Saturday, December 28, 2019

Correlations between Creativity and Mental Illness Essay

Several scientific studies have demonstrated correlations between creativity and mental illness, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Even though the association between bipolar disorder and creativity first appeared in literature in the 1970s, the idea of a link between madness and genius is actually much older. It goes back at least to the time of Aristotle and the Ancient Greeks, when it was believed that creativity came from the gods, and in particular the Muses, the mythical personifications of the arts and sciences. More recently, the idea of a complete work of art emerging without conscious thought or effort was supported in the Romantic era. beliefs on the creative inspiration of the artist†¦show more content†¦The capacity to be creative, to produce new concepts, ideas, inventions, objects or art, is perhaps the most important attribute of the human brain. We know very little, however, about the nature of creativity or its neural basis. Some important ques tions include: how should we define creativity? How is it related (or unrelated) to high intelligence? What psychological processes or environmental circumstance cause creative insights to occur? How is it related to conscious and unconscious processes? What is happening at the neural level during moments of creativity? How is it related to health or illness, and especially mental illness? The first step in studying creativity is to define what it is. One of the first issues that must be addressed is the relationship between creativity and high intelligence. Since the same word, genius, is often used to refer to people who are highly creative and also to people who are highly intelligent, a common assumption is that creativity and high intelligence are the same thing. This, however, is a misconception. The ability to express and control our own emotions is important, but so is our ability to understand, interpret, and respond to the emotions of others. Psychologists refer to this ability as emotional intelligence. According to the Cambridge Dictionary online, Emotional Intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to perceive, control and evaluateShow MoreRelatedThe Correlation between Creativity and Madness1594 Words   |  7 PagesThere lies a link between creativity and madness and the association stems from the need of an unconventional thought process to spark creativity and biological factors surrounding the brains of both creative individuals, and mentally ill patients. Could it be Madness? A correlation between a more creative individual and a mentally ill patient exists, and it is highly likeable that the former could be the latter. The issue of whether great mental abilities, whether it’s creativity in crafts such asRead MoreThe Genius And Mental Illness1332 Words   |  6 Pages Artistic Genius and Mental Illness The path from mental illness to creative genius in many artists and writers has long been a topic of research and discussion. Researchers believe they are now gaining new clues about the mysterious link between highly creative individuals and mental disorders, most commonly manic depression. The National Institute on Mental Health estimates that manic depression, also called bipolar disorder, affects about 2 million Americans. Many scientists believe that aRead More Kay Redfield Jamisons Touched With Fire: Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temeprament994 Words   |  4 PagesKay Redfield Jamisons Touched With Fire: Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temeprament In Touched with Fire: Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament, Kay Redfield Jamison explores the compelling connection between mental disorders and artistic creativity. Artists have long been considered different from the general population, and one often hears tales of authors, painters, and composers who both struggle with and are inspired by their madness. Jamisons text exploresRead MoreA First Rate Madness : Uncovering The Links Between Leadership And Mental Health1033 Words   |  5 PagesA First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Health By Nassir Ghaemi Inverse Law of Sanity: â€Å"This book argues that in at least one vitally important circumstance insanity produces good results and sanity is a problem. In times of crisis, we are better off being led by mentally ill leaders than mentally normal ones.† (Pg. 3, intro) Dr. Ghaemi attempts to draw a connection between leadership and mental illness in his book, A First-Rate Madness. He uses historical figuresRead More The Link between Creativity and Mental Disorder Essay1020 Words   |  5 Pages Creativity Creativity is the sole heart of modernization, technology and the arts. Without creativity, humanity would still thrive in caves. There is no argument against creativity being an important aspect of our society, there is, however, a question whether creativity is spawned by mental disorder. Albert Einstein came up with ideas that seemed impossible or eccentric. Froyds psychology theorems were laughed at, but now widely used and accepted. Both men were highly successful withRead MoreMusician Suicide1512 Words   |  7 Pagescelebrities. one of the most famous cases happened 20 years ago when lead singer of Nirvana Kurt Cobain took his own life, leaving many fans and psychologists wondering why. It’s a phenomenon that has many questioning if there is a positive correlation between being a musicians and being prone to committing suicide as well as the reasons why. In Sheila M. Eldred’s article â€Å"Why Are Musicians More Prone to Suicide?† she looks at a theory proposed by Steve Stack, a suicidal researcher, and ChristineRead MoreAnxiety And Other Mood Disorders1460 Words   |  6 Pagesfluctuations between both depressive and manic episodes, or lows and highs. I am also going to include generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in our mood disorder category because there are â€Å"lifetime diagnoses of anxiety and depression that show extensive comorbidity†, or in more simple terms, there is a high chance that someo ne who has anxiety will also have depression and vice versa (Mineka, 1998, p.382). Now that we know what mood disorders are we can look at their relationship with art and creativity. ThereRead MoreMood Disorders : Their Influence And Portrayal Of Art1466 Words   |  6 Pagesfluctuations between both depressive and manic episodes, or lows and highs. I am also going to include generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in our mood disorder category because there are many diagnoses of depression and anxiety that show extensive comorbidity, or in more simple terms, there is a high chance that someone who has anxiety will also have depression and vice versa (Mineka, 1998, p.382). Now that we know what mood disorders are we can look at their relationship with art and creativity. ThereRead MoreA Brilliant Madness about John Forbes Nash Essay1458 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"To some extent insanity is a form of conformity; people are always selling the idea that people who have mental illness are suffering. But it’s really not so simple†¦I think mental illness or madness can be an escape also† (qtd. in â€Å"John Forbes Nash†). To many â€Å"normal† people, the terms â€Å"insanity† or â€Å"madness† portray a negative connotation-- the unfortunate ones â€Å"suffer† from mental illness. However, brilliant mathematician and Nobel laureate John Forbes Nash, who has paranoid schizophrenia, cherishesRead MoreThe Link Between Creativity and Bipolar Disorder, Annotated Bibliography854 Words   |  4 PagesTHE LINK BETWEEN CREATIVITY AND BIPOLAR DISORDER The Link Between Creativity and Bipolar Disorder Creativity is related with bipolar disorder is a popular assumption. The fact that many creative people, including Van Gogh, Ernest Hemingway, Leo Tolstoy, and Sylvia Plath, suffered from some kind of mental disorders triggers that idea. Psychologists have been interested in this contingent link for decades. In this paper, after defining both terms, I examine three articles that report

Friday, December 20, 2019

The Artificial Model Of Natural Selection - 1440 Words

The Artificial Model of Natural Selection Since Charles Darwin raised the concept of natural selection, all generations have been enlightened with the idea of the â€Å"preservation of favorable variations and the rejection of injurious variations [†¦] useful in some ways to each being in the great and complex battle of life (Darwin, 1). However, only the most recent generations have heard about something called genetic modification that in some cases we don’t understand, but whose effects have been increased in our daily life. The innumerable advances that science had reached in genetic aspects, made us think that there aren’t insurmountable limits to humans. At the same time it causes questions about the dangers they may offer in an increasingly, curious society. In general terms, Genetic manipulation refers to â€Å"any of a variety sophisticated techniques for the creation of recombinant DNA and, in many cases, its subsequent introduction into living cells.† (Das 1). It implies a fusion between the natural composition of pure matter and the implanted characteristics as a consequence of that which human beings consider appropriate to improve the kind. Thus, through a genetic management, human beings are trying to recreate a process of natural selection in which favorable conditions are preferred in the relationship of individuals with their environment, and allowing those conditions be incorporated over time. In animals Genetic engineering is a process that consists of insertingShow MoreRelatedThe Artificial Model Of Natural Selection Essay1866 Words   |  8 PagesThe Artificial Model of Natural Selection Since Charles Darwin raised the concept of natural selection, all generations have been enlightened with the idea of the â€Å"preservation of favorable variations and the rejection of injurious variations [†¦] useful in some ways to each being in the great and complex battle of life.† (Darwin, 1). However, only the most recent generations have heard about something called genetic modification that in some cases we don’t understand, but whose effects have beenRead MoreThe Artificial Model Of Natural Selection1883 Words   |  8 PagesThe Artificial Model of Natural Selection Since Charles Darwin raised the concept of natural selection, all generations have been enlightened with the idea of the â€Å"preservation of favorable variations and the rejection of injurious variations [†¦] useful in some ways to each being in the great and complex battle of life.† (Darwin, 1) However, only the most recent generations have heard about something called genetic modification that in some cases we don’t understand, but whose effects have been increasedRead MoreArtificial Selection And Natural Selection942 Words   |  4 PagesArtificial Selection is much different than natural selection but can have similar advantageous effects. Selection has profound effects on populations and has the ability to modify forms and behaviors of living things to the point that they look and act very unlike their ancestors. Artificial selection provides a model that helps us understand natural selection. It is a small step to envision natural conditions acting selec tively on populations and causing natural changes. (Takashi, 2014.) ByRead MoreThe Evolutionary Change Under Strong Selective Pressures1257 Words   |  6 Pagesprogress, it was not until the research of Dmitry K. Belyaev that we began to unravel the early stages of domestication. Assuming that these initial stages involved selection on behavior, Belyaev conducted an experimental study that placed strong selective pressures on tamability. Using the fox, Vulpes vulpes, as a model, this artificial selection developed an experimental population that expressed behavioral, morphological, and physiological characteristics of domesticated species (Belyaev 1969). UnderRead MoreThe Diversity Of Living Things1613 Words   |  7 PagesEvolution 1.Advantages of Artificial Selection: -It creates new genes for plants and animals. -Animals can produce more products ex. Pigs can be bred to be bigger in size; cows can be bred to produce more milk, etc. -Farmers and breeders will get better business. Farmers will be able to produce bigger and better plants, while breeders will be able to create new types of animals. -Can create stronger and faster animals and unlimited to the options of artificial selection, meaning you can combine whateverRead MorePersuasive Essay On Rights Of Nature1607 Words   |  7 PagesCedric Quintana Prof Cassidy Litle Eng 122-008 July 15, 2017 Rights of Nature We must take care of our environment by continually educating our youth on natural selection and the four laws of ecology, and supporting environmental movements that recognize the rights of nature. Impacts of climate change are increasingly felt by Earth’s inhabitants including us, humans. The current warming, which is only one degree Celsius, has affected different ecological processes such as â€Å"species’ genetics, seasonalRead MoreGenetic Algorithms And Its Applications Of Cyber Security1709 Words   |  7 Pagesof science and engineering as versatile algorithms for tackling functional issues and as computational models of common developmental frameworks. In the latest couple of decades, this procedure with advancement of cutting edge development has accomplished something new. Introduction: â€Å"Li [3] describes genetic algorithm as a family of computational models based on evolution and natural selection.† â€Å"Bobor [4] has defined a genetic algorithm as a programming technique, which mimics biological evolutionRead MoreCMGT556 Week 1 Individual Assigment Essay754 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿ Artificial Intelligence Vita Olmsted CMGT/556 - Enterprise Models June 24, 2014 Jeffrey McDonough Artificial Intelligence Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the branch of computer science, which concentrates on the intelligence of machines, and involves applying the principles of reasoning, knowledge planning, learning, communication, perception, and controlling objects to emulate the human brain. The most recognizable AI application is robotics from Hollywood cinema, and includes films suchRead More Artificial Intelligence and Investing Essay1648 Words   |  7 PagesArtificial Intelligence and Investing INTRODUCTION Artificial intelligence can be defined as the ability of a computer to perform activities normally considered to require human intelligence. The techniques of this intelligence include knowledge-based, machine learning, and natural language processing techniques. Investing can be defined as the act of committing money to an endeavour with the exception of obtaining profit. Investing activities require data identification, asset valuation (theRead MoreEconomic Dispatch : An Optimization Problem For Economic Intermitation Methods1494 Words   |  6 Pagesin the ED model. The MAED problem is much complex due to the practical operational constraints such as valve point loading effect(VPL), prohibited operating zones (POZ) along with tie power flow limit constraints, which make the system highly nonlinear. Therefore it requires a powerful optimization approach to solve these types of problems. Various bio-inspired algorithms have become popular to solve complex mathematical functions in the past decades [5]. The natural selection and meta-

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Accounting Theory Greening Fish Farming

Question: Describe about the Accounting Theory for Greening Fish Farming. Answer: 1. In the provided case study, it is clearly observed that the company Bio-Sustainable Feeds Ltd focuses on their CSR activities in order to improve the sustainability of the organization. The research and the development department of Bio-Sustainable Feeds Ltd focus for the reduction of usage of natural resources and thereby the garbages are used for the preparation of fish feed in the organization of Bio-Sustainable Feeds Ltd (B. Rust, 2011). The company with the help of the business activities, improves the environmental impact and henceforth able to create social acceptance. 2. Particulars Debit ($) Credit ($) Grant 500 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization 500 Alternative aquaculture feeds 100 Cash 100 Research 500 cash 500 Development cost 200 cash 200 Patent 700 Cash 700 The journal shows the cash received and the incurred expenses by the company Bio-Sustainable Feeds Ltd from the year 2013 to 2016. 3. The cost that was estimated for the research is about $160 million AUD and another cost that is estimated for bringing it to the market in the form of patent is about $200 million AUD. By selling the patent at $500 million AUD to the company CSIRO, the company BSF Ltd gained the entire amount with profit (Chung, 2016). The discount rate of the project is 8% per annum. The market value of the patent is about $700 AUD. Henceforth the determination also helps in the evaluation of the growth of company. References Rust, M. (2011).The Future of Aquafeeds. [online] https://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/aquaculture/docs/feeds/the_future_of_aquafeeds_final.pdf. Available at: https://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/aquaculture/docs/feeds/the_future_of_aquafeeds_final.pdf [Accessed 16 Sep. 2016]. Chung, E. (2016).'Greener' fish farming could lead to unhealthier seafood. [online] CBC News. Available at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/aquaculture-feed-1.3262922 [Accessed 16 Sep. 2016].

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Governance and Ethics Leading to Financial Distress of Companies

Question: Describe about the Governance and Ethics Leading to Financial Distress of Companies. Answer: Introduction: The liquidation of One teal company, ABC learning and the HIH insurance is mainly due to the unethical process and the discussion is about the identification of the unethical process responsible for the companies downfall. These companies conducted unethical measures and novice depicted this. The study conducted helped in evaluating the relevant facts that led to the liquidation. The selected companies had gone into liquidation because flaws in the corporate governance. Furthermore, the recommendation is also provided by the novice, which the companies might inculcate in its culture so that they are able to reduce the unethical process in carrying out their operations. Ethics and corporate governance is very significant due to the success of the company, while if it is ignored can have detrimental effect on the company's health. The corporate governance weakness can result in financial crisis (Murphy 2012). The companies discussed below had the same scenario, where the company misled the stakeholders, which consequently led to the downfall. The business model of the company was unsuitable and this contributed because of the unethical measures incorporated that compelled them to increase huge amount of debts, consequently unable to clear it off and liquidation call. One Tel Phone Company: The collapse of One Tel Company is the classic case of the failed expectations, strategic mistakes, and the wrong pricing policy. One Tel company was the largest telecommunication company in Australia. The practice of the corporate governance was suffering from defects and the fall of the company was mainly attributable to this factor. Weak internal control, poor communication of the board with the management, poor quality of audit, and the board scrutiny relating to the management were the main reasons that led to the collapse of the One Tel phone. The failure of the company provided the lesson on the relevance of the corporate governance (McGarty 2010). Events that led to the liquidation of company: The company followed the strategy of high risks and low yield and this led to the collapse in the market of Australia. The company had deficit in the operating cash and suffered from the low quality of earning the income that was mainly due to the high proportion of accruals and the manipulation by the management. The practice of the corporate governance and the misguided decision of the management in the financial decisions led to the collapse of the company. The directors and the managers failed to exercise their power with due diligence, inadequate independence in the functioning of audit, inappropriate compensation of the management, and creative accounting was some of the reasons associated with the failure of the corporate governance practices. The managing director of the company was giving the repeated assurance about the cash positions and the profitability of the company and he was misleading the market and the shareholders about the cash position of the company by giving t he wrong statement that the company has substantial amount of cash and profits available. The accounts of the company were presented the way he wanted it to be. The directors of the company were receiving the bonus and their basic salary despite the fact that the company reported a loss of $ 291 million (Monem 2011). Role of ethics and governance in analyzing financial distress: The directors mislead the board on the matter of the financial position of the company. The state of billing and the system of collecting the debt was the reason and it accelerated its failure. They used the privilege information gained by the directors at the board meeting for the trading for his own personal gains. The discrepancies in the books of account could not be accounted by the CFO of the company and they have little concern for their employees and the shareholders and the stakeholders. The cash position and the financial performance of the company was not properly assessed and this lead to not able to detect the material misstatement. The financial information available which flows form management to the board was inaccurate as the system was not monitored properly (Revan 2011). Rationale for stating liability as a major factor for liquidation: The executive directors of the company have a choice over the judgment, so that the board of directors favors the deciding and it was manipulated. The public statement made by the directors of the company did not have any factual basis. In order to ensure the liquidity, the management needs to maintain the cash reserve. The accurate and the reliable information would be produced if the system were established that way. The failure of the management on these concerned parts was also the reason behind the failure. The directors of the company had acted in their own personal interest by breaching the rules of the corporate governance and there was active participation by the management seeking the benefits for the shareholders. The directors did not employ their expertise and they did not take any effort in appraising the accounting system, which were needed to collect the payment (Clarke et al. 2003). HIH Insurance Company: One of the biggest financial collapses in the history of the corporate of the Australia was the collapse of the HIH insurance. The risk management system, ineffective corporate governance practices were mainly the factors attributable to the collapse of the company. The auditing and the inferior risk management system of the company were put into question. The poor cash position and the inferior finance resource management were mainly responsible for the collapse as the company was unable to pay the claim to the policyholders of the insurance and the amount of debt it owed (Murphy 2012). The major investment failures of HIH insurance were in the market of UK and US. Events that led to the liquidation of company: The flawed corporate governance leading to HIH collapse: Failure of the corporate governance is the reason behind the corporate bankruptcy as the corporate governance is considered to be of the critical importance. Some of the odd features were presented by the corporate governance practices in the insurance industry. The odd features included the conflict of interest that could not be recognized, the policies concerned were not defined and recorded properly and the management proposals could not be critically analyzed due to the lack of independence (Mak et al.2005). This can be understood by an example; the CEO authorities were not clearly defined in some virtually important areas. The CEO was exercising the control over the management and the board and this was done by the manipulation of the evaluation of the senior executives and the board meetings agenda. The company was not running at the interest of the shareholders rather it was running at the interest of the senior managers. Therefore, the model of the corporate governance was at threat. The strategy concerning the investment decision were neglected by the directors and the another reason which led to the collapse of the HIH insurance was the risk management failure (Mak et al. 2005). Role of ethics and governance in analyzing financial distress: Accounting system is regarded as the element of the corporate governance practices. The accounting system was designed and directed by the management and this was a major contribution to the inherent risks. The Board or the audit committee of the company was comprised of the five non-executive directors. These non-executives director could not examine the judgment independently despite the majority of the directors being independent (Cheng and Seeger 2012). Some of the requirement that the HIH insurance fallen short of was the assurance that the independent directors are directly and properly informed and the assurance of the independence and effectiveness of the audit committee. The audit committee functions were doubtful as the independence of the non-executive directors forming the part of the audit committee suffered from defects. The independent directors could not fulfill their responsibilities with due diligence. The company went into the liquidity position and was unable to clear off its debts. The company had an estimated deficiency of $ 5.3 billion. This was mainly attributable to the flawed and inadequate corporate governance (Allan 2006). Rationale for stating liability as a major factor for liquidation: The companies that collapsed and went into liquidation generally suffered from the defected corporate governance practices. The companies discussed above that is the One Tel company, ABC learning and the HIH Insurance has something in common and the common factor which was responsible for their collapse is the inadequate corporate governance practices which is one of the important determinant in the attaining the success of the companies. However, the liquidity factor cannot be solely regarded as the factor that contributed to the liquidation of the company. However, the companies has good amount of debt to be paid off. The other factors contributed to the collapse were the malpractice by the management and the flaws in the accounting system of the company was the reason and this form the element of the corporate governance (Mirshekary et al. 2005). ABC Learning Company: One of the largest world's childcare providers was ABC learning, and the negligence of fundamental sound accounting resulted in the spectacular downfall. Due to this, the creditors decided wound up the company in the year 2010 and because the company was delisted from the stock exchange. The profits, which the company earned, were it posing a question to the practices, which it followed in accounting. The company left a debt of $2 million dollar when it collapsed, other acquisitions were that it misleads the share market regarding the revenue, which was booked, and used cheap debt facility to create a rapid expansion in Australia, UKand Newzealand. Events that led to the liquidation of company: It suffered from the problem in imparting education in the centre beside it had the problem of acquiring the entire market. The poor educational facilities were because of the inappropriate staffs. Additionallythe percentage of the revenue attributable to the staffs, being 56.7% was less than the nonprofit organization, which had 80% of the revenue attribution to the staffs (McRobert 2009). Role of ethics and governance in analyzing financial distress: The company also suffered illogical ideas. The financial mismanagement including acquiring more debt than the normal acquisition. The financial information given by the company was quiet illogical, there were malpractices used in business by the company for attaining more gain. 72% to 81% of intangible assets comprised the asset section of the balance sheet and those intangible assets comprised ofseveral operating licenses whereas this license did not make any trading sense (Sumsion 2012). Rationale for stating liability as a major factor for liquidation: Moreover, the traders and the investors in the market were drawn by the valuation of operating issues, thereby resulting in increasing the high value and the company was found making fake claims on such licenses. The ABC was using malpractices in maintenance of the accounts , which reduced its share values considerably .Every year the company revaluated the assets , did not cause any material effect of the financial performance of the company . The asset revaluation and its raised amount misled the investors as well. The ABCCompany failed to create enough amount of cash flow for paying the shareholders, dividends and intereststo the shareholders Recommendations: The rules and regulation relating to the practices of the corporate governance would be of great contribution in reducing the unethical measures adopted by the company. Another measures which can be taken by the company to reduce the unethical practices is the monitoring the audit report in a very effective way. The overall corruption in the company has to be reduced by involving the appropriate authorities who would implement the stringent rules to penalize the members involved. One of the ways for the companies to deal with their business, which suffers from the inadequate practices of the corporate governance, is to change their approach and the company needs to care about the shareholders as they have their money invested in the business and should not focus on gaining the market share. Another structural tool to measure the effectiveness of the Board would be to create the board with the support of the independent people. The nomination of the board of directors should be made b y including the shareholders and their appointment should be enhanced. Conclusion: The overall discussion has been made about the unethical practices of the corporate and this was done to boost their share price. The novice effectively analyzes the case of the companies provided here. The facts disclosed leading to their collapse provides the appropriate authorities with the new ideas, which might be incorporated in their governance practices. The conclusion can be made concerning the downfall and collapse of the three chosen companies that inadequate and inappropriate practices of corporate governance led to their collapse. Therefore, the ethics and corporate governance is of critical importance to the success of the company. The liability factor being held responsible for the One Tel Company, HIH Insurance and ABC learning collapse would be partially incorrect. However, managing liability is an important component of the corporate governance practice. Therefore, it can be concluded that the major factors leading to the financial distress of these companies would be the ethics and corporate governance of the concerned entity. Reference: Allan, G., 2006. HIH Collapse: A Costly Catalyst for Reform, The.Deakin L. Rev.,11, p.137. Calomiris, C.W., 1989. Deposit insurance: lessons from the record.Economic Perspectives,13(3), pp.10-30. Cheng, S.S. and Seeger, M.W., 2012. Lessons learned from organizational crisis: Business ethics and corporate communication.International Journal of Business and Management,7(12), p.74. Clarke, F., Dean, G. and Oliver, K., 2003.Corporate collapse: accounting, regulatory and ethical failure. Cambridge University Press. Governanceforstakeholders.com. (2016).The ABC of a corporate collapse | Governance For Stakeholders. [online] Available at: https://governanceforstakeholders.com/2012/12/28/the-abc-of-a-corporate-collapse/ [Accessed 21 Aug. 2016]. Kruger, C., 2009. Lessons to be learnt from ABC Learnings collapse.Sydney Morning Herald, p.24. Mak, K., Deo, H.N. and Cooper, K.A., 2005. Australia's major corporate collapse: Health International Holdings (HIH) Insurance" May the force be with you". McGarty, T.P., 2010.The Imminent Collapse of the Telecommunications Industry. MIT ITC Working Paper. McRobert, A., 2009. ABC Learning Centres Limited-did the annual reports give enough warning?.JASSA, (1), p.14. Mirshekary, S., Yaftian, A.M. and Cross, D., 2005. Australian corporate collapse: The case of HIH Insurance.Journal of Financial Services Marketing,9(3), pp.249-258. Monem, R., 2011. The One. Tel collapse: lessons for corporate governance.Australian Accounting Review,21(4), pp.340-351. Murphy, D., 2012. Corporate Governance: The Conflict Between Money and Morality.Hong Kong LJ,32, p.233. Revans, R., 2011.ABC of action learning. Gower Publishing, Ltd.. Ross, P., Sy, A. and Tinker, T., 2012. ABC Learning: accounting lessons never learned?.International Journal of Critical Accounting,4(1), pp.21-29. Sumsion, J., 2012. ABC Learning and Australian early education and care: a retrospective ethical audit of a radical experiment.Childcare markets local and global: can they deliver an equitable service, pp.209-225. Williams, R., 2010. People in media: The ABC's science show informal learning-or on being found out.Metro Magazine: Media Education Magazine, (53), p.20.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Swot Analysis of McDonald’s Essay Sample free essay sample

A SWOT analysis of McDonalds eating house industry reveals that they have a batch of strengths. failings. chances and menaces. To get down 3 strengths would include trade name names. locations and localized bill of fare options. Brand points of McDonalds maintain the competition from copying their merchandises. for illustration. the happy repast. Big Mac. egg McMuffin are all trade name name points of McDonalds. McDonalds maintains 42 % of the United States beefburger concern. Location is ever cardinal. McDonalds has 32. 478 eating houses in 177 states ( McDonalds. com ) . McDonalds’ localized bill of fare options adapt to their location. for illustration. in India and the Middle East they serve lamb Burgers. Failings would include employee turnover. monetary value of natural stuffs. fluctuating operating disbursals and net net incomes. Employee turnover will be the industry more in developing new employees. McDonalds is a fast nutrient eating house. they attract the employment of adolescents and immature grownups. The monetary value of natural stuffs such as maize and wheat fluctuate with the economic system. We will write a custom essay sample on Swot Analysis of McDonald’s Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Rising cost in stuffs. in bend cost the company more. Fluctuating operating and net net incomes from 2007-2009 ranged from 3. 870. 000 in 2007 and 6. 841. 000 in 2009 for their operating disbursal. A big addition in expense cut net incomes ( McDonalds. com. p. 10 ) . Net income for the same old ages was 2. 395. 000 – 4. 551. 000 in 2009 ( McDonalds. com. p. 10 ) . Next we look at chances. Many new merchandises are being added to McDonald’s bill of fare every twelvemonth. [ McDonalds continue to put to death our four growing platforms of breakfast. convience. nucleus bill of fare and value. Comparable gross revenues rose 3. 4 % chiefly due to the on-going impulse of our concern in Australia where multiple enterprises environing menu assortment include the launch of the premium Angus Og Burger. greater convience and staying farther strengthened our trade name relevancy ] ( McDonalds. com. p. 10 ) . Bing able to maintain monetary values down for the clients improved McDonald’s net income border to 30. 1 % in 2009 ( McDonalds. com. p. 10 ) . Last the option of allergen free nutrient points such as. gluten free and insignificant free is a great chance for McDonald’s. It open the chance to derive more clients to increase gross. Last are menaces that McDonald’s have to postulate with. First the consciousness of eating wonts have cut down on people purchasing Burger and french friess. Peoples have become more cognizant of their eating wonts and seek to cut the fats out of their diets. The fleshiness rate in the US grows every twenty-four hours. Second. many new eating houses opening up with low cost. besides offering value menu’s can endanger gross. Third. taint of nutrient such as E Coli would close down concern and as word of oral cavity traveled. people would hold a fright of acquiring ill. They would hold to do certain safety safeguards were followed to forestall this from go oning. Assurance of Learning Exercise 1B 1. Buying competitors’ refuse – E. L2. Dissecting competitors’ merchandises – U. L3. Taking competitors’ works tours anonymously – L. U4. Counting tractor-trailer trucks go forthing competitors’ lading bays – E. L 5. Analyzing aerial exposure of competitors’ installations – E. L 6. Analyzing competitors’ labour contracts – E. L7. Analyzing competitors’ help-wanted ads – E. L8. Quizing clients and purchasers about the gross revenues of competitors’ merchandises – E. L 9. Infiltrating customers’ and competitors’ concern operations – U. I 10. Quizing providers about competitors’ degree of fabricating – E. L 11. Using clients to purchase out bogus commands – U. I 12. Promoting cardinal clients to uncover competitory information – U. L 13. Quizing competitors’ former employees – U. L14. Interviewing advisers who may hold worked with rivals – U. L 15. Hiring cardinal directors off from rivals – U. L16. Conducting bogus occupation interviews to acquire competitors’ employees to uncover information – U. I 17. Sending applied scientists to merchandise meetings to test competitors’ proficient employees – U. L 18. Quizing possible employees who worked for or with rivals – U. L Assurance of Learning Exercise 1B. ( Steps 1-2 )External Opportunities External Threats 1. Internet Coursea 1. Competing Universities2. Technology in the DLP 2. Other on line classs3. Expand Students spiritualty 3. Federal Support4. School Of Law opening 4. Competition for pupils5. More big pupils come ining college 5. Not plenty degree seeking pupils Internal StrengthsInternal Failings1. Faculty 1. Expanding cultural diverseness of pupils 2. Curriculum 2. Necessitate to to the full integrate engineering 3. Convenient Class agendas 3. Affordability4. Campus Infrastructure 4. Student Recruitment5. Technology 5. Competitive Faculty Wages Assurance of Learning Exercise 1D. ( Step 1-2 ) The website ceoexperess. com has many tools and links to supply up to day of the month and past information on concerns. I feel that the subdivision of this web site that would assist me the most for this category would be the company research subdivision. This subdivision has industry specific hunts. Strategic Management besides deals with study. so the one-year studies subdivision would come in ready to hand. There are many more subdivisions to the company research subdivision that gives a battalion of information. All of this information would be good to my category. I could travel tone site and execute my hunts on a dependable web site. The Standard A ; Poor’s evaluation services is besides in this subdivision. This subdivision would let one to entree corporate services such as recognition evaluations. counter party recognition evaluation and bank loan and recovery evaluation. Research needs to be dependable and this web site is really dependable on company information. There is besides a tip subdivision that has tips on mentioning beginnings. In this subdivision it gives you entree to APA and MLA manners and plagiarism. Becoming aware of the regulations of authorship will maintain your documents your and give recognition to those who deserve the recognition. The different subdivisions have so much information available. The trade subdivision is besides on this site. This would let one to maintain up to day of the month on the trade market. The company research subdivision in bend would supply one with the information that one needs to compose their documents. Ceoexpress webite is non merely and deep well of information. that information is besides dependable. Strategic Management is a really ambitious category. and reading studies from this site gives you a full scope of what the company you are researching is all approximately. This information is updated as information comes in. So you ever have current informations. Mention ( 2009 ) . McDonalds Annual study. Mcdonalds. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. aboutmcdonalds. com/content/dam/AboutMcDonalds/Investors/C- % 5Cfakepath % 5Cinvestors-2009-annual-report. pdf

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Attaining Knowledge despite Bias and Selection Essays

Attaining Knowledge despite Bias and Selection Essays Attaining Knowledge despite Bias and Selection Essay Attaining Knowledge despite Bias and Selection Essay Name: Course: Lecturer: Date: Attaining Knowledge despite Bias and Selection Knowledge refers to the information that a person has, which is acquired through learning, perception or experience. People usually gain knowledge through studying. Some people may argue that this is biased learning, since they do not have a choice concerning what they are learning. They enter into an education system, which has already been designed and selected for them. They therefore, have no choice but to study what they are taught. Knowledge goes through a process of selection, whereby some of the elements, which do not succeed the various tests that are applied to them, are eliminated, and those which succeed are retained (Geisler, 169). Human beings naturally choose what they want to learn. The idea that they have a choice in the matter, gives them the will they need to study. Bias means preference or favor towards a particular thing. Selection means carefully choosing someone or something that seems most suitable. Bias and selection have influenced the information that peop le acquire. I will argue that it is possible to acquire knowledge despite bias and selection by examining history and art. My knowledge claim in history is that it is possible to attain knowledge despite bias and selection. Personally, I think that history is the main political events and structural changes that are especially linked to human affairs. History continues to permeate the society because human beings have the ability to record past events. Bias and selection play a crucial role in this case, since in most cases, people have to depend on memory to record the events. History is biased since not all the events that occurred at a particular time are recorded. Whoever records the events will choose, which accounts he or she considers important to record, and will omit other accounts that seem insignificant. Some of the examples of history include the French Revolution, the shooting of John F. Kennedy, World War I and II, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the recent account of 9/11. All the events have several things in common. They all happened in the past, they have had a significant impact on ma ny people, and in our country, they have all been documented, they all have different interpretations, they all affected significant people, and they are all traced to a single event. In addition, these events had a significant impact, and they carried heavy consequences, thus they were documented. Art is one of the most difficult terms to define because it has a broad meaning. It has various forms such as visual forms, music and literature. It means different things to different communities. Even people within the same community may differ concerning the true definition of art. The study of art that was created many years ago has revealed certain aspects of the society during the time. It has enabled people to know the culture, traditions, beliefs and practices of the people that lived in a particular time. This is represented in various art forms. A person can attain a lot of knowledge by observing different pieces of art from different periods in history. For instance, there is a clear difference between medieval, renaissance and classical art. By observing the art made by the medieval artists, one learns that religion was more prevalent in the society. The artists were more reserved in the sense that the figures in the paintings were fully clothed. Artists in the renaissanc e period were different, in that they had more freedom. The figures in the paintings were either nude or clothed. They explored the secular as well as the religious worlds. The artists were more interested in nature than in religion. Some of the famous artists during the time included Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo My counterclaim is that the knowledge gained from art and history is not accurate and therefore it cannot be trusted. Historians usually record the historical events using information from different sources. This information can sometimes be misleading in the sense that different authors can have conflicting information. They also choose to record the information that seems most relevant to them. For instance, most history books record the victory of kings and presidents in war. They do not mention all the people who were involved in the war. One cannot trust the information from different art sources. This is especially the case in visual forms of art and literature, where the artists usually use their imagination liberally to create different forms of art. In some cases, it is not possible to separate the reality from the fiction. The interpretation of history and art depends on a person’s interpretation. This can be affected by the person’s perception, emotions, reas oning or language. History that is learnt through books will depend on the perception of the writer. It is possible for two people to be present when one event is happening, but they will record different accounts of the events later. They have different perceptions concerning the event, and they will therefore record what they consider relevant and important. In the same way, a piece of art will depend on the artist’s perception when creating the art. Artists do not just paint or do other forms of artwork just because someone has asked them to do so. They will instead choose to specialize on the type of art that they are most comfortable with, and they will perfect it. Some people write fictional works of art such as novels. These novels depend entirely on the perception of the writer. The main argument concerning historical events is that they tend to have many different interpretations. People tend to trust the documented accounts since they were not present when these particular events were happening. Emotion can be a problem when interpreting history. People are controlled by their emotions despite the evidence presented. This is especially the case when the subject is controversial or sensitive. Emotions are important in the interpretation of art and history. People have different emotions when they see acquire knowledge concerning an area that affects them personally. For instance, Jews are more emotional than others are when they remember the holocaust. African Americans react strongly when they read about slavery. Time also determines how people react. For instance, many historical events, especially those that happened many years ago do not affect me the same way as recent historical events. This is mainly because I have had the chance to experience the recent historical events. For instance, the 9/11 event affected me deeply when it happened more than the Pearl Harbor. Though both events were tragic and significant, I related more to the 9/11 event more than the Pearl Harbo r. Time is therefore, an important determinant when interpreting history, as it makes the events more realistic and significant to me. Some people interpret history and art based on reason. They want to understand the reason why things happened the way they did. They want to understand why an artist chose to do his or her work in a certain manner. They will therefore develop theories and arguments that will help them understand more. This has led many to interpret various art forms based on the intention of the artists. This can sometimes be misleading since in some cases-such as when the artists are dead-it is not possible to know what the artists’ intentions were. Language affects our thinking process, in the sense that our thoughts are limited by our language. A person cannot think in a language that he or she does not understand. Language is an important part of history, as it is used to document historical records. People think in their native language, and this may present a problem in interpretation. In some cases, historical books are written in English, and the full meaning of the work is lost if translated to another language. This is because some English words do not have an equal meaning in other languages. Some languages do not have the right terms or phrases to use to describe a particular art form. Despite the shortcomings of language, it is essential to understand that something does not stop existing just because it does not have a name in a specific language. Meaning is a fundamental concept of knowledge. I do not think that a person can get any knowledge if he or she does not understand the meaning of something. The meaning of a piece of art is more subjective, since it depends on the viewers’ perception. Meaning in art, is the main determinant of the reaction and the response to art. A person will respond based on what a particular piece of art means to them. We are able to know of the historical events that happened because they have been documented in historical texts by many different authors. Although the records are biased, they enable us to attain knowledge. This is enabled by the fact that people are able to read different accounts that happened from different authors. They are thus able to note some of the similarities in the texts. Artists create their works through imagination and reality (Worth). Their environment and their imagination are their main inspiration. This means that viewers of different forms of art have to be careful when observing different pieces of art. They have to separate imagination from reality. Over the years, many people have acquired knowledge from looking at different pieces of art. The different art forms have enabled them to know different things concerning the era the piece of art was created. It is therefore possible to attain knowledge using history and art despite bias and selection.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Humanistic Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Humanistic Psychology - Essay Example She is profile who can be counted upon and can rise to the occasion to help the team in crisis. The humanistic approach with its spotlight on the human ability for integrity, resourcefulness and autonomy and its scrutiny of individuals as a sacred, cogent, decisive and sovereign beings did not come up within the sixties, there had been early on precursors of this discipline of thought. Alfred Adler (1870-1937) was one of the former psychologists to diverge with the Freudian analysis. With time, Maslow initiated to mull over citizens with high control to be most entirely human plus ensued to investigate the finest of human nature, the most intellectual, as well as the most realizing personalities (Monte, 1999, p. 737). Maslow initiated to associate the high control sentiment by way of a self actualizing propensity. The Maslow's Hierarchy of needs is how we a an individual can come to a decision on the motivational strategies that can be useful towards always Andrea in order to be able to make her more productive .Maslow also illustrated eight behaviors that can show the way to self actualization (Maslow in Frager & Fadiman, 1998, p. 450). 5. Verdict, if the above stages would be kept in mind, and then motivational theories be designed they will for sure give in the ability of life alternatives; she will also build up a more precise perception. 7. 6. Self improvement in the sagacity of learning to utilize our aptitudes to the fullest. This is a continuing procedure. 7. Crest understanding are split seconds of self actualization also could be depicted as the moments of ecstasy, dread, conjecture or else delight. Doing what guides the way to these understandings that can help individuals self actualize. 8. The need of Ego ramparts, otherwise being attentive of the mode in which the individuals disfigure their imagery of authenticity whenever we strive to secure our self-image moreover being able to plummet that behavior when apposite. An investigation tool described individual Orientation account has been industrialized (Shostrom 1963) as a consistent determine of self actualization that has show the way to additional experimental investigation into the region. Conclusion: As it prevails the more humanistic psychology has provided us individuals with a more fresh and innovative technique to a new way to look at human nature that is positive and holistic and has impacted on the fields Applying a more humanistic approach to wards Andrea would definitely motivate her in the long run. She is somebody, who is successful in her career and a hard worker too. She believes in maintaining a certain level of lifestyle and status in society. But along with all of this. Because she has kept herself so busy in attaining and hence forth maintaining it

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

The Attempt to Improve Unilevers Business Essay

The Attempt to Improve Unilevers Business - Essay Example For a business to be green it should satisfy the following threshold: The aim of this report is to analyze critically the attempts to improve the sustainability of Unilever’s business, the hindrances to achieving a sustainable business. The report will then recommend changes that Unilever can take up and be able to achieve business sustainability. Unilever is an Anglo-Dutch multinational company which specializes in consumer goods. Its headquarters are situated in two cities which are London, England, and Rotterdam, Netherlands. Its products mainly comprise of personal care products, beverages, food, and cleaning products. Unilever is the third largest consumer goods company this is measured by the revenue received in 2012 after Proctor and Gamble and Nestle. Unilever has over 400 brands, with sales surpassing the 1 billion Euros mark (History of Unilever 2014). Over the recent past, Unilever has won a host of environmental sustainability or â€Å"green† awards which include; in 2013 Unilever earned position five in Carbon clear’s annual ranking of carbon measurement and reporting practices of FTSE companies gaining a score of 77%. In November 2013 Unilever won the Best Sustainability and Stakeholder Disclosure FTSE 100 Award received from the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA). In 2013 CDP’s Forests programme recognized Unilever’s work with suppliers to increase capacity in providing sustainable commodities. For the third year in a row, Unilever retained its top ranking in 2013’s survey of sustainability leaders by GlobeScan/Sustainability. Unilever received position two overall in the first Access to Nutrition Index (ATNI) Global index, receiving top rankings for undernutrition and also the products, lifestyles and engagement categories.

Monday, November 18, 2019

ENGLISH LEGAL SYSTEM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 3

ENGLISH LEGAL SYSTEM - Essay Example Solicitors were more concerned with office work such as the preparation of contracts for clients. Since 1991, solicitors with a little extra qualification have been allowed to act as advocates before the highest courts. On the other hand, barristers can now deal directly with professional clients without the intervention of a Solicitor. Many commentators believe that the two legal professions, once almost entirely separate, are slowly entering a state of gradual fusion as both are training and qualifying themselves to serve in the capacity of the other. Solicitors require a practicing certificate if they are to be involved in legal work. An exception is made for those in local government, commerce and industry. In 1996 there were 8702 firms of solicitors in England and Wales which earned at least  £15,000 per annum, with 4,377 of those firms classified as sole practitioners.1 There are also Legal Executives who qualify separately from both Barristers and Solicitors. Legal Executives carry out lower-level procedural or transactional work and must work under the supervision of a Solicitor. These functionaries are classified as paralegals in other countries. The practice of having Licensed Conveyancers started in 1986. They work separately from solicitors and are focused on domestic property transactions. The profession has its own system of qualification. The legal profession is largely self-regulated. The chief methods of regulation are; restrictions on entry, restrictions on advertising and other means of promoting a competitive process within the profession and restrictions on fee competition. The associations that regulate the practice of legal professionals are largely independent of government control. The main tool for regulation of the legal profession comprises the limitations imposed on who may enter into the legal profession. To become a solicitor one must take one of two degree routes or,

Friday, November 15, 2019

The Importance Of Going Green

The Importance Of Going Green A definition of green management according to is the process within an organisation of applying innovation in order to achieve sustainability, waste reduction, social responsibility and a competitive advantage by the aids of continuous learning and development. Organisations shall be doing such developments, by implementing environmental goals and strategies which match the goals and strategies of the organization. This will therefore help the organization to stay focused to its mission and vision. Nowadays, it is found that companies advertise their products by promoting their environmentally friendly behaviour. It does not matter whether it is on TV or on banner; the message of go green is almost always used. But why green? Green is not simply a color. Going green is a way of making changes in the lifestyle of some organizations as well as the society also. This implies bringing in some changes which are friendlier towards the environment. It is to note that the mere truth while doing every simple thing impacting on the planet good or bad, an individual has all the right to make choices, thus the later can control the impact generated. (Team Treehugger, HTGG, 2007) 2.1.1 Importance of going green Moreover, another main thing is the importance of going green. Not many organisations have realized the importance that going green can have on their business. Firstly, adopting green management system means that it will be here forever. Other forms of energy are all finite, but green system will never be depleted. The renewable source of energy will always be here to keep the human needs ongoing. Secondly, by using green materials and workmanship it helps to keep the environment safe as compared to the energy imports which is quite costly. It has been therefore proved that in the United States, green technologies have been able to provide a boost to the economy`s trade deficit. Thirdly, going green will surely benefits the company in terms of its savings. Paying bills online means less money when companies go paperless, it is also a form of savings in terms of postages and paper costs. Hence both the individual and the businesses benefit from the green initiative. Similarly, if you use compact fluorescent light (CFLs) bulbs, you are like to save money on each bulb you purchase. According to Energy Star, replacing a fluorescent bulb you with an incandescent bulb consumes 75 percent less energy. Thus, if you replace a 100-watt incandescent bulb with a 25-watt CFL, you will save over $100 per year, based on U.S. Department of Energy figures. (Chris Dinesen Rogers, 2010) According to (Chris Dinesen Rogers 2010) going green can be beneficial to economic growth. Following the National Recycling Coalition, the recycling industry employing over 1 million people and generating approximately $200 billion in annual revenues is extremely good for the economy. It is also stated that that When you recycle, you are contributing to the sustained growth of the economy. In addition to the above, while using recyclable or organic products implies that toxic materials are removed from the production process hence it can be considered as an environmentally-friendly activity. This explains why organisations must reduce their disposal rates, because the more they dispose of, the more valuable and costly materials are being wasted, as well as producing more greenhouse gases as these landfills decompose. (Green Energy Choice 2013) Going green also means a more sustainable world. According to an article published on (All-recycling-facts.com 2009-2012) the rate at which we are utilizing the world`s resources and deteriorating the globe with several kind of pollution could be very disastrous. A result of these dreadful action is leading to the destruction of the earth`s ecosystem which implies that, we will soon be left with no clean air, water, land and food. It is also stated that the day we reach such a stage, there would be nothing which will be able to save us or even nothing to talk about. Our very lives would be threatened since there will be an atmosphere of impure air, undrinkable water, unhygienic food and probably nothing to save us from the ruthless climate change. Hence, it is primordial that each and every one of us contributes equally as a human community towards a greener environment and promotes green behaviour as something which others must follow. Following the competitive market in companies operates; organisations found it necessary to go divert their production towards greener products since consumers are becoming far more aware of green products are ready to move to competitors. The fact that a company uses a product which has already been used simply reduces the cost of production while at the same time reducing the needs for power as the company is consuming less energy. (Madhurjya Bhattacharyya 2011) also pointed out the fact that the Bank of America now uses much less paper as a result of which has lead to an increase in its customers. The bank also recycles paper internally and gives cash back offer facilities to employees up to a certain limit if ever they decide to buy hybrid vehicles in other words ecological vehicles. Few are those who moved from being traditional, but successful are those who took the risk and implemented the new green management system. Furthermore, with the evolution of the technologies, companies have begun to adopt the EMS approach. This can be referred to as Environmental Management System. This approach helps in gathering information, formulating goals, making the right choices while at the same time improving performance. In other words, EMS is a broader version of quality programs to managing the environment. Hence over the past decades, increasing number of companies has initiated new strategies to integrate the environment into their business strategy so as to improve both their environmental and business performance (Porter 1991; Smart 1992; Porter and van der Linde 1995a, 1955b; Hart and Ahuja 1994). To set the ball rolling on, while some managers are investing in the environment and this is most welcomed by the society, others will have to derive ideas about how to identify circumstances which will be favoring both the public benefits and corporate benefits. Some may want just the ISO 14001 label on their product while simultaneously for some other firms better utilizing their resources may be beneficial to the environment as a whole. All this gave rise to competitive advantage between firms. In the 1990s there was a big debate in the field of Business and Environment about whether it pays to be green. According to the following strategies put forward; free lunch, double dividend and win-win hypothesis, chances for businesses to be profitable in the environmental investments is uprising. However on the other hand, Reinhardt (1998) argued that, the question is not whether companies will be able to do it, but it was about the time factor, that is, when the companies will be able t o implement such strategies and when they will begin to benefit from such investments. 2.1.2 Porter`s Strategies Similarly, Michael Porter identified two different types of competitive advantage generated by firms in 1980; Low cost and differentiation. According to Porter, selling products or services with the lowest costs in the industry would be beneficial to the company in terms of competitive advantage. Hence the firm will be selling its product either at the price prevailing in the industry in order to earn higher profits than that of rival or adopting a price which is below the average price in the industry so as to gain in terms of market share. Such a situation is called a price war among firms in the same industry. During such a situation, a firm can maintain its profitability level to the detriment of its competitive edge on the market. However, it is to note that even if there is no such price war, as the industry grows older, price will decline as a result of which; the firm producing at the lowest cost will remain profitable for a longer time period. The differentiation strategy is when the organisation develops a particular product which offers unique attributes that are valued by consumers and the same product is seen differently from the products of the competitors. According to Porter (1985: 13), a cost leader cannot ignore differentiation. This means that differentiation is as important as lowering the cost of production. Similarly, Levitt (1980) pointed out that everything can be differentiated even a commodity. He says this can be applied for industries dealing in primary metals, grains, chemicals, plastics, and money also. However, Peters and Austin (1985: 61) did not totally agree on this theory. They argued that if we put the label of commodity on a product it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Buzzell and Gale (1987: 113) supported this idea with their argument: if you think of your product/service offering as a commodity, thats what it will bea commodity. 2.1.3 Spending Green With regard to green marketing in practice, the health report are somewhat uncertain. A surge in products and services claiming more or less legitimate claims to environmental friendliness was noted in the 1990s, when a significant proportion of consumer advertising campaigns in many countries contained messages related to the environment (Banerjee et al., 1995; Carlson et al., 1993) Today, however, observation suggests a decline in green claims for mainstream products. In some developed countries, this has at least resulted in a correspondingly less widespread occurrence of vague claims related to doubtful green product attributes, meaning that consumers are now more aware about green products. Consecutively, it is found that when it comes to green consumption, women are doing their part of responsibility when making purchases (i.e.) they are making much more green purchases than men do. While doing so, they also promote their products and services to be environmentally-friendly. Following a study on the purchasing habits of consumers, it was found that women are more environmentally-conscious when it comes to decision making in business that their male counterparts. Women clearly disagreed on the fact that some business owners still believe that promoting their products and services as being environmentally-friendly has little impact on consumers buying habits. It even goes further when Dr. Myra Hart, reported that environmental friendliness was ranked in the top three factors by women business owners, influencing consumer purchasing decision of consumers. It was ranked just below quality (98%) and price (85%) and finally cited environmental friendliness as a moderate infl uencer (76%). As a result of this study, it showed that consumers do take into consideration the environmental factor when making purchases either for them or their business (Lahle Wolfe 2013) Likewise, it is quite obvious that cannot consume the same thing for a long period of time. Consumers always tend to move to other new products and sometimes their behaviour are affected by means of advertising or even their past experience they had with a particular product. By consuming more of less environmentally harmful products and services, consumers can bring in positive changes and therefore lessen the impacts on Earth. Consumers don`t realise, but they have enormous power to improve the world. While on one hand, consumers are advised to consume less in order to protect the environment, on the other hand the money saved can be utilized in order to advance the green economy. Green shopping can be termed as a situation where consumers normally spend money on products that are less harmful towards the environment which is likely to build a more sustainable world. Small changes in consumer behaviour like adopting products that comes with less packaging and those which are made w ith plastics can improve the green economy. Hence, the spending pattern of consumers will determine the type of world they will create in the future. (Richard Matthews 2012) In addition to the above, according to (Debra Atlas 2013) 71% of consumer consider the welfare of the environment when they shop. He also claimed that green thinking has been increased among consumers minds. Environmental concerns are now becoming important to firms also since they have the opportunity to develop their green products demanded by consumers and therefore position their company on the market as a being a green company. This will also help the firm in terms of competitive advantage and increased performance. (Singh 2010) Following globalization, consumers now have access to information which raise their awareness about the manufacturing processes of the products and this made them seek green products. (Hailes 2007) For example; consumers may be interested in the green attributes (whether the product is recyclable, biodegradable, etc) of a product as well as the manufacturing process (whether environmental norms have been respected during the process). (Singh 2008) Practically, with the new trend of green management, consumers are willing even more to spend greener. This means that consumers tend to behave more positive towards the sustainability of the environment than the green movement. In other words, the green products will gradually replace the traditional power products because of their environmental benefits. This is likely to be a successful venture because according to (Wiser 1998) consumers are willing to pay for green products. As a result of this, it will generate a new market for renewable energy products. Hence, this may help to put forward green marketing as a successful tool in the energy market. However, sometimes it not about meeting the consumers expectation; businesses have to surpass the expectations to meet quality products demanded by consumers (Gupta Lehman, 2002; Blackwell et al., 2001; Naumann et al., 2001; Foreman, 2000). Another option which may help the company to build a relationship with its customers` is to create a strong brand image so that it the purchaser decision will rely more on perceptions than on reality. (Vrontiss Thrassou, 2007) This also helped organizations to realise the fact that they have to shape the perceptions of consumer in regard to their products by making use of every marketing communication tools at their disposal. This has therefore led to a situation where consumers were overflowed with adverts and became unresponsive over a period of time. As a result of this, the job of producers to influence the mind of the consumers became much harder and needed extra effort. (Blackwell et al., 2006) Hence it can be said that consumer decision m aking is therefore based on information processing (Johnson Puto, 1987) Also, when it comes to accountability, Robins (2008) points out that a company must be ready to accept its responsibility for its operations and their impact on society and natural environment. Companies should work for welfare of the society as a whole and therefore towards a greener world. Similarly, (Sirsly, 2008) recommended that Corporate Social Responsibility is not always generating the monetary and economic value for the firms, but it help firms to differentiate among themselves. When a third party endorsed its corporate efforts, the reputation of a firm is reinforced in the eyes of both market and non-market stakeholders Sirsly and Lametrz(2008). Eventually, Karna et al. (2003) argued that environmental issues were all in the hands of the government. Hence marketing strategies along with government aids can help to build strong green marketing campaign and therefore helps to protect the environment in better and efficient way. If a firm is introducing a highly differentiated product, it is maximizing the stockholders returns and effectively using environmental strategy. A firm engaged in the cause related marketing because of its long term benefits i.e. to attract and retain consumer for longer period of time. In such type of marketing activity, consumers are emotionally motivate to take part and because they wanted to feel different from other members of society or in their groups Ottman (1993, p.91). 2.1.4 The Cost Factor While going green, several factors influencing the financial aspect of the project should be taken into consideration; one of the most important one is the energy cost. It is found that over time, energy costs usually change and thus it becomes difficult to reap profit from the investment. It is assumed that if the energy costs are low, then the cost benefit of implementing the green system will be low too, but on the contrary assuming fluctuations in the economy, the energy costs might increase which will result in striking payback in the future. For example; the cost of buying a hybrid car may be as the same as a normal car for a long term basis assuming a constant price of gas, but suppose the price of gas experience an increase in the future, then the hybrid car will help one to save much more money than expected. (Gregory Hamel, 1999; 2013) Besides, (Rebecca Lake, 2010) pointed out the fact that several practices and behaviours of going green slogan are all motives of saving money, but still there are still ways while adopting green living can be from moderate to very expensive. It is found that, the technology associated with green living is not beneficial to the environment but often at a much higher cost than their traditional counterparts. For instance: let`s consider the installation of solar panel. It can be very useful in saving money on a long term basis, but at the same time it may cost thousands of dollars to install the equipment. Energy saving appliances is normally to be used so as to save water and energy, but they usually come in a high priced package which sometimes is very costly to organisations. Similarly, eating organic food is another to go green, but in order to get these; one has to pay a significant price unless you decide to grow your own food. Basically, (Chris Joseph, 2013) put forward the fact that when companies implement environmental norms within the organisation, it always ends in costlier products. This implies the switch from the traditional way of production to producing green products which can lead to expensive products to the consumers. It can affect the organisation`s source of revenue if it is operating in developing country, since consumers in developing country have less buying power compared to those in developed country. Similarly, according to Jon Kaplan who owns a Greenworks Cabinetry in Florida manufactures eco-friendly furniture products. Since he has to get most of his materials from the West-Coast and Asian countries too, his products cost much more on the market. This means that he has to sell his products at higher prices which may lead to a situation where consumers will obviously shift to competitors. As a whole, while companies decide to go green, many consumers would like to see the organisation actively doing things so as to prevent the depletion of natural resources. Going green does not happens in a matter of minutes, it is a whole process and it involves huge costs which is not always effective for the company. (Admin, 2013), stated that deciding on whether being environmentally responsible or the level of spending is more will be crucial. If ever the spending out way the desire to be eco-friendly, then it will not be a successful project. Problems may pop up on the side of suppliers also. The company will now need to find new suppliers who will be providing materials on time; else significant losses will be incurred by the company. Producing the same quality of finish product will be primordial for the organisation in order to maintain its image on the market failure to do so will be disastrous. Similarly, implementing the green system within the company will mean; trainin g the employees. Employees will have to be trained to deal with the new approach and different method of work. Training may be costly and at the same time lowering productivity while employees are at their training session. 2.2 Supply Chain Management Supply chain management was views years ago, as the process of converting raw materials to finished products and finally delivered to the end-user (Bearmon, 1999). This process can therefore be defined as the extraction and exploitation of the natural resources gifted by the nature (Srivastava, 2007). It is hence very important to note that environmental sustainability has been something primordial since the last decades in business practice. Since the early 1990`s companies were faced with the dilemma of implementing Environmental Management in their supply chains (Wu Dann, 1995) which is however not an easy task. Therefore the green concept to the supply chain of business increases the level of competitiveness among firms which will have a direct relation to the environment. This therefore gave rise to the Green Supply Chain Management. (GrSCM) 2.2.1 Green Supply Chain Management Green Supply Chain Management is the revolutionized version of the traditional supply chain. This involves a direction relationship with the environment. The quality revolution in the late 1980s and the supply chain revolution in the early 1990s has awaken several business conscience to become environmental friendly (Srivastava, 2007, p. 53). Green Supply Chain Management became not just a simple fad, as it aimed at both practionners and academics in waste-reduction programs as well as preserving the quality of the products` life and the natural resource. In order to achieve excellence in business, Eco-Efficiency and renewably processes became something most businesses shall be adopting (Ashley, 1993; Srivastava, 2007). Businesses are bearing the pressure of both governmental and global market demands to become more sustainable (Guide Srivastava, 1998; Gungor Gupta, 1999). Waste management is another topic that pop up from the GrSCM literature. This proved its importance with the work of Roy and Whelan (1992). It therefore gave rise to a standardized model for reducing electronic waste without harming the environment. As a result of this, different waste management issues came into context which emphasized mainly on recycling and remanufacturing. Owen (1930), Hannah and Newman (1995); Sarkis and Cordeiro (2001) and Nagorney and Toyasaki (2005) are all examples of trends of waste management becoming an issue. 2.2.2 Green Design Green design is an important sub-part in the Green Supply Chain Management. It states that each product or service should be design in such a way that it encourages environmental awareness. Beamon (1999) developed ISO14000 which was introduced as a result of the Rio Summit on the Environment in 1992. Tremendous pressure groups were for the fact that firms should encourage greening in their respective supply chain. In 1991, the first green design literature came to existence. NavinChandras (1991) pointed out the first literature in order to reduce the number of wastage that is more businesses going green. Works of Ashley (1993); Allenby and Richards (1994) and Zhang, Kuo, Lu and Huang (1997) came into context and expanded the framework of green design. Life-cycle analysis was an example of a framework that came out of green design. Works of Arena, Mastellone and Perugini (2003), Beamon (1999) and De Ron Penev (1995) all discussed life-cycle analysis as a framework. 2.2.3 Reverse Logistics Reverse Logistics (RL) is the complete reversal of the traditional or forward logistics (Beamon, 1999). Reverse logistics was defined as a process where manufacturers accept products which were shipped from the previous point for consumption which will be possibly use for recycling and re-manufacturing Dowlatshahi (2000) and Carter and Ellram (1998). Fiksel (1996) argues that becoming eco-friendly towards products re-manufacturing had a chance to emerge in some firms. Heavy industries having complex supply chains should see that they benefit from the reverse logistics (RL). Thierry, Wassenhove, Van Nunen and Salomon (1995) supported the fact that automobile industries were making full use of reverse logistics; examples would be: BMW and General Motors. The trend does not end only with those companies, Hewlett Packard, Storage Tek and TRW were also using reverse logistics as a supply chain process. All this were done in the simple main aim to remain competitive in their respective ind ustries (Srivastava, 2007). (Srivastava, 2007) stated that collection is the first stage in every recovery process. Products are then selected, assembled and transported to facilities for re-manufacturing. Used products came from various sources, but then had to be transferred to one particular place so that the converging process can begin (Thierry et al., 1995). It was also claimed that sorting and recycling are very essential mechanism in the process of sorting reusable products. The collection schemes were done on the basis of whether the materials were separated by the consumer (separation at source) or centralized (mixed waste) Cairncross (1992) and Srivastava (2007). Hence the main aim was to sort products so that it can be reused to reduce costs of making new products which is diagrammatically represented on the next page: Source: Jamal Fortes. (2009). Green Supply Chain Management: A Literature Review, Otago Management Graduate Review 2.3 Empirical Literature Review According to the empirical studies carried on in order to test the relationship between the firm`s performance and environmental concerns it was found that the results varied. Some results delivered positive results (Judge and Douglas, 1998; King and Lenox, 2002; Melnyk et al., 2003) while on the contrary some did not identified positive outcomes of environmental proactivity on businesses` performance (Cordeiro and Sarkis, 1997; Gilley et al., 2000; Link and Naveh, 2006). In addition to the above, it was found that firms are facing various pressures from both within the company and governmental parties to become more responsible and at the same time greener. Those pressures have as main aim to reduce the level of impact of firms on the natural environment and the society as a whole. As a matter of fact, social responsibility and being conscious about the environment are being integral among nowadays firms. Hence, the most important issue is about these aspects and the financial performance of the business. That is, in other words, are firms being able to protect the environment as well as being profitable? Bowen (1953) supported the fact that corporate social responsibility is not the remedy and thus it will not cure the society of all its ills immediately, but he thinks that it a new venture that should be supported and implemented by each organization who wants to survive in the industry. He also argued that the social responsibilities of businessme n also known as the obligations of firms must follow the policies which will be beneficial to the society as a whole. Josà © F. Molina-Azorà ­n, Enrique Claver-Cortà ©s, Maria D. Là ³pez-Gamero, Juan J. Tarà ­, (2009),Green management and financial performance: a literature review, Management Decision, Vol. 47 Iss: 7 pp. 1080 1100 Moreover, it is found that, the pressure exerted by environmental management on firm performance, this influence can really help firms to cut down on their costs while at the same time respecting the environment. Reducing or if possible prevent pollution will allow the firm to save on control costs, input, and energy consumption, and to recycle used materials (Hart, 1997; Taylor, 1992). Thus, producing and delivering goods while simultaneously reducing the ecological impact and use of resources will surely help the firm to attain eco-efficiency (Schmidheiny, 1992; Starik and Marcus, 2000). However, on the contrary, those firms which continue to pollute the environment are therefore regarded as a sign of inefficiency (Porter and Van der Linde, 1995). Companies must learn to view environmental improvement in terms of resource productivity. Managers should not only focus on the costs of eliminating or treating pollution, they should review their approach, and thus pay more attention to the cost they have forgone while polluting the environment, in other words, the opportunity of pollution. (wasted resources, wasted effort, and diminished product value to the customer). In addition to the above, it is found that by using practical environmental strategies, firms can eliminate wastages, redesign existing product systems to reduce life cycle impacts, and therefore develop new products with lower life cycle costs (Hart, 1995). If ever organizations go deeper to extend their strategies, this will surely help them to achieve organizational efficiency. In fact, by responding to market pressures firms may save costs so as to achieve greater production efficiency and gathering gains which are easily obtained associated with reducing excessive wastes, material, and energy use. (Hart and Ahuja, 1996) Therefore, it should be noted that green management can provide opportunities to lessen costs while simultaneously increase revenues. Ambec and Lanoie (2008) argued the fact that there are four possible opportunities for companies to use in order to reduce costs (risk management and relations with external stakeholders; cost of material, energy, and services; cost of capital; and cost of labor) and three opportunities to increase revenues (better access to certain markets; differentiating products; and selling pollution-control technology). Furthermore, environmental management can help to maintain and improve relationships between the different stakeholders as well as reducing the level of conflicts between them which can sometimes prove to be costly (Hull and Rothenberg, 2008). Organizations maintaining good relationships with their stakeholders are likely to achieve success much more effectively than competitors (Donaldson and Preston, 1995). Similarly, while creating, developing and maintaining ties with the stakeholders it will surely help to better financial performance of the companies (Jones, 1995; Brammer and Millington, 2008). In the case of the influence of green management impacting on corporate environmental performance, did not generate a clear result. While some studies showed positive impacts. For example, Dasgupta et al. (2000) found positive effects of green management measures on self-assessed compliance with environmental regulations. Anton et al. (2004) found that the Environment Management System helps to reduce the level of toxic emission, and Potoski Prakash (2005) found that companies which have been already certified ISO 14001 reduce their level of pollution more than non-certified ones. Hence, these studies point out to possible problems with regard to their measures of green management and therefore try to develop approaches which shall be useful to such problems. However, their instruments based on cross-sectional data are not fully convincing. In the sense that, Dahlstrà ¶m et al. (2003) did not find that the ISO 14001 certification improves the compliance with environmental regulatio ns and Lenox and Nash (2003) even showed that firms which are less environmental friendly are more attracted to public voluntary environmental programs. Besides, it should be noted that the measures for corporate environmental performance such as toxic emissions or the compliance with environmental regulations are mostly one-dimensional indicators, meaning they look at one facet of the coin. There is more technological environmental performance whi

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

The Importance of Economics in the American Revolution :: American War of Independence

The American Revolution is the most important event in the New World history. It was the process where the thirteen colonies of North America became independent of Great Britain and then formed a new unified government. The Americans fought against the British for a number of reasons, but the most important reason was economic in nature. The American Revolution was fought for different ideas that were important in those times. The economy in America was not the best, and people had to support all the orders from Great Britain because this was their home country. Therefore, the British controlled the economy of North America. Many Americans thought that the British were making injustices with the American economy and this was the main reason for the revolution. The American Revolution had their principle figures in the liberal people, who thought that Great Britain was doing injustices within the colonies. One of the liberal people main points was "never believed that everyone should be equal economically" (McKay, 692). The difference between rich and poor in respect to income and wealth was not a problem for the liberals. The main point was that everyone should receive an equal opportunity to produce wealth and income. The most important figure of these liberal people was Thomas Jefferson, who wrote that everyone should be treated equal in owning property. The economy was controlled and affected by the decisions the government of Great Britain took. The economic part that most felt these injustices was the maritime workers, who were controlled by the Royal Navy. According to Richard B. Morris in his book The Emerging Nations and the American Revolution: "off all working-class groups, the seamen felt perhaps the most oppressed and exploited. Rootless, they had the least stake in the status quo. . . they proved the hard core of the ‘muscular radicals’ so cleverly manipulated by affluent merchants and shrewd lawyers" (Morris 4-5). Along with the seamen, the mechanics also suffered these injustices. Mechanics had a common economic resentment against the new tea measures of the British government and a common desire to have a larger voice in domestic politics. Between 1740 and 1783 the economy of colonial America and the United States was usually threatened, engulfed in or recovering from war. Many businesses were controlle d by merchants and monopolistic people who exploited the colonies.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Theory of Knowledge Full Essay- Language and Vocabulary

Q: The vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge; it shapes what we can know. Evaluate this claim with reference to different areas of knowledge. According to the Sapir-Whorf Theory, language is not merely a reproducing instrument for voicing ideas but rather is the shaper of ideas. The Sapir-Whorf Thesis states that language controls what we think and determines and limits our thoughts. Many language experts identify with the Sapir-Whorf Theory and among these is Wittgenstein, who once said, â€Å"the limits of my language are the limits of my world†.Thus, many believe that the vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge and rather, it shapes what we can know. However, to what extent can this statement be said to be true? Is vocabulary really the only way to communicate our knowledge? What else can vocabulary do besides communicate knowledge? Do you need to be able to communicate your knowledge to show your knowledge? Is our knowledge only ga ined through language and vocabulary? Lastly, if vocabulary â€Å"shapes† what we can know, can we say that knowing more languages will gain us access to more knowledge?First of all, vocabulary refers to the body of words that are used in a particular language, such as the very words I am using to write this essay. Without vocabulary, there are no words and as a result, language is also non-existent. Imagine a life without words; we cannot describe or speak out the ideas in our mind, we cannot ask questions, or communicate with one another. In fact, even when we think in our mind, it involves the use of words. Does that mean that without words we would not have thoughts? Without vocabulary and language, we would not know most of the current knowledge that we do today.Think about the knowledge that we currently possess; many of us would agree that most of the knowledge that we currently have and understand is learnt through school, books and education— but how could we have possibly grasped all the physics theories, math formulas and others that we’ve learnt without the use of vocabulary or words? How would the teachers teach in a world where language is non-existent? Books would just be a fictitious myth if language does not exist. How could we expand our knowledge capabilities through reading if books do not exist?Thus, in a way vocabulary shapes what we can know because without vocabulary, we cannot communicate with one another and thus, knowledge cannot be passed down or shared. As a result, the knowledge we know will be limited to only what we experience or discover by ourselves. However, we would not have the ability to have knowledge about other people’s experiences or way of life and culture. For example, the Aloe Vera plant originated from Northern India and is now regarded highly for its healing and rejuvenating properties. Its antiquity was first discovered in 1862 in an Egyptian papyrus dated 1550 BC.Thus, the healing pow er of Aloe Vera was first discovered by ancient Egyptians, who decided to note this down on a piece of papyrus. If language had not existed and the ancient Egyptians during that time had decided not to write down the healing properties of Aloe Vera, that sliver of knowledge would not be passed down and shared among us and we would not know what we know today. We would not be able to benefit from the natural therapeutic quality of Aloe Vera. Therefore, in this example, language and vocabulary has shown to be a powerful tool for communicating knowledge.In a way, vocabulary does shape what we can know but to what extent is this true? Can vocabulary be said to be the crux of knowledge? Is vocabulary really the only method to communicate and share knowledge? Although vocabulary can be said to make up a large part of our understanding and our knowledge, it is not the only way that we can learn and gain knowledge. Another way would be through our own life experiences. For example, when we touch a hot cup of coffee and scald our skin, we learn from our own experience to be careful of touching hot surfaces as it can harm us.In this manner, we have learnt or acquired new knowledge without the use of vocabulary or communication but rather through our own experience. Our nervous system has sent a signal to our brain. Vocabulary is also not the only way for us to communicate our knowledge. Another method would be through the use of body language, facial expressions or hand signals. For example, traffic officers mainly rely on hand signals to direct the traffic at a particular junction or intersection. Through the use of body language, the traffic officer is able to communicate their knowledge to the drivers bout whether they should stop or go. In this example, knowledge is being passed on without the use of language. Similarly, by looking at a person’s facial expression or body language, we can know how they are feeling (e. g. sad, happy, angry). Furthermore, thinki ng does not have to always involve words. We can think in other ways such as through images. It is important to understand that to be able to communicate our knowledge through the use of vocabulary and language, we first have to be able to put that certain piece of knowledge into words.At age 6, my mom used to test me on my vocabulary and would ask me the definition of words. Oftentimes, I would reply her saying â€Å"I know what the word means but I just can’t explain it! † My mom would then answer, â€Å"If you can’t explain it then that means you don’t really understand it! † I would protest and tell her that I do understand but that it was just difficult to put into words. Thus, this led me to ask myself a question; do we need to be able to explain something with words to understand the concept of it? 6 year old me would beg to differ.However, I believe that even if we can’t explain things in words, it doesn’t mean that we donâ₠¬â„¢t understand it. Has your friend ever tried telling you a personal problem but he says that he can’t really put how he feels into words and you replied saying â€Å"I know exactly what you mean and how you feel†? Most of the time, this happens when we have gone through the same experience and thus, we can relate to them and recall how they feel. Art is another way to communicate knowledge without the use of vocabulary. For example, using graphics or art. As Napolean Bonaparte once said, â€Å"a picture tells a thousand words†.Similarly, an artwork can communicate knowledge to us. For example, the artist Chris Jordan, turns statistics into art. One of his pieces features a picture of 2 million plastic cups stacked up above each other, which is the number of cups we use every 5 minutes. It is much more impactful to visually see the numbers than to hear the numbers. A simple picture with no words was able to relay knowledge to us and raise our awareness. Thus, even though language does restrict the knowledge that we can know, there are still other ways to interpret knowledge.Another area of knowledge we can look at is mathematics. In mathematics, language is not used to communicate knowledge, but rather, the use of numbers. Numbers are a universal language that the world can understand. 2+2 will always equal to 4, regardless of your nationality or what language you speak. Therefore, we can say that in math, language and vocabulary is not very significant. According to the statement in the question, vocabulary is said to do more than just â€Å"communicate knowledge, it shapes what we can know†.If this is true, does that mean that knowing more languages will gain us more access to knowledge? As Federccopellini once said, â€Å"a different language is a different vision of life†. Federccopellini believed that language is a way of life and the more languages you know and understand, then, the more access to knowledge that you p ossess. To a certain extent, this statement can be said to be true. For example, there is a word in Bahasa Indonesia known as lidah buaya. The direct translation of lidah is tongue while buaya means crocodile in English. Together it means crocodile tongue.However, people who speak Bahasa Indonesia know that lidah buaya doesn’t literally mean crocodile tongue. In fact, it is actually the name given to the Aloe Vera plant in Bahasa Indonesia! Hence, to a certain extent, it can be said to be true that knowing more languages will allow us to possess more knowledge, as we would be exposed to different cultures, which would help us to understand their way of life. However, it is also important to note that the meaning of words otherwise known as semantics, have a propensity to change and evolve over time.For example, in the past, the definition of the word â€Å"gay† meant â€Å"carefree† and â€Å"cheerful†. However, in modern times, the word â€Å"gay† is used to describe someone that is homosexual. In this example, we can see how words can change its meaning over time. Thus, if the meanings of words vary over time, how true can it be said that language is a reliable method to communicate knowledge? Furthermore, oftentimes, words are made up to explain or describe a complex set of behaviours that in truth, nobody has really observed or seen.This is known as occult quantity. For example, in the sciences such as physics, the term â€Å"electronic field† is used to define a region around a charged particle or object within which a force would be exerted on other charged particles or objects. However, we can never really prove whether electronic fields exist because we cannot actually see the field with our own eyes. The existence of electronic fields is only â€Å"proven† when physicians make assumptions based on the observations and results of an experiment.However, how do we know that the experiment results aren†™t just an effect of some other unknown cause that we have yet to discover? Occult quantity leads to doubts about the knowledge surrounding a term or a word. Thus, this shows how words can be misleading or tell us false information that we will believe due to the â€Å"research† thought to have been carried out. Can these made-up terms or words be included in our vocabulary when they are not proven? How can these made-up terms or words communicate true knowledge?In conclusion, I believe that vocabulary is a crucial part of acquiring and communicating knowledge and to a certain extent it does â€Å"shape† what we can know. However, vocabulary is not the only way to acquire or communicate knowledge as shown from the examples above. (1794 words) ——————————————– [ 1 ]. http://www. ted. com/talks/chris_jordan_pictures_some_shocking_stats. html [ 2 ]. http://www. ted. c om/speakers/chris_jordan. html [ 3 ]. (http://east. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/electric%20field)