. W. Jr. (1983) â€Å"The Impact of Initiating Dividend Payments on Shareholders’ Wealth†, The Journal of Business, 56 (1), pp. 77-96. Baker, H. K. (2009) Dividends and dividend po licy. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Bodie, Z. , Kane, A. and Marcus, A. (2009) Investments, Hoboken: McGraw Hill Professional. Brealey, R. and Myers, S. (2003) Principles of Corporate Finance, New York: McGraw Hill.Burberry (2011) Annual Reports and Accounts, [online] Available at: www. burberryplc. com/bbry/results-centre/respre/rep2011/ [Accessed 6 February 2012]. Fama, E. F. , Fisher, L. , Jensen, M. C. and Roll, R. (1969) â€Å"The Adjustment of Stock Prices to New Information†, International Economic Review, 10 (1), pp. 1-21. Field A. (2005) Discovering Statistics Using SPSS, London: Sage Publications. Gujarati, D. (1995) Basic Econometrics. 3rd ed. , New York: McGraw-Hill. Harder, S. (2008) â€Å"The Efficient Market Hypothesis and Its Application to Stock Markets†, Scholarly Research Paper, Germany: GRIN Verlag.Hasan, S. B. , Akhter, S. and Huda, H. A. E. (2012) â€Å"Cash Dividend Announcement Effect: Evidence from Dhaka Stock Exchange†, Research J ournal of Finance and Accounting, 3 (2), pp. 12-24. Maddala, G. S. (2001) Introduction to Econometrics. 3rd ed. , Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Mehnidiratta, N. and Gupta, S. (2010) â€Å"Impact of Dividend Announcement on Stock Prices†, International Journal of Information Technology and Knowledge Management, 2 (2), pp. 405-410. Moles, P. , Parrino, R. and Kidwell, D. (2011) Fundamentals of Corporate Finance – European Edition. UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Palan, S. 2004) â€Å"The Efficient Market Hypothesis and Its Validity in Today's Markets†, M. A. Thesis. Germany: GRIN Verlag. Shiller, R. J. (1981) â€Å"Do Stock Prices Move Too Much to be Justified by Subsequent Changes in Dividends? †, NBER Working Paper No. 456. Tesco (2011) Annual Report and Accounts [online] Available at: ar2011. tescoplc. com/ [Accessed 6 February 2012]. Vodafone (2011) Annual Report and Accounts [online] Available at: http://www. vodafone. com/content/index/investors/reports/ann ual_report. html [Accessed 6 February 2012]. Yahoo Finance (2012) Weekly Share Prices [online] Available at: finance. yahoo. co. uk [Accessed 6 February 2012].

Marketing and Gucci Essay

Gucci The company Gucci is well known in many countries. The moment a person hears the word Gucci what comes to mind is fashion and expesive. In 1921, Guccio Gucci opened his first store in his native country Italy. Since 1921 Gucci has evolve into one of the most exclusive store in the world. It wasnt until 1950, that Gucci became known once the green red green logo was released. In 1953 due to Guccio Gucci’s death his sons Aldo, Ugo, Rodolfo and Vasco took over the company. It is then that Gucci introduces products that are most wanted by well known celebrities. Products such as perfumes, watches, handbags, shoes, clothing and sunglasses. During the late 1970s the company faced many ups and downs. This was due to wrong business desicions and family quarrels. As of today the company remains in on the top list of the fasion industry. Week 13- Segmenting and Targeting Markets Gucci does not have a specific target market. It aims at the people that are willing to buy their products. Gucci has a successful market segmentation because it follows four basic criterias. They   have  enough customers to buy their products, it is identifiable and measurable, their market segmentation member are accessible to marketing efforts and their market segment responds to particular marketing efforts in a way that distinguishes it from Their moves into Jakarta come as some of the world’s largest markets for high-end goods sag: Sales for many high-end brands have weakened in the West, while a slowing Chinese economy has damped its consumers’ appetite for luxury. The growth of Indonesia’s economy is expected to ease this year, but the country’s ballooning middle class will drive luxury-goods consumption in the long term, according to Frederick Gibson, an associate economist at Moody’s Analytics in Sydney. other

Nursing Sensitive Indicators and Health Care Evaluation Coursework - 1

Nursing Sensitive Indicators and Health Care Evaluation - Coursework Example Nursing-sensitive indicators do define the end results of the nursing interventions and indicate problem progress or resolution towards symptom or problem resolution. Nursing outcome can be defined as a status or measure of nursing diagnosis at a point in time after the nursing intervention, while the nursing-sensitive outcomes can be defined as health status changes upon which care of nursing has influenced directly. Variables that affect patient outcomes include socio economic factors, diagnosis, family support, gender and age. The other one is the care quality provided by support workers as well as other professionals. It is vital for health care facilities and nurses to collect data, which helps in monitoring the ongoing quality as well as cost of patient care (Corrigan, 2002). The use of sensitive outcome indicators is critical to demonstrate effectively that hospitals and nurses make crucial cost effective differences in the provision of safe and high quality patient care. Another thing is that the significance of articulating nursing-sensitive indicators is not easy to overstate. Such articulation as well as correlation of nursing activities with outcomes of health does provide do provide strong support to the appropriate allocation of resources of health care. For instance, studies that compare patient outcomes and staff levels do show that in a case where there are many nurses who are registered, patients do experience shorter stay lengths, fewer implications, overall lower costs as well as decreased mortality rates (Corrigan, 2002). In similar, a consisted and strong relationship has been established between staffing of nurses as well as five outcomes of patients in medical patients: pneumonia, urinary tract infection, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, shock, and length of stay. This does mean that higher nursing staffing levels are associated with lesser adverse effects.All in all, nursing-sensitive indicators are projected to draw the correlations between resulting health status and nursing interventions that patients have received. They are meant to be an attempt for measuring the effectiveness of care of nursing through measuring patient outcomes. It becomes easier to see linkages after diagnosis, intervention as well as outcomes are identified. Since nurses happen to be an essential part of the system of health care delivery, nursing sensitive indicators do capture what nurses do, the outcomes that they achieve as well as the costs involved.  

Health Insurance Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Health Insurance - Coursework Example HMOs first emerged in the 1940s with Kaiser Permanente in California and the Health Insurance Plan in New York. However, they were not adopted widely until the 1970s, when health care costs increased and the federal government passed the HMO Act of 1973, which required that companies that offered health insurance and employed more than 25 employees include an HMO option. The law also supplied start-up subsidies for these health plans (Barsukiewicz, Raffel, & Raffel, 2010). HMOs often operate on a prospective or prepaid payment system where providers are paid a capitated fee—one flat amount per beneficiary—per month, quarter, or year, regardless of the frequency or quantity of services used (Barsukiewicz, Raffel, & Raffel, 2010). In staff model HMOs, such as Kaiser Permanente, providers are salaried, but this arrangement is the exception, not the norm. In-group policies, where health insurance is provided through the employer, the employer pays the insurance company a set amount agreed upon in advance. According to Austin and Wetle (2012), employers covered 83% of premium costs for single coverage and 73% for family coverage in 2009. The employee, or beneficiary, paid the difference. Then, the health insurance company pays the provider directly. HMOs have the strictest access structure, called a gatekeeper model, where patients must have a primary care physician (PCP) through who all care is routed. PCPs decide which diagnostic tests are needed and control access to specialists through referrals, deciding when it is necessary for a patient to seek more expensive specialty care (Barsukiewicz, Raffel, & Raffel, 2010). HMOs are usually the least expensive health plans, offer predictable costs for health care, the least administrative paperwork, and cover preventive care (Barsukiewicz, Raffel, & Raffel, 2010). However, HMOs also restrict direct access to specialists by requiring referrals by a PCP, requiring patients to see a provider in

Partnership Accounting Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Partnership Accounting - Coursework Example Capital - William $ 87,500 Capital - Frank $ 87,500 Capital - Sammy $ 175,000 4. General Partnerships is that all partners have unlimited liability. This means that if a business is not able to pay back its debts, the partners are held responsible to pay the debtors back and they can be forced to sell of their personal assets in order to repay the debt. Only under certain circumstances, there can be a partner with limited liability; however that partner does not take part in the management of the business. Under Limited Partnerships there exist some partners whose liability is limited to the contribution of capital in the business. The resignation, retirement or death of such partner does not cause the dissolution of the firm. However, one partner has to have unlimited liability while the partners with limited liability do not take part in the management of the business. Also, such a partnership has to be registered. Joint Venture Partnership is similar to a general partnership, howe ver it lasts for only a certain time period or for a certain project. Usually two companies share the costs, risks and benefits by running a project. However, a written agreement is not necessary. 5. The two methods of recording changes in the membership of a partnership are Bonus Method and Goodwill Method. Under bonus method, the assets accounts increases by the amount of capital contributed by the new partner. Any access amount paid to acquire the interest in the business is credited to the respective partners account. However, under goodwill method, a goodwill account is opened to account for this access amount. It is an intangible asset. 6. A. The list of provisions is: 1) Nature of the  partnership   2) Contributions to the partnership 3) Allocation of profits and losses 4) Interest on Capital 5) Interest on Drawings 6) Management Duties 7) Policy upon admission or retirement of partners. 6. B. The articles of partnership are very significant as it outlines the nature of t he business, the names of the partners, their addresses, the address of the business. Also it includes the duties of each partner, their profit and loss sharing ratios, any salaries if applicable. It has clauses relating the percentage of interest of capital or interest charged on drawings. It may also contain the policy upon admission or retirement of a partner. All the partners and witnesses sign the articles of partnership agreement. Apart from highlighting the various factors relating to the business, it can serve as a legal document. Many partners contribute their capital, labor and skills to the business which has high risk associated with it. Therefore, there is a possibility that there is disagreement among the partners over assignment of duties, division of profit or loss or the admission of a new partner. In case a partnership agreement has not been framed and signed, this can lead to lawsuit. However, if a lawyer is involved and the articles of partnership are stated, it resolves conflict easily as all partners can refer to it. For instance, a dispute arises among distribution of profits among partners, it can be served as a legal document in the court and the conflict can be easily resolved. To avoid legal implications, it is always better to have a partnership agreement to prevent any partner from violating the agreement. It is signed to protect the interest of all partners. Discussion Board The partnership agreement is a legal document that not only serves in the interest of the partners but the government as well. The agreement not only covers the type of the business that it will carry but other important aspects. Many a times the profit and loss sharing ratio is different from the capital ratio, in such cases partnership agree

How to write a catchy beer ad Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

How to write a catchy beer ad - Essay Example Ballard tells of the search for a memorable phrase, a hook that would catch on like the memorable ads that we always associate with a brand name. The music that the team of Evanston and Godsey provided seemed the perfect match with the simple phrase "...and twins". The advertisement was centered on the things guys like and was highlighted by the addition of sexy, buxom twins. The author explains the ads success is based around the simple beginnings of what guys like, accented by good music, and produced with humor. Ballard contends that it was the humor that set this advertisement apart from dozens of others and catapulted the twins into our pop culture memory. If rule number one in advertising is to know your audience, Coors Light hit a home run with this spot. The advertisement in inundated with the things that their target age group finds appealing. It relies on cars, sports, dogs, humor, and the concept that two is better than one. They were able to mesh these ingredients into an advertisement that would quickly be associated with beer. Coors was also able to handle the political correctness of sex in advertising with their attitude of using sexy not sex to sell their product. By adding enough light humor, just enough to make the guys appear a little silly, they were able to deflect the issue of women as sex objects and warrant the ad acceptable to women and girlfriends. Advertising, as a science, dwells on peoples response to an image or sound in an effort to portray things that are pleasant and appealing. The pictures need to be something we are compelled to look at. The music must be memorable, with a hook that echoes in your head days after you hear it for the first time. In addition, the advertiser needs to keep in mind the target audience while not offending the innocent viewers who may be able to influence the customer. The

Investment Portfolio Implementation & Management Essay

Investment Portfolio Implementation & Management - Essay Example The following aspects have been considered before formulating the appropriate asset allocation strategy for the investor: An investment portfolio consists of a number of asset classes which have different levels of standard deviations, returns and yields. The assets that are to be included within an asset allocation model depend largely on the kind of return being expected by the investor and the risk that the individual is willing to bear (Market Watch, 2013). Therefore before preparing the asset allocation model, the first thing that needs to be identified over here is the latest investment benchmark figures of the different asset classes. Considering the above mentioned investment benchmarks, 8% of Dr. O’Hara’s investment should be made behind intermediate bonds as the investor wants to invest $30,000 in an asset that is considered safe and is associated with no expense, sales or early withdrawal charges. This will enable Dr. O’Hara that a guaranteed return is realized at the end of maturity thereby enabling the individual to pay for travel expenses without any inconvenience. Now, considering the fact that Dr. O’Hara wants to earmark $60,000 in an account with higher than current certificate of deposit or money market rates but minimal market volatility, 17% of the total investment sum should be invested in short term bonds. They have a standard deviation value of 0.68% indicates that this asset is less volatile. Therefore, keeping $60,000 earmarked for an investment in short term bonds will enable the investor to enjoy a return close to 0.71%, 1.23% and 2.74% respectively in bonds with 1 year, 5 years and 10 years maturity. The remaining 75% of the investment fund should be distributed appropriately between large cap stocks, small cap stocks, mid cap stocks and international stocks. 27% of the investment fund should be invested

Into the Woods Stephen Sondheim Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Into the Woods Stephen Sondheim - Essay Example A proper understanding of the history of theatre and film will equip me with all the necessary information that can put me in a better position of making the right and informed decision on exactly what to do during the production of the film (Dixon 27). If I were to turn Into the Woods from a theatrical play into a film, I would ensure that I do a marvelous job. As a dedicated professional, I would use all my energy and time to produce my best. I believe that this is a very interesting play that if properly acted, can be one of the best films in my lifetime. So, I will become the producer to be in charge of the entire production process for the film. After carefully reading the play and having a proper understanding of it, I will take my time to consult some of the most reputable, experienced and highly trained professionals. They will offer me the right and appropriate set of counsel on which I will rely as I produce the film adaptation. Meanwhile, I will have to identify the right caliber of people to choose the crew to be involved in the production of the film. This will include the entire production crew consisting of a director, actors and the professionals who will be behind the screen. I will have to make the right choice of the crew that will enable me to accomplish my goal of producing the most interesting film adaptation for the theatrical play (Guernsey 114). For this reason, I will settle on Ronald Miranda as the director. Having known much about film production for a long time, I believe that Mr. Miranda will be the right choice for this job. He is an experienced director who has won numerous awards since he ventured into the film industry. He has a deeper understanding of films and might not disappoint if granted such a noble opportunity. He has excellent cinematographic skills and can be instrumental in the entire work of

Renaissance and Fashion trends Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Renaissance and Fashion trends - Essay Example The essay "Renaissance and Fashion trends" talks about trends in the fashion in the era of Renaissance. For instances clothes that were designed for war had specific purpose, on the other hand the bridal clothing was designed to suit the function of the day. Before the 19th century clothing was tailor made to suit the needs of each individual. The design of women garments was quite different with the modern garments. The garments were loosely fitting and flowing. Most fabrics in ancient time lacked decoration. The general rule in western world preferred plain clothes to the decorated clothes. History records that clothes that people wore were white in color. Any other color was not easily accepted. Commoners were prohibited by the rules of the land not to wear red clothes in the theaters. A wide range of cloth colors started featuring in the fifth century. During this time, people could wear a wide range of colors in public places and in theaters. The cultural believes and the societ al norms dictated the kind of design that a community would accept. However, at the advent of the 20th century, the idea of standardized clothing became more popular as sewing and stitching technologies became widespread and the world moved into the era of industrialization. Tailors and dress markers developed new fashions and took them to the market. Competition among different designers is another factor that has contributed to the changes in fashions. Many designers want their products to sell.

An Analysis of Freuds Critique of Religion Essay Example for Free

An Analysis of Freuds Critique of Religion Essay In his book Future of an Illusion, Sigmund Freud critique uses his method of psychoanalysis on religion. By comparing the relationship between human and religion to that of a child and his parents Freud effectively demonstrates that religion is a product of the human mind. After exposing religion as a an illusion Freud concludes that humanity will be better off when it has forgone religion. This paper will argue that Freuds assertion that religion is an illusion is correct because of its blatantly traceable evolution through the history of the human civilization and psyche. The first argument that Freud makes in his assault on religion regards civilization. Freud argues that human civilization arose as a result of mankinds needs to protect itself from nature. It was precisely because of these dangers with which nature threatens us that we came together and created civilization. (Freud 19) As a result of the need for organization and manpower to prepare defenses against nature, the instincts of men had to be controlled. He furthers this argument by saying that two human traits, laziness and the unwilling nature of the masses to listen to reason are responsible for the necessity of the rule of law. Freud then describes the various methods of coercion that can be employed by civilization to halt instinctual privation. The most important of which he points out as being religion. The main reasons that Freud ranks religion as being/having been the most important tool in civilization are its ability to explain the various inequities and inexplicable phenomena that afflict human civilization. Freud points out how ancient civilizations used religion to humanize nature. By making these natural terrors beings that could be dealt with just like men it allowed people the chance to react to and have the illusion of influence on nature. He also illuminates with slight sarcasm how convenient religion is in its ability to rectify all the trials and tribulations of life for us. Everything that happens in this world is an expression of the intentions of an intelligence superior to us, which in the end, though its ways and byways are difficult to follow, orders everything for the best. (Freud 23) The existence of this divine creature who creates justice for us ensures that the masses will not stray from the laws and tenets of religion  and society for fear of being judged by this entity. Religion is also valuable to civilization for its ability to explain death. Thanks to religion, death became something other than simply the termination of a life. Death stopped being the end and was recasted into the role of a doorway to another existence. As though knowing that the continuation of life were not enough, religion furthers its own appeal by promising that the afterlife will be better than life on Earth. The afterlife itself also serves a function as well. A desire to gain entry into this afterlife will cause many of the masses to renounce their instincts. Another argument Freud makes is how religion is an attempt to fill in the gaps where civilization and the pursuit of life cannot make individuals happy. He says that, The urge to rectify the shortcomings of civilization which made themselves painfully felt is fulfilled by religion. (Freud 27) This can be seen throughout modern society in many different forms. It is telling that quite often individuals who are extremely ill, paralyzed, poor, or otherwise frowned upon by civilization and culture tend to be more religious. Later Freud turns his argument to the legal historical proof surrounding religions. Using an analogy of a child learning geography and simply accepting on faith that the places he sees on a map exist rather than going on a journey around the world, Freud attacks religious doctrines. He does this by pointing out that though the child takes on faith what he sees on the map, he could take a journey around the world and see for himself that these places indeed exist. He then applies this same manner of thinking to religious doctrines when he asks what these kind of claims these doctrines are founded on and why we should believe them? The answers he says are that they were believed by our ancestors and that it is forbidden to question them. Freud points out that it is the latter point which highlights societys own awareness of the insecurity of the claim it makes on behalf of its religious doctrines. (Freud 33) The own paranoia that religions have of even questioned shows how much they realize that their beliefs do not follow reason. As Freud shows us the early church recognized this all too well when it instituted a doctrine that maintained that religious doctrines  do fall under the microscope of reason. The most common religious document of all time, The Bible, holds a particular Proverb that further illustrates the paranoia or religion against reason. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5) Another important concept that Freud uses to critique religion can be found in his broad background in psychology. He alludes greatly the Oedipus complex in his dealings with God and the individual. According to Freud, humankind is similar to a child who needs to be protected and supported in his/her everyday life, thus he/she sees God as supportive, protective father. Freud gives his own theories far too much justice in this regard. One does not need to regard God as a father-figure to believe in him. There are many people who believe in God but do not accept God as a beneficent omnipotent being. However, we cannot say that Freud in his genius could not apply psychoanalysis to these other divinations of God and rectify them to individual situations. Freuds best argument in favor of religions existence as an illusion is when he describes the convenient nature of religion to particular times of civilization. Freud says that we know approximately at what periods and by what kind of men religious doctrines were created. He also argues that it is very telling how religion tells us almost exactly what we want to hear. We shall tell ourselves that it would be very nice if there were a God who created the world and was a benevolent providence, and if there were a moral order in the universe and an afterlife; but it is a very striking fact that all this is exactly as we are bound to wish it to be. (Freud 42) Freuds assertion that religions are in fact illusions created to deceive men into reunouncing their instincts for the advancement of civilization is based entirely on generalizations about all religions. These generalizations, however, can be well supported when one looks back throughout history. Religion could easily be compared to a chameleon that changes its color to fit whatever the needs of civilization are to survive. It is ironic that religion can be traced throughout history as being so adaptable given the intransigent foundations of religion. Whether or not religions really are illusions as Freuds ultimate conclusion states, there is undoubtedly a clear link between religion and the evolution of civilization. A fantastic example of religion changing its color in order to better fit the evolution of civilization can be seen in the ancient Order of the Knights of the Temple Mount or Knights Templar. The Knights Templar in the middle ages were created to be the shock troops for Europes holy war against the infidels. When this war was lost and the military arm of the knights were no longer needed, the organization was systematically eliminated. Its leaders were charged with heresy and killed and its wealth was confiscated, simply because the organizations purpose no longer coincide with church doctrine. Another great example of religious adaptability can be seen in the evolution of Christianity in Rome. As the old religions in Rome were in decline and material decadence had taken over, Christianity appeared over the horizon as one of the saving graces of the Roman empire. As the threat from barbarians grew in on the empires borders grew, so did Christianity place in Rome. It was eventually elevated to being the state religion under the empire Diocletian. Even Christianity would not be able to save Rome from the barbarian hordes. In their hour of defeat Romans were undoubtedly able to pray and ask for salvation from Christ. It is interesting that such a doctrine would arise shortly before a time of annihilation. Finally, it is important to note the role of religion in capitalism. Capitalism, as pointed out by Marx, is a vastly unfavorable system of economy for many people. While some would argue that it allows people the freedom make their own destinies, others would say that capitalism traps some in a cycle of poverty. Either way, those who are born poor are in a highly disadvantaged situation to those who are rich. That is, in this world. With religion and the afterlife, all are on an equal playing field. In fact, the poor even have quite an advantage. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24). This type of thinking has been fundamental for the stability of capitalism throughout history. No amount of earthly wealth  could ever compare to the golden paved streets of heaven and eternal bliss. Freuds critique of religion demonstrates the disturbing correlations between religion and civilization and shows us the true motives behind religions existence. Freud proves that religion was a product of the human necessity to protect itself from nature and the need that arose from there to stop our own instincts from destroying our creations. In conclusion, Freud disproved the claims of religious doctrines as being divinely originated, but he did not disprove God. His belief that it was time for civilization to grow up from religion may be correct but it will never happen. Religion is far too embedded in civilization to ever be removed by simply showing the educated its true purpose. Like life on this planet, religion has adapted to whatever environment our 8000 year old civilization has placed it. Even if everyone knew religion to be nothing but an illusion, that knowledge alone would not be enough to make that illusion disappear from the psyche of humanity. People would have to have a conscious desire to not believe in religion for it to be eliminated. This desire to discover the truth would be outweighed by the desire of a majority of humanity to rectify the inexplicable world of death and injustice to their own lives.