French History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

French History - Essay Example In the next section, the writer gave a brief explanation of the contents of the declaration. The article deduces that the many clauses in the Declaration had several setbacks and hence was not a perfect document in terms of equality of every human being. The writer has even mentioned of one clause that discusses the freedom of man and his equal rights. It has also been stated that absence of clauses regarding slavery and women was one principle factor that makes the Declaration less impactful. Here, the writer has attempted to establish the weak points of the Declaration. This section needed more elaboration on the features of the Declaration. I feel his argument was not strong enough to make his statement that the Declaration was a flawed one much convincing. This section should mention about more clauses and with that there should be logical explanations as to how this Declaration cannot be called as a perfect one. However, the writer has mentioned that this Declaration induced peo ple to speculate on why things are the way they are. I feel here there should have been a brief mention of the positive elements of the Declaration to bring out the logic of the final statement of this section. In the next section, the writer has briefly explained how Haitian Revolution was partly sparked by the French Revolution. I feel this section has been quite clear about the circumstances that led to Haitian Revolution. During this period, Haiti demanded freedom when the French National Assembly began advocating freedom of all men. The Revolution was started by Toussaint Louverture when plantation owners refused to give fair treatment to the slaves and on the contrary treated them even worse. The article then explained how Napoleon, at the end of the revolution, reinstated slavery and restored Haiti to its original form. Napoleon’s

Pain of Others highlights Essay Example for Free

Pain of Others highlights Essay Susan Sontags Regarding the Pain of Others highlights the cruel pictures mankind faces when war is at place. Photography is an important medium to touch the intricate of human mentality particularly of atrocity and suffering, are a species of rhetoric. This is done in comparison when we the world is aware of legal rights and protection of those rights. It is only due to certain sections of powerful people who turn around decisions in their favor which leads to wars and sufferings. This work clearly highlights the rethinking of art, and understanding in the contemporary depiction of war and disaster. Emphasis has been laid on the arguments about how pictures can inspire dissent, foster violence, or create apathy with regard to the situational analysis. photographic documents of the American Civil War, lynching of blacks in the South, the First World War, the Spanish Civil War, the Nazi death camps, and contemporary images from Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Israel and Palestine, and New York City on September 11, 2001, all highlights the pain which causes in the life and brings about in an turn around of the situation. All are born free in this world and have equal dignity, freedom without any distinction of race or religion. Gradually with the overall economic development in all countries a distinct class of ‘have’ and have not’s emerged and the upper class started exploiting people who were poor and needy. Exploitation in any form is denying human rights to the affected individual. Slavery started, human beings were sent from one continent to other, they were tortured and killed. With the passing of time, the world scenario is also changing. In the present time many countries are ruled by Dictatorship form of government. In these nations military is the supreme authority. Individuals have no say and the government dictates its terms. People are subjected to cruelty and even for minor mistakes severe punishment is given. They are denied the basic right to survive; virtually no law was there to protect the individuals. This system prevailed in Iraq before the combined forces of world nations brought it under it’s control and democratic government was established. Similarly in many African countries such type of government is functioning. There are arbitrary arrests and people are detained. It may be noted that the assurance of gender equality by the government or any proper authorized agencies should not be taken for assured commitment and women should always be alert as to what is happening. These are the basic ignorance which ultimately becomes the negative factor to fight for equal rights. We know that racial laws do not stop racism; an approved sanction does not end caste discrimination, similarly policies which are in favour of women take a long time to become an integral part of the system. We must worry about accepting torture as a tool to elicit information from an accused. The human rights violation should worry us all. No court that operates within the frame of legal constitution system of that country can deal with illegal detention, confession obtained by torture and the like. A person has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty. Forceful acquisition of cultivable land from farmers by government in many countries has resulted in revolt and further atrocities were committed on them. Protestors were shot dead-this is a clear violation of human rights not protected by law. Human rights are openly violated with the support of the government. In the religious matter also there is lot of interference from clergy’s- people are afraid to disobey the religious head thereby right to religion is denied. Governments have been approached in this regard for facilities be allowed for pilgrims and devotees to have easy access to churches, mosques, temples etc . Freedom of speech is denied to freedom fighters. These days militants are very active all over the world and they play a major role in violating human rights. They recruit small children, train them and use them in the front line of the battle. Children in the early ages can be moulded in any manner and later on they become good fighters—they are used as human shield during front line operation. Terrorists have intention to get a quick result and to do maximum damage in the shortest possible time. Citizens are caught in the crossfire between terrorists and defence forces. The invisible enemy could be hiding anywhere and could vanish from the scene in any form. People are scared, economy is devastated and socially the system collapses. It takes a pretty long time to gain confidence and start reworking. Maximum human rights are violated and governments may not be able to do much as damage has been done without any prior notice. People have got inner revolution—how this can be minimized and completely get rid off. Terrorism has to be tackled with full force since terrorists do all types of human rights violation. Powerful governments due to security reasons are sacrificing human rights thereby committing more crimes. This failure of governance is a clear signal of giving concession to armed groups. Human rights violation in any country should be brought to the notice of Amnesty International. In the recent times there is tremendous resistance that human rights should not be violated by any agencies. Resolutions are passed by people and forced on the government to accept and protect it. Proper democratic government should prevail, where the candidates are elected by free and fair elections and eligible voter be allowed to cast their votes. The majority party is allowed to form the government. Opposition should be allowed to work properly so that they may be able to point out the mistakes of the government in office. The most urgent requirement is that we should fix responsibly on the state . It should be known to the state that it is responsible for the present state of situation by paying less attention and almost not doing anything and refused to take notice of human rights protection. Lot of efforts is required by taking into its positive attitude and ensure that it goes into the prevailing legal system, government’s projects and plans. Subsequently such a legal order requires a policy of â€Å"no-tolerance’ for acts of violation against human rights and subsequently giving the required protection and growth of the rights. The problem has to be sorted out at all steps—beginning from, men, women, and society as well as law enforcers. As a country we have to accept the sacredness of human beings, as citizens to stand boldly and be recognized and as a society to have the boldness to see inside and tell the truth. It is quite possible that in the beginning we have to accept the fact that we all need help, having been set footing in two sets i. e. of value system and standards. To take modern achievements and values but not at all ready to give way to traditional anticipations and protectors The modern powerful democratic countries manipulate multilateral organizations to the great advantage and suffering of the poorer developing nations. In the poor countries where such laws are allowed to function without state participation –it will violate all spheres of human rights . It is seen that the reform of government is a goal of making citizens, central to all government activities and functioning, and reorganising government to sincerely find a solution of the common people. Given the vastness of the challenge, not only the legal and judicial system be overhauled to get the result, at a more practical level, an all out effort need to be made to make responsible the law enforcers. They act as the first approachable agency for people seeking early relief. Therefore they need to be made aware of the helplessness of human society and their responsibility towards them as law enforcers. Photographs of torture gives a very deep shock and it is generalised that there none to take up their suffering to the appropriate authorities. We forget the sorrow the moment we turn to the next page, it remains where it is. These photographs have a permanent bearing if we got welfare feeling in our heart. People ignore these as they are not live. If there is a possibility that the images are able to speak, they would have brought a revolution protecting the human rights. References 1. Susan Sontag (2003), Regarding the Pain of Others, Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publishers, New York

Movie Analysis Of Monsters

Movie Analysis Of Monsters Monsters (2010) is a modern-day fictional monster film which, as with many films in the horror/monster genre, acts as a social commentary, touching upon contemporary geopolitical issues and public anxieties (Carroll, 1981). Bordwell and Thompson (2003) describes a horror film as being recognizable by its intended emotional effect on the audience, and this film successfully does this, although more subtly than other films in the genre. The diegesis of the film, based in Mexico, is a world in which the monsters of the title are huge squid-like aliens which, for the past 6 years, have inhabited a large area of Mexico which has now been quarantined as an infected zone, with a huge wall being constructed on the Mexico-USA border to keep the aliens out. The film follows a photographer (Kaulder) and his bosses daughter (Sam) as he reluctantly attempts to escort her safely back to her father in the USA after a rogue alien attack left her injured; and the romance that blossoms between the two throughout their ordeal. I will show how this film uses these aliens with dramatic, symbolic effect to also act as an allegorical narrative for current societal issues; offering a semiotic analysis of these underlying themes and signifiers within the film. The direct analysis will be of the aliens themselves, yet the interaction and reaction of humans with the aliens also carries other meanings, and will be considered. Prior to the opening credits of the film a brief textual narrative explains that alien life was introduced to earth as a result of a failed NASA mission, resulting in the area being quarantined as an infected zone, with the military still struggling to contain these creatures. The treatment of these creatures is allegorical to that of illegal immigrants and refugees which are effectively quarantined by western governments, showing how these aliens can be considered a signifying symbol of a societal concern about immigration. This bears resemblance to allegories used in the 2009 film District 9, another example of a film where aliens are quarantined, however in this instance, the representative discourse is that of apartheid in South Africa. In the opening sequence of the film (post-credits) a series of following shots introduces Kaulder, the cynical male protagonist of the film. The scene is set as he examines a collapsed building in a warzone and attempts to gather information from the rescue workers at the scene. Do you know where they take the injured? asks Kaulder, but has difficulty explaining his situation due to the language barrier. This image of the warzone is elaborated throughout the film, with the mis-en-scene including tanks, weapons and general destruction. This representation is a metonymic sign, an iconic resemblance alluding to areas of real present civilian conflict zones such as those in Afghanistan and Iraq, portraying the destruction of the lives of the people who live there and the difficulties faced by those who have loved ones entangled in conflict, either as a military or civilian presence. Although we are aware that this destruction was in fact caused by conflict between military and the aliens , the way the scene has been composed and edited shows clear visual similarities to images portrayed in the media of destruction in contemporary warzones (these can be seen in figures 1 and 2, particularly note similarities of colour and content) Fig 1: An over the shoulder shot of a rescue worker with the rubble from a destroyed building and a military tank in the background taken from the opening sequence of the film Monsters (2010) which helps build the mis-en-scene. (Monsters, 2010) Fig 2: A similar image of a destroyed building, to that in Fig 1. Photograph taken from a real life conflict zone in Helmand province, Afghanistan (2009) shows a US Marine patrolling this site of destruction. (Getty images, 2009) Later on in the film we are shown a series of close-up shots of Sam and Kaulder in the back of a taxi, juxtaposed with point of view shots showing their views of further destruction and military occupation in what seems to be a primarily civilian area. Whilst Kaulder is keen to document this by taking photos, Sam seems disturbed by what she sees, asking the taxi driver Do you feel safe living here? his response being Where would we go? My work, my family is all here. This symbolises the real life hardship that civilians in conflict zones have to face; they have no resources to migrate from the area, and even if they could, they abandon their homes, families and livelihoods. Fig 3. A cut in shot used to emphasise the graffiti in the background which, translated into English, reads STOP THE ATTACKS, a cry from the civilian population to the US dominated military that are destroying their cities and killing their children in attempts to destroy the aliens. (Monsters, 2010) In a later sequence, a series of cutaway shots depict thousands of candles lit in memorial to the numerous dead in a city near the quarantined infected zone which experiences huge losses due to the conflict. Cut in shots are then used to focus on graffiti on the walls of surrounding buildings. One of these (fig 3) reads Detener los ataques 500 dead which translates to stop the attacks; another proclaims Que son los monstruos no bombing! which asks who are the monsters? This is a key, symbolic scene in the movie as it implies that in fact the civilian population feel the root of the problem is not the aliens but the heavy handed US military opposition dropping bombs and gas in an attempt to eliminate the aliens which are not particularly aggressive until provoked. Signified meanings of the graffiti messages are referents of the way in which western militaries act when entering civilian zones, such as the recent US occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq. Here, the US military conduct routine violence in the name of the war on terror, yet they bomb and destroy the lives of innocent people in these civilian areas in the process. This idea is emphasized in the final shot of this sequence where a passing US military helicopter blows out candles at the candlelit vigil, alluding to the civilian lives blown out by the same military. Kaulder and Sam continue their journey through the infected zone towards the safety of the US eventually reaching the huge wall constructed on the border between the USA and Mexico to keep the aliens out (Fig 4). Fig 5: A photo of a section of the existing USA-Mexico border barrier which is under construction by the US government in response to illegal immigration from the south. It construction has been met with much criticism from both sides of the border (Ignelzi, 2007) Fig 4: A shot from the film Monsters (2010) of the huge wall which has been constructed by the US government on the border between the USA and Mexico to prevent alien invasion from the south. Although on a far larger scale, this bears some resemblance to the barrier which currently exists, constructed to combat illegal immigration (Fig 5). Its different looking at America from the outside Kaulder. (Monsters, 2010) Although the wall bears resemblance to the existing barrier constructed on the USA-Mexico border, a deeper interpretation is that the wall is a more abstract metaphor for the barrier that governments construct via the media to hide the truths about their militaries involvement in armed conflicts. The public are constantly shown images of heroism by US troops, and death and destruction caused by the opposition, yet images depicting the death and destruction inflicted on the civilian populations by US military action are rarely publicised. In the film, American citizens are physically divided from the carnage occurring on the other side of the wall, unaware of the destruction being caused by their own military presence and the opposition those who live in the conflict zone have to the US military presence. Kaulder supports this idea when he says, whilst looking at the wall when you get home its so easy to forget all this, I mean tomorrow well be back to our separate lives, in our, like , perfect suburban homes, describing how protected and separated those in the USA are to what is happening in the conflict zone. This narrative symbolises the current ignorance of unnecessary civilian deaths in Afghanistan caused by US military actions. This discourse contradicts the view presented by conventional war films which will typically glorify US interventions and present the production and reproduction of discourses of American national identity (Carter, McCormack. 2006) as it is a monster film so has a totally different agenda. Eventually, Sam and Kaulder make it through the border back to the USA in a town which has now been unexplainably evacuated, but are picked up by a US military convoy. Here I have examined geopolitical issues, using semiotic analysis, expressed as symbols and features in the film Monsters, and how these have been visually constructed and represented. In this film, the monsters could be metaphors for the fear of immigration, and the way these people are treated by those in the developed world and terrorism, looking at the lives of civilians living in conflict zones whose day to life is disrupted by warfare and military occupation caused by terrorism. It also questions, who are the terrorists? These anxieties are two key referents, visualised by the aliens. Throughout I have considered the conventional use of the aliens as symbols of these fears, a typical discourse used in films of the monster genre. I have looked at visual similarities between examples used in the film and reality, presenting images from the film and secondary sources where useful, particularly looking at how those people living in and around the infected area resemble those livin g in areas currently occupied by a military presence. Word count: 1641

Charles Dickens - Depiction of the Hard Lives of Children :: European Literature

Every author has a certain theme to all of their novels, no matter how different they may be one can always see something within a story that links to another one of the authors stories. The themes are also different for each author, some being happiness where the characters have good luck, while other novels are sadder, and have darker themes to them. One author who has a darker theme that is connected through his books is Charles Dickens; the theme that can be found in most of his novels is one where the main character is mostly a child and they are going through a hard time in their life, but how he knew about the hard lives of children has been wondered about before and there is proof that he either had done research on it or experienced the oppression himself in his own life. Great Expectations was written in the 1800s and has escalated to the point of being one of Dickens' most well-known novels. In the novel the main character, Pip, is a child whose parents had died when he was younger. So he is forced to live with his older sister, Dickens gives the impression that Pip's sister actually hates her younger brother; she also beats him repeatedly with "The Tickler" when she sees that he has been disobedient. The only friend he truly has at the beginning is Mr. Joe, his sister's husband; who is also oppressed by his wife. Even Mrs. Joes friends oppresses Pip when they all come over for dinner, talking about him as if he doesn't exist or that he isn't there. As the story goes on he receives word that he will be sent to Miss Havisham's house to play. Pip's life changes throughout the story, the boy getting some good fortunes and some bad ones as well. (Dickens, 1999) Another one of Dickens' more famous stories in which the child character goes through a hard life is Oliver Twist. In this novel the boy, Oliver, is an orphan who is raised in a corrupt environment until he met his aunt. His mother had died when she was giving birth so he had no relatives other than his aunt. The orphanage he had lived at was abusive, and after asking for more food one time he was sold to an abusive man. He eventually ran away and joined

Jim Goodnight Essay

Goodnight is driven by creating a culture that is full of employee engagement and motivation. On the SAS website, Jim Goodnight is quoted as saying, â€Å"Treat employees like they make a difference and they will†. In a publication from Harvard Business Review that Goodnight co-wrote with author Richard Florida he states, â€Å"companies prosper when they harness the creative capital of their employees, as those are the individuals that are creative thinkers and generate valuable products and services. † Mr. Goodnight understands that his product is a â€Å"product of the mind,† and therefore recognizes that maintaining an environment that retains employees and keeps them engaged is a requirement to be successfully. Jim Goodnight has entrenched motivator factors into his business, while minimizing and eliminating hygiene factors for his employees. SAS uses a vertical loading management style that allows employees to be more engaged and empowered in their work. Employees draw responsibility and challenge from this management platform. SAS employees are often only two or three levels down from the CEO, Jim Goodnight, and work alongside their management writing code and setting deadlines. These factors motivate employees and displays to them that managers can be technical in nature and work alongside them â€Å"in the trenches. † Also, SAS has a strong focus on employee satisfaction and uses all possible means to minimize and eliminate hygiene factors that could cause dissatisfaction. Mr. Goodnight pays his employees a competitive salary, however, he shows his commitment through other means such as; benefits, company programs, and employee facilities. SAS understands that work life balance is a conflict that most professionals have to deal with and overcome. SAS maintains flexibility by offering services that ease this burden such as; lunch programs, unlimited sick leave, and in house childcare. The fact that SAS has never had a layoff speaks volumes to its employees about the dedication that leadership has to its employees on job security and proper staffing levels. These factors have far reaching effects on employees and families, as they recognize and appreciate these benefits. My current employer offers a package similar to the one SAS provides its employees, and I experience similar results. For example, teams are more motivated and engaged in their work with minimal turnover and low dissatisfaction with their jobs, and teams are more likely to accept additional assignments with minimal pushback. Jim Goodnight is clearly motivated by offering his employees the highest quality of work life balance possible. He believes the culture is based on â€Å"trust between our employees and the company.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel essays

Isambard Kingdom Brunel essays From around 1760 till 1860,the work and innovation of a few revolutionary engineers made possible the social and economic change in Britain that is know known as The Industrial Revolution. Isambard Kingdom Brunel is possibly the most remembered of this small but very significant group and many of his designs and projects have survived to the present day and there are some that are still in use. Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born in Portsea on 9th April 1806 to an English mother (nee Kingdom) and a French father. His father, Sir Marc Brunel, was a French monarchist whose continuing residence in revolutionary France had made life there somewhat uncomfortable. Probably due to his familys background in engineering Isambard had the luxury of having a sound grounding in the basics of engineering before he began working for his father. In 1818 sombards father designed a tunnelling shield that allowed work to be done on the excavation of the tunnel without the fear of a collapse. This lead to the founding of a company called the Thames Tunnelling Company and this was the beginning of the project known as the Thames Tunnel. At the tender age of 20 Isambard was put in charge of this 18 year project, but unfortunately the operation suffered 2 major disasters and in the 2nd flooding of the tunnel Isambard himself was nearly drowned. However this didnt seem to discourage Isambard and he continued to peruse his career in engineering and at the age of 26 he was offered a job as an engineer at the newly formed Great Western Railways. His work on the line that linked London to Bristol helped to establish Brunel as one of the world's leading engineers. Impressive achievements on the route included the viaducts at Hanwell and Chippenham, the Maidenhead Bridge, the Box Tunnel and the Bristol Temple Meads Station. Probably due to his now impressive record Brunel was able to persuade Great ...

Intercultural communication Essays

Intercultural communication Essays Intercultural communication Paper Intercultural communication Paper they must aware customs and practices that vary from culture to culture. For example, the word dear has a special connotation in Spain, as the word is a term of endearment or a show of affection for a loved one or a family member. conversely, it is used extensively as a letter salutation in USA. Therefore, when American negotiator writing a business letter to the other party in Spain, the salutation of the letter should not contain the word dear. Kimberley (2003:177) suggested that nonverbal communication is an essential part of every message people send. Nonverbal communication means the information that is communicated without using words. People can communicated without saying a word by their choice of clothing, their facial expressions or any number of other nonverbal signals. No matter the negotiation is taken between two nations or within one nation, non-verbal communication has significant effect on the goal achievement in negotiation. There are various types of non-verbal communication, such as body language, time and clothing. Dealing with the language, which most international business people consider their only barrier to understanding, is actually only the beginning (Barna, 1972: 243). Non-verbal barriers to intercultural communication may create greater problems than language barriers. Various non-verbal cues carry different meanings in different cultures. When the individuals involved in the negotiation are of different cultures, there is likely to be some misinterpretations because of their chosen methods of communication. This is more likely to be the case if they are unfamiliar with each others cultural backgrounds. Herbig(1997) suggests that Negotiator should be aware that, when two people communicate, they seldom talk about precisely the same subject, for effective meaning is flavored by each persons own cognitive world and cultural conditioning. In some instances, conflict can occur where an individual has failed to recognize the boundaries that evolve from particular cultural characteristics. Take an example of negotiating in China. Chinese people often use body language that can be incomprehensible to unfamiliar Westerners, and some Western body language can be misunderstood. In China, laughing or smiling among people can be confusing and means different things according to the situation. When they felt nerves or embarrassed, Chinese people will smile or laugh nervously and cover their mouths with their hands. Pointing at someone with the forefinger is an accusatory motion and is considered rude or hostile Currier(2001) suggests that body language is basic building blocks of cooperation and negotiation. People are careful never to act in a way or that could be interpreted as an insult. Therefore, if the western negotiator misunderstand Chinese nonverbal message, they might feel confuse with the circumstance and the message has become ambiguity which probably might affect their decision. Also, when they use inappropriate body language, it may imply a meaning of disrespect and due to other partys antipathy. Nevertheless, negotiators can be conveying confidence by using body language if they uses appropriately. Axtell (1991:28) states that body language is as effective as or more effective than words. For instance, toward to the sexual difference aspect , men stand with their feet apart, expanding their space, or lean forward in their chairs-behaviors which are interpreted as aggressive. Women stand with their feet close together and one toe pointed inward, denoting submissiveness. Thus, to level the negotiating field, a woman should expand her space by standing to speak or using the arms of a chair and sitting erect when speaking. Time is important factor should be concerned during the negotiation process. Kimberley (2003:155) states that time are one type of nonverbal communication. People perceive time differs greatly from culture to culture. In the USA, time is a costly item that is not to be wasted. Time is scheduled carefully and holding to a time schedule is a virtue. Completing tasks ahead of schedule is usually something for which one should be proud. Americans do not like to wait and usually become irritated when someone is late for an appointment (Nelda, Baron, 1997). Therefore, when people negotiating with Americans, they should attend the meeting or appointment on time. In addition, Americans usually like to get down to business quickly in a meeting. People from other cultures, such as Japan, may be offended if a prolonged social discourse is not held prior to either partys mentioning the impending business. Even then, the discussion probably will proceed at a much slower pace than US business people are accustomed (Nelda, Baron, 1997). Lastly, Kimberly (2003:190) states that clothing gives a strong and immediate impression of its wearer, it is extremely importantly to nonverbal communication. Clothing develops a message, and by choosing particular clothing, the wearer commits himself or herself to the statements the clothing makes. It is no doubt that the dress of negotiators are implied a message to other party, such as if they are giving respect to the party they negotiated with. For instance, Thai business and government executives dress very formal. They perceive that the better dressed one is, the more successful one is. For business functions, farang men should wear lightweight suits with white shirts and ties. Slacks and jackets are not as acceptable. Farang women should not wear black dresses, however, for Thais reserve this color for funerals or mourning. However, black is acceptable to wear at formal events if it is accented with other colors. Consequently, when people are engage in negotiating with Thai people, they must dress appropriate in order to respect them and avoid embarrassed.

The settling of America essays

The settling of America essays The settling of America began with an idea, the idea that people could join together and agree to govern themselves by making laws for the common good. They desired a place where men and women of deep religious convictions could come and practice their faith freely; a place where you could fulfill the desire to expand lands and produce great riches. The idea of a clean slate, religious freedom, self-government, and dreams of great riches only whetted the Englishs appetites. They wanted to set forth and start anew. The enclosure movement was the cause of one of the greatest changes in the landscape of rural England. Landlords were enclosing croplands for sheep grazing, forcing many small farmers to move off the land. Then the economic depression hit the woolen trade and farmers had to make a new life as beggars. But word on the street was that the New World had opportunities of great riches. This caused the farmers to immigrate to the New World. These farmers were forced to start a new life, and America seemed to give the open opportunity to do so. Protestant England was still persecuting Roman Catholics among numerous discriminations, such as a couple seeking to get married could not be legally united by a Catholic priest. The Founders of the American nation wanted to define the role of religious faith in public life. Religious discriminations evoked many Catholics to come to the Americas. Here they could create a haven where they could get away from such discriminations. Maryland was one colony that was created as a refuge for Catholics. Many other colonies were created for the sole purpose of religious freedom, not just for Catholics, but for any religion. In the New World the colonies started under the direct supervision of the Crown, but were private projects with little supervision by the English. Political and social awareness increased and the need for government and leadership were more defined. Civil disorder w...

Synthesis topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Synthesis topic - Essay Example † The discussion takes the form of an analysis, with a focus on unearthing the causative factors for the declining state of the American economy, while seeking the possible remedy to the situation. Thus, this discussion elaborates on the factors hindering the desired performance of the US economy, while suggesting the remedies as presented by the two articles. The essence of selecting this topic is because it is a current issue affecting America, and it is vital to understand the causes of the situation. Most importantly, it is necessary to understand the way forward. Discussion Having been considered the world’s largest trading nation, and having been ranked among the top wealthiest countries of the world, it is expected that the economy of the US should be performing better than the current situation (Kuhl, 44). The wealthy nature and the ability of the US to create employment opportunities over the years have attracted many immigrants, who come to the country to seek for employment opportunities. ... According to a survey carried out by the Institute for Supply Management Survey, the state of the manufacturing sector in the US has continued to contract (Summers, 53). It was observed that manufacturing firms hired the lowest number of workers starting late 2009, an indication that the state of the sector is wanting. Historically, the national factory activity for the US has always ranked above the 50 digit mark. However, in a clear indication of the dangers facing this sector, the index fell to 49.8 going by the index for July 2012. This crashed further to a 49.6 digit index according to the August 2012 data (Kuhl, 47). Considering that the manufacturing sector is among the most dependable and promising sectors of the US economy, this situation raises a red flag that things are not going in the right direction. The index presented above indicates that the ability of the US economy to export products to foreign countries has continued to shrink, posing a danger to its trading secto r, which also ranks as the world’s largest (Summers, 58). The worrying nature of the US economy is indicated by the current unemployment rate. Historically, the unemployment rate of the US has averaged at 5.3% (Summers, 33). However, Kuhl alleges that going by the data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment in the US stood at 7.9% in August 2012 (Kuhl, 68). This puts the number of the unemployed people in the US at 12.3 million. The growth in the number of employment opportunities created by an economy indicates it health status. However, considering that the US trade deficit has been increasing, it has been importing more than it exports

Developing nations' (Brazil) specific challenges and triumphs in the Research Paper

Developing nations' (Brazil) specific challenges and triumphs in the face of rapid economic change and growth - Research Paper Example This paper focuses on Brazil, one of the developing countries, that is growing at a rapid speed and is intensely getting affected by globalization (Schirm, n. d.). Globalization and Economic Expansion: After globalization Brazil is undergoing many of the economic changes. Its net amount of business with the rest of the world has increased significantly after globalization. The country is now experiencing large volume of flows of economic resources (form human capital to natural and physical capital). The volume of trade is significantly increasing overtime (Schirm, n.d.). The close association of economic expansion and globalization is also true in case of Brazil. Due to economic expansion (the effect), after globalization (the cause), Brazil’s economy is experiencing much higher level output as well as much higher rate of growth. Since the level of trade is one of the most important measurements of judging whether an economy is expanding, it can easily be said that over the l ast twenty years Brazil is going through the take-stage. These economic factors are affecting the country’s social and cultural aspects also (Tucker, 2008, p. 408). Both these aspects together are creating rapid economic growth throughout the world and these are significantly affecting the world economies. ... After following a method of import substitution and separation or a considerable period of time Brazil entered the global scenario. Fernando Collor was the first voted president of Brazil in 1960 to initiate an impression of stabilizing currency, lower tariffs and destabilize the public administration via budget cuts. This marked the beginning for Brazil of opening up into the world economy (Fishlow, 2000). Globalization and Brazil: Due to the occurrence of globalization the developing nations, such as Brazil, are experiencing rapid changes in their economic, social and general lives. Brazil’s economy has largely been changed after globalization. Its economy is now hugely dependent upon the world economy. Brazil’s overall income level or GDP is much higher now. This economy is much more open. This openness ensures the high income level. Not only that, the rate of growth of Brazil’s economy is much higher now. The economy is experiencing every bit of the progress of the global economy. The level of trading, i.e. the volume of exports and imports are growing in number. The infrastructural improvements are considered as one of the measurements of impact of globalization, then it can easily be said that this impact has been very positive on Brazil’s economic structure. It is quite clear that like all other developing nations Brazil has properly used the benefits of globalization. It is now a globally recognized economy in terms of the ranges of exports and imports and also in terms of the level of income and the rate of growth of income (Globalization and Emerging Economies, 2009). Economic expansion and Brazil: The financial system of Brazil is budding fast. After liberalization of the economy, it is experiencing significant growth path in terms of

Discuss how authors critique gender roles in thire noveles Season of Essay

Discuss how authors critique gender roles in thire noveles Season of Migration and Beer in the snooker club - Essay Example Salih writes about characters from poorer parts of northern Sudan while Ghali writes about city people in Egypt. The main characters in both of these books are male. The men in the books also meet a number of women and from time to time there is discussion of gender relations in British society and in their homeland also. Contact with Western society, and with London in particular, makes the authors think about potential changes to local family and social relationships, and especially to gender roles. In the first novel it is quite difficult to work out what the author’s views on the topic of gender are, because the male narrator has quite a different perspective from the other main character, Mustafa Sa’eed. The village in which they meet is rather traditional which means that life runs on the basis of Islamic law. The narrator describes his family, with emphasis on his grandfather who is a good male role model for him. There are also a number of elderly males who make a lot of sexist jokes about women. One of these characters, Wad Rayyes, seems to represent the dominant view : ‘He had been much married and much divorced, taking no heed of anything in a woman except that she was a woman, taking them as they came, and if asked about it replying â€Å"A stallion isn’t finicky†.’ (Salih: 66) The narrator observes this behaviour and repeats the animal comparison when he says (Salih: 81) â€Å"Wad Rayyes, who charged women as he charged donkeys†. This kind of womanizing behavior is also displayed by Mustafa Sa’eed who goes after several different British women when he is in London. He actually marries Jean Morris and she compares him to â€Å"a savage bull that does not weary of the chase† (Salih: 33). The fact that Sa’eed kills Jean Morris and drives several of his lovers to suicide underlines the aggression that this character feels in his romantic relationships. At one point Sa’eed describes his bedroom in

Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 7

Evaluation - Essay Example In addition to this, programs should be conceptualized and a distillation of what is most significant while eliminating numerous prerequisite and key requirements should be done. In this manner, scholars with financial issues can work off-campus while others can benefit from year or semester-abroad programs. To be more specific, laboratory classes can be improved too, particularly in ENGR 104. It would be useful and interesting to create and evaluate a means of assessing the best way in which the objectives are achieved. According to Lord, 2011, specialists in the assessment sector can cooperate with the faculty members committed to laboratory development to strategize and test assessment methods relative to objectives. In this context, out of the three labs of this semester, the â€Å"the greatest invention† is the one I enjoyed most, while the â€Å"heart rate† is that which I liked the least. This is for the reason that, for the greatest inventions, I could probably reflect on engineering geniuses in laboratories experimenting, connecting, and redesigning devices until perfection, yet these are processes that change everything around us. In future, I would enjoy seeing effectiveness of real laboratory equipment as opposed to simulated ones. It would be more brilliant to see if an engineering student learning online can differentiate between a simulated and a physical

Business Operations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Business Operations - Essay Example The essay "Business Operations" talks about the businesses operations in general by the example of Brazelia Med Spa company. The paper also analyzes what skills the effective manager should possess. Brazelia Med Spa is a B2C (Business to Customer) business with products and services ranging from medical, Intravenous nutrition, medical aesthetic, massage therapy, weight management, aesthetic, body care, chronic pain sports injury, and labs. There are also a number of procedures conducted in this institution such as intravenous nutrition therapy, Botox/Dysport and dermal fillers, weight management, and hormone replacement therapy. There are other Spas in Florida that compete with Brazelia in offering these services. Brazelia is a for-profit institution that has been open to the public since the year 2007 and hence has a strong customer base. This institution's mission is "to bring family's health to an optimal and harmonious balance". During my internship, I worked at the reception, insurance department, and financial department. My roles and responsibilities included organizing patients' applications alphabetically, filling out patients' information such as name, cell number, date of birth, and email address in a sheet, and putting all the important patients' details in the system. It was also my duty to ensure that all patients' confirmed their appointments. And it is worth noting that managers face many challenges blending knowledge, skills, ambitions, and expertise of a diverse group of employees.

The Assumptions Behind the Assumptions in the War on Terror Research Paper

The Assumptions Behind the Assumptions in the War on Terror - Research Paper Example From the research it can be comprehended that post 9/11 era is an entirely different era as it changed many dimensions of the way international politics and security issues are being perceived now. The brutality with which this event was carried out by the group of terrorists gave a wakeup call to the free world to re-examine its priorities and its security infrastructure to make world more secure. There is a growing concern now to improve the existing physical security infrastructure as well as a need for a coordinated effort to curb the financing of the terrorism at the global level. One of the key objectives of America’s war on terror was to deny sponsorship to the terrorist organizations and weaker states. This objective therefore also necessitated that systems and procedures must be developed to ensure that terrorist funding is restricted. The subsequent experience in the Iraq War signified the role of combating the financing streams of the terrorists to cut off their vit al source of survival. There is therefore a greater need to properly assess the financial threat terrorism can actually pose and how law enforcement agencies can actually achieve the objective of gathering credible financial intelligence to block the sources of finance for the terrorists. The corruption in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan is also resulting into indirect funding for the terrorists and terrorist organizations and as such... However, in order to capture maximum scenarios and comprehend a different array of risk events, it is important that a combination of both may be used. (Anderson, 2008) Financial threat assessment in the wake of the war on terrorism and how it can impact the overall effort by the world powers to curb terrorism therefore can be critical and requires a holistic approach and the involvement of different public sector entities to play their part. It is also critical to understand that this type of risk assessment should be part of the greater doctrine of the overall war. The financial threat assessment in the wake of the current war on terror therefore seems to have proper ideological backing to be carried out. (Amoore & de Goede, 2008) Methods One of the widely used financial instruments and methods of transferring funds is the use of cash as well as the negotiable bearer instruments. The use of cash is an obvious choice as it allows the terrorists to shy away from using the traditional banking channels and therefore avoid the risk of being detected. The use of cash and currency notes therefore leave no audit trail and thus virtually securing terrorists from being detected. The impracticality of holding large amounts of cash is also overtaken by the use of bearer negotiable instruments as they are easy to carry and are almost as good as cash is. One of the key features of bearer instruments is that they entitle the possessor of the instrument to receive the value written on the face of the instrument therefore bearer negotiable instruments are being easily used for the financing of terrorist activities. Not only the use of cash is

Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 7

Evaluation - Essay Example In addition to this, programs should be conceptualized and a distillation of what is most significant while eliminating numerous prerequisite and key requirements should be done. In this manner, scholars with financial issues can work off-campus while others can benefit from year or semester-abroad programs. To be more specific, laboratory classes can be improved too, particularly in ENGR 104. It would be useful and interesting to create and evaluate a means of assessing the best way in which the objectives are achieved. According to Lord, 2011, specialists in the assessment sector can cooperate with the faculty members committed to laboratory development to strategize and test assessment methods relative to objectives. In this context, out of the three labs of this semester, the â€Å"the greatest invention† is the one I enjoyed most, while the â€Å"heart rate† is that which I liked the least. This is for the reason that, for the greatest inventions, I could probably reflect on engineering geniuses in laboratories experimenting, connecting, and redesigning devices until perfection, yet these are processes that change everything around us. In future, I would enjoy seeing effectiveness of real laboratory equipment as opposed to simulated ones. It would be more brilliant to see if an engineering student learning online can differentiate between a simulated and a physical

The Assumptions Behind the Assumptions in the War on Terror Research Paper

The Assumptions Behind the Assumptions in the War on Terror - Research Paper Example From the research it can be comprehended that post 9/11 era is an entirely different era as it changed many dimensions of the way international politics and security issues are being perceived now. The brutality with which this event was carried out by the group of terrorists gave a wakeup call to the free world to re-examine its priorities and its security infrastructure to make world more secure. There is a growing concern now to improve the existing physical security infrastructure as well as a need for a coordinated effort to curb the financing of the terrorism at the global level. One of the key objectives of America’s war on terror was to deny sponsorship to the terrorist organizations and weaker states. This objective therefore also necessitated that systems and procedures must be developed to ensure that terrorist funding is restricted. The subsequent experience in the Iraq War signified the role of combating the financing streams of the terrorists to cut off their vit al source of survival. There is therefore a greater need to properly assess the financial threat terrorism can actually pose and how law enforcement agencies can actually achieve the objective of gathering credible financial intelligence to block the sources of finance for the terrorists. The corruption in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan is also resulting into indirect funding for the terrorists and terrorist organizations and as such... However, in order to capture maximum scenarios and comprehend a different array of risk events, it is important that a combination of both may be used. (Anderson, 2008) Financial threat assessment in the wake of the war on terrorism and how it can impact the overall effort by the world powers to curb terrorism therefore can be critical and requires a holistic approach and the involvement of different public sector entities to play their part. It is also critical to understand that this type of risk assessment should be part of the greater doctrine of the overall war. The financial threat assessment in the wake of the current war on terror therefore seems to have proper ideological backing to be carried out. (Amoore & de Goede, 2008) Methods One of the widely used financial instruments and methods of transferring funds is the use of cash as well as the negotiable bearer instruments. The use of cash is an obvious choice as it allows the terrorists to shy away from using the traditional banking channels and therefore avoid the risk of being detected. The use of cash and currency notes therefore leave no audit trail and thus virtually securing terrorists from being detected. The impracticality of holding large amounts of cash is also overtaken by the use of bearer negotiable instruments as they are easy to carry and are almost as good as cash is. One of the key features of bearer instruments is that they entitle the possessor of the instrument to receive the value written on the face of the instrument therefore bearer negotiable instruments are being easily used for the financing of terrorist activities. Not only the use of cash is

Often Imitated Never Duplicated Essay Example for Free

Often Imitated Never Duplicated Essay Never Duplicated Michael Jackson brought a new style to the music scene, changing everything from fashion, videos and dance, which started around the making of the Thriller album and several of it’s music video’s. Men, women, boys, girls, black, or white it did not matter; everyone wanted to be a little like Michael Jackson, he crossed over all races and genres of music. It could have been the red military type jacket, the black pants, patent leather shoes, or the white sequin glove that he wore in the Thriller video. Everyone tried to copy Michael Jackson in some shape, form, or fashion, especially trying to do the moonwalk or robot that Michael Jackson perfected. Everyone stood in front of a mirror to see if they could do the Robot or told someone to watch me as they did the moonwalk. Michael Jackson and the Thriller album have influenced many of the pop artists today in their dance and showmanship. Record executive, producer, and singer Antonio Reid stated this in Rolling Stone Magazine. Michael has influenced so many artists, some of whom are picking up on the grandeur and showmanship of his live performances. You can see his influence in his sister Janet, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Britney Spears, and in Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey. You can see his influence in the dance moves—the syncopated choreography—that a lot of young artists use. And a lot of them have picked up his work ethic. When you look at Britney Spears production or a Justin Timberlake production, or it you look at an Usher production, you really see that they took a page out of Michael’s book; they went to rehearsal, and they must have worked eight hours a day, because their shows are flawless, as Michael’s shows were flawless (A. Reid). So many artists are motivated and influence by Michael Jackson that a lot of them even imitate him 25 years after the Thriller album. The imitation runs deeper than just song and dance. His vision and perfection set the example for so many more to follow. Michael Jackson still has musicians in the 21ST century aspiring to be a modern version of him. Not everyone will pick up on how much he influences artist today unless they follow Michael Jackson closely or grew up with him and watched the evolution of Michael; he was the Elvis of his generation [early to mid 80’s]. Of all Michael Jackson’s great qualities, dancing is probably the most imitated or at least it’s the most visible imitation of all, unless you just have a good ear for Michael Jackson’s music and remixes. Michael Jackson perfected the Moonwalk that he learned by watching kids and break-dancers perform in the streets. Once Michael Jackson had it perfected it, he debuted the Moonwalk on the Motown 25th Anniversary special, which was on National TV. This made the Moonwalk tremendously popular and notorious worldwide along with the robot that he was famous for. There’s way to many pop artists inspired and influenced my Michael Jackson to cover them all, a few of them are Ginuwine, Justine Timberlake, Sisco, Usher, NSYNC, and Janet Jackson. Justin Timberlake, Usher, Chris Brown and Ginuwine are a few of the many that will be used to show how much influence Michael Jackson has had on the pop music of the 21st Century. In an interview with VH1 the VH1 staffer asked Justin Timberlake â€Å"How have your changing musical tastes influenced your solo work? † and Justin answered with â€Å"My inspirations have been the same since I was 12. I love Stevie Wonder†¦Al Green. And of course, Michael Jackson and Prince and Earth Wind Fire, too† (Lerner). Justin Timberlake has been known to dance like Michael Jackson in his concerts and videos, even wearing a fedora like Michael Jackson. Susan Horsburgh of People magazine did an article on Justin Timberlake covering Justin’s solo debut. â€Å"emerging from a gigantic boom box to sing â€Å"like I Love You,† which, with his fedora and moonwalk moves, he performed in the style of his idol, Michael Jackson† (Horsburgh). Just another example of how Michael Jackson has pop artist today trying to be the new King of Pop. Justin Timberlake is not the only artist that is influenced by Michael Jackson. Chris Brown is another popular pop artist that has been influenced by Michael Jackson when it come to his performances and dancing. Chris Brown took Michael Jackson’s style of dancing and added his on spin or flare to it to make it his own. In the Washington Post journalist Allison Stewart says this about Chris Brown, he’s, â€Å"Fond of modified moonwalking and benign, poppy club jams†¦Michael Jackson without the ick† (Stewart). Which tells the reader that Brown is just like Jackson but with out the ick, can’t get any better than that. Chris Brown has taken Michael Jackson’s moves, practiced them, perfected them, and added his own twist to them making it his own. Chris Brown is another pop artist that is known for his dance as much as his music. As we make comparisons you will be surprised by some of the artist and what they’ve done. One that you might not know that was influenced by Michael Jackson is Ginuwine. Popular RB singer Elgin Baylor Lumpkin or better known as Ginuwine was also influenced by Michael Jackson and took emulating Michael Jackson to a whole new level at an early age. â€Å"Lumpkins interest in music was ignited by Prince and Michael Jackson, especially the latter’s legendary moonwalking performance†¦at the mere age of 12, began performing parties†¦later worked as Michael Jackson impressionist†(biography). Ginuwine went on to further his music career using the influence and experiences of Michael Jackson to become a successful RB artist. Of the many, many artist influenced by Michael Jackson, Usher Raymond, has been influenced by Michael Jackson in so many ways, but mostly in his dancing. During the remaking of the 25th anniversary of the â€Å"Thriller Album† Usher said â€Å"That great choreograph and great energy that Michael puts behind it, try to re-create that feeling. I try to take different kinds of dance and apply it in the same way Michael did in â€Å"Thriller’, ‘Beat It’ and ‘Off the Wall. ’† (Reid, Hiatt, and Yago). Which has brought us to where were at today, even with rap artist like Snoop D O double G. That’s the king right there,† Snopp Dogg said about the love Michael still gets. â€Å"Michael Jackson has always been an inspiration to me as far as his music is concerned. You can’t take nothing from Him† (Reid, Hiatt, and Yago). Not that it’s a bad thing; there are worse people to imitate, emulate or just be influenced by. His dance moves have been imitated in just about everyway from music videos to TV ads. The most recent was the commercial during the Super Bowl with the SoBe drink, which had the lizards doing the thriller dance with one of the singers from Destiny’s child. Shaheem Reid a well known MTV and Hollywood writer points how Michael Jackson’s dance has influenced other artist to include female groups, â€Å"There is Michael Jackson’s dance moves from â€Å"Thriller† in Destiny’s Child’s â€Å"Bootylicious video† (Reid, Hiatt, and Yago). Just another example of how Michael Jackson has influenced pop artist both male and female. Why would any artist imitate, emulate or even use Michael Jackson as an Inspiration? Here’s a few statistics that would explain why the Justin Timberlakes, the Ushers, the Chris Brown’s and the Ginuwines would use Michael’s work ethic, music and dance to guide them. Thriller originally spent 37 weeks at No. 1, a total of 80 consecutive weeks in the Top 10. Its also the only album in American history to be the bestselling album for two years. Seven of the albums nine songs hit the Billboard Top 10 with Billie Jean and Beat It both reaching No. 1† (Gamboa). â€Å"The â€Å"Thriller Album has earned 47 million dollars to date, making it the 2nd best album of all times only after the Eagles Greatest Hits album† (RIAA). If you were to imitate an artist why not Michael Jackson, he has been accepted into the Rock and Roll hall of fame twice, as solo artist and for the work in the Jackson Five. He has the largest selling record of all times; selling more than 40 million copies, double diamond in the United States, not platinum, but diamond. His Thriller album was accepted by the United States as a National treasure, not many music artists can say that. Michael Jackson will go down in history as one of the all time greats, putting him with the likes of Jimi Hendrix’s, the Eagles, the Beatles, Elvis and Bob Dylan. It’s now been 25 years since the release of â€Å"Thriller† one of the greatest albums ever. Various pop artists of today like Fergie, Akon, Will I Am, and more will redo the original songs on the 25th anniversary album. After 25 years the spirit of the â€Å"Thriller album† is still alive and artists all want to be a part of such a historical event. The 25th anniversary of the album was released on 11 Feb 2008, with never recorded songs, behind the scene’s look and the remix songs. Most of the artist doing the remixes admit they can’t live up to the standard that Michael Jackson set years ago and continues to do. It’s hard to believe one album could influence the music industry so much, much less 25 years after it’s debut, but â€Å"Thriller† has done just that. If you don’t think Michael Jackson is often imitated and used as a source of influence in the music world you’re in a real case of denial. These examples have shown that many artists since the album â€Å"Thriller† were influenced by Michael Jackson’s performance and dance. Music and dance has been influenced through years and years of artist and will continue to influence the artist of the future. Many people have formed unbiased opinions of Michael Jackson, but if they take his personal life and separate it from his work they would realize the impact on today’s music and dance. He has influenced so many artists to become the successes they are today and will continue to influence the music of tomorrow. His style of dance has been recreated in so many ways from other music artist actually imitating him to taking his style and trying to make it their own. His dancing from the â€Å"Thriller video has been used in other music videos, commercials and in various other media’s. Some have tried, but none have succeeded on a Michael Jackson level.

Ethical Conflicts in International Business

Ethical Conflicts in International Business 2. Background: Some of authors have been said about Cross Cultural intelligence and Ethical Conflicts. E.g. David C. Thomas and Kerr Inkson defined cultural intelligence: People work for the Global Work place is a representative sample of publications concerning Cultural Intelligence. Scholl hammer (1977) discussed the need for international codes of conduct to govern cross-cultural activities. When expatriate managers return before the official completion of there overseas assignments the stress and low job satisfaction resulting from culture shock is often blamed (Newman et al., 1978). Due to drastic growth of globalisation expatriates managers commonly are seen in many of the multinational organisations. The vital aspect in the segment should be focused on cultural adjustments between different nationality managers. This can be supported by saying that different nations have different cultural aspects. The diverse cultural aspects are the main causes for the confronting situations. The business organisations are in action across different borders of the world. The international organisations consider whether a particular issue is right or wrong due to the bridging gap between the different countries. Cultural relativity is a very waste theory in different countries perceptions. What may be considered right in one culture turned out to be unethical in another. Some argue that the country in which the business is that culture is the one to be followed. All the countries vary in many different aspects like economical, environmental, cultural, ethical values, linguistical and so on. Thus all these barriers which are mentioned make the cultural conflicts. The right business manager is the one who balances between the barriers and the flawless business operations. This entirely depends upon the managerial capabilities. These can be successed by different alternative strategies though one cannot particularly describe a single strategy which is suitable for everyone. One of the valid and required method is to make greater in the cross cultural solutions to international business is communication and interaction with in company and between companies, between organisations and clients and between co-workers. Now days cross cultural consultancies have been participating to solve the conflicts and risks in the cultural organisations. Cross cultural consultancies therefore concentrate their efforts on interpersonal communication. Diversity of cultures and cultural backgrounds between a highly various staff base leads with it difficulties and risks. Cross cultural differences reveal general areas such as in behaviour, etiquette, norms, values, expressions, group mechanics and non-verbal communication. These cross cultural differences then follow on through to high level areas such as management styles, corporate culture, marketing, HR and PR. (http://ezinearticles.com/?Cross-Cultural-Solutions-for-International-Businessid=482) In order to overcome these conflicts, every company need to have specialist concentration is required in the form of a cross cultural professional. One example like an accountant to examine finances, in that way a cross cultural expert know-how to reduce cultural conflicts and provide better solutions to interpersonal cultural differences. Within organisations there are many angles in which cultural differences manifest. Some of organisation areas which cross cultural specialists deal with include, but are not exclusive to, the following: Human Resource Department: HR will take care of employees recruitment process, employees transfers, overseas projects, employees salary decisions and training sessions. These are all covers a wide range of business critical areas that need cross cultural analysis. Group-Building: Every company would like to perform very well. So for that if the cross cultural specialist provide advices and procedures to improve staff integration, minimize cross cultural conflicts and create team spirit. Knowledge or awareness Training: When we are working with different cultural background customers or clients, every company will face problems. So for that company should conduct the awareness training programmes on values, customs, country and religion. As a result we can minimize the cultural misunderstandings and mistakes. Training for Expat: Sometimes company staff required to travel abroad to gain the knowledge about host country history, culture, customs, beliefs, business methods social formalities. Which are promote to reduce the impact of culture conflicts. Public Relation Department: Public relation cover the company brand name, image and advertising campaigns and all areas of organisations should be alert. Because the brand name, image and advertising campaigns which are acceptable to target country cultures. Language and communication skills programme: One of the main cause is to lead the cross cultural conflicts in the business is language and communication skills problem in the staff. By providing the linguistic and communication skills knowledge to staff, we can bridge cultural gaps. Above all the key solutions are currently have been following by business organisations to decrease the cultural conflicts. 3. Research Objectives: The aim of the proposed research is to: * Develop an attractive environment in the multi cultural organisations. * Develop the solutions to bridge the cultural conflicts gaps in the international business. * The actual response of satisfaction from the employees in the multi cultural organisation. 4. Research Method: The main aim of the research method is how you express about accomplish your research goals. Mainly the research method divided into two parts. Those are Research design and Data collection. Here in my proposal I am going to take a part of research design. 4.1. Research design: It contains where you would like to implement the research. And the research is a single organisation or else a part of a division of organisation. In this part we need to explain what kind of way you intend to bring out the research. E.g. On a questionnaire, interviews, case studies etc. And we need to explain which divisions, why you select these divisions as well as we need to explain the identity of our research people e.g. managers, workers and officials. And why we choose this people. The study undertaken to access the problems of conflict management in a cross cultural settings and get the feedback regarding their experiences from the existing employees in the multi cultural organisations and as a result of them we need to minimize their conflicts from their existing employees. Conduct a review of the literatures on employee involvement and the diversity of cultures in order to improve research hypothesis. Carry out primary research in three American owned IT companies in India to judge the opinions of Indian employees and their managers towards values underpinning employee involvement. An IT companies are chosen because the occupations carried out in these organisations are likely to be similar. Thus ensuring that any cultural differences are a function of Indian culture rather than of occupational culture. Research procedure: The questionnaire is uniquely designed to aid the research method in order to come to a conclusion. It contains various types of questions having different characteristics from cognitive nature, so as to obtain a multiple opinion in the given study. So below mentioned are few of those question samples: 1. What were the key issues which are observed during each overseas project? 2. Which are the cultural differences you faced most challenging? 3. What kind of training did was given from your organisations? 4. Which personal strengths did you find most helpful during your overseas assignments? The questions in the questionnaire will seek to test these hypothesis. The questionnaire will be distributed to a sample of employees and of managers across all three Companies. Sources of Data: A classification of data is very important procedure in this concept. The collected data can be classified into two types. 1. Primary data 2. Secondary data Primary Data: The primary data is very important source for to make suggestions to the title obtained. This data can be collected in various methods like survey, interviewing, feedback, i.e. Group Discussion etc., for collection of primary data the survey method is used, which involved predetermined questions. The structured questionnaire contained a form list of question framed so as to get the facts. But it involves high risk and huge expensive method to get the facts. Secondary Data: Collection of secondary data is very easy compared with primary data. But this data is also very important for the growth of an organization; Secondary data is collected from the company journals, magazines, broachers websites. Sample universe: The survey will give the complete picture of the area of the research. Sample frame/unit: professionals, business people, employees etc, who are working in the multi cultural organisations. Sample size: the total sample size is 100 only. Sample method: The information is planned to be collected by sample method, the sample method followed is random sampling method. The probability random sampling method is stratified random sampling. The reasons for selecting simple random method are accurate and easily accessible, if we have sufficient time better to go for face to face interview, if the sample size is large its cost is high. 5. Time scale: 6. Conclusion: It is clear that in any multinational companies ethics are more important which plays a vital role in any organization. By understanding these aspects we have come across many issues where every company is facing different type of cross-cultural ethics. In my literature review of cross-cultural conflicts in international business I have found how managers have to face ethical issues in cross-culture business environment. So however all these issues in cross-cultural business environment are being pointed out by every managers when they are doing host country projects, and many issues were researched by many authors and scholars and they try to make them better by bringing them into the real world. 7. Resources: I have been used the resources from saunders book, journals and articles.

Energy and Power Essay -- Natural Resources

Energy and Power Although I am surrounded by energy and power, I never really knew just how much they mean to the world. However, after learning about the fundamentals of energy, I have a much deeper understanding of their magnitude. In this paper, I will reflect back on what I have learned about energy, and how it has affected me personally. For instance, I know now that the power I am using to sit here and type is roughly equivalent to the power used by an incandescent light bulb, but that is only the beginning. Energy is all around us, but to create power, we need to harness it. I never thought about the fact that everything on earth has some type of energy, and until this course I never even knew the six different types. Now, I can make the connection between two types of energy, and know that fire requires a transition between chemical and thermal energy. Now I am able to understand that even natural processes, like photosynthesis, require multiple types of energy, and it has allowed me to think about energy on a much higher level than I used to. For instance, the fact that I know the First Law of Thermodynamics and would be able to hold an intelligent conversation about the subject has given me the type of confidence a Harvard graduate acquires upon being handed their diploma. Now, beginning to learn about coal has awakened a new curiosity in me, as this source of energy is a large part of my family’s history. I am amazed by the things I have learned so f...

Ethnography Essay -- Anthropology Culture Reflexivity Papers

Ethnography Works Cited Missing Anthropology is defined, in the most basic terms, as the study of other cultures. This field can subsequently be divided into more specific sects, and contain more precise defining characteristics, but this definition is essentially all that is needed. Anthropology is a science that attempts to look at other cultures and draw conclusions to questions that are raised while studying. An anthropologist is someone who accepts what is presented before them and is driven by an urge to understand each presentation as thoroughly as possible. Once the concept of anthropology is accepted, one must identify the means of reaching the goal of this field. In the sect of social anthropology, this vehicle is known as ethnography. This technique of studying is fundamentally, participant-observation, an attempt at becoming part of a culture in order to understand most fully. It is in this specific method, however, that disputes have arisen. As cut and dry as the definitions I have given may seem, anth ropologists have recently become disillusioned with these methods and have ventured into a new form of interpretation, known as reflexivityan analysis of the self within the fieldwork. This new form is, in essence, a breaking of the "rules of anthropology" established by early anthropologists and, similar to discoveries made in the fields of chemistry and biology, reflexivity is necessary in aiding in the advancement of this field, too. Before attention can be given to the concept of reflexivity and its benefit to anthropology, the "rules of anthropology," mentioned earlier, must be understood. Bronislaw Malinowskis "The subject, Method and Scope of this Enquiry" is a highly renowned account of early anthropolog... ...ut suggests using ones own role as another level of research to be undertaken. Anthropology began, and remains, a study of other cultures. The rules of which, defined by Malinowski and his contemporaries, included the traditional dichotomy of Self and Other. Reflexivity involves viewing the self in addition to the people of a different culture and on Self and Self instead of Other. Reflexivity is not a component that Malinowski would have included, in fact he states his opinion on the self within ethnographic work, "he may draw on himself for stimulus. But the two functions are separate, and in actual research they have to be separated both in time and conditions of work"(Malinowski,8). Advances must be made in anthropology and, despite the views of writers of the past, reflexivity has proven to be effective, successfully evolving into the field of anthropology.

Hysteretic Behaviour of an SDOF System

There have been several research workers who have attempted to develop processs for gauging maximal inelastic supplantings. It is deserving observing that most of these surveies used stuff theoretical accounts which followed simplehystereticnon-degrading regulations. There have merely been a few of these surveies which have considered debasement effects. A brief sum-up of earlier surveies in this field are given below. The first research work sing the equal supplanting regulation was conducted by citet { nm } who analysedSDOFsystems utilizing three temblor records.Elasto-plastic theoretical accounts were assumed which show no strain hardening. Even with the limited land gesture records and idealized theoretical account, they were able to pull a decision that in low frequence parts ( or high periods ) , the maximal inelastic distortions is equal to the maximal elastic distortions. Although there would be great benefits if this regulation were to keep true for anyhysteretictheoretical account, the inquiry that is raised is whether or non we can associate the maximal inelastic distortions to the maximal elastic distortions for low periods where the inelastic supplanting exceeds that of the elastic. A similar numerical survey was carried out by citet { shim } ; nevertheless instead than merely analyzing onehysteretictheoretical account, the survey was carried out on five differenthysteretictypes. The rule theoretical accounts used were either bilinear or ofcloughtype, with no debasement considered. As opposed to the old survey, merely one temblor record was used for the analysis. Having said that, they were able to come up with a relationship between maximal inelastic and elastic supplantings for different period ratios. To summarize their findings, they concluded that for periods higher than that of the characteristic period ( after the changeless speed passage on the response spectra ) the maximal inelastic supplanting peers about the maximal elastic supplanting ; they found this to be true for all thehysteretictypes used, therefore corroborating the equal supplanting regulation. They besides found that for periods less than the characteristic, the inelastic supplanting was gr eater than that of the elastic. They go on farther to reason that this difference is dependent on thehysteretictheoretical account used and the sidelong strength of the construction in mention to the elastic strength. Other research workers such as citet { chi } have confirmed this decision. An extended research was conducted by cite { m, mom,megabit} who analysed over 30,000SDOFsystems utilizing 124 land gesture records on different dirt types. Having developed ratios of maximal inelastic to elastic supplantings for three different types of dirt conditions utilizing anelastoplasticstuff, he so extended his work by developing rations between maximal inelastic to elastic supplantings for changing temblor magnitudes, epicentre distance and dirt conditions. Subsequently on, cite {mi1} found another manner to associate maximal inelastic supplantings to maximum elastic supplantings without the usage of inelastic supplanting ratios, viz. , the indirect method. He did this through the usage of strength decrease factors ; by multiplying maximal elastic supplantings by alteration factors, he was able to come close the maximal inelastic supplantings. He was besides able to demo that the indirect method is a first order estimate of the first, bring forthing non-conservative consequences as opposed to utilizing inelastic supplanting ratios. Sing debasement effects, citet {clo} developed a theoretical account where stiffness debasement was taken into history and incorporated in theelasto-plastic theoretical account. The chief difference between the originalelasto-plastic theoretical account and the modified stiffness degrading theoretical account is that there is a decreased energy soaking up per rhythm after the point of giving up.Cloughwas able to reason that compared with theelasto-plastic theoretical account, there was no important alterations in ductileness demand for constructions with periods longer than 0.6 seconds when analysis degrading stiffness theoretical account. However,Cloughbesides found that a larger ductileness demand was required for short period constructions when compared to theelasto-plastic theoretical account. citet {tak70} developed a more refined and sophisticated hysteresis theoretical account on the footing of experimental observations. This theoretical account included stiffness alterations at flexural snap and giving up, and besides strain-hardening features. The unloading stiffness was reduced by an exponential map of the old maximal distortion.Takedabesides prepared a set of regulations for burden reversals within the outmost hysteresis cringle. These are major betterments over theClough( 1966 ) theoretical account. It was citet {fu} who developed thehysteretictheoretical account that includes flexural stiffness belongingss. This theoretical account, besides named the degradingTrilinearHysteresis Model, behaves in an indistinguishable manner as the bilinear theoretical account up to the output point. Beyond the output point, the system behaves in a absolutely fictile manner. When the stuff is unloaded, the mention output point is changed to the unloading point merely before the unloading takes topographic point, besides the unloading stiffness matching to pre- and post-cracking are reduced in proportion to do the stuff behave as the bilinear theoretical account between both positive and negative output points. Although it is of import to understand the different types of debasement, whether or non it has a important consequence on the inelastic supplanting ratios and the overall seismal public presentation is still a subject of research. In add-on to inelastic supplanting ratios, alteration factors and debasement of stuffs, the concluding supplanting of a system, otherwise known as the residuary supplanting is a subject which has caught the involvement of many research workers. citet { 1,2 } found out that the unloading-reloading regulations of thehysteretictheoretical account used has a important impact on the magnitude of residuary supplantings. Furthermore, they found that when the hardening ratio is increased, the magnitude of the residuary supplanting is decreased. When sing the effects of stiffness debasement during droping they concluded that the magnitude of residuary supplanting decreased even more. Another early survey by citet { 4 } showed that the mean over 10 records, residuary supplantings from an elastic-perfectly plastic bilinear theoretical account is more than the value from the citet { 3 } theoretical account. Furthermore, the values of the computed residuary supplantings was inconsistent and showed a big spread. citet { 5 } and citet { 6 } carried out parametric analysis of bilinear theoretical accounts and concluded that the most important factor that affected the residuary supplanting is the post-yield hardening. They besides added that the effects of magnitude, epicentre distance, dirt conditions and periods were minimum on the ratio between residuary and peak supplantings. cite { 8 } looked at the residuary distortion ofSDOFsystems under 20 different land gestures, each with changinghystereticregulations and parametric quantities. They made a comparing between the modifiedTakedatheoretical account citet { 9,10 } and the bilinearelasto-plastic theoretical account. The decision was residuary supplantings from the modifiedTakedatheoretical account were a fraction of those from the bilinearelasto-plastic stuff, besides, with increasing droping stiffness debasement, the ration of residuary to top out inelastic supplanting is decreased. As with the old survey, they found that for both theoretical accounts, the indurating ratio impacts residuary supplantings and travel farther to state that the residuary supplanting decreased when the indurating ratio additions from 0 % to 5 % and addition when the softening ratio goes to -10 % . citet { 12,13 } focused on the ratio of residuary to elastic spectral supplantings of bilinearSDOFsystems. They were able to happen that the residuary supplanting ratio of a bilinear system with a indurating ratio of nothing or 1 % additions perceptibly when the force decrease factor increases up to 3, but really small beyond this point. However, they concluded that in the bilinear system, the residuary to elastic spectral supplanting is non significantly affected with decrease factors between 1.5 and 6. In fact, the ratio of residuary to elastic spectral supplantings seems to diminish when the decrease factor is increased from 1.5 to 6. They besides noted that site conditions, magnitude and epicentre distance had a minor consequence on the ratio of residuary to elastic spectral supplanting, as with the old surveies. % — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — % Section 2 % — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — section { Drumhead } It is by and large agreed that the equal supplanting regulation is valid for periods higher than the characteristic period. However, for periods lower than the characteristic period this ratio varies depending on the type ofhystereticbehavior. This fluctuation will be analysed through the usage of manyhysteretictheoretical accounts. There are many changing methods of sing debasement. However, the consequences obtained through single methods do non conform to the same solution. The ground why this is the instance will be investigated. Residual supplantings are besides a subject of contention. The relationship between the decrease factor $ q $ and the residuary supplanting ratio is unsure. This ratio will be determined for a scope ofhysteretictheoretical accounts in hunt for a relationship between the two parametric quantities stated above. [ AskMergoswhat other relationships ]

Building the Emotional Intelligence of Groups

80 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW By now, most executives have accepted that emotional intelligence is as critical as IQ to an individual's effectiveness. But much of the important work in organizations is done in teams. New research uncovers what emotional intelligence at the group level looks like-and how to achieve it Building the Emotioncil Intelligence of Groups W by Vanessa Urch Druskat and Steven B. Wolff HEN MANAGERS EIRST STARTED HEARING ABOUT the concept of emotional intelligence in the 1990s, scales fell from their eyes. The basic message, that effectiveness in organizations is at least as much about EQ as IQ, resonated deeply; it was something that people knew in their guts but that had never before been so well articulated. Most important, the idea held the potential for positive change. Instead of being stuck with the hand they'd been dealt, people could take steps to enhance their emotional intelligence and make themselves more effective in their work and personal lives. Indeed, the concept of emotional intelligence had real impact. The only problem is that so far emotional intelligence has been viewed only as an individual competency, when the reality is that most work in organizations is done by teams. And if managers have one pressing need today, it's to find ways to make teams work better. MARCH 2001 81 Building the Emotional Intelligence of Groups It is with real excitement, therefore, that we share these findingsfromour research: individual emotional intelligence has a group analog, and it is just as critical to groups' effectiveness. Teams can develop greater emotional intelligence and, in so doing, boost their overall performance. Why Should Teams Build Their Emotional Intelligence? No one would dispute the importance of making teams work more effectively. But most research about how to do so has focused on identifying the task processes that distinguish the most successftil teams-that is, specifying the need for cooperation, participation, commitment to goals, and so forth. The assumption seems to be that, once identified, these processes can simply be imitated by other teams, with similar effect. It's not true. By analogy, think of it this way: a piano student can be taught to play Minuet in G, but he won't become a modem-day Bach without knowing music theory and being able to play with heart. Similarly, the real source of a great team's success lies in the fundamental conditions that allow effective task processes to emerge-and that cause members to engage in them wholeheartedly. Our research tells us that three conditions are essential to a group's effectiveness: trust among members, a sense of group identity, and a sense of group efficacy. When these conditions are absent, going through the motions of cooperating and participating is still possible. But the team will not be as effective as it could be, because members will choose to hold back rather than fully engage. To be most effective, the team needs to create emotionally intelligent norms -the attitudes and behaviors that eventually become habits-that support behaviors for building trust, group identity, and group efficacy. The outcome is complete engagement in tasks. {For more on how emotional intelligence infiuences these conditions, see the sidebar â€Å"A Model of Team Effectiveness. ) at more levels. To understand the differences, let's first look at the concept of individual emotional intelligence as defined by Daniel Goleman. In his definitive book Emotional Intelligence, Goleman explains the chief characteristics of someone with high El; he or she is aware of emotions and able to regulate them-and this awareness and regulation are directed both inward, to one's self, and outward, to others. â€Å"Personal competence,† in Goleman's words, comes from being aware of and regulating one's own emotions. Social competence†is awareness and regulation of others' emotions. A group, however, must attend to yet another level of awareness and regulation. It must be mindful of the emotions of its members, its own group emotions or moods, and the emotions of other groups and individuals outside its boundaries. In this article, we'll explore how emotional incompetence at any of these levels can cause dysfunction. We'll also show how establishing specific group norms that create awareness and regulation of emotion at these three levels can lead to better outcomes. First, we'll focus on the individual level-how emotionally intelligent groups work with their individual members' emotions. Next, we'll focus on the group level. Andfinally,we'll look at the cross-boimdary level. Working with Individuals' Emotions /(†¢// Kasper, head ofher company's customer service department, is naturally tapped tojoin a new cross-functional team focused on enhancing the customer experience: she has extensive experience in and a real passion for customer service. But her teammatesfind she brings little more than a bad attitude to the table. At an early brainstorming session, Jill sits silent, arms crossed, rolling her eyes. Whenever the team starts to get energized about an idea, she launches into a detailed account of how a similar idea went nowhere in the past. The group is confused: this is the customer service star they've been hearing about? Little do they realize shefeels insulted by the very formation of the team. To her, it implies she hasn't done her job well enough. Three Levels of Emotional Interaction Make no mistake: a team with emotionally intelligent members does not necessarily make for an emotionally intelligent group. A team, like any social group, takes on its own character. So creating an upward, self-reinforcing spiral of trust, group identity, and group efficacy requires more than a few members who exhibit emotionally intelligent behavior. It requires a team atmosphere in which the norms build emotional capacity (the ability to respond constructively in emotionally uncomfortable situations) and influence emotions in constructive ways. Team emotional intelligence is more complicated than individual emotional intelligence because teams interact 82 When a member is not on the same emotional wavelength as the rest, a team needs to be emotionally intelligent vis-ci-vis that individual. In part, that simply means being aware of the problem. Having a norm that encourages interpersonal understanding might facilitate an awareness that Jill is acting out of defensiveness. And picking up on this defensiveness is necessary if the team Vanessa Urch Druskat is an assistant professor of organizational behavior at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Steven B. Wolff is an assistant professor of management at the School of Management at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW Building the Emotional Intelligence of Croups A Model of Team Effectiveness better decisions, more creative solutions, higher productivity study after study has shown that teams are more creative and productive when they can achieve high levels of participation, cooperation, and collaboration among members. But interactive behaviors (ike these aren't easy to legislate. Our work shows that tbree basic conditions need to be present before such behaviors can occur: mutual trust among members, a sense of group identity (a feeling among members that they belong to a unique and worthwhile group), and a sense of group efficacy (the beliefthat the team can perform well and that group members are more effective working together than apart). At the heart of these three conditions are emotions. Trust, a sense of identity, and a feeling of efficacy arise in environments where emotion is well handled, so groups stand to benefit by building their emotional intelligence. Group emotional intelligence isn't a question of dealing with a necessary evil-catching emotions as they bubble up and promptly suppressing them. Far from it. It's about bringing emotions deliberately to the surface and understanding how they affect the team's work. It's also about behaving in ways that build relationships both inside and outside the team and that strengthen tbe team's ability to face challenges. Emotional intelligence means exploring, embracing, and ultimately relying on emotion in work that is, at the end ofthe day, deeply human. articipation, cooperation, collaboration trust, identity, efficacy group emotional intelligence wants to make her imderstand its desire to amplify her good work, not negate it. Some teams seem to be able to do this naturally. At Hewlett-Packard, for instance, we learned of a team that was attempting to cross-train its members. The idea was that if each member could pinch-hit on everyone else's job, the team could deploy efforts to whatever task required the most attention. But one member seemed very uncomfortable with learning new skills and tasks; accustomed to being a top producer in his own job, he hated not knowing how to do a job perfectly. Luckily, his teammates recognized his discomfort, and rather than being annoyed, they redoubled their efforts to support him. This team benefited from a group norm it had established over time emphasizing interpersonal understanding. The norm had grown out of the group's realization that working to accurately hear and understand one another's feelings and concerns improved member morale and a willingness to cooperate. Many teams build high emotional intelligence by taking pains to consider matters from an individual member's perspective. Think of a situation where a team of four must reach a decision; three favor one direction and the fourth favors another. In the interest of expedience, many teams in this situation would move directly to a maMARCH 2001 jority vote. But a more emotionally intelligent group would pausefirstto hear out the objection. It would also ask if everyone were completely behind the decision, even if there appeared to be consensus. Such groups would ask, â€Å"Are there any perspectives we haven't heard yet or thought through completely? † Perspective taking is a team behavior that teamwork experts discuss often – but not in terms of its emotional consequence. Many teams are trained to use perspectivetaking techniques to make decisions or solve problems (a common tool is affinity diagramming). But these techniques may or may not improve a group's emotional intelligence. The problem is that many of these techniques consciously attempt to remove emotion from the process by collecting and combining perspectives in a mechanical way. A more effective approach to perspective taking is to ensure that team members see one another making the effort to grapple with perspectives; that way, the team has a better chance of creating the kind of trust that leads to greater participation among members. An executive team at the Hay Group, a consulting firm, engages in the kind of deep perspective taking we're describing. The team has done role-playing exercises in which members adopt others'opinions and styles of interaction. It has also used a â€Å"storyboarding† technique, in 83 Building ttie Emotional Intelligence of Croups which each member creates a small poster representing his or her ideas. As team members will attest, these methods and others have helped the group build trust and increase participation. Regulating Individuals'Emotions Interpersonal understanding and perspective taking are two ways that groups can become more aware of their members' perspectives and feelings. But just as important as awareness is the ability to regulate those emotions-to have a positive impact on how they are expressed and even on how individual team members feel. We're not talking about imposing groupthink or some other form of manipulation here-clearly, the goal must be to balance the team's cohesion with members' individuality. We're simply acknowledging that people take their emotional cues from those around them. Something that seems upsetting initially can seem not so bad – o r ten times worse depending on whether one's colleagues are inclined to smooth feathers or fan flames. The most constructive way of regulating team members'emotions is hy establishing norms in the group for both confrontation and caring. in a meeting where one team member arrived angry because the time and place of the meeting was very inconvenient for him. When another member announced the sacrifice the man had made to be there, and thanked him, the man's attitude turned around 180 degrees. In general, a caring orientation includes displaying positive regard, appreciation, and respect for group members through behaviors such as support, validation, and compassion. Interpersonal understanding, perspective taking, confrontation, caring-these norms build trust and a sense of group identity among members. And all of them can be established in teams where they don't arise naturally. You may ask, But is it really worth all the effort? Does it make sense to spend managerial time fostering new norms to accommodate a few prickly personalities? Of course it does. Teams are at the very foundation of an organization, and they won't work effectively without mutual trust and a common commitment to goals. Working with Group Emotions Chris couldn't believe it, but he was requesting a reassignment The team he was on was doing good work, staying on budget, and hitting all its deadlines – though not always eleIt may seem illogical to suggest that an emotionally gantly. Its leader, Stan Evans, just got a promotion. So why intelligent group must engage in confrontation, but it's was being on the team such a downer? At the last major stanot. Inevitably, a team member will indulge in behavior tus meeting, they should have been serving champagne -so that crosses the line, and the team must feel comfortable much had been achieved. Instead, everyone was thoroughly calling the foul. In one manufacturing team we studied, dispirited over a setback they hadn't foreseen, which turned a member told us about the day she selfishly decided to out later to be no big deal. It seemed no matter what hapextend her break. Before long, one of her teammates pened, the group griped. The team even saw Stan's promostormed into the break room, saying, â€Å"What are you dotion in a negative light: â€Å"Oh, so I guess management wants ing in here? Get back out on the floor-your team needs to keep a closer eye on us† and â€Å"I hear Stan's new boss you! The woman had overstepped tbe bounds, and doesn't back this project. † Chris she got called on it. There were had a friend on another team no hard feelings, because the woman knew the group valued Inevitably, a team member will who was happy to put in a good word for him. The work was inher contributions. indulge in behavior that crosses herently less interesting â₠¬â€œ but hey, Some teams also find that a at least they were having fun. little bumor helps when pointing out errant behavior. Teasing Some teams suffer because someone who is habitually late they aren't aware of emotions comfortable calling the foul. or meetings, for instance, can at the group level. Chris's team, make that person aware of how for instance, isn't aware of all it has achieved, and it doesn't acknowledge that it has fallen important timeliness is to the group. Done right, coninto a malaise. !n our study of effective teams, we've frontation can be seen in a positive light; it's a way for found tbat having norms for group self-awareness-of the group to say, â€Å"We want you in-we need your conemotional states, strengths and weaknesses, modes of intribution. And it's especially important when a team teraction, and task processes-is a critical part of group must work together on a long-term assignment. Without emotional intelligence tbat facilitates group efficacy. con frontation, disruptive behavior can fester and erode Teams gain it both through self-evaluation and by solicita sense of trust in a team. ing feedback from others. Establishing norms that reinforce caring behavior is often not very difficult and usually a matter of concenSelf-evaluation can take tbe form of a formal event trating on little things. When an individual is upset, for or a constant activity. At Sberwin Williams, a group of example, it may make all the difference to have group managers was starting a new initiative that would require members acknowledge that person's feelings. We saw this higher levels of teamwork. Group members hired a con- the line, and the team mustfeel 84 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW Building the Emotional Intelligence of Croups sultant, but before the consultant arrived, they met to assess their strengths and weaknesses as a team. They found that merely articulating the issues was an important step toward building their capabilities. A far less formal method of raising group emotional awareness is through the kind of activity we saw at the Veterans Health Administration's Center for Leadership and Development. Managers there have developed a norm in which they are encouraged to speak up when they feel the group is not being productive. For example, if there's a post-lunch lull and people on the team are low on energy, someone might say, â€Å"Don't we look like a bunch of sad sacks? With attention called to it, the group makes an effort to refocus. Emotionally competent teams don't wear blinders; they have the emotional capacity to face potentially difficult information and actively seek opinions on their task processes, progress, and performance from the outside. For some teams, feedback may come directly from customers. Others look to colleagues within the company, to suppliers, or to professional peers. A group of designers we studied routinely posts its work in progress on walls throughout the building, with invitations to comment and critique. Similarly, many advertising agencies see annual industry competitions as a valuable source of feedback on their creative teams' work. Croups are most creative when their members collaborate unreservedly. People stop holding back when there is mutual trust, rooted in emotionally intelligent interactions. Regulating Group Emotions Many teams make conscious efforts to build team spirit. Team-building outings, whether purely social or Outward Bound-style physical challenges, are popular methods for building this sense of collective enthusiasm. What's going on here is that teams and their leaders recognize they can improve a team's overall attitude-that is, they are regulating group-level emotion. And while the focus of a team-building exercise is often not directly related to a group's actual work, the benefits are highly relevant: teams come away with higher emotional capacity and thus a greater ability to respond to emotional challenges. The most effective teams we have studied go far beyond the occasional â€Å"ropes and rocks† off-site. They have established norms that strengthen their ability to respond MARCH 2001 ffectively to the kind of emotional challenges a group confronts on a daily basis. The norms they favor accomplish three main things: they create resources for working with emotions, foster an affirmative environment, and encourage proactive problem solving. Teams need resources that all members can draw on to deal with group emotions. One important resource is a common vocabulary. To use an example, a group member at the Veterans Health Administration picked up on another member's bad mood and told him that he was just â€Å"cranky† today. The â€Å"cranky† term stuck and became the group's gentle way of letting someone know that their negativity was having a bad effect on the group. Other resources may include helpful ways to vent frustrations. One executive team leader we interviewed described his team's practice of making time for a â€Å"wailing wall† – a few minutes of whining and moaning about some setback. Releasing and acknowledging those negative emotions, 85 Building the Emotional Intelligence of Croups the leader says, allows the group to refocus its attention on the parts of the situation it can control and channel its energy in a positive direction. But sometimes, venting takes more than words. We've seen more than one intense workplace outfitted with toys – like soft projectile shooters-that have been used in games of cube warfare. Perhaps the most obvious way to build emotional capacity through regulating team-level emotion is simply to create an affirmative environment. Everyone values a team that, when faced with a challenge, responds with a can-do attitude. Again, it's a question of having the right group norms-in this case, favoring optimism, and positive images and interpretations over negative ones. This doesn't always come naturally to a team, as one executive we interviewed at the Hay Group knows. When external conditions create a cycle of negativity among group members, he takes it upon himself to change the atmosphere of the group. He consciously resists the temptation to join the complaining and blaming and instead tries to reverse the cycle with a positive, constructive note. One of the most powerful norms we have seen for building a group's ability to respond to emotionally challenging situations is an emphasis on proactive problem solving. We saw a lot of this going on in a manufacturing team we observed at AMP Corporation. Much of what this team needed to hit its targets was out of its strict control. But rather than sit back and point fingers, the team worked hard to get what it needed from others, and in some cases, took matters into its own hands. In one instance, an alignment problem in a key machine was creating faulty products. The team studied the problem and approached the engineering group with its own suggested design for a part tbat might correct the problem. The device worked, and the number of defective products decreased significantly. Building Norms for Three Levels of Group Emotional Intelligence Group emotional intelligence is about the small acts that make a big difference. It is not about a team member working all night to meet a deadline; it is about saying thank you for doir)g so. It is not about in-depth discussion of ideas; it is about asking a quiet member for his thoughts. It is not about harmony, lack of tension, and all members liking each other; it is about acknowledging when harmony is false, tension is unexpressed, and treating others witb respect. The following sidebar outlines some of the small things tbat groups can do to establisb tbe norms that build group emotional intelligence. take them down a notch. And what was with that name, anyway? Some kind ofinsidejoke, Jim guessed. Too bad nobody else got it The last kind of emotional intelligence any high-performing team should have relates to cross-boundary relationships, just as individuals should be mindful of their own emotions and others', groups should look both inward and outward emotionally. In the case of the Bugs, This kind of problem solving is valuable for many reathe team is acting like a clique – creating close emotional sons. It obviously serves the company by removing one ties within but ignoring the feelings, needs, and conmore obstacle to profitability. But, to the point of our cerns of important individuals and teams in the broader work, it also shows a team in control of its own emotions. organization. It refused to feel powerless and was eager to take charge. Some teams have developed norms that are particularly helpful in making them aware of the broader organizational context. One practice is to have various team members act as liaisons to important constituencies. Many Jim sighed. The â€Å"Bugs† team was at it agair. Didn't they see teams are already made up of members drawn from different parts of an organization, so a cross-boundary perthat while they were high-fiving one another over their impressive productivity, the rest of the organization was paying spective comes naturally. Others need to work a little harder. One team we studied reahzed it would be imfor it? This time, in their self-managed wisdom, they'd deportant to understand the perspective of its labor union. ided to make a three months'supply of one component. No Consequently, a team member from HR went to some changeover meant no machine downtime and a record low lengths to discover the right channels for having a union cost per unit But now the group downstream was swamped with inventory it didn't need and worried about shortages of member appointed to the group. A cross-boundary perspective is especially important in situations where a something else. Jim braced himself for his visit to the floor. eam's work will have significant impact on others in The Bugs didn't take criticism well; they seemed to think they were flawless and that everyone else was just trying to the organization – for example, where a team is asked to Working with Emotions Outside the Group 86 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW Building the Emotional Intelligence of Groups Individual Interpersonal Understanding 1. Take time away from group tasks to get to know one another. 2. Have a â€Å"check in† at the beginning of the meeting – that is, ask how everyone is doing. 3. Assume that undesirable behavior takes place for a reason. Find out what that reason is. Ask questions and listen. Avoid negative attributions. 4. Tell your teammates what you're thinking and how you're feeling. Perspective Taking 1. Ask whether everyone agrees with a decision. 2. Ask quiet members what they think. 3. Question decisions that come too quickly. 4. Appoint a devil's advocate. Group Team Self-Evaluation 1. Schedule time to examine team effectiveness. 2. Create measurable task and process objectives and then measure them. 3. Acknowledge and discuss group moods. 4. Communicateyour sense of what is transpiring in the team. 5. Allow members to call a â€Å"process check. (For instance, a team member might say, â€Å"Process check: is this the most effective use of our time right now? â€Å") Seeking Feedback 1. Askyour†customers†howyou are doing. 2. Post your work and invite comments. 3. Benchmark your processes. Cross-Boundary Organizational Understanding 1. Find out the concerns and needs of others in the organizati on. 2. Consider who can influence the team's ability to accomplish its goals. 3. Discuss the culture and politics inthe organization. 4. Ask whether proposed team actions are congruent with the organization's culture and politics. Norms That Create Awareness of Emotions Norms That Help Regulate Emotions† Confrortting 1. Set ground rules and use them to point out errant behavior. 2. Call members on errant behavior. 3. Create playful devices for pointing out such behavior. These often emerge from the group spontaneously. Reinforce them. Caring 1. Support members: volunteer to help them if they need it, be flexible, and provide emotional support. 2. Validate members' contributions. Let members know they are valued. 3. Protect members from attack. 4. Respect individuality and differences in perspectives. Listen. 3. Never be derogatory or demeaning. Creating Resources for Working with Emotion 1. Make time to discuss difficult issues, and address the emotions that surround them. 2. Find creative, shorthand ways to acknowledge and express the emotion in the group. 3. Create fun ways to acknowledge and relieve stress and tension. 4. Express acceptance of members' emotions. Creating an Affirmative Environment 1. Reinforce that the team can meet a challenge. Be optimistic. For example, say things like, â€Å"We can get through this† or†Nothing will stop us† 2. Focus on what you can control. 3. Remind members of the group's important and positive mission. 4. Remind the group how it solved a similar problem before. 5. Focus on problem solving, not blaming. Solving Problems Proactively 1. Anticipate problems and address them before they happen. 2. Take the initiative to understand and get what you need to be effective. 3. Do ityourself if others aren't responding. Rely on yourself, not others. Building External Relationships 1. Create opportunities for networking and interaction. 2. Ask about the needs of other teams. 3. Provide support for other teams. 4. Invite others to team meetings if they might have a stake in what you are doing. MARCH 2001 87 Building the Emotional Intelligence of Groups design an intranet to serve everyone's needs. We've seen gaining the confidence of outsiders, adopting an ambasmany situations in which a team is so enamored of its so- sadorial role instead of an isolationist one. lution that it is caught completely by surprise when othA manufacturing team we saw at KoSa displayed very ers in the company don't share its enthusiasm. high social skills in working with its maintenance team. It recognized that, when problems occurred in the plant, Some of the most emotionally intelligent teams we the maintenance team often had many activities on its have seen are so attuned to their broader organizational plate. All things being equal, what would make the maincontext that it affects how they frame and communicate tenance team consider this particular manufacturing their own needs and accomplishments. A team at the group a high priority? Knowing a good relationship chemical-processing company KoSa, for example, felt it would be a factor, the manufacturing team worked hard needed a new piece of manufacturing equipment, but seto build good ties with the maintenance people. At one nior management wasn't so sure the purchase was a pripoint, for instance, the manufacturing team showed its ority. Aware that the decision makers were still on the appreciation by nominating the maintenance team for fence, the team decided to emphasize the employee safety â€Å"Team of the Quarter† recognition-and then doing all benefits of the new machine-just one aspect of its desirthe letter writing and behind-the-scenes praising that ability to them, but an issue of paramount importance to management. At a plant safety meeting attended by high- would ultimately help the maintenance team win. In turn, the manufacturing team's good relationship with level managers, they made the case that the equipment maintenance helped it become one of the highest prothey were seeking would greatly reduce the risk of injury ducers in the plant. to workers. A few weeks later they got it. Sometimes, a team must be particularly aware of the needs and feelings of another group witbiin the organizaA Model for Group Emotional tion. We worked with an information technology comIntelligence pany where the hardware engineers worked separately from the software engineers to achieve the same goalWe've been discussing the need for teams to learn to faster processing and fewer crashes. Each could achieve channel emotion effectively at the three levels of human only so much independently. When finally a hardware interaction important to them: team to individual memteam leader went out of bis way to build relationships ber, team to itself, and team to outside entities. Together, with the software people, the two teams began to coopthe norms we've been exploring help groups work with erate – and together, they achieved 20% to 40% higher per- emotions productively and intelligently. Often, groups formance than had been targeted. with emotionally intelligent members have norms like these in place, but it's unlikely any group would unconThis kind of positive outcome can be facilitated by sciously come up with all the norms we have outhned. norms that encourage a group to recognize the feelIn other words, this is a model for group emotional intelings and needs of other groups. We saw effective norms ligence that any work team for interteam awareness at a could benefit from by applying division of AMP, where each it deliberately. Nee seen many situations manufacturing team is responsible for a step in the manufacWhat would the ultimate in which a team is so enamored emotionally intelligent team turing process and they need one another to complete the look like? Closest to the ideal of its solution that it is caught product on time. Team leaders are some of the teams we've there meet in the morning to completely by surprise when seen at IDEO, the celebrated understand the needs, resources, industrial design firm. IDEO's and schedules of each team. If others in the company don't creative teams are responsible one team is ahead and another for the look and feel of products share its enthusiasm. is behind, they reallocate relike Apple's first mouse, the sources. Members of the faster Crest toothpaste tube, and the team help the team that's behind and do so in a friendly Palm V personal digital assistant. Thefirmroutinely wins way that empathizes with their situation and builds the competitions for the form and function of its designs and relationship. even has a business that teaches creative problem-solving techniques to other companies. Most of the examples we've been citing show teams that are not only aware of but also able to influence outThe nature of IDEO's work calls for high group emosiders' needs and perspectives. This ability to regulate tional intelligence. Under pressure of client deadlines and emotion at the cross-boundary level is a group's version of budget estimates, the company must deliver innovative, the â€Å"social skills† so critical to individual emotional intel- aesthetic solutions that balance human needs with engiligence. It involves developing external relationships and neering realities. It's a deep philosophical belief at IDEO 88 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW Building ttie Emotional Intelligence of Croups that great design is best accomplished through the crerelationships with those individuals and groups. On disative friction of diverse teams and not the solitary pursuit play at IDEO is a curious model: a toy truck with plastic of brilliant individuals, so it's imperative that the teams at pieces on springs that pop out of the bed of the truck IDEO click. In our study of those teams, we found group when a button is pressed. It turns out the model comnorms supporting emotional intelligence at all three levmemorates an incident that taught a variety of lessons. ls ofour model. The story centers on a design team that had been working for three weeks on a very complex plastic enclosure First, the teams at IDEO are very aware of individual for a product. Unfortunately, on team members' emotions, and the Thursday before a Monday they are adept at regulating A team can have everything client deadline, when an engithem. F or example, an IDEO deneer was taking it to be painted, signer became very frustrated going for it-the brightest and it slipped from his pickup bed because someone from marketand exploded on ing was insisting a logo be apmost qualified people, access to 70 mph. The team the road at was willing plied to the designer's product, to work through the weekend to which he felt would ruin it visuresources, a clear mission – but rebuild the part but couldn't finally. At a meeting about the prodish it without the help of the still fail because it lacks group uct, the team's project leader outside fabricator it had used picked up on the fact that someemotional intelligence. on the original. Because they thing was wrong. The designer had taken the time to build a was sitting off by himself, and things â€Å"didn't look right. The project leader looked into the situation and then initiated a negotiation that led to a mutual solution. IDEO team members also confront one another when they break norms. This is common during brainstorming sessions, where the rule is that people must defer judgment and avoid shooting down ideas. If someone breaks that norm, the team comes down on him in a playful yet forceful way {imagine being pelted by foam toys). Or if someone is out of line, the norm is to stand up and call her on it immediately. If a client is in the room, the confrontation is subtler- perhaps a kick under the chair. Teams at IDEO also demonstrate strengths in groupfocused emotional intelligence. To ensure they have a high level of self-awareness, teams constantly seek feedback from both inside and outside the organization. Most important, they work very closely with customers. If a design is not meeting customer expectations, the team finds out quickly and takes steps to modify it. Regulating group emotion at IDEO often means providing outlets for stress. This is a company that believes in playing and having fun. Several hundred finger blasters (a toy that shoots soft projectiles) have been placed around the building for employees to pick up and start shooting when they're frustrated. Indeed, the design firm's culture welcomes the expression of emotions, so it's not uncommon for someone – whether happy or angryto stand up and yell. IDEO has even created fun office projects that people can work on ifthey need a break. For example, they might have a project to design the company holiday card or to design the â€Å"tourist stop† displays seen by visitors. Finally, IDEO teams also have norms to ensure they are aware of the needs and concerns of people outside their boundaries and that they use that awareness to develop tWARCH 2 0 0 1 good relationship with the fabricator, its people were willing to go above and beyond the call of duty. The lighthearted display was a way for teammates to show the engineer that all was forgiven-and a reminder to the rest of the organization of how a team in crisis can get by with a little help from its friends. Where Do Norms Come From? Not every company is as dependent on teams and their emotional intelligence as IDEO. But now more than ever, we see companies depending on teams for decisions and tasks that, in another time, would have been the work of individuals. And unfortunately, we also see them discovering that a team can have everything going for it-the brightest and most qualified people, access to resources, a clear mission-but still fail because it lacks group emotional intelligence. Norms that build trust, group identity, and group efficacy are the key to making teams click. They allow an otherwise highly skilled and resourced team to fulfill its potential, and they can help a team faced with substantial challenges achieve surprising victories. So how do norms as powerful as the ones we've described in this article come about? In our research, we saw them being introduced from any of five basic directions: by formal team leaders, by informal team leaders, by courageous followers, through training, or ft-om the larger organizational culture. (For more on how to establish the norms described in this article, see the sidebar†Building Norms for Three Levels of Group Emotional Intelligence. â€Å") At the Hay Group, for example, it was the deliberate action of a team leader that helped one group see the importance of emotions to the group's overall effectiveness. Because this particular group was composed of managers 89 Building ttie Emotional Intelligence of Groups from many different cultures, its leader knew he couldn't assume all the members possessed a high level of interpersonal understanding. To establish that norm, he introduced novelties like having a meeting without a tahle, using smaller groups, and conducting an inventory of team members'various learning styles. Interventions like these can probably be done only by a formal team leader. The ways informal leaders or other team members enhance emotional intelligence are typically more subtle, though often just as powerful. Anyone might advance the cause, for example, by speaking up if the group appears to be ignoring an important perspective or feeling-or simply by doing his or her part to create an affirmative environment. Training courses can also go a long way toward increasing emotional awareness and showing people how to regulate emotions. We know of many companies that now focus on emotional issues in leadership development courses, negotiation and communication workshops, and employee-assistance programs like those for stress management. These training programs can sensitize team members to the importance of establishing emotionally intelligent norms. Finally, perhaps more than anything, a team can be influenced by a broader organizational culture that recognizes and celebrates employee emotion. This is clearly the case at IDEO and, we believe, at many of the companies creating the greatest value in the new economy. Unfortu- nately, it's the most difficult piece ofthe puzzle to put in place at companies that don't already have it. For organizations with long histories of employees checking their emotions at the door, change will occur, if at all, one team at a time. Becoming Intelligent About Emotion The research presented in this article arosefromone simple imperative: in an era of teamwork, it's essential to figure out what makes teams work. Our research shows that, just like individuals, the most effective teams are emotionally intelligent ones-and that any team can attain emotional intelligence. In this article, we've attempted to lay out a model for positive change, containing the most important t3'pes of norms a group can create to enhance its emotional intelligence. Teams, like all groups, operate according to such norms. By working to establish norms for emotional awareness and regulation at all levels of interaction, teams can build the solid foundation of trust, group identity, and group efficacy they need for true cooperation and collaboration-and high performance overall. 9 Reprint R0103E To order reprints, see the last page of Executive Summaries. To further explore the topic of this article, go to www. hbr. org/explore. (A^^l^ j-iywi 1 â€Å"I'm in a rut They throw the ball, I bring it back. They throw it again, I bring it back again. What's the point of it ail? † 90 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW