Monday, September 30, 2019

Deception Point Page 25

Sexton hung up, looking pleased with himself. â€Å"New Sexton fan?† Gabrielle asked. â€Å"They're multiplying,† he said. â€Å"This guy's a heavy hitter.† â€Å"Must be. Meeting him in your apartment?† Sexton usually defended the sanctified privacy of his apartment like a lion protecting its only remaining hiding place. Sexton shrugged. â€Å"Yeah. Thought I'd give him the personal touch. This guy might have some pull in the home stretch. Got to keep making those personal connections, you know. It's all about trust.† Gabrielle nodded, pulling out Sexton's daily planner. â€Å"You want me to put him in your calendar?† â€Å"No need. I'd planned to take a night at home anyway.† Gabrielle found tonight's page and noticed it was already shaded out in Sexton's handwriting with the bold letters â€Å"P.E.†-Sexton shorthand for either personal event, private evening, or piss-off everyone; nobody was quite sure which. From time to time, the senator scheduled himself a â€Å"P.E.† night so he could hole up in his apartment, take his phones off the hook, and do what he enjoyed most-sip brandy with old cronies and pretend he'd forgotten about politics for the evening. Gabrielle gave him a surprised look. â€Å"So you're actually letting business intrude on prescheduled P.E. time? I'm impressed.† â€Å"This guy happened to catch me on a night when I've got some time. I'll talk to him for a little while. See what he has to say.† Gabrielle wanted to ask who this mystery caller was, but Sexton clearly was being intentionally vague. Gabrielle had learned when not to pry. As they turned off the beltway and headed back toward Sexton's office building, Gabrielle glanced down again at the P.E. time blocked out in Sexton's planner and had the strange sensation Sexton knew this call was coming. 27 The ice at the center of the NASA habisphere was dominated by an eighteen-foot tripod structure of composite scaffolding, which looked like a cross between an oil rig and an awkward model of the Eiffel Tower. Rachel studied the device, unable to fathom how it could be used to extract the enormous meteorite. Beneath the tower, several winches had been screwed into steel plates affixed to the ice with heavy bolts. Threaded through the winches, iron cables banked upward over a series of pulleys atop the tower. From there, the cables plunged vertically downward into narrow bore holes drilled in the ice. Several large NASA men took turns tightening the winches. With each new tightening, the cables slithered a few inches upward through the bore holes, as if the men were raising an anchor. I'm clearly missing something, Rachel thought, as she and the others moved closer to the extraction site. The men seemed to be hoisting the meteorite directly through the ice. â€Å"EVEN TENSION! DAMN IT!† a woman's voice screamed nearby, with all the grace of a chain saw. Rachel looked over to see a small woman in a bright yellow snowsuit smeared with grease. She had her back to Rachel, but even so, Rachel had no trouble guessing that she was in charge of this operation. Making notations on a clipboard, the woman stalked back and forth like a disgusted drillmaster. â€Å"Don't tell me you ladies are tired!† Corky called out, â€Å"Hey, Norah, quit bossing those poor NASA boys and come flirt with me.† The woman did not even turn around. â€Å"Is that you, Marlinson? I'd know that weenie little voice anywhere. Come back when you reach puberty.† Corky turned to Rachel. â€Å"Norah keeps us warm with her charm.† â€Å"I heard that, space boy,† Dr. Mangor fired back, still making notes. â€Å"And if you're checking out my ass, these snow pants add thirty pounds.† â€Å"No worries,† Corky called. â€Å"It's not your woolly-mammoth butt that drives me wild, it's your winning personality.† â€Å"Bite me.† Corky laughed again. â€Å"I have great news, Norah. Looks like you're not the only woman the President recruited.† â€Å"No shit. He recruited you.† Tolland took over. â€Å"Norah? Have you got a minute to meet someone?† At the sound of Tolland's voice, Norah immediately stopped what she was doing and turned around. Her hardened demeanor dissolved instantly. â€Å"Mike!† She rushed over, beaming. â€Å"Haven't seen you in a few hours.† â€Å"I've been editing the documentary.† â€Å"How's my segment?† â€Å"You look brilliant and lovely.† â€Å"He used special effects,† Corky said. Norah ignored the remark, glancing now at Rachel with a polite but standoffish smile. She looked back at Tolland. â€Å"I hope you're not cheating on me, Mike.† Tolland's rugged face flushed slightly as he made introductions. â€Å"Norah, I'd like you to meet Rachel Sexton. Ms. Sexton works in the intelligence community and is here at the request of the President. Her father is Senator Sedgewick Sexton.† The introduction brought a confused look to Norah's face. â€Å"I won't even pretend to understand that one.† Norah did not remove her gloves as she gave Rachel's hand a half-hearted shake. â€Å"Welcome to the top of the world.† Rachel smiled. â€Å"Thanks.† She was surprised to see that Norah Mangor, despite the toughness of her voice, had a pleasant and impish countenance. Her pixie haircut was brown with streaks of gray, and her eyes were keen and sharp-two ice crystals. There was a steely confidence about her that Rachel liked. â€Å"Norah,† Tolland said. â€Å"Have you got a minute to share what you're doing with Rachel?† Norah arched her eyebrows. â€Å"You two on a first-name basis already? My, my.† Corky groaned. â€Å"I told you, Mike.† Norah Mangor showed Rachel around the base of the tower while Tolland and the others trailed behind, talking among themselves. â€Å"See those boreholes in the ice under the tripod?† Norah asked, pointing, her initial put-out tone softening now to one of rapt fervor for her work. Rachel nodded, gazing down at the holes in the ice. Each was about a foot in diameter and had a steel cable inserted into it. â€Å"Those holes are left over from when we drilled core samples and took X rays of the meteorite. Now we're using them as entry points to lower heavy-duty screw eyes down the empty shafts and screw them into the meteorite. After that, we dropped a couple hundred feet of braided cable down each hole, snagged the screw eyes with industrial hooks, and now we're simply winching it up. It's taking these ladies several hours to get it to the surface, but it's coming.† â€Å"I'm not sure I follow,† Rachel said. â€Å"The meteorite is under thousands of tons of ice. How are you lifting it?† Norah pointed to the top of the scaffolding where a narrow beam of pristine red light shone vertically downward toward the ice beneath the tripod. Rachel had seen it earlier and assumed it was simply some sort of visual indicator-a pointer demarking the spot where the object was buried. â€Å"That's a gallium arsenide semiconductor laser,† Norah said. Rachel looked more closely at the beam of light and now saw that it had actually melted a tiny hole in the ice and shone down into the depths. â€Å"Very hot beam,† Norah said. â€Å"We're heating the meteorite as we lift.† When Rachel grasped the simple brilliance of the woman's plan, she was impressed. Norah had simply aimed the laser beam downward, melting through the ice until the beam hit the meteorite. The stone, being too dense to be melted by a laser, began absorbing the laser's heat, eventually getting warm enough to melt the ice around it. As the NASA men hoisted the hot meteorite, the heated rock, combined with the upward pressure, melted the surrounding ice, clearing a pathway to raise it to the surface. The melt water accumulating over the meteorite simply seeped back down around the edges of the stone to refill the shaft.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

How to Write a Good Essay Essay

A standard essay establishes a writer’s personal understanding, recommendation, analysis, and explanation of a specific topic. This piece of writing is generally used to teach, inform, orient, inspire, refute, warn, or even entertain the reader. As such, a good essay is well-researched, informative, interesting, well-written and easy to read. In order to write a good essay, writers can follow these guidelines: First, the chosen topic must be extensively researched from credible sources such as libraries, academic databases, factual websites, surveys, and interviews. Through adequate research, the writer gains sufficient knowledge in dissecting and discussing the topic at hand. In this stage, other areas and sub-topics are also discovered while listing notes, important keywords and ideas. Upon completion of the research, the writer must digest all useful information to plan and write the essay in a systematic manner that clearly explains its topic while distinguishing the introduction, body and conclusion of the essay. The introduction contains the thesis statement or central theme of the essay which gives a general idea on what the written work is all about. Read more:Â  How to write diagnostic essay samples. Therefore, the writer must strive to make it interesting enough for the reader to continue reading the whole essay. After the thesis statement, the body is written by using the researched notes and summaries taken during research. Initial questions previously laid down to determine the outline of the essay must now be answered. Ideally, this is done by composing several paragraphs where each paragraph systematically tackles questions addressing who, what, when, where, why and how. Supplementary examples geared towards reinforcing the thesis statement such as statistical data and other studies can also assist in further expressing the idea of the essay. However, the writer must keep in mind to cite sources and acknowledge them accordingly to avoid plagiarism. Ideas and words borrowed from others, even if paraphrased, should be cited using the required referencing style. Widely used examples of these styles include the American Psychological Association (APA) and Modern Language Association (MLA). Since there are many existing styles, the writer must pattern the citation and format of the written piece according to the required style. Meanwhile, the conclusion is written by summarizing the important points, reiterating the thesis, and providing a call to action sentence for the reader to act on. A good essay imparts a lasting impression while encouraging the reader to think. In finalizing the essay, the writer must thoroughly edit and proofread the entire work. Spelling, grammatical, and structural errors should be checked again and again. One good way to do a spell-check is to read the essay backwards and check each word carefully. Most of the time, a good essay written by a good writer undergoes continuous editing, rephrasing, and rewriting until a cleaner and more concise copy is produced. For those aspiring to constantly write good essays, reading is a definite must to expand one’s vocabulary and exposure to other styles of writing. Careful research, effective writing, and thorough editing are essential stages of writing a good essay. By following these guidelines, together with constant learning, practice and dedication, one can develop the skills on how to write a good essay.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

How did World War 1 help Canadian women get the vote Essay

How did World War 1 help Canadian women get the vote - Essay Example It won the audience with its wit and humor. In 1916, a women’s suffrage bill was passed. McClung moved to Edmonton and was elected to the Alberta legislature in 1921. She worked on the famous â€Å"Persons case†. ‘Until 1929, Senate seats were open only to â€Å"eligible persons† according to the constitution and the Supreme Court ruled that women were not â€Å"persons† and therefore not eligible for appointment to the Senate. McClung and several other women led the fight against this archaic notion. During World War I, some women in Canada were finally allowed to vote. And in 1919, all women over 21 had the right to vote in a federal election. ‘Women got the federal vote in 3 stages: the Military Voters Act of 1917 where nurses and women in the armed services were allowed to vote; the Wartime Election Act which extended the vote to women who had husbands, son or fathers serving overseas; and all women over 21 on January 1, 1919. _________ _____________________________________________________________________ 1. â€Å"A Country by Consent†, World War 1, 1914 – 1918. 2. Ibid. 3. Ibid. ‘On June 19th 1917, the House of Commons voted by 385 to 55 to accept the Representation of the People Bill’s women’s suffrage clause. Suffragists were encouraged to contact their MP’s to support the bill. ... Historians such as Martin Pugh believe that the vote in favor of female suffrage was simply a continuation of the way the issue had been moving before the war had started in 1914. ‘In 1911, there had been a similar vote to the one in 1917. Of the 194 MP’s who voted for the bills in both 1911 and 1917, only 22 had changed their stance. Fourteen had changed to being in favor of female suffrage and 4 changed from being for female suffrage in 1911 to being against it in 1917. This leaves a difference of only 14 – a long way of the 330 majority of 1917. This only proves that the direction the Parliament was moving in before August 1914 was a significant factor in the 1918 Representation of the People Act. The activities of the Suffragists and Suffragettes (the female members of the Women’s Social & Political Union who wanted to take part in the electoral process) pre-1914 have been more important at a political level than the work done by women in the war. Als o, the Parliament was very conscious on how the public would react if they would arrest women who had done important work for the nation during the war just because they wanted political rights after it. A continuation of the way things were going pre-1914 was an important factor as was the fear of social and political unrest in the aftermath of what had happened in Russia. ______________________________________________________________________________ 4. â€Å"The Role of Women 1900 -1945†, 2010. 5. Ibid. 6. Ibid. ‘From 1910 to 1913, two issues dominated British politics: the clash between the Lords and the House of Commons and the continuing rise of militancy by the Suffragettes. The death of Emily Wilding Davison at the Derby in 1913 seemed to many to show that the very fabric of

Friday, September 27, 2019

Designing a Training Program Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Designing a Training Program - Research Paper Example ors in varied field shall equally be used in order to give adequate mitigation to the objectives, the use of facilitators will come in handy among others (Stroh, Northcraft & Neale, 2002). Identify the needs of the workers then, process them. Finally tailor them to how they affect the level of self drive among the employees. Carrying out an employee centered training approach; bring out from the them the appropriate solutions to the bottlenecks that confront the organization Lastly, identifying mentors on their relevant field will help them be more enthusiastic as well since; these mentors will act as their coach and bolster their drive towards realizing their utmost best in the organization. In addition, the training should use probing tendencies to find from the employees the best ways to care for the resources of the organization. Through this, the training will not impose into them ideals of best practices but rather, it shall give the workers hindsight on how to become each other’s brothers’ keeper. This shall be realized through and elaborate mode of individual employee participation in the training process and other means of giving responses can be identified at the work places. For example, modes of reporting mal practices in the organization and the urgency of redressing justice and integrity issues. For example, is the administration dictatorial in nature or democratic in orientation, which one would work best for the employees in order to elicit from them the best practices in the realizing the objectives of the firm. Does the organization have the capacity to care for the welfare needs of her employees? The level of concern will dictate the response of the workers to wards realizing the prime objectives of the firm. For example, do they compel worker to work even if their health is under challenge? Does the organization offer security of tenure or are the workers contracted and fired at the whims of the employer and excreta. Whether

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Compensation strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Compensation strategy - Essay Example Improvements in the strategy would be suggested at the end of the paper. McDonalds, in its values, regards its employees as an important part of the system. They state that they are committed to their people and ‘provide opportunity, nurture talent, develop leaders and reward achievement’ (Mission and Values, 2013). A typical McDonald’s restaurant has 8 levels of hierarchy. These are shown in Figure 1. In each restaurant, McDonalds usually employs 60 individuals. These mainly consist of the crew members who occupy the lowest rung of the organizational hierarchy. The job of the crew members is clear cut without them having to take any decisions. They have to prepare the food the standard way, serve the customers and maintain an efficient work and service flow within the restaurant. Above the crew members are the training crew, floor managers, shift running floor managers, trainee managers and assistant mangers. Like the job of the crew members, the job of these employees is also quite standard. Each day, they have to follow the same steps without them having to take any decisions or choices in their roles. The managers are the controlling head of the restaurant. They are responsible for running the daily operations within the restaurant and have to handle and monitor the rest of the employees. These managers are responsible for sales of the restaurant and for providing training to the employees placed below them. McDonald’s in UAE, similar to McDonalds is every other country hires on the basis on equal opportunity. McDonalds has a strong commitment towards diversity and inclusion. It therefore disregards any difference of color, race, religion, age or gender when employing or paying its workers. The average salary of an employee within McDonald’s varies from region to region. In most countries, employees are paid on hourly basis. However, in UAE, hourly pay is not common and employees are paid

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Report 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Report 1 - Essay Example The image of an organization can be negatively affected by a dress code that does not mirror seriousness. The Canadian Workplace All workers in Canada have a right to dress according to their tastes so long as their preferences do not collide with workplace stipulations (Krahn, Hughes, & Lowe, 2010). Sometimes, there are rules created by corporations about what is appropriate that infringe on the workers’ personal rights. For example, there are companies that do not approve of workers with tattoos, dreadlocks, beards, and facial rings. The rules of such corporations can be rendered irrelevant by court rulings, though this is not always what happens when the workers of such corporations sue them. Business owners and corporate directors in such cases are usually required to provide evidence that justifies the existence of such rules. Sometimes, employers provide valid reasons that result in courts upholding their rules on the appropriate dress codes. For example, manufacturing p lants that have a lot of machinery have a right to require that their workers remove all facial jewelry because it might get caught in the machines and seriously injure them. Since some employers are the creators of their own companies, they have a right to determine whether their workers should wear uniforms or dress in regular clothes. The only issue that employees can complain about are those to do with decency. For example, bar owners have no right to force their waiters and waitresses to dress in skimpy outfits that make them uncomfortable. If a worker sues his or her employer for being dismissed after refusing to wear skimpy clothes, a court can make the decision that the dismissal was unnecessary if it is established that the employer’s preferred dress code for workers was unreasonable. Moreover, there are sporadic cases where bar owners who have such dress codes have been allowed to dismiss workers who refuse to don skimpy outfits. In such cases, the bar owners proved in court that they had included information in previous work notices that informed potential workers about the type of work, as well as workplace uniform, that they would have to wear when working. In most cases where Canadian companies have dress codes that do not require that workers don indecent clothing, however, courts usually side with the employers. This is because the dress codes in such cases are usually enforced to prevent accidents in the workplace. For example, safety boots and gloves protect against accidents in the workplace. Employers have the right to implement dress codes when seeking to protect their workers so long as they explain their reasons for this to their employees. In some workplaces in Canada, workers are expected to dress in uniforms. Nurses, restaurant workers, and police officers are an example of workers who regularly don uniforms when at work. Their uniforms identify them to the public and enforce consistency in the labourforce. For nurses, their un iforms do not only identify them to the public, but also serve to protect their patients from catching any germs from the nurses who work with different patients all through the day. For restaurant workers, donning hair coverings is a way of stopping hair strands from falling into the food they serve to the customers.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Group Interviews Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Group Interviews - Essay Example Also called as focus groups and panel interviews, group interviewing has, still, its own share of advantages and disadvantages. Several suppositions on its advantages as a research method has made group interviewing an extensively used technique (Robinson, 1993). Comparing this technique with individual or one-on-one interview, group interviewing is presumed to generate a wider variety of response, which in turn, is highly valuable in marketing and social researches. Companies use this technique in job screenings as well, to see leadership and character of the candidates in an open discussion. In this way, they could spot the strong and competent ones who are suitable for their open positions. In terms of time, group interviewing is an efficient technique in social researches to meet deadlines yet still generate sufficient and reasonable data set. With these share of positive attributes, the charisma of group interviewing has come to be equated with â€Å"qualitative research† (Robinson, 1993). In most cases, the effect of group interviewing on interview space and environment is treated as an advantage. As most people feel tension when set for an individual interview, the setting of several interviewees at one session somehow relieves the pressure of the situation. The intimidating feel of the one-on-one interview is also lessened during a group interviews as interviewees get the comfortable feeling along with the each other, rather than alone with a respectable moderator. In this case, the apparent view of the moderator or researcher as an authority, which makes the situation intimidating, is avoided. Interaction among the interviewees is also seen as an advantage in many cases, as it not only creates a comfortable environment but rather an opportunity for a sensible discussion and data set. It is in this lively interaction and rich discussion that the data emerges (Cohen & Manion, 1994). Thus, group

Monday, September 23, 2019

Entrepreneurship and New Ventures Research Paper

Entrepreneurship and New Ventures - Research Paper Example Because of these trends, there has been explosive growth in profitability in health clubs devoted to women’s needs that are both exclusive and have programs that are designed with female camaraderie in mind. In fact, in 2005, the entire global health club industry reported over 105 million members, with well over 50 percent concentrated in the United States (ihrsa.org, 2006). This indicates a sizeable potential market even when futher deconstructing the existing market to include only women and their active participation and desire in health club membership. Since the market for health clubs is divided nearly 50/50 for men and women who currently hold membership, it should be assumed that the potential market opportunities for health club development and ownership consists of 52 million women. What can explain this growing interest in the female market (consisting of 18-60 year old market characteristics) for health club use and membership? There are many factors that are both motivational at the intrinsic level and also relating to personal desire for a better body to satisfy vanity and tangible health care needs. Offers one expert organization pertaining to the health club industry, â€Å"women want to work out without having to worry about looking fat, sweaty or makeup free in front of a bunch of men they don’t know† (Dean, 2011, p.1). Women who are interested in women-only health clubs are finding personal camaraderie with others in an environment where they can comfortably exercise among women with similar body characteristics or other fitness goals. These environments provide for a sense of privacy and exclusivity and also maintain the potential to develop many long-term friendships developed through the sharing of individual health goal needs. There are also motivational elements that continue to provide intense profit for existing women’s only health clubs. According to Marandi, Little & Sekhon (2006), the values that drive w omen to these health clubs is a personal sense of accomplishment, self-respect, a more active lifestyle, and establishment of a sense of personal belonging with others. These motivational elements are psychologically-driven and are essentially uniform between all age groups, marital status, occupation, and lifestyle security (Marandi, et al.). Much to the advantage of this proposed health club development, there are no specific markets requiring segmentation that would supersede another, thus, again, providing virtually unlimited market potential with an active 52 million female market group. The industry outlook is significant, as existing companies that specialize in women’s health needs continue to diversify their product offerings and programs to sustain the benefits of women looking to establish better self-image and personal health. It is common in this industry to gain extended marketing presence and profitability through supplementary vitamin products, health and well ness books, and also the existence of new personal training activities such as massage therapists and other club professionals. Since 2009, 37.4 percent of all adults (both male and female) have used some variety of health

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Competition to Gain Competitive Advantage among Firms Essay Example for Free

Competition to Gain Competitive Advantage among Firms Essay In the current world market, there are many products and services available to fulfill the needs of individual and businesses. According to Barney, Wright and Ketchen (2001), to succeed in such a competitive market, a competitive advantage is required to provide any firm with necessary tools, useful in increasing sales and market share, improving profit margins for a given period of time in a new existing market, ensure survival of the firm in extremely competitive markets and also develop hard to copy mixes. A firm that lacks competitive advantage can imitate firms that already have an edge in competition, either through direct duplication of resources or substitution (Combe, 2006). The firm can determine which way to go, by first conducting a research of the main competitors, so as to identify the resources they have, that contribute to their success in the market (Porter, 1980). When this is established, the firm should then evaluate itself so as to know the resources it has, and whether it is feasible to invest on these resources so as to improve its competitiveness in the market. Among the things that the firms can do to improve its competitive advantage is to introduce new products and processes, it can also adopt managerial methods and organizational form from the better firms and also engage in timely investment during market entry (Combe, 2006). In addition to this, the firm should learn what the customers want, carefully analyze their competitors and create product differentiation with creative techniques. The goal of any new introduction is to meet consumers’ needs with a quality product at the lowest possible cost in order to return the highest level of profit (Combe, 2006). Introduction of new products can be broken down into five distinct parts which include idea validation, conceptual design, specification and design, prototype and testing and commercialization (Porter, COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE 1980). If the new product satisfies the consumers needs then it going to be appreciated well in the market, and put the company in a good competitive edge. Adopting managerial methods and organizational form is also important. The firm should adopt the managerial methods practiced by the better firm so as to realize a competitive edge (Barney et al. , 2001). This poses some challenges in terms of resources in cases where additional input of capital is required. Nevertheless if the investment is worth, then we should not give up. Also investments in the market should be carried out timely so that the prevailing market conditions do not negatively affect the investments leading to big loses incurred by the firm (Porter, 1980). The firm should investigate to know the best investment periods so that it’s on the correct path of competition. Bad timing of entry into the market can really make any firm to lose grip of the market by incurring great loses that might take time for the firm to recover (Barney et al. , 2001). Thirdly the firm should analyze the market to know what the consumers want and the form in which they want it. If the customer becomes the priority in any firm, then the firm should realize some benefits as a result of customer loyalty (Porter, 1980). The design of the products should also be done creatively in a way that is most convenient to the customers. Products may be similar in all aspects but a small difference in presentation can greatly increase its demand in the market. Competitive advantage can be attained if the current strategy is value-creating and not currently being implemented by present or possible future competitors (Barney et al. , 1991). Competitive advantage has the ability to be sustained but a competing firm can enter the market with a resource that has the ability to invalidate the priors’ firms’ competitive advantage and is COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE therefore independent of timeframe. When imitation actions comes to an end without disrupting the firms competitive advantage then the firms strategy can be called sustainable. Porter (1985) portrays contrary views that competitive advantage is maintained when it provides above average returns in the long run.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Transformational leadership Essay Example for Free

Transformational leadership Essay Does Academic Leaders influence Staffs’ Commitment to Service Quality in Malaysia? This paper discussed the relationship between leadership style of transformational and the commitment to service quality among academic staffs in public and private Malaysian Universities. It has been argued that excellent service quality performance is one of the key factors in building niche and having competitive edge that separates one from its competitors nationally and globally. Total useable questionnaires were 387 with a response rate of 36 percent. The result revealed that there is a significant relationship between transformational leadership style and commitment to service quality among academic staff at the Malaysian universities. This study implies to the policy makers and academic leaders at the universities that they should focus in developing their academic staff, by tapping their potentials, inspiring them, promoting collaboration, motivating and reinforcing positive attitudes towards commitment to service quality. Future study should consider alternative modes of enquires such as employing the longitudinal method of data collection design and a nationwide survey covering samples from the whole population of the higher institutions of learning in Malaysia that would be more significant in making generalizations . Keywords: Service quality, Transformational Leadership, Commitment to Service Quality, Malaysia 1. Introduction Existing literature on education indicates a motion towards â€Å"educational excellence† which is about world class branding, marketable academic programmes, research activities and facilities in attracting and retaining foreign and local students (Isahak, 2007), but how does one compete to be different?Governing bodies, in Malaysia such as the Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA) provide accreditation to quality programmes that fulfill certain standards. But how do Malaysian Universities attempt to remain competitive and maintain a sustainable growth in this volatile environment where programmes seen to be globally homogeneous in nature, competitive in terms of pricing, and significant in location and branding? Hudson et al. (2004) argued that excellent service quality performance is one of the key factors in building market niche and a competitive edge that separates one from its competitors. Sim and Idrus (2004), Jusoh et al. (2004), and Sahney et al, (2008) concurred and uphold the notion that commitment from the academic staff in the education sector to the overall organizational goal such as in the delivery of high service quality is a better strategy as in the case of customer retention and satisfaction. Unfortunately, not much attention has been given to the issue of commitment to service quality among the academic staff in the higher education sector. There is an increasing thought supporting the idea that students‟ evaluation of service quality in the Malaysian universities is to a large extent influenced by the way they are treated by the customer contact employee notably the academic staff (Hasan et al., 2008; Ismail Abiddin, 2009). Past researches have also suggested that some universities in Malaysia were losing students because their standard of service quality was not up to the expectation of the students (Jain et al., 2004; Firdaus, 2006; Latif et al., 2009). It was reported that the level of service quality in the Malaysian universities was just mediocre (Jusoh et al. 2004; Sim Idrus, 2004; Hasan et al., 2008, Ismail Abiddin, 2009). This arises concern in the way the students‟ are being treated or handled. The implication of these students‟ withdrawals may not only be costly to the students‟ potential success in their career but also to the universities‟ reputation, operational and manpower costs (Curry, 2001). But  the greatest loss of all will be in terms of potential knowledge workers to the nation. Studies on „commitment to service quality‟ are important and necessary but unfortunately there is still little progress in research in this area. Embracing commitment to service quality is mainly to bring about financial growth and an image of sustainability to service organisations. Many questions about what really motivates commitment to service quality among academic staff remains unanswered, particularly in the context of education. Past leadership literatures have associated transformational leaders to organizational commitment, such as to service quality delivery (Jabnoun Rasasi, 2005); building relationships with customers (Liao Chuang, 2007); students engagement with schools (Leithwood Jantzi,1999) and towards school reforms (Geijsel et al., 2003). Nevertheless, empirical research on transformational leadership and commitment of academic staff to service quality is not extensive and in most past studies, their focus was on management or based on the analysis of the customer level. Individual focus, specifically on the study of academic staff is limited in developing countries, such as Malaysia. Therefore, the objective of this research was to examine the relationship between transformational leadership style and the academic staff‟s commitment to service quality at Malaysian Universities. Based on the findings of this research, it is hope that it would also provide some information and understanding that will assist the leaders and policy makers of the Malaysian Universities as employers to realize the contributions of their academic staff in securing profitability and wealth through the commitment of good service quality. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Commitment to Service Quality Studies on the commitment to service quality in education literatures follow the same footpath as the general definition of affective commitment. Affective commitment is defined by Meyer and Allen (1991) as â€Å"an employee‟s emotional attachment to, identification with and involvement in the organization†. Commitment to service quality is defined and understood as  Ã¢â‚¬Å"conformity to a specification† (Martin 1986; Witt Steward, 1996; O‟Neil Palmer, 2004) and in achieving â€Å"excellence† (Peters Waterman, 1982). Clark et al. (2009) defined commitment to service quality as the â€Å"dedication of employees to render service quality and the willingness to go beyond what is expected of them†. Past findings have also established that employees who are committed to the organization will remain loyal and are inversely related to turnover (Hartline et al., 2000; Elmadag et al., 2008). In such conditions, employees were known to spend more time and energy in assisting the organization realize its goals and they also put their own self interest aside (Porter et al., 1973; Tsai, 2008; Sohail Shaikh, 2004; Yiing Ahmad, 2008). O‟Neil (2000) in his study in higher education concurred on the importance of internal customer commitment to service quality as a means of gaining competitive advantage. Satisfied external customers, for example the students, were reported to spread by â€Å"word of mouth recommendations†, which is a powerful tool in marketing (Cuthbert, 1996). 2.2. Transformational Leadership Leaderships can be of many facets and visages. They differ in effectiveness in terms of consequences of their actions towards internal and external stakeholders. Since organizations today are facing many challenges, there is a need for leaders in organizations to contribute not only in terms of knowledge or ideas but also in making right the decisions and responding to the changes (Horner, 1997; Christie, 2002). According to Bass and Avolio (1990), transformational leaders will focus on developing their followers by tapping them of their potentials, inspiring them, promoting collaboration, motivating them and by reinforcing positive behaviours. Bass (1990) argues that transformational leaders are pertinent especially during turbulent times when rapid changes and globalization takes place. Barnett et al. (2001), Antonakis et al., (2003) and Kirkbride (2006) preferred to delineate transformational leadership based on five factors. They have adopted from Bass and Avolio‟s (1995, 1997) studies. The five components as suggested by Barnett et al. (2001), Antonakis et al. (2003) and Kirkbride (2006) are: individualized considerations, intellectual stimulation, inspirational  motivation, idealized influence (attributes) and idealized influence (behavior). Table 1 below presents the five components. Table 1: Five components of Transformational Leadership Variables Individualized considerations Characteristics Leaders who recognize their followers‟ individual differences and will treat them individually. Intellectual stimulation Leaders, who encourage problem solving abilities and risks taking. They also encourage their followers to re-examine any problem first and not making assumptions unbeneficial to the organization. Inspirational motivation Leaders, who have the ability to inspire and stimulate followers to perform well in accordance to their ability by giving them some sense of purpose. Leaders, who display attributes of charismatic and competence. They are confident in facing and solving problems and showing their powers for positive benefits. Idealized Influence (attributes) Idealize Leaders, who exhibit charismatic behavior that comes with a high sense of morality. They are trustworthy, honest, high integrity and are set to Influence achieve their mission and purpose (behavior) Source: Barnett et al. (2001), Antonakis et al. (2003) and Kirkbride (2006) In Malaysia, the study on transformational leadership styles is dominated in various business settings and in relation to diverse predictors such as job satisfaction ( Yusof Shah, 2008) and organizational commitment (Azman, Al-Banna, Zaidi, Hamran Hanim,2011). Yet, there is a lack of research done in exploring on the issue in relation to employee‟s commitment to service quality in education setting. In related studies by Lo, Ramayah and Min (2009) in manufacturing industry, they reported of a strong and positive relationship between transformational leadership style and employees‟ continuance organizational commitment. This view was further supported by Boon and Arumugam (2006) in their study in semiconductor setting in Malaysia. They studied the influence of corporate culture on organizational commitment and found that in a corporate culture that placed emphasis in teamwork, communication, training and development and rewards, employees in return have indicated a significantly higher commitment to the organization goals. Past study by Kasim (2010) had attempted to explore the relationship of transformational leadership on the issue of gender among the deans, deputy deans and heads of department at the higher institutions in Malaysia. It was found that there was no significant relationship between gender and leadership style of transformational. However, in this turbulent and ever changing environment, transformational leaders are much needed, especially when the educational leaders were experiencing threats of mergers or a total collapse and thus there in need of drastic changes in order to survive. 3. Research Model and Hypothesis The proposed research model is depicted in Figure 3.1 below. TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP COMMITMENT TO SERVICE QUALITY Figure 3.1 : Conceptual Framework The hypothesized relationship between the dependent and independent variables is developed in the following paragraph. Due to their charismatic and visionary nature, transformational leaders tend to foster strong feelings of emotional attachments to the organization, team mates and superior‟s so much so that they are willing to â€Å"transcend their own self interest† for the organization and become partners (Narimawati, 2007). Employees who were under transformational leaders were also seen to exhibit a high sense of commitment in service organization (Emery Barker; 2007; Nguni et al.; 2006; McGuire Kennerly, 2006; Chen, 2004). As a result, the likelihood that transformational leadership styles would prompt high commitments especially when followers are made to realize that commitment to service quality will give their organization the competitive edge over other competitors and meet their customers‟ satisfaction. Based on this assumption, the following hypothesis is postulated: H1a: There is a significant positive relationship between transformational leadership style and the academic staff‟s commitment to service quality 4. Methodology and Research Design 4.1 Research Design This study was designed to investigate the relationship between independent variable of transformational leadership styles and dependent variable of commitment to service. The relevant units of analysis in this study focused on the academic staff in selected universities in Malaysia. Their perception of their immediate superiors such as the deans or heads of department or heads of schools were closely studied to identify their commitment to service quality. A quantitative cross sectional survey research was employed in this study. The survey was conducted on both public and private universities in Malaysia. Approximately 1076 questionnaires were sent out with a total of 387 responses. Overall the response rate was 36 percent which was slightly better than what was reported generally in the Malaysian context (Othman et al., 2001). To ensure similarity in characteristics, the  sample of respondent chosen was based on the following: i) a minimum academic staff‟s population of more than 150; and ii) the minimum number of ten (10) years of operation. Basically, universities were chosen due to geographical convenience for accessibility to the respondents. Past researches in the education context for examples: Arokiasamy et al. (2007), Noordin and Jusoff (2009) and Santhapparaj and Alam (2005) have also drawn most of their samples on the same basis and therefore have supported in terms of external validity of generalization of the findings (Ariffin,2006, Sakeran, 2005). 4.2 Survey Instrument The questionnaire for the study consists of three (3) sections meant to capture the variables related to the leadership style, commitment to service quality and also the demographic section related to the academic staff. Transformational leadership was measured by using 20 items adapted from a later version of MLQ instrument commonly known as MLQ 5x-short-forms. Although the factors that measure transformational leadership styles were distinctive, in this study a single dimensional construct for transformational style was adopted. This is in line with past empirical studies by Walumbwa et al. (2004, 2005) on transformational leadership construct. A recent modified version by Clark et al. (2009) was adapted in this study. A slight modification was made in order to complement the study context for measures for commitment to service quality items. Nine (9) items to measure the variable were selected. The items for both scale were measured on a 5-Point Likert-type scale, anchored by 1, â€Å"strongly disagree† through to 5, â€Å"strongly agree. To assess the reliability of the measurement items of all the variables, the researcher undertook Cronbach‟s Alpha coefficient analysis to test the reliability of the instruments. The instrument was tested for internal reliability and the following Table 2 demonstrates the scales generated. Table 2: Overall Internal Reliability Variables Transformational Leadership Style Commitment to service quality Reliability (Cronbach’s Alpha) 0.916 0.841 The reliability tests indicate an excellent reliability for all its components with a coefficient alpha of above 0.7 exceeding the minimum acceptable level as suggested by Nunnally and Berstein (1994). In order to ascertain that all the measurements in this study exhibits some degree of validity, content validity was conducted (Davis Consenza, 1988) in the pre-tested stage by soliciting the expert opinions of two professors from a university. After necessary modifications, the scale was also pre-tested to a set of respondents similar to the population as suggested by Davis and Consenza (1988). 5. Findings/ Discussion. Tables 3 below summarize the demographic profiles of the respondents. The sample also indicates that female respondents represented a slightly higher percentage of total samples (59%) when compared to the male respondents (41%). The majority of the respondents possessed Master degrees or others of similar level (71%) while 29 percent had completed their doctorate degree. Majority of the respondents were middle age of between 30 to 40 years of age (43%) followed by those between 40 to 50 years old (25%). About 18 percent of the academicians were younger of age of between 20-30 years. With reference to their experience in teaching, the sample showed a balance between those who had teaching experience of between 1 to 5 years (33%) and 5 to 10 years (28%).More than 47 percent of the respondents were from business faculty followed by faculty of information technology (12%). Table 3: Summary of Respondents’ Profile Variables Gender Frequency Percent Doctorate 113 29.20 274 70.80 20 30 Years 69 17.83 168 43.41 97 25.07 50 and above 53 13.69 1

Friday, September 20, 2019

A Multinational Computer Software Corporation Commerce Essay

A Multinational Computer Software Corporation Commerce Essay Microsoft Corporation is a multinational computer software corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington. With annual revenues of more than 50 billion, Microsoft Corporation is more than the largest software company in the world (Kooten, 2011). It was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975. In early school days, Bill Gates was the topper of the class. Bill and his friend Paul Allen starts to skip classes soon after they were introduced to computers in 1968 (Balu, 2011). They started to find out how these computers work, read books about them, and they started to write programs then, at the age of 13. After finishing schooling days, they joined Harvard University and this was the time when they got into full time into the world of computers. Gates was not graduated from Harvard University as he spent most of his time in computer center and his total interest in programming. The Microsoft Empire started when Bill Gates saw a copy of magazine in 1975 in which featured the new Altair 8800 microcomputer made by MITS computer. He showed MITS the application of the BASIC programming language for their computer. Gates and Allen moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico to be close to MITS Computer and this was where they established Microsoft. Like most start-ups, Microsoft begins small, but has a huge vision a computer on every desktop and in every home. The company was incorporated in 1981 and it became Microsoft Inc. They launched the first Windows operating system on November 20, 1985 (Microsoft, 2012). Microsoft is known globally for its Microsoft Windows operating system and Microsoft Office suite of products such as, Internet Explorer, Power Point, Excel and Word programs. The companys core business is on developing, manufacturing and licensing software products. Microsoft is committed to the mission of helping their customers to realize their full potential. They constantly update and improve their products, continually evolving their company to accelerate new technologies for serving their customers better. Therefore, there are a total of eight business divisions in Microsoft offering greatest potential to serve their customers. They are Online Services Division, Server and Tools Business, Microsoft Business Solutions, Microsoft Office Division, Interactive Entertainment Business, Windows Phone Division, Windows Windows Live Division and Skype. Led by Gates, Microsoft has succeeded in placing at least one of its products on virtually every personal computer in the world, setting industry standards and defining markets. Contents An effective organization should four important management functions in order to help managers to achieve organizations mission. The four management functions are namely: Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. In this content, we will analyze Microsoft Corporation in using these four management functions effectively. 2.1 Planning In this current global marketplace, a multinational corporation such as Microsoft is required to have a corporate culture and an inclusive business environment. Employees with varied perspectives, skills, and experiences are working together in this corporation to meet global consumer demands. The collaboration of cultures, ideas, and different perspectives is what that brings forth greater creativity and innovation. Microsoft found out that U.S. and global diverse markets represent tremendous sources of value in the workplace and marketplace. The growth of diverse populations worldwide and the potential of these segments make them important targets as prospective employees and customers. Economically, the diverse markets represent a growing source of market consumption and buying power, which makes them an important customer group for Microsoft. By increasing the diversity of workforce, they will create a team that capable of designing products that fulfil these growing customers needs. Employees actively seek guidance from their senior executive leadership team to ensure that diversity and inclusive best practices are deeply embedded throughout the working environment. Microsoft comes out with a strategy called Global Diversity Inclusion (GDI), which included: Representation: Building a Pipeline of Future Leaders Microsoft focuses on building its employee pipeline, while actively recruiting those with wide range of diverse backgrounds, highly trained individuals from around the world. Microsoft leverages relationships with schools and professional organizations to achieve diversity recruiting.   They offer programs that provide students the chance to interact with todays technology and learn about careers in this industry Inclusion: Creating Engagement in the Work Environment In order to sustain diversity gains, working environment must promote behaviours in a way that encourage employees to find new ways of problem-solving and reward diversity of thought. Thus, Microsoft provides leaders that have cultural competency training and GDI best practice management strategies, and offer employees the opportunities to build stakeholder relationships, thereby fostering a culture of inclusive behaviours. Innovation: Driving Market Excellence To build the best software, Microsoft incorporates the talents of varied workforce into products, and fulfils the needs and priorities of its diverse customers, suppliers and partner base. Microsoft works with certified and highly trained individuals, and also with small businesses that are seeking to purchase competitively priced quality goods and services from Microsoft. (A Vision and Strategy for the Future, 2012) 2.2 Leading Microsofts unveiling of the new Surface tablet, and with its planned $1.2 billion acquisition of Yammer, a social networking service, and the company is showing signs of actions of a market leader. Microsoft is going after Total World Domination, 100% market share in every market that it is involved in. They focus on risking profits to increase market share and go after a market with the view to dominate it. This is part of the reason which makes Microsoft the leading corporation. There are secrets of Microsofts management where the key points are, Bill Is Watching (Olaoluwa, 2012). Bill Gates philosophy, approach and strategic vision permeate the entire company. Project managers send reports regularly to Bill about the status of their projects in which the current status of the project and the problem that it faces must be stated in the report to ensure Bill knows what is happening. Bill often walks among the workers to see how projects are progressing and he gains a good understanding about what is going on with the projects by talking to the workers. Because Bill understands what is happening throughout the company, his decisions are generally the correct ones for the strategic direction of the company (Thielen, 1999). Besides, workers are given the freedom to create and work properly, but must at the same time be aware of the problems within and status of the project. There is an annual meeting every year for Microsoft employees that include entertainment as well as business. The idea is to keep all employees informed about what is going on in the company and the direction that it is taking. This reflects the management functions of leading in Microsoft. 2.3 Organizing Microsoft is a public corporation. Shareholders elect the board of directors, who in turn hire the top executives including the president, vice presidents, secretary, and treasurer. The company must follow Washington States laws regarding a corporation and must also abide by Securities and Exchange Commission regulations for financial reporting. As of November 2012, Steve Ballmer held the title of CEO, while co-founder Bill Gates was the chairman. According to Wikipedia, as of 2012, the company has a divisional organization. Each division, or product group, focuses on a specific line of goods and services. Each group has its own research and development, sales and customer service staff. Although this type of organization is more expensive and consumes more resources, but it allows the groups to better serve their customers. Each product group has one executive in charge who reports directly to the companys president. Microsofts five product groups are Windows Live Windows Group, which handles the PC operating software and Windows consumer products; Server Software, in charge of internet server software; Online Services, responsible for online advertising and Bing search engine; Microsoft Business, develops business related software and servers; Entertainment and Devices, assigned to handle the Xbox, Zune and software for the automotive industry. By managing the company in divisional form, the entire group is often in one location, allowing more interaction and better communication between all the employees developing or supporting one line of products. Having a smaller business unit means each division can develop new products and get them to market faster, making it easier to compete against rivals. Figure Organizational Structure of MicrosoftOrganizational Chart Microsoft TheOfficialBoard.jpg 2.4 Controlling Besides planning, leading and organizing, Microsoft also focuses in controlling. This management process is important to ensure activities are accomplished as planned and to correct any unwanted deviation. The controlling process includes monitoring, comparing, and correcting work performance. Microsoft often monitors the employees by personal observation. The company managers practices Management By Walking Around (MBWA). Bill Gates and other management staff of Microsoft often walk among the workers to monitor the progress of the project. By this way the top managers gains a good understanding on what is going on with that project. The employees of Microsoft are rate and measured according to accomplishments. A project failure will affect the employees rating negatively. But failure is expected to happen sometimes, and a failure is acceptable and will not give a permanent bad mark on the employees record, unless the employee fails continuously. This measuring style do not intent to belittle the employee, but to measure the work the employee most recently completed. The employees are not measured by whether the project fails or not, but how well they perform within their scope of responsibility. Employees with better performance will receive rewards as well as successful. If failure happens in a project, a post-mortem discussion is held where individuals discuss what went wrong and what could have bee n done better. 2.5 Factor that lead to success Marco Iansiti and Alan D. MacCormack stated that in any industry subject to rapid technological change, a firm faces two big challenges. The first is in recognizing the threats and opportunities that are caused by newly emerging technologies. The second is in mounting an effective response to these threats. Microsoft appears to have solved these problems, giving it the ability to quickly adapt to changing circumstances. Based on Sean Silverthorne, Microsoft has built-in sensing mechanisms to keep track of what is happening in the broader technological context which assist it to recognize threats. Much of this ability comes from its tools division, which tracks the needs of the many developers worldwide who write for Microsoft platforms. When these developers find attractive alternatives to Microsoft technologies as they did when the Internet first emerged, its not long before the tools division starts to hear about it. Microsoft also employed several thousand developers to constantly examining the potential of new technologies. In terms of responding to potential threats, Microsoft consistently plays to its strengths: its overall platform strategy, its existing knowledge base, and its process of componentization. For example, when developing the new Internet Explorer browser, the development team opted to leverage its existing programming model, despite the fact that this would initially slow the project down. From this point on, competitors in the browser space faced a formidable challenge. They were competing not only against the Explorer team, but also against the continual improvements made to Microsofts underlying platform over its many years of existence. 2.6 Future Challenges Even as Microsoft earns high ranking in worlds most powerful brand, profit, sales, assets and market value, their longstanding competitor, Apple, still holds higher ranking than Microsoft in all those aspects. Apple had now topped Microsoft to be the worlds most powerful brand, and it is clear that getting that first place again will be Microsoft greatest challenge. Now and again, Apple had introduced new innovations, especially products like iPad or iPhone, which generates more revenue than all of Microsofts wares combined. Apples innovations have earned Apple more attention and customers as compare with Microsoft. Microsoft challenge will be turning attention of consumers from Apple to Microsoft by coming out with new gadgets that are better than Apples product. Microsoft next challenge is to be flexible in their products. When Apple came out with gadgets with touch screen interfaces such iPhones and iPads, it grab consumers attention to buy the products because people like the convenience and uniqueness of the touch screen interface. Clearly touch screen interface is the trend, but Microsoft could not implement this new technology in their product because Microsofts software products are hardcore to only keyboard and mouse, not touch screen. As a result, Apple was able to grab more customers because of Microsoft inflexibility in its product. To dominate the market, Microsoft needs to be flexible in their product. Findings Conclusion As a summary, the four management functions which consist of: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling had been applied by Microsoft and this kind of management allows the organization to run smoothly in achieving their goals. The chosen example Microsoft stated that planning is the foundation of management, where all the management should built. Planning is importance as well, it determine and implemented to attain the organizations goals and objectives. Besides planning, the management should getting prepared, getting organized. Manager must organize all the resources well before putting into action. Furthermore, leading helps the manager to manage and supervise the actions of the subordinates. This helps them to assist the staff achieving organizations goals and enhancing their career goals which can influenced by leadership, communication, increment, promotion and motivation. Lastly, controlling helps to check the errors and to take the corrective action; therefore control is a tool for achieving organizational activities and also a continuous process. Nowadays, big organizations require managers to be flexible, adaptive, and innovative so to stay competitive. In order to reach these targets, managers must have various management techniques and practices. Managers should understand the fundamentals of the techniques and practices it before it can apply it. Without understanding the management basics, they cant be an effective and efficient manager. As a result, effective and efficient management leads to success, where it accomplishes the targets and objectives of the organizations. Of course, to achieve the ultimate goals, the managements need to work productively and innovative for solving problem with the four management functions mentioned earlier. Management not only has foreseen the desires of accomplishing the goals, but has to look into process that their method is practical and realistic for the company as well.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Crucible Coursework Essay -- Essay on The Crucible

The Crucible Coursework Essay The Crucible was written in 1952 by the playwright Arthur Miller. It is an allegory of the McCarthy ‘witch-hunts’ which occurred during the 1950’s. It was effectively the arrest and questioning of those suspected of communist views or that sympathised with communists. The USA was very suspicious of communists due to the Cold War between itself and the USSR. Joe McCarthy, leader of the governmental organisation, the Anti-Democracy Policy, headed the hunts. Arthur Miller was himself arrested by McCarthy. Miller was very irritated by this and decided that he wanted to protest by writing a satirical play. To have his play shown on Broadway he had to write an allegory based on his treatment and the insanity of the ‘witch-hunts’. The play is set in a fictional town named Salem in Massachusetts, USA in 1692, a period of American history when people were strict Christians. In Acts I, II and III we see a portrayal of local farmer John Proctor as he becomes involved in the injustices and realises the stupidity of the witch-hunts of Salem. In Act I we are introduced to Reverend Samuel Parris, a corrupted clergyman. He is insecure, bitter and paranoid about witchcraft infecting his parish, giving him a bad reputation. We learn that he has seen several girls dancing naked and casting spells in the nearby woods, including his daughter, Betty, niece, Abigail Williams and his housemaid, Tituba. Parris’ perversion could be seen as the ‘perversion’ of the autocratic 1950’s America. We also briefly establish John Proctor’s relationship with Abigail. An orphan, Abigail worked for him and his wife, Elizabeth as a housemaid until Elizabeth discovers that they were having an affair, ... ...cating that Proctor’s conscience has been eased. Danforth looks defeated here, showing us that Proctor’s truth and ability to stay strong has quashed the judge. Proctor is then sent to be hanged, and arrives in a cart carrying Goody Nurse, an innocent woman also condemned to death. In the shot both he and Goody Nurse are standing implying that they are closer to Heaven than the crowds below that have come to see them executed. We see a close-up of Elizabeth and at this point the music becomes powerful, showing her strong character. As they begin to recite the Lord’s Prayer we see that the accused are true Christians, though by not being allowed to finish the prayer, we see that justice has now been overcome. Through his own interpretation, the director presents the film in a way that remains true to the original themes and ideas of Miller’s play.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Essay --

Equality is on a broad spectrum in the world. What does equality and freedom actually mean? And is America really equal. We are going to explore some of the most famous people who set standard for us to be called equal. Several years ago it was a fight for many people around the country to be able to call themselves free, now what do we have to show for that. The new generation coming into to the world are becoming lazy and not learning what it actually mean to be free and equal. America was made a free country, but there are still injustice things here and on the uprising. Did Dr. King really make a change? Did Emmett till get us to listen and open our minds? Or was it Abraham who tried to get people to hear his speech about freedom? All of these men did something to help change how segregate and unfair laws were back then. But what can do to make these men continue to be the reason why we call ourselves free? The people of today and tomorrow have to do better because yes, a lot has changed, but that doesn’t mean it will stay this way. I heard that history repeats itself and if that is true then the upcoming generations are going to have to get on board and continue to strive for equality and freedom. I don’t think America is truly free nor are the American people just settling because they know that this freedom might be as far as we can go. Sometimes settling isn’t the right thing to do if we are unhappy with the situation we are in we should change it. As Obama said, I know my country has not perfected itself. And at times, we’ve struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We’ve made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best inten... ...ll trying to figure itself out. Lincoln dedicated his speech to the dead because they died in vain and he wanted them to be happy to see a country that was equal. Equality today is much different than it was during Lincoln’s days and it’s come a long way, but there is still a long way to go. To conclude, we have had a fair share of struggle to get America to where it is now. In a way we are a free country because of what these three men have sacrificed, but we will not continue this way if we do not keep striving for more. We have to set an example for new generation coming up and we have to let people know that the work our ancestors and people like Dr. King, Emmett, and Abraham did not work for nothing. The day will come when history might repeat itself, but we need to be prepared and ready so that when it appears we will not let our future return as our past.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Happiness and Christmas

Does the spirit of Christmas bring meaning to your life as Christian-Catholic-Muslim? a) As a student As a student, Christmas means a good long vacation. To be able to share and cherish with old friends, new found friends, to our families and to everyone that’s been part of our lives. It’s also a time to forgive and forget about all the pain and trouble caused by our classmates or instructors. So let bygones be bygones so to speak. It’s the best time to be merry outside school pressures and give oneself a break like going to places for vacation or visiting a relative, experiencing life beyond school zone.Even a student deserves a merry Christmas and enjoy every moment of it for all its worth. b) Your family â€Å"The best Christmas of all is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up with one another. † Every family has it’s own traditions and habits. Every family is made up of a group of unique people who have one thing in common – a shar ed love and care for each other’s well-being. Christmas is an opportunity for people of all ages to stop and think about the priorities in your life, about the people that matter most.This is why Christmas can be a painful time for some people because they see other people’s happiness at a time of bad memories and loss. This is also why Christmas is a time for family. No-one should be alone over Christmas. Christmas means many things to different people. What is true for all is that Christmas is a time for family. Christmas is a time for giving and receiving, for caring and sharing. Christmas is a time for making an effort to be with those who are important to us.It allows us to be together and do things that don’t happen every day, to bond deeper and appreciate each other even more. Whatever we think of Christmas, Christmas is about spreading love to everyone. It’s a perfect time to be happy and cleanse our heart and soul. c) Your faith Christmas can be a season of great joy. It is a time of God showing His great love for us. It can be a time of healing and renewed strength. Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of the Christ child, God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to be born. His birth brought great joy to the world.It is also a time for the completion of masses, a way of showing our great love for Jesus. We can truly be happy at Christmas! No matter what may be happening, we can know that we are His children. We then become sons and daughters of God. Whatever our beliefs, we should look at Christmas in a new way this year. This is the year to invite Jesus into our hearts. We will then have a â€Å"Merry Christmas. † The joy and peace we will receive will last all year as we look to God for all our needs to be met. Jesus Is The Reason For The Season†¦.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Social Issue

Juvenile compensated dating and ways to tackle it It has recently arouse to the public’s attention that the issue of juvenile Enjo kosai, in English means juvenile compensated dating, has been worsening in Hong Kong. According to the survey reports conducted by The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong (FPAHK) in 2011 and the Hong Kong Association of Sexuality Educators, Researchers and Therapists (HKASERT) in 2009, 23% of school girls accepted compensated dating behavior with almost 24% among them accepted compensated dating with sexual transection; and nearly 5% of school girls had engaged in this immoral activity.School girls involving compensated dating may easily fall victim to both physical harm as well as mental illness. In order to alleviate this worrisome situation, people might propose prohibiting this immoral activity by legislation. However, it is not an entirely effective way to put an end on this issue. Rather, we have to combat with its root causes, girls inv olved in compensated dating since they have inadequate sexual knowledge, they are being materialist and they are lack of care and love.These problems can be tackled by arranging a compulsory sex education class, create a â€Å"Values of Life† topic in Liberal Studies and increase the number of school social workers. First, school girls involved in compensated dating because they have inadequate sexual knowledge. FPAHK’s Youth Sexuality Study (2011) revealed 67% and 19% girl respondents believe that external ejaculation is an effective contraception method and the number of sexual partners is not related to the chance of infecting sexually transmitted diseases respectively.School girls were lack of knowledge about the seriousness and the adverse effects of inappropriate sexual relationships. Both physical harm and emotional problem will inevitably result. They might get pregnant accidentally and they might suffer in venereal diseases, like AIDS and HIV, which are incura ble. Besides, they might lose faith in relationship and having impaired feeling of self-esteem. Consequently, they might suffer in mental illness like depression, or even suicidal thought. Their ignorance of sex knowledge led them to underestimate the vigilance of improper sexual relationship, as a result, they involved in compensated dating.Another root cause of compensated dating is school girls are being materialist. They desire for materials and money in order to show off to others or make others think highly of them. In their mind, the importance of money and materials transcend morality, dignity and chastity. The HKASERT’s survey of compensated dating (2009) indicated that 87% girl respondents involved in compensated dating to earn money to enable high consumption (for example, to purchase well-known brand handbags). School girls pursue for materialistic satisfaction, their greed for money and luxury gifts led them think these are much precious than their body and digni ty.Thus, school girls involved in compensated dating for supporting their conspicuous consumption. Apart from school girls’ ignorance and desire, lack of care and love also make a lead to their participation in compensated dating. They were lack of parental love due to various reasons like their parents had long working hours or even need to work abroad. The HKASERT’s survey report indicated that 43% girl respondents engaged in this immoral activity to look for the feeling of being loved while a huge partial among them were grown in single-parent or broken families.They might engage in compensated dating because of their pathetic background. So instead of blaming them for engaging in this immoral behavior unwisely, tackling this worrisome issue by arranging a compulsory sex education class, create a â€Å"Values of Life† topic in Liberal Studies and increase the number of school social workers are much more rational actions before the situation deteriorate. To c ombat compensated dating, most schools arrange some related talks. These talks might help to alert students about the seriousness of this improper activity shortly.In long-term, introducing a compulsory Sex Education Subject in primary schools and secondary schools could help to strengthen sex education among juveniles in Hong Kong. Sex Education has much more pressing needs than the national education. It could awaken school girls the seriousness and the adverse effect and improper sex relationship and strengthen their vigilance. However, sex education might result in the issue of compensated dating being more rampant as school girls access to relevant nowledge about the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and contraception methods. Another way to prevent compensated dating is to develop a right value among girls. They engaged in compensated dating out of avarice. Create a new topic about Values of Life in Liberal Studies could help them to build up a right values of life, dignity and chastity should take precedence over money and materials, teach them to cherish their precious bodies. Spiritual wealth is much important than material wealth. They need not compare with others or follow the trend.However, it is hard to refuse following trends with friend under peer pressure or they might isolate by their friends. Besides, arrange more group activities or hiking trips so that they could feel the spiritual happiness from friends and the nature. Nevertheless, there might not be enough time for such time consuming activities. Often, girls engaged in compensated dating were grown in single-parent or broken families, they were lack of parental love and care; therefore, deploying additional social worker at school to care the need of those girls would be an effective approach.Social workers could express solicitude by chatting and communicating with them regularly in order to give girls feeling of being cared and love. Social worker could provide professional counseling support when they seek for assistance. It is worth though it would directly increase schools’ financial expenses. The above solution could help alleviating the worrisome situation of compensated dating. The most important way to tackle this issue is not by tough measures like forcing them to stop this immoral activity, this is just a palliatives way.Instead, by soft approach, strengthen their sex knowledge, building real values of life and showing care and love to them could help to alleviate the issue of compensated dating when they were conscious of the seriousness of this immoral behavior. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Compensated dating: Men (male) give  money  and/or luxury gifts to women (female) for their companionship and, possibly, for sexual favors. (Wikipedia) [ 2 ]. Conspicuous consumption:  the spending of  money  for and the acquiring of  luxu ry goods  and services to publicly display economic power. (Wikipedia)

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Kamikaze, Japan’s Suicide Gods Essay

Kamikaze is a Japanese word meaning â€Å"divine wind†. ‘Kami’ means ‘divine’ and ‘kaze’ ‘wind’. Kamikaze owes its origins to the 1274 and 1281 typhoons which wrought havoc on invasion forces from Mongolia. A Japanese World War II pilot specially trained to destroy an enemy ship by crashing on it was referred to as kamikaze. The plane to be used for such an attack, usually laden with explosives also bore the same name. Special air suicide attack units were given this name in World War II in 1944-45. The kamikaze concept originated from lower ranks officers in the field when they reported that pilots and crew were experiencing accidental crashes. Captain Motoharu first brought up the subject and led to the launch of initial investigations on the feasibility and modes of executing deliberate assaults. The Thunder Gods project was initiated soon afterwards in 1944 (Axell, 2002, p. 13) The first formal mention of kamikaze missions was in august 1944 when the Domei News Agency reported that Takeo Tagata, A flight instructor, was training pilots for suicide attacks in Taiwan. It is also claimed that the first kamikaze mission was carried out on September 13th 1944 after which the 31st Fighter Squadron of the army based on Negros Island imitated the following day. Takeshi Kosai, First Lieutenant and a sergeant, destined to crash into carriers, took off in separate fighter planes each loaded with 100 kilogram bombs. Other sources assert that the US cruiser, USS Reno CL96 was suicide bombed on October 14th 1944. It is also claimed that the commander of the 26th Air Flotilla, Captain Masafumi Arima, developed the kamikaze concept. He led 100 Yokosuka D4Y dive bombers to attack Franklin, an aircraft carrier on October 15th 1944. Arima got killed in the assault and was rewarded with the post of Admiral posthumously. Top ranking Japanese military officials embraced Arima’s example as a source of military propaganda. The attack of Suluan Island by Allied forces set off the battle of Leyte Gulf. The responsibility of destroying the Allied forces in Leyte Gulf lay with the 1st Air Fleet of the Japanese Navy. The 1st Air Fleet had the limitation of having only 40 planes: 3 Nakajima B6N Tenzan Torpedo bombers, 34 Mitsubishi zero fighters, 1 Mitsubishi G4M and 2 Yokosuka P1Y Ginga land bombers. This made the task ahead appear impossible and prompted Vice Admiral Takijiro Onishi, the 1st Air Fleet commandant to constitute the Special Attack Unit. Onishi told the 201st flying group pilots of the plan on October 19th at a meeting at Mabalacat airfield near Manila. The assault would involve crashing a zero bomber with 250 kilogram bomb and ramming it into a US carrier with a view of grounding all American carriers. The initial plan was to only involve volunteers in such attacks. Onishi lied to the pilots that their commander, Captain Sakai Yamamoto, already knew of the plan when the pilots requested for an approval from their own boss. Yamamoto was, however, in hospital after a motor vehicle accident and thus he was not privy to Onishi’s plans. The 23 pilots in attendance volunteered and hence the first anti-Allied forces suicide strikes at Leyte were executed in a few days time (Astor, 1999, 32). The impact of the kamikaze strikes was momentous, damage greater than any preceding one was inflicted on the allied forces ships. The Japanese military top officials decided to have humans man rocket-propelled bombs, an operation they called Thunder Gods. The task of designing the flying bomb was signed to the Japan Aeronautical Research Laboratory. This was to counter the problems experienced in the remote guidance of German rockets and the threat of the advancing Allied forces. The Thunder Gods project initially had 100 volunteers whose training was parallel to the construction of the pioneer 150 Ohka rocket bombs. Japan’s strategy was the stationing of Thunder Gods in Formosa and the Philippines. American submarines and carrier ships didn’t allow maneuvering south from Japan. The November 27th 1944 sinking of Shinano, Japan’s carrier ship, by Archerfish, the American submarine, proved that America had firmly held its base in the region. Shinano held the first batch of 50 Ohkas. Unryu, a Japanese carrier loaded with the next 30 Ohkas was also sunk a few weeks later while traveling to the Philippines. It then became clear that Thunder Gods project would be fail. Students were mandated to recite the oath of the Imperial Rescript on Education as a ritual after the decree was passed in 1890. The oath stated that individuals would offer themselves, including sacrificing their lives, to the state as well as protect the Imperial family. Under the oath, dying for the emperor or for Japan was honorable. The Meiji restoration saw the establishment of Shinto as a state religion. Shinto doctrines were rampant in Japan in 1944 to 1945 and they were instrumental in the promotion of nationalism. Many Japanese were of the view that to be honored at the Yasukumi shrine, which the Emperor visited twice yearly, was a great honor. Many sailors, pilots and soldiers were thus mentally prepared to die and become eirei, ‘guardian spirits’ of the country (Axel, Kase, 2002, p. 35). Books and newspapers published stories, articles and advertisements about the suicide bombers after the kamikaze strategy was adopted. A case in point is the Nippon Times October 1944 issue which ran an article with the view of aiding the recruitment of the special attack corps. The propaganda that kamikaze were enshrined at Yasukumi from publishers and exaggerated stories of the kamikaze added to the Japanese ideology that kamikaze were divine people. Peer pressure also had a hand in popularizing the kamikaze. The Japanese government also had its share in the fanning of the kamikaze spirit by falsely declaring victories (Axell, Kase, 2002, p. 38). Ancient folklore also helped in the recruitment of volunteers into the suicide missions. For instance, it was widely believed that the bonds connecting an individual to his family were similar to the ones that joined him to his nation. The Japanese so valued their close relationship with both the emperor and the nation that they were convinced that it would be useless to be Japanese if one didn’t have this links. Spiritistic ceremonies were held to bid kamikaze farewell before they departed to their assignments. The Japanese flag or the Japanese naval flag with spiritually inspirational words written on it were given to the kamikaze. The soldiers also drank sake; a-rice based alcoholic drink, before leaving. A headband with the rising sun and sennibari, a belt with a thousand stitches each made by a single woman were also among the kamikaze insignia. The kamikaze were also supposed to compose a death poem and read it. This feat borrows heavily from the samurai, a pre-industrial Japan military nobility. Samurai also composed and read a death poem before undertaking seppuku, a Japanese disembowelment ritual. It is alleged that the kamikaze pilots flew southwest over mount Kaimon. The pilots then looked back to face the mountain, said farewell to Japan and saluted the mountain. This is an indication that some spiritism was associated with the kamikaze missions (Astor, 1998, p. 47). The 1281 AD invasion of Japan by Mongols prompted the emperor to pray for divine salvation. A huge typhoon came up and drowned the enemy by sinking their ships. The typhoon was called kamikaze or the ‘divine wind’. This episode was one inspiration of the kamikaze suicide missions in World War II. The pilots had the divine mission of destroying their enemy. Suicide pilot manuals instructed pilots to obtain a high level of spiritual training, be always pure-hearted and cheerful and to maintain perfect health conditions. This instructions were found in a book ‘Transcend life and death’ which were given to each pilot. Pilots were supposed to loudly yell ‘Hissatsu’ translated ‘sink without fail’ moments before crashing into a target. Many kamikaze had the conviction that by crashing into a target, they would pay the debts they owed their friends’ families and the Emperor. The heavy sanctions imposed on Japan by the United States and Washington’s order for Japan to vacate China precipitated the Pacific war in which kamikaze were utilized (Astor, 1998, p. 54). References Astor, G. (1999). The greatest war: Americans in combat, 1944-1945. California, United States. Presidio Press, pp. 32, 47, 54 Axell, A. & Kase, H. (2002). Kamikaze: Japan’s suicide gods. London, United Kingdom. Longman Publishers, Pp. 13, 35, 38

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Morality and Competitor Essay

No doubt, Money is an essential, almost indispensable article in the present day world. It is the’ money’ through which we can purchase all the necessary comforts and amenities of life. If you have money, you can obtain what seems impossible to others. It is the money which gives man, confidence, creditworthiness, credentials, capacity, capabilities and courage. In present day materialistic world, money has become very powerful. In the present day corruption, cut throat competition, callous degradation of moral and ethical values, are for the sake of grabbing and accumulating more and more money. The prestige, respect, social status, commanded by a person is calculated per his monetary status. Time has gone, when we valued a person in evaluated of his moral and ethical values. People were earlier known for keeping their words, for donating every thing to a donee. Now people are know in terms of their ranking in the list of rich of the world. Money has become the centre of all activities. Money and muscle power have become essential ingredients of a successful political leader. Money is regarded as omnipotent by a few people, particularly by the poor. As whatever one does not possess, one aspires it badly, and it becomes mono aim of achievement. For the rich, that owe lots of money, still craving to earn more and more, by hook or by crook, with fair or foul means, without caring even for their own health, own family. They are the servants of money, earning money not for the sake of themselves but for the sake of money and a time comes they find themselves unable to use the money for their happiness. They are unable to eat, unable to taste the most delicious dish, unable to move, walk or enjoy because they suffer from many diseases which are the result of their undue craving for wealth at the cost of health. Can one purchase anything with the power of money? No, one cannot. You cannot purchase inner satisfaction with money, you cannot purchase the lost youthfulness with money, you cannot purchase time from the death at any cost. Those who earn money simply to a have more money, more balance in their accounts are no better than the proverbial miser king ‘Midas’. Excessive love for money, make a man slave of money. Money is important for our life, but it is not the most important thing for a human being. Those who use money for fulfilling their necessities, acquiring reasonable comforts and for the welfare of a common good, are the masters of money. But those who earn money just for the sake of increasing its volume and number are slaves of the money. They are the most unfortunate creatures of God who know well that whatever money they are earning, can’t be taken an iota of that when they die even they are minting more and more money. What a paradox Money has become their master and they are just slaves, having no peace of mind, no moral and ethical values, no inner satisfaction. So it is rightly said that money is a good servant but a bad master. Let us use the money for our comfort, not for the sake of money, minting more and more money.

Bookstore Inventory System

Table of Contents Introduction Statement of the Problem Theoretical Framework Conceptual Framework Significance of the Study Scope and Delimitation of the Study Definition of Terms Introduction Information Technology has brought different changes in the environment especially in the growth of advanced technology. Modern technology is used by many companies and other business establishment either private / public in order to benefit the advantages that it brings to businesses. They use a computer as one of the devices to work easier and faster. It is one of the aspects considered in order to gain success in the competitive world of business. Information Communication Technology or ICT is used as a general term for all kinds of technology which enable users to create access and manipulate information. ICT is a combination of information technology and communications technology. In an increasingly interconnected world, the interactions among devices, systems, and people are growing rapidly. Businesses need to meet the demands of their employees and customers to allow for greater access to systems and information. All of these communications needs must be delivered in a unified way. By offering a scalable infrastructure, cloud computing models enable companies to work smarter through more agile and cost-effective access to technology and information. This unified platform reduces costs and boosts productivity across business. Part of an information and communications technology roadmap should involve consolidating infrastructures, while providing added benefits to users in collaboration, messaging, calendaring, instant messaging, audio, video, and web conferencing. Cloud computing is driving more efficient IT consumption and delivery and taking ICT to the next level. The importance of having an efficient and robust Bookstore Inventory and Sales System cannot be understated. As technology continues to evolve, customers are demanding streamlined customer service and instant access to easier transaction process. Bookstore Inventory and Sales System generates customer service processes, increases efficiency and improves technological factors. Statement of the Problem This system aims to handle transactions and to have a success in customer interaction presents. 1. How can the customer view the details of a certain item they need. 2. How can the administrator view all the records of the entire customer. 3. How can the administrator compute the bills of the customer. 4. How the administrators can add and delete customer’s record. 5. How can the administrator manage the customers. Theoretical Framework Bookstore Inventory and Sales System provides the easiest way in customer service. At this point, our system is one whom we designed for the purpose. First, a user can register either an administrator or a clerk provided the questions and requirements asked as he go through the process then if successful, he will be automatically registered in the logs. If registered as administrator, he can do all changes in every transaction on sales and records for the authority is in that position. He can delete, edit, or add in the records available. He can also view all the stocks and the total sales in a certain date. On the other hand, clerk, he can only do things that only a clerk can do such as do transactions with the customer purchasing in a certain date and record it accordingly. Conceptual Framework Significance of the Study This system will be able to lessen the difficulty of service providers in finding and locating the book/s the customer want to buy. With corresponding details and price of each book, the clerk can be able to automatically inform the customer. This system will also help them know the quantity of books and stocks available. This will also function as a sales inventory for all the transactions recorded accordingly. This system will be able to lessen the time – consuming processes for clerk and customers, create a quick and easy ambiance for all transactions, to develop a customer clerk interaction with a good atmosphere, and especially to increase the number of sales because of the good services it provides. Scope and Delimitation From manual system to automated system is a very hard job to do but for an easier way it is designed to make the work faster. This inventory system can keep all the information and transactions in the computer. The admin can do change if the customers can’t achieve his/her needs. Admin/Clerk can compute the bills of the customers in an easiest way. This system can display all the customers’ information and needs. The customers can have his/her record in the computer and can have his/her service in details as he/she has requested. Definition of Terms 1. The act or process of making a complete list of the things that are in a place. 2. Sales The total amount of money that a business receives from selling goods or services. 3. Transaction A business deal: an occurrence in which goods, services, or money are passed from one person, account, company to another. 4. Bill An itemized statement of money owed for goods shipped or services rendered. 5. Clerk A person whose job is to keep track of records and documents for a business or office. 6. Administrator A person who controls the use of something (such as property or money).

Friday, September 13, 2019

Law and Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Law and Society - Essay Example He expounded on several approaches to conflict management and then justifies why his movement has chosen the one he calls, â€Å"direct action†. In this regard, the essay will be used to analyze the conflict management approaches presented by Donald Black. Forms of Conflict Management Discuss and define the 3 approaches: From the lecture notes on Law as Social Control, there are three general approaches to resolving conflict are categorized into unilateral, bilateral and through third party. The unilateral form actually focuses on toleration where it was noted that the victim is perceived to be socially inferior or estranged from the offender. The bilateral form is parallel with applying negotiation techniques where both parties are deemed of equal status and seek some form of agreement or arrangement to settle their conflicts that would be amenable to both. Finally, if despite all resolutions techniques have been exhausted and conflicts remain unresolved, the third-party sett lement form requires seeking a neutral third party (not affiliated to any of the offending nor offended parties) to evaluate the issue and arrive at the most appropriate solution. Description of Circumstances for Application of Conflict Management Forms Using Donald Black’s article, entitled â€Å"Crime as Social Control†, the forms of conflict management are: toleration, negotiation, settlement, law and self-help. Self-help was defined by Black (1983) as â€Å"the expression of a grievance by unilateral aggression such as personal violence or property destruction† (p. 34). Law, on the other hand, was noted as a form of governmental social control (Black, 1983, p. 41). His focus was to present law and self-help as forms of conflict management that functions more as social control mechanisms. Using these forms of conflict management in the case of King, from the circumstances relayed in his letter, he clearly noted the application of a rational four step process in his nonviolent campaign in conflict management, to wit: â€Å"collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action† (King, 1963, p. 1). But evidently, the form of unilateral form of conflict management was applied when toleration was upheld for the longest time. King averred that â€Å"we have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights† (King, 1963, p. 3). Since he acknowledged that colored people have been discriminated and prejudiced for so long exemplifying the inferior status socially imposed, this form was therefore eventually rejected as effective and applicable. The bilateral form of conflict management had been applied when King noted that negotiations were apparently tried but proven ineffective. As proven, there were negotiations (or supposedly agreed upon settlements) made between the leaders of the Birmingham’s economic community and the Negro citizens in t erms of removing racial signs in merchants’ stores, for instance. Apparently, these leaders and merchants failed to comply with the promise as few signs were briefly removed but return eventually and others were not removed at all (King, 1963, p. 2). Therefore, ordinary negotiations were proven to be ineffective and were arbitrarily rejected by King. Likewise, the direct action through demonstrations were a call for further negotiations possible seeking third party infusion to resolve the conflict by invoking public protests to make others aware that there is a need to bring justice and equality to the oppressed. This option was regarded as the best course of action for reasons identified and justified below. Law intercedes in King’s quest for conflict resolution through admitting that their direct action do no violate any persisting law or