Personal Development Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Personal Development Plan - Essay Example It shall also evaluate team building theories and the implications for effective management of practice. Finally, this paper shall justify my managerial style within the workplace. In effect, this paper shall critically analyse the evidence base for the action plan with the application of current management theories. Discussion As stated in the personal development plan, I need to develop my communication skills. At present, my communication skills are limited and they need improvement; more particularly, my English speaking skills need improvement. Communication is an important part of effective management because it assists in my self-improvement and it aids in successful management (Adair, 2009, p. 4). By increasing reading materials, I can improve my reading and writing skills; and by enrolling in private English classes, I can improve my grammar and syntax, as well as my technical writing skills. These methods can help inject confidence into my speaking, reading, writing, and li stening skills (Lehman, 2007, p. 69). Improving communication is a basic need or skill which has to be fulfilled before I can move on to bigger goals. Fulfilling this need is very much in keeping with the theory as set forth by Abraham Maslow and his hierarchy of needs (Outward Bound, 2007, p. 56). There are different theories and motivation and leadership, and these theories affect the management of organizations. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, people start off fulfilling first their physiological needs and then go on to fulfil their safety, social, esteem, and finally self-actualization needs (Owston, n.d). People therefore can be motivated by their basic needs and also by other more noble goals or causes. For some employees, their motivation in working can start off with the basic need to feed their families (Marchionini, 2006, p. 42). At this stage, they would not look beyond the purpose of their work besides feeding themselves and their family. However, once t heir basic purpose is served, they go beyond that basic goal into higher goals – perhaps, that of saving for their family, and later serving humanity through their work (Marchionini, 2006, p. 42). In my case, my motivation for improving on my communication and eventually my information technology (IT) skills is to maximize use of our organizations’ IT programs. In terms of leadership, the loftier goal for many world leaders has been on the motivation of their armies – with one side insisting that his goal has more moral worth than the others (Owston, n.d). In this case, some leaders may see the need to deliver pain or threats in order to motivate, and others believe that doing so would not be effective ways of motivating people. In other ways, promising more tangible things like money, food, and even excitement can serve better ways of motivating people (Owston, n.d). In managing change, Maslow’s approach to leadership basically welcomes change because a member or even a leader eventually moves up in the hierarchy of needs. Once he fulfils a need, he has to change and move beyond that need on to bigger and better things (Koltko-Rivera, 2006, p. 302). Maslow’s theory therefore, handles and manages change well. McGregor divided human management into the

No Phones in School Essay Example for Free

No Phones in School Essay Cell phones are good for education. Cell Phones are good for education for many reasons. First you can use cell phones for research purposes. Although most schools have at least 1 computer in the classroom and a computer lab, sometimes this still isn’t enough. It can also be expensive to provide a computer to each student at school, so a good option is to use cell phones for research instead. Next, I want to talk about why apps are good for education. Some people think that some apps are bad and kids will get distracted and use them in class. And the truth is that cell phones have many educational apps as well. Which do you think would be more fun and exciting for a student? Either studying with a boring book that is hard to understand, or playing an educational app that is still studying, but much more exciting. I would definitely choose the second choice. Here are some good features of phones that are good for school: 1.Calculator. It doesn’t matter if your phone is expensive or not, almost every single phone has a calculator. Lots of students are required to have a calculator as one of their school supplies, but if they have one on their phone, then they don’t have to get one. 2. Stop Watch. Lots of phones have a stopwatch, which can be used in science class. I know that when I was in public school we used stopwatches all the time for experiments, and the teacher only had 3 stopwatches so we had to take turns. 3. Dictionary. Cell phones can be used as a dictionary, which can be VERY useful in a classroom setting. You can always search on the Internet for the definition, or if you classroom or school doesn’t have wi fi, you can text to 466-456 the word you need defined and Google will text you back the definition of that term.

A history of hand gestures

A history of hand gestures In this paper I will talk about the part of nonverbal communication called gestures. A gesture is a movement of the body or a part of it that is expressive of thought or feeling. However there is a degree of voluntarism. If someone pinches you and you flinch that is not a gesture. (Kendon, 1997) Gestures are a common part of communication that we all use to communicate everyday and most of us do not even think twice about using them. As gestures can include a wide range of things a narrower focus is required. For this paper I will be focusing on gestures specifically involving the use of hands and/or fingers. First I will talk about research done on gestures. Second I will talk about the interaction between gestures and verbal language. Lastly I will apply the use of gestures to personal friendships using , examples from an episode from the television show Smallville. Research Let us first consider primates such as apes and chimpanzees. Primates are mostly visual animals. Just as in humans, for primates vision is more highly developed than any of the other four senses including the sense of sound. Consider for a moment what this might mean. Primates, with the exception of humans, have much better cortical control over hand movements than over voice, which is mostly restricted to emotionally based sounds controlled by sub cortical structures. This means that early hominids would have been better at expressive, voluntary communication using hands. Perhaps this explains why it is much easier to teach higher level primates sign language than it is to teach them to speak. One early study showed that a chimpanzee raised by humans could learn to speak only three or four words but gorillas and chimpanzees have learned several hundred manual signs. (Corballis, 1999) However primates other than humans are restricted in using hands for communications because the arms and hands are also involved in postural support and locomotion. Most primates are adapted for living above ground in the tress. Apes live on the ground but move in a four legged fashion. Our closest genetic relatives, chimpanzees and gorillas, use what is known as knuckle walking in which the upper body is supported by the knuckles. Hominids are bipedal, walking upright which leaves their hands and arms free. (Corballis, 1999) There is speculation that the split that resulted in some great apes becoming hominids may have been caused by the formation of the Great Rift Valley in Africa. Those apes which were to become hominids were largely confined to the east of the valley. The discovery of a 3.5 million year old fossil in Chad which is west of the valley has caused some argument. However all other hominid fossils from between four million and two million years ago have been found to the east of the Great Rift Valley. Here the forests gave way to open grasslands called savannas. This new environment would have provided unique challenges for early hominids. They would have been vulnerable to specialized hunters and killers, the ancestors of tigers, lions, and hyenas. In this environment communication using gestures would have been much more effective than vocal communication. It is silent so predators are not alerted. It is also fundamentally spatial, and most of the information would be spatial, such as loc ations of predators, easy prey, or food. The earliest language being gestural would help explain how words came to be abstract rather than iconic. (Corballis, 1999) A leading figure in gesture research is psychologist Susan GoldinMeadow who has done several studies about the role of gestures in learning. It is a well established fact that students learn better if both words and hand gestures are used. Consider for example a teacher trying to illustrate water being poured into two containers of equal volume but different heights. The teacher will place one hand on top of the other and move them to illustrate differences in height. (Watts, 2006) Context We do not always gesture when we speak. Also the type of gesture, the role in relation to what is being said, and the role in relation to the situation vary. If you wanted a person to stay away you would not use a gesture telling them to come closer. Someone of the other gender gesturing for you to come closer has different meaning then if it is done by a friend or parent. If you are talking about a fish you caught you will hold your hands apart horizontally versus if you are describing how big a baby has gotten your hand would be vertical. (Kendon, 1997) Just like language gestures are not uniform to a culture or country. In the United States you wave your hand to say hello and goodbye. If you were in northern Europe you would wag your hand at the wrist. In Greece and Italy your palm would face inward and your fingers would be curled in. In Japan you bow slightly. How long and how deep you bow depends on the person. Lets go back to my earlier example of a gesture that means to come here. Here we curl one finger, usually the index, or all four fingers towards us. In the Philippines do not use the index finger. It is only used for dogs. In Latin America the index finger is a come on. In Indonesia and Australia its used for prostitutes. In southern Europe using all your fingers would be saying goodbye. In Korea you would hold your arm out and move your fingers up and down. If someone puts their hand out in front with the fingers outspread here it means stop. In Lebanon it means no. If you were in Greece its a curse. In Spain, Nigeria, a nd Chile it also has rude meanings. In the United States you typically point with your index finger to someone or something. In Europe pointing is not considered polite. In Africa you only point the index finger at inanimate objects. In China and Japan pointing is very rude. In Indonesia pointing with your index finger is very rude but you can use your thumb. In Zambia it is all right to point to objects. And In France if you do point it is best to do it discretely. (Kachka, 2008) Some gestures are country specific. In the Netherlands grabbing a nonexistent fly in front of your face is saying someone is nuts. In Poland flicking a finger against someones neck means you want them to join you for a drink. You only do this with close friends. In Russia giving someone a thumbs up and making a sprinkling motion over it means job well done. In India you say sorry by tapping someone on the shoulder and touching your forehead. In Turkey pretending to throw salt over your shoulder with an open palm means dont worry about it. (Kachka, 2008) Just like words gestures have their own origins. But since gestures predate verbal communication and thus written record the origins are difficult to trace. This does not keep people from speculating. Here is a myth behind a common gesture; the Roman emperors thumbs down gesture telling the gladiator to finish off the other gladiator. Todays popular culture has it that a thumbs down meant death while a thumbs up would grant the loser his life. There is no evidence of this. In fact most scholars now believe that the finish him gesture was a thumbs up while a thumb hidden inside a fist spared the loser. This is not absolutely verified. However since the thumbs up was an insult in Roman times this makes more sense than the accepted folklore. (Kachka, 2008)Application Now we will exam hand gestures in friendship. To do this we will be examining an episode of the CW show Smallville. As you might guess this show centers around the character Clark Kent played by actor Tom Welling. The series follows Clark as he deals not only with his developing powers and fighting meteor freaks (people exposed to Kryptonite who gain special abilities) but also school, friends, and crushes. Clark has two best friends, Pete Ross and Chloe Sullivan. The episode we will be focusing on is the episode Duplicity in which Pete finds out Clarks secret. The other notable characters in the episode include Clarks parents, Lex Luthor, and Dr. Hamilton. After Lex refuses to give Dr. Hamilton, who is dying from exposure to meteor rocks, any more funding for his research Dr. Hamilton runs someone off the road. Pete comes along and while helping the man comes across Clarks spaceship which was lost in a tornado in the season one finale. Pete gets Clark to help him hide it in his shed although Clark tries to get him to leave it but cant come up with a logical reason. Dr. Hamilton talks to the hurt driver in the hospital who admits he saw a spaceship and that the boy who saved him saw it too. When Clark tells his parents about Pete finding the spaceship his father makes him go with him to get the ship. But when they get there it is already gone. They drive away and Pete sees them leaving. When Pete confronts Clark he shows Pete his powers. Furious that Clark has been lying to him for so long Pete leaves. Clarks attempts to talk to him are rebuffed. But when Pete goes home Dr. Hamilton is searching the shed and Pete is kidnapped. Hamilton tortures him to see what he knows about the ship. Just as he is about to kill Pete by injecting him with meteor rocks Clark bursts in. Unfortunately he collapses due to the Kryptonite. Pete saves him by pushing Dr. Hamilton into a shelf full of meteor rocks. After they return the ship to the Kents cellar Pete says he understands why Clark and that he wont tell anyone. We will examine three scenes from the episode: the scene where Pete gets Clark to come with him to the cornfield, the scene in the cornfield where they are talking about what to do with the ship, and the scene where Pete confronts Clark about the missing ship and Clark reveals his powers. When Clark is shooting baskets from a hundred feet Pete drives up. â€Å"Clark, Clark, Clark. Youre dreaming if you think youre gonna make a basket from there.† Pete makes an exaggerated pointing motion towards the basketball hoop. â€Å"No, no, no. The ball rolled out here.† Clark makes a waving motion to indicate the spot. â€Å"Want to play a game of horse?† â€Å"Forget basketball. We gotta borrow your dads truck.† Pete makes a waving motion with one hand. â€Å"For what?† â€Å"Ill explain on the way. Come on, we dont have much time.† â€Å"Whats going on?† Clark holds his hands out at this side with palms turned out. â€Å"If I told you, youd never believe me.† Pete places his palms on his chest when he says. â€Å"You gotta see it with your own eyes.† Pete puts his hand on Clarks shoulder urging him to move. Pete leads Clark to the spaceship clapping his hands together and making trumpeting sounds. â€Å"Pretty mind-blowing, huh?† He gestures to the ship with his hand. â€Å"What do you think it is?† â€Å"Oh, Clark, its a spaceship!† Pete motions to the ship again. â€Å"What the hell else would it be?† Pete waves his arms in a questioning gesture. Kneeling down beside the ship Clark says, â€Å"Well, I mean, I dont know if it was some, like, downed specialty aircraft or a Russian satellite or something.† After he says this Clark also motions to the ship. As Pete kneels down beside the ship and runs his hands over it, he says â€Å" No, no, no. This things got extraterrestrial written all over it.† â€Å"Yeah, I bet theres little green guys running around the cornfield too, Pete.† â€Å"Im serious, Clark. Have you ever seen anything like it?† Pete spreads one hand palm out and motions to the surrounding area with the other one. â⠂¬Å"If the aliens came to Earth, dont you think theyd find a place a little more exciting than Smallville?† â€Å"No, no, no, think about it. Crop circles, cattle mutilation. Theyd be like kids in a candy store here! Come on, man, lets load it into the truck!† Pete waves his arms wildly at the surrounding area. Then he grabs the ship. Clark moves to stop him. â€Å"Wait, youre not just gonna take it.† â€Å"Clark, when the sheriff questioned me about the accident, I told him in all the confusion I couldnt remember where the truck went off the road. But its only a matter of time before he shows up. Come on. Come on!† When talking about the sheriff Pete spreads his arms with palms out and then motions to the ship. â€Å"All right fine. Well take it to my house.† â€Å"No, no, no, Clark! I know your dad. Hell make us turn it over to the authorities.† Pete puts his hand on Clarks chest with the palm out. â€Å"I wont even tell him. He wont know its there.† Clark spreads his arms out with his palms out. â€Å"Clark, were taking it to my house. Well hide it in the tool shed in my backyard. No one ever goes back there.† â€Å"Pete, my house would be perfect. Itll be safe there.† â€Å"Clark, last time I checked, I found this thing. Youre acting like you got license and registration on it, man. Lighten up. Were taking it to my place.† When Pete says† I† he places his hands on his chest. When he talks about Clark owning the ship he flips his hand out towards him. When he says †lighten up† he holds his hand up with his palm facing out and his fingers spread. When he says† my place† his hands are yet again on his chest. â€Å"Pete. Hey, I was just gonna come talk to you.† â€Å"Really?† â€Å"Yeah, about the ship† â€Å"Oh, someone broke in to my shed last night and stole it.† Pete holds his hands out palms up. â€Å" â€Å"Really?† â€Å"Yeah.† â€Å"Well, did you tell anyone it was there?† No, did you?† â€Å"No, my lips have been sealed.† â€Å"Youre such a liar.† â€Å"What do you mean?† â€Å"I saw you and your dad driving away from my shed last night.† Pete motions to Clark. â€Å" All night long I kept telling myself theres gotta be some sort of logical explanation. Clark Kent would never do anything like this.† Pete holds his hands out slightly with the palms facing out. â€Å"Pete, I swear we didnt take the ship.† Clark spreads his arms holding his hands out with the palms spread. â€Å"And all these years I used to think you were my best friend.† Pete motions to Clark again and starts t o get into his car. â€Å"Pete, wait. You dont understand.† Pete turns around and says holding his arms out slightly at his sides with palms facing out, â€Å"What dont I understand? Go ahead, explain it to me, Clark.† Clark doesnt know what to say. â€Å" Thats good, really illuminating. Wait till Chloe hears about this. I can already see the headlines. The Real Clark Kent Exposed!† Clark puts his hand on the car door. Pete starts to drive away. Clark watches him drive away and waves his arms then he appears in front of the car holding it to stop it from moving forward. â€Å"Pete, we need to talk.† The screen fades to black and then they are in the cellar talking. â€Å"So youre some sort of what? Youre not a human?† Pete holds both hands out at Clark with his palms facing each other. â€Å"I dont know what I am.† Clark spreads his arms with his palms facing out. â€Å" I dont know where that ship brought me from. I just know that I grew up in Smallville, and everything that I care about and everyone that I care about is here.† Clark motions to the surroundings and to Pete. â€Å"If you care about me so much, how come you never told me sooner?† â€Å"Pete, believe me, there wasnt a day that went by where I didnt want to tell you, but my parents thought it was too dangerous. Not just for me, but for anyone else who knew the truth.† When Clark says â€Å"you† he gestures to Pete. â€Å"You didnt think I could handle it?† Pete holds his arms out to Clark. â€Å"Can you?† Pete starts walking around Clark looking at him like hes an exhibit in a museum. â€Å"Pete, another reason why I didnt say anything is because I knew people would look at me the exact same way that youre looking at me right now.† â€Å"And hows that?† † Like a freak.† Pete motions at Clark with his palm facing up. â€Å"Pete, Ive tried my whole life just to blend in, to try and be mor e normal than anyone else. Would you just say something? Call me call me an alien, call me a monster. I dont care, just say something.† â€Å"Its like I dont even know you.† Yet again Pete motions to Clark. â€Å"Yes, you do know me. Im the same kid that used to camp in your backyard.† Clark motions to Pete. â€Å" We used to ride our bikes in the woods, we used to play basketball with your brothers. Nothing has changed.† â€Å"Yeah, right.† Clark holds his hand out and steps towards Pete, â€Å"Pete.† Pete backs away and waves him arms. â€Å"Back off, man!† â€Å"Pete, I would never hurt you.† â€Å"Too late.† Pete walks out. Conclusion Gestures are a part of nonverbal communication that movement of the body or a part of it that is expressive of thought or feeling. Gestures were used by primates as communication before verbal communication was developed and primates are much more able to learn sign language than verbal language. Early hominids would have found gestures much more useful than verbal communication for avoiding predators. There is evidence to support that both gestures and verbal language are required for effective learning. Gestures vary depending on the role in relation to what is being said, the role in relation to the situation, and the cultures in which they are used. There are many example of gestures in the media and one of those is the television show Smallville. Ponder this information the next time you have a conversation. It might be useful. References Corballis, M. C. (1999, March/â€Å'April). The gestural origins of language. American Scientist, 87(2), 138-45. Retrieved from http://library1.kvcc.edu:2086/â€Å'WebZ/â€Å'FSFETCH?fetchtype=fullrecord:sessionid=fsapp5-59149-g7mfsff0-h2lwg1:entitypagenum=3:0:recno=4:resultset=1:format=FI:next=html/â€Å'record.html:bad=error/â€Å'badfetch.html:entitytoprecno=4:entitycurrecno=4:numrecs=1 Kachka, B. (2008, April). Hand Gestures. Condà © Nasts Traveler, 43(4), 112. Retrieved from http://library1.kvcc.edu:2048/â€Å'login?url=http://library1.kvcc.edu:2081/â€Å'pqdweb?did=1616098011sid=2Fmt=3clientId=17874RQT=309VName=PQD Kendon, A. (1997). Gesture. Annual Review of Anthropology, 26, p. 109-28. Retrieved from http://library1.kvcc.edu:2086/â€Å'WebZ/â€Å'FSQUERY?format=BI:next=html/â€Å'records.html:bad=html/â€Å'records.html:numrecs=10:sessionid=fsapp5-59149-g7mfsff0-h2lwg1:entitypagenum=2:0:searchtype=advanced Watts, G. (2006, April 29). You need hands. The Lancet, 367(9520), 1383. Retrieved from http://library1.kvcc.edu:2048/â€Å'login?url=http://library1.kvcc.edu:2081/â€Å'pqdweb?did=1033983921sid=2Fmt=4clientId=17874RQT=309VName=PQD

Solitude of the Garage :: Descriptive Essay About A Place

Solitude of the Garage I walked outside into the cool April morning. The air around me was a slightly stinging cold; nevertheless, I took a big deep breath of the refreshing mountain air. I walked over to my dads red and white 1979 Ford F150 pickup and started it for him. I brought it around to the front of the house, put the transmission in neutral, and set the parking brake. After hopping out of the cab, I met my dad coming out of the house, and went around the front of the truck. I hopped into the passenger seat while my dad got into the drivers seat. We fastened our seat belts and we headed off to Paonia. I was looking for a new dirt bike, and I was going to Paonia to look at a 1990 Honda CR 125. I had owned three dirt bikes before, but I had sold each one in order to buy another one with more power, and here I was again ready to buy my fourth. When we arrived at Jared Morton's house, the owner of the bike, he already had the bike out. He was making sure that the bike was in perfect shape for me to see. My dad parked the truck, and we both hopped out to greet Jared. We walked over to his garage, where the bike was located. I examined the bike and asked him questions about it, like how long he had had the bike and how often he had ridden it. The bike had a seat height of 34 inches. The body of the bike was a dull orange color, with the frame being white. It had inverted racing forks that had fenders on them to protect them from dust and debris. The stock handle bars were replaced with Renthal bars for more precise steering. The front tire was good, but the rear tire was a little worn down as if he had drove it on the pavement too much. The bikes exhaust had also been replaced with a FMH racing pipe. Jared did all these modifications to the bike because he had competed in races, and he needed the bike to be in excellent mechanical shape. After I was done looking at the bike, Jared got on it, gave it a couple of kick-starts, and it started right up. He got off and let me test-drive the bike.

Leadership Style of Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

Born on March 23, 1953 in Bangalore. Schooling at Bishop Cotton Girls School & Mount Carmel College at Bangalore. B. Sc. in Zoology from Bangalore University. Qualified as a master brewer from Ballarat University Australia. CMD,Biocon Ltd, India's biggest biotechnology company. In 2004, she became India's richest woman Feathers in the Cap Termed India's Biotech Queen by The Economist and Fortune India's mother of invention by New York Times Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Healthcare & Life Sciences Category (2002) The Economic Times Business Woman of the Year Award (2004)Leadership: The KMS way The Success MANTRA Listen to the little drummer in you who keeps saying break free, become large, build something memorable. †¢ Strategy Leadership is about approaching opportunity through strategy. †¢ Motivation – Motivating Oneself – Motivating others Mission or Vision All leaders need not be visionaries and all visionaries need not be leaders. There c an be a leader without vision but there can’t be a leader without mission. A Leader’s Mission : †¢ †¢ To inspire people To help them share aspirations and ideas SITUATIONAL LEADERA Devastating situation – Personal Vs Professional Life †¢ Biocon was busy negotiating with Danish firm Novozymes for the sale of its enzymes business. †¢ Her husband John Shaw was diagnosed with a cancerous lump in his kidney. †¢ Kiran not just tended to her husband in hospital, but also made all the strategic decisions needed for the deal. Ultimately, the deal was a great SUCCESS for BIOCON Personality Traits – Openness to experience – Extraversion – Agreeableness – Emotional Intelligence – Conscientiousness Very High High High High Very High Charismatic LeadershipThe Most Influential in Bio-business person outside Europe and USA – Nature †¢Articulates the vision †¢Sets the high performance expectations †¢Conveys a new set of values Motivational Leader †¢ A great motivational leader in terms of both motivating herself as well as her employees †¢ Inspired by India's software success story. This motivated her to set up Syngene. Transcendental Leader †¢ Doing the IMPOSSIBLE †¢ Surface courage from FEARS †¢ Touching the UNTOUCHABLES †¢ Understanding the inarticulate needs Strong commitment to goals : She transcended the boundaries of self and her business. Relationship building within the organization as well as outside the organization †¢ Customer relationship that helped Biocon’s growth. †¢ Kiran tried to add value to the business and customer. – She commented in an article that as the company grew, the equation with the customers changed. – Earlier client meetings were under a cloud of patronization but now they were meeting of equal minds Who is a LEADER? †¢ A people’s person †¢ One who inspires confidenc e †¢ One who have respect for others †¢ Have honesty of purpose †¢ One who has passion, energy, conviction, ambition, mission & faith THE DIFFERENCE LIES IN DNA

Louis Riel Essay (Canadian History) Essay

In my opinion Louis Riel was a hero because he fought for the rights of everyone who lived in the northwest, he was rebelling against a government, not a country and he was against acts of violence and loss of life. Furthermore Louis’s acts might be considered crazy by today’s standards but in the 1890’s it was not uncommon or insane. Louis lived in the Red River settlement and wanted to protect their rights but he also fought for the rights of the white settlers in the area and for the natives. Louis was a patriot, he was proud to be Canadian, he just didn’t agree with the government at the time. Louis Riel was a freedom fighter, not a rebel against his country. He was rebelling against the men in government who suppressed his people. â€Å"The entire process which saw the spread of the Canadian Governments imperialistic authority over the west, ignored the people who were there long before England decided to give it to a new country. Riel was a freedom fighter for the west and should be recognized as such. He faced and fought a central Canadian government, ignorant of the west, long before Preston Manning was born.† (Richard Brown, Alberta, July 7th, 1999 http://www.metisresourcecentre.mb.ca/quotes/). If Louis hadn’t stood up for the Meti people, the government would have let them starve and their culture would be lost. Likewise if any minority was treated like that now, they could only be so fortunate to have someone like Louis Riel to stand up for them. Louis was against violence unless it was absolutely necessary. He only wanted to ensure that the people of the Northwest would retain their rights and traditions after the Canadian government took control of the area. When he and his Mati people used violence it was because they had no other options. â€Å"John A MacDonald breaks the law of the time by inducing rebellion.† (Sir Wilfred Laurier http://www.metisresourcecentre.mb.ca/quotes/). Two examples of Riel using non-violent solutions first are when he sent Meti to confront the land surveyors instead of sending them to kill the surveyors. And when he seized fort Garry and its munitions, instead of burning it down or shooting the people inside. His method of not being vicious helped him be victorious in many situations. â€Å"You can be sure that we would have beaten  them had it not been for Louis Riel who always counseled us not to spill their blood† Gabriel Dumont. Today, if someone came up to you and said they were chosen by god to lead their people to freedom would you believe them or laugh and call them insane? Chances are most modern people would do the laughing. But in the 1880’s things were different, people were more religious and it was less than impossible to voice your opinions to the government. Riel lived in a time when the country was still being shaped, new provinces were being formed, and he was not out of line to demand that his people be included. Today we have a responsible government, for example when native people in BC felt cheated out of their ancestors land, our government gave some of the land back and took steps to see that that doesn’t happen again. Ironically this is the same land the post-confederation government took away! When you look at all the facts and consider the time period, Riel doesn’t seem like such a bad guy. He did what any patriotic, freedom loving Canadian would have done in his shoes. Sure some of his beliefs and ideas may have been a little deranged, but when you compare it to all the exemplary things he accomplished, it dosent seam like a big deal. â€Å"I am more convinced everyday that without a single exception I did right†¦ and I have always believed that, as I have acted honestly, the time will come when the people of Canada will see and acknowledge it.† (Louis Riel http://www.metisresourcecentre.mb.ca/quotes/) Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if some of our modern politicians were a little more like Louis Riel.

World War II, like many other wars, had a very big impact in many ways Essay Example

World War II, like many other wars, had a very big impact in many ways Essay Example World War II, like many other wars, had a very big impact in many ways Essay World War II, like many other wars, had a very big impact in many ways Essay Essay Topic: A Long Way Gone Back in the World Stories The whole American home front changed during World War II. More and more women started to work in factories like never before. They became more independent and stopped relying on their husbands to provide the income for their family. World War 2 revolutionized the work industry for women. Before the war, mostly men worked in factories, but after they left for war, women took their spots. Even after they returned, women were not willing to go back, and still have not turned back.World War II also affected life in Japan. A very big spark to the start of World War II was the attack on Pearl Harbor. America then decided to attack Japan, leading to the second world war. The war went from 1941 to 1945, and soon enough, we got tired of the war and all of the deaths and casualties, so we decided to bomb Hiroshima and then Nagasaki. As a result, the war ended, but a new phase sprung up in those two places. Many people were killed and injured severely. They lost everything they had from person al belongings to loved ones. It was hard for people at that time to recover from such a dramatic event. Some had no place to go because their homes were gone, and so were the people they once knew. It was a new life for everyone who survived. Everything would be different and nothing like the times they were used to.Not only was life different for people back on the home front and in Japan, but things in Europe were upside down as well. All the Jewish families in Europe were faced with the holocaust. They got sent off to concentration camps, ghetto camps, or just suffered from hiding from the Nazis. Life in the camps for them was worse than dying. The Jewish families got separated from each other, and many never saw their loved ones again. They died mainly from malnutrition and the Nazis killing them. It was so bad that people even committed suicide.Lastly, the war had a huge impact on the soldiers that were a part of it. If they were drafted, they were forced to go off to war, the beginning of a new life. They left their friends and families, knowing they might not see them again, to represent our country. However, many of them were not able to survive and died. Soldiers suffered from many diseases, and spent months and years in the cold fighting. They mightve made friends at war, but it was hard when one of them got shot or died. We know of all these stories about war life and how they fought, but in order to get the real feel for how it really was, someone would have to experience it first. The experience the soldiers had when they were fighting was not the best thing that couldve happened to them.As you can see, World War II had a big impact all around the world. Many people in different countries faced challenges that they would have to eventually overcome. Most of the challenges that came across were life changing. Some died, and the rest had to start up a totally new life, something that none of us would be willing to do.

Biography of Kerry James Marshall, Contemporary Artist

Biography of Kerry James Marshall, Contemporary Artist Kerry James Marshall (born October 17, 1955) is a prominent contemporary African-American artist. He broke ground for black artists by rising to the upper echelon of the art world while remaining steadfastly dedicated to presenting work that explores the black experience in America. His experience growing up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles profoundly influenced his art. Fast Facts: Kerry James Marshall Occupation: ArtistBorn: October 17, 1955 in Birmingham, AlabamaEducation: Otis College of Art and DesignSelected Works: Voyager (1992), Many Mansions (1994), Portrait of Nat Turner with the Head of His Master (2011)Notable Quote: One of the reasons I paint black people is because I am a black person. Early Life and Career Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Kerry James Marshall moved with his family to the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles as a young child. He grew up surrounded by the Civil Rights and Black Power movements of the 1960s. He was an eyewitness to the Watts riots that occurred in August 1965. As a teenager, Kerry James Marshall took part in a summer drawing class at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles after a teacher nominated him for inclusion. There, he was shown the studio of artist Charles White who later became his instructor and mentor. Kerry James Marshall enrolled as a full-time student at the Otis Art Institute in 1977 and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1978. He moved to Chicago in 1987 after completing a residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York City. Marshall began teaching at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1993, and he earned a genius grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 1997. History as Subject Matter Many of Kerry James Marshalls works reference events from American history as primary subject matter. One of the most prominent is 1992s Voyager. The boat featured in the painting is named Wanderer. It references the story of the former yacht that was the last ship to bring a large number of African slaves to America. In violation of a 50-year-old law prohibiting the importation of slaves, the Wanderer arrived at Jekyll Island in Georgia in 1858 with over 400 slaves on board. It was the final event in the history of the African slave trade in America. In 2011, Marshall painted Portrait of Nat Turner with the Head of His Master. It is a nearly full-length portrait in the manner of traditional portraiture, but the grisly image of a man slaughtered in his sleep lying behind Nat Turner is chilling. The historical event referenced is the two-day slave rebellion led by Nat Turner in 1831. Housing Projects In 1994, Kerry James Marshall painted a series titled The Garden Project. He depicts life in public housing projects in the U.S. inspired by his own experience living in Nickerson Gardens, a 1,066-unit apartment complex in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. His paintings in the series explore the dichotomy between the imagery evoked by the names of the projects using the word Gardens and the reality of harsh life in public housing. It is a metaphor for the lives of African-Americans in contemporary America. One of the key pieces is 1994s Many Mansions. It shows three black men in formal clothing performing the manual labor of planting flowers for a housing project. Their depiction is at the center of Marshalls juxtaposition of the ideal evoked by the concept of a public housing project with the reality of the residents experiences. Another painting in the series, Better Homes, Better Gardens, shows an idyllic young black couple strolling through a brick housing project. The inspiration for this piece is Chicagos Wentworth Gardens. It is notorious for a history of gang violence and drug problems. Concept of Beauty Another frequent subject of Kerry James Marshalls work is the concept of beauty. The people depicted in Marshalls paintings usually have very dark, almost flat black, skin. He explained to interviewers that he created the extreme to specifically draw attention to the distinctive appearance of black Americans. In a series of 1994 paintings of models, Marshall depicts male and female black models. The male model is shown against a mostly white background that emphasizes the blackness of his skin. He is lifting his shirt to presumably share the power of his physique with viewers. He painted a topless female black model with the names Linda, Cindy, and Naomi inscribed in the upper right. They are the iconic supermodels Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, and Naomi Campbell. In another model painting, Marshall juxtaposed the image of the female black models face with those of blonde white models. Mastry In 2016, Kerry James Marshalls work was the subject of the historically significant retrospective Mastry at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. The exhibition covered 35 years of Marshalls work with nearly 80 pieces displayed. It was an unprecedented celebration of the work of an African-American artist. In addition to its overt celebration of the black experience in America, many observers saw Kerry James Marshalls work as a reaction to the movement of much of the art establishment away from traditional painting. Unlike celebrated experiments in minimalist and conceptual art, Marshall creates his works with an eye toward arranging his subject matter in ways that stretch back to the traditions of art from the Renaissance era. Kerry James Marshall has explained that he is more interested in being a painter than creating art. When the Mastry exhibition traveled to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, Kerry James Marshall selected 40 works from the museums permanent collection that he particularly valued as inspiration. The exhibit within an exhibit was titled Kerry James Marshall Selects. Public Works Controversy In 2018, Kerry James Marshalls paintings made headlines in two controversies over the value of public art contrasted with the benefit of public services that could be provided with money earned from sales of the art. In May, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority of Chicago sold the monumental piece Past Times to rap artist and entrepreneur Sean Combs for $21 million. The original purchase price was $25,000. The piece previously hung in the McCormick Place convention center on public display. The money earned from the auction provided a windfall to the budget of the public agency. Even more controversial was the announcement by Chicago mayor Rahm Emmanuel that the city would sell the 1995 Kerry James Marshall painting Knowledge and Wonder. It hung on the wall in one of the citys public library branches. Commissioned for $10,000, experts pegged the value of the painting at somewhere near $10 million. Emmanuel planned to use the funds from the sale to expand and upgrade a branch of the library on the citys west side. After intense criticism from the public and the artist himself, the city withdrew plans to sell the work in November 2018. Source Tate, Greg, Charles Gaines, and Laurence Rassel. Kerry James Marshall. Phaidon, 2017.

The Main Principles of Effective Practice In the Teaching And Essay

The Main Principles of Effective Practice In the Teaching And Assessment of Reading - Essay Example This essay stresses that fluency is an important aspect of teaching how to read, albeit it's rather difficult task to accomplish this. However, fluency in reading is the key that enables the reader to understand completely, quickly, and expressively what he has read along with good comprehension. Effective instruction in fluency leads to overall improvements in reading, which is reached through accuracy in word recognition, assisted reading, and synergistic instructional routines. Parents must be aware of incorporating teaching into their children’s daily lives, which would then be enhanced in the classroom. This paper makes a conclusion that reading is an activity that every child must improve skills on, and educators must focus on different strategies in order for the child to enhance his reading skills. This paper claims that the main principles of effective practice in the teaching and assessment of reading are involves attention to minor aspects of reading such as letters and individual words, understanding the whole meanings of the text, and application of relevant models/theories in the reading process. Guided reading is an effective reading strategy that enables teachers and parents to achieve this goal for the child, which is likewise supported by different models and theories. The Balanced Reading Approach is the specific approach that may be employed in guided reading through effective combination of instructional approaches and accommodating different learning styles.

Engineering Products Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Engineering Products - Case Study Example The largest of the three business areas is automotive components, employing 60% of the group's workforce. The division is a first-tier supplier, dealing with several of the multinational final producers of cars, and is less concentrated in the UK than the company as a whole; Table 11.2 shows that only a small proportion of the division's sales are made in Britain, while an even smaller proportion of the workforce is employed there. Continental Europe is the base for a much larger proportions of sales and employment, with most of this being in Germany, France and Spain. The case study concentrates on this division of the multinational. In recent years the pressure from the automotive division's customers has become a central force in shaping how it manages its international operations in general and its international workforce in particular. The customers themselves have sought to standardise their methods of production and working practices through a process of sharing 'best practice' across sites. This has meant that, while the cars sold vary in minor respects between countries, they are produced in increasingly similar ways. One consequence has been that the components they purchase need to be of exactly the same specification in different countries. Since many of the first-tier suppliers in the motor industry are themselves multinational and in many cases supply the same companies in different countries, the effect has been to persuade the components manufacturers to standardise their own operations internationally. The Standardisation of Production across Borders The impetus for international integration in Engineering Products, therefore, came from the demands of its customers. Management at the HQ of the division have been faced with the task of integrating what had previously been disparate plants, serving customers in their own country and operating in a largely decentralised way. A key part of forging greater integration was to create management structures at the international level in order to bring together managers from different parts of the group, facilitating the exchange of information between them. In Engineering Products there are several such structures which serve this function. The division operates 'manufacturing councils' which periodically bring together senior manufacturing directors from the plants to examine the processes which are adopted in each of the plants. A different structure fulfilling a similar function is the 'International College of Engineering', located in Germany, at which engineers develop and learn about new manufacturing methods. A further way in which the HQ has sought to drive integration at the international level is through the creation of an international cadre of managers who are expected to spend time on assignments in countries other than their own. One element of this has been the creation of internal consultants; these are managers who have been responsible for pioneering a new practice and who are subsequently given

Publishing with contnet management systems Essay

Publishing with contnet management systems - Essay Example PowerPoint is a content management system and is employed for many tasks. It facilitates the users with publishing features. There are also rhetorical challenges that it offers to writers. Publishing with PowerPoint as a content management system facilitate the user with alterations in production and use of a document. The content management tasks performed by PowerPoint are content cutting, strong boundary-slides cutting, logical flow and many others related to STOP (Sequential Thematic Organization of Publications) document, Quick Scan, and Hypertext. The writers employ the technique of content cutting when they require fitting their text in a slide of PowerPoint. Content cutting can be seen as a rhetorical challenge to writers because they have to make sure that the content that is published is the most appropriate. Development of slides restricts the writers to use a minimized space for the display of their information. Writers and users of PowerPoint are also accommodated with strong boundary-slides cutting, which means that they are allowed to develop the slides according to their needs and requirements but they must display the information in an understandable manner that is easy for the readers to go through. Through logical flow, the writers are required to develop and publish slides in a manner that is logical. One idea or set of information displayed on one slide should have relevancy and flow with the next slides. The writers of slides face a challenge to manage the data and information in a logical flow. With STOP method of documentation of slides, the writers writing slides on PowerPoint can display more information in a single preview as two pages are attached and separated by means of a line. Nearly 350 to 1000 words can be displayed by means of STOP. The writers are challenged as to what kind of information and to which extent can they publish by means of STOP. Hypertext is a medium that allows the users and writers to publish their

Six Faith Affirmations (Iman) and Importance of Shariah Essay

Six Faith Affirmations (Iman) and Importance of Shariah - Essay Example This paper is focused on interpretations of six faith affirmations and positions Shariah as a modern alternative for legal principles’ development. Six faith affirmations Iman has six basic pillars. In accordance with them every Muslim should believe in Allah, angels, revealed books, commissioned Missioners, resurrection and events of Qiyamah, predestination of all things in the world. It is possible to interpret these principles in the following way: belief in Allah should be considered as the first basic pillar of Iman. It is impossible to develop the Islamic personality avoiding this belief. Further on, it is evident that this principle is the basic need for every individual. God’s worshipping is possible only when this first belief is taken by Muslims for granted. Allah is the sole Creator and orders the actions of his creations only in the ways that may please him. God leads to paradise and people are guided only by the Creator. The Islamic personalities need Godâ €™s forgiveness. Belief in Allah should not be followed by Muslims only because it is a way to paradise. They can enter paradise only if they are allowed by God to enter there. The second pillar, belief in the Angels, can be explained as follows: angels exist among other creations of God. They are real beings and they were created from light. Qur’an describes angels: Jibreel is responsible for delivering revelation; Mika'il brings the rain, Israfil blows the horn on Qiyamah; Malik-ul-Maut takes away human souls after death. There are also the Noble Recorders responsible for recording of people's actions. The Protectors (Al-Mu'aqqibat) prevent people from death. Two angels, opposed to each other are Ridhwan and Malik. The former is responsible for Paradise and the latter for Hell. Munkar and Nakir are the questioners in the grave. There are also other angels, responsible for recording the future of fetus, those who entered the Haraam and some others. There are exact quotes in the divine books of Muslim that belief in the angels is one of the most important things for the Islamic personalities: â€Å"Belief in the angels is an integral part of Iman† (2/285 Al-Baqara), â€Å"Kufr with respect to the angels is Kufr† (4/136 An-Nisaa). Therefore, belief in the angels is the integrative part of belief in Allah. It is very important to believe in angels, because they are â€Å"spiritual mediators† of the words of Allah. It is possible to claim that every component of Iman is very important in the Islamic religion, but the role of angels as promoters of Allah intentions strengthens developments of Qur’an and the Sunnah. Belief in the Books of Allah is outlined in Qur’an, because they should be followed by truly devoted Muslims. These are: As-Suhuf of Ibrahim and Musa, Az-Zaboor given to Daud, At-Taurat revealed to Musa, Al-Injeel revealed to Isa, Al-Qur'an - the final revelation. Moreover, Qur’an has the following ch aracteristics: it is flawless (41/42 Fusilat); this book is the final authority (5/48 Al-Maidah), guidance and a mercy (10/37 Yunus). The importance and guidance of Qur’an is explained by the Prophet: â€Å"The Book of Allah; in it is news of those who came before you; news of what is to come after you; the ruling on that which is between you; it is the decisive criterion, and is not jest† (Six Affirmations of Iman). There are a lot of comparisons of this Holy Book and it is often mentioned that

Malware Forensic Computing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Malware Forensic Computing - Assignment Example Computer forensics or cyber forensics is a very imperative topic in information systems and networks management. Forensics is the structured procedure of gathering, examining and showing facts and evidences to the court of law, and thus, forensic computing is defined as â€Å"the discipline that combines elements of law and computer science to collect and analyze data from computer systems, networks, wireless communications, and storage devices in a way that is admissible as evidence in a court of law† (US-CERT 2008). This involves the seeking, locating and securing the electronic data so as to provide evidence. This electronic or magnetically encoded data may include text messages, databases, pictures, e-mail, websites, spyware, malware, and so on. The evidence collected is strong and indisputable as compared to any other branch of forensic science because a copy that is made of the collected data is identical to the actual data and there is no room left for dispute. The whol e concept revolves around the idea that a structured investigation is carried out to find out what exactly happened to the computer, when it happened, how it happened, and who did it. This is just like solving a murder case and performing postmortem. The operator does not know that the evidence information is transparently being created and stored by the computer’s operating system which can only be extracted through computer forensics software tools and techniques. ... The crimes include misuse of computer systems, attack on computer systems, using a computer system to work against another system, failure of a computer system, and the list continues. Computer forensics security solutions focus not only on recovery but also on prevention of security threats in order to provide securer solutions that are quicker and cheaper than the conventional techniques. These solutions include intrusion detection system (IDS), internet security system, biometric security system, net privacy system, firewall set-ups, network disaster security system, identity theft prevention system, identity management security system, and so on (Vacca 2005: 146). 2.2. Malware Forensics Malware is the malicious code that computer intruders use to do a cyber attack, and malware forensics is the forensic computing techniques used by the investigators to detect and analyze this malicious code or malware (Ligh et al. 2010). Since cyber attackers are becoming increasingly aware if com puter forensics techniques, they are designing much more sophisticated malicious codes that are at times hard to detect and analyze. Casey, Malin and Aquilina (2008) state that â€Å"By employing techniques that thwart reverse engineering, encode and conceal network traffic, and minimize the traces left on file system, malicious code developers are making both discovery and forensic analysis both difficult.† 2.2.1. Types of Malware The most common instances of malware are the viruses, worms, Trojan horses, scareware, and exploits. Viruses get installed in the computer files through email scams, websites, downloads, etc. Worms work the same way as viruses. Scareware is a malware that

Judaism paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Judaism - Research Paper Example Certain varieties of Judaism consider the idea that all Jewish teachings must strictly be adhered to (Wylen, 2000). Although, there are other forms of Judaism that believe teachings that encourage on how to usher a morality in human lives are obligatory, much less, essential; others can be considered as discretionary or optional. For the reason that Judaism is an assorted religion with an extensive range of beliefs and practices, it must not be presupposed that a Jew has certain types of beliefs or follows precise forms of religious practice (Eisenberg, 2004). Various types of Judaism are linked by an intense impression of "peoplehood" (ICS, 2013), a shared inheritance, tradition or custom, and collective values and standards. Judaism gives Jews with guidance on how to carry out their religion and inspire good values (ICS, 2013). These instructions descend from numerous bases that include Jewish sacred texts such as the Bible and the Talmud (ICS, 2013). Other Jewish texts such as the subsequent literary works written by rabbis and philosophers are also being used. Judaism is one of the most important religions that are still being practiced today. Thus, it sensibly important to dig in deeper to its historical derivations, and the significant figures, observance, teachings, and events that can be relatively associated with it. This paper shall elaborate on these categories, which should provide readers a general overview of Judaism. Judaism and Abraham One of the fundamental teachings of Judaism is the belief that there is only one God, a belief that is also known as ethical monotheism (Wylen 2000; ICS, 2013). Judaism teaches that there is a lone God who created the universe and everything that is in it; a Supreme Being who cherishes and tends humanity; a God who desires that His people will live ethical lives (ICS, 2013), which makes it a strong cause that having a profound understanding of Judaism is crucial in appreciating the historical lineage of the world. The Old Testament confirms that Abraham started off monotheism or the belief in one God, and was the first person to refuse idol worship. Abraham is a fundamental component of Judaism in that he was considered to be the Father of the Jewish people and that it was through him and his offspring that a covenant was handed on to succeeding generations (Pellach, 2006). The Abrahamic Covenant, which can be found in Genesis 12-17, elaborates three main issues: (1) God would bestow Abraham the Land of Canaan and make him the father of all nations and of his progenies; (2) God would create a great nation through him; and (3) God would yield a blessing to those who consecrate him and curse those who curse him. In Genesis 12:3 God says, â€Å"I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed† (New International Version). Abrahams covenant is particularly important because it serves as the source to the Bible and world history (Pellach, 2006). The basis of almost all Christian teachings is rooted on the belief that God has a chosen people, which will reveal themselves in the last days of the earth. Although, some people in various civilization and cultures believe that the covenant no longer applies today, the Bible reaffirms that Abrahamic covenant is still in effect. The Bible says, â€Å"He [God] remembers his covenant forever, the word which he commanded,

Six Faith Affirmations (Iman) and Importance of Shariah Essay

Six Faith Affirmations (Iman) and Importance of Shariah - Essay Example This paper is focused on interpretations of six faith affirmations and positions Shariah as a modern alternative for legal principles’ development. Six faith affirmations Iman has six basic pillars. In accordance with them every Muslim should believe in Allah, angels, revealed books, commissioned Missioners, resurrection and events of Qiyamah, predestination of all things in the world. It is possible to interpret these principles in the following way: belief in Allah should be considered as the first basic pillar of Iman. It is impossible to develop the Islamic personality avoiding this belief. Further on, it is evident that this principle is the basic need for every individual. God’s worshipping is possible only when this first belief is taken by Muslims for granted. Allah is the sole Creator and orders the actions of his creations only in the ways that may please him. God leads to paradise and people are guided only by the Creator. The Islamic personalities need Godâ €™s forgiveness. Belief in Allah should not be followed by Muslims only because it is a way to paradise. They can enter paradise only if they are allowed by God to enter there. The second pillar, belief in the Angels, can be explained as follows: angels exist among other creations of God. They are real beings and they were created from light. Qur’an describes angels: Jibreel is responsible for delivering revelation; Mika'il brings the rain, Israfil blows the horn on Qiyamah; Malik-ul-Maut takes away human souls after death. There are also the Noble Recorders responsible for recording of people's actions. The Protectors (Al-Mu'aqqibat) prevent people from death. Two angels, opposed to each other are Ridhwan and Malik. The former is responsible for Paradise and the latter for Hell. Munkar and Nakir are the questioners in the grave. There are also other angels, responsible for recording the future of fetus, those who entered the Haraam and some others. There are exact quotes in the divine books of Muslim that belief in the angels is one of the most important things for the Islamic personalities: â€Å"Belief in the angels is an integral part of Iman† (2/285 Al-Baqara), â€Å"Kufr with respect to the angels is Kufr† (4/136 An-Nisaa). Therefore, belief in the angels is the integrative part of belief in Allah. It is very important to believe in angels, because they are â€Å"spiritual mediators† of the words of Allah. It is possible to claim that every component of Iman is very important in the Islamic religion, but the role of angels as promoters of Allah intentions strengthens developments of Qur’an and the Sunnah. Belief in the Books of Allah is outlined in Qur’an, because they should be followed by truly devoted Muslims. These are: As-Suhuf of Ibrahim and Musa, Az-Zaboor given to Daud, At-Taurat revealed to Musa, Al-Injeel revealed to Isa, Al-Qur'an - the final revelation. Moreover, Qur’an has the following ch aracteristics: it is flawless (41/42 Fusilat); this book is the final authority (5/48 Al-Maidah), guidance and a mercy (10/37 Yunus). The importance and guidance of Qur’an is explained by the Prophet: â€Å"The Book of Allah; in it is news of those who came before you; news of what is to come after you; the ruling on that which is between you; it is the decisive criterion, and is not jest† (Six Affirmations of Iman). There are a lot of comparisons of this Holy Book and it is often mentioned that

Judaism paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Judaism - Research Paper Example Certain varieties of Judaism consider the idea that all Jewish teachings must strictly be adhered to (Wylen, 2000). Although, there are other forms of Judaism that believe teachings that encourage on how to usher a morality in human lives are obligatory, much less, essential; others can be considered as discretionary or optional. For the reason that Judaism is an assorted religion with an extensive range of beliefs and practices, it must not be presupposed that a Jew has certain types of beliefs or follows precise forms of religious practice (Eisenberg, 2004). Various types of Judaism are linked by an intense impression of "peoplehood" (ICS, 2013), a shared inheritance, tradition or custom, and collective values and standards. Judaism gives Jews with guidance on how to carry out their religion and inspire good values (ICS, 2013). These instructions descend from numerous bases that include Jewish sacred texts such as the Bible and the Talmud (ICS, 2013). Other Jewish texts such as the subsequent literary works written by rabbis and philosophers are also being used. Judaism is one of the most important religions that are still being practiced today. Thus, it sensibly important to dig in deeper to its historical derivations, and the significant figures, observance, teachings, and events that can be relatively associated with it. This paper shall elaborate on these categories, which should provide readers a general overview of Judaism. Judaism and Abraham One of the fundamental teachings of Judaism is the belief that there is only one God, a belief that is also known as ethical monotheism (Wylen 2000; ICS, 2013). Judaism teaches that there is a lone God who created the universe and everything that is in it; a Supreme Being who cherishes and tends humanity; a God who desires that His people will live ethical lives (ICS, 2013), which makes it a strong cause that having a profound understanding of Judaism is crucial in appreciating the historical lineage of the world. The Old Testament confirms that Abraham started off monotheism or the belief in one God, and was the first person to refuse idol worship. Abraham is a fundamental component of Judaism in that he was considered to be the Father of the Jewish people and that it was through him and his offspring that a covenant was handed on to succeeding generations (Pellach, 2006). The Abrahamic Covenant, which can be found in Genesis 12-17, elaborates three main issues: (1) God would bestow Abraham the Land of Canaan and make him the father of all nations and of his progenies; (2) God would create a great nation through him; and (3) God would yield a blessing to those who consecrate him and curse those who curse him. In Genesis 12:3 God says, â€Å"I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed† (New International Version). Abrahams covenant is particularly important because it serves as the source to the Bible and world history (Pellach, 2006). The basis of almost all Christian teachings is rooted on the belief that God has a chosen people, which will reveal themselves in the last days of the earth. Although, some people in various civilization and cultures believe that the covenant no longer applies today, the Bible reaffirms that Abrahamic covenant is still in effect. The Bible says, â€Å"He [God] remembers his covenant forever, the word which he commanded,

Visual Arts And Literature Essay Example for Free

Visual Arts And Literature Essay In visual arts and literature, the sacred and the secular, separate entities in themselves meld into one another, frequently producing a hybrid which gives rise to a new seculo-religious genre. Despite of the doctrine of separation of the church and state, most times it was the priests who were in charge of many other areas outside the religious realm such as education and politics. The far-reaching influence of the church had caused artists, musicians, architects, and authors to incorporate elements of the sacred in their work. Also these practitioners had fervent, deeply-rooted convictions which consciously and unconsciously pervaded their work. In the text Culture and Values: Survey of the Humanities, the dual presence of both sacred and secular represents the union of two major spheres. Cunningham observes that â€Å"the intermingling of secular with religious elements is thoroughly in accordance with Renaissance ideals† (Cunningham 291). Tiziano Vecelli (1473-1576) was a Renaissance artist who mingled the sacred and secular in his art pieces. His major masterpieces include The Assumption of the Virgin (1516), The Pesaro Madonna (1519-1526), Venus of Urbino (1538), Danae with Nursemaid (1553-1556), Presentation of the Blessed Virgin (1539), and St. Peter the Martyr (1530). His artistic life is characterized by the mixture, in one way or another, of Christian religious aspects with secular (and pagan) aspects. On one hand, one attests to Vecelli’s Marian devotion in his portraits such as The Assumption of the Virgin (1516-1518), which stands proudly in the Venetian Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari and The Pesaro Madonna (1519-1526), placed at the Frari Basilica Chapel. The paintings laud Mary as a holy human intercessor and deity with the Child Jesus. Enmeshed in the words are the worship of the saints, heavenly glory, and apostles, all in a posture of solemn and sacred reverence At the same time his voluptuous painting of Venus is Venus of Urbino (1538) exhibits the nude body of a woman poised in a supine position on her bed, with seductive airs. Venus is the pagan goddess of love, fertility, and sex often depicted as a prostitute. Danae with Nursemaid also derives from Greco-Roman mythology. The art work demonstrates the naked Danae lying on a bed with her eyes heavenward and her maid Abbot Suger (1081-1151) is the one responsible for the rise of Gothic architecture and its popularity within the Christian church in the early ninth and tenth centuries. In the interpretation and construction of gothic buildings â€Å"(secular) builders and theologians worked closely together† (Cunningham 218). The collaboration of both secular and sacred perspectives gives birth to gothic architecture which began in Paris and which celebrated â€Å"the philosophical and theological traditions known as scholasticism† (Cunningham 209). Suger functioned as the Abbey of Saint Denis and therefore the architecture served both for religious uplift and secular admiration. The fusion of the secular and the sacred is evidenced in the proliferation of literature in the medieval and renascent times. The Summa Theologica, a literary and theological masterpiece, â€Å"represents †¦ the hierarchical and synthetic religious humanism of the middle ages† (Cunningham 232). Written by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), the Summa Theologica sets forth the primary beliefs and dogma of the church explaining and confirming arguments for theocentrism and also containing humanism’s doctrines. The scriptorium was the designated writing room within monasteries. Cunningham documents that â€Å"from the seventh century on monastic scriptoria were busily engaged copying a wealth of material, both sacred and profane† (Cunningham 193). Priests and friars wrote several essays, poems, and theses. Moreover in the Islamic tradition, one sees the merger of the secular and the sacred. Islamic literature became a classic art form where calligraphic depictions of sacred writings are etched on Muslim mosques. The art work symbolizes the Muslim concept of their God, Allah, who encompasses everything. These writings were often extracted from passages in the Qu’ran. Observers in classic renaissance mosque bear witness to â€Å"elaborate mosaics and geometric decoration† (Cunningham 311). One major example of the Islamic artistic accomplishment is the Arabic script. The beautiful Arabic script was originally sacred as it read the holy words of the Muslim faith, however it soon became both sacred and secular, as fine art. â€Å"The Kufic script is one of the most beautiful earliest and most beautiful of Arabic calligraphy styles† (Cunningham 176). The geometric lines of the Kufic script are distinctive since they boast vertical lines and shapes. The Catholic Church endorsed â€Å"the double usage for humanist learning for secularist and spiritual reform† (Cunningham 289). Humanistic and theological principles were unified in order to reconcile two divergent views where philosophy became spiritualized. Another artist who believed in the seculo-religious merger was Wassily Kandinsky who composed Concerning the Spiritual in Art (1911) and â€Å"claimed that the source of all true art was the human soul† (Cunningham 307). This view is in accordance with humanism where man is at the center of the universe (often represented as a man, centralized within a circle). A characteristic of Kandinsky’s work is his obsession with geometry, triangles, and circles. Concerning the Spiritual in Art, Kandinsky likens man’s life as a triangular pyramid where the ultimate goal is to achieve ascendancy at the top. Man’s soul can either be base (at the bottom of the triangle or exalted at the zenith. This art system hearkens back to Leonardo da Vinci’s classical Vitruvian Man (1490) where the man is his own universe. This double dimensioned painting shows a naked man simultaneously with his legs apart and his legs together, and his arms apart in two positions. The homocentrtic man stands as his own measure enclosed in a circle and square. Kalinsky also saw the spirituality of color for in his work he expressed the joyful, spiritually ecstasy in vivid and bright color versus the dark, melancholic color. However, there were opponents to the union of secular and sacred who held that both should be kept separate. The unity between sacred and secular was not a smooth transition nor was it a unanimous movement, â€Å"the culture of the fifteenth century often was in fact a dialectical struggle at times classical ideals clashed with biblical ideals; at other times the two managed to live in harmony or in a temporary marriage of convenience. The strains of Classicism and Christianity interacted in complex and subtle ways† (291). Catholic Emperor Justinian I was a fan of secular and sacred architecture. He personally directed the erection of several, elaborate cathedrals with Byzantine designs. He helped construct many churches, convents, and palaces, namely, The Great Palace of Constantinople, Basilica Cistern, Church of St. Sophia, and Saint Apollinaire Nuovo. During the reign of Justinian, after the conquest of the old tribe, the Goths (from which one gets the word gothic), the art works of the conquered tribe became ornaments which were positioned within the churches. Cunningham testifies that gothic â€Å"mosaics were added to the church when the building passed from the Goths into Byzantine hands† (Cunningham 161). In Justinian’s time saw a marked proliferation of icon paintings which featured images of Christ and which commenced an iconic style. However, opponents to the incorporation of these icons rebelled to the new wave of art and thus became iconoclastic (thus the origin of the word). Justinian also had mosaics crafted of him and his wife, Theodora, called the Ravenna Mosaics. They portray the royal couple with divine auras around their heads which explain their religio-political views of divine right to rule. Movements within the church and religion rose up to keep the secular and the sacred separate. One such ardent critic of the seculo-religious combination is Girolamo Savonarola (1542-1498) who in an attempt to reform the church who embraced the secular, implemented book burning to expunge the decadent material from the holy writings. As a passionate Dominican friar, his radical views were vehemently anti-Renaissance and anti-humanist. He disagreed with the secular literary that was gaining ground within the church. However, he was condemned a heretic, excommunicated, and martyred. Savonarola wrote spiritual meditations based on Psalms 50 and Psalms 51. The Church also proscribed certain writings and did not tolerate heretical teachings such as Galileo’s Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (1632). Galileo Galilei wrote Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (1632) and following Copernicus, concluded that the sun was at the center of the universe. Galileo’s â€Å"discoveries brought ecclesiastical censure and he was forced to recant before the inquisition. Facing a possible excommunication and martyrdom, Galileo chose to renounce his beliefs to preserve his life while the Catholic Church bans his book as a forbidden text. Two branches of Buddhism emerge in the thesis and antithesis of the secular and the sacred. The Hinayana is a more rigid form of Chinese Buddhism whereas Mahayana is more worldly and was attractive to Confucians. On the ascetic side, Hinayana appreciated â€Å"Buddhist art (which) aimed to inspire spiritual meditation and a rejection of worldly values† (Cunningham 129). The art work that emblemized the adherent’s austerity is the Fasting Buddha. The image of the Fasting Buddha embodied â€Å"the command to renounce all worldly pleasures† (Cunningham 120). This sculpture forms an essential part of Gandhara Art which represents a thin, gaunt man in a cross-legged seated position with a halo about his head, symbolizing the resultant enlightenment. This antique shows Siddhartha who fasted for three months, denying himself and meditating. The monasteries which supported Mahayana grew faster and were patronized by the wealthy elite classes. Hinduism also contains a hybrid literature which included Hindu sacred text as well as secular tastes. The Gitanjali is an anthology of poems translated into English from the original Vedic manuscripts where its author, Rabindranath Tagore wrote the anthology which signifies â€Å"an offering of songs. † The poetry still retains its strong religious connotations nevertheless, it speaks of and brings together both worlds of the secular and the sacred. â€Å"in 1913, Tagore won the Nobel Prize for literature for Gitanjali, a collection of poems based upon traditional Hindu themes† (Cunningham 314). The work typifies a drawing together of two bodies the male and the female and at the same time uses this sexual imagery to relay information about the ultimate mystery of man’s spiritual union with the divine. In sum the joining of the secular and the sacred tells that although disparate in nature these dichotomies manage to combine and form a powerful force in art and literature. One cannot deny that in order to not lose its peculiar characteristics and identity, strategies of separation between the secular and the sacred have been executed. Holiness ought to be preserved as holy and the secular as its worldly self. Difference can be necessary in order to prevent dilution and weakening of core principles which can be misplaced with frequent mixture. Works Cited: Cunningham, Lawrence S. John J Reich. Culture and Values: A Survey of the Humanities, Wadsworth, Boston, 2006.

Molecular Docking: Experimental Techniques

Molecular Docking: Experimental Techniques Experimental techniques for the determination of three-dimensional structure proteins crystallographic and magnetic resonance protocols have contributed for the deposition of over 12,000 protein structures in the Protein Data Bank. Although the number of available experimental protocols is large and improving rapidly, the determination of the structure of all detected protein-molecule interactions experimentally at high resolution is still an impossible task. Hence, reliable computational methods are of increasing importance. Protein docking involves the calculation of the three-dimensional structure of a protein-molecule complex. The molecule can be another protein, a small peptide or other small molecule (e. g. ligand). Ligand docking is nowadays of great importance in the drug discovery area, with great scientific and commercial interest. The main goal of protein docking is to predict how a pair of molecules interact, predicting accurate ligand poses and evaluating the main existi ng interactions. It should be able to adequately search the conformational available space and calculate the free energy of each conformation to identify the minimum energy conformation. Goals and Steps Protein docking requires the structures of the elements that form the complex and aims to predict correctly the binding site on the target, the orientation of the ligand and the conformation of both. At the end, a rank of possible docking poses based on estimated binding affinities or estimated free energies of binding is given. To successfully predict a target/ligand complex three steps are needed: (1) have accurate structures of the molecules involved in the interaction, (2) location of the binding site, and (3) determination of the binding mode and evaluation. According to Gray, the best docking targets are single-domain small proteins with known monomer structures, with experimentally-determined micromolar or better binding affinity, and minimal backbone conformational change after binding. The docking problem becomes more complicated when one of the structures undergoes significant conformational changes upon binding , for proteins whose structure was solves by homology modeling or for molecules with high degrees of freedom. However there have been reported successful docking results with modeled targets. The second step depends on the algorithm behind the docking software. Some of the used algorithms will be described further on. The hypothesis behind docking predictions is that the structure of a complex is the lowest free energy state that is accessible to the system. In Nature a protein-molecule complex change their conformations to become more compatible to one another, shifting two equilibriums progressively from less compatible to most compatible conformations for both, located at the local minimum of their potential energy surfaces. However ligands do not always adopt their lowest potential energy conformations when binding to their protein targets. Combining these two facts, the results can be influenced by the previous knowledge of the system. If a ligand has to explore a large area of the protein surface to find an adequate docking location, there is a lower probability of find the energy minimum than in the case of docking to a well-defined binding site on the protein. If a putative interaction region has been experimentally determined, this information can be used as useful input to guide the docking algorithm. Several new techniques to locate putative binding sites based on physicochemical properties or evolutionary conservation have been developed in recent years and are reviewed elsewhere. However, a good docking algorithm has to be able to predict realistically the docking site and distinguish it from nonspecific and/or energetically unfavorable ones even when performing a blind docking calculation. The third step is the determination of the binding mode and it mainly depends on the atoms surrounding the docking site and the distance between suitable interacting pairs, as well as the specific conformation and orientation of the molecules of the complex. The resulting conformation is ranked according to its evaluation by the used scoring function. Docking Approaches The speed and accuracy of the docking results depends on the used docking approach. Two major docking approaches are used by the available docking softwares. Shape Complementarity/Matching Methods This is the most common docking technique. The molecules are described in terms of descriptors, which may include structural complementarity terms (solvent-accessible area, overall shape and geometric constraints) and binding complementarity terms (hydrogen binding interactions, hydrophobic contacts and van der Waals interactions). Taking these terms into account, a given molecule is docked into the protein target by matching features. A combination of different descriptors is found to be able to enrich the number of near-native solutions in the set of best ranked docking solutions. This is a fast and robust technique that has been used successfully to screen large compound databases. Its main disadvantage is based on the incapacity of modeling accurately large protein motions and dynamic changes in the conformations. Simulation Methods The second approach simulates the real molecular recognition mechanism, a more complicated and detailed process. According to this method, the two molecules from the complex are distanced by a physical distance and the ligand explores its conformational space and finds its docking site after a finite number of moves. These moves can be translations, rotations, torsion angle rotations or others, and each have a different contribution to the final total energy of the system. The advantages of this approach include a better incorporation of ligand flexibility and a physically closer approach to what happens in reality. However, as the ligand has to explore a large energy landscape, this approach takes longer to evaluate the best docking site. Grid-based techniques and fast optimization methods are being developed to overcome this disadvantage. Mechanics of Docking The success of a docking software depends on two components: (1) the search algorithm, and (2) the scoring function. The combination of these two components will dictate the overall results of the docking task. Search Algorithm All possible rotational and translational orientations, distortions, backbone and side chain flexibility and various degrees of freedom make it impossible to perform an exhautive sampling. To lower the possibilities, most docking programs account only for ligand flexibility (e.g. representing it as a ensemble of structures), maintaining the target rigid. Others attempt to insert some target flexibility by using rotamer libraries, or some degree of side-chain flexibility by using soft interfaces and scaling sterical interactions, or a further side-chain refinement stage. Some of the most used search algorithms are described below. Systematic or stochastic torsional searches about rotatable bonds Rigid body methods This searching method is based on a simplified rigid body representation of the protein onto a regular 3D Cartesian grid. Then it distinguishes grid cells according to whether the two molecules are near or intersect the protein surface, or are deeply buried into the protein core and the degree of overlap is scored. This method generates a large number of docked conformations with favorable surface complementarity. The disadvantages of this searching method are that it maintains the target protein rigid and it cannot find binding modes with a high degree of accuracy due to its inherent simplification of the complex. However, most rigid-body procedures result in good docked conformation if the used structure of the target protein used is obtained by experimental data. Molecular dynamics simulations In this approach the protein is kept rigid while the ligand explores freely the conformational space, obtaining a ensemble of states accessible to the complex. The generated conformations are docked and a determined number of minimization steps are performed, followed by an overall ranking. This is a computational complex method, although it does not need a specialized scoring function and it provides a useful tool to generate ligand conformations. In principle, it allows for full atomic flexibility or flexibility restricted to relevant parts of the complex during the docking task. Genetic algorithms These searching algorithms perform global conformational searches particularly well. Based on the language of natural genetics and biological evolution, their goal is to evolve previous conformations into new low energy conformations. Each spatial arrangement of the pair is represented as a gene with a particular energy and the entire genome is a representation of the complete energy landscape which will be explored. Similar to biological evolution, random pairs of individuals are mated using a process of crossover and there is also the possibility of a random mutation in the offspring. During each iteration, high-scoring features in the current generation are preserved in the next cycle. This approach permits exploring of large conformational spaces. The main disadvantages include requiring the target protein to remain fixed during the docking task and multiple runs to obtain reliable results, which makes it a poor candidate to perform large databases screening. Limiting the conform ational space to explore and the explorations of conformational changes at sites of interest can largely increase the performance of the docking task using this algorithm. Scoring Function In docking, the goal of a scoring function is to serve as a mathematical method to predict the strength of the non-covalent interaction between the two molecules. Usually, this value is represented as the binding affinity, and indicates how favorable the binding interaction is. An ideal scoring function should be able to recognize favorable native contacts and discriminate non-native contacts with lower scores, and rank a set of molecules, predicting the correct modes of binding. These scoring functions can be parameterized (trained) against a set of experimental data for combinations of binding affinities, buried surface areas, desolvatation and electrostatic interation energies and hydrophobicity scores of molecular species similar to the species in study. There are four classes of scoring functions, which are described below. Choosing a scoring function should always be based on the resolution of the search method. Most scoring functions are physics-based molecular mechanics force fields that estimate the nonbonded interaction energy of the docking pose. Affinities are estimated based on the total internal energy, which is estimated taking into account the strength of intramolecular van der Waals and electrostatic interactions and the desolvation energy. It is know that the free energy of binding is higly dependent on the system and it is often dominated by desolvation or electrostatic contributions. Other software also take into account the torsional free energy and the unbound systems energy as penalizing terms. At the end, a low (negative) energy indicates a stable complex, with a likely binding interaction. Empirical scoring functions define simple functional forms for interactions between the two molecules of the complex. Some examples include the number atoms in contact between ligand and receptor, change in the solvent accessible surface area, number of hydrogen bonds, conformational entropy, and hydrophobic and hydrophilic contacts. These provide a fast method to rank potential inhibitory candidates. Knowledge-based scoring functions are based on statistical analysis on intermolecular interactions and interactions distances extracted from large databases of protein-ligand complexes (e.g. PDB). This method is based on the assumption that there are intramolecular interactions between certain atoms that occur more frequently, which will be energetically favorable. If detected these interaction will contributed more to a favorable binding affinity. Hybrid scoring functions combined one or more features from the ones described above. There has is always a focus on the scoring function when developing a new docking program. Newly developed scoring functions are evaluated based on their ability to reproduce known ligand-binding patters for well-studied receptors. Despite the development of new and improved scoring functions, there is still a difficulty in identifying the best docking solutions from a list of false positives or decoys. Disadvantages of Molecular Docking Docking calculations can be hampered by a number of reasons: (1) the ligand binds to deep specific pockets of the protein structure; (2) does not consider the presence of solvent, which can be crucial to allow hydrogen bond interactions to occur; (3) if there is an attachment of the ligand to a solid surface (e.g. resin) via a spacer arm; (4) ligands with high flexibility; (5) weak interactions between the ligand and the protein; (6) large-scale motions of the peptide backbone. However, new optimizations and extensions are being developed into existing programs to overcome these drawbacks. AutoDock Autodock (version 4.0.1) was the program package that was used for the docking task in this work. It is used for automated docking of small molecules (e.g. peptides, enzyme inihibitors and drugs) to macromolecules (e.g. proteins, antibodies, DNA and RNA). It is a very complete software package, allowing a robust and accurate procedure and a reasonable computational demand. AutoDock which allows the use of ligand with fixed and flexible degrees of freedom. The searching function used by AutoDock is the Lemarkian Genetic Algorithm (LGA), throughly described by Morris et al. LGA is a hybrid searching algorithm that combines the advantages of the global search of the common genetic algorithms and the advantages of a local search method to perform energy minimization, enhancing the performance relative to genetic algorithms. The local search does not require gradient information about the local energy landscape, facilitating torsional space search and allowing to handle more degrees of freedom. The AutoDock scoring function (described by Huey et al is a semi-empirical free energy force field scoring function that evaluates conformations and calculates the ligand-receptor binding affinity. The force field was parameterized using a large set of complexes with known inhibition constants (Ki), structure and binding energies. It evaluates enthalpic contributions (e.g. repulsion, hydrogen bonding) using a molecular mechanics approach and evaluates de changes in solvation and conformational mobility through an empirical approach. At the end of the docking task, Autodock returns a set of the top ranked answers according to the input system and parameters. Each is accompanied by the information regarding the estimated Ki and estimated free energy of binding, which is decomposed into (1) final intramolecular energy (van der Waals, hydrogen bond, desolvation and electrostatic energy), (2) final total internal energy, (3) torsional free energy, and (4) unbound systems energy and estimated as: (1)+(2)+(3)-(4). Due to its technical characteristics, automated docking with AutoDock is not widely used to screen a large number of compounds. However, Park et al performed a benchmarking which showed the potentialities of this software for database screening, with a overall better average docking time and performance than other tested docking software. The vast conformational sampling, degrees of freedom, complicated steric and chemical complementarity still offer a challenge for the computational approach to molecular docking. The inclusion of all possible conformational changes during docking searches is still impossible, and it would be of particular importance where only homology modeled structures are available. Slight modeling inaccuracies can result in false negatives, weak binding or even wrong docking poses. Better insights into the nature of protein folding and binding, protein dynamics and biomolecular energetics will allow the development of better docking algorithms. Unilever Case Study Analysis: SWOT Unilever Case Study Analysis: SWOT INTRODUCTION: There are many kinds of business everywhere; where there are many issues related to the growth of the company and Different strategies will enable different companies to reach those goals. Unilever is a company started in 1930 formed of Dutch Margarine Company and British based lever brothers. Unilever holds a wide range of products which include food, personal care, beverages, canned foods, ice creams and many more which are worlds best consumer brands. The case study describes a lot of information regarding Unilevers business strategies, key elements of Unilevers path to growth, how they rejuvenated and restructured the companies slow moving performance to wide range of brands across the world. BRIEF CASE STUDY: Unilever was created in 1930 as an outcome of merger with dual chairpersons and headquarters one in Netherlands and other in United Kingdom. This is of one the giant and best competitors in the industry which holds wide range of products. The two chairpersons have launched a strategy in early 2000 to recover the companys performance which was said to be lackluster. With the new strategies the company showed a significant progress and has gone through many dealings over the next years, this made the company to open 20 new acquisitions worldwide and increased the sales of the company. Thus the companys business was restructured, renovated and improved through its acquisitions. Then their came companies likes nestle which effecting the growth of Unilever. Unilever then started efforts to attract and motivate young, talented and innovative managers from outside its company. TASK 1: SWOT : A planning technique which is used for summarizing the key issues and evaluates the Strengths (S), Weaknesses (W), Opportunities (O) and Threats (T) in any business is called an SWOT analysis. Analysis is the brief study of any case how they are going to be obtained, who are responsible for causing it and solving it by planning which involves internal and external factors of a business or an organization; internal factors are classified as strengths(S) or weaknesses (W) and external factors are classified as Opportunities (O) or Threats (T). Strengths are those characteristics of a person or a company that are useful to achieve the goals. Weaknesses are the characteristics of a person or a company that is destructive to achieve the objective. Opportunities and threats are the external factors that are helpful in achieving and damaging the business performance respectively. The figure1 show the illustrative diagram of SWOT analysis. The internal factors include personal, finance, manufacturing capabilities, etc and the external factors may include technological changes which may cause changes in products and processes that is inventing a new product or making the product better which include quality of the product and the consumer desire, market influences due to unemployment rates effect the company and price factors is one of the important thing to keep in mind , market place is one more thing which is very important that is the company or a business should be located in a convenient environment to the consumers to attract and the product should be user friendly. Another important factor is that its external appearance the packing and the name of the products should be eye catchy. At last he customer relations should be friendly and consumer satisfaction is very necessary. Other than these there are some more factors which may be changing due to econ omic and social factors and competitive positions which may create new opportunities or threats. SWOT analysis is useful in decision making when most wanted these include nonprofit organizations, individuals. It is the only method for classification and has its own weaknesses. A SWOT which produces no strategies is of no use whereas which generates important strategies is useful. Unilever had a very tough competition during that time when it was bringing about the changes it was probably at this stage that these companies had moved forward with there various strategies. Skills, assets, finance, facilities are the resources which are used in any business to compete in the industry. In the same way Unilever used their own resources to grow as giant company. They have implemented SWOT analysis and implemented new business strategies and rejuvenated their company from lack lust to significant progress in sales. It has concentrated on marketing and advertising its business and gained increased pricing with supermarket vendors. Unilever was lagging in sales when compared with nestle, Procter Gamble, Kelloggs etc its path of growth strategy which met considerable uncertainty which made Unilever to undertake a series of actions by cutting the companies profile to reach corporate goals and introduced 20 new acquisitions worldwide and restructured the company into two divisions one includes all food products and other household and personal care. Then started other two new businesses across the world. The external market factors such as technological changes, social factors, and other companies growth made a very big impact on the consumer preferences and Unilever had to cut its revenue growth. Later it continued to obtain more products across the world and these products gave managers to make their own decision making to set priorities by introducing new initiatives. Unilever has even motivated and attracted young talented managers from outside the company to join their company. According to Unilevers SWOT analysis the strengths of the company are recognized as it is a global company with strong brand profile with worlds best brands and maintains strong relation with its retailers. But coming to its weaknesses it has insufficient management of brands and doesnt not connect with customers. And inability to maximize acquisitions has reduced spending for R D. Thought it has got many opportunities by introducing many products by changing customer preferences and increase in productio n of quality goods. There are threats equally which cause decrease in revenues with high market competition, increasing the number brands and exchange rates. There are many growth expectations, risks, profit margins in food and house hold industry which is composed of many sectors and sub sectors by challenging the change of customers preferences with challenging rival firms to gain market shares. Then with competitive achievement by creating attractive products through acquisitions and with capability of growing sales of the brands which existed and improve margins. For all this the many key to success was advertising the products. By improving the profits of the company not only included shifting sales of the products but also boosting efficiency and unit costs. There were three factors which worried in 2000, the consolidation pressures in food industry which bothered were slower growth rates in food industries, rapid consolidation among grocery markets that is between branded manufactures and private manufactures for good self space in the grocery stores. In the United States for several years the food industry was miserable and was expected to continue for few more years due to more women working and decreasing house hold sizes, single parents and singles. But the food industry in Europe, Asia, Africa and other less developed countries were attractive. Thought the competition between branded and private manufactures was a never ending issue, private manufactures improved their quality of products by growing market shares. Then there came many giant super markets and gave an opportunity for private brands with attractive prices below branded products and even provided checkout scanners to help the customers know price difference which tempt them to BRIEF SWOT ANALYSIS OF UNILEVERS CASE STUDY STRENGHTS WEAKNESSESS Global company. Reduced spending for R D. Best Brands. Inability to maximize acquisitions. Strong relation with retailers. Insufficient management of brands. Dual Leadership. OPPURTUNITIES THREATS Increasing in need of quality products. Decrease in revenues. Changing customer preferences. Strong competition. Increase in brands. shift to the private brands. Due to the heavy competition among them manufactures had to cut down the costs of the products, number of versions of the products and weed out weak brands and concentrate on those brands which were popular among the customers and those could develop into global brands. Introducing dual headquarters by dividing the food industry which consisted of 6 categories and household industry which consisted of 8 categories there were many benefits such as improving food and household industry by focusing more on them regionally and globally. Accelerating decision making and successful integration of R D though there were some critics that Unilever has been paying more for some of its acquisitions such as acquire Amora Maille. Unilever as of then in 2003 had been seen as a growing organization which probably had all the necessary requirements to make it a force to recon with, during the Path to Growth strategy many aspects of the company had come out some of them included the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strengths, probably the biggest strength that the company had at that time was the correct selection of the brands and the products it had in store unilever had done many researches and had to make many decisions to get the right combinations products that where to be sold it also had the right ideas to increase the sales and all the leading brands to help its cause. Unilever was very good at that time even if the financial aspect was taken into consideration it could experiment with various aspects of its store cause had the financial backup which was required at that time to help it implement various ideas and deal with the market pressures, for any company to improve its sales marke ting always plays a very important role this was probably there biggest strength as the marketing strategy applied by them managed to grab peoples attention as they easy to be connected to and much more simplistic and realistic. Unilever did manage all its clients very well considering that during a phase when they where cutting on the brands it would have been a risk to out anything at that time but it was very well managed by the company. Mainly the fact that unilever was now looking to make the higher range or the brands which where more famous as there core brands which made it much easier for them to advertise considering that it is much easier to promote a very well known and a trusted brand rather than a normal or new brand to increase the sales. Weaknesses, though unilever had a very good policy and all the right objectives to make a difference in the industry it couldnt happen basically due to the lack of proper organization, it was actually much like a bureaucratic organization where things where divided between too many people and it had become difficult to get the ideas moving due to the lack of proper organization, it probably all started with the fact that the company had to deal with too many brands in the first place it would obviously have the impact when the Path to Growth strategy came up cause of the then 1600 brands only 400 brands where retained and rest all where either removed or replaced, that shows that due the lack of proper organization and too many brands being part of it didnt help it in making the changes it wanted to in a better and quickest way. The organization was probably one field in which the company was lacking because it was felt that at the top of the company as there were too many people mak ing decisions and these decisions had to be put forward and this delayed the process of improvement for the company. Opportunities, during this phase of development and renewing it content and upgrading of the stock it turned out to be very fruitful as it provided many working opportunities for people it was at that time that many people where starting to get full time work, during this phase a lot of acquisition also took place with the major brands which resulted in some alterations in plans to that which were planned. SlimFast which is a private company is another acquisition of Unilever after implementing path to growth strategy in 2000 the company bargained an agreement to purchase slimfast diet foods. It had strong sales and network and has a special space in every super market and drugstores these products were made from natural ingredients and added vitamins and minerals to provide good nutritional profile. It also maintained a very good relationship with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other agencies. Unilever has concentrated more on this Slimfast since the company was growing fast and attracted the customers to buy more of it for healthier and long living life .Management of Unilever utilized the opportunity to globalize the product in other countries like Europe, Australia due to increase in the percent of obese. According to the world health organization percent of the obese was increasing gradually. UNILEVERS TOP COMPETITORS ? Figure: Competitors Performance Comparison http://finance.aol.com/company/unilever-plc-amer/ul/nys/top-competitors Ben Jerrys acquisitions which produces one of the finest ice creams anywhere in pint cartons and wholesale at groceries. Their sales slogan was Vermont finest All Natural Ice cream. They never use any artificial flavors thought the cost is little more it is worth the price. According to the time magazine Vermont makes the best ice cream in the world with 29 flavors in pint cartons and 45 flavors in bulk cartons. There products were distributed throughout the world. On demand Ben jerry operated three manufacturing plants where Vermont plant produces super premier ice cream and frozen yogurts where as spring field produces ice cream, lot fat ice creams in bulk, pint cartons and half gallons. Dreyers and Haagen-Dazs were the two major competitors of Ben jerry and other competitors were Colombo frozen yogurts, Kemps ice cream and star bucks. Ben Jerry produces a wide range of ice creams products like sticks, bars, frozen yogurt pops etc. Though Haagen- Dazs was the global market leader followed by Ben jerry it had an insignificant market share in United States where as Haagen- Dazs was more significantly sold in foreign markets. Both Ben jerry and Haagen-Dazs produced ice creams with cookies and candies in it. Bestfoods was a global company across the world almost in 60 countries which was busy in manufacturing and marketing the food products. Bestfoods profits are almost from outside of the United States that is almost 60 percent of its profits. It is one of the best managed food companies among United States who has much number of employees working with in their company in which half of them were at non US locations. The company increased payments for 14 successive years has its revenues grow by7.8 percent annual rate and suddenly slow downed during the period of 1997 and 1999. Then the company introduced a strategy with four core elements. Globalization of the companys core consumers: Products which are new in the market are needed to be globalized that is the products which are less popular among the consumers, are needed to be advertised and market those products to increase its sales and profits of those products. Few such products are knorr product line, salad dressing and food service operations. The advertising of such kind of products was done very well in order to get those products globally recognized and be accepted among many big brands and soon they became household names. Improvement in cost effectiveness: With changing customer preference the quality of the products must be improved and therefore there should also be improvement in cost effectiveness as the quality improves cost increases. Cost effectiveness is nothing but it is a way by which you show to a customer that a certain is product is worth using or is better than other product or the money u spend on it is worth it. Cost effectiveness in simple would be defined as showing the worth of the product. Looking for new market opportunities: Extending the product sales all over the world via new product introductions and extending sales of the products which are existed in the market. It is very important for any company to be always alert and look for opportunities to extend the business to a large scale and see it in a bigger picture based on the opportunities it gets. Using free cash to make new acquisition: With expanding the products and brands company has created 60 acquisitions in the global market. After struggling a lot in June 2000 best foods agreed to be acquired by Unilever. Best foods were the largest acquisition undertaken by Unilever by as far as concerned and which makes a largest combination of food companies in 12 years. Management of Unilever believed that combining and assimilating bestfoods would result in pre tax cost saving, better efficiencies in business process, synergy in distribution marketing, reformation of general and administrative functions and improved economies of scale. By creating robust business in United States market, increasing strengths of Unilever and best foods in Europe, building of best foods in Latin America to speed up the growth of Unilever brands, by distributing strengths in Asia- pacific to grow and sped up Bestfoods brands and increasing the sales of Unilever products by food service channel of Bestfoods. The work culture was so casual to make the atmosphere fun and lively with communication between the management and employees. The company respected the employees suggestions and respected them even paid the employees a reasonable salary Finally Unilever has announced sale of Bestfoods Backing Company to Canadian food and super market group known as George Weston for $ 1.76billion though Unilever declared to divest Bestfoods Baking Company and Unilever other products and bakery products does not exit any more at Unilever. Bestfoods has 19plans across the United States with a strong management team and was entirely US based. It was one of the best distributing for delivering the baked products which are really baked fresh and sent directly to the retail stores. With its dedication and hard work Bestfoods sales has increased its profit margins by 8 percent. Later again Unilever announced to sell 19 Bestfood brands across North America to ACH food companies which is a supplementary of Associated British Food. By successfully combining the operations of bestfoods with Unilever by the year end of 2003 the two companies had been merged in 63countries across the world TASK 2: Path to Growth: Path to growth strategy was initiated in 2000 and was restructured for several years for better and significant results. The key elements of this Unilevers path to growth strategy were cutting down its brands from 1600 brands to 400core brands to achieve top line sales and increase profits by advertising the brands which are more popular and leading brands across the world and concentrating on R D. Another important key element was divesting underperforming brands and theirs companies and introducing more innovated things to enhance the internal development of the organization and making new acquisitions. Unilevers years of slow performance and its lack of corporate strategy in the competition industry with low number of brands and ordinary performance in growing markets with a little global presence made to create a path to growth strategy which was a 5 year growth plan which made them to concentrate on more brands and product innovations for internal and external growth of the company. And made the company to grow with acquisitions. According to FitzGerald and Bergmans path to growth strategy they predicted to manufacture double digit wages per share growth and superior positions. Focusing on the key brands by advertising and marketing made business grow higher and build brand value and increased brands prices. The case study shows Unilever as a global company according to SOWT analysis after introducing the path to growth strategy the company had really increased its sales and with introducing more number of acquisitions and cutting down the cost of revenues. As the acquisitions like Slimfast, Ben jerry and best foods were rapidly growing their market across the world building a very strong profile and providing customers attractive products and offers. Slim fast has 20%anual growth rate with strong sales and distribution all over the world and also maintained good customer relation. Where Ben jerry was worlds giant ice cream products and yogurt maker with strong brand equity. Bestfoods was USs 10 largest foo d products company with a strong global position. The two key elements of the Unilevers new business strategy was to cut down on the number of brands that were being sold or being marketed by the company, at that time Unilever was operating with as many as 1600 brands and much more products due to this the cut down on the number of products and brands was considered, the 1600 brands that where part of the company were cut down to as many as 400 core brands, the core brands mostly included all the famous and popular brands which are generally very popular among people, this idea came up as to make sure that the products where sold and by doing this it would not be much of a problem for the marketi8ng of these products as most of these brands where already day to day and very famous brands which people would generally prefer buying, which would mean that it would take much less an effort to connect to the people and more over the marketing was also done in such a way that people where able to connect to it very easily, the other key e lement of the unilevers strategy was to remove all the underperforming companies or brands and introduce some other new brands or companies in order to enhance the internal development of the organization and make new acquisitions which would enhance the sales of the company and make it more likable for the people this strategy was designed to increase the sales of the company and get rid of the companies which where not much in demand . Weaknesses according to SWOT analysis showed the company has dual leadership, insufficient management of brands and reduced R D after all this slow performance and small global presence the management has introduced path to growth strategy, which increased the company sales with cutting down it costs and introducing more acquisitions resulted in globalizing the company. As a result there were few expectations to achieve a double digit growth and securing a better position in global market for food and household products by increasing the quality of the product to gain pricing power and attract more customers. But according to the strategy plan the targets which were set was really high that is top line sales growth of 5-6 percent annually, increasing profits, and plan to complete by the end of 2004. If we look and analyze the path to growth strategy we can tell whether the strategy is working or not, we can say that it is working by its success rates and increase in profits and increase in brands and acquisitions that is the consumer preferences have changed due to which the products quality has changed and prices have changed the leading brands sales have increased from 75 percent to 93 percent. Food and personal care industry have increased its profits consistently. Operating assets have also improved by 9 percent. Acquisitions like slim fast, Ben jerry and best foods have gradually improved its growth and established its acquisitions all over the world. But the other side it is completely not yes, Unilever was gaining profits significantly after introducing new strategies but it was losing too yes it reported a net loss of $318M as the competitions was increasing and new brands were coming in to the market and rivals were introducing new strategies to compete Unilever. In th e year 2004 sales grew only by .4 percent leading brands by .9 percent so this proves that Unilever was lagging behind competitors in terms of innovation and advertising. Unilevers lack of advertising and marketing failed to improve sales. The company was small and not globalized. In this case Unilever attracted the new young talented manages to join their company with innovated ideas to increase its company profits by new methods of advertising and marketing. To justify Unilever strategies it maintained dual headquarters and dual chairpersons which reduced effective thinking and slow downed the decision making. Unilever is divided into Unilever Plc and Unilever NV. This made Unilever to focus on the needs of the customers and increase its sales profits in various industries like food, personal case, and household industries all over the world. As customers demand the products which are of the best quality and branded but at the same time convenient, cheap and attractive. The market for household products have been decreased its profits as the numbers of single parents have been increased and the rate of females working out have been increased and the demand for the healthy and high quality food has been increased. The consumers preference of the products such as its look, quality of the product and nutritional values has been increased by providing a strong competition against its giant competitors and private manufactures. This allows Unilever to focus on the need of its customers by increasing its sales. In 2003 Unilever executing its path to growth strategy by increasing its operating margins to over 15percent, but the sales of the leading brands growth as slowdown and raised questions among the investors and retailers that whether company brands could deliver some 5-6 percent of growth in revenues in the next coming years. TASK 3: Unilevers current business Strategies: Ever since the ‘Path to Growth strategy ended in 2005 there has been a 15% increase in the sales and development in the overall progress of Unilever. After the ‘Path to Growth came to an end a new process was developed by Unilever called as the Brand Imprint which helped the marketing teams in understanding how the business could face risks as well as opportunities from the social, economic and environmental issues. In this process each brand was scrutinized by a team looking into various aspects of it such as the direct as well the indirect impacts of the product, it also checked how the brand would go ahead in the future looking at the products possibilities of growth both from a customer and a stakeholders point of view. The outcome of the Brand Imprint is that the process has helped in making important decisions for the company keeping the future in perspective it also developed in addressing social missions, social and environmental issues. The Brand Imprint provided a perfect experience to find some systematic and measurable ways to explore different brands and improve the brands by addressing social issues, helping people the product well and reducing the environmental issues. When the S.W.O.T analysis was done on the ‘Path to Growth strategy many different aspects of the strategy where scrutinized using the SWOT analysis in which it dealt with many aspects such as the strength, weakness, opportunities and the threats that are being faced. After the analysis it came out that it had been very useful to determine the various aspects attached to it. Unilever for years had been a slow developing company, though the company had the right infrastructure and the capital but it couldnt utilize it properly that was basically the reason why the path to growth and various other strategies where starting to come up to help the company to increase the sales of the products and improve the business. Path to growth played a major part in the development of the company. The Path to Growth strategy did prove to be quite a useful thing considering the fact that during this period almost all of the unsuccessful brands where removed or replaced and the brands which where trusted and kept managed to increase the sales by 75% to 93%. Unilevers growth was considerably slow during this phase because the company was at that stage making very drastic changes and for these changes to come up and make a difference was something unexpected but the companys growth was obvious in certain fields thanks to the new strategies that had come in to improve the sales of the company so as to improve the business of the company. It was due to the fact that the company probably took way too much time u started and implement its plans that it caused the success to be not as higher as expected. Many business analysts and commentators felt that most of the strategies of the path to growth where working fine but there was always a speculation that what ever progress was talking place was happening too slow considering the competition the market was in with at that time, it was also felt that as the basic functionality of the business was spread among way too many people made the management way to complex and it would have been better off if it was simpler. It did work out fine when it came to the advertising of the product and getting it known to the people as it was more public oriented and it used the sources to the full extent to connect to the people. It did experience a drastic growth during that period as the analysis had proved that the company had the highest growth percentage as compared to any other company during that period it did bring in high profits to the company but looking at the whole picture it did prove to be a huge loss for the company considering the fa ct that they faced a countable loss in the revenue margin and that proved to be the difference, though it did have the right amount of sales and customers due to the slowness of there analysis to sort out and remove or replace the stuff did make a difference to analysis in the larger picture. But the company did grow during that time which might as well have effected the revenue cause many new store where started and large number of employees where starting to be employed on a full time basis. It did do quite well on the international market as well. By looking at the way the company had grown during this stage is quite remarkable many business analysts and commentators had felt that they probably had the right scheme of action because during that time they where handling 1600 brands and which was way too much and among those were quit few brands which hardly made any diff to the company so then the whole idea of brands cut based on the market outlook and sales reports was looked into to classify as to which of the products or brands where fast selling and which had the scope to sell more. It was that idea to cut down on the number of brands and start promoting only few brands which where much easier to be marketed and which where more likable by the people by which it would increase the sales and also make the marketing of these products easier cause when you are promoting bigger brands which are often very well known to public would mean that u don have to spend much on the marketing. Did the company experience growth during this period? Yes, would be the right thing to say voiding the minor things which might effect the outcome but it did see the light of success though slowly and there process and ideas where starting to get implemented in a better way and in a more successful way to deal with the growth of the company, the process of cutting down on the under selling companies was probably the decision that started to turn the tide for the company as it was when the losses where starting to be covered and it was mor