Living in a Utopia Essay - 980 Words

Living in a Utopia This house believes that realised anarchy, as a political idea is the way to create a perfect society. Imagine a future utopia of our species: A global community of humanity, which will have overcome the disunity of its primitive origin. A united human race, without boundaries dividing it against itself, living harmoniously with itself and with all Nature. A new and truly intelligent species, liberated from all malice -- therefore a species without military or police forces, without war or terrorism, without violence or hate, without crime or injustice, without courts or prisons,†¦show more content†¦An enlightened and benevolent anarchism, such as expressed by the terms, anarcho-pacifism / anarcho-socialism, is, in my view, the only anarchism that can ever work. To arrive at an anarcho-pacifist / anarcho-socialist society, we as a global community must undergo great psychological transformation. Only then can anarchism become a practical ideology for the world. However, we as individuals need not wait for all humanity to find anarchy before we can have anarchy for ourselves. We can manifest anarchy within our own circles of being, individually, here and now; thus becoming individually liberated. The anarchist truly has the best political deal. Whereas the fascist depends upon a fascist government to have fascism, the state socialist upon a socialistic government to have socialism, the democrat upon a democratic government to have democracy, and the libertarian capitalist upon a libertarian government to have laissez faire capitalism, the anarchist can choose to have anarchy, here and now, without any government. Anarchy, the way I see it, is a personal choice, depending on nothing but ones own true will. If one wants anarchy for oneself, one can have it, regardless of the political system society has. All the anarchist needs to doShow MoreRelatedEssay Living in Utopia517 Words   |  3 PagesLiving in Utopia Private property is abolished in Utopia, and society is communally organized in such a way that there is no shortage and that everyone has work, food, a home and opportunities for cultural expression. Sounds great, eh? Would you like to live there, and if not, why? Your answer should take account of Mores context (why he wrote Utopia?) and should be supported by reference to the text. In Thomas Mores Utopia life is very structured there is no crime or prejudicesRead MoreMy Vision Of My Utopia989 Words   |  4 Pagesyou could have the power to create your own utopia, what do you envision? There are a vast amount of utopias that one could build, but since imagination is the only source as of now, what characteristics would I consider for my own? There are many questions that might run through one’s head, like for example: What will the utopia look like? What is the social mechanism within this society? Finally, how will everyone eat since no one starves in a utopia? While there are tons of other questions toRead MoreSimilarities Between The Truman Show And Animal Farm1717 Words   |  7 PagesHow should power be balanced out amongst a society? What balance of power can result in a beautiful utopia? How can we all lead a good life without stripping others of their own? The answers to these questions must be known if we want to lead a good, functioning soc iety today and the answers can be found in the book, Animal Farm, written by George Orwell and the movie, The Truman Show, directed by Peter Weir. Both fictional stories help us understand where we need to set boundaries in our lives andRead MoreA Utopia By George Orwell1477 Words   |  6 Pagesthe society that americans live in now demonstrate a utopia, therefore, they also demonstrate a dystopia. A utopia is a perfect world in which there are no problems like war, disease, poverty, oppression, discrimination, inequality, and more universal problems existing. A dystopia is a world in which nothing is perfect. Problems are extreme things are dysfunctional and problematic. A utopia does not turn into a dystopia until the people living in that society do not live authentic lives. Until theyRead MoreRole Of Uniformity In Utopia1019 Words   |  5 Pages The Role of Uniformity in Utopia Utopia by Thomas More creates a unique opportunity for readers to examine the society of a fictional island filled with practices out of the collective norms. More’s Utopia written in 1516, addresses the customs, faith, and politics of a fictional island. Utopia is described by traveling philosopher Hythloday as a perfect society that values sameness and old traditions. Utopia, a crescent-shaped island built by General Utopus, is 500 miles of uniformity inRead MoreA Utopia Sounds Like A Wonderful Thing1433 Words   |  6 PagesFYS Final A utopia sounds like a wonderful thing. The Oxford English Dictionary defines â€Å"utopia† as an â€Å"imagined or hypothetical place, system, or state of existence in which everything is perfect, esp. in respect of social structure, laws, and politics.† (OED, 2015, entry 2) But what happens when someone tries to bring this imagined land of perfection into reality? Both in fictional literature and in real life applications, utopian dreams destroy societies. The word utopia originates from SirRead MoreThe Perfect Society In Sir Thomas Mores Utopia790 Words   |  4 Pages What is a Utopia? When people think of the term Utopia they think of an ideal or perfect Society. In Sir Thomas More’s â€Å"Utopia† we are introduced to such a society. However, today’s reader can see that the society More’s mention’s is filled with many underlying problems that make it seem less ideal or perfect, because it puts too much stress on the freedom’s and rights of its citizens. Such an act is detrimental in creating a utopia, because if the citizens are not happy with their freedom’s andRead MoreHumans Are Naturally Born Imperfect1680 Words   |  7 Pagesourselves to choose the morally right choice when it comes to living in a world that functions upon laws, and standards. It is within the government, and communities to set these laws, and standards in such a way, that no matter which good, or â€Å"bad† (less than morally good choice, but not considered unmoral) is chosen by a human, they are still considered per fect. In Utopia, written by Thomas More, we are presented with the commonwealth of Utopia, a small island considered to be the ultimate perfect countryRead MoreUtopi A Critique Of 17th And 16th Century English And European Society1416 Words   |  6 PagesPaper 3: Utopia Sir Thomas More’s Utopia offers a critique of 15th and 16th century English and European society. He offers this criticism through a fictitious recount of world traveler Raphael Hythloday’s journey to the land of Utopia. More brilliantly expresses his criticisms of society through the voice of Hythloday, primarily so none of his views, no matter how outlandish, couldn’t technically be tied back to him. This societal critique was one of the most famous works produced from the RenaissanceRead MoreThe Beach By Alex Garland875 Words   |  4 Pagesand a lot of differences. One of the big differences is the utopia and dystopia of the story. Before I go with reference to relating the movie and film with these different societies. Let me first explain what utopia and dystopia is. First off, utopia is a society that is considered perfect, a perfect world, no problems what so ever. The idea of utopia is basically a society that is equal. As for dystopia, it is the exact opposite of utopia. It’s a ruled society by the military and government, the

Feminism, Religion, And The Internet - 1529 Words

Gina Messina-Dysert, Ph.D. is the Dean of the School of Graduate and Professional Studies at Ursuline College and co-founder of Feminism and Religion - a blog that allows for women to â€Å"share their ideas, insights, and experiences, so that this community of thinkers will be nurtured as we explore diverse and new directions† (https://feminismandreligion.com/about/). She has written many articles on feminism with a focus on ethics and theological ties, and is an activist for sexual assault prevention. In this Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion by the Indiana University Press, Dysert’s essay Roundtable: Feminism, Religion, and the Internet, focuses on the evolution of feminist studies in religion and how social media has helped create†¦show more content†¦In being more informative than argumentative, Dysert simply goes down a list of blogs and websites online, but does not do a thorough job synthesizing this information. After finishing the essay, the rea der has a much better idea of what resources were available online if they were trying to search for this information, but no greater knowledge of how technology and social media were a catalyst for change in these categories. However, Dysert does end up bringing in her own analysis and a ‘what’s next’ section at the end of her essay, but it comes a little bit too late. She mentions how the examples that she has listed are evidence of how â€Å"feminist studies in religion have evolved because of the digital world† (139), and that the examples also are â€Å"evidence of this and demonstrate that technology can create a positive impact and expand borders within the field† (139). Despite her short analysis allowing the reader to understand her references better, Dysert does not provide enough of such analysis throughout the rest of the essay. In doing so, the essay has become more horizontal instead of vertical; there are paragraphs that can be taken out of her essay and it still will be coherent and not incomplete. If Dysert had made it aShow MoreRelatedSocial Network Media Benefits Feminism1448 Words   |  6 PagesOne specific event that proves that social network media benefits feminism was in 2014, with the hashtag #YesAllWomen. An incident happened in May 2014 where a young man, Elliot Rodger, expressed his hatred for women and he went on a shooting spree in Santa Barbara, California, targeting women. After this tragedy made the news, thousands of women posted on various social networks with the hashtag #YesAllWomen, in order to share the ways sexism and violence affects everyone in their daily life. ThisRead MoreThe Social, Political, And Economic Equality Between The Sexes1680 Words   |  7 PagesBy definition, feminism is â€Å"the social, political, and economic equality between the sexes.† When the first wave began, proclaiming oneself as a feminist was radical. However, people knew the real meaning at that time, that is, the actual definition. In the new wave of feminism, people have come to see this word as an ugly and undesirable title. The word itself has become skewed and twisted by the people who are against the movement, giving it a negative connotation. Instead of imagining a braveRead MoreThe Definition Of Modern Day Feminism1116 Words   |  5 PagesMegan Thompson Ms. Butters AP Language 13 November 2014 The Definition of Modern Day Feminism â€Å"Feminist: a person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.† This is what Beyonce, one of the most famous and influential Women of Color in the past decade, claims in her 2014 VMA performance, with a large, shining backdrop of the word ‘feminist’ behind her. This quickly became one of the most direct and most widely-known displays of her feminist beliefs, and Beyonce isRead MoreThe Internet Celebrity Anita Sarkeesian1380 Words   |  6 Pages In this piece, moderately famous feminist internet celebrity Anita Sarkeesian gives her opinion on choice feminism and the effects it has on the lives of the women of today. 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We can read Internet misogyny and online sexual harassment, then, as a reflection of this gender dynamic which constructs male identity against that of the female â€Å"other.† This is exemplified by how women’s voices are routinely dismissed and their identities as womenRead MoreFeminist Medi The Second Woman s Perseverance Essay1203 Words   |  5 PagesFeminism in Media Historically women have been portrayed as the weaker sex and placed in roles that paints the picture of childlike characters that usually fall into one of two archetypes the first is a serene, nurturing, ‘perfect’, submissive girl, the second is a bitter, conniving, career/power motivated woman. Each archetype shown with flaws that are not necessarily flaws; their standardized personalities being portrayed as faults the second woman’s perseverance is shown as a childlike petulenceRead MoreThe Unjust Treatment Between Women And Men1584 Words   |  7 Pagesthrough misogyny and patriarchy. Feminism is not obsolete, but highly necessary in present day lives. As sexism continues, feminism remains essential for the greater good. Feminism should continue being advocated to continue the advancement in women’s equality through reforming gender-based policies, laws, corporal behavior, and cultural practices. Despite the negative connotation behind feminism, it is necessary for today’s society for equality. The strong need for feminism begins in the early stagesRead MoreWhat Are Technological Determinism, Scot, Feminism, Semiotic Approach, Cultural / Media Studies Approach?1175 Words   |  5 PagesWhat are: technological determinism, SCOT, feminism, semiotic approach, cultural/media studies approach? Technological determinism is a reductionist theory that presumes that a society s technology drives the development of its social structure and cultural values. Social construction of technology (also referred to as SCOT) is a theory within the field of Science and Technology Studies. Advocates of SCOT—that is, social constructivists—argue that technology does not determine human action, butRead MoreWomen s Role For Women1343 Words   |  6 Pagesknowing that they are the stronger gender and that there are some tasks, which they can perform well than their female counterparts. The debate about equality for both genders has dominated the media over the years, from the times of feminism (the 1980s) to post feminism (Hokowhitu). In politics, the belief about masculinity is still a major issue that has been discussed over the years. Women fight to receive equal treatment in leadership and representation at the governments’ top positions. This paperRead MoreTime For Equality : A Satirical Piece On Double Standards912 Words   |  4 Pagesaffiliations too, the Christians are on the same level as the Church of The Flying Spaghetti Monster. May His Noodley Appendage bless all of you my children! Sorry, for that al dente, yet off topic tangent. Back to complete equality. All of the Religions and ethnic groups are fine and all, but where real equality starts is in the sexes. When it comes to the sexes, it is undoubtedly the most equal group to be ever conceived by the human conciseness. Years of toil and strife have resulted in an overall

Edinburgh Companion to Twentieth Century

Question: Discuss about the Edinburgh Companion to Twentieth Century. Answer: Introduction: The poem Ending by Gavin Ewart depicts love and its nature by raising various similarities to various factors(Ewart). The poem depicts the loss of hope for love and its nature from life is depicted by in-depth analysis. In the poem he reflects how suddenly love has disappeared from their lives, which one used to be a major part of life and reason behind living. The poet initially depicts his immense faith in love and its continuing endurance that it provides. He reveals that love provides him with warmth and kept his soul happy but it no longer exists. Initially the poet makes use of various imagery and compares love to congealing chop referring to the closeness couples enjoy in love(McLoughlin). Kisses are referred to as bird-pecks in the phase when love seems lost which once were similar to a curry. Kisses are referred to as bird-pecks moreover as they are provided in a hurried manner compared to previous experience in kissing. Holding of hands that used to pass electric shocks for the poet when in love are now referred to as moored barges. Fixed barges as they do not anymore express affection towards each other. Then the transformation in feet is referred to which earlier used to be fast but post losing of love is late and slow. There is no imagery used for feet. Eyes of the poet are now suffering from absence of power and imagery is drawn to electric connection. Eyes in times of love used to shine and would not close but recently they have been transformed too(Gifford). He refers to other body parts that previously provide happ iness had become non-functional. No sense of imagery is used for this phrase as well. At last he refers to romance which was once present was no more there and had vanished away. The poem Ending is regarding lost love relationship, the tone of the poem is rather personal in nature(Wright). The poem is written according to second persons point of view which increase understanding amongst its audiences. The transformation from being in love to the lost relationship in love is phenomenal in nature. The poem depicts vibrant and passionate lovers in a vivid nature. All lines of the poem depicts love, warmth and a sense of tingling. Any person can feel joy from the poem as it depicts intricate moments(Flynn). Passion for his lover is shown in his expressions in the lines hot as curry, electric charges and transmitted joy. On the other hand feeling of coldness is included in words as, bird pecks, Lie inert, reserved cold and coy and victims of a power cut. The coldness is found synonymous to that of a dead person giving it a feeling of lifelessness. The coldness haunts the speaker which is demonstrated in his multiple expressions which he mentions of the cold he experiences. The combination of the feeling of heat coupled with the cold feeling provides contrast of feeling and the poets in-depth understanding of passion. The rhythmic lines with one describing passion, love and the other describing loveless feelings is done is a paring way. Various images of love described by the poet denotes that the feeling of love has not been forgotten by him(Brownjohn). His tone also depicts the feeling of absence of love which pains his heart. In the end when the speaker says at last that the love has GONE AWAY, it shows his frustrations and disappointment. Works Cited Brownjohn, Alan.Collected Poems: 19522006. Faber Faber, 2014. Ewart, Gavin.Selected Poems 1933-1993. Random House, 2012. Flynn, Pierce Julius. "Waves of semiosis: Surfings iconic progression."The American Journal of Semiotics5.3/4 (2008): 397-418. Gifford, D. (2009). Literature and World War Two.The Edinburgh Companion to Twentieth-Century Scottish Literature, 88-102. McLoughlin, Kate. "Muddy Poetics: First World War poems by Helen Saunders and Mary Borden."Women: A Cultural Review26.3 (2015): 221-236. Wright, Kit.Hoping it Might be So: Poems 1974-2000. Faber Faber, 2011.

Story of Phkentz free essay sample

The Story of an Outsider Russian 207 Andrei Kazimirovich Sushinksy is the protagonist and the narrator in the Sci-Fi thriller â€Å"Pkhentz. † He is revealed as an alien that has crash-landed on earth, and is believed to be the only one from his planet to survive. In the story Andrei is very conscious of his appearance and talks extensively about reality and appearances. Much like the writers during the Russian Revolution who had to be very aware of the way they appeared to act, they had to disguise their true thoughts and writings. Tertz is essentially portraying how he felt like Andrei, because he was a writer and was forced to not act himself. Andrei, talks a lot how his body is changing and has to keep his human form at all costs. Like the writers during the Russian Revolution it was the utmost importance to keep conforming for the fear of getting punished, deported or even killed. We will write a custom essay sample on Story of Phkentz or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Tertz is representing a conformist getting censored that cannot write freely through Andrei. Only way Tertz thought he could write in Russia about what he truly felt and not get persecuted was through stories like an alien narrative.Andrei’s surroundings are very foreign to him, and he calls them out as being weird. If Tertz were to call out flaws within the new system he would surely be punished, he was smart enough to use stories like Pkhentz to disguise his distaste of the system through Andrei. Again through Andrei, Tertz shows the pride of his character even though he has to portray something he is not. In the end he cannot remember things simple things like his language and how he used to live, much like what happens under censorship, you forget how you did things before, all you know is what you are told to do and how you are supposed to live now .Tertz is able to use Andrei’s interactions with humans as a metaphor of highlighting soviet writer’s censorship as a result of the Russian revolution. Andrei knows in order to survive he must disguise himself as a human; because he does this he feels deep emotional pain. Like Andrei, Tertz knew he would only survive in Russia if he disguised his true thoughts in his writings. Andrei manages to disguise himself as a hunchback, the lowliest appearance of a human. A women who lives in the same apartment as him named Veronica, takes a liking to him, but he rejects her for the fears of revealing his true identity. Andrei finds his human body repulsive and yearns for contact and association with his own kind. This is evident when he gets excited when he comes into contact with another hunchback Leopold, whom he thinks is an alien. Andrei uses the code word â€Å"Pkhentz† a sacred name which he remembers. Leopold immediately fails to understand this word, and we can see through Andrei’s persistency to get him to recognize this word, that Andrei really misses contact with other aliens. Through Andrei, Tertz is showing how it was hard for authors to find other authors that were willing to speak out post Revolution.Pkhentz can be read as a satirical allegory on the disastrous consequences of the Russian Revolution, also as a commentary from Tertz on the difficulty of creative artists in during the time. Andrei’s mistaken crash-landing can be seen as similar to the Bolshevik seizure of power. In the story the ship took seven months to land which was approximately the same amount of time between the Russian revolution in February 1917, and the Bolshevik seizure of power in October 1917. Like the Russian Revolution, the crash landing by Andrei’s ship was unplanned.Andrei being the sole survivor of the crash must adapt to this new hostile environment he has found himself in. He explains â€Å"the air was wrong, the light was wrong, and all the gravities and pressures were strange. † Like authors felt post Russian Revolution, the censorship made them feel strange and out of place, like Andrei they would feel out of place. Tertz then draw comparisons between Andrei’s hostile environments to the hostile political environment writers faced after the revolution. The author personally identifies himself with the alien by giving him the name Andrei, signifying the story is likely based on himself. The alien assumes the identity of being Half-Russian and half-polish which Tertz is. In the story Andrei loses his eye in 1934, which is significant because in 1934 convention, delegates approved a party resolution establishing a doctrine of socialist realism as the sole standard of writing. This doctrine essentially killed all creative works from authors as well as put the pressure on writer to conform to if for the fear of being punished if they did not. Tertz did not agree with this doctrine and objected it through his works which he ended up being punished for and sent to prison.We can see the hardships authors faced simply by identifying that Tertz is Andrei Sinyavskys fake â€Å"pen name. † His fake pen name was eventually deemed illegal and was sent to prison. Throughout the story, Tertz associate the position of the alien as an outsider and nonconformist with that of the writer in the Soviet Union. Near the end of the story if where we see Tertz suggesting the need to overcome the cultural isolation that Russian writers have experienced, by being separated by their Western European neighbours.Andrei starts to apostrophize his lost native language, which he vaguely remembers, and uses two western European words, bonjour (French), and gutenabend (German). This essentially is Tertz appeal to re-establish the relationship between the Soviet literature and a lost linguistic and cultural tradition represented by both the pre-evolutionary Russian literature, and the literature of Western Europe. We also see through the end of the story that Andrei determines to wait until the first frost and then ignite himself with a match.This is his proudness showing in that he does not want the humans to examine him after he dies. In the meantime, he wants to gaze at the heavens, attempting to distinguish the star from which he came, and longs for his native land. This can be read as Tertz displa ying the difficulty under censorship to remember ones original views, but at the same time still longing for society previously experienced. By using Andrei as the narrator Tertz is able to compel the reader to view the world through the eyes of an alien. This technique presents the reader with unusual perspective on human habits and customs.The simplest elements of human life become very complex, such as his distaste in human clothing. Andrei’s character is one that is proud and has high self-worth. Tertz satiric method is at its best when Andrei is contemplating his fate, if his true identity were to be revealed. He says academics would rush to examine him, question him, and interrogate him in indifferent of his feelings and wishes. He says he would have been commercially exploited through films and poetry. He goes even further to claim that â€Å"ladies would wear green lipstick, and have their hate made to look like cacti.Children and streets would be named after him, and he would become as famous as one of the most famous in the word like Hercules and Gulliver. † By associating Andrei with Hercules, it reinforces the fact that the alien is the protagonist and hero of the story. Like Andrei, Gulliver has made fantastic voyages around the world and views his surroundings from perspective of an outsider. Tertz thus reaffirms the value of parody and make-believe as a helpful understanding to the shortcomings of human beings, their imperfections, and their shared agreements.The story Pkhentz is one that makes the readers think of what life would be like from the outside. Andrei being an alien gives us this insight and through him Tertz is able to give the insight into what creative writers faced post Revolution. Andrei feels an emotional pain not being able to show his true self. This is what writers must have faced because they could not reveal their true thoughts because of the creative doctrine. This story conveys the realities writers felt as a result of the Russian Revolution.Through Andrei, Tertz tells us an emotional tale of an alien that must endure this pain in order to not attract attention to himself. This hostile environment is one that is parallel to one writers faced. Andrei longs for contact with other like him but does not find it. The apostrophizing at the end is the climax of the story and the main suggestion Tertz leaves us with. It is essentially a suggestion to re-establish the relationship between the Soviet literature and a lost linguistic and cultural tradition represented by both the pre-evolutionary Russian literature, and the literature of Western Europe.

Medical Terminology Essays

Medical Terminology Essays Medical Terminology Paper Medical Terminology Paper Careers in the effective use of medical terminology have not gained that much interest a few years ago. With the increasing use of information technology in the field of health science, work associated with the use of medical terminology has evolved into well-paying professions. Medical indexing and medical transcribing are only two examples of these careers. Medical indexing is the answer to the increasing volume of medical literature available through electronic data bases (McGregor, 2002). It would be difficult for medical practitioners and researchers to obtain relevant articles for their online research without an effective medical indexing. This would require professionals adept with drug and disease terms among others to intelligently index medical reviews and original articles. With the fast expansion of medical knowledge, the need for professional medical indexers will remain at a high demand. Medical transcription has increasingly attracted interest as an allied health service and the job as a medical transcriptionist has slowly conveyed as a serious well-paying profession. Last year, the U. S. Department of Labor has declared medical transcription as an apprenticeable profession and graduates from medical transcription training program can now access registered apprenticeship programs (â€Å"Medical transcription,† n. d. ). The learning curved, however, can be very steep considering the magnitude of medical terminologies to be mastered. Based on the Model Curriculum published by AAMT, training programs should include course in anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology and laboratory medicine aside from extensive training in medical language and English grammar and punctuation. A total of 40 hours of actual and authentic physician dictation is also necessary before any graduate is certified as a medical transcriptionist although it may take least 2 years of acute-care transcription experience before any transcriptionists is eligible to sit for the certification examination by the AAMT. Despite this, medical transcription is a rewarding career as an allied medical profession. As the list of jobs related to the use of medical terminology broadens, it will not be long before they become established among the sustainable and profitable mainstream careers. And it will not be surprising if in the near future this trend will spawn new professionals and most likely, they will be known as â€Å"medical terminologist. † Reference Page American Association for Medical Transcription. Becoming an MT. Retrieved March 6, 2007, from aamt. org/scriptcontent/mtschool. cfm McGregor, B. (2002). Medical indexing outside the National Library of Medicine. Journal of the Medical Library Association. 90(3), 339–341. Medical Transcription Industry Association. Medical transcription recognized as an apprenticeable occupation by the U. S. Department of Labor. Retrieved March 6, 2007, from mtia. com/displaycommon. cfm? an=1subarticlenbr=47

English 101 Reflecting Bullying Essay as a Therapeutic Experience

English 101 Reflecting Bullying Essay as a Therapeutic Experience English 101 Reflecting Bullying Essay as a Therapeutic Experience According to the UK Annual Bullying Survey 2017, 53% of 10 000 people aged between 12-20 years old have been bullied at some point in their life. They experienced verbal or physical bullying, cyberbullying, social exclusion or extortion. In fact, this type of conflict is so widespread nowadays that encountering it on daily basis isn’t surprising for anyone. Some American states have even adopted laws against bullying while the UK even doesn’t have a legal definition for it (but conducts surveys and researches on the issue). Man showing business graph on wood table Anyway, we bet you understand the seriousness of the issue. But we aren’t here to explain you something that you are well aware of. We want to tell you about therapeutic effects of writing a bullying essay. If you or your friend has ever been bullied, you always can use this approach to deal with the trauma. It Improves Your Health According to the research conducted by James W. Pennebaker, an American social psychologist, people who write about their negative emotional experience demonstrate a visible improvement of health – they visit physicians more seldom, their immune systems become stronger and some chronic illnesses recede a bit. It seems like magic, but it really works this way. It Uplifts Your Mood Long-Term Though the process of writing about the traumatic experience is quite tough as reported by the participants of the research, the aftereffect is a long-term improvement of mood and overall well-being. Writing lowers stress by allowing people to get their problems off their chest and look at them objectively, like from a distance. This way they can soberly reflect upon the impact of this negative experience and relieve some pressure. It’s like NZT-48 from Limitless! Do you remember Eddie Morra from Limitless who came across NZT-48 pills? After taking these drugs, he turned into a completely different person. Although this movie is a figment of talented Niel Burger’s imagination, the effects of NZT are pretty real and can be achieved by writing about the negative experience. Adults who described their traumas and problems in journals or notes got jobs quicker, students improved grades and started to skim classes less. They began socializing more and feeling more successful. It’s Better than Talking or Working out If you want to compare talking and exercising with writing in terms of therapeutic effects, writing pulls off a win. Why? Because the thing is in the cognitive outcome – when you translate experience into written language, you can see the story from the perspective of the observer and contemplate over it more. However, combining writing with working out and talking sessions brings much more results than using these methods separately. Writing bullying essays have much greater benefits than getting good marks for the topic you are good at. If you have ever experienced an act of bullying or you have a friend who suffers from it (even if it happens seldom), try or advise spilling everything out on the paper or Word document. You’ll be surprised by the result. Anyway, if you experience troubles in writing a paper on bullying topics, contact our English essay writing service right now.

Competitive Strategies and Government Policies ECO 365 Essay

Competitive Strategies and Government Policies ECO 365 - Essay Example ype of merging in which two or more organizations, dealing in similar products, and operating in the same market combine to make a single organization. The reason why this type of merging has been affecting the industry is that it increases the competitiveness of organizations. According to Gerber (2010), changes in various aspects of the economy have great effects on the level of competition experienced in an industry. One of the changes that have greatly affected the motor vehicle manufacturing industry is the introduction of new government policies and regulations. Tax waives and regulations designed for encouraging global investments have resulted to emergence of new organizations in this industry. This has greatly affected the global competition in the industry. As a result, this industry has been facing an increased labor demand, reduced supply of resources, and lack of good relations with each other. Motor vehicle manufacturing could handle these identified points in various ways. This ways include improving service delivery and employing various types of merging. Organizations in this industry should employ horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate merging when expanding their operation. Another way is making organization’s policies to be in line with the government policies and regulations. The point of effects of global competition could be avoided through merging, acquisition, and

Case study #1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Case study #1 - Essay Example Thus, for the better understanding of the competencies and shortcomings of Forest International, aimed at suggesting rational strategies to overcome the identified issue, a SWOTT analysis has been assessed in the below mentioned section. Strengths. Forest International has annual revenue of $11 billion along with employee strength of 45,000, which makes it quite competent to invest in safety measures. Although employee turnover is negligible, it does not embark on the employee loyalty but rather on the economic construction of the region where workers are somewhat forced to work in hazardous conditions. Opportunities. In the course of improvement of safety records of the company, it can seek for the assistance of standards developed by Federal OSHA, to ensure the safety of paper mills industry. Correspondingly, the company must abide with the 1910.145 standard under the OSHO Code, which emphasizes the prevention of accidents during the duty work of the employees (US Department of Labor, â€Å"Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Mills†). Threats. The major threat that Forest International have been facing is the downfall of its market share as compared to that of its competitors. Due to its lack of sustainability concerns and frequent workplace accidents, the company also faces threats in terms of lowering stakeholders’ loyalty. Trend. In accordance to the past records, it was observed that the accidents occurred in Forest International was the consequence of the management’s negligence. Jack Taylor, crew leader had once reported an accident caused due to the loosened up jack in the machinery and suggested the management on ways of improving safety lines. However, it was ignored by the management. Thus, emphasizing this particular issue in the report, few of the measures for improvement of safety lines in the company is being suggested gauged with rational

U.S. History of Building Construction and Fire Safety Essay Example for Free

U.S. History of Building Construction and Fire Safety Essay The construction of modern buildings has been constantly improving in providing world class architectural designs and durable construction materials that can help buildings withstand earthquakes and even fire hazards. It is the prime responsibilities of engineers and architects to ensure the building’s safety. Presence of skyscrapers and other high-rise buildings have become symbols of urban landscape. In planning the construction of buildings the safety of the occupants should always be consider. That is why there are building codes and specific safety measures and devices to make the buildings safe from danger. Building disasters usually comes from natural cause like earthquakes that is why earthquake proof buildings were constructed. Others are due to human factors brought by neglect or by terrorist attacks which can cause fire explosions inside building infrastructures. The U. S. history of building constructions had undergone necessary improvements and adjustments to their construction and planning in the passage of years to meet the safety standards of buildings therefore reducing the casualties in times of disasters. Fire safety and preservation of people’s lives are now the main focus in building structures and has been the greatest challenge for engineering firms. It is the goal of developers, architects, engineers and safety officials to conform to safety codes to prevent lost of lives due to fire and earthquake hazards. Building fires and structure failure are investigated and analyzed to understand the factors that contribute to the catastrophe. The investigations will establish the likely technical causes of the building failures and evaluate the technical aspects of emergency response and evacuation procedures in the wake of such failures. The goal is to encouraged improvements to the way in which buildings are designed, constructed, maintained and used. (National Institute Of Standards and Technology, 2008) History of Building Construction Changes in the Context of Fire Safety and Prevention Fire protection engineers with the help of science and technology develop means to protect people and property from fire. In designing new buildings or renovations to existing buildings, fire protection engineers develop the plan for fire protection. Fire protection engineering has evolved significantly over the past several centuries. Early application of fire protection engineering was intended to prevent conflagrations that could destroy whole cities. In the early 1900s, the primary objective of fire protection engineering was to limit fire to its building of origin. As fire protection engineering advance, this objective was refined to limit a fire to its object or room of origin. However it wasn’t until the later part of the 20th century that fire protection engineering had matured to the point that it included the fundamental tenets of professional and personal discipline. (Hurley, 2008) In 1800 English inventor John Carry designed the first crude automatic sprinkler but it went underdeveloped for a long period of time. In 1852 a patent was issued for first sprinkler-perforated pipe system which was the first recognized installation of fire protection equipment. In 1921 California passed a law forbidding wooden shingles on roofs but pressure from the roofing industry brought repeal. (Aurora Regional Fire Museum, 2008) A comparison of the 1968 and the 2003 New York City building code was conducted where the reference standards, compartmentation, construction, means of egress, fire suppression systems, fire alarm detection, signaling systems, emergency power and smoke and heat venting are analyzed. Reference standards include the standard method of fire test for construction materials, standards test for surface burning characteristic of building materials, installation of fire doors and windows. It also dealt with installation of air-conditioning and ventilating systems, installation of sprinkler systems, standpipe, water supplies, smoke detection, alarm and extinguishing systems. Safety codes for elevators, dumbwaiters, escalators and moving walks are also improved continuously. Occupancies are classified if they are primary occupants or secondary. Occupancy separation is also important. Roof construction including beams, trusses and framing, arches, dome, shells, cable that supported roofs and roof decks also. Fire and smoke dampers are also important. Means of egress is also evaluated. The required width of the means of egress should not be obstructed or reduce in any manner. Every floor area should also be provided with at least two approved independent exits. (NIST, 2008) Examples of Major Cases in U. S. History That Led To Changes in Building Construction Major cases of fire incidents happen in different settings like hotel, industrial areas, hospitals, warehouses, restaurants, night clubs, and high-rise buildings. High-rise building fires differ from low-rise building fires. A high rise building can be described as structure more than 75 feet high while aerial ladder reaches only 75 feet. People trapped in a burning high rise building who cannot be reached by the highest ladder will usually leap to their deaths or remain trapped inside the buildings. (High-rise Fires, 2008) Interstate Bank Building Fires in Los Angeles, California The Interstate Bank Building Fire in Los Angeles, California that happened May 4, 1988 was one of the most destructive high-rise fires in recent United States history. The fire presented the greatest potential for a â€Å"towering inferno† scenario of any U. S. fire experience and was controlled through massive and manual fire suppression efforts. It demonstrated the absolute need for automatic sprinklers to provide protection for tall buildings. The fire destroyed four floors and damaged fifth floor of the modern 62 story First Interstate Bank Building in L. A. , claimed one life, injured approximately 35 occupants and 14 fire personnel, and resulted in property loss of over $50 million. The interior design was found to be a large open area with readily combustible contents that contributed to quick fire growth. The sound-power emergency phone system was also ineffective. Radio communication were overtaxed and disrupted by building’s steel frame. (High-Rise Fires, 2008) One Meridian Plaza Fire One Meridian Plaza Fire document was one of the most significant high-rise fires in the United States’ history. The fire claimed the lives of three Philadelphia firefighters and gutted eight floors of a 38 story fire resistive building causing an estimated $ 100 million in direct property loss and business interruptions. This fire was a large scale realization of fire risks that have been identified on other similar occasions. The most significant new information from this fire relates to the vulnerability of the systems that were installed to provide electrical power and the support fire protection effort. In this incident there was an early loss of normal electric power, a failure of the emergency generator and a major problem with the standpipe system, which all contributed to the final outcome. (High-rise Fires, 2008) Rockefeller Center High-Rise Fire On October 10, 1996, an electrical fire in the landmark Rockefeller Center in New York City required a five alarm response by FDNY to control the fire. The damage was cause by five separate fires in various electrical rooms that caused significant disruption to a major television network. At approximately 4 a. m. on Thursday October 10, 1996 an electrical fire occurred at 30 Rockefeller Center Plaza in New York City. Several fires broke out in five remote locations, filling many areas of the building with smoke. The fires presented a challenge for the New York City fire department because of the varied locations of simultaneous fires and the confusing layout of the building. The Rockefeller Center is actually a complex building that is interconnected. This incident as analyzed by the NFPA has inadequate circuit protection, failure of the building alarm system to transmit the alarm, lack of smoke detection in the areas of the fire. If the fires have been detected earlier, they probably would have been easier to extinguish. The confusing building layout made the fire fighters to have a difficult time locating the fires. (High-Rise Fires, 2008) The World Trade Center Fire The collapse and fire incidence of New York’s City’s World Trade Center structures following the terrors attacks of September 11, 2001 was the world’s worst building disaster in recorded history killing about 2,800 people. More then 350 fire and emergency responders were among those killed, the largest lost of life for this group in a single incident. In response to the WTC tragedy, the National Institute Of Standards And Technology conducted a 3-year building and fire safety investigation to study the factors contributing to the probable cause of post impact collapse of the WTC towers (WTC 1 and ) and WTC 7 expanded its research in areas of high priority need such as prevention of progressive collapse, fire resistance and retrofit of structures, and fire resistive coatings for structural steel and is reaching out to the building and fire safety communities to pave the way for timely expedited considerations of recommendations stemming from the investigation. (NIST, 2008) 9/11 Terrorist Attacks Impact to Building Construction The goal of NIST or National Institute of Standards And Technology was to investigate the building construction, the material used, and the technical conditions that contributed to the outcome of the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster. It will serve as the basis for improvements in the way buildings are designed, constructed, maintained and used. The revision of codes, standards, practices and improved public safety are recommended. The primary objectives of the NIST-led technical investigation of the WTC disaster are to determine why and how WTC 1 and 2 collapsed following the initial impact of the aircraft and why and how WTC 7 collapsed. Determining the reason why the injuries and fatalities where so high or low depending on the location, including all technical aspects of fire protection, occupant behavior, evacuation, and emergency response. Identify as specifically as possible areas in building and fire codes, standards and practices that are still in use and needed revisions. (NIST, 2008) The eight major groups of recommendations included are: 1. ) Increased structural integrity, 2. ) Enhanced fire resistance of structures, 3. ) New methods for fire resistance design of structures 4. )Improved active fire protection 5. ) Improve building evacuation 6. )Improve emergency response 7. ) Improve procedures and practices and lastly 8. )Continuing education and training for fire safety. The standard for estimating the load effects of potential hazards like progressive collapse or winds and the design of structural systems are observed. Enhanced fire resistance of structures involves procedures and practices used to ensure the fire resistance of structures. It is enhanced by improving the technical basis for construction classification and fire resistance ratings. New methods for fire resistance design of structures includes practices used in fire resistance design of structures. Performance based methods are an alternative to prescriptive design methods. (NIST, 2008) This effort should include the development and evaluation of new fire resistive coating materials and technologies. Evaluation of the fire performance of conventional and high performance structural materials was conducted. Improved active fire protection systems like sprinklers, standpipes/hoses, fire alarms, and smoke management systems should be enhanced thorough improvements to design, performance and reliability. Improve building evacuation should be improved to include system designs that facilitate safe and rapid egress. Methods of ensuring clear and timely emergency communications to occupants are encourage together with better occupant preparedness for evacuation during emergencies. Incorporation of appropriate egress technologies was observed. Improved emergency response technologies and procedures should be improved to enable better access to buildings, response operations, emergency communications, and command control in large scale emergencies. Improve procedure and practices are used in the design, construction, maintenance, and operation of buildings. (NIST, 2008) Conclusion Analyzing the factors that cause building fires is necessary to help reduce the number of casualties and loss of property. There are many organizations responsible in supporting engineers and building construction firms to ensure the safety of their buildings from fire hazards. These include NFPA (National Fire Protection Association), NIST (National Institute of Standard and Technology), ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials), ICC (International Code Council) and UL (Underwriter’s Laboratories) a product safety testing and certification organization and the Skyscraper Safety Campaign. Different incidence of high-rise building disasters provides firefighters with knowledge of the extent of damage and how to prevent the disasters to happen again. Safety measures and upgrade of fire safety equipment in building construction should be prioritized. The lessons learned from various building fire cases can provide background knowledge of the factors contributing to fire incidence. The most recent and the worst building fire case is the World Trade Center fires which exposed the vulnerability of public buildings to uncontrolled fires, explosions and other terrorist attacks. (NIST, 2008) Firefighters and building developers should keep in mind the factors that contribute to success or failure of fire disaster prevention and response. This include basic things like firefighter extinguishment, emergency response, heating and ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVACs), standpipe system, portable radios, building construction and evacuation strategy. These factors contribute to the quality and standard of building construction’s fire safety and prevention. There are many threats to buildings safety but there are applicable means to reduce the destructive impact of building fire hazards and collapse. Coordination between the government officials, inspectors, fire protection engineers and developers limits the chances for building fires and accident. Buildings safety is achievable by reducing the risks of fire and danger to people’s lives. References Grosshandler, W. , (2003). â€Å"Abstract: Research and Development for the Safety of Threatened Buildings.† Building and Fire Research Laboratory. Retrieved October 8, 2008, from http://www. fire. nist. gov/ Hurley, M. , P. E. S. F. P. E. , (2008). â€Å"Fire Protection Engineering. † National Institute Of Building Sciences. Retrieved October 8, 2008, from http://www. wbdg. org/ â€Å"Construction Organizations. † (2008). Dezignare. com. Retrieved October 6, 2008, from http://www. dezignare. com/ â€Å"Executive Summary: Final Report of the National Construction Safety Team on the Collapses of the World Trade Center Towers (Draft). † (2004). NIST And the World Trade Center Publications. Retrieved October 4, 2008, from http://wtc. nist. gov. / â€Å"Final Plan: Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation. †(2008) National Institute of Standards and Technology Retrieved October 4, 2008, from http://wtc. nist. gov/ â€Å"Fire through the Ages: A Timeline. † (2008). Aurora Regional Fire Museum. Retrieved October 8, 2008, from http://www. auroregionalfiremuseum. org/ â€Å"High-Rise Fires. † (2008). Special Fires. Retrieved October 8, 2008, from http://www. iklimnet. com/

Dayton Hudson Corporation Case Analysis :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Analysis of Dayton Hudson Corporation Case In the case of Dayton Hudson Corporation, the company fell into a situation of a hostile takeover attempted by the Dart Group in 1987. At that time, Kenneth Macke was the CEO of the Dayton Hudson Corporation and sternly disagreed with letting the company fall into the hands of the Haft’s. Macke’s decision on what could be done to terminate the takeover turned the circumstances over to the hands of the state of Minnesota where Dayton Hudson’s headquarters resided. Macke requested a special session of the legislature to revisit the Minnesota corporate takeovers statute. This proved to work in Dayton Hudson’s favor and a statute was enacted that left the decision of a takeover up to the Board of Directors of the company. The actions that were taken by Kenneth Macke to assist the company with the their takeover situation were an example of how business relies on the government to be responsible for social issues. When pleading their (DHC) case to the governor, Dayton Hudson made sure to make know all of the contributions that they have made to the community and how they have provided safe and secure jobs for its residents. They claimed that if they were to be taken over, the Haft’s would probably break up the company and sell it off to pay for the expenses incurred from the takeover. Jobs would be lost and there would most likely be no social contributions made by the Hafts. Out of the thinkers that we have studied regarding business’ responsibility, I think that the two that would agree with Macke’s decision to look to the government would be both Freeman and Friedman. In the readings that we have covered, we have seen that they are believers in that the government is who should be responsible for social issues in some way or another. I think that Freeman may feel a lot more strongly about Macke’s decision than Friedman because he argues that government is the sole caretaker when it comes to taking responsibility for social issues while Freeman argues that it is mainly government’s job, but that business plays a huge role in that responsibility. Friedman’s views are that business’ main responsibility is to maximize shareholders wealth and that in doing so, they are being socially responsible. He also contends that corporations are not people and therefore they cannot be responsible for social issues.

Information Technology and Logistics Integration Essay

Information technology can help logistics integration by simplifying complex processes within the company or organization. Through simplification, long processes are streamlined thus creating more opportunities to improve the quality of services and goods. It can also make a company more productive and be very flexible to any business demands. Information technology has helped Sunsweet Growers meet their logistics needs on both the supply and demand sides by integrating and updating the company’s processes, simplifying them and offering a reliable feedback system to sustain the rewards of a successful sales and operation planning (S&OP). Sunsweet faces challenges where both supply and demand are constraints due to factors that the company cannot control like weather and crop yield among other variables. It faced the challenge on how to deliver products to customers and fill the store-shelf space that the company had purchased in advance. Recent retail consolidation had increased buyers’ clout at the expense of suppliers putting additional pressure to its profit margin. Another constant challenge is the scheduling and line utilization of the company. It has also been working for a number of years to advance the efficiency of its supply chain, including the reduction of inventory and reducing transportation costs as well as improving order lead time. The final challenge is the sophistication of scheduling and planning in the packaging of its products due to its wide variety. Sunsweet for years of its operations has used paper-based spreadsheet system to manage its supply chain. It has limitations though, since as the company business becomes more complex, so as the complexity of using such spreadsheets based on Excel. Corporate data using Excel based spreadsheets are not systemized and synchronized. Data can be easily lost. Complex planning and scheduling issues were often encountered. Continuity of work was also a concern because many of the business rules embedded in the spreadsheets are lost when a planner leaves his or her job. Excel lacks the required optimization, simulation, and statistical tools needed to model the business. It is not a flexible tool especially when business becomes complex. When formats are changed, considerable manual effort is required to resynchronize the spreadsheets when they are passed from one person to another. It is also a very slow and manual process for the company when making changes in the fruit-crop forecast and how the crop would be processed and packaged. Mistakes in the sales forecast could result in too many changes to the set-up of the processing line as well as production overruns. Finally, planners were spending a great deal of time managing the spreadsheets, and most of the work was repetitive and could be eliminated. Elimination or streamlining then the unnecessary and repetitive works within the Sunsweet operations was a key for development through the integration of information technology to its S&OP. With the above mentioned challenges, Sunsweet realized that there’s a need for a viable, simple and repeatable supply chain planning. It recognized the importance of S&OP as the heart of this supply chain planning. For an optimized supply chain that can reap profitable rewards, it has considered to implement an S&OP program backed -up by an excellent communication facility integrated by advance technological tools as provided by a supply chain consultant. For this purpose, Sunsweet has tapped the services of Supply Chain Consultants’ Zemeter S&OP supply chain planning suite to replace its Excel-based planning system. The system basically integrates all the aspects affecting the company’s operations. The tools and processes provided up-to-date information in sales, production, and inventory that allowed the entire planning team to meet on a weekly basis instead of on a monthly one. This then resulted to an increase of the company’s ability to meet customer demands while continuing to improve production efficiencies with smooth, long term requirements. The company has successfully integrated its S&OP processes concentrating on 5 well–defined process steps namely demand visibility, demand planning, inventory planning, supply planning and finite scheduling. Implementation of these steps is realized through the tools introduced by Zemeter. It made the needed data available to all departments through direct access on the same data or information. Better understanding on the other departments’ goals and challenges synchronized the company’s operations. Decision making also now becomes faster in each of the department allowing more flexibility in allocating the company’s resources. Under demand visibility, planners were immediately able to access data and create detailed, automated reports. In demand planning, Zemeter’s Demand Planner provided a complete forecasting solution. It provided Sunsweet’s planners to accurately create and update statistical forecasts; plan for price changes and promotions; and analyze demand data, such as orders and shipments. With this, the company now uses historical data to manage items that are either dropped or discontinued. An early warning system that can trigger e-mail alerts to planners will prompt them to review immediately appropriate matrix in the system specifically when significant orders are coming in from new customers. In inventory planning, the company can now be able to use volume loss to manage inventory beyond stock levels to effectively identify slow-moving items and reduce product loss that results from outdated or obsolete products. With the Supply Planner module, the company has now a 15-month rolling forecast of all production and supply chain restrictions. Long term production requirements are then built smoothly like the maintenance of a uniform labor force throughout the year. Lastly, the Finite Scheduling tool developed for Sunsweet handles slightly different size constraints on each of the company’s three manufacturing lines. Details about the finite schedule, daily production, and inventory levels are updated daily through this system so that all of the planning processes are using the most up-to-date information. Without the new technology provided by Supply Chain Consultants’ Zemeter S&OP supply chain planning suite, the company will eventually cannot compete well due to higher operational costs and cannot increase its sales by capturing the majority of the market demand. With such an information technology tool, better understanding of how to work together to reduce production costs and improves order lead time is achieved. This then is how information technology can help integrate logistics of a company like Sunsweet Growers.

Warren Buffet and the Company

Relation between   Selected from Financial ReviewWarren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, is one of the most successful investors and business executives of all time. He has invested in many industries which can be seen in the following figure:Figure 1: Warren Buffett's Portfolio (Source: gurufocus, 2018)From the above graph, we can see that the sectors that Warren Buffet has invested are quite similar to the sectors that we have selected. Buffet has invested most (i.e. 42.6%) on the financial services. Likewise, we have also selected one of the companies from the financial sector i.e. National Australian Bank. In terms of their value of ordinary shares using PE ratio valuation model, we have ranked National Australian Bank on the third position as per our desirability to invest. Similarly, in the above table, we can see that Buffett has invested 23.4 % of their investment in consumer defensive product. Likewise, among ten, two of the companies that we have selected are also from consumer defensive sector i.e. Woolworths and Coca Cola. Like everyone, we very well know that Coca Cola is the favorite stock of Buffett. Frankel (2017) also indicated that the company of Buffett i.e. Berkshire Hathaway owns US 16.7 billion dollar worth of share of Coca Cola, making this company the third largest stock investment of Buffett. In the above figure, we can also see that Buffett has invested 4.3% on the energy sector. We have also selected three companies from the energy sector and ranked the AGL Energy on the top list of our desirability to invest as this company has got the highest value of ordinary share from PE ratio valuation Model. Since real estates and EFT, options, preferred are the least invested company as per the Warren Buffett's portfolio, it seems we are quite similar in that field, as we also have not chosen any companies from those sectors. 5. Comparison between Warren Buffet's Approach and Share Valuation Techniques used in the ReportWarren Buffet uses various approaches to estimate the value of shares, such as, earning yield, historical earning growth and sustainable growth. Buffett uses earning yield approach as it represents the rate of return which can be used to compare with other investment more quickly. Buffet normally compares the earning yield of a company with long term government bond yield and selects the one which earning yield is near to the government bond yield. In terms of historical earning approach, Buffett project the annual compound rate of return on the basis of historical earnings per share increased. The next approach of Buffett is based on the sustainable growth rate model where he utilizes the average rate of return on equity and average retention ratio so as to calculate the sustainable growth rate (Bajkowsi, n.d.).Sustainable growth model approach of Warren Buffett is similar to one of the share valuation techniques used in week 6- Chapter 10 i.e. P/E ratio valuation model. It is because, according to Bajkowsi, the sustainable growth rate is utilize to estimate the book value per share in year ten and earnings per share can be measured in year 10 by multiplying the average return on equity with the projected book value per share. Then, estimate earning per share is multiplied with average P/E ratio to get the future price. Therefore, we prefer to use the P/E ratio valuation model because it is also one of the approaches used by the best investor of the world, Warren Buffet. 6. RecommendationIn terms of company, it is very wise to invest in AGL Energy Company as this company has the highest value of ordinary shares from P/E ratio valuation model compare to others. In terms of approaches and techniques regarding share valuation, it is wise to go for PE ratio valuation model. When making the investment decision, it is very useful to follow the techniques and approaches used by the best investor of the world, Warren Buffett, as his experience, techniques and approaches can be very well utilized to select the best investments.7. ConclusionTherefore, in terms of investments, we have come to conclusion that we will be investing in AGL Energy Company as it has the highest value of ordinary share from PE ratio valuation model which is also highly utilized by Warren Buffet in terms of his share valuation. Warren Buffet is one of the best valued investor of the world, thus, it is very wise to follow the approach and techniques used by the Warren Buffet. Warren Buffett has invested most on the financial and Consumer defensive sector, thus, apart from AGL Energy, the companies that have occupied the second and third position in terms of our desirability to invest are Woolworths and National Australia Bank. Though there are various share valuation approached used by Warren Buffet and mentioned in our week 6-chapter 10, we prefer to use PE ratio valuation model as this approaches also helps to compare the prices of the firms in the same area of economy (Kennon, 2018).

Buddhist Views on War

Buddhist Views on War To Buddhists, war is akusala- unskillful, evil. Yet Buddhists sometimes fight in wars. Is war always wrong? Is there such a thing as a just war theory in Buddhism? Buddhists at War Buddhist scholars say there is no justification for war in Buddhist teaching. Yet Buddhism has not always separated itself from war. There is historical documentation that in 621 CE monks from the Shaolin Temple of China fought in a battle that helped establish the Tang Dynasty. In centuries past, the heads of Tibetan Buddhist schools formed strategic alliances with Mongol warlords and reaped benefits from the warlords victories.​ The links between Zen Buddhism and samurai warrior culture were partly responsible for the shocking collusion of Zen and Japanese militarism in the 1930s and 1940s. For several years, a virulent jingoism seized Japanese Zen, and teachings were twisted and corrupted to excuse killing. Zen institutions not only supported Japanese military aggression but raised money to manufacture war planes and weapons. Observed from a distance of time and culture, these actions and ideas are inexcusable corruptions of dharma, and any just war theory that arose from them were the products of delusion. This episode serves as a lesson to us not to be swept up in the passions of the cultures we live in. Of course, in volatile times that is easier said than done. In recent years, Buddhist monks have been leaders of political and social activism in Asia. The Saffron Revolution in Burma and the March 2008 demonstrations in Tibet  are the most prominent examples. Most of these monks are committed to nonviolence, although there are always exceptions. More troubling are the monks of Sri Lanka who lead the Jathika Hela Urumaya, National Heritage Party, a strongly nationalist group that advocates a military solution to Sri Lankas ongoing civil war. Is War Always Wrong? Buddhism challenges us to look beyond a simple right/wrong dichotomy. In Buddhism, an act that sows the seeds of harmful karma is regrettable even if it unavoidable. Sometimes Buddhists fight to defend their nations, homes, and families. This cannot be seen as wrong, yet even in these circumstances, to harbor hate for ones enemies is still a poison. And any act of war that sows the seeds of future harmful karma is still akusala. Buddhist morality is based on principles, not rules. Our principles are those expressed in the Precepts and the Four Immeasurables- loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. Our principles also include kindness, gentleness, mercy, and tolerance. Even the most extreme circumstances do not erase those principles or make it righteous or good to violate them. Yet neither is it good or righteous to stand aside while innocent people are slaughtered. And the late Ven. Dr. K Sri Dhammananda, a Theravadin monk  and scholar, said, The Buddha did not teach His followers to surrender to any form of evil power be it a human or supernatural being. To Fight or Not to Fight In What Buddhist Believe, the Venerable Dhammananda wrote, Buddhists should not be the aggressors even in protecting their religion or anything else. They must try their best to avoid any kind of violent act. Sometimes they may be forced to go to war by others who do not respect the concept of the brotherhood of humans as taught by the Buddha. They may be called upon to defend their country from external aggression, and as long as they have not renounced the worldly life, they are duty-bound to join in the struggle for peace and freedom. Under these circumstances, they cannot be blamed for becoming soldiers or being involved in defence. However, if everyone were to follow the advice of the Buddha, there would be no reason for war to take place in this world. It is the duty of every cultured person to find all possible ways and means to settle disputes in a peaceful manner, without declaring war to kill his or her fellow human beings. As always in questions of morality, when choosing whether to fight or not to fight, a Buddhist must examine his own motivations honestly. It is too easy to rationalize one has pure motives when in fact one is fearful and angry. For most of us, self-honesty at this level takes extraordinary effort and maturity, and history tells us that even senior priests with years of practice can lie to themselves. Love Your Enemy We are called upon also to extend loving kindness and compassion to our enemies, even when facing them on a battlefield. Thats not possible, you may say, yet this is the Buddhist path.   People sometimes seem to think that one is obligated to hate ones enemies. They may say How can you speak well of someone who hates you? The Buddhist approach to this is that we can still choose not to hate people back. If you have to fight someone, then fight. But hate is optional, and you may choose otherwise.   So often in human history, war has sewn seeds that ripened into the next war. And often, the battles themselves were less responsible for evil karma than the way occupying armies treated civilians or the way the victor humiliated and oppressed the conquered. At the very least, when it is time to stop fighting, stop fighting. History shows us that the victor who treats the conquered with magnanimity, mercy, and leniency is more likely to achieve the lasting victory and eventual peace. Buddhists in the Military Today there are more than 3,000 Buddhists serving in the U.S. armed forces, including some Buddhist chaplains. Todays Buddhist soldiers and sailors are not the first in the U.S. military. During World War II, approximately half of the troops in Japanese-American units, such as the 100th Battalion and the 442nd Infantry, were Buddhists. In the Spring 2008 issue of Tricycle, Travis Duncan wrote of the Vast Refuge Dharma Hall Chapel at the U.S. Air Force Academy. There are 26 cadets currently at the academy who practice Buddhism. At the dedication of the chapel, the Reverend Dai En Wiley Burch of the Hollow Bones Rinzai Zen school said, Without compassion, war is a criminal activity. Sometimes it is necessary to take life, but we never take life for granted.

University of Alabama UAB Admissions and ACT Scores

University of Alabama UAB Admissions and ACT Scores The University of Alabama at Birmingham is a moderately accessible school, accepting 58  percent of its applicants. Learn more about its admissions requirements, SAT and ACT scores that will enhance your chance of acceptance. You can calculate your chances of getting in with this free tool from Cappex. Admissions Data (2016) University of Alabama at Birmingham Acceptance Rate: 58  percentGPA, SAT and ACT Graph for UAB AdmissionsTest Scores: 25th / 75th PercentileSAT Critical Reading: 480 / 640SAT Math: 490 / 660What these SAT numbers meanCompare Alabama SAT scoresC-USA SAT comparison chartACT Composite: 21  / 28ACT English: 22 / 30ACT Math: 19 / 26What these ACT numbers meanCompare Alabama ACT scoresC-USA ACT comparison chart University of Alabama at Birmingham Description: UAB, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is the largest employer in Alabama. Established as an academic extension of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, the school became a fully-fledged university in 1969. The university has numerous strengths, particularly in the health sciences. Students can choose from a number of majors, with Biology, Nursing, Education, and Psychology among the most popular. Academics are supported by an 18 to 1 student/faculty ratio. High achieving students should check out UABs University Honors Program with its opportunities for travel and independent study. Even more prestigious is the Science and Technology Honors Program which allows students to attend symposia and conduct individual research with faculty members. Outside of the classroom, students can participate in a number of clubs and activities, including academics clubs (Anthropology Club, Criminal Justice Student Organization), performing arts groups (Rangeela, Ballroom Dancing, A Capella), and recreational clubs (Cricket Club, Bodybuilding Club, Table Tennis). UAB also has an active Greek life, with both fraternities and sororities on campus. In athletics, the UAB Blazers compete in the NCAA Division I Conference USA. Popular sports include Soccer, Football, Basketball, and Softball. Enrollment (2015) Total Enrollment: 18,333  (11,511 undergraduates)Gender Breakdown: 41 percent male / 59 percent female72 percent full-time Costs (2016-17) Tuition and Fees: $8,040  (in-state); $18,368 (out-of-state)Books: $1,200 (why so much?)Room and Board: $11,682Other Expenses: $4,886Total Cost: $25,808 (in-state); $36,136 (out-of-state) University of Alabama at Birmingham Financial Aid (2015 -15) Percentage of New Students Receiving Aid: 92  percentPercentage of New Students Receiving Types of AidGrants: 85 percentLoans: 50  percentAverage Amount of AidGrants: $8,609Loans: $6,833 Academic Programs Most Popular Majors:  Accounting, Biology, Communication Studies, Criminal Justice, Early Childhood Education, History, Nursing, PsychologyWhat major is right for you?  Sign up to take the free My Careers and Majors Quiz at Cappex. Transfer, Retention and Graduation Rates First Year Student Retention (full-time students): 82  percentTransfer Out Rate: 24 percent4-Year Graduation Rate: 30 percent6-Year Graduation Rate: 53  percent Intercollegiate Athletic Programs Mens Sports:  Baseball, Football, Golf, Soccer, Basketball, TennisWomens Sports:  Track and Field, Basketball, Volleyball, Bowling, Soccer, Tennis, Softball, Rifle If You Like UAB, You May Also Like These Colleges: University of Alabama at HuntsvilleAuburn UniversityUniversity of AlabamaUniversity of South AlabamaAlabama AMTroy UniversityJacksonville State UniversityUniversity of West AlabamaBirmingham Southern CollegeSamford University University of Alabama at Birmingham Mission Statement: mission statement from uab.edu/plan/ UABs mission is to be a research university and academic health center that discovers, ​teaches and applies knowledge for the intellectual, cultural, social and economic benefit of Birmingham, the state and beyond. Data Source: National Center for Educational Statistics

Does US Seek Hegemony over Asia Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Does US Seek Hegemony over Asia - Article Example It is evident from the official statement that the US continues to play a great role to ensure a stable balance in Asia. America’s political, economic and diplomatic leadership enhances global freedom, peace, and prosperity. The US has acknowledged the fact that maintaining order in Asia will be a complex task given the great distances (Glaser, 2011). Â  United States concerns about Asian stability are guaranteed. In using the history of the 20th-century guide, Washington will continue dealing with Asian-Pacific. The US has an issue dealing with China as it has become a rising power. However, United States is seeking to face China has a rising economic and military power in Asia-Pacific. The United States president has promised to make their missions and presence in Asia-Pacific the topmost priority. After the president announcement, approximately 500 US troops were said to be deployed to Australia. The US is foreseeing a growing threat of its hegemony from China. America’s tactical moves to Asia are aimed at pinning down China as well as counterbalancing its development (Glaser, 2011). The US economic and hegemony in Asia-Pacific has triggered concerns about national security. The United States has established a key military base in Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Thailand, Guam, Singapore and now Australia. The former D efense Secretary of United States spoke at the International Institute of Strategic Studies conference and said that US is aiming at maintaining a robust US military in Asia. The US is taking measures that help them overcome the area denial scenarios and anti-access that the US faces in Asia, which restricts America’s from accessing strategic resources and markets. The United States believes that its hegemony in Asia will deter and defeat the potential rivals. Â  

Cadbury Schweppes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Cadbury Schweppes - Essay Example Aside from pivoting around these two elements, its responsible role is backed by CSR vision and strategy. Additionally, Cadbury Schweppes responsible role comes from the systems it has in place along with the company's pledge to live by its values. Through these steps the company strives to promote a brand that people love.1 The idea of promoting a brand that people love is fuelled by the idea that the more people love the brand, the more likely it is for Cadbury Schweppes to retain their position and do even better. In order to promote a brand that people love, the company listens to what people want. The company also learns from its past experiences with products that people easily take to. Through this simple process, Cadbury Schweppes has managed to successfully launch many products in the global market, as they know what people want.2 Acting responsibly is one aspect that Cadbury Schweppes continues to emphasize on. This aspect has permitted the company to place great value on its shareowners. This has allowed the company to put further thought into its CSR strategy that has Five Pillars. These include: Cadbury Schweppes continues to renew its commitments towards responsible growth of its business. Renewed commitments allows the company to be prepared for future CSR journey, which is termed as the company's 'Goals and Commitments on Sustainability.' Cadbury Schweppes has goals set for each of its Five Pillars for CSR strategy that is in sync with its approach to sustainability.3 The Problem Cadbury Faces Currently: Until recently, Cadbury Schweppes had little problem with its reputation. However, in June 2006, questions were raised regarding the ethical standards and social responsibility that the company preached for so long. According to the health department, Cadbury Schweppes has circulated stock that was contaminated4. This was discovered because of few cases of food poisoning that were traced back to Cadbury Schweppes. It was discovered that there was a leaking waste pipe that dripped some contaminants into Cadbury Schweppes' chocolate fudge. This is one of the ingredients used in many Cadbury products. After the investigation, it was determined that Cadbury Schweppes stood to lose 20 m because they had to recall the stock that was affected by the contamination5. Aside from the financial loss, there is also a risk of the company losing the trust of many customers. A Strategy to Counter Cadbury's Contamination Issue: Given that there are other top companies in the market today that have suffered breakdowns in ethical procedures, Cadbury Schweppes can recover from its position. It must be remembered that there are two things that Cadbury Schweppes stands to lose with its contamination issue; 20 m in circulated stock, and the trust of its customers. By already delaying recalling this circulated stock Cadbury has done itself damage. The strategy that Cadbury needs to adopt is: saving the company from long-term damage.6 Strategy Implementation: In order to save itself from long-term damage, Cadbury Schweppes

Individual Critical Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Individual Critical Reflection - Essay Example To the best of our abilities, members of the group adhered to Saunder's (2007) advice regarding primary data collection and sampling procedures. In retrospect, however, and having read much more on data collection, I would have approach the procedure differently. In the first place, in order to ensure the reliability and validity of the primary data, I would have requested permission to audio-record the interviews from the respondents. Not only would this have preserved the respondents' answers as given, rather than their subsequent, possibly biased, reinterpretation from interview notes drawn up by the researchers, but would have evidenced the validity of the data. Further to that, I would also followed Miles and Huberman's (2005) advice concerning the establishment of construct validity. Insofar as the aforementioned necessitates the establishment of a chain of evidence throughout the data collection process, audio-taping the interviews would have been important. It would also have necessitated presenting the respondents with a copy of the study for their review and the verification of information through several sources of information. This process is, needless to say, infinitely more time-consuming than that which we adopted for the purposes of this study and, definitely more complex. Nevertheless, given the extent to which it would have contributed to the validation of the study and allowed for the generalisation of its findings, I would have chosen to adhere to this strategy. Individual Contribution Working as part of a team is complicated and, more often than not, a source of extreme tension. It entails trusting a part of one's grade, one's future, to others and, by no means, is this easy to do. Therefore, even though all the team members did their part and none were left holding the slack of others, I personally prefer doing my work myself. For this reason, I had no objections whatsoever to the workload assigned to me by the group leader, despite the fact that it somewhat exceeded the work load assigned to other team members. As a matter of fact, considering that I wanted to achieve the highest grade possible on the team project, I actively welcomed any work assigned to me, knowing that I will do my best to ensure that it meets with the highest standards possible, at least to the best of my ability. It is, thus, that I took responsibility for critical sections in the literature review; more specifically, I researched and wrote the parts ob coffee shops and Fairtrade products. I also was responsible for designing and completing the time-table, writing the interview permission letters required for the purposes of gaining permission to conduct interviews with employees of fair-trade companies, processing the primary data using SPSS, answering all the objective questions and finalising the work of other team members. As I noted at the outset, I often did more than my share but I did it on a voluntary basis as, quite honestly, the more work I did for the project, the more reassured I was regarding quality. Given that, from my perspective at least, the work submitted by other group members displayed substantial effort and high quality, I have to admit that the problem lies with me. I have not yet learnt to

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Lean Six Sigma

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Lean Six Sigma 1. Introduction While businesses seek for ways to survive and also to remain competitive in a changing global environment, they either choose adopting business excellence models or continuous improvement philosophies to guide them in the journey of organisational excellence. Lean Six Sigma is a new breadth in the area of continuous improvement, which constitutes strengths and key focuses of Lean and Six Sigma approaches. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: section 2 provides an insight on the concepts Lean,Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma. Then relevant examples of Lean Six Sigma in manufacturing and service sector will be presented in section 3.The advantages and disadvantages of Lean Six Sigma will be discussed in section 4. Lastly, an overall recap on the subject is done. 2. Literature review The objective of this section is to provide an insight of the Lean Six Sigma by briefly outlining the concepts behind Lean and Six Sigma, the two ingredients of this blend, along with their strengths and criticisms. 2.1 Lean Approach Lean manufacturing, developed by Toyota Motor Corporation in 1950s, has been adopted and adapted by many companies (Finch,2006). It then extended into a concept of Lean thinking that was introduced by Womack and Jones.The current state of Lean is called Lean enterprise that reaches beyond the shop floor and encompasses various departments within the organisation as a whole (Papadopoulou and Ozbayrak,2005). Dale (2007) defines Lean as a way of thinking, consisting of a set of methods and operating principles to identify and eliminate waste in business processes (Dale,2007,p.565). While for Ferguson (2007) Lean is a change that takes an organisation from where it currently stands and move to a desired state. Briefly, the objective of Lean is to eliminate all types of unnecessary waste by managing resources depending on customers needs and at the lowest possible costs (Andersson et al. 2006). In other words, doing more with less (Thomas,2009). Principles There are 5 principles of Lean; providing right product or service for the right price and time to customer,identification of value stream,smooth flow of processes,only customers demand trigger the action and lastly continuously improve to value stream in pursuit of perfection (Dale,2007). The first step when implementing Lean is to identify value-added and non-value added processes (Pepper and Spedding, 2009) by Value stream mapping(VMS) which is a qualitative analysis tool. Other tools and techniques from the Lean Toolkit such as Single Minute Exchange of Die, 5S, TPM etc. are used in order to achieve above-mentioned principles. Whereas, it should be noted that using these tools and techniques only, does not guarantee a Lean organisation (Bendell,2006). Criticism In the literature, there are many criticism topics on Lean where the most popular ones are about its universality and social aspects. It has long been argued that Lean is not flexible (Andersson et al.,2006) and not applicable to all environments but only to high volume-low variety (HVLV) operations. Authors like Arnheiter and Maleyeff (2005) define this view as one of the key misconceptions whereas Pepper and Spedding (2010) refer it as a limited success of Lean in their work. There is a common misconception caused by the misunderstanding of the concept that Lean means laying-off people (Arnheiter and Maleyeff,2005). However, Flinchbaugh (2001), Arnheiter and Maleyeff (2005) stress that Lean does not mean less people but using people in a smarter way. David Meier (2001) who is a Senior Lean Manufacturing Consultant, argues that Lean creates a stressful, uncomfortable environment due to sense of urgency while ensuring an immediate response to customers. On the other hand, Papadopoulou and Ozbayrak (2005), and Williams et al. (1992) take the opposite view. 2.2 Six Sigma Approach Six Sigma,which is developed by Motorola and popularised after the adoption of General Electric (Finch,2006) aims at value creation and improving the process through variation reduction (Dale et al,2007).Six Sigma inherits principles from TQM (Arnheiter and Maleyeff, 2005) while setting focus on customer satisfaction. In statistical terms, the goal is to achieve a defect rate of 3.4 per million (Pepper and Spedding,2010). This structured,top-down approach has a positive impact on business in monetary terms since it reduces risk and costs (Slack et al., 2006) especially related with scrap and rework. Due to realised benefits, many organisations have adopted Six Sigma today. Principles DMAIC(Design,Measure,Analysis,Improve and Control) is the most commonly used 5-stage methodology which is employed to achieve minimum defects and to reduce the variation throughout the processes in an organisation (Bhuiyan and Baghel,2005). The approach is on project basis and these projects are carried out by trained supervisors called Black belts and Green belts (Bendell,2006). Criticism Six Sigma has long been seen as a statistics-heavy, technical approach to process control (Pepper,Spedding, 2009, p.145). Bendell(2006) supports this view and criticises Six Sigma due to its tendency towards being a complex approach. The training of Black Belts and Green Belts is required in order to be able to use statistical tools and handle the projects effectively. Senapati (2004) mentions that these trainings and solutions to problems can be costly for many businesses. Bendell (2006) states that there is no formal link to policy deployment in Six Sigma. Since Six Sigma projects are chosen depending on their cost-effectiveness, it is possible for this cost-down approach dominates the primary customer driven focus. and may shift it to cost-down possible to be dominated by immediate cost down driver (Bendell,2006). 2.3 Similarities and Differences between Lean and Six Sigma: The point of intersection -overlapping areas(kà ¼me Ã…Å ¸ekli) The intersection point:Similarities-The area of convergence Both approaches have related operating philosophies,performance objectives,work focus,team approach and improvement focus (Watson,2003). Lean Six Sigma Since Lean Sigma or Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is a relatively new management trend, there is not much literature available comparing to the information and facts found about Lean and Six Sigma alone. Recently, many companies have started to combine continuous improvement programs together by utilising the best of each initiative to get an extensive and more effective program than individual programs (Bhuiyan and Baghel, 2005). Thus, Lean Six Sigma is evolved as a hybrid methodology that encompasses benefits from both Lean and Six Sigma (Bhuiyan and Baghel, 2005). Watson (2003) defines the merge between Lean and Six Sigma as a marriage of necessity. The objective of this integrated approach is boosting quality and reducing costs through elimination of waste and variation reduction (Kamensky,2008). The origins of Lean and Six Sigma come from different roots however they both have an aim of improving the processes of a business. It has been shown that the benefits achieved with LSS cannot be achieved when applying Lean or Six Sigma solely (Bhuiyan and Baghel, 2005). This data-driven approach enables sustainable competitive advantage if properly applied (Burgess,2009). In the report of John Maleyeff (2007) to IBM Business of Government, LSS is defined as: Lean Six Sigma encompasses many common features of Lean and Six Sigma such as an emphasis on customer satisfaction,a culture of continuous improvement,the search for root causes,and comprehensive employee involvement.In each case,a high degree of training and education takes place,from upper management to shop floor. It is now being realised by many businesses that Lean is more powerful and meaningful when combined with Six Sigma and vice versa (Watson,2003). Many businesses in both manufacturing and service sector including GlaxoSmithKline,Xerox and Dell turned to Lean Six Sigma and achieved significant benefits (Neuhaus and Guarraia,2007). There has to be a careful blend of Lean and Six Sigma that brings two extremes into equilibrium. One end is becoming too Lean thus being very responsive to the market whereas the other end is too much focus on reducing variation beyond the expectations of customers resulting in unnecessary resources being wasted to achieve zero variation (Pepper and Spedding 2010). The optimum point is where market share is maintained by creating sufficient value in the eyes of a customer and the process variation is kept inside acceptable levels to achieve lower costs without over-engineering (Pepper and Spedding 2010). Principles George (2002) states the principles of LSS as the activities that cause the customers critical-to-quality issues and create the longest time delays in any process offer the greatest opportunity for improvement in cost,quality,capital,and lead time. Focus is on customer needs as in Six Sigma and also on speed as in Lean, in order to be responsive to market by shortening lead times. It should be noted that there is no standard framework of LSS that businesses can take it and apply step by step for a specific problem. In other words, there is no one fit for all since it depends on the situation and also the environment within a company. Nevertheless, there have been some attempts regarding different ways of implementing LSS in the literature and industry. Some authors argue that it would be more effective when Lean is used as a first step smoothen the process by eliminating waste and then run the DMAIC cycle. Another view is to implement Lean tools within DMAIC cycle as it can be seen in the work of Kumar et al (2006). Thomas et al. (2009) also proposed a similar framework where basic Lean principles are integrated in each phase of DMAIC method. Criticism Since it is a new breadth in the area of management, LSS has become the target of criticism in the literature. Bendell (2006) suggests a single approach that effectively combines the two philosophies rather than an alleged combination (Pepper and Spedding,2010). Another criticism is about the compatibility of these two approaches. Mika (2006) argues that Six Sigma cannot be embraced by the workers in the shop floor since it requires an effective use of statistical tools and techniques unlike Lean. In contrast, George (2003) outlines several points that Lean compliments Six Sigma and vice versa. Furthermore, since LSS is an integration of two different approaches there is a possibility that one dominates other throughout implementation. Some authors and practitioners see this new continuous improvement initiative as the latest management fad. However, Westwood and Silvester (2007) argue that these approaches such as Six Sigma, Lean or Lean Six Sigma are not fads but they are vital for improving and sustaining competitive advantage. As opposed to views about the negative social aspects of LSS, Burgess (2009) strongly disagrees that it does not support creativity and turns people into robots mainly due to increased workload. It has been argued that the continuous improvement initiatives including LSS are not working well in small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SME) due to lack of critical success factors such as commitment from top management, lack of understanding of tools and techniques and lack of financial capability (Thomas et al. 2009). 3. Findings In this section, an attempt is made to present examples regarding the application of Lean Six Sigma in both manufacturing and service sectors. Manufacturing firms were the early adopters of LSS. Then, it was embraced by the service sector in the 1990s (Kamensky,2008). Halliburton, which is one of the worlds largest oilfield providers, began to implement Lean Six Sigma in 2004, in response to the growth in demand with the purpose of being able to respond customer needs by increasing efficiency and improving customer service (Atkinson,2009). The amount that they used to produce in the manufacturing plants is tripled as a result of reduced cycle times and high utilisation of their equipments. Halliburton also encouraged its supply base to adopt the same strategy so that a synchronisation can be achieved in terms of being more responsive to the market (Atkinson,2009). The main reason to implement LSS approach in Caterpillar Inc. was to gain competitive advantage by breakthrough improvements. As a result of innovative products, their revenues had grown by 80 percent (Byrne et al.2007). Another notable example would be Xerox Corp., which was having problems with its long filing time for patents so first of all the root causes of delays were identified. To eliminate these non-value added steps, Xerox Lean Six Sigma team carried out DMAIC, and came up with a solution which reduced the cycle time of 64 days and saved $400,000 in overall time (Xerox Corp. Brochure,2009). National Grid, who is a client of GE Fleet Services in the UK listened to the voice of its customers and applied Lean Six Sigma to reduce the time spent running (issuing and managing) order prompts (Fraser and Fraser,2008).This project is an example of a well-applied Lean Six Sigma method in a service sector in terms of achieving expected results in a timely fashion (Fraser and Fraser,2008). In the work of Kumar et al. (2006), the implementation of LSS in a die casting manufacturer is resulted in a significant decrease in the number of defects occurred in the final product and an overall savings of around $140 000 per year. Apart from the success stories, National Health Service Modernisation Agency (MA) in UK, is a well-known failure case of LSS. In 2004, Six Sigma together with Lean implemented in NHS to improve processes and quality (Proudlove and Moxham et al., 2008). Whereas, due to lack of well-designed processes, lack of support and unclear link between business strategy, it resulted in failure (Montero,2010). 4. Discussion In light of the findings and review of literature, the advantages and disadvantages of LSS will be discussed in this section. It is believed that this integrated approach will bring better results when the structured and systematic approach of Six Sigma came together with the agility of Lean with a focus of customer in the centre (Antony et al,2003). Despite some views arguing its effectiveness, in theory, by integrating the best of Lean and Six Sigma, the outcome would be satisfactory or even delightful both from the organisations and the customers point of view that creates a win-win situation. According to Arnheiter and Maleyeff (2005), if Lean firms adopt Six Sigma principles, costs incurred by defective products such as rework or scrap costs and the related overhead costs can be reduced. Likewise, when Six Sigma companies adopt Lean principles, faster lead times and deliveries can be achieved. Antony et al. (2003) outlines four major benefits of implementing LSS as; becoming faster and more responsive to customers, striving for Six Sigma capability level, operating at lowest costs of poor quality, achieving greater flexibility throughout the business (Antony et al.,2003,p.41). Companies that have successfully implemented Lean Six Sigma have gained considerable benefits in terms of increased shareholder value and market share. Based on the examples of several companies given in the Findings section, these benefits are provided in dollars. On the other hand, a recent BainCo.survey of 184 companies, shows that 80 percent is dissatisfied with the results they got from their LSS efforts because they have not achieved their goals in both monetary terms and level of improvement (Neuhaus and Guarraia,2007). Because it brought many advantages to leading firms, it does not imply that every attempt will be success or that every firm is ready for this initiative. Basu (2001) outlines the difficulty of sustaining a process improvement program even it may be successful in the beginning. Thus, this situation causes employee layoffs and a decrease in employee morale (Basu,2001). Despite being a powerful engine for businesses, the necessity of high skills to be able to use relevant tools and techniques is seen as one of the weaknesses of LSS (Montero,2010). This factor is seen as a critical prerequisite for the successful implementation of LSS. Though,the training and necessary investment can be costly to some companies. Therefore, this situation may limit its applicability. Unless a necessary change within the business is done including cultural aspects, mindset of employees together with the full commitment of top management, the result will be a failure. 5. Conclusion Many businesses in various sectors have recently started to adopt LSS either as a result of an external pressure or due to inadequate results achieved with their current methodology applied (internal need). Benchmarking plays a significant role in creating a trendy environment in the market where companies follow the giants and trying to adopt the best practice in order not to be obsolete. Although, this integration is seen as a fad by some authors and practitioners The concept was emerged as a response to market requirement. This merge between initiatives Regardless of the continuous improvement strategy that is chosen to follow, there is a common ground that no positive results can be gained without an adequate support, and attention across the business. There are still some uncovered areas of LSS for further research or no one knows what is next.