Monday, September 30, 2019

Book report sample Essay

INTRODUCTION On-the-job training (OJT) is one of the best training methods because it is planned, organized and conducted. OJT is generally the primary method used to broaden skills and increase productivity. OJT is dependent upon the trainer having sufficient knowledge and experience to impart to the trainees. OJT is important and the quality of OJT can be considerably improved through effective design. OJT has its advantages, first, trainees will have an opportunity to practice their selected fields. Second, they can practice their punctuality. Next, they can improve their skills and have an additional knowledge in the real world and lastly the trainees can have their immediate feedback. Trainings can be an eye opening because it will really help us to think for a better future. Morale, productivity and professionalism will be trained on the organization during our OJT. Those characteristics must be developed on our OJT to be a high world citizen that is creating and building our future careers . ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The trainees would like to acknowledge the people who helped them to make this On-the-Job Training to be possible. They are very thankful to the Lord for giving them strength, good health and courage to finish this training. They want to express their sincerest gratitude to their family for supporting them financially, emotionally and spiritually. For their friends  and classmates who cheer them up to fulfill this training. Also to their co-OJT’s who helped them to finish their duties. They would also like to thank the staffs of Wide Vision Tours for giving them a chance to be a part of the company and for giving them additional knowledge on their field. We are gratefully thankful to our professors for always being there for us to make us an effective World Citizen. To our Dean, Ms. Rhodora Lintot, we thank you for being kind and you let us experience what we are likely to face in real life. To our professor, Ms. Edwina Paz Perez RND, for supporting us in every step we take, for giving us importance and for awakening us in real world. Company Profile History of the Company Wide Vision Tours is a DOT accredited tour agency and one of the leading travel agency of group package tours in the Philippines for over thirteen years. Our tour packages cater to the following: College tours and exposure trip, educational tours for preschool to high school, adventure packages which include eco-adventure and surf camp, company outings and team building seminars. We also do airline bookings and ticketing. Mission Statement Wide Vision Tours aims to provide the top quality services while keeping the cost in control. We aim to provide high quality services and totally safe trips at best possible price. As our company motto says, â€Å"Enjoy ka na, Safe ka pa†. We have huge plans to progress within Philippines as one of the leading travel service provider and destination management company. Organizational Chart Owner/CEO Tour Consultant Tour Facilitator Ticketing Officer Tour Counselor Location Wide Vision Tours is located at Unit 2- 2nd floor L. Bldg. Barangay Mayamot, Sumulong highway Antipolo City. Features and Services Wide Vision Tours offers a fun and excitement tour packages that fits to every person who wants enjoyment. Wide Vision Tours packages cater to the following: College tours and exposure trip Educational tours for preschool to high school Adventure packages which include eco-adventure and surf camp Company outings and team building seminars They also do airline bookings and ticketing Summary Conclusion Recommendation Personal Experience As a Tourism student, I am thankful that I already finished my first On-the-Job-Training. Being in a Travel Agency is not that easy for me, we are the one who makes itineraries whenever we have a customer who is asking for a tour package. There are times that the clients are demanding, but we have to explain them what we have to. We are also the one who will ask for the rates of some places in Manila so that we can make a package for the high school students. We get brochures from the Department of Tourism (DOT) that we knew that they were located near Luneta Park but then when we got there, people said that DOT was transferred at Makita. It was a productive day, but was a tiring day. We also depart our clients to the Airport, they are 32 persons that booked at Wide Vision Tours but they are divided into  two because there are no availability on the same time of travel to Malaysia. There are times that we need to attend a awarding, the first was at Star City, Wide Vision Tours is t he 7th placer, the company brings a lot of students at Star City this is because of Sir Jun’s hard work. The second awarding was held at Kidzworld, Dasmarià ±as, City. Wide Vision Tours is the 13th placer in the Lucky Me! Happy House Plant. We are proud that we have given a chance to attend those awarding, and we are thankful that no matter what, Wide Vision Tours is always the one who makes our tours. To be in a Travel Agency is happy, we can learn a lot, we can do things that we didn’t think that we can. Like waking up at 1:00 A.M because we are one of the tour guides. Yes, we have experienced to be a real tour guide. We went in Bataan to have their Visita Iglesia. It was a long trip, I’ve experienced to sit in the stairs of the bus because there are no sits available, it was all occupied by our passengers. It is nice for me that I have experienced that thing. We have learned a lot from this company, and it is like we have faced the real world. They let us experience what the real work is. They touch us how to be responsible, they train us well and give us enough knowle dge that we can apply on our future careers.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Destroy Othello Essay

Iago feels that he was passed over for a promotion to lieutenant and resents Cassio, the new lieutenant. He also harbors a potential grudge against Othello, who promoted Cassio. Iago explains to Roderigo that Cassio was appointed despite the fact that three important Venetians had asked Othello to promote Iago. Iago states â€Å"I know my price, I am worth no worse a place† (1. 1. 11), which shows that he felt that he deserved the promotion. He resents that he has fought alongside Othello several times in battle, yet Cassio a mere â€Å"counter-caster†(1. 1. 31), who has never served in battle, was made lieutenant. He holds Othello responsible for his being passed over, and mocks Othello’s race and character. Iago’s conduct reveals his malicious nature. His statement â€Å"I am not what I am† (1. 1. 65) summarizes the deceitfulness of his character. Iago suggests to the heartbroken Roderigo that he â€Å"Call up her father, / Rouse him: make after him, poison his delight, / Proclaim him in the streets† (1. 1. 67-69). This shows Iago’s vindictive nature. He suggests that Roderigo not only disturb Barbantio in the middle of the night, but that he publicly announce that Desdemona has eloped, thus subjecting Barbantio and his family to shame. While calling out to Barbantio, Iago remains in the dark and does not reveal his identity. Here, as in the rest of the play, Iago acts an instigator, hidden in the shadows, yet still managing to manipulate those around him. In speaking to Barbantio, Iago insults him, and describes the relationship of Desdemona in derogatory and pornographic terms. After doing his best to make Barbantio panic, Iago returns to Othello and pretends to be loyal. However, he instructs Roderigo to tell Barbantio exactly where Desdemona and Othello can be found. Iago’s conduct reveals his ability to control others, while they remain unaware of his influence. This is shown by the fact that he uses Roderigo to anger Barbantio, whom he uses to destroy Othello. At this point, Barbantio and Othello are oblivious to Iago’s devious nature. Iago callously betrays Othello but pretends to be loyal to him.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Competitive positioning strategy and generic recommendations for Essay - 1

Competitive positioning strategy and generic recommendations for management 1042 - Essay Example This is because the Bowman’s strategy close helps companies to identify their unique competitive positioning based on their products or service and the pricing model they want to use with these. In a more practice term, companies are found to gain the best form of advantage with their competitive positioning when they are able to have a tangible competitive positioning action plan. This action plan may be composed of several practical tasks to be performed, including market profiling, customer segments, competitive analysis, among others. The world can now be referred to as a global village for several reasons. One of the most reasons is the fact that businesses can now move very easily from one point to another in attempt to expanding their market presence. But as companies move from one point to the other to do business, it is always important that they will appreciate the fact that there is competition within the places they go, a reason of which they must strategically place themselves in a way that makes them take all needed advantage on the market. Brown (2008) indicated that in any competitive market, the only guarantee for individual companies to succeed is for them to have a competitive advantage that is lasting. But for such an enviable competitive advantage to be developed, it is very important that a company will know what it has within its means and how it is positioned in the larger market that serves as an opportunity for improving its value (Porter, 1996). Baumeister and Leary (2005) noted that customers today are highly enlightened about value creation, a reason for which they would select value as the best force factor for doing business with one company and not the other. This is where competitive positioning becomes an important phenomenon for the companies. This is because competitive positioning has been explained to be the process of identifying a company’s value

Friday, September 27, 2019

Literature Review for Prioritizing IT investments Essay

Literature Review for Prioritizing IT investments - Essay Example According to the article Optimize Cooperate Investment in Information Technology by OracleInsight, IT investments take the lead in many companies; many companies have invested in IT making the total IT investments worldwide rise rapidly (5). This has prompted research on the benefits that come with IT investments. First, IT has improved the organization’s communication systems, which adds to the long term benefits in a business. IT also promotes the exchange of ideas within and outside the business, as well as ease complexity of communication system making it convenient and confidential. Similarly, Due notes that communication to the customers and other business stakeholders become easy with the use of IT (74). Secondly, majority of the managers prioritizing on the IT investment have experiences that facilitate their application of IT equipment and a lot of information concerning the applicability of the software and other IT features are available worldwide. Many companies own computer programming models with well skilled computer and IT skills (Sykes and Clayton 2). Additionally, these IT investments proved that they have the ability to improve future results. Information stored in the computers is used as a reference in the future. Thirdly, IT investments create a competitive advantage. For instance, Kearns after conducting a case study on two companies notes that IT investments help companies achieve a competitive edge, but a success in prioritizing IT investments requires the involvement of management, and also depends on the organization structure (10). Lack of information on the actual role played by IT makes it difficult to categorize the benefits as either tangible or intangible. This is caused by the fact that most organizations do not define or split their benefits in terms of outset. Additionally, IT projects cannot be categorized alone, therefore, making it difficult

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Technologys Affect on Families and Society Essay

Technologys Affect on Families and Society - Essay Example The interaction amongst individuals will reduced to such an extent that they will even not recognize their neighbors. This will create an America with no social bonding amongst the individuals and people staying in their home without the concern for the overall society, city and the country. When a customer comes out of his home for shopping he generates a living mostly for the lower strata of the society by picking a taxi or a tram, eating out at restaurants or kiosks thus generating incoming not only for the small owners but for the cab drivers and loads of workers at the eating junction. While income of these comparatively lower strata will definitely reduce, the affluent online vendors and reputed food giants who will cater to online requests will become even richer thus creating a wider gap between the rich and the poor. Obama government is working hard to keep a check on outsourcing of IT related services and products to developing country. If we have a closer look then we will find out that the web based services for development and maintenance has been offered primarily by the developing nations to US and therefore curbs in outsourcing will definitely delay any such mishaps for the lower stratum of our society Our c... ook then we will find out that the web based services for development and maintenance has been offered primarily by the developing nations to US and therefore curbs in outsourcing will definitely delay any such mishaps for the lower stratum of our society -How do you see this changing the elements of our culture Our culture has been a strong supporter of the principle of equality to all nationals. This implicitly refers that everybody has the right to equality even in financial matters. By increasing a gap between the richer and the poor, we are hindering the basic rights of equality for our relatively poor citizens thus snatching them this right to financial equality. -Who will be affected the most and how will their lives change Mostly this will affect the small shop owners who are not affluent enough to sell their items via online shopping. This is because they neither have sufficient resources to start an online shop, nor do they have the brand name that a customer will trust while placing an order online. Moreover every small worker involved in transportation sector will be hit by these changes. -Are there any social movements or collective behavior contributing to this change Our increasing dependency on internet for every small affair is catching the attention of affluent retailers and food giants to sell their products online and thus contributing to this change. Reference: American Teenagers. (July 2005). U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Germany. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from

AFA 201 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

AFA 201 - Essay Example Even worse, some philosophers and historians argue that not all regions and people have a history to consider. In this regard, African history has been deemed to be relatively new especially after obscure remarks were made by some philosophers. From the onset of the nineteenth century, a German philosopher gave a seminar in which he declared that Africa is not a historical part of the world. He emphasized that it had no development or movement to exhibit to the rest of the world. A hundred years later, a Harvard professor Hugh Trevor-Roper shared Hegel’s sentiments and declared that the only history that Africa can share is Europeans in Africa. He further stated that the rest is largely darkness and that darkness is not a history subject. Such sentiments indicate a racist worldview and high ignorance of African achievements. However, besides racism, statements refuting that Africa holds a history are founded on crucial conception of historical sources that are valid. It was believed that development towards progress and changes in societies was to be written at the particular time of occurrence. This insistence on written materials depicted Africa’s past invisible to some historians and to the wider public. Most of the African societies had not developed writing systems prior to the nineteenth ant twentieth century (Taiwo 118). This reveals that there was a paucity of documented records that could be used by historians in the study of Africa’s history. The few documented details stemmed from observers from outside such as European travelers and merchants. Due to this inconsistency, it was widely held that there was no history in Africa. It was however discovered much later that indeed Africa had a rich past confined to Africa’s colonial history. After all, the missionaries, businessmen, and European colonial administrators kept detailed accounts of observations and activities on the continent of Africa (Oladale 319).

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Forensics f report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Forensics f report - Essay Example The first task was to secure the perimeter around the car; an event that did not take long, for the distance was not wide. Consequently, the crime scene became (exhibit P-1, P-2, P-3, and P-4). The officers realized that two bodies were at the crime scene, with the body on the driver’s seat; (exhibit D), being identified as Sally Lee exhibiting black hair and white skin. Preliminary assessments indicated that an unknown person had shot Lee on the head and throat. Both shots were visible, and it was apparent that they had come from outside the car (exhibit P-5). The victim’s head was lying on the steering wheel with both of her hands on her knees. The second victim was Megan White, a young female with white skin and brown hair who had been shot from the back and on the throat as well. She was lying on the ground a few feet away from the car (exhibit F-1). The victim encountered the ground with her face and stomach, and had both hands spread a little bit forward (exhibit A-2). The officers went ahead to picture and videotape the scene, before bringing the sketchers on board. The sketchers entered the crime scene alongside both the searcher and Custodian. After pictures, videos, measurements and sketch details were taken from the victims; a coroner was called to the location to carry the bodies out of the crime scene. At the same time, the chief Meunier arrived at the scene to help in searching for additional evidence. While the team was searching for evidence, two white males approached the team, and got extremely close to the crime scene before being repelled by the officers (exhibit K-1). The first male later identified as Jack Russell, wore a blue t-shirt, black sunglasses, a brown hat and carried what looked like an alcohol bottle. The second male identified as Mike McDonald, wore a blue shirt with orange glasses and

Monday, September 23, 2019

Unconventional Warfare in the Southern Philippines Essay

Unconventional Warfare in the Southern Philippines - Essay Example Any effort to defeat terrorism must look at the underlying causes to be effective. This paper gives a brief background discussion on several causes which impel people to resort to terrorist methods in order to fully understand how some counter-terror operations are successful while others are not, despite massive logistical support given to these operations. It also gives an astounding example of tentative successes against terror groups such as the ones operating in the southern regions of the Philippines which is located in Southeast Asia. There are obvious lessons to be learned there which can hopefully be replicated elsewhere. Presently, there is no accepted international legal definition of terrorism. Countries may have their own laws against terrorism but a common feature of all these laws is that terrorism is considered as a criminal act. As such, it is punishable by the harshest sentence possible that can range from long prison terms, a life sentence or even capital punishmen t. The layman's definition of terrorism is that of an act or a series of acts designed to sow extreme fear in the population. It is actually a form of coercion backed up by the threat of physical violence. Discussion Most terror groups today belong to network-type of organization. This kind of set-up allows for each tiny group (a terror cell) composed of just a few people to operate in a manner independent of the main organization which makes it difficult to track down other terror cells. There are varied reasons why people resort to terrorism and among them are the following: a feeling or perception of being marginalized within the larger society, to fight against injustice, for political autonomy, religious freedom or ethnic recognition. With this list in mind, it is too easy to see that military means alone cannot defeat terrorism if the underlying causes that had caused it to rise in the first place are not adequately addressed by the government. This paper is a reflective essay on a military assessment article written by Sgt. Major William Eckert, an American military service member of the Joint Special Operations Task Force (JSOTF) in the Philippines. His article described how the US military in cooperation with the security forces of the Philippines (the Philippine military and the police forces) have achieved a good measure of success in the fight against terrorism which could be used as the model for other forces operating elsewhere in the world's global hot spots. In his own words, the battle against terrorism in this Asian country is a war for peace and prosperity. It has also gained the attention of senior military leaders impressed by its decent gains (Eckert 1). In essence, Sgt. Major Eckert's position paper is a claim that the battle against these terrorists is a battle of ideas. In other words, the only effective way to defeat terrorism is fight its idea (which serves as its recruiting tool by exploiting real or imagined grievances) with a much better idea – that the way to prosperity is to maintain peace by addressing the perceived inequalities felt by the minority Muslim populace within much larger predominantly Catholic Philippine population. The most-telling result or achievement of

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Romantic Love and Marriage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Romantic Love and Marriage - Essay Example Recent statistics suggests that romantic love is not the only principle of long-lasting and happy marriage. Today, the main reasons of divorces include early marriages, different opinions about their responsibilities in a family, and getting marriages without mutual feelings. One third of all families in the USA are divorced in spite of the fact that they have romantic love and true feelings when they married (Chalmers 2006). In contrast, those families and partners who did not have true romantic feelings when married are more stable unions and only 10% of such families are divorced. Thesis Romantic love is not the only principles of happy and stable marriage. The partners in a successful marriage are those who have learned how to function after the music stops, after romance and its heart-tripping frenzy has cooled. Everyone's heard that love can't last forever, and this is true simply because you don't live forever. But love does often last a lifetime, although its nature changes over the years. Margaret Reedy of the University of Southern California has studied this idea of loving happily ever after and the age differences in satisfying love relationships. She chose 102 married couples for her study. They were people who had been judged by others who knew them well to be very much in love (Sternberg and Barnes 22). They were divided into three groups: young adults, married an average of five years; middle-aged adults, married an average of twenty-one years; and older adults, married an average of thirty-seven years. Each of the satisfied lovers was asked to complete a list of statements, rating each in terms of how well it described hi s or her current love relationship. These statements reflected a wide variety of possible experiences people might have in love relationships, and in turn reflected the six components of love we mentioned earlier (emotional security, referring to feelings of trust, caring, concern and warmth; respect, which means being able to be tolerant, understanding and patient; the ability to spend time together, working as well as playing; communication, being able to be honest and self-revealing, and being a good listener; loyalty, or a sense of investment and commitment; sexual intimacy). Statistical results suggest that "The divorce rate in 2005 (per 1,000 people) was 3.6 -- the lowest rate since 1970, and down from 4.2 in 2000 and from 4.7 in 1990" (Divorce statistics 2008). There was, first of all, a clear indication that the nature of love in satisfying relationships is different at different ages. For example, the couples who assessed their current love alliance supported the common ide a that passion and sexual intimacy are relatively more important in early adulthood, whereas tender feelings of affection and loyalty are more important in the love relationships of later life. The findings also supported the notion that, over time, love associations are less likely to be based on intense companionship and communication, and more likely to be base

Saturday, September 21, 2019

The Negative Consequences of Genetically Modified Food Essay Example for Free

The Negative Consequences of Genetically Modified Food Essay Genetically modified foods (GM foods, or biotech foods) are hazardous to your health. These foods are derived from genetically modified organisms (GMOs), specifically, genetically modified crops. GMOs have had specific changes introduced into their DNA by genetic engineering techniques. Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are created when a gene from one species is transferred to another, creating something that would not be found in nature. GMOs are present in almost sixty percent of all processed foods including vegetable oil, Soya flour, lecithin, and Soya proteins. GMO maize products make up approximately fifty percent of processed foods including corn, cornstarch, and corn syrups. Beets, sugar, dairy products, and soybeans are also produced through genetic engineering. The six major GMO crops are Soy, Corn, Canola, Cotton, sugar beets and alfalfa. Have you ever wondered what may be causing the food allergies you or your children have? It is most likely due to GMOs. By drawing out proteins from foods and modifying other foods with them, there is a much greater chance of cross contamination of allergens. Without proper identification, this could be devastating if not deadly for those with serious food allergies. For example, a person that is allergic to peanuts (common allergen) may be also allergic to tomatoes that have had the peanut protein injected into them. Without knowing, the person may eat the tomato and have an allergic reaction to it not realizing that the tomato was genetically modified. So now, there will be more people that can develop allergies to tomatoes. Children, especially under the age of two, are more prone to develop allergies to GMO foods because they have the greatest number of reactions to new allergens in foods. They are particularly vulnerable to GM corn, which contains an allergen not found in natural varieties. Over the last several years, the greatest rise in food allergies was to soy products. In fact, â€Å"Soy allergies skyrocketed by 50% in the UK, soon after GM soy was introduced†. (1) Eating a diet with non-GMOs will also help to keep you healthy. GMOs have been linked to existing diseases and new diseases. In particular, genetically engineered corn and soy can wreak havoc on your health by promoting obesity and contributing to diseases. According to an article featured on a health website by Dr. Mercola, a well-known American physician: â€Å"The results show a positive link between GE corn and obesity. Animals fed a GE corn diet got fatter quicker and retained the weight compared to animals fed a non-GE grain diet. The studies were performed on rats, mice, pigs and salmon, achieving the same results. † â€Å"This not only may relate to a rise in obesity, but to increases in many modern diseases. These diseases include diabetes, digestive disorders, inflammatory bowel disease, colitis, autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (ADD), autoimmune diseases, sexual dysfunction, sterility, asthma, COPD and many more. (2) If you are concerned about the plight of starving people in the world, GMOs are not the answer for global food security or for reducing world hunger. Although biotech companies have argued that GM crops grow bigger and produce more food, which can help curb the poverty issue in the world, that is actually not the case. Genetically engineered crops have shown no increase in yield. In many cases other farm technology has proven much more successful, and even Monsanto, the world’s largest GM seed company, agrees that its genetically engineered crops yield less than conventional farming. In fact, when Monsanto attempted to introduce GM hybrid wheat to Europe for its cereal market, it revealed that the growth in hybrid wheat had failed to materialise. Our lack of success in hybrids means this is no longer a good strategic fit for Monsanto. (3). If you do not want to worry about the relationship between GMOs and food allergies and if you are concerned about the health risks associated with consuming GM foods, avoid purchasing GM foods. Here are some tips to help you to avoid purchasing and consuming GM foods. Look for 100% organic products, which means that all ingredients in the product are organic. Look for â€Å"non-GMO† or â€Å"Made without genetically modified ingredients† labels. Avoid at risk ingredients like soy, corn, cottonseed, canola, sugar beets, and alfalfa. In addition, consumers can change the GMO practices of food manufacturers. You can get together with your local community and start a petition to demand that GMOs be eliminated from the food supply. These two methods will help to ensure that all people can stay healthy. SOURCES CITED Audet, M. (2013). Genetically Modified Food and Risks to Human Health. Retrieved from http://organic. lovetoknow. com/natural-organic-food/genetically-modified-food-risks-human-health Smith, J. M. (2003). Genetically Engineered Foods Pose Health Risk to Children. Retrieved from http://www. saynotogmos. org/uoct03a. htm (1) Smith, J. M. (2007). Spilling the Beans. Newsletter. Retrieved from http://www. responsibletechnology. org/gmo-dangers/health-risks/articles-aboutrisks-by-jeffrey-smith/Genetically-Engineered-Foods-May-Cause-Rising-Food-Allergies-Genetically-Engineered-Soybeans-May- (2)Mercola, Dr. (2012). Decade-Long Feeding Study Reveals Significant HealthHazards of Genetically Engineered Foods. Retrieved fromhttp://articles. mercola. com/sites/articles/archive/2012/08/07/genetically-engineered-foods-hazards. aspx (3) Brown, P. and Oliver, M. (2003). Monsanto to Quit Europe. Retrieved from http://www. saynotogmos. org/uoct03b. htm#mquits.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Reliability and Validity in Research

Reliability and Validity in Research The debate whether qualitative methods are reliable and valid have been contested for a long time between qualitative and quantitative researchers. Quantitative researchers approach research in a positivistic way where they believe there is a single truth, behaviours can be explained by Universal laws and research should be done objectively (Research Methodology, 2016). Most of the studies also involved using statistical methods to analyse. Today, quantitative research is valued by government and policy makers more as they are more reliable, generalizable and easier to analyse (Cannella and Lincoln, 2004 cited in Tracy, 2010). However, qualitative studies study issues in depth hence it should be valued more. In this essay, the definition of reliability and validity in quantitative and qualitative research will be discussed. Then requirements of a good qualitative research will be explored and interview as a data collection method will be evaluated. Reliability in quantitative research is defined by (Joppe, 2000, cited in Golafshani, 2003) as the Extent which results are consistent over time and accurate representation of the total population under study. This means similar results should be replicable at a different time and the sample should represent characteristics of the general population. Validity is whether the research measure what it intends to and how accurate the data is (Golafshani, 2003). Being objective is also important to ensure data are not biased which affects the reliability of the data. Meeting these objectives will ensure good quality quantitative research. In contrary, qualitative research focuses on structures and process behind to have a deeper understanding of a topic through methods such as interviews and discourse analysis. McDowell (1992) called these researchers critical realists and she believes the work they do can help explain a phenomenon whereas quantitative data are only useful in identifying the pattern as correlation does not equal to cause (empirical realists). Qualitative methods also aim to show that the world is complex (Schoenberger, 1991) and messy, therefore reliability does not apply and generalised as diversity is more important (Flyvberg, 2006). The meaning of validity is different in qualitative research as it does not measure anything. Golafshani (2003) defines it as Whether a study appears to be reasonable and appropriate. This is related to the method of data collection and analysis. However, some academics believe that validity should not be applied to qualitative research as the term is defined from a sci entific background. Therefore, alternative criteria are developed as part of a guideline to improve the quality of qualitative research which will be explored in the next section. There is an ongoing tension between rigour and creativity in the qualitative paradigm. To achieve good rigour, a universal standard could be developed to ensure the quality of work is consistent. However, this is rejected by most qualitative researchers as it limits the creativity of their work and results are usually unpredictable which means it will be difficult to meet the standard. Researchers hence need to strike a balance between the two and a guideline will be the most appropriate way to do so (Bailey et al, 1999). The guideline will allow researchers own interpretation of how rigour could be met based on their own circumstances. This will improve the reputation of qualitative research in the society and accepted more widely by the quantitative researchers and government agencies. It also allows researchers from different paradigm to learn from each other and improve their own research methods (Tracy, 2010) One such guideline was proposed by Guba and Lincoln (1985) cited in Baxter and Eyles (1997) who suggested four criteria evaluating qualitative studies to achieve rigour and trustworthiness. They try to apply criteria from quantitative into qualitative research. Firstly, it should be credible so that it is accurately representing the findings and can be trusted. The reader should be able to understand the issue easily by making the whole research and writing process plausible and persuasive (Richardson, 2000 cited in Tracy, 2010). The second criteria is transferability where findings would be useful outside the study. This is similar to generalisability for quantitative research. However, there is less emphasis in qualitative research on that as each case would be different and no clear conclusion would usually be made. It can be transferable to the reader when they make their own interpretation and decide how each specific case could be useful to their own daily life (Tracy, 2010). T he third criteria is dependability developed from the idea of reliability. Although data collected from qualitative methods would not produce consistent results, the way data is transcribed, coded and analysed can be agreed between multiple researchers and participants to ensure interpretation would be consistent. The final criteria confirmability is based on objectiveness. This is The degree which findings are determined by the respondents and not by the motivations of the inquirer. (Lincoln and Guba, 1985. P.290 cited in Baxter and Eyles, 2010). This is needed to reduce the bias in qualitative data collection and results which is one of the main reason why it is less popular than quantitative research. Researcher being reflexive throughout the study is the main way to achieve this which will be explained further later in the essay. The criteria above could now be used to evaluate interview as a data collection method. There are three types of Qualitative interview which vary in the degree of freedom given to the participant when responding. Structured interview involves answering a set number of questions prepared before. A semi-structured interview provides a better interaction between the participant and the researcher, it is a guided conversation with a few predetermined question and prompts used when more information is needed, which is usually written as an interview guide (Longhurst, 2009). The guide improves the credibility (Baxter and Eyles, 1997) as it allows a better answer to be constructed by the participant. An Unstructured interview is rarely used as it is very difficult for the participant to speak for a long period of time on the same topic and could easily go off topic. Semi- structured is the most common qualitative research method as it strikes the balance between the ability for the participant to speak freely and structuring the interview (University of Leicester, Unknown) pro viding a certain degree of credibility. Conducting interview requires choosing participant carefully through sampling. Purposive sampling is usually used in which means choosing participants which fit with researchers criteria who are usually an insider to the topic of research. This means participants will be able to talk in great detail which is the aim of a qualitative interview. Other sampling methods such as snowball (interviewing friends of participants) and convenience are sometimes used due to difficulty in finding insiders. However, this will reduce the credibility of the research as they might have limited to say due to lack of knowledge in the area (Baxter and Eyles, 1997). Interviewing friends will make it harder to achieve credibility as participants might give accounts to satisfy the need of the researcher which might not reflect the real situation. The sample size is seen by quantitative researcher an important factor to produce good quality research. However, in qualitative interview, the number of intervie ws conducted is usually limited to around to 20 due to time and financial constraints (Baker and Edwards, 2012) Moreover, a large sample size is not needed as it is enough when the theoretical saturation is reached (Glaser and Strauss, 1967 cited in Bailey et al, 1999). This is where the themes identified during analysis are repeating and no new knowledge would be gained from interviewing more people. During the interview and analysing process, the language the researcher use is crucial to the outcome of the result as interviews are based on interpretation by different people (McDowell, 2010). The way a question is asked could receive a different response as same words might have different meanings to people. During transcription, the researcher might make his/her own interpretation when something is unclear and the final level of interpretation is made by the reader themselves (Schoenberger, 1991). To make the interview results transferable to the reader, the transcription and analysis should be narrative with thick description and minimal interpretation from the researcher. This should include detailed description and illustration of the situation (Tracy, 2010), for example using a direct quotation from the interview is a good way to achieve it. Methods to improve the credibility of research includes member check and language training. Member check involves sending a copy of the transcript and analysis to the participant (Long and Johnson, 2000) and ask for feedback. The researcher could also understand the language used in an industry before conducting an interview (Schoenberger, 1991). Both of these methods will reduce the chance of misinterpretation. After transcription, coding is done to identify common themes from different accounts. This is done by the researcher who chooses the themes. Due to limited space in journals, some section of the interview is therefore not analysed. As mentioned before, coding needs to be consistent for the research to be dependable through methods such as collaborative coding or the use of a coding book. Triangulation is a common method used to improve the credibility by using multiple sources and methods which give the same conclusion (Denzin, 1978 cited in Tracy, 2010). For example, using multiple quotations to support a statement made would improve the credibility of the research. Most importantly, researchers should be self-reflexive to improve credibility. They should think about their own positionalities and decide how to declare it to the reader (Longhurst, 2009). One way is to be transparent about how decisions are made during the research such as sampling and coding strategy. This could be attached as an appendix (Creswell and Miller, 2000 cited in Tracy, 2010) at the end to help a reader to decide whether they agree with researchers interpretation. Overall, interview as a data collection method can meet all the criteria proposed by Guba and Lincoln (1985) if the researcher is careful about every decision that was made and the language used to communicate with the reader. The guidelines are developed based on the idea of validity hence it can be said interview is also valid as a method but not in a positivistic way in terms of accuracy. They also suggested that When validity is present, it also represent reliability. Therefore, reliability does not have to be considered as it is irrelevant to qualitative studies. Currently, researchers are not being explicit enough in terms of their rationale and how things are done (Baxter and Eyles, 1997), the guideline will therefore help researchers to be more aware of the issue. However, the guideline should not be taken too seriously to the extent that it affects creativity which is the main objective of qualitative research, hence a balance between the two is needed. Bailey, C, White, C, and Pain R (1999) Evaluating qualitative research: dealing with the tension between science and creativity. Area. 31(2): 169-83. http://eprints.ncrm.ac.uk/2273/4/how_many_interviews.pdf Baxter, Jamie and Eyles, John (1997) Evaluating qualitative research in social geography: establishing rigour in interview analysis. Transactions . 22: 505-25. Golafshani, N. (2003). Understanding Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research. The Qualitative Report, 8(4), 597-606. Retrieved from http://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol8/iss4/6 Long, T and Johnson, M. (2000). Rigour, reliability and validity in qualitative research Longhurst, R (2009) Interviews: In depth, semi-structured. In international Encyclopaedia of Geography McDowell, L. 1992. Valid games? A response to Erica Schoenberger. The Professional Geographer. 44(2), pp.212-15. McDowell, L. 2012. https://www.dawsonera.com/readonline/9781446206560 Research Methodology, 2016. http://research-methodology.net/research-philosophy/positivism/ Schoenberger, E. 1991. The corporate interview as a research method in economic geography. The Professional Geographer. 43(2), pp.180-9. Tracy, S.J.2010. Qualitative quality: Eight big-tent criteria for excellent qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry. 16(10), pp.837-51. http://www.le.ac.uk/oerresources/psychology/psa/unit5/page_09.htm

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Media and Physical Appearance Essay -- Advertising Commercials Essays

Media and Physical Appearance I would not say that I am a slave of advertising or consumer culture, but I have always paid relatively close attention to the commercials I see on television and in magazines. Because of this trait, I would say that I am fairly perceptive of the various methods employed by advertisers, and the messages they attempt to convey. The majority of these messages I discard, and very rarely do I allow them to influence what I do and do not buy. There is one ad, however, that I remember to this day, and which I admit has dictated what I buy in one specific area. Even now, I remember the commercial quite vividly, although I was probably in elementary school when I first saw it. The ad featured a handsome teenager talking about his experience in starting a new school. A few days before the first day of classes, he breaks out with a bad case of acne. Terrified, he imagines his social life for the remainder of high school as one dominated by weekend nights watching cheesy movies at home w ith his parents. Miraculously, though, he is saved from this social hell by Oxy facial cleansing products. With a clear face, he is able to start school on the right note, making friends with other attractive adolescents. The commercial closes with him saying, â€Å"keep America beautiful,† as Oxy’s line of skin care products shows up on the screen. For some reason, this ad and its message stuck with me, and I have loyally used Oxy products ever since. While extremely effective, this ad was hardly original in its methods. Instead, it relied on the same techniques perfected nearly a century earlier during the revolution in American advertising. As early as 1923, the Lambert Pharmaceutical Company was ... ...success of each of these campaigns though, there is little wonder as to why advertising has changed so little. As long American ethos embodies the notion that physical appearance, and financial and social success are directly correlated, advertisers will continue to create demand for products that alleviate physical and hygienic ailments by simply manipulating the public’s fear of them. Works Cited http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/dynaweb/adaccess/beauty/hairprep1940s/@Generic __BookTextView/. Marchand, Roland. Advertising the American Dream. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985. Schudson, Michael. Advertising, The Uneasy Persuasion. United States of America: Basic Books, 1986. Special thanks to John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History, and Duke University’s Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collection Library.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Open Campus Policy :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Students, you, as well as I, have always felt the strain of limitations brought upon you this and past school years. These past years, the school board has been closing students’ ability to do almost what they please to an oppressive detention in which you cannot even walk the hallways to get a sip of water. How many times have you or heard that someone has been given a detention for just walking around the halls? How many times have you been hassled for trying to go to your car and sent back into the school by a so called â€Å"rent-a-cop† and a new enforcer cop? All of these and more are related to the idea of a closed campus. I, on the other hand, am on the behalf of an open campus. An open campus gives the student more freedom and responsibility to make the right decisions. As opposition, the closed campus concept would argue that not all or any of the students should receive such trustworthiness from the school. I think that not all but a selec t group of students should have the open campus opportunity. Another matter with open campus is money issues in many areas in which I will discuss.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As time goes on, each class of students gains and loses freedoms. An open campus freedom would not only just let students go where they please; it would also give the students a responsibility to manage their time. Many administrators on the board of education do not think that a high school student should have such a responsibility. They would tell us that we are too immature to be able to manage time during the school day. I think that students are mature enough to have such a freedom placed within their grasps. I can anticipate that the opposition will be outraged by all students receiving this freedom and responsibility. If such a concept as open campus could be arranged, there surely would be rules and regulations placed in effect to ensure that the school will not have liability of the student once off school ground.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The group of students that can leave the school can be very easily simplified from the current thought of all students being able to leave. First of all, a freshman certainly cannot leave the school grounds. A sophomore, even though more mature than the freshman, should as well not be able to leave the grounds.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

John Wayne :: essays research papers

The Duke takes his place in history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  John Wayne, one of America’s greatest actors and directors of all time. His fame and superstardom led to many problems in his career. His image as an icon of American individualism and the frontier spirit has overshadowed his career to such an extent that it is almost impossible for the fans and writers to separate Wayne the legend from Wayne the actor and Wayne the man.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before the start of his movie career he played football at USC under his birth name, Marion Michael Morrison. He held many behind-the-scene jobs at Fox before moving in front of the cameras in the late 1920’s in a series of small roles. Director John Ford, who befriended “ the Duke';, recommended him for the lead role in Raoul Walsh’s western epic, The Big Trail. Wayne did not let the stardom go to his head. He spent the rest of the decade making his way through a series of low budget films whose failing budgets and quick shooting schedules did little to advance his career.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1939 John Ford gave Wayne another break by casting him as the Ringo Kid in Stagecoach. The roll threw Wayne into the top ranks of the movie stars and finally, in the 1940’s, his legend began to take shape. Relieved from military duty due to physical problems, Wayne became the film industry’s hard-core soilder, but had that compassionate side. Movies released during the war, such as Flying Tigers (1942), The Fighting Seabees (1944) and Back to Bataan (1945) left Wayne with some pretty big shoes to fill.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The movies that he made at the end of the decade were the ones that established him as an actor of merit. Howard Hawks emphasized the willful side of Wayne’s screen persona by giving him the part in Red River (1948). He played the part of Tom Dunson, a difficult, unlikeable yet compelling character. Two other films directed by John Ford quickly followed. Fort Apache (1948) and She wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For a good part of the 50’s and 60’s Wayne took part in several small pictures. Standard western and action movies but nothing too dynamic. Because of the numerous films though he was financially in good setting. In 1969 he won Best Actor Oscar for True Grit, a light-hearted if not particularly impressive performance. Wayne’s final role was surely his best of the decade. In the Shootist, he played a dying gunman who is just beginning to understand his own life and legend. What a man.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  John Wayne, you either love him or you hate him. Although there are not many people that dislike him.

Career Building Competencies Essay

After completing my career interests’ profiler and competencies assessments, it helped me gain a better understanding of my competencies and how I apply them to a business setting. With the career interests’ profiler, it pretty much already told me what I already knew but more of a deeper understanding. What I do appreciate after taking completing the career interests’ profiler is providing me with a list of the different careers that would be best suited for me. By completing the competencies assessment, it has helped me analyze my results such as, adapting to change, delivering results or innovating and how I can apply them to critical thinking. By understanding my personal competencies, what I can do to improve my skills can be using my results to help look outside the box. One result I found very intriguing was innovating. â€Å"To innovate† means to show something as if it was the first time or to alter something and I found that intriguing as one of my results. Applying innovation to critical thinking would mean to think outside the box, change my perception on how I see the problem so that the solution may present itself. Another way in applying my results can be in how I evaluate arguments. For example, adapting to change or coping with pressure are great competencies in which can help me evaluating arguments. With adapting to change, it can help me view the argument from a different point of view. It can open my eyes in seeing other possible solutions and coming to an agreement. Also with coping with pressure, it can help me by keeping me calm when in an argumentative position. Not only can it keep me calm but by staying calm, it can help me stay confident in what is argued. After taking this assessment, it has helped me understand my competencies when being applied to critical thinking and evaluating argument.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Lonely Miss Brill the Eavesdropper

Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield is about a middle-aged English teacher who secretly listens to other people's conversation due to her loneliness. Every weekend Miss Brill goes out to the parade in a park and listens to other people's conversation because she has nobody to talk to but her fur coat. She treasures her fur coat as if it's her pet and has conversations with it. Towards the end of the story, she realizes that nobody likes her, therefore she goes home into her dark room and cries.Katherine Mansfield, uses imagery, characterization, and point-of-view uses these three literary elements to inform the meaning of the lonliness. The author uses imagery for the reader to better understand the story and to create the apperance of her loneliness. In the beginning of the story, the author states â€Å"She had taken it out of its box that afternoon, shaken out the moth powder†¦ rubbed the life back into the dim little eyes. † (Mansfield 1)Here, Miss Brill takes out her f ur coat and starts to talk to it and pets it as if it is her pet.From this, the reader can can visually interpret that Miss Brill had no friends or family to talk to when she was lonley. Furthermore, towards the end of the story, a girl at the park says, â€Å"It's exactly like a fried whiting. â€Å"(Mansfield 4) The reader can visualize the story the author intended on how the little girl at the park makes fun of Miss Brill of her fur coat saying that it looks like fried fish. After hearing this, Miss Brill goes home and cries in her dark room. In addition, the author uses point-of-view for the reader to step into the main characters' shoes.In the beginning of the story, when Miss Brill went to the park to watch the parade, the author states â€Å"Wasn't the conductor wearing a new coat, too? She sure it was new. † (Mansfield 1) From this quote, the reader can see that she went to the parade often, enough to know what the bandsmen wore each weekend to perform. Furthermore , the author states â€Å"But to-day she passed the baker's by, climbed the stairs, went into the little dark room- her room like a cupboard†¦ She sat there for a long time.† (Mansfield 4)After coming back from the parade, getting made fun of, she goes to her room in a depressed mood and cries by herself. Lastly, from the begininng of the story, the reader can tell that Miss Brill had a unique personality. From talking and petting her fur coat, to eavesdropping, her character is a bit different from others. Her lonliness could have lead her to eavesdrop on people and have a fur coat as her friend. The author states, â€Å"This was disappointing, for Miss Brill always looked foward to the conversation.† (Mansfield 1), to show her lonliness.In this quote, the reader can see that Miss Brill liked to talk to people and even if she wasn't in the conversation, she would like to listen to them. Furthermore, he author states â€Å"How she enjoyed it! How she loved sittin g there, watching it all! It was like a play. † (Mansfield 3) This quote is explaining how she enjoyed the parade as if it was a play. The reader can see that she entertained herself by going to the park every weekend to forget about her loneliness.The author successfully used these three literary elements for the readers to better understand the story, to create the appearance of her lonliness and visualize interpret what the author was intending to say. Authors using literary elements in their story is important because they can send what they're trying to say to the readers easily with the literary elements. Furthermore, it is important to the readers because the reader's can better understand the story and relate the story to the world. Reading this story, readers can understand people who too are lonely and step into their shoes to understand their feelings.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Don Quixote Essay

Fiction and Metafiction in Borge’s Ficciones and Cervantes’ Don Quixote dela Mancha Unbelievable and amazing may perhaps best describe the literature that the world has as of the moment. It is unbelievable because who would have thought that the wide spectrum of literary works would be so great in number? At the same time, it is amazing as the progress and history which literature has gone through are truly marvelous. The literary works which are within humanity’s reach are incomparable to what people back then had. The literary works of the moment which are within humanity’s reach is a compilation of history, art, language, the sciences, and politics of every generation, culture, and nation. Truly, literature has such a monumental scope within its pages that sometimes, a person may be lost with so many things literature has to offer. Literature is both fact and fiction and is inspired both by history and creative imagination. The elements within literature are all reflections of the realities of society, but these things can still be considered as fictional—after all, fact is fact and pure truth—nothing more. But what if something fictional seems so real that it seems to be factual and true? What if a person or a character which is just imagined seems to be a real person of this world? What if the line between reality and imagined is confusing and seems to be separated by nothing at all? Two authors by the name of Jorge Luis Borges and Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra are the answers to such questions. Saavedra who wrote (or â€Å"supposedly re-wrote) the famous adventure of Don Quixote dela Mancha and Jorge Luis Borges who wrote the seventeen literary pieces contained within Ficciones are fictional writers. When a person talks about fiction, it usually pertains to one thing—created by the imagination. Thus, it means that any work of fiction is merely invented by any person and that any fictional work is not true, is false, and can never be a fact. Yet, Saavedra and Borges have created literary works which are fictional but they seem so real and true that a person is left to believe that they are indeed the truth—metafiction. Metafiction, according to Patricia Waugh, is â€Å"a term given to fictional writing which self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artifact in order to pose questions about the relationship between fiction and reality† (qtd. in Liu). Thus, metafiction is indeed fictional and from the imagination, and it aims to confuse readers about what is real and what is merely created by a person. How does a person achieve this? Again, according to Patricia Waugh, â€Å"such writings not only examine the fundamental structures of narrative fiction, they also explore the possible fictionality of the world outside the literary fictional text† (qtd. in Liu). Thus, an author creates a fictional world and creates another fictional world within the already imagined world—creating a metafictional world. In Borges’ Ficciones and Saavedra’s Don Quixote dela Mancha—this metafictional world is truly what they have conjured up. Ficciones is a book which contains seventeen fictional literary pieces that seem to be real. Each piece has its own world, own elements of characters, settings, and even at some point, its own mind and language. There are pieces such as the Library of Babel that appears to be real and true that a reader also wants to believe that such place is true. In that particular piece (from Part One of the book), Borges describes a library in length and in awe. The whole thing seems to be an introduction to a novel of some sort, and yet at the same time, it also seems to come from a real book full of factual evidences that such a library exists. In the following excerpt, Borges describes the library and the people who are fascinated with it: â€Å"When it was proclaimed that the Library comprised all books, the first impression was one of extravagant joy. All men felt themselves of a secret, intact treasure. The universe was justified, the universe suddenly expanded to the limitless dimensions of hope† (83). However, further in the Library of Babel, Borges even talks of mystical books such as the Vindications which are â€Å"books of apology and prophesy which vindicated for all time the actions of every man in the world and established a store of prodigious arcana for the future† (83). What Borges has created is a fictional world, but a reader may find that world to be so palpable and genuine that it appears to be impossible that it is just imagined. The same conclusion can be given to Saavedra and his work on Don Quixote dela Mancha. In Saavedra’s work, the book is divided into two parts—one is the tale or adventure itself of Don Quixote and the second part is the metafictional work wherein the author talks directly to the readers and even to the characters that they all seem to be real people when clearly, they are all imagined. The ridiculous adventure of Don Quixote and his â€Å"squire† Sancho Panza is so preposterous (as with the example of the enchanted peasant girl or the basin turned into a knight’s helmet), far-fetched, and humorous that a person will not for a second think that the entire tale is true. However, when Saavedra writes the second part of the book, doubts and hesitations replace the earlier convictions. For example, in the first part, Saavedra writes about a Dulcinea who was believed by Don Quixote to be a princess in disguise of a peasant girl when in fact, she really is a peasant girl. Later on though, Saavedra explains this turn of events in Don Quixote’s life: â€Å"I have reason to think that Sancho’s artifice to deceive his mater, and make him believe the peasant girl to be Dulcinea enchanted, was in fact, all a contrivance of some one of the magicians who persecute Don Quixote†¦ † (369). Therefore, Saavedra has created two worlds—one that is entirely fictional wherein the character of Don Quixote resides, and the other is metaficitonal wherein the character of Don Quixote does reside still but which it is explained why he has such ridiculous notions of chivalry and enchantments. In conclusion, though metafiction may seem to be such a complex and wondrous thing, it cannot exist without a person knowing first what is fictional. Metafiction exists in the world of fiction—a person cannot write or create a metafictional world without going into a fictional one. That is like a person wanting to break the rules without knowing what were the rules in the first place. Literature is truly complex but at the same time unbelievable and amazing—Saavedra and Borges can attest to that. Works Cited Borges, Jorge Luis. Ficciones. New York: Grove Press, 1962. Saavedra, Miguel de Cervantes. Don Quixote dela Mancha. New York: Penguin Group Incorporated, 1957. Lui, Kate. â€Å"Theories of Metafiction. † Postmodern Theories and Texts. 1998. Department of English Language and Literature, Fu Jen University. 4 Aug. 2009.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Humanities Commerce: Types of Business – Case Study: Salty Fish Finds Sweet Success

Thailand is one of the world's leading countries in producing rice. The Thai public, especially the poor eat rice with salty fish, a delicacy. They find this dish cost and taste efficient. This simple dish has turned into a multi-million baht business. Many marine firms have turned their eyes on this field and have started producing salty fish. Although it is hard to be successful and create a market with some risk involved, P.N. Marine owned by Mrs Nusara Thawornthawewong is an example of successful firm in this operating environment. This essay will study and explore, a) the origin of P.N. Marine, b) the development of the firm, c) how it was affected by the government, d) the positive and negative effect of the business on the local community and economy, e) the firm's negative impact on the local environment. These concepts will be assisted by a number of business terms and concepts. Read this Ch. 22 Respiratory System An efficient firm can only be set up if the owner has enough land, labor, capital and entrepreneur-ship skills. But along with these four factors of production, motivation and inspiration towards the business is also essential. Mrs. Nusara had all the factors of production. She had enough money (invested 12 baht which was lots 30 years back), had land (her house would be her factory), had labor/partner (her mother helped her) and also she had entrepreneur-ship skills (experience from working at a salty fish making plant). Mrs. Nusara Thawornthawewong had motivation to her business too. The article states that, â€Å"†¦more concerned about earning money to help her parents and siblings.† Her motivation was there. Her background and situations were her motivators. She wanted to help her parents and siblings (brothers and sisters) financially. Mrs. Nusara has been involved in her business for around three decades and in these three decades her firm has developed quite a lot. In Figure one, this development can be easily seen. This data has been analyzed and concluded from the ‘Salty Fish finds sweet success' news article. We can also conclude from the figure that in last 10 years, the development of the firm was sophisticated and fast. P.S. Note that the timeline has been drawn diagonally going up since the business has been getting higher profits every year (like a profit graph). â€Å"Even so turnover grew steadily† and â€Å"The group earned at least 10 million baht a year,† these quotes prove the statements I made above. You can read also Costco Case Study P.N. Marine was blessed from every angle and side. Even the government was a help to them not a hindrance. Mrs. Nusara would agree with me if I say the government played a major role in increasing her firms control over the market. The government first of all, gave them a FDA certificate for their good and hygienic quality of food. Then the government certified them as Halal food for Muslims. These two certificates from the government surely increased the company's USP (Unique Selling Pont image) enlarging the company's control over the market and capturing a place in the hearts of the public. The Invigorating Thai Business programme organized by the government also provided essential feedback to increase efficiency and develop the company further. When P.N. Marine, â€Å"†¦sought assistance from the Industrial Promotion Department through the Invigorating Thai Business programme created to help companies increase effeciency in their operations,† they agreed to help them. In brief the government overall has had a very positive impact on the business thus being supported strongly in the â€Å"General Business Environment† poltically. P.N. Marine, now a private limited company, has had negative and positive impacts upon the economy and community. The impacts upon the economy are not very big. This is because the business is running in a country where a mixed economy is used and it is running in a Monopolistic Competition (since a) there are many sellers and buyers, b) they are price takers, c) there are no barriers to entry and, d) firms produce differentiated products). Yes, there are effects on the economy. These effects apply only to the Operating Environment. One negative effect is that it is a threat to its competitors since its USP is very high and the company is very experienced (Intensity of Competitive Rivalry). The firm has positive impacts upon the economy too. A positive impact to the economy would be that since it, â€Å"sells (marine fishes) to feed mills or pet food factories,† P.N. Marine would have a positive impact on the mills. Since P.N. Marine runs in a monopolistic competition, there are a numerous amounts of sellers (in this case supplier of marine fishes) and these mills thus have a wide variety of suppliers to chose from. To get control over the market P.N. Marine would sell quality fish at low prices. Here we can see the positive impact in the Operating Environment for the buyers/firms who receive the supplied marine fishes (Power of Suppliers). Another positive impact of the firm on the economy is that its presence would increase Thailand's production of marine fishes and seafood's. Also they are traded all over the world and hence high money flow will happen in the country. Also since P.N. Marine is making higher profits each year and is a private limited company, the profits are taxed twice by the government. This has a positive impact on the economy too. Other than these positive impacts, the company also provides employment to over 150 workers, and provide cheap food for the poor (decreasing death rates and increasing health rates). These were the positive and negative impacts of the firm on the economy and society and business environment the firm works in. P.N. Marine works as a marine corporation. This has direct negative impacts on the environment. First of all it destroys marine life in the coastal areas. If we think carefully, Thailand is a favorite tourist spot for its beautiful marine life and coastal regions i.e. beaches. The firm may destroy Thailand's marine life decreasing tourism and negative impact on the economy and the environment. Along with this the company also increases pollution having a negative impact on the local environment. These were few negative impacts the firm has on the local environment. My essay has now studied and looked at all the factors I had stated in my thesis statement. In brief, here is a summarized version of the essay's analysis. Mrs. Nusara's motivator was her family financial problems i.e. she wanted to earn money and help her parents and siblings. We also got to know through this essay, the progress and development of P.N. Marine over the years i.e. right from its start to now. The development of the firm was fairly slow but as turnover grew quickly, more capital was available for expansion of the business. The government was overall had a positive remark for the firm. It helped develop the firm efficiently and also give a USP boost/reputation boost to the company, which increased turnover and control over the market. The firm has had a fairly very positive impact on the local economy, business environment and community providing money flow into the country, employing people, and allowing pet food industries to produce high quality products at low prices. The negative impact is that it is a threat to other firms in its operating environment since P.N. Marine has high reputation and USP rating. The firm overall has had a very negative impact on the wider environment although the local environment is not suffering as much. My essay hence has studied and explored, a) the origin of P.N. Marine, b) the development of the firm, c) how it was affected by the government, d) the positive and negative effect of the business on the local community and economy, e) the firm's negative impact on the local environment. These concepts were assisted by a number of business terms and concepts. In conclusion, my essay has studied all factors efficiently getting fairly good conclusions and analysis.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Incentive Plans Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Incentive Plans - Research Paper Example Salary incentive plans are best suitable when organizations need to exercise greater control over the sales force in order to achieve organizational goals including the development of new market segments, excellence in customer services, and delivery of other support functions. In case of team selling activities, this incentive plan is more appropriate because it is very difficult for the management to identify individuals whose effort contributed to the sale. In addition, the method can be used in any situation where a flawless employee performance evaluation is not possible. From the perspective of a salesperson, the salary incentive plan is more secure because incentive rate does not change according to the sales volume fluctuation. In the words of Reinfeld (1996), employees who are working in the service sector are non-aggressive and they need a stable environment to perform their tasks effectively. From an employer perspective, this incentive plan is helpful for the organization to operate its business activities more efficiently as employees are not forced to increase the sales volume under this plan. Advantages As Reinfeld (1996) points out, high level of management control over the sales force is the most potential advantage of salary incentive plans; and this incentive plan can assure salespeople a steady and secure income. As the salary incentive is at a fixed rate, it is easy for the management to monitor and control its budgeting activities effectively. Another benefit of this plan is that it is very easy to understand. Equal treatment of employees assists the organization to avoid employee conflicts to a great extent. Under this plan, the company incurs relatively fixed sales costs, and this situation reduces the level of future uncertainty as well. Disadvantages Many companies claim that this plan would not improve employee productivity significantly as employees are paid regardless of the sales volume. The most notable demerit of this incentive p lan is that unproductive employees are paid for the effort of other productive employees. In other words, efficient and hardworking employees are not sufficiently paid for their extra effort. Under this incentive system, firms are often forced to exercise close supervision over their sales force. According to Reinfeld (1996), the salary incentive plan does not provide any incentive for a balanced sales mix. Commission plans Under the commission incentive system, payments are made on the basis of actual employee performance or sales volume. Since an employee’s productivity level rests with his/her own skills and efficiencies, this plan offers an unlimited incentive to employees. To be more specific, commission plans assist employees to determine their income level. Commission rates are determined by the organization. The commission plan is more appropriate when sales are promoted by individuals rather than the team effort. If the organization practices aggressive competition s trategies, commission incentive plans would be more suitable. Advantages According to Zenger and Marshall (1995), the most notable benefit of commission plans is that payment is directly linked to employee performance under this system. Commission incentive plans are very easy to be administered and commission rates can be easily computed. It provides employees with an opportunity to increase their earnings based on their performance.  

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Motivation at the workplace Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Motivation at the workplace - Assignment Example Motivation is more of psychological processes that lead to arousal, persistence and direction of one’s behavior. Intrinsic motivation is driven by enjoyment or interest in task itself and it exists within individual and not on any external pleasure (Alexander et al, 2000, p. 54). Extrinsic motivation is driven by activity performance that is focused on attaining an outcome, it rises from outside the person, and some of the forms of extrinsic motivations include threat of punishment, coercion, money and grades (Jelencic, 2011, p. 3). Competition is also a form of extrinsic motivation. In the workplace, work of manager entails getting work done by employees, for this to be achieved; managers have a role to motivate employees. Motivation entails both theory and practice and its one of the difficult subjects that touches various disciplines. In the workplace, motivation is approached by businesses in different ways as managers try their best to motivate employees to work hard, how ever, the fact is that no one can make one work where that person has no desire to work (Podroff, 2005, p. 40). Effective motivation requires the managers to shift workers mindset and understanding of employees creating the appropriate set of circumstances in the workplace. Podroff (2005, p. 40) has argued that motivation is not and cannot be coerced. Importance of workplace motivation According to Jex and Britt (2008, p. 234), motivation is central in determining intensity, duration, and direction of work-related behavior among employees, behavior here refers to activities that employees engage in at workplace. Intensity of motivation determines the energy and vigor that employees put in directing their work-related goals. In organizational psychology, common motivation dependent variables include employees’ choice, effort, and at times persistence. Motivation influences the performance and well-being of employees. Kondalkar (p.246) added that motivation reduces employeesâ⠂¬â„¢ turnover, enhances their ability to accept organizational change, and improves the image of the organization. Ways of enhancing workplace motivation Bruce (2006, p. 7) suggested various ways of motivating staff, one of them is to know their need for motivation, once the manager is able to answer the question, he/she is well placed in engaging the employees at work more effectively and influence their workplace behavior so that they can act more enthusiastically focusing on achieving the organizational goals. Managers must also recognize employees’ real motivation without relying on myths like financial incentives as the only motivator; this requires mangers to evaluate the factors that drive their employees’ motivation. Managers need to inspire employees to what is meaningful and important, for instance, they can inspire the staff to think like business entrepreneurs, to take risks and unleash their synergistic and limitless potential. Effective communication is also essential in enabling staff realize the reasons for doing what managers desire to be done, employees may not necessarily be motivated by managers reasons and objectives, they would wish to know what is in the objectives for themselves, managers therefore must communicate to them so as to evaluate their purposes and causes and connect them to organizational activities and goals. Latham (2007, p. 4) argued that motiv

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Critically evaluate the achievements of feminism's first wave Essay

Critically evaluate the achievements of feminism's first wave - Essay Example One of the major achievements for this â€Å"first wave† was securing the vote for women (also known as suffrage), occurring in 1918 (and extended to younger women in 1928) in the United Kingdom (Fisanick, 2007) and at similar times in many other Western countries. The purpose of this essay is to explore women’s suffrage in the U.K. and the U.S. from the perspective of the achievements made by feminism’s â€Å"first wave†. To do this, many of the achievements of feminism’s â€Å"first wave† will be critically examined in their historical and modern context to evaluate their success in the wider frame of feminism. Firstly, it is important to define â€Å"first wave† feminism. Walby (2011) suggests that the â€Å"first wave† of feminism, in Britain at least, had ended with the winning of women’s suffrage in 1918 and 1928, as described above. Walby (2011) also describes a wave as being present in many areas of sociology, imp acting the discipline by making it more relevant to the input of interest and achievements during the â€Å"wave†. Taking this into account, we can understand that the â€Å"first wave† of feminism is therefore an input of ideas, research and action into feminism that led up to the winning of women’s suffrage in the early parts of the 20th century. ... The origins and starting dates for â€Å"first wave† feminism are more difficult to define. Some scholars believe that â€Å"first wave† began with the influence of the Enlightenment and changes in Protestantism (Apetrei, 2010). These changes in society as a whole led to more liberal thought that was based around humanism, although these changes were not limited to the position of women (Apetrei, 2010). Within the U.S., the feminist movement can also be linked to changes in society as a whole, such as the anti-slavery movement which sought to equalize individuals within the state. Squire (1993) suggests that there are many similarities between the lives of slaves in parts of the United States and that of women around the same time, such as the inability to vote and lack of property rights. Despite these early signs of feminism and debates about the official start date for â€Å"first wave† feminism, obvious changes had been made to the lives of women in the U.S. and the U.K. One of the first important documents for women was the Seneca Falls Declaration from 1848, which discussed a number of female-related rights issues. One important conquest for the Seneca Falls group was the Married Women’s Property Act, passed in 1848, which allowed a woman the right to keep property that was her own, rather than it automatically becoming part of her husband’s estate (Fisanick, 2007). Eisler (1987) suggests that this was a huge gain towards the equalization of women in society, particularly as it allowed women to participate in the economic sphere on a more equal basis. However, this achievement for â€Å"first wave† feminism was not received particularly well and was a minor gain (Apetrei,

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Casualties Of Sri Lankas Civil War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Casualties Of Sri Lankas Civil War - Essay Example LTTE has not yet accepted defeat or it seems that both the parties have a very notorious reputation for exaggerating and lying (Rotberg, 1999). This particular tendency to lie and exaggerate has been perhaps the most important aspect of this war. For instance, the government exaggerates casualties among LTTE fighters while deliberately lies about its own casualties. Sri Lankan security forces have a reputation for reprisals after an attack has taken place. This kind of retaliation has often targeted the helpless civilians in the war zone in the North-East of Sri Lanka where most of the Tamils are living. In the rest of the country, Sinhalese are the majority. Muslims form the third ethnic minority group. Tamils constitute 18.5% of the total population while Sinhalese constitute approximately 74% (2001 Census). The post-1983 history of this island nation has never been the same and sporadic fighting in the North-East and occasional bomb explosions in the South have claimed more civilian lives than all casualties among security forces and the combatants put together. Though there are no reliable statistics to show the extent of such civilian casualties over the years, independent estimates put the figure at a colossal 60,000 with further 20,000 missing. These figures, of course, include some deaths among government soldiers and Tamil rebels too (www.worldwatch.org). While causative factors for the civil war in Sri Lanka have received much less attention than its consequences, both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE, the ultimate survivor of all Tamilian rebel groups fighting for separation, haven’t paid attention to the mammoth toll the war takes on the civilian population in the country (Richardson, 2005).

Monday, September 9, 2019

Evaluating Assessment Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Evaluating Assessment - Research Proposal Example The person being assessed also needs to know how the scoring is done, with respect to the criteria chosen and the important of each criterion for the overall score. This is because "learning increaseswhen learners have a sense of what they are setting out to learn, a statement of explicit standards they must meet and a way of seeing what they have learned" (Loacker, Cromwell & O'Brien, 1986) The assessment will be done as part of the ongoing daily work of the person concerned. We will select a meeting that the person is to lead, for a nominal period of 45 - 60 minutes. We will evaluate the person's performance in speaking confidently to others on the following basis: What external signs of confidence does the person show (rated on a level from one to five, where one is none and five is excellent - if however the person overdoes it, then assessors should subtract points accordingly) These points carry equal weight as each one is important to convey confidence while talking to other people. The assessment will be shared with the person concerned afterwards. Knowledge of the assessors' view point will help the person understand the relationship between the way he/she thinks that he/she replies to these criteria and the way that his/her performance is assessed by others. Assessing effective working in a team requires a longer term approach for the assessment. An attempt to measure this by an assessment of very short duration would run the risk of being unrepresentative of the person's performance. For these reasons we chose the portfolio assessment which has the characteristic of being an ongoing, rather than an episodic assessment (AAHE, 1996). In addition to this, completing the portfolio assessment becomes part of the learning process for the person concerned where the goal is as much to affect the learner's growth, instead of just passively measuring it (Courts & McInerney, 1993). The portfolio assessment will be done over a period of time (2 months) and will correspond to stated criteria against which the person being assessed and the assessors have agreed. The person puts together the portfolio with information that demonstrates how he or she works effectively within a team. The portfolio is shown regularly to the assessors as well. At the end of the 2 months, the assessors will review the portfolio with the person to assess the performance of the person concerned on the following basis: evidence of a particular role or function taken on by the person within the context

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Issue of "health & food " Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Issue of "health & food " - Essay Example The world health organization defined health it stated as a form of complete mental, physical and social well-being, .this does not focus on the absence of a disease. The statement means that, for one to be healthy, they must be stable in all aspects of human life. On the other hand, diet, needs to be balanced and focus on all classifications of carbohydrates, vitamins, proteins and mineral salts. The fact that people living in the United States have acquired an expensive lifestyle("â€Å"The Globalization of Eating Disorders, 2015). It becomes hard for them to purchase a balanced diet food and thus go for fast foods that lack proper prescriptions on the right amounts of calories they contain. These leave them predisposed to diabetes and other heart conditions ("Food For Thought.2015). In support of these diseases, the government has been in the forefront because it imposes such policies that promote unhealthy lifestyles. As a start, restaurants sell foods that tend to bypass investigations on the amounts of calories eaten daily by individuals. The government has not taken it upon its responsibility to enact policies that look into such matters. The Food and Drug Administration policies, on the other hand, have gotten solaced on the issue of healthy eating habits, and the systems are weak to authorize and cut out such patterns from the society. In support of these, the government is the overall lawmaker. It has made health become a social issue instead of allowing people deal with it in personal ways. The fact that the proposal wishes to conduct a cross-sectional study to find out if the fast food companies do label their food packages, the research will also target the consumers of fast food, to find out what is their personal responsibility in ensuring that they choose the foods wisely. Through this, they avoid eating more or fewer calories that may pose a hazard to their health. This research will be relevant since the findings will help to inform

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Nursing Concept Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Nursing Concept Analysis - Essay Example It is concerned with promoting, maintaining, and restoring health. Nurses are committed to the goal of promoting an optimal level of functioning for all individuals, families and groups, thereby contributing to the health of the nation. It determines health status of individuals, families, and populations and makes clinical decisions regarding the appropriate action to be taken. It is important that the nurse maintains the positions that aging is normal and is not related to disease. Age is a date in time and is influenced by many factors, including emotional and physical health, development stage, socioeconomic status, culture, and ethnicity. Ageism is a negative attitude based on age. It leads to discrimination in the care given to the older adults. The nurse who demonstrates negative attitudes may fear of his own aging process or be misinformed about aging and the health care need of the older adults. The care of the aged is provided mostly in institution. Care for an individual adult is delivered in a variety of quite different settings (e.g. privately run nursing home or government institution). The care of the aged is called clinical gerontology or geriatrics .Besides the needs and problems concerned with the psychology and physiology of aging the social aspect of aging a great challenge to the caring profession especially the nurse. Back This paper was done to explore the relationship between the dependency levels of older people who are part of the community nurse's caseload and the volume and nature of nursing input required. Background. Healthcare policy has consistently emphasized the reorientation of health services from hospital to community care. It is necessary to determine ways to use nursing resources appropriately to meet service needs of an increasing older population There are various approaches to address caring for the older adults. These are: 1) Family and welfare approach: Many of the aged are reluctant to go to institutions for the care of the aged. Thus family care is encouraged. 2) Medical approach: Many hospitals are now having special units for the care of the aged both in-patient and out-patient departments where health promotional and specific Nursing Concept Analysis 3 preventive measures such as health examination for early diagnosis and treatment are provided. 3) Community approach: The elders are encouraged to participate in activities that are beneficial to health and to avoid those that are injurious. These approaches would enhance trust of older adults to their environment especially to the nursing care involved. Dignity may be defined as a concept that relates to basic humanity. Dignity consists of inherent and external dimensions, which are common for all humans and at the same time are unique for each person, relating to social and cultural aspects. The attributes of preserving dignity are individualized care, control restored, respect, advocacy and sensitive listening. Method: In order to establish an appropriate nursing care for older adults, a quantitative study was conducted using the "Community Client Need Classification System". The community nursing team recorded the amount of care time spent with each individual client for over a 4-week period. Findings: They were assessed in low and high

Role of the Craftsmen Essay Example for Free

Role of the Craftsmen Essay Bottom and his fellow craftsmen are bubbly, animated and optimistic to a fault. With their amiable exuberance and whole-hearted cheerfulness, they are often seen as the most likeable characters in A Midsummer Nights Dream. In terms of function, their presence serves to create humour and act as a foil to the upper echelons of Athenian society. With their play-within a play, Shakespeare also creates a parody of youthful impassioned love and a sturdy reminder of reality amidst all the magic and chaos in the forest. Bottom and his fellow craftsmen with their good-humoured disposition create humour through their amusing malapropisms and unsophisticated poetry. For instance the craftsmen often use words out of context to hilarious results, like when Flute as Thisbe calls Pyramus Jew when he probably meant jewel. To fully understand the humour here, one must realize that in Shakespearean times, Jews were widely loathed and thus would be the opposite of jewel, thereby thoroughly tickling an Elizabethan audience. Another example of this is when Bottom as Pyramus mistakenly asks Thisbe to meet him at Ninnys instead of Ninus Tomb. Here, a ninny refers to an imbecile, whereas Ninus refers to the legendary founder of Nineveh. Shakespeares audience would very likely have been able to pick this up and see the humour in it. On top of this, in Quinces script, there appears to be a lot of forced rhyme, which in contrast to lilting verses of the fairies is quite brusquely funny. For example, Jew is used in a desperate attempt to rhyme with hue, likewise with brier and tire. Thus part of the comedy the craftsmen create lies in the very crudely constructed poetry. Another way through which the Craftsmen create humour is through their pathetic attempts to perfect the play, which often seem to have the reverse effect. Firstly, even the title of their play is laughable: The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe. It is in itself an oxymoron and paradoxical, and reflect the craftsmens efforts (Quince in particular) to sound profound, which backfire because it sounds so nonsensical thereby amusing to the audience. The craftsmens fear that the ladies might be afeared by the lion and would not be able to abide seeing Pyramus draw a sword to kill himself. Their baseless confidence that their acting would be so real that the ladies would fear conflicts with what the audience sees them as- bumbling craftsmen. This not only reveals their dimwittedness, which is undoubtedly funny, but also and honesty which endears them to the audience. The craftsmen also amplify the audiences understanding of the different classes in Athens. In terms of language, the craftsmen adopt a more unrefined diction similar to prose, as compared to the more polished iambic pentameter that the Athenians use. Compare for instance Thrice-blessed they that master their blood that Theseus says, and Bottoms more convoluted And yet, to say the truth, reason and company keep little company together nowadays. Theseus line has a more distinct rhythm, whereas Bottoms seem s to be just prose. Though both lines contain equally important messages, there is symbolism in Theseus words, for when he says blood he actually means passions. On the other hand Bottom makes his statement plainly without embellishment. This in turn also reflects how the Craftsmen, live plainly whereas the nobles such as Theseus live in excess, even having a manager of mirth to ease the anguish of a torturing hour. Thus through the craftsmen, Shakespeare creates a more holistic society that not only comprises of the rich nobles, but the normal laymen which the Bottom and his comrades represent. Furthermore, Shakespeare uses the craftsmen and their play to create a parody of the romantic love seen in the earlier part of the play. The craftsmens play tells the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, which is not so dissimilar from what the four Athenian lovers face in the woods. Like Lysander and Hermia, Pyramus and Thisbe too face parental disapproval, and their decision to meet by Ninus tomb at night, mirrors Hermia and Lysanders decision to meet in the wood a league without the town. Hence it is easy for the audience to make the link between Pyramus and Thisbe and Lysander and Hermias stories. The parody is most evident when Bottom and Thisbe begin exaggerated dramatizations of their love. For instance the incessant repetition of O, O grim-looked night, O night with hue so black, O night O night, O night. This is very reminiscent of Hermia and Lysanders conversation O cross! O spite! O hell! . Because the craftsmen are such poor actors, their profession of love becomes hilarious, and through this, Shakespeare pokes fun at the young lovers for their tendency to exaggerate things and be overly dramatic. Also, Bottom and the other craftsmen also act as crucial reminder of reality in the entire play. With much of the play centred around the romantic entanglements of the young Athenians and fairy king and queen Oberon and Titania, it would be easy for the audience to get lost in the fluff of love and passion. The craftsmen though, bring to the play more mundane issues that everyone faces in daily life such as bread and butter concerns. This is for example seen when Bottom went missing, Flute was worried he would not be able to get his sixpence a day for playing Pyramus. When we are first introduced to the craftsmen, their name are accompanied with their job positions, like Nick Bottom, the weaver, placing emphasis again on more realistic and relevant issues like ones occupation. Through small examples like these, Shakespeare subtly hints that love, for all its glamour and passions, in reality is not enough to sustain oneself. Furthermore, the craftsmen see no major conflict in the play, even Bottom sees his encounter with Titania as a dream, and nothing of malicious intent. All this seems also to suggest that Shakespeare is implying that by living life simply like the mechanicals, conflict can be averted. Another way the craftsmen are a reminder of reality is seen through their play-within-a-play. As mentioned earlier, the play-within-a-play closely parallels the situations the Athenian youths faced in the woods. However, the ending of Pyramus and Thisbe was tragic, Pyramus stabbing himself with bloody blameful blade and Thisbe committing suicide likewise. This serves to remind the audience that even though Lysander and Hermia as well as Demetrius and Helena end up eternally knit, consummating their love, it could well have been a tragic ending for the four, with the two men intent on dueling each other in the woods. Hence Shakespeare uses the craftsmen to warn the young lovers, like the Athenians, in the audience not to take happy endings for granted, but instead to be prepared for worse by being grounded in reality like the craftsmen. In conclusion, the craftsmen are very significant to the play as they give it a more holistic feel, encompassing not only the rich nobles but also the middle class workers whom the craftsmen represent. Furthermore, since A Midsummer Nights Dream is a comedy, the craftsmens contribution to the humour of the play is also very important. Shakespeare also uses the craftsmen and their play to poke fun at the young lovers for their misprised moods, as well as to warn the audience not to take happy endings for granted. Overall, the irrepressible craftsmen bring laughter, lessons and more laughter to A Midsummer Nights Dream.