Avon Corporation Case Study

In order to begin to understand the industry in which Avon functions as well as the specifics around the introduction of the new EAS drive, I used the 5Cs analysis to outline the company’s current situation. Situation Analysis via the 5Cs: Company * Avon manufactured a number of electrical products * Sold products to both end users and OEMs * $6M in sales annually of the AVDC drives, lost sales to EAS drives Collaborators * Distributors and OEMs  ­ Avon could establish many more relationships once they can compete in more than just the AVDC drives, and can address the more price sensitive side of the market Customers * Three types of adjustable speed drives: MAS, EAS and AVDC, with different applications and price levels * Some of Avon’s customers required EAS drives for their business and Avon lacked this line Competitors * 7 companies manufactured MAS drives, with 2 accounting for 50% of sales (gross margins of 20%) * 5 companies manufactured EAS drives, with 1 major player (gross margins of 50%) * 4 companies manufactured AVDC drives Context * Avon’s new EAS design was different but not patentable and could be replicated by a competitor in approximately 2 years * For m any of the MAS and EAS companies, the drives were its major product Based on this analysis, it is clear that the competitive landscape is going to play a key part in determining initial pricing of the new drive. There are a number of existing players in the space who will want to defend their territory. In order to build a bigger market for the EAS drive, Avon will have to steal customers from both the MAS manufacturers, existing EAS drives in the marketplace as well as potentially cannibalize some of their own AVDC sales. The total market size of all drives was $269M, with the MAS segment accounting for more than 50%. However according to the research performed, if the new EAS drive was introduced at the MAS price of $3750, than the EAS market would grow to $135M. Avon estimated that they could take 50%

Widespread use of renewable energy

The first oil daze in 1973 raised worldwide concern about dwindling energy supplies. High oil monetary value was a mark of depletion worldwide energy beginnings. Since 1960s no large oil resources have been discovered in the universe. It suggested that universe oil production will make its extremum within one or two decennaries ( Lauber, 2005 ) . The rise in oil monetary values besides affected the developing states ‘ development programs, which demand big sums of energy for their early procedure of industrialisation. For developed states, the fluctuation in oil monetary values caused economic and societal jobs such as unemployment, trade shortages and higher rising prices due to their great dependence on oil import ( Seitz, 2008 ) . Since the industrialised revolution the ingestion of universe energy has been uninterrupted. With the modern-day universe population growing, energy demand is lifting at a rapid rate, particularly in many developing states with a deficiency of reso urces on their ain land. It is predicted that between 1997 and 2020 energy demand will increase 60 per centum, 120 per centum growing will happen in developing states, particularly in Asia ( Hill, 2004 ) . If this tendency continued, the environmental jobs would necessarily deteriorate even farther. As a considerable proportion of the universe energy, fossil fuels account for the premier beginnings of C dioxide emanations, which are chief subscribers to the planetary heating. Acid rain concentrated by acerb gases from fossil fuels, amendss ecosystems and corrodes human edifices. It is going a terrible job in Asia with the turning ingestion of fossil fuels as the procedure of industrialisation accelerates ( Seitz, 2008 ) . The quickly spread outing usage of gasoline-powered vehicles could do terrible urban smog and spit little particulates, which are the greatest menace to people ‘s wellness ( Jaccard, 2005 ) . Sanderson and Islam ( 2007 ) maintain that the way of economic development necessarily caused environmental jobs related to the overly usage of environmental resources and clime can besides impact some sectors of the economic system such as H2O resources, agribusiness, conv eyance and touristry, which are vulnerable to climate alteration. In general there are three major solutions for the turning energy demand and world-wide environmental jobs, each of which has its attractive forces. First fossil fuels can be used more cleanly and expeditiously, which could lend to a decrease in energy strength and cut down the emanations of nursery gases. Energy preservation can take consequence in short term and straight execute on present energy system without great passage. The economic system in the United States increased 30 per centum while the oil ingestion declined 20 per centum between 1977 and 1985 because the state used energy much more expeditiously ( Seitz, 2008 ) . Second, atomic power emits no air pollution which could greatly turn to the environmental jobs. France shifted to atomic as its major power of electricity in response to the energy crisis, and by 2005 it reached one of the universe highest rates by supplying 80 per centum of its electricity from atomic beginning ( ibid ) . Third renewable energy involves uni nterrupted energy beginnings and produces small pollution to the environment. There is immense potency in this new energy beginnings to run into much of the turning energy demand and bit by bit replace fossil fuels with equal support ( Middleton, 2003 ) . For every bit long as the planetary economic system continues to development and operate on the footing of limited energy supplies, the great demand for energy services in the hereafter would do terrible energy crisis. Increasing energy efficiency can assist to countervail the rise in energy demand, but it is improbable to turn to all the extra demands ( ibid ) . Furthermore, the environmental taint caused by fossil fuels will go on to necessitate options. Lauber ( 2005 ) maintains that while the present cost of salvaging one ton of C by increasing energy efficiency is well lower than by utilizing renewable energy to avoid emanations, renewable power will play a function in the long tally, energy efficiency can merely work out short term job. Besides the safety and atomic waste jobs, a important growing in atomic power usage would increase trust on imported U. Dependence on energy imports would still be a first job for states with a deficiency of resources. In add-on, the atomic begi nnings besides face energy crisis as it is shown that the known militias of U will merely last for 60 old ages by present counts. ( Traube, 2004, cited Lauber, 2005 ) . Therefore, renewable energy seems to be a better option based on its two outstanding advantages: infinite beginnings and small pollution. Renewable energy may be defined as energy generated from natural resources in the environment such as sunshine, air current, tides and geothermic heat, which are continuously replenished. Harmonizing to the definition renewable energy will ne'er run out. For this ground, renewable energy could be an ideal solution to the energy deficit job. Additionally, renewable energy does non bring forth pollution straight, which will relieve the serious planetary environmental impairment. Renewable energy is really already in widespread usage: approximately 20 per centum of universe ‘s electricity production comes from hydroelectric dikes ; in many developing states biomass provides the lone power for cookery and warming ; India and China both have primary air current power electricity programs, with 2,000 megawatt marks ; Some Middle Eastern states are seeking to research the H production powered by solar energy as a long-run option to dependence on exporting oil ; The large-scale federal authorities in the United States received increasing R & A ; D support for renewable energy after the 1974 oil daze ( Elliott, 1997 ) . The widespread usage of renewable energy in many states clearly shows that the publicity of renewable energy engineerings provides great advantages for both rich and hapless states. In industrialised states, solar or weave energy necessitate extremely skilled and knowledge-intensive employers, which will be an drift to a new occupation hunting inclination. Using biomass with more efficient engineerings for cookery and warming in developing states where the biomass is normally used inefficiently and prodigally can convey big benefits such as a decrease in deforestation. Examples are the widespread usage of improved wood and wood coal cooking ranges in Kenya every bit good as the production of ethyl alcohol from sugar cane in Brazil ( Aˆmann, Laumanns and Uh, 2006 ) . However, â€Å" one renewable beginning may bring forth small or no pollution, but have other inauspicious environmental and societal consequence † ( Hill, 2004, p.325 ) . Hydroelectric dikes generate low nursery gas emanations but affect both up- and down-stream ecosystems and coerce many people who live along the river into taking from their places. Solar power does non bring forth direct pollution. During the procedure of fabrication and transporting solar panels, energy storage and keeping machines, nevertheless, pollution will be generated. Renewable energy has to confront three challenges in its practical application. First, the beginnings of energy are non uninterrupted. For illustration solar power can non be accumulated at dark and lupus erythematosus is generated on cloudy or showery yearss with small sunshine ( Hill, 2004 ) . The job with air current power is that the air current may non be blowing when and where it is needed. Therefore the large-scale storage of solar and weave energy is necessary and needs both proficient and fiscal support. Second, renewable energy has comparatively low energy denseness. Take the instance of solar energy, to run into the big energy demand, big countries of land are required to be covered with solar panels. Harmonizing to the US Electric Power Research Institute, to run into 25 per centum of America ‘s electricity demand about 6000 square stat mis of solar farms, an country peers to the Connecticut State, are needed ( Hill, 2004 ) . Biomass energy will confront the same ch allenge. Large land countries used for biomass energy demand to stay forested. This could do land-use struggles because the important growing of the universe ‘s population will necessitate increasing nutrient production and more land dedicated to agribusiness. There is a tradeoff between the two methods of land usage ( Jaccard, 2005 ) . The 3rd challenge involves inconvenient location of power workss. Large-scale solar power workss need to be located in countries with plentiful and long-time sunshine. The best air current power need the energy sites with reliable and strong air currents. These locations are normally far from energy ingestion centres. Transporting the power to clients requires substructures and complicated power line organisation. Peoples normally do non desire power lines near their places or schools and a deficiency of transporting substructures are all obstructions to the existent feasibleness. There are besides political and finicky barriers to the acceptance of renewable energy system. Many authoritiess prefer conventional fossil fuels to renewable energy â€Å" due to tradition, acquaintance, and the size, economic strength, and political clout of the conventional energy industries † ( Geller, 2002, p. 43 ) . In developing states loans for building renewable energy undertakings have been rejected by the World Bank and many-sided development Bankss due to their little undertaking graduated table, strangeness with the engineerings and higher investing hazard ( Martinot, 2001, cited in Geller, 2002 ) . In decision, despite those barriers and disadvantages, the widespread usage of renewable energy meets the demands of sustainable development in a long term. Whether in footings of increasing energy efficiency, switching to atomic power or developing renewable energy beginnings, the future effects can non be evitable. Even though renewable power engineerings were in most instances non to the full competitory commercially and the switch to renewable energy system will take a long period, their costs had the possible to fall quickly, and by 2020 should be able to surpass fossil fuels ( Lauber, 2005 ) . Nuclear power was evaluated as being more expensive than renewable energy and as keeping small opportunity of cost decreases in the hereafter. At the present phase different beginnings should be used together and the development of renewable energy should be given more accent.MentionsAˆmann, Dirk, Laumanns, Ulrich and Uh, Dieter ( 2006 ) Renewable Energy: a planetary reappraisal of en gineerings, policies and markets London: Sterling, VA: Earthscan.Elliott, D. ( 1997 ) Energy, Society and Environment: Technology for a Sustainable Future. New York: Routledge.Geller, Howard ( 2002 ) Energy Revolution: Policies for a Sustainable Future. Washington, DC, USA: Island Press.Hill, Marquita K. ( 2004 ) Understanding Environmental Pollution ( 2nd ed. ) . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Jaccard, Mark Kenneth ( 2005 ) . Sustainable fossil fuels: the unusual suspect in the pursuit for clean and digesting energy Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Jamie Sanderson and Sardar M.N. Islam ( 2007 ) Climate alteration and economic development: SEA regional modeling and analysis. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Lauber, V. ( Ed. ) ( 2005 ) Switch overing to Renewable Power: A model for the twenty-first Century. London, GBR: Earthscan Publications.Middleton, Nick ( 2003 ) The planetary casino: an debut to environmental issues ( 3rd ed. ) London: Arnold.Seitz, J L ( 2008 ) Global Issues ( 3rd ed. ) . Blackwell: Malden MA ( USA ) .

How you have applied your prior learning at HND Business studies level Essay

How you have applied your prior learning at HND Business studies level in your work - Essay Example from society or behaviour or family. I have achieved Higher National Diploma in 1984 as the result of my study during the span of 1982-84 from Thames Valley University, which is presumed to be the number 1 modern university of London (Thames Valley University, n.d.). The study of HND has been of great help me in the long career of mine. The modules that I studied in the course, way back in 1982 to 1984 always had its real life applications. The modules that were part of the course included economic geography, organisation and human relations, accounting and information systems, international business environment and business and society. Also, the Higher National Diploma had the subjects like buyer behaviour, marketing and the market research, travel and tourism and personnel management. The knowledge that I received in the yearly days of my career helped me lot to shape the future course of action. At the very outset of my career, I had the opportunity to work with the famous ice cream brand, Walls. Though, the job that I was engaged with was really not that significant for such a brand of repute, yet my knowledge and application of Higher National Diploma helped me to soon get promoted. I joined the ice-cream house as the phone sales person. But soon with my flair for the job along with my knowledge in buyer behaviour and aspects of marketing, I over achieved the target and got promoted to the office administration. In the administration of Walls, which is now a subsidiary of the Unilever, I continued for couple of years (Unilever, n.d.). In the mean time, I had an offer from a pub for the post of assistant manager. I presumed the offer to be better than the job that I was into both in terms of monetary benefits and as well as authorities and responsibilities. So, I went for the job of the assistant manager at the pub. Being Assistant Manager at the pub, I could experience wide range of activities. It also helped at developing the managerial skills

ECON Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

ECON - Assignment Example Before purchasing goods using GBP, the consumers must exchange the dollars for pounds hence increased demand for pounds. The increase in demand for pounds will lead to an increased in the quantity of US dollars supplied to the foreign country and a decrease in the supply of pounds. The branded-drug maker offered to pay the generic entrant an amount of $10 million as a way of reducing inter-product cannibalization that would have ensued if the generic drug entered the market/industry. Paying off the generic entrant was a way of ensuring the generic drug stays far away from the branded drugs. With the generic drugs being much cheaper than the branded drugs, the branded drug maker was sure that consumers would go the generic brands and his chances of earning profit would be slim. Paying off the generic drug maker acted as a way of acquiring the substitute good and this means he would increase his profits. In this case, the firm should follow the strategy of inter temporal price discrimination where the price of the product varies with the time the product is bought. Therefore, the firm should sell the iPhone to technophiles at $400 now and sell it to normal people at $250 later. The technophiles are high value consumers in this case while the others are low value consumers. The normal people or low value customers will not purchase the iPhone unless the price is reduced and so the optimal pricing scheme is for the firm to first concentrate on the technophiles. The optimal pricing scheme will also include the production of two versions of iPhone so that the high value customers can get the expensive and high quality one while the low value customers will purchase the low quality depending on the price. There is dominant strategy portrayed by either player. Therefore, the equilibrium will be a mixed nash. If any of the players randomizes their selection of action by going 50% one way, then the other player will

Digital Marketing and Communications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Digital Marketing and Communications - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that today, the World Wide Web has thrived and expanded during the last few decades. Subsequently, the Social Media environment has grown and is gaining a rising amount of users. Hence, it becomes even more essential for a business to adopt and use Social Media to be tied closer to their customers. They require changing their thoughts from traditional working methods to the adoption and use of Social Media with the maxim â€Å"Be located where the customers are†. In the ever dynamic business world, Social media provide marketers with a voice and a way to communicate with customers and potential consumer. This can be attributed to the increasing knowledge and use of various social media. The social media are becoming one of the main sources of information for customers around the globe. Users are preferred conducting a quick online search for most the things they want, as opposed to turning the pages of newspapers and directories. Soc ial media personalize the "brand" and help marketers to spread their message in a more relaxed and conversational way. Social media are an experience that has become an essential aspect of the marketing mix and revolutionizing the way marketing companies interact with customers. The information has impacted on the business and improved their performance and the ability to achieve the objective through competitive advantage.

Slovenia and Its Economic Development After Entering EU Essay

Slovenia and Its Economic Development After Entering EU - Essay Example At the same time, the newly free countries of Central and Eastern Europe found that, if they were to establish their economic independence and provide a sound basis for their political independence, they first had to thoroughly liberalize and marketize their economies and stabilize their currencies. Slovenia joined the EU in 2004. And since that time, it has improvised its economic development and reestablished its banking system, balance exchange rates and create new employment places for native citizens. The EC has had policies on employment for decades, but the policies do not constitute a coherent, developed social program. Rather they are a collection of directives adopted in response to a specific concern and requiring minimal amounts of harmonization in national practices. Voting practices in the Council impeded the adoption of more sweeping measures. Because each member state had a veto, with a few exceptions, supporters of an EC social policy fought for the elimination of the veto (Dukes 49). They gained a partial victory with the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty. For Slovenia, the way is now open for a more fully developed EC social policy. A number of characteristics of the workforce in the EC are relevant for policy makers. One is the fact that the EC has a smaller proportion of adults of working age actually working than either of its main competitors. The statistics indicate that a relatively large number of working-age people are dependent on some form of public su pport. Some people apparently do not work by choice, but many are unable to find work. Following Egert et al (2007): some countries, namely Slovenia started transition with low credit-to-GDP ratios of around 20% in 2005" (201). Transitional banking systems initially tend to operate with very high ratios of reserves to deposits. This is partly the result of the fact that they start out as monobank systems with 100 per cent reserve backing of deposits, partly because of the extreme inefficiency of the payments system, which requires the maintenance of large commercial bank deposits at the central bank, and partly because of the great ease of obtaining central bank credit by commercial banks in the pre-stabilization period (Dukes 49). If this is the path followed then it would be prudent for the first principle of banking system evolution to be that in the short term, the stability of the monetary system must have priority over the freedom of action of the banks themselves in the management of their assets and liabilities. In other words, in the initial phases of the 'main sequence', when supervisory and banking skills are rudimentary, bank regulation needs to be rigorous and based on simple rules. This is bec ause of the vital role of macroeconomic stability in successful economic transition from state ownership and central administration of the economy to capitalism. The usual argument against tight regulation, which stresses that tight regulation leads to disintermediation is largely irrelevant in a context in which people have so little possibility of informed choice between risky and safe banks that the authorities feel themselves obliged to guarantee all deposits. The development of a dual system in which deposits at strictly regulated banks are known to be safe, while loans to unregulated

Sun Tzu Emphasizes the Importance of Intelligence, Surprise, and Essay

Sun Tzu Emphasizes the Importance of Intelligence, Surprise, and Deception - Essay Example This paper is a comparative analysis of application of intelligence, surprise and deception within the Iraq and United States military during the period between 1990 and 1998. Before investigating on the use of intelligence, surprise and deception in the two countries, it is important to interrogate the meaning of the three terms in military operations. Intelligence support plays a critical role in determining the success of military operation. According to Pace, military intelligence â€Å"provides crucial insights regarding sensitive opportunities that could be exploited by the military to overcome the targeted enemy† (12). Intelligence enables military commanders to clearly indentify the intended end state and establish when the end state of a particular operation is attained (Pace, 12). Pace argues that visualization of the battle space is one the most important role of intelligence to the military. Visualizing the battle space includes possessing the facts about the physi cal and manmade installations in the areas of military operation. In addition, visualizing requires the knowledge about the most current information about the activities of the enemy forces in that particular space and the future potential of the adversary to function in the region of military interest (14). According to Handel (60), collection of accurate military intelligence requires an in-depth understanding of the enemy, especially the objectives that motivate their actions in the battle field (Sharp, 17). Establishing the objectives of the enemy in war is one of the greatest challenges of collecting military intelligence. These challenges are caused by difficulties in determining and predicting actions and response between the enemy and the offensive force once the process of establishing the intent is initiated. In most situations, well intended actions from the joint forces trigger a reaction from the enemy and this could jeopardize the entire operation prematurely. Betts (8 3) argues that determining the extent of reaction from the enemy requires possession of accurate and timely intelligence that would enable the commanders to determine and plan future friendly actions to extract the intentions of the enemy without raising undue suspicion. Possession of appropriate intelligence enables the force commanders to consider different factors that affect the operation directly or indirectly before deciding on the action for establishing the intentions of the adversary. According to Pace, intelligence plays an important role in the three stages of military operations which include during peace, war and during other operations that do not involve war (36). During peacetime, intelligence assists commanders in purchasing relevant supplies, defend and protect their technological appliances and structuring their organizations to enhance efficiency. In addition, periods of peace provide military commanders with opportunities of designing appropriate training regime ns for the combatants and other servicemen. Moreover, intelligence agencies monitor foreign countries and organizations with objectives of establishing potential threats during peacetime (Pace, 38-40). During military operations other than war intelligence is helpful to military commanders because it enables them to make suitable decisions on which forces to deploy at a particular future period, how and where to deploy, in a

Consider East Africa and its extensive trade route. Why is it Essay

Consider East Africa and its extensive trade route. Why is it important What does it say about the impact of Africa in the world What does it say about ancient Africa Pick your one focus, go deep - Essay Example Aksum and the Swahili Coast were the first to be mentioned as the important trade regions. The coast of East Africa is a part of extensive trade networks throughout the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean. Aksum was located in Eritrea and Ethiopia. It is remembered for its splendid stone monuments, gold coins, and elaborate palaces (Ade-Ajayi 80). In the sixth century, the Aksumite kings extended their empire to the southern Arabia. International trade developed in that region where markets were established in urban areas concentrated along the coast regions full of wealth and power. The merging of Arab, African and Indian peoples along the coast of East Africa produced Kiswahili language and Swahili culture. Ivory, gold and slaves were the goods that were traded globally along the Swahili coast. The negative effect of the existence of the East African trade route was the slave trade. The slave trade was conducted by both Europeans and Arabs. European slave traders came in the 17th century, taking the African slaves into the islands of America and Indian Ocean. The slave trade in Africa caused social disruptions among people, depopulation of certain regions, and increasing of violence, as a result, of firearms trade (Ade-Ajayi 85). The slave trade ended later resulted to a justification for European colonizing the East Africa. Europeans began exploring East Africa in the 15th century. Vasco de Gama and other Portuguese explorers started the connection between the Europe and African Coast that later lead to centuries of trade and domination of Africa by Europeans. Other explorers came later including Christian missionaries. When the slave trade was deemed as illegal, Europeans had engaged into other types of trade (Ade-Ajayi 89). The industrial revolution in Europe needed cheap raw materials for its factories in which East African colonies provided large quantities of agricultural goods,

Knowledge Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Knowledge Management - Essay Example Thus, contemporary KM theories can roughly be classified into three major categories: 1. Technology-focused: primary focus on the enhancement of technologies that facilitate sharing/growth of knowledge. 2. Organisational: designing and reshaping the organisational environment in a way to facilitate knowledge processes. 3. Ecological: focus on the interaction process within the organisational environment involving people, knowledge and environmental factors (Gordon & Edge, 1997). A similar categorisation of the KM approaches is suggested in perhaps the only formal taxonomy of KM up to date. Michael Earl (2001) based his research on comprehensive empirical data to identify three major schools of KM: Technocratic: emphasis on information or technologies of KM. Economic: knowledge should be managed similarly to other assets (e.g. stock, bonds, etc). Behavioural: focus on knowledge exchange as a fundamentally social process (p. 224). However, modern models and theories of models are often difficult to fit in this taxonomy due to their integrative nature which encompasses elements of each school. The below overview provides some key concepts and theories associated with effective KM system. Main Body One popular KM approach widely used these days is a so-called 'pragmatic management'. Though it is not classified in the Earl's classical taxonomy pragmatic management is recently becoming increasingly popular, especially in the small to middle organisations. This approach seems rather close to Earl's behavioural paradigm that views knowledge management and knowledge exchange as fundamentally social processes. The main difference of this paradigm lies in the fact that it doesn't imply serious investments in the employees and their all-round... this paper describes the basic idea of knowledge management which is universal – doing what is needed to get the most out of knowledge resources – its practical implementation may vary in each particular case. The variations are not too serious and mostly concern the share of attention paid to either technological or human aspect of KM while the key principles remain similar in the modern models of KM: explicit and tacit knowledge, interactive nature of KM processes, increased attention cognitive and motivational aspects of KM. Therefore, the differences in KM systems implemented are mostly associated with different organizational structures and demands of the companies. Although the challenges related to designing/implementation of effective KM strategy are serious the practice continues to demonstrate that they are not compelling. The most essential of these challenges are identified in the professional literature as well as the alternative ways and tools to cope with them. Tu sum up this paper approves that the major factors contributing to the failures of knowledge management strategies are highly changeable global environment, coupled with failure to take a holistic approach to designing the system of knowledge management, and substantial resources required to design and implement a truly effective KM programme. Evidently, the first of these drawbacks has received better recognitions from the theorists whom develop KM models, programmes, and strategies for modern organisations.

The Red Room Essay Example for Free

The Red Room Essay The story ‘The Red Room’ is written by H. G. Wells in 1896. The story is written in first person narrative the narrator is the 28 year old male who is very arrogant and boastful about never seeing a ghost. The story is being told by the main male character. The Red Room is based in a suspected haunted house called Lorraine Castle. The character is in Lorraine castle because he has been told it is haunted so is there to investigate if there are actually ghosts in the castle as he has been told there is. During the story the only thing that haunts him is his own fear and imagination. The man says â€Å"in all its nakedness fear that will not have light nor sound, that will not bear with reason, that deafens and darkens and overwhelms† this is saying that he wasn’t scared by anything but the fear of being haunted by something. After his experiences in the red room he concludes that the castle is not haunted by the ghost of earl nor the ghost of countess. The other characters in the story are the old people, this includes an old woman and two old men. The old woman is a very wise woman who lives in the house she has very pale eyes wide open which see gaze into the fire, she chooses the ignore the second old mans comments. The first old man has a withered arm and is wrinkled in the face, he dislikes the second old man as well. Then there is the last of the old people, the second old man. He walks with a crutch and is very wrinkled and old, the description we get of this old man in the story is â€Å"He supported himself by a single crutch, his eyes were covered by a shade, and his lower lip, half averted, hung pale and pink from his decaying yellow teeth†. He also has a nasty cough. The old people talk to the man like they have experience seeing the ghosts themselves repeating â€Å"its your own choosing† meaning whatever happens to him in the red room will be a consequence of his actions in that room. Although the old woman is a very wise woman she says â€Å"this night of all nights! † maybe she is referring to an event happening that same night years ago like the death of the countess after her husband played a joke on her â€Å"the tale of a timid wife and the tragic end that came to her husband‘s jest of frightening herâ€Å". The man says ‘I half suspected the old people were trying to enhance the spiritual terror of their house by their droning insistence’. here he is referring to how the old people make him feel, he also suspects the old people of making more of the ghosts. Lorraine castle is a very big dark place with shadows overlooking every move you make. One of the old men gives the young man a list of directions to get to the red room this is showing that the castle is big. The rooms are big and decorated with â€Å"deep-toned, old fashioned† furniture, the young man suspects a statue of a Ganymede and an Eagle is â€Å"someone crouching to waylay† him. The long, chilly and dusty corridors lead to the spiralling staircase which takes you to the red room, the most haunted room in the house. The doors are covered with baize making these room look forbidden . The castle is lit up by candles and the moonlight which shines through the big windows. The red room is a very shadowy place coloured red and black with big bay windows. The candles and fire flicker with the draught coming in from the windows barely lighting up the room, rescuing it from the shadows that haunt the room â€Å"had that indefinable quality of a presence, that odd suggestion of a lurking, living thingâ€Å". The young man is very threatened by the darkness of the castle. â€Å"Tonight of all nights† that night could resemble the death of the young countess after her encounter with her husband. The fear of getting haunted by something got to much for the young man, making him go a bit crazy. Running back and forth to keep the room light relighting the candles that get blown out by the draught coming from both the young man running and the windows. He was so afraid of being haunted by the shadows â€Å"the shadows I feared and fought against returned, and crept in upon meâ€Å". When all the candles are fading out the man panics to get out of the red room quick, he ends up injuring himself on all the furniture ‘a vague memory of battering myself thus, to and fro in the darkness’. Eventually he knocks himself out â€Å"a horrible sensation of falling that lasted an age, of my last frantic effort to keep my footing, and then I remember no moreâ€Å". When he wakes up, he is found my the old man with a withered arm, not being able to remember who he is ‘I seen to remember you, and yet I cannot remember who you are’. The man soon recovers his memory and is able to tell the old man about his experience in the red room. The young mans character changed dramatically during the story, he went from being over confident, arrogant not believing in ghosts to somebody that is absolutely terrified at the thought of being haunted and seeing a ghost. When the man tells the others that the room â€Å"is haunted† it seems like he is going to carry on and admit that the room is haunted, going back on what he said at the beginning of the story but he doesn’t, he builds up the tension â€Å"there is neither ghost of earl nor ghost of countess in that room, there is no ghost there at all; but worse, far worse-† and then tells them that the room is haunted by fear. So we don’t know what actually happened to the narrator in the red room, was he imagining it or was there actually a ghost?. My opinion on the effectiveness of the text as a ghost story is that it is not actually a ghost story, there isn’t a ghost that haunts the young man, it is fear. It is a classic scary story with darkness and fear lurking around, not knowing what is going to happen. Fear is uncontrollable, maybe it was fear that killed the young duke sending in flying down the stairs, just like it nearly killed the young man. Making him lose all his senses and go mad but he fought it and got out alive. Fear will always be there â€Å"you can feel it even I the daytime, even of a bright summers day, in the hangings, in the curtains, keeping behind you however you face about it† â€Å" there is Fear in that room of hersblack Fear, and there will beso long as this house of sin endures†. Fear will be there until the house is destroyed.

The Virgin Group An insight into the organizational structure and culture

The Virgin Group An insight into the organizational structure and culture Introduction The Virgin Group of companies is one of the largest business organizations in the world. Founded by Richard Branson, the Virgin Group has established itself into many diverse facets of the business industry. This paper analyzes the organizational structure and culture of the Virgin Group and how it has helped this organization attain such success in many diverse industries. Much of the culture of the Virgin Group is influenced by the personal beliefs and philosophies of its founder, Richard Branson, and is one of the reasons for the organizations success. Branson highly values all of his employees and takes personal responsibility to ensure that his beliefs are instilled among all of them. Branson has created a decentralized structure in the organization by giving his employees the authority to take decisions thereby reducing bureaucracy. Employees are encouraged to not always follow rational procedures and instead think on their own. This paper will first briefly give an overview of the Virgin Group of companies and its history and development. The organizational structure and culture of the Virgin Group will help the reader understand the organizations processes and business practices and how the values and belief system of its founder has shaped its structure and culture. In addition, the reader will learn how the Virgin Group has established itself as a successful organization based on its structure and culture. The paper will apply some of the theories and concepts from the course textbook to the Virgin Group which will help to understand the working of this organization better. In conclusion, this paper hopes to emphasize the Virgin Groups overall journey through the years and the role that its structure and culture has played in its success. About the Virgin Group The Virgin Group is one of the most successful business empires today. This organization has established itself in diverse industries including mobile telephony, retail, music, financial services, travel, and many more. Virgin has ruled the British market and has expanded worldwide into other regions like North America, Asia, Africa and Australia. Starting out as a simple mail-order record retailer in 1970, Virgin has grown into one of the most successful business empires in the world. The Virgin Group has established more than 300 companies, employing around 50000 people in 30 countries. Its global revenues in 2009 exceeded US$18 billion. (Virgin, n.d.) The majority of the Virgin Groups success has been credited to the founder and CEO of Virgin, Richard Branson. Bransons beliefs and philosophies are deeply rooted in the corporate culture of the Virgin Group. This has helped the Virgin Group to flourish in todays competitive business world. History and Development Richard Branson is the founder of the Virgin Group of companies. When he was a student at Stowe, he published a magazine called Student. The magazine was a success and it encouraged Branson to leave school and try his hand at new business ventures. His first target was mail-order records. He found that by putting a single advertisement in an issue of Student magazine, he was able to establish a thriving business with almost no up-front investment and no working capital. The name Virgin was suggested by one of his associates who saw the name as proclaiming their commercial innocence, while possessing some novelty and modest shock-value. In 1971 Branson opened his first retail store on Londons Oxford Street. Virgin then expanded into the recording industry and the result was the Virgin record label. By 1983, the Virgin Group was earning profits of 2 million pounds on total revenues of just under 50 million pounds. (Grant, 2008) Gradually Branson expanded into other ventures. The Organizational Structure Many assume the Virgin Group to be a multinational, but such is not the case. Each of the 300 odd companies of the Virgin Group operates separately and Branson serves as shareholder, chairman, and public relations supremo. Most of them are operating companies that own assets, employ people, and offer goods and services. These operating companies are owned and controlled by about 20 holding companies. The Virgin Group has a very complex structure. It has been termed both as a brand franchising operation as well as a keiretsu. (Grant, 2008) However, based on its structure, the Virgin Group can be safely termed as an organization with a keiretsu structure. A keiretsu is a group of organizations, each of which owns shares in the other organizations in the group, and all of which work together to further the groups interests. (Jones, Mills, Weatherbee, Mills, 2006) Furthermore, such a large organization with a complex structure needs to be organic in order to be able to adapt to changes in its environment. An organic structure promotes flexibility, so people initiate change and can adapt quickly to changing conditions. ( Jones et al., 2006) Considering each of the individual companies as a department providing a unique product or service, it is evident that they exhibit product departmentalization. Product departmentalization is the division of the departments of an organization based on the type of product or service offered. (Jones et al., 2006) For example, Virgin Mobile offers cellular services while Virgin Records is a music label. However, the structure of the Virgin Group is so complex that it is necessary for it to not just have one type of departmentalization. For instance, Virgin Mobile has operations in many different countries like the UK, India and Australia. As such, the type of service varies in each of these countries. This shows that Virgin Mobile also exhibits geographic departmentalization. Geographic departmentalization is the division of an organization based on the geographic location. (Jones et al., 2006) In addition, type of service and products also varies depending on the customer base hence ex hibiting customer departmentalization. Customer departmentalization is the division of an organization based on the kind of customers it serves. (Jones et al., 2006) Since the Virgin Group of companies exhibit so many types of departmentalisations, the organization as a whole is said to have a hybrid structure, which is a mixture of two or more kinds of departmentalisations. This multi-divisional approach helps the Virgin Group to easily adapt to the cultural, technological and other forces in the region it expands to. The division of labour and the hierarchy is also an important aspect of an organizations structure. The number of levels of authority, the control, and the amount of communication are key factors in the proper working of an organization. As mentioned, the Virgin Groups companies operate as separate organizations. The companies are part of a family rather than a hierarchy. They are empowered to run their own affairs, yet the companies help one another, and solutions to problems often come from within the Group somewhere. In a sense, Virgin is a commonwealth, with shared ideas, values, interests and goals. (Virgin, n.d.) In fact, Branson himself has provided all his employees with the authority to make unsupervised decisions based on their intuition rather than following a chain of command. This leads to the employees having more confidence in them and in the management. Since interaction among all the levels of the hierarchy is promoted, it increases effective communication. This is e vident from the fact that Branson personally interacts with employees on a regular basis discussing ideas and receiving feedback. The Virgin Group expresses self-sufficiency and effective communication. Virgin has a flat hierarchical structure and this enables quick and efficient decision making. The flat structure is one of the reasons that the Virgin Group has been able to expand into new ventures. In addition, a flat structure allows a wider span of control, and decentralization. Span of control is the number of subordinates a manager manages directly. (Jones et al., 2006) The decentralized structure of the Virgin Group gives more power in the hands of its employees when it comes to decision making. Decentralization is the delegation of authority to all levels of the hierarchy. (Jones et al.,2006) Branson believes that the employees are the backbone of the company and hence it is important that they have enough involvement and authority in decision making. Since the Virgin Group comprises of so many companies, along with a decentralized structure, it should show some signs of organizational bureaucracy. However, Branson has ensured since the beginning to minimize bureaucracy as much as possible since he strives to flatten the hierarchy. Bureaucracy is a structure in which people are held accountable for their actions because they are required to act in accordance with rules and standard operating procedures. (Jones et al., 2006) The efficiency of the employees is enhanced under Bransons leadership who emphasises a wide span of control and self management. Bransons scepticism of organizational hierarchy and a formal structure has contributed to organizational cohesiveness to a great extent. His adoption of this unorthodox strategy rather than traditional business practices and non-traditional structuring of the organization may be the reason for the Groups success. The Organizational Culture Much of the Virgin Groups culture is influenced by its founder Richard Bransons personal philosophies. Just as his employees are important to him, so are the customers the Virgin Group serves. The ability of the Virgin Group to operate effectively with almost a non-formal structure is because of its unique organizational culture. The culture of the Virgin Group reflects Bransons casual nature, his disrespect for hierarchy and formal authority, commitment to employees and consumers and his belief in hard work and responsibility. (Grant, 2008) This influences all of the companies in the Virgin Group and its organizational culture. This in turn, enables the Virgin Group to provide an environment in which talented, ambitious people are motivated to do their best and strive for a higher level of performance. However, even in an informal environment, a high level of commitment, acceptance of personal responsibility and long hours of work when needed is expected. Performance incentives at V irgin for most employees are diffident but Virgin provides benefits like social activities, company sponsored weekend getaways and impromptu parties. (Grant, 2008) Such an environment promotes better relations among the employer and the employees. Virgins unique culture has gradually progressed to where it is today. Virgin describes itself as a family emphasizing its informal but strong belief system and values. Possessing such a culture enables the Virgin Group to have effective coordination among its various departments. Working as a community rather than a corporation, instils the ability to communicate effectively among the many companies in the Group. The Group as a whole works together based on these shared set of values which are continuously strengthened. This is important considering the vast size and complexity of the organization. Following in the footsteps of its founder, Virgin has always maintained the belief that the employees are the biggest force of the organization and as such, should be treated with respect. (Virgin, n.d.) The management cares for the welfare of the employees and allows them to work in a free environment. Because of these primary beliefs and values, Virgin has been able to compete, thrive, a nd challenge new business opportunities. As mentioned before, Richard Branson has influenced the culture of the organization the most. He has managed to instil his belief system into all of his employees and this has motivated them to strive to perform better. One of the many strong points in Virgins favour is the fact that it is non-traditional; revolutionary even; in the manner it does business. Virgin believes in grasping opportunities. Contrary to what many people may think, Virgins constantly expanding and eclectic empire is neither random nor reckless. Each successive venture demonstrates their devotion to picking the right market and the right opportunity. This has proved beneficial to the organization and is one of the many reasons for its success. (Virgin, n.d.) Conclusion Based on the analysis of the corporate culture and structure of the Virgin Group, it is evident that it is a highly successful organization most of whichs credit goes to the founder and his values and beliefs. Even though the industry considers much of his methods to be unorthodox, these methods have proved highly beneficial to him and the Virgin Group and have been deemed to be effective. Not many today can dream of venturing into so many diverse industries starting from scratch. If Virgin continues to strengthen its culture and structure, it has the potential to become one of the most successful companies ever.

Small Country Farm at Bordighera :: Essays Papers

French, 1840-1926 Small Country Farm at Bordighera 1884 Museum Purchase, 1943.39 In January 1884 Monet set out alone for the Mediterranean village of Bordighera, just across the Franco-Italian border. Originally intending to stay only for three weeks, Monet became so absorbed in the challenges of capturing brilliant hues of the lush landscape (so different from the cool, gray tonality of northern France) that he spent over two months there and produced forty paintings. Monet recorded his progress and frustrations in copious letters to friends back in Paris: "These palms are driving me crazy; the motifs are extremely difficult to seize, to put on canvas; it's so bushy everywhere, although delightful to the eye.... I would like to do orange and lemon trees silhouetted against the blue sea but cannot find them as I would like." Small Country Farm at Bordighera was probably painted in March and represents his finest achievement there. Years later Monet mentioned it with one other painting of the sojourn as a work with which he was especially satisfied. In it, Monet used remarkably varied brushwork to create a wide range of optical effects and to organize his pictorial space as the viewer's eye is carried from the thick, bushy vegetation of the foreground to the hazy mountain peaks of the distance. Above all, the painting is remarkable for its bold handling of color and rainbowlike palette, which point away from the years of classic Impressionism to the color-saturated paintings of Monet's final decades in Giverny. Monet often represented the times of the day when light is at its most dramatic: sunrise, midday and sunset. In such views as Cap Martin, near Menton (1884), Monet contrasts the intense light of the southern sun burning bright on the coastal road against the deep calm blue waters of the Mediterranean. In other pictures of olive groves and olive trees he focuses on the volley between light and shadow Monet's pictorial style is the quintessence of Impressionism -- an investigation of the transformational properties of light. Emile Zola, the 19th-century French novelist and critic, wrote that Impressionism is a perception of the world "through a temperament." A scrupulous observer of light and color, Monet could define what he was feeling with loose brushwork and

The Need for New Management Models in Human Resources Essays -- Human

Thesis Statement: Advances in technology along with shifts in the nations’ social structure heavily impact the workplace environment, creating a need for new management models in Human Resources. I. The Changing Workplace A. An Historical Perspective of Jobs in America B. Jobs in the 21st Century II. Identifying Corporate Needs A. The Emergence of Human Resource Management as a Component of General Management. B. Corporate Expectations III. Developing Human Resource Policy A. What HRM Professionals Have to Say IV. Identifying Worker Needs A. Family VS Work B. The Working Environment C. Benefits and Compensation V. Where to From Here? - HRM Models for Innovation A. Motivation Theory B. Alternate Work Systems - a Comparrison Table This paper is written from the perspective that Human Resource Management (HRM) practices are continually evolving to meet the changes of dynamic work environments. New technologies, increasingly rapid exchanges of information, social paradigm shifts and the restructuring of family systems contribute heavily to the need to find and apply methods of HRM that meet the needs of industry, workers and consumers. To do so effectively, vision and creativity are required in addition to on-going awareness of the bottom line. The Changing Workplace At the opening of the 20th century, the majority of jobs in America were held in two areas, agriculture and industry. Population distribution tables for that time demonstrate that most of the nation inhabited rural areas rather than urban areas. This continued to be the trend up until WWII, when men left the country to fight and women left rural America to fill factory jobs as their contribution to the war effort. This movement was the beginning of nationwide workplace and societal changes that have accelerated during the last half of the 20th century. The move from rural to suburban environments changed the way we did business as a nation. Where extended families resided in and supported each other in culturally defined rural settings, nuclear families found themselves alone in homogenous neighborhoods. (1) This created a demand for goods and services that were formerly provided by extended family and community members, opening up new markets and creating jobs. It ... ...ss, 1997) 299 Biblography Primary Sources Collected Documents Nybor, Jan. Navy Times, 14 Sept. 1994 Pritchard, DeLao, Von Bergen, "A Feild Test of Expectancy - Valence Incentive Motivation Techniques," Organizational Behavior and Human Performance vol.15 Herzberg, Fredrick, "One More Time: How Do You Motivate Your Employees?" Harvard Business Review vol. 47 Electronic References US Bureau of Statistics Data Base Books Glenn, H. Stephen, Developing Capable People, Rockland CA: Prima Press 1989 Isenberg, Martin "A Short History of Human Resource Management," Strategic Human Resource Management Readings, (January 1994) University of Massachusetts Press Drucker, Peter F., Management Challenges for the 21st Century, New York: Harper-Collins, 1999 Dessler, Gary , Personnel Management, 4th Edition, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1988 Kalleberg, R.P. Social Perspectives on Labor Markets, New York: Academic Press, 1991 Vroom, Victor H. Work and Motivation, New York: Wiley, 1964 Tushman & O'Rielly, Winning Through Innovation, Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1997

Plato Contrasted with Confucius Essay -- Compare Contrast Plato Confuc

Plato Contrasted with Confucius Since the early beginnings of society, in which people began living in gathered communities, there can be seen a constant progression, upon a steady time line, of the increased order of the organization of society. However, this is not the kind of progress that was sought by two widely known philosophers and teachers, Plato and Confucius. The kind of social reform and alteration displayed in the teachings and writings of both of these men, examine a movement from societies viewed as chaotic and barbaric toward societies consisting of gentleman, practicing prescribed values, morals, and actions. Confucius and Plato both emphasized a moral conduct that went above and beyond the socially accepted norms of their times. Despite the concentration on these factors in Chinese and Grecian cultures, the progress attempted by both of these philosophers was not achieved by their own standards within their own societies.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are several common themes running through the primary work of compiled sayings attributed to Confucius: emphasis on gentlemanly conduct, pursuit of humbleness among fellow man, and a search for a proper ruler who is in accordance with â€Å"the Way.† Running throughout the entire book of â€Å"The Analects†, Confucius makes reference to many characteristics that a gentleman should possess. Even beginning in the first chapter of Book One, Confucius is attributed with saying, â€Å"Is it not gentlemanly not to take offence when others fail to appreciate your abilities?† Other characteristics Confucius attributed to gentlemanly conduct include studying the rites and â€Å"The Odes†, humbleness, lack of desire for places of position, unbending in moral conduct, and many other factors. By laying out a basis upon which a gentleman should act, Confucius establishes a standard to measure the quality of all men. Setting a standard implies that there are men above and below this set, desired point, and the word standard also indicates a measure of quantitative or qualitative value. By creating such a standard, Confucius is immediately able to begin causing social reform and progress. However, this progress, though achieved through concentration on social values, never reaches the capacity to which Confucius desires it to reach. Several sayings within The Analects indicate that Confucius is unable to see an accumulation of all desire... ...ty is tentative. It proves to reason that a society guided by high morals will have a progress. However, to assume that all corruption will be removed simply by placing leadership in office that adheres to the high standards fails to recognize the flaw in man that Plato and Confucius both obviously see: man is in need of progress towards civil order. From the beginning, man is already viewed as degraded and morally corrupt. The society will progress because progression of society has been the natural order since the beginning of civilization. It is the quality and moral standing of this progress that is in question. Using Plato’s method of progression, it can be seen that society is not progressing, but rather being led blindly down a road. Progression implies the acquisition of knowledge upon a continuous path. Keeping men under order through ignorance, and elevating those with morally upright actions only serves to further isolate and expand the gap between the men posse ssing knowledge of civil order and those merely following it out of service to a defined path. A false sense of progress is created, while the majority of society remains ignorant of why to be humane and civil.

The Host Chapter 26: Returned

Without ever actually agreeing to do it, I became the teacher Jeb wanted. My â€Å"class† was informal. I answered questions every night after dinner. I found that as long as I was willing to do this, Ian and Doc and Jeb would leave me alone during the day so that I could concentrate on my chores. We always convened in the kitchen; I liked to help with the baking while I spoke. It gave me an excuse to pause before answering a difficult question, and somewhere to look when I didn't want to meet anyone's eyes. In my head, it seemed fitting; my words were sometimes upsetting, but my actions were always for their good. I didn't want to admit that Jamie was right. Obviously, people didn't like me. They couldn't; I wasn't one of them. Jamie liked me, but that was just some strange chemical reaction that was far from rational. Jeb liked me, but Jeb was crazy. The rest of them didn't have either excuse. No, they didn't like me. But things changed when I started talking. The first time I noticed it was the morning after I answered Doc's questions at dinner; I was in the black bathing room, washing clothes with Trudy, Lily, and Jamie. â€Å"Could you hand me the soap, please, Wanda?† Trudy asked from my left. An electric current ran through my body at the sound of my name spoken by a female voice. Numbly, I passed her the soap and then rinsed the sting off my hand. â€Å"Thank you,† she added. â€Å"You're welcome,† I murmured. My voice cracked on the last syllable. I passed Lily in the hall a day later on my way to find Jamie before dinner. â€Å"Wanda,† she said, nodding. â€Å"Lily,† I answered, my throat dry. Soon it wasn't just Doc and Ian who asked questions at night. It surprised me who the most vocal were: exhausted Walter, his face a worrisome shade of gray, was endlessly interested in the Bats of the Singing World. Heath, usually silent, letting Trudy and Geoffrey talk for him, was outspoken during these evenings. He had some fascination with Fire World, and though it was one of my least favorite stories to tell, he peppered me with questions until he'd heard every detail I knew. Lily was concerned with the mechanics of things-she wanted to know about the ships that carried us from planet to planet, their pilots, their fuel. It was to Lily that I explained the cryotanks-something they had all seen but few understood the purpose of. Shy Wes, usually sitting close to Lily, asked not about other planets but about this one. How did it work? No money, no recompense for work-why did our souls' society not fall apart? I tried to explain that it was not so different from life in the caves. Did we not all work without money and share in the products of our labor equally? â€Å"Yes,† he interrupted me, shaking his head. â€Å"But it's different here-Jeb has a gun for the slackers.† Everyone looked at Jeb, who winked, and then they all laughed. Jeb was in attendance about every other night. He didn't participate; he just sat thoughtfully in the back of the room, occasionally grinning. He was right about the entertainment factor; oddly, for we all had legs, the situation reminded me of the See Weeds. There had been a special title for entertainers there, like Comforter or Healer or Seeker. I was one of the Storytellers, so the transition to a teacher here on Earth had not been such a change, profession-wise, at least. It was much the same in the kitchen after dark, with the smell of smoke and baking bread filling the room. Everyone was stuck here, as good as planted. My stories were something new, something to think about besides the usual-the same endlessly repeated sweaty chores, the same thirty-five faces, the same memories of other faces that brought the same grief with them, the same fear and the same despair that had long been familiar companions. And so the kitchen was always full for my casual lessons. Only Sharon and Maggie were conspicuously and consistently absent. I was in about my fourth week as an informal teacher when life in the caves changed again. The kitchen was crowded, as was usual. Jeb and Doc were the only ones missing besides the normal two. On the counter next to me was a metal tray of dark, doughy rolls, swollen to twice the size they'd started at. They were ready for the oven, as soon as the current tray was done. Trudy checked every few minutes to make sure nothing was burning. Often, I tried to get Jamie to talk for me when he knew the story well. I liked to watch the enthusiasm light up his face, and the way he used his hands to draw pictures in the air. Tonight, Heidi wanted to know more about the Dolphins, so I asked Jamie to answer her questions as well as he could. The humans always spoke with sadness when they asked about our newest acquisition. They saw the Dolphins as mirrors of themselves in the first years of the occupation. Heidi's dark eyes, disconcerting underneath her fringe of white-blond hair, were tight with sympathy as she asked her questions. â€Å"They look more like huge dragonflies than fish, right, Wanda?† Jamie almost always asked for corroboration, though he never waited for my answer. â€Å"They're all leathery, though, with three, four, or five sets of wings, depending on how old they are, right? So they kind of fly through the water-it's lighter than water here, less dense. They have five, seven, or nine legs, depending on which gender they are, right, Wanda? They have three different genders. They have really long hands with tough, strong fingers that can build all kinds of things. They make cities under the water out of hard plants that grow there, kind of like trees but not really. They aren't as far along as we are, right, Wanda? Because they've never made a spaceship or, like, telephones for communication. Humans were more advanced.† Trudy pulled out the tray of baked rolls, and I bent to shove the next tray of risen dough into the hot, smoking hole. It took a little jostling and balancing to get it in just right. As I sweated in front of the fire, I heard some kind of commotion outside the kitchen, echoing down the hall from somewhere else in the caves. It was hard, with all the random sound reverberations and strange acoustics, to judge distances here. â€Å"Hey!† Jamie shouted behind me, and I turned just in time to see the back of his head as he sprinted out the door. I straightened out of my crouch and took a step after him, my instinct to follow. â€Å"Wait,† Ian said. â€Å"He'll be back. Tell us more about the Dolphins.† Ian was sitting on the counter beside the oven-a hot seat that I wouldn't have chosen-which made him close enough to reach out and touch my wrist. My arm flinched away from the unexpected contact, but I stayed where I was. â€Å"What's going on out there?† I asked. I could still hear some kind of jabbering-I thought I could hear Jamie's excited voice in the mix. Ian shrugged. â€Å"Who knows? Maybe Jeb†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He shrugged again, as if he wasn't interested enough to bother with figuring it out. Nonchalant, but there was a tension in his eyes I didn't understand. I was sure I would find out soon enough, so I shrugged, too, and started explaining the incredibly complex familial relationships of the Dolphins while I helped Trudy stack the warm bread in plastic containers. â€Å"Six of the nine†¦ grandparents, so to speak, traditionally stay with the larvae through their first stage of development while the three parents work with their six grandparents on a new wing of the family dwelling for the young to inhabit when they are mobile,† I was explaining, my eyes on the rolls in my hands rather than my audience, as usual, when I heard the gasp from the back of the room. I continued with my next sentence automatically as I scanned the crowd to see who I'd upset. â€Å"The remaining three grandparents are customarily involved†¦Ã¢â‚¬  No one was upset with me. Every head was turned in the same direction I was looking. My eyes skipped across the backs of their heads to the dark exit. The first thing I saw was Jamie's slight figure, clinging to someone's arm. Someone so dirty, head to toe, that he almost blended right in with the cave wall. Someone too tall to be Jeb, and anyway, there was Jeb just behind Jamie's shoulder. Even from this distance, I could see that Jeb's eyes were narrowed and his nose wrinkled, as if he were anxious-a rare emotion for Jeb. Just as I could see that Jamie's face was bright with sheer joy. â€Å"Here we go,† Ian muttered beside me, his voice barely audible above the crackle of the flames. The dirty man Jamie was still clinging to took a step forward. One of his hands rose slowly, like an involuntary reflex, and curled into a fist. From the dirty figure came Jared's voice-flat, perfectly devoid of any inflection. â€Å"What is the meaning of this, Jeb?† My throat closed. I tried to swallow and found the way blocked. I tried to breathe and was not successful. My heart drummed unevenly. Jared! Melanie's exultant voice was loud, a silent shriek of elation. She burst into radiant life inside my head. Jared is home! â€Å"Wanda is teaching us all about the universe,† Jamie babbled eagerly, somehow not catching on to Jared's fury-he was too excited to pay attention, maybe. â€Å"Wanda?† Jared repeated in a low voice that was almost a snarl. There were more dirty figures in the hall behind him. I only noticed them when they echoed his snarl with an outraged muttering. A blond head rose from the frozen audience. Paige lurched to her feet. â€Å"Andy!† she cried, and stumbled through the figures seated around her. One of the dirty men stepped around Jared and caught her as she nearly fell over Wes. â€Å"Oh, Andy!† she sobbed, the tone of her voice reminding me of Melanie's. Paige's outburst changed the atmosphere momentarily. The silent crowd began to murmur, most of them rising to their feet. The sound was one of welcome now, as the majority went to greet the returned travelers. I tried to read the strange expressions on their faces as they forced grins onto their lips and peeked furtively back at me. I realized after a long, slow second-time seemed to be congealing around me, freezing me into place-that the expression I wondered at was guilt. â€Å"It's going to be okay, Wanda,† Ian murmured under his breath. I glanced at him wildly, searching for that same guilt on his face. I didn't find it, only a defensive tightening around his vivid eyes as he stared at the newcomers. â€Å"What the hell, people?† a new voice boomed. Kyle-easily identifiable by his size despite the grime-was shoving his way around Jared and heading toward†¦ me. â€Å"You're letting it tell you its lies? Have you all gone crazy? Or did it lead the Seekers here? Are you all parasites now?† Many heads fell forward, ashamed. Only a few kept their chins stiffly in the air, their shoulders squared: Lily, Trudy, Heath, Wes†¦ and frail Walter, of all people. â€Å"Easy, Kyle,† Walter said in his feeble voice. Kyle ignored him. He walked with deliberate steps toward me, his eyes, the same vibrant cobalt as his brother's, glowing with rage. I couldn't keep my eyes on him, though-they kept returning to Jared's dark shape, trying to read his camouflaged face. Melanie's love flowed through me like a lake bursting through a dam, distracting me even more from the enraged barbarian closing the distance quickly. Ian slid into my view, moving to place himself in front of me. I strained my neck to the side to keep my view of Jared clear. â€Å"Things changed while you were gone, brother.† Kyle halted, face slack with disbelief. â€Å"Did the Seekers come, then, Ian?† â€Å"She's not a danger to us.† Kyle ground his teeth together, and from the corner of my eye, I saw him reach for something in his pocket. This captured my attention at last. I cringed, expecting a weapon. The words stumbled off my tongue in a choked whisper. â€Å"Don't get in his way, Ian.† Ian didn't respond to my plea. I was surprised at the amount of anxiety this caused me, at how much I didn't want him hurt. It wasn't the instinctive protection, the bone-deep need to protect, that I felt for Jamie or even Jared. I just knew that Ian should not be harmed trying to protect me. Kyle's hand came back up, and a light shone out of it. He pointed it at Ian's face, held it there for a moment. Ian didn't flinch from the light. â€Å"So, what, then?† Kyle demanded, putting the flashlight back in his pocket. â€Å"You're not a parasite. How did it get to you?† â€Å"Calm down, and we'll tell you all about it.† â€Å"No.† The contradiction did not come from Kyle but from behind him. I watched Jared walk slowly toward us through the silent spectators. As he got closer, Jamie still clinging to his hand with a bewildered expression, I could read his face better under the mask of dirt. Even Melanie, all but delirious with happiness at his safe return, could not misunderstand the expression of loathing there. Jeb had wasted his efforts on the wrong people. It didn't matter that Trudy or Lily was speaking to me, that Ian would put himself between his brother and me, that Sharon and Maggie made no hostile move toward me. The only one who had to be convinced had now, finally, decided. â€Å"I don't think anyone needs to calm down,† Jared said through his teeth. â€Å"Jeb,† he continued, not looking to see if the old man had followed him forward, â€Å"give me the gun.† The silence that followed his words was so tense I could feel the pressure inside my ears. From the instant I could clearly see his face, I'd known it was over. I knew what I had to do now; Melanie was in agreement. As quietly as I could, I took a step to the side and slightly back, so that I would be clear of Ian. Then I closed my eyes. â€Å"Don't happen to have it on me,† Jeb drawled. I peeked through narrowed eyes as Jared whirled to assess the truth of Jeb's claim. Jared's breath whistled angrily through his nostrils. â€Å"Fine,† he muttered. He took another step toward me. â€Å"It will be slower this way, though. It would be more humane if you were to find that gun fast.† â€Å"Please, Jared, let's talk,† Ian said, planting his feet firmly as he spoke, already knowing the answer. â€Å"I think there's been too much talk,† Jared growled. â€Å"Jeb left this up to me, and I've made my decision.† Jeb cleared his throat noisily. Jared spun halfway around to look at him again. â€Å"What?† he demanded. â€Å"You made the rule, Jeb.† â€Å"Well, now, that's true.† Jared turned back toward me. â€Å"Ian, get out of my way.† â€Å"Well, well, hold on a sec,† Jeb went on. â€Å"If you recall, the rule was that whoever the body belonged to got to make the decision.† A vein in Jared's forehead pulsed visibly. â€Å"And?† â€Å"Seems to me like there's someone here with a claim just as strong as yours. Mebbe stronger.† Jared stared straight ahead, processing this. After a slow moment, understanding furrowed his brow. He looked down at the boy still hanging on his arm. All the joy had drained from Jamie's face, leaving it pale and horrorstruck. â€Å"You can't, Jared,† he choked. â€Å"You wouldn't. Wanda's good. She's my friend! And Mel! What about Mel? You can't kill Mel! Please! You have to -† He broke off, his expression agonized. I closed my eyes again, trying to block the picture of the suffering boy from my mind. It was already almost impossible not to go to him. I locked my muscles in place, promising myself that it wouldn't help him if I moved now. â€Å"So,† Jeb said, his tone far too conversational for the moment, â€Å"you can see that Jamie's not in agreement. I figure he's got as much say as you do.† There was no answer for so long that I had to open my eyes again. Jared was staring at Jamie's anguished, fearful face with his own kind of horror. â€Å"How could you let this happen, Jeb?† he whispered. â€Å"There is a need for some talk,† Jeb answered. â€Å"Why don't you take a breather first, though? Maybe you'll feel more up to conversation after a bath.† Jared glared balefully at the old man, his eyes full of the shock and pain of the betrayed. I had only human comparisons for such a look. Caesar and Brutus, Jesus and Judas. The unbearable tension lasted through another long minute, and then Jared shook Jamie's fingers off his arm. â€Å"Kyle,† Jared barked, turning and stalking out of the room. Kyle gave his brother a parting grimace and followed. The other dirty members of the expedition went after them silently, Paige tucked securely under Andy's arm. Most of the other humans, all those who had hung their heads in shame for admitting me into their society, shuffled out behind them. Only Jamie, Jeb, and Ian beside me, and Trudy, Geoffrey, Heath, Lily, Wes, and Walter stayed. No one spoke until the echoes of their footsteps faded away into silence. â€Å"Whew!† Ian breathed. â€Å"That was close. Nice thinking, Jeb.† â€Å"Inspiration in desperation. But we're not out of the woods yet,† Jeb answered. â€Å"Don't I know it! You didn't leave the gun anywhere obvious, did you?† â€Å"Nope. I figured this might be comin' on soon.† â€Å"That's something, at least.† Jamie was trembling, alone in the space left by the exodus. Surrounded by those I had to count as friends, I felt able to walk to his side. He threw his arms around my waist, and I patted his back with shaky hands. â€Å"It's okay,† I lied in a whisper. â€Å"It's okay.† I knew even a fool would hear the false note in my voice, and Jamie was not a fool. â€Å"He won't hurt you,† Jamie said thickly, struggling against the tears I could see in his eyes. â€Å"I won't let him.† â€Å"Shh,† I murmured. I was appalled-I could feel that my face was fixed in lines of horror. Jared was right-how could Jeb have let this happen? If they'd killed me the first day here, before Jamie had ever seen me†¦ Or that first week, while Jared kept me isolated from everyone, before Jamie and I had become friends†¦ Or if I had just kept my mouth shut about Melanie†¦ It was too late for all that. My arms tightened around the child. Melanie was just as aghast. My poor baby. I told you it was a bad idea to tell him everything, I reminded her. What will it do to him now, when we die? It's going to be terrible. He'll be traumatized and scarred and devastated – Melanie interrupted me. Enough. I know, I know. But what can we do? Not die, I suppose. Melanie and I thought about the likelihood of our survival and felt despair. Ian thumped Jamie on the back-I could feel the motion reverberate through both our bodies. â€Å"Don't agonize over it, kid,† he said. â€Å"You're not in this alone.† â€Å"They're just shocked, that's all.† I recognized Trudy's alto voice behind me. â€Å"Once we get a chance to explain, they'll see reason.† â€Å"See reason? Kyle?† someone hissed almost unintelligibly. â€Å"We knew this was coming,† Jeb muttered. â€Å"Just got to weather it. Storms pass.† â€Å"Maybe you ought to find that gun,† Lily suggested calmly. â€Å"Tonight might be a long one. Wanda can stay with Heidi and me -â€Å" â€Å"I think it might be better to keep her somewhere else,† Ian disagreed. â€Å"Maybe in the southern tunnels? I'll keep an eye on her. Jeb, wanna lend me a hand?† â€Å"They wouldn't look for her with me.† Walter's offer was just a whisper. Wes spoke over the last of Walter's words. â€Å"I'll tag along with you, Ian. There're six of them.† â€Å"No,† I finally managed to choke out. â€Å"No. That's not right. You shouldn't fight with each other. You all belong here. You belong together. Not fighting, not because of me.† I pulled Jamie's arms from around my waist, holding his wrists when he tried to stop me. â€Å"I just need a minute to myself,† I told him, ignoring all the stares I could feel on my face. â€Å"I need to be alone.† I turned my head to find Jeb. â€Å"And you should have a chance to discuss this without me listening. It's not fair-having to discuss strategy in front of the enemy.† â€Å"Now, don't be like that,† Jeb said. â€Å"Let me have some time to think, Jeb.† I stepped away from Jamie, dropping his hands. A hand fell on my shoulder, and I cringed. It was just Ian. â€Å"It's not a good idea for you to be wandering around by yourself.† I leaned toward him and tried to pitch my voice so low that Jamie wouldn't hear me clearly. â€Å"Why prolong the inevitable? Will it get easier or harder for him?† I thought I knew the answer to my last question. I ducked under Ian's hand and broke into a run, sprinting for the exit. â€Å"Wanda!† Jamie called after me. Someone quickly shushed him. There were no footsteps behind me. They must have seen the wisdom of letting me go. The hall was dark and deserted. If I was lucky, I'd be able to cut around the edge of the big garden plaza in the dark with no one the wiser. In all my time here, the one thing I'd never found was the way out. It seemed as if I'd been down every tunnel time and again, and I'd never seen an opening I hadn't eventually explored in search of one thing or another. I thought about it now as I crept through the deepest shadowed corners of the big cave. Where could the exit be? And I thought about this: if I could figure that puzzle out, would I be able to leave? I couldn't think of anything worth leaving for-certainly not the desert waiting outside, but also not the Seeker, not the Healer, not my Comforter, not my life before, which had left such a shallow impression on me. Everything that really mattered was with me here. Jamie. Though he would kill me, Jared. I couldn't imagine walking away from either of them. And Jeb. Ian. I had friends now. Doc, Trudy, Lily, Wes, Walter, Heath. Strange humans who could overlook what I was and see something they didn't have to kill. Maybe it was just curiosity, but regardless of that, they were willing to side with me against the rest of their tight-knit family of survivors. I shook my head in wonder as I traced the rough rock with my hands. I could hear others in the cavern, on the far side from me. I didn't pause; they could not see me here, and I'd just found the crevice I was looking for. After all, there was really only one place for me to go. Even if I could somehow have guessed the way to escape, I would still have gone this way. I crept into the blackest darkness imaginable and hurried along my way.

I.T. Project †Converting a Card Index System to a Database Essay

The present system is based on the manual card index system so most of the work is done by hand, however due to the ever increasing growth of technology, and the internet, a wide range of resources are now being made easily accessible. British Airways has recently introduced booking online, where customers can book a flight and accommodation all over the Internet. Being such a big company as British Airways, most of their bookings are made through travel agents who book the flights and pass the information on to them. Question 1 – Could you describe the current system being used by Question 2 – How are these cards stored? Question3 – What problems do you encounter at the moment? Software Available MICROSOFT OFFICE 2000 WORD PROCESSOR – MICROSOFT WORD 2000 A word processing package is a program or set of programs used to edit, format, store and print documents. Word processors have many important unique features: * Spelling and Grammar Checker Misspelt words, or grammatical errors can be identified and corrected by the words in the computers dictionary. Correct words, identified by the spell check as wrong can be added to the dictionary. * Automatic creation of index and table of contents Any word in the text can be marked for inclusion in an index. Headings and subheadings in a given style can be included automatically in a table of contents, which can be updated at any time. * Import Files Tables, photographs, graphics, video and sound files can be imported from other sources and inserted in a document. * Mail merge A document and a list of names and addresses can be merged to produce personalised letters. * Creation of templates with preset text styles. Margins, formatting, letterheading etc. * WYSIWYG This stands for ‘What You See Is What you Get’, and refers to the ability to display on the screen. And enables the user to see their work on the screen exactly as it will be printed. SPREADSHEET – MICROSOFT EXCEL 2000 Spreadsheet packages allow a user to create worksheets (spreadsheets) representing data in column and row form. Spreadsheets are used for any application that uses numerical data, such as budgets, cash flow forecasts, profit and loss statements, student marks or results of experiment. Spreadsheet features: * Format cells, rows and columns, specifying for example, the alignment of text, number of decimal points, height and width of cells. * Copy cell contents to other locations, with automatic adjustment of formulae from an area to another location. * Determine the effect of several different hypothetical changes of data; this facility is called ‘what-if’ calculation. * Insert, move or delete rows and columns. * Use functions such as sum, average, max, min in formulae * Create a simple database and sort or query the data to produce a report of, say for example, all males gaining over a ‘C’ grade, for a list of students. * Write macros to automate common procedures * Create templates – Spreadsheets with formats and formulae already entered, into which new figures may be inserted. * Create ‘multi dimensional’ spreadsheets using several sheets, and copy data from one sheet to another * Create many different types of chart and graphs DATABASE – MICROSOFT ACCESS 2000 A database is a collection of data. It may be something as simple as a list of names and addresses or details of the CDs in your personal collection, or it may contain details of all the customers, products, orders and payments in a large organisation. When made reference to, the word ‘database’ is assumed to be data held on a computer, but manual databases also exist. Some smaller business (a garage) may hold a card index file with details about a customer and their car. The main difference between a manual and computerised databases is the speed at which data can be accessed. PRESENTATION GRAPHICS – MICROSOFT POWERPOINT 2000 Presentation graphics software such as PowerPoint is useful for putting together a presentation which can be delivered using a computer attached to a projection device, using transparencies and an ordinary overhead projector or as a self-running presentation in, say a shopping centre or cinema. The software allows the user to quickly create ‘slides’ combining text, graphics and pictures and to create animation or sound effects and ‘transition’ effects between slides. OPERATING SYSTEM – MICROSOFT WINDOWS 98 Hardware Available These are the specifications of the PC I am using at Home: OPERATING SYSTEM WINDOWS(r) 98 PLUS! CPU INTEL(r) CELERONTM / 333MHZ RAM 64MB FOR WINDOWS(r) 98 SCREEN DISPLAY 800 BY 600 PIXELS TRUE COLOUR (32 BIT) CD-ROM SPEED 32-SPEED AVAILABLE SPACE ON HARD DRIVE 2.4GB AUDIO 16-BIT SOUND CARD OTHER LOUDSPEAKERS These are the system specifications for the systems at school: OPERATING SYSTEM WINDOWS(r) 98 CPU 433MHZ RAM 32MB FOR WINDOWS(r) 98 SCREEN DISPLAY 640 BY 480 PIXELS 256 COLOURS CD-ROM SPEED 24 SPEED AVAILABLE SPACE ON HARD DRIVE 10MB AUDIO 8-BIT SOUND CARD PRINTER HP LASERJET All systems should have Microsoft Office 97/2000. All systems must have Microsoft Excel 97/2000. End User’s IT Literacy The end user of my system will already have basic IT skills and will have already had experience with the Microsoft Office Package. As they are working for a big trans-national company, they would have already undergone training in the secretarial sector, of which IT skills are a key part. To even have the job, they would have to be able to type quickly, answer calls and transmit data efficiently. Therefore, training costs will be kept to a minimum. Final Choice Having looked at the current system and the software and hardware available, I have decided to use Microsoft Excel, a spreadsheet program to design my booking system. Spreadsheet packages allow a user to create worksheets (spreadsheets) representing data in column and row form. Spreadsheets are used for any application that uses numerical data, such as budgets, cash flow forecasts, profit and loss statements, student marks or results of experiments. Spreadsheets offer a wide range of facilities making the task easier to perform. SKILLS: Current/To be acquired I have a good understanding of the Microsoft Excel package. I have done quite a few calculations and performed basic macros. Having looked through the coursework of former students, and reading through the coursework guide, I realise that I need to improve my knowledge of Excel. Excel is a powerful package and can carry out many tasks easily if instructed correctly. I have already started to go through sample projects showing me how to go about certain tasks with a book titled ‘Successful I.T. Projects in Excel’, written by P.M Heathcote. End User Requirements > Provide detailed reports showing customer booking for every working day. > Produce summary reports for flight bookings in order of popularity. > Allow data entry for new customers. > Provide easy access for amendments to customer details and flight details. > Automatic backup for all centralised records daily and weekly. > Provide an exception report for outstanding customer debts or extreme bank credit limits. > The system should record financial details concerning money in/outstanding. > Allow queries on the current flight availability. Quantitative Criteria > Printed tickets are to be generated within 15 minutes. > Accessing and amending customer/Fight/Airport details should be instantaneous. > Queries are processed promptly on customer request. > Backup should occur automatically every 24 hours. > Flight details processed every Friday (1 hour max) > Exception reports are produced quickly on demand within a minute. Qualitative Criteria > The system should provide a workable Human Computer Interface system according to different users, i.e. simple menu selections or buttons > The company logo is consistent on all forms and reports. > Amount of available screen data is kept to a minimum (increase usability) > Help systems are easily accessible.

Theories and Administrative Thought on Modern Day Police Departments

Various sociological theories and administrative thought shows that modern police department is a combination of a hierarchical and quasi-military bureaucracy. In accordance to the fundamental rationality of Weber's theory of bureaucracy, the modern police department is wrought with red tape and other unfortunate side-effects of bureaucratic organizations. On the other hand, as Weber suggested, many large-scale organizations, especially those linked to the government, must be bureaucratic if they are to be most effectively and rationally run. The modern police department, although it has adopted theories of modern sociologists and administrative thinkers, continues to resemble traditional hierarchical and bureaucratic systems. The modern police department resembles least Fayol's theories of management, in which red tape detracts from effectiveness and in which horizontal communication is widely practiced. At the same time, many police departments use Fayol's theories of horizontal communication when seeking accountability and attempting to eliminate corruption within the force. Also in accordance with the theories of Luther Gulick, the theories of Fayol show how within large organizations like police departments, specialization of tasks can lead to effectiveness. Therefore, the modern police department in many ways reflects old-school sociology and administrative theories in that at each rung of the hierarchy, an individual is assigned highly specific tasks and reports to specific individuals in positions of immediate authority. The hierarchy entails that individuals usually report to the person who is ranked immediately above them, similar to a military bureaucracy. The titles and ranks underscore the connections between the modern police department and military organizations. At the same time, police departments are trying to incorporate the more open systems of modern theorists. Based on effective business models, some administrative thought discounts the relevance of bureaucracy and hierarchy in favor of a more democratic operation. Police departments have yet to incorporate such democratic principles within their ranks but at the same time must allow for the inclusion of minorities and minority opinions on the force.

Philosopher’s Argument from Contingency

The Argument from Contingency in the world of Philosophy falls from asking the question â€Å"is the Universe Contingent?†Ã‚   But how can we say that the universe does appear to be contingent?In layman’s term, contingent means when a particular thing exists for the basic reason of chance and possibilities. Some things are created and formulated by people for the necessity’s sake. It can or can not exist.However in philosophy, contingent things are being categorize exclusively from the creation of people, planet, galaxy and the universe as a whole where humans can not possibly create them. Contingent things are caused to exist by something or someone else. Something must have produced them. The argument from contingency is used by some philosophers as an attempt to discuss and prove the existence of God.In philosophy, the argument of contingency is correlated to the existence of God and whether the existence of the universe is caused by God. There are three premi ses in this argument.First premise says that everything exists has an explanation of its existence either in the necessity of its own nature or in an external cause. Relating to the first premise, the universe then has an explanation of its existence and that reason is God. Therefore the explanation of the universe’s existence is God which means God exists (William 2007).Philosophy also started from the journey of seeking whether the existence of the Universe had a beginning or a caused. In Aquinas attempt to explain the existence of God, he formulated the Quinque viae or five proofs for the existence of God.The basic premise of these five arguments is that something caused the universe to exist. One of the arguments created that will be discussed on this paper is the argument from contingency. In this argument, it simply says that the world must have a beginning and God is the first cause so He therefore exists. Ordinary people who have weak foundation and curiosity when it comes to faith may just easily believe in this kind of conclusion.However thinkers and believers will definitely see flaws from this argument which allotted some philosophers to discuss and dig deeper the concept of this argument. In the end, it was concluded by some philosophers that the argument from contingency is invalid proof for God’s existence.To better understand the Argument from Contingency of Aquinas, it is important to critically discuss it. Aquinas observed that in nature there are things whose existence is contingent, it can or can not exist. Since it is possible for such things not to exist, there must be some time at which such things did not in fact exist.Thus, on probabilistic grounds, there must have been a time when nothing existed. If that is so, there would exist nothing that could bring anything into existence. Thus contingent beings are insufficient to account for the existence of contingent beings, meaning there must exist a Necessary Being for which it is impossible not to exist, and from which the existence of all contingent beings is derived (Argument from Contingency†).In general, the first cause in this argument should not require a cause since the chain of cause and effects can not be of infinite length. Therefore, there must be a cause which is God that doesn’t necessarily have to be an effect.Hume treatment on the argument from the contingency is reflected on his â€Å"Dialogue Concerning Natural Religion, Part IX† through the dialogue of Demea and Cleanthes. Hume contended that when we speak of cause we mean an explanation for an event. If that is so, surely at best it remains an assumption that every event must have a cause; for no one has ever provided explanations for every event that has occurred (Tobin 2000).  Hume claimed that even if it can be proved that a necessary being existed, it still fell short of showing that God as traditionally conceived and described existed. All it shows is that there is a necessary being of some sort. Why, Hume asked, couldn’t the universe itself be the necessary being that the argument seeks to demonstrate? (â€Å"An Argument for the Contingency of the Universe†).The idea of Kant about the caused or the existence of God can be explored too. Kant pointed out that the principle of there being a cause for every event applies, especially the existence of the universe, is only known to us through the world of our sense experience. People are not even sure whether the rational way of humans’ thinking actually has reached the origins of causes and explanations. What we assume to be the first cause may just as well be due to our ignorance of the cause and explanation for it (Tobin 2000).In other words, even great thinkers can not be sure whether their sense of experience and reason already reach the idea of the caused. For Kant and Hume, the argument from Contingency is obviously invalid to prove the existence of God.Philosop her Samuel Clarke also had a version related to argument from Contingency of Aquinas. There are three premises in Samuel Clarke’s version of the cosmological argument.Clarke states that every being that exists or ever did exist is either a dependent being or a self- existent being. Like the argument from contingency, Clarke also believes that not every being can be a dependent being. Therefore, there must exist a self existent being that may or may have a cause. God exists according to Clarke but He exists as an independent being that has no cause.F.C. Copleston and Bertrand Russell’s debate on the existence of a ‘cause’ is one of the most famous and substantial argument from contingency in the contemporary world.Their debate about God’s existence in 1948 is the most enduring version and analysis about the existence of God. Copleston argues on behalf of the existence of God by reviewing and reweaving Aquinas’ argument of contingency.Russell o n the other hand gave three principal objections to the argument of contingency namely: the unreality of modality, the unreality of causation and the unreality of the world as a totality (Koons, 2000).F.C. Copleston starts out by saying that all beings and circumstances are contingent. These contingent beings must have a beginning and this beginning exists and is necessary for the existence of all other contingent beings. Copleston says, â€Å"Something does exist; therefore, there must be something which accounts for this fact, a being which is outside the series of contingent beings.†It means that contingent beings do not have a reason to exist without some beginning.   This leads to the concept of God being there who exist for the universe’s existence. In the debate, he also says that He is His own sufficient reason; and he is not a cause for Himself.Only contingent beings needs a cause but God as not contingent doesn’t need a cause. Copleston also conclude d that the existence of God is the only rational explanation to the people’s moral order of thinking. Thus, a person who loves goodness and who acknowledges moral rightness loves and acknowledges God (â€Å"A Debate on the Argument from Contingency 1948†).Bertrand Russell on the other hand, opposes Copleston on his view of the existence of God. He states that he does not agree with the suggestion of the word contingent and said it is a useless word unless it will be deeply analyzed.So the concept of a necessary being is even more senseless to him. He also does not think that the word universe has any in depth meaning of its own. Russell’s strongly claims that there is no overall cause for the things of this world just like the whole human race cannot have one mother.Russell’s overall claim as oppose to the argument from contingency is that â€Å"there is no overall cause for the things of this world. He claims that there is no overall reason or cause for the existence of the universe. The world exists in its own sake and its just there and no particular meaning or purpose of its own. In answering Copleston idea of moral code imposed to human beings, Russell said that the human judgment of right and wrong is just brought about by experience.Classic and contemporary philosophers gave different point of views on the Aquinas’s argument from contingency but until now despite the liberation of thoughts, no great thinker can fully prove the existence of God.One, either believer or non believer, will always ask the question if God exists where did God came from. This is the Kant’s idea that something beyond the universe can not be fully grasp by any kind of human thinking. As long as God does not revealed Himself personally and literally in this world, there will always be agnostic and sceptics about His existence.Works Cited Page:Craig, William. Subject 2007: Argument from Contingency. Reasonable Faithwith William Lane Craig .http://www.reasonablefaith.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5847Tobin Paul 2000, Thomas Aquinas and the Five Ways. The Rejection of  Pascal's Wager, A Skeptics Guide to Chistianityhttp://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/aquinas.html#2wayâ€Å"An Argument for the Contingency of the Universe† 2007. Undetached Rabbit  Parts. Western Michigan University. 2007http://wmuphilosophy.blogspot.com/â€Å"Argument from Contingency†. Encyclopedia.http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Argument- from-contingency#The_argument_from_contingencyTeuberr, Andreas 2008. â€Å"Four of Aquinas' Five Ways and Samuel Clarke'sVersion†. Cosmological Argument. Brandeis University. The President and Fellows of Harvard College.http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/philcosmo.htmlKoons, Robert 2000. Defeasible Reasoning, Special Pleading and the  Cosmological Argument. University of Texas.http://www.arn.org/docs/koons/rk_defeasible.htmâ€Å"A Debate on the Argument from Contingency of Fat her F.C. Copleston andBertrand Russell† 1948. Third Program of the British Broadcasting Corporation.http://www.catholicapologetics.info/catholicteaching/philosophy/conting.htm