The Role of Nursing Theory in Research and Practice Essay

The Role of Nursing Theory in Research and Practice - Essay Example This theory explains the reason that the patients environment is important due to its effect and affectation to a person’s health in a positive or a negative way—attributed with diseases. Providing a therapeutic environment is viewed essential for a person to heal himself (Chen, n.d.). Some examples of the environmental factors affecting health according to Nightingales theory are fresh air, pure water, sufficient food and appropriate nutrition, efficient drainage, cleanliness, and light or direct sunlight. If any of these factors is lacking, it can delay the patients recovery. Nightingale also emphasized providing a quiet, warm environment for patients to recover in. The theory also calls for nurses to assess a patients dietary needs, document food intake times, and evaluate how the patients diet affects his or her health and recovery (â€Å"Florence Nightingale,† 2011) The Nightingale’s concept views a person to have reparative powers and can be affected by the environment. Health on the other hand is the utilization of the person’s power to maintain well-being and is affected by the environment through the utilization of the nursing process by providing fresh air, warmth, cleanliness, and proper diet to facilitate person’s reparative process. The goal of nursing is to put the patient in the best possible condition in order for nature to act. The advent of nursing theories benefited the whole healthcare system by virtue of guidance in the nursing practice through research and empirical studies. Aggleton and Chalmers cited that practicing within the scope of nursing without a theory to underpin is an empty approach often described as ‘practicing in the dark’ (1986 as cited by Mckenna, 1997, p108). Nursing theories therefore provides nursing practice with a systematic basis for assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation offering a way of revitalization (Mckenna, 1997, p. 108) As a guide to

Ethical Leadership Martin Luther King Jr Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Ethical Leadership Martin Luther King Jr - Essay Example Ethical leadership is about the quality of a leader to fight for the ethics which is applicable for everybody. This is really shown in the life of Martin Luther King Jr., whose says that "In struggling for human dignity the oppressed people of the world must not allow themselves to become bitter or indulge in hate campaigns. To retaliate with hate and bitterness would do nothing but intensify the hate in the world. Along the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate. This can be done only by projecting the ethics of love to the center of our lives" "There are two types of laws: there are just laws and there are unjust laws...What is the difference between the two...An unjust law is a man-made code that is out of harmony with the moral law. The ultimate test of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and moments of convenience, but where he stands in moments of challenge and moments of controversy." (quietspaces.com n.pag) His purpose in life was to give the true meaning of freedom and he had taken the path of non-violence to achieve it. He had studied the life great leader Mahatma Gandhi, who also achieved freedom for his nation through the means of nonviolence. With this ethical means he fought against discrimination and racialism particularly, towards the black or the Negro community in United States. He fought for their rights by telling the suppressing community the true meaning of freedom that is equality in all human being without the discrimination in color of skin. Martin Luther King even while he was a student he was known for his leadership qualities and was rewarded several times. He was elected president of the senior class and delivered the valedictory address; he won the Pearl Plafker Award for the most outstanding student; and he received the J. Lewis Crozer fellowship for graduate study at a university of his choice. Dr. King was awarded honorary degrees from a number of colleges and universities in the United States and several other foreign countries (Brown et al. n.pag 2006). Martin Luther King also followed his father's and grandfather's steps and entered the Christian ministry. He was ordained in February 1948 at the age of nineteen at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia and became Assistant Pastor of Ebenezer. Soon after the completion of his studies at Boston University, he accepted the call of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama (Brown et al. n.pag 2006). Psychological research has discovered the following positive personality variables associated with strong leadership includes warmth, friendliness, self-confidence, ability to stand up to pressure. These researches have also found that the absence of the negative qualities of arrogance, hostility, boastfulness, egotism, and passivity are correlated with positive leadership (Romney, 1996). If we look into the life of King, it can be said that he is among the top leaders of the world. He was always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race as a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The Montgomery Bus Boycott, in 1955 led by King lasted for 382 days and was among ones in which he was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse. King was arrested during this campaign, which ended with a United States Supreme Court decision

Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions Theory

Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions Theory In the past decade of increased globalization and diversity, business across borders has increased. Although cross border business faces a lot of challenges not only from the political and socio economic paradigm but also from culture (Porter, 1990). National culture has gained importance, as it is significant in managing global operations. Multinational business strategy research has long acknowledged the importance of national cultural characteristics as determinants of management behavior (Cheng, 1989; Rosenweig and Singh, 1991). So now, what is culture? It is true that no two human would know the same things but they often have great deal of knowledge in common. This common knowledge or collective memory to a large extent make people work together, communicate and live together. This forms communities and if shared among enough people in a country, its characteristics are called national culture. The common knowledge constitutes one of the elements which make national culture uni que (The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, 2nd edition, revised and updated, by E. D. Hirsch, Jr., and James Trefil, is reviewed). There are a lot of theories that attempt to explain culture like the ones proposed by Fons Trompenaar, 1993; Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck, 1961, Edward T.Hall but Geert Hofstedes Cultures consequences has been remarkably influential and his work has provided the foundation for many studies on, intercultural relations (Hart, 1999), cross-cultural management control systems design (Harrison McKin- non, 1999), international business research (Chandy Williams, 1994), and psychology (Baskerville, 2003; Oyserman, Coon, Kem- melmeier, 2002; Schimmack, Oishi, Diener, 2005; Triandis, 2004), most often seeking to determine how differences on cultural dimensions (i.e., power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity) impacted work related values and behavior. (National Culture, Leadership and Citizenship: Implications for Cross-cultural Management, p 78) According to Geert Hofstede the culture is defined as collective programming of mind and explains that it lies between human nature on one side and individual personality on the other (Hofstede, 1991). Hofstedes cultural framework has been applied in a wide variety of contexts and his work has gained great support and is of prime importance to many researchers in various disciplines. As stated by Baskerville, Cultures Consequences demonstrates an average of 94 citations per annum in the last 18 years. Part of this level of usage appears to reflect efforts of researchers unaware of debates concerning the legitimacy of Hofstedes dimensions (R.F.Baskerville, 2003). So huge is the acceptance of hofstedes work. Geert Hofstede an expert of studies in culture from Netherland developed a cross- culture model. The five dimensions of culture are defined as follows Power Distance: the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) expect and accept that power is distributed unequally (Hofstede, 1991: 28; Hofstede Peterson, 2000: 401). Uncertainty Avoidance: intolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity (Hofstede, 1991: 113; Hofstede Peterson, 2000: 401). Individualism versus Collectivism: the extent to which individuals are integrated into groups (Hofstede, 1991: 51; Hofstede Peterson, 2000: 401). Masculinity versus Femininity assertiveness and competitiveness versus modesty and caring (Hofstede, 1991: 82-3, 1998b; Hofstede Peterson, 2000: 401) (McSweeney, 2002) Hofstede defined culture as a Collective programming of mind, his concept of culture promotes an image of the individual as merely a passive carrier of a predetermined cultural template (Ailon, 2007; Ailon -Souday Kunda, 2003). As much as Hofstedes work has been universally accepted as I was researching I came across a number of critics for his work (e.g Galit Ailon (2008); R.F.Baskerville (2003); McSweeney (2002)). It was then it dawned on me the validity of the theory that even I had used in my graduate dissertation like an unquestionably acceptable principle. As G.Ailon (2008) stated it is not he (Hofstede), the individual, who is of interest here; instead,the discursive practices that governed his text that predominated and ran through him (Foucault, 1972: 139)that are of interest. So here I am going to critically evaluate his theory within a certain degree of my personal understanding of it although heavily relying on the articles of McSweeney and Galit ailon. A significant aspect of national culture research of Hofstede is the transparency with which he related the cultural dimensions with other studies of country or national differences for the purposes of making international comparisons. Each of the dimensions of index was compared to seven other national measurements: GNP, latitude, economic growth, population size and growth, population density and organization size. So the socio economic data used by him does describe cultural dimension rather the historical origins of nations. (R.F.Baskerville, 2003). His study comes to show that a nations attributes are culturally influenced. And most of the critiques have remarkably questioned the simplest of facts that many have failed to think. As Mikael Sondergaard puts it , most of the debate on hofstedes work has been on the following aspects of his study: surveys are inappropriate instruments to measure culture unit of analysis of nations is not the best unit suited for studying culture One company cannot provide information about the entire nations culture IBM data is old and obsolete Four dimensions cant tell the whole story (http://geert-hofstede.international-business-center.com/Sondergaard.shtml). I am going to be discussing the above mentioned in detail now, though Hofstedes work has entailed substantial contribution in the field of cultural studies there are some pertinent issues that leaves doubt on the validity of the typology produced by him. It is not possible for national culture to be uniform, there is considerable diversity. An assumption of a homogeneous culture can only be made by assuming that culture is coherent, pure, stable, and nothing external like other cultures and non cultural factors influence a national culture.(McSweeney, Forthcoming) Which is hard to believe in reality because when a number of cultures and subcultures co-exist it is impossible for it remain independent and completely uninfluenced by the other. Otherwise we have to consider cultures as being tough enough to withstand any attempts to change them. Some of the issues are discussed in the due course. The surveys were the backbone of the study. The surveys were carried out on 40 IBM subsidiaries around the world between 1964 and 1973 and used about 117000 questionnaires. Most of the researchers state that a survey is not an appropriate instrument for accurately determining and measuring cultural disparity. This is especially apparent when the variable being measured is a value which culturally sensitive and subjective (Schwartz, 1999). Two surveys were carried out and results are a combination of responses from both the surveys. A closer examination revealed that not all questionnaires were used and that the average number per country was small and sometimes evens a minuscule. In only six countries () the number of respondents were more than 1000 and in Pakistan was only 70 The narrowness of the Hofstede surveyed research population radically compounds the scale problem (McSweeney, 2002). This leads to a doubt in the statistical integrity of the results obtained from the survey. A s Schwartzs (1992) puts it that one cannot derive the normative ideals of a culture from the average of individual responses (p. 51). The PD (Power distance) index was based on three questions in the IBM questionnaire. The first question was a five point scale , and it asked how frequently in their experience employees were afraid of expressing disagreement with their managers and second and third questions asked about their preferred leadership style (autocratic, persuasive, consultative, and democratic) and the style that closely matched their boss. G.Ailon (2008) states that in each stage of the research process an attempt of neutralization is visible. This begins with the standardized uniform questionnaire that has been used worldwide. In effect, how- ever, uniformity was, meant ot direct respondents in the paths determined by a Western, managerially oriented research team. The questionnaire coerced a western axis of comparison on non-western cultures. It had a egalatarian portrayal of western culture and ignored racial and colonial inequalities and defined racial power distance under uncertainity avoidance. Th is fact, enabled a country like South Africa due to apartheid to be represented in the sample by white respondents only whether partial in terms of population sample, questionnaire content, or both, it constituted a political act that, however unwittingly, neutralized racism and colonialism by excluding them from measurement.Hofstede also tried to neutralize certain aspects of the dimension by universalisation, stating that Hierarchial inequality is something we inevitably find, the essence of organsation and so the choices given on the questionnaire was already based on the notion of its universal inevitability thereby trapping the respondent in an invisible way to positively answer the neutrality and inevitability of the managerial power.(G.Ailon, 2008).Though they had choices , and their answers did vary, these were again manipulated and labeled in such a way that hofstede tried to expropriate the meaning of the answers from his respondents, claiming, in so many words, that anyth ing they said proves his point-using their voices to turn his hypotheses into axioms (G.Ailon, 2008). The large power distance in France and Belgium (which were exceptions in Nordic, Anglo, Germany) he attributed to the cultural inheritance of Roman empire, likewise the small power distance in Pakistan he attributes to their Islamic religious background and belief that all are equal in the eyes of god. He used such exemptions to justify his claim that small PD countries are economically developed, large PD countries are less developed or developing.(Ailon.G, 2002). It emphasizes that those from small power-distance cultures are likely to accept responsibility, while those from large power-distance cultures are likely to be more disciplined (Triandis, 1993) The Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) index was based on three questions again and they were related to the frequency of nervousness and tension at work, the second was How long do you think you will continue working for this company? Please indicate the extent to which you personally agree or disagree . . . [that] company rules should not be bro- ken- even when the employee thinks it is in the companys best interest (Hofstede, 1980:76 -77, 405, 408 409). Hofstedes book states those in weak uncertainty-avoidance cultures may be very high in basic innovations, while those in strong uncertainty-avoidance cultures may triumph in precision manufacturing. (Triandis, 1993) Though Hofstede admits that better indicators could have been developed in ascertaining the UA, because it wasnt a familiar concept when they developed the IBM questionnaires, he very strongly and emphatically links a high UA to a number of socio-psychological tendencies. (G.Ailon, 2008) low UA, for example, is suggested to result from advanced modernization; older democracies; dense populations in poor countries and sparse populations in wealthy countries; tolerant religions that stress relativity; historical events marked by less legislation and more settlement of disputes by negotiation and/or conflict, as opposed to mere inheritance of developed systems of legislation; low mean age of population leaders; and smaller organizations (1980: 185). The suggested consequences of low UA include slower economic growth after World War II, weaker nationalism, less aggressiveness versus other nations, looser societies, stronger feelings of citizen competence, a casuistic approach to legal is sues, a stronger accent on lay competences as expressed by having more nurses per doctor, more religious tolerance, pragmatic or introvert meditative religions, rel- ativism, empiricism rather than theoricism in social sciences, more ambitious employees, managers who are more involved in strategy issues, and so forth (1980: 186-187). He is just forcing people to envision a world where everything is interconnected through simple logic (G.Ailon, 2002). At a point Hofstede states people from lower UAI cultures will tend to do better in cross-cultural contacts (1980: 398), I doubt this as it is something that is related to individuals personal communication skills and doesnt matter if he were from a country with a low UA index. Hofstede justifies the power of managers with a western background that they have a low UA and Small PD and so they are most suited for strategic and cross cultural management. So is that only the western managers have this skill which they imbibed from culture a nd their counterparts around the world lack this vital skill. (G.Ailon, 2008) The Individualism (IDV) index was based on work goal questions in which the respondents were asked to rate the importance of a variety of statements, in which high IDV were attributed to giving importance to doing a job leaving out personal and leisure time and, low IDV were attributed to having good physical skills and training opportunities at work. These tried to assess a person independence from organization and second to assess what the individual expected from the organization. (G.Ailon, 2008) As McSweeney put it power distance and individualism and collectivism were statistically identified by him only in nationally averaged data. At the level of individuals, they had near- zero inter-correlations (Bond, 2002; Schwartz, 1994) for those dimensions and thus no explanatory power at that level. Hofstede states that those from high-collectivism cultures may show employee commitment, while members of organizations from high-individualism cultures can profit from management mobility . Hofstedes book states that those from cultures high in femininity may be able to provide personal services, custom-made products, and be especially successful in biochemistry, while those in masculine cultures may excel in mass production, efficiency, heavy industry, and bulk chemistry; The masculinity index like the IDV was also based on work goal question and it attempted to measure the extent to which respondents endorsed ego goals (related to earnings and advancement) and social goals (related to cordial relations at work place and a friendly atmosphere). This index is based on the universal dissection relating to sexual character and goals, in which men are more assertive and tough and women are more nurturing and Tender. He states that the distribution of labor is affected by the goals of the organization. This according to me is true but he also goes to say that business organizations have goals of achievement which relates to the masculine index and it is not surprising they are run by men and their climate is set by men, which I as a girl would detest. Not just from a point of defending my own sex but from the common world examples, A study organized by the Finnish Business and Policy stated, Companies managed by women are on average ten per cent more profitable than those with a man as CEO. The study was conducted on atleast 14000 limited liability finish companies in 2003. (http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Study+companies+managed+by+women+more+profitable+than+those+run+by+men/1135230562325). Even in a country like US which has a fairly good masculinity index of 62, You have companies form the fortune 500 like yahoo, pepsico, New York Times and Kraft foods that are run by women ceos so it doesnt necessarily mean one has to be a man to be the big boss. Though national culture is not theorized as the only culture or a totality of cultures, within a nation, but by definition it culturally distinguishes the members of one nation from another. (McSweeney, 2002). Hofstede says that each country has a unique culture. I would slightly differ from that opinion, because that sort of unique cuture may be attributed to the cultural heritage and aspects like performing arts that may vary from country to country uniquely but on the basis of individual attitude and behavior it seems a little irrelevant. If you take India for example, it is culturally diverse and it does have numerous subcultures but the attitude and behaviors differ so widely even inside a subculture. Hofstede states that National culture is said to be carried by all individuals in a nation (1980a: 38) or a central tendency (1991: 253). The IBM survey responses within each country were characterized by radical differences. This now leaves doubt on his assumptions of national culture as being same in all individuals in a nation. He assumed that the average tendency of the IBM employees responses as the national representative. There seems to be no valid reason to prove it due to the complete ignorance on the background of those interviewed, who mostly well educated, middle class The samples for his study was exclusively from a single company called IBM. A study fixated on only one company cannot possibly provide information on the entire cultural system of a country (Graves 1986, 14-15; Olie 1995, 135; SÃ ¸ndergaard 1994, 449). The responses were also from only the marketing and sales executives of the company for which Hofstede claimed they shared the same organizational culture as that of all the other employees of IBM. The cultures carried by each respondent are effectively assumed to be three exclusively non-interacting and durable cultures: the organizational, an occupational, and the national. He assumes there is only one IBM culture and not cultures, which, as it were, possesses all employees and every occupation has a common worldwide occupational culture (McSweeney, 2002). Furthermore, McSweeney also evidences Hofstedes blind assumption that every individual in the company had the same organizational and occupational culture regardless of the commi tment and loyalty each individual had to his organization and also the duration of service by the employee to the organization which are all factors that lead to the bond that an employee creates overtime with the organization he works for. Though after a few years Hofstede did acknowledge that there is a variety of distinct cultures within and between units of the same organization and also redefined his statement on organizational culture so his assumption made in the first study wouldnt be invalidated (McSweeney, 2002). It is not known if the factors he redefined are supposed to be self evident. Regarding occupational culture, as McSweeney puts it, Hofstede assumes that members of a single occupation around the world share the same occupational culture. Clarification regarding his acknowledgement of cultural heterogeneity in organizations is needed i.e. it lacks clarity. Another instance where we might raise a brow is authenticity of replies by the questionnaire respondents, thou gh the answers were confidential, the respondents prior knowledge of the end purpose of the survey might have influenced their answers so as to improve theirs or their divisions position (McSweeney, 2002). Yet hofstedes reliance on his supposition that the answers are immune to respondents gaming and were the pure outcomes of unconscious pre-programmed values (1980a,1991; Hofstede Peterson, 2000). Another aspect is the comprehensiveness of the questionnaire to elicit all the necessary inputs to assess a culture. As McSweeney stated in any circumstance the IBM subsidiary had many nationally atypical characteristics. When initially IBM had centralized control and its US ownership during a period in which foreign direct investment was comparatively new. In instances where working for high technology was rare in third world countries like Bangladesh and India than in an industrialized nation like United states. What happens when countries are integrated, for instance the integration of Hongkong into the Peoples Republic of China (McSweeney, 2002).Does the national characterization change? Does the attitude and behavior of people at work place change immediately? Do we immediately consider a nation with a larger sample to portray the national culture of two countries? Political influences and social institutions, law are the non cultural feature that influence culture in a large way and that Hofstede excludes and denies having a link with national culture. For example, Christmas was once illegal in England, during 1647, during which singing Christmas carols could end a person in prison for almost six months but it was later reinstated in 1660. Dont you think this must have has an obvious effect on the culture (mental programming) that children born and raised in that 22 year period developed. Though this is dated way before the study was undertaken I have quoted it as an example to say there might have been other consequences that might have likely influenced any cultural feature. Hofstede might acknowledge these as exceptions but they have to considered when drawing conclusions about a nations culture. Has Hofstede really identified all the primary cultural level dimensions? Many others like Schwartz have tried to identify some national cultures using different questionnaires and have produce very different descriptions. In fact Schwartz(1994) found seven cultural level dimensions which indeed was acknowledged by Hofstede as simply not being identified because questions related to those dimensions /descriptions were not asked in his survey. Hofstede gave a bipolarity to each of his dimensions for example the individualism and collectivism , but as Triandis (1994) puts it , the two can coexist and are simply emphasized more or less depending on the situation. But Hofstedes dimensions do not consider such co-existence and blindly ignores such important cultural qualities.(McSweeney forthcoming) Another obvious flaw I found on the credibility of his typology is his addition of the fifth dimension: Confucian Dynamism (1991) or long versus short-term orientation'(1999). He extracted this from a Chinese Values Survey (CVS) by the Chinese culture connection group which identified hofstedes fourth dimension (Uncertainty avoidance) as irrelevant to their population and downgraded it to a non universal dimension.(Bond,1988;lowe Oswick,1996).As stated by Mcsweeney(2002) from the wide literature of culture , it is still essentially a thing to be grasped and cannot be described by dimensions and units. Another consideration advanced by researchers is if Hofstedes model reflects the present day (Roberts and Boyacigiller, 1984; Sondergaard, 1994). Hofstede (1980a, 1991) assumes that cultural values are stable over time. But is his work out of date after thirty years? Hofstede claims to have identified entire nations culture and not that which is specific to workplaces (McSweeney, 2002) and Producers of scientific knowledge, it seems, not only misrepresent the Rest (the primary emphasis of postcolonial writing; e.g., Said, 1978) but also misrepresent the West. (G.Ailon, 2008) There is no denial that Hofstedes work has given substantive findings. His findings do tap some of underlying significance of nations culture. However interpreting them and using it to deal with other nations requires a certain degree of caution. Hopefully, these findings eventually lead to a valid measure that captures the richness of the various cultural dimensions and can be deployed at an individual level. Given the diversity of the world marketplace, it is essential for marketers have a proper measure of culture in order to understand consumer behavior. (Blodgett et al, 2008) As McSweeney puts it Hofstedes research can legitimately be called a cross-national opinion comparison only from the point that data from organizations in different countries were compared Culture is conceptualized as a force, as a determinant, but descriptions of it are based on analysis answers to fixed-choice questions.(McSweeney, forthcoming), which I think were manipulative enough (even if it wasnt in certain cases, they were justified by researcher to correlate with his findings) to extract the desired answers of the researcher. It was argued that what Hofstede identified is not national culture, but an averaging of situational specific opinions from which dimensions or aspects of national culture are unjustifiably inferred. Hofstedes claim to have empirically measured national culture differences relies on crucial but unwarranted assumptions. (Mc Sweeney, forthcoming). Hofstede has given bipolarity to each dimensions for example his masculinity and Femininity any culture will present a number of contrary adages (All good things come to those who wait and time and tide wait for none as a part of its repertoire (Mcsweeney, 2002) Hofstede miserably failed to identify that theses bipolarities could co-exist in any situation. Hofstedes replies to McSweeney were evasive and non-adhering to the main aspect of the critique. As G.Ailon (2008) put is If one accepts the framework, it basically follows that one must also accept the logic of the critique. Generalizations about national culture are no good. Him identifying a nations culture with the responses from a very small sample in each country (compared to the countrys population except for those 6 countries with more than 1000 respondents), and also using the questionnaires that werent created purely for research purpose is a very visible flaw. He tried to expropriate the meaning of the answers from his respondents, claiming, in so many words, that anything they said proves his point and used their voices to turn his hypotheses into axioms (G.Ailon, 2008) The analysis throws light on the dominance of western theories, regardless of intentions, it reinforces a certain set of values of managers, Westerners, Europeans while at the same time devaluing the Rest. Though he tried to compensate and praise the east by adding his fifth dimension. I would say Hofstede tried to provide like a Single Magical formula (Elman Service, 1968:409) and easily valued culture using statistics and scientific stamps and Xs and Ys. Just so that this would allow research to be completed more quickly and easily through employment of his prefabricated depictions of causal national culture. This actually in my view devalues culture that has a myriad of ethos. His employment of very unusually sophisticated statistical techniques in the late 1970s probably were a reason for his models legitimacy (Oyserman et al. 2002a, for an overview) To conclude, from what I infer from all the readings, more research is needed to give a tough measure of culture and also identify the shifting cultural maps which is greatly influenced by, and influences, globalization and technology, however this is difficult to achieve and may have temporal value due to the dynamic nature of culture. References: McSweeney, Brendan. (2002) Hofstedes Model of National Cultural Differences and Their Consequences: A Triumph of Faith a Failure of Analysis. Human Relations. 55, no. 1: 89-118. Ailon, Galit. (2008) Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Cultures Consequences in a Value Test of Its Own Design. Academy of Management Review. 33, no. 4: 885-904. 3. Blodgett,Jeffrey, Aysen Bakir, and Gregory Rose. 2008. A Test of the Validity of Hofstedes Cultural Framework. Journal of Consumer Marketing. 25, no. 6: 339-349 Baskerville, Rachel. (2003) Hofstede Never Studied Culture. Accounting, Organizations Society. 28, no. 1: 1-14. Testa, Mark. (2009) National Culture, Leadership and Citizenship: Implications for Cross-cultural Management. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(1): 78-85. Jones, M. (2007) Hofstede Culturally questionable?. Oxford Business Economics Conference. Oxford, UK, 24-26. Triandis, H. (1993) Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. Geert Hofstede. , 38(1), 132-134. In my opinion Mikael SÃ ¸ndergaard on Cultural differences by Mikael SÃ ¸ndergaard.Available: http://geert-hofstede.international-business-center.com/Sondergaard.shtml, (Accessed:2009, December 27) McSweeney, Brendan. (Forthcoming) Dynamic Diversity: Variety and Variation Within Countries , 1-25.

The Effect of Cliques on High School Students Essay -- Essays Papers

The Effect of Cliques on High School Students Most college freshman can still vividly remember their high school days. These days included ruling the school as seniors, or running from the seniors as lowly ninth graders. These days included having lunch with friends, and gossiping in the hallways between classes. Whatever was done, it was usually done with a friend or a group of friends. Most of these groups can be considered cliques. Cliques are groups where there is some kind of common factor among all members, whether everyone is a cheerleader, or everyone is in the chess club. These cliques have their own unique way of doing things: their own table to sit at during lunch, their own desks in a classroom, and their own parking places in the lot. Most cliques also have another group of people that they look down upon: the cheerleaders don’t like the chess club, and the band members don’t like the FFA (Future Farmers of America) guys. Each club has its own label as well: football jock, band geek, drama fairy (The Cliques, 1 Dec. 2001). These labels, as well as the constant name calling and degrading remarks about others not in the group, are to blame for constant fighting between cliques. The fact that some groups hate others so much has left a permanent affect on some high school students, scaring them and leaving them unable to function in society because of the way they were treated in sch ool, just because of what they did or didn’t like. Being a high school student isn’t easy. The classes can be rough, teachers have a reputation of being mean or nice or mean to some and nice to others, and all the while, there’s the question of a girlfriend or boyfriend, who’s having a party tonight, what should be worn, and so on and so on. Adding on the pressure of having to be involved in the right group, and it starts to become stressful. Because if a student isn’t in the right group; then there is nothing to live for. Of course, this is a little over exaggerated, but this is what high school students have to put up with. There is the constant peer pressure to fit in, to be part of the crowd, up until the point where it is almost impossible to be an individual. This is what cliques have done to high schools (Surviving School, 27 October, 2001). They have turned them into places where designer labels rule, and those that don’t fit in, whe... ...cliques re-think their total control of the school. The influence of a clique should be challenged every once in a while (Surviving School, 27 October, 2001). The world of cliques is a dangerous and confusing one. There are good groups of course, groups that help out around the community, or the school, or give some kind of entertainment to others. But for the most part, the average stuck up clique can be dangerous if they are crossed. High school students have enough to worry about, and the clique is just an added burden. Cliques are as much a part of high school as is the English department, but something should be done to make sure they don’t ruin the lives of the innocent who are just a little bit different than those that are part of the group. Works Cited Surviving School. 30 August, 2000. 27, October, 2001. http://www.surviveschool.com. chaotic_2. The Cliques. 18 July, 2000. 2 December, 2001. http://www.expage.com/page/loner3cliques. Marquette General Hospital's Women's & Children's Center. Cliques Power and Pain. Spring 1998. Marquette General Hospital. 26 October, 2001. http://www.mgh.org/wcc/teensite/adults/articles/cliques.html

Zara Market Share

Three generations of Data Management in Decision Support 1. Early 1970s – required a repository of data : sourced from operational system + other data (e. g. external data) – Data was customized for the specific DSS – Application-centric approach : data support a single or a few related applications used to help make the business case for the warahouse – Sprague provided the Data-Dialog-Models (DDM) paradigm 2. Late 1980s Telecommunications, retailing and financial services industries built warehouses to store vast amounts of customer and sales-related data –These industries remain leaders in terms of the size of the warehouses and how the warehouses are used – Data-centric approach : support a variety of applications 3. In 2000 – the movement to real-time data warehousing – changes in the way that warehouse data is used – different : Previous : data aims to understand what had already happened and to predict what would h appen in the future * limit to influence real-time decisions and current operations * Now : real-time data (current decisions and critical business process) such as customer-facing and supply chain applications can be significantly enhanced Real or Right Time ? –Incorrect concept applied to warehousing : real-time = instantaneous – Reason : much of warehouse data cannot be captured and entered into the warehouse in seconds or minutes. * expensive difficult to make real-time * may not be a business need for real-time data – Example : Some source systems, e. g. a legacy COBOL program, is undated once a month Continental Airlines – a leader in real-time business intelligence – won The Data Warehousing Institute’s prestigious Best Practices and Leadership Awards – Real-time data warehouse : provide the data that is required to implement real-time BI – Firms can use BI to affect current decision making and business processes by usin e real-time – Importance : especially for customer-facing applications, e. g. hose found in call centers and check-in processes, help firms become more customer-centric –Terms describe firms use real-time BI : â€Å"real-time enterprise† , â€Å"zero latency organization† – Purpose of real-time BI : * increase revenues and decrease costs => improve profitability – e. g. Continental Airlines * taken a $30M investment in hardware, software and personnel to generate over $500M in revenue, resulting in a ROI of over 1,000% – Firms must overcome both organizational and technical challenges for real-time BI successful – Organizational must be executive : * sponsorship and support * initial and on-going financial support governance processes put in place * BI and data warehousing personnel with the requisite personnel – Technical : * acquire and implement new hardware and software * establish processes and procedures for sup porting and managing real-time data feeds from source systems * data must be quickly transformed and loaded into the warehouse * data must be analyzed and made available to operational systems and personnel – briefly discuss an application that illustrates Continental’s use of real-time BI – focus on the technical issues associated with Continental’s implementation of real-time BI

Phenomenology and the Eucharistic Mass Essay

In the study of communications, reaching a common consensus on how to apply a shared and common understanding of communications seems to be a near impossible task. After being introduced to the seven traditions of communications by Craig in his essay â€Å"Communication Theory as a Field†, I choose to explore the tradition he categorizes as Phenomenology. My initial understanding on the study of communications were quite limited to the transmission view, dominated by a sender and receiver framework. Interestingly, the transmission model in it’s origin was culturally rooted in religion, and used as a tool for the dissemination of Euro centric religious values and practices globally. With advancement in technology, especially in the 1920’s, the North American perspective on communication shifted the transmission model from religion to science to reflect a multidisciplinary approach in to the study of communications. As a practitioner of what was once the transmission view, the Catholic Church had experienced tremendous religious propagation of its message through forcible transmission all over the world. Based on Craig’s essay, the Catholic Church of today then embodies traits of a ritual view of communication, and is aligned with religious communication, and expression such as fellowship, participation, community, communion, and common faith. The phenomenological model of communication shares characteristics with the ritual view that I will be exploring through the Roman Catholic Eucharistic liturgy. The phenomenological tradition described by Craig, â€Å"†¦ conceptualizes communication as dialogue or the experience of otherness† (p. 217). Communication in this tradition is not rooted in verbal transmission but instead a shared experience on plains that extend beyond tradition verbal or textual communication. For the purpose of this paper phenomenological tradition can be seen as a form of communication expressed metaphysically as well. Gadamer’s’ theory from â€Å"Truth and Method†, focus on tradition and language as a primary form of communication. His ideology is that: we are only able to make sense of ourselves and the world around us because our consciousness has been shaped by history and traditions in ways we are largely unaware of†¦ wareness expands our understanding of the tradition. His description of an I-Thou relationship as the question-answer logic that underlies hermeneutic experience creates communication by identifying, hermeneutics, â€Å"that lead to a dialectical process of interpretation and growth of understanding. As a phenomenological practitioner, this theory has very intrinsic value. Communication in this practice provides a very meaningful and existential experience that I am to able to engage in with my Creator, in the absence of any other person. As a Roman Catholic, I have had many questions about the way we participate in mass. My parents grew up on the island of Trinidad, in a devout Catholic community. The Spanish, that had at one time colonized Trinidad, were very committed to their mission of converting the indigenous people of the island. The spread Catholicism throughout the country was profuse, with community churches everywhere, (even building one across the street from my mother’s house), and adding a monastery and seminary college a mile further up the mountainside where my father lived. Catholicism was not just a religion in our community, it was a part of the culture, and employed many of the villagers as they worked for the seminary. My grandparents were in fact Hindu, and converted to Catholicism because of the strong influence and presence it had within the community. As a Roman Catholic child, I had been told to repeat, chant, and act with humility, adoration and reverence during mass. I did not understand what we were doing or what the intention was. I became harder and harder to find meaning in going to church. In my late teens I stopped attending mass because there was no intrinsic connection for me in my faith practice. I remained a spiritual and deeply rooted faith based person, but I could not come to terms with many of the teachings of my church. I stayed out of church for many years. At some point, I became curious about what it meant. I was not looking for a theological understanding per se, but instead, what did â€Å"it† mean? The chanting, the collective response in unison, the prayers itself. What was I blindly repeating every Sunday? I chose to study the teachings of the Catholic Church in university at Newman Theological College to gain a scholarly perspective. Many things became clear, although I did acquiesce on some ideological points, (my own hermeneutical experience). Inspired by my academic insights, I returned to church as a knowledgeable participant of the mass, understanding that as part of the community, I would belong to the collective voice of the fellowship of Christ. The Catholic mass is deeply enriched with both Phenomenological Theory as well as Semiotic Tradition. In some regard you must look at the semiotics in order to fully understand what is being communicated during certain points in the eucharistic liturgy. For the purpose of this paper I will focus on the phenomenological aspects. The Eucharistic liturgy is a two century old tradition, considered the real presence of Christ at the last supper carried out each Sunday, and is considered an integral part of Catholic worship. As Catholics we believe Jesus began a significant new fellowship meal that we observe to this day. It causes us to collectively and intrinsically share in the experience of his sacrifice through his death and resurrection. The description of the liturgy I’m presenting here reflects a very basic summation of the ritual. At the start of the liturgy we are asked to offer ourselves up, and surrender to God. As we participate in the Eucharistic Prayer we are in the act of giving thanks. The congregation is humbled as Christ is transubstantiated from man into the elements of bread and wine. We collectively mourn as Jesus is offered to the Father in sacrifice for the sins of man. We participate in the Lords Prayer, and a prayer for peace. The Holy Spirit is invited to come down upon us and unite the community of worshipers into one body as we prepare to accept the communion, and offer each other a sign of peace. As a community we should be considered one body, ready to receive Christ as a single body in the form of the host. Prior to accepting the communion we collectively humble ourselves stating our unworthiness and asking for compassion and forgiveness for our transgressions. As members of the congregation travel to the the altar, it represents a pilgrimage in this life from a journey of birth to death, and to the heavenly Father. Once each individual receives the host, we communally belong to the larger body of Christ. An aspect of the phenomenological theory of communication as seen by Buber can be practically applied in this example. The I-Thou relationship is present when looking at the relationship each individual member of the ongregation has with their Creator, or even Catholicism itself. The act of worshiping communally creates an experience and awareness of each other that reflects dialogue in Gadamer’s model of phenomenology. Prayer itself is a great example of the I-Thou relationship the Buber describes. Although it contradicts Gadamers â€Å"parallel concept of conversation emphasiz[ing] the object or subject matter of conversation that brings people together in dialogue† (p. 219). Buber also notes that, â€Å"dialogue can be entirely wordless, yet deeply meaningful† (p. 19), and talks about how sacred silence itself can be on page 227, which is evident throughout the moments of the liturgy in which individuals respond on an emotional level through reverence, humility, sorrow, or repentance. Burber’s theory of a person living life with an open mind, open to experience and in essence living the life of dialogue is what resonates most for me. My critical exploration into understanding the Catholic mass has supported my dialogue in prayer with my creator, as well as my participation as a member of the Catholic church. It would be assumed that since developing a clearer understanding of the mass, that I would be regularly attending. That is not the case. What I grew to understand is that I cannot effectively belong to the congregation if I am not intrinsically communicating through action, intention and prayer when I attend. For that reason, I go to church when I have a deeper calling to do so. My I-Thou relationship within my faith is not compromised as I connect to my creator in conversation and prayer every day, however, my I-Thou relationship with the other church goers would be compromised and lacking authenticity if I attend mass out of obligation.

Free Essays on Mahatma Gandhi

Without question, Mahatma Gandhi is the quintessence of peaceful protest and humanity. He led India to independence from Great Britain and in his 79 years on this planet, he achieved so much more than he could have possibly anticipated. In his Hind Swaraj, or the Indian Home Rule written in 1909, Gandhi explains his concepts of self rule. Gandhi was a firm believer of many things. He gave up practically all of his belongings and clothes, despite coming from a rather wealthy back round. Some of his beliefs are  ¡Ã‚ §ahimsa ¡Ã‚ ¨, or non-violence, truth=god, to be fearless, chastity, character, not fighting injustice is cowardice, fight the system not the people, do not judge others, practice what you preach, and fasting. He practiced all of these beliefs and incorporated all of them in his book in which he wrote on board of a ship during his trip from England to South Africa after a mission. His writings, actions, and presence alone affected the lives of millions. Gandhi used his peaceful, anti-war attitude in a positive way. Instead of fighting violence with even harsher violence, he fought it with his mind. With protests, speeches, and sometimes clever/humorous negotiation tactics, he was somewhat of a guerilla. During the Great Salt Yatra (march) of 1930, the British denied the people of India from making salt because they were making too good of a living (in their eyes) of doing it, so the British put a ban on salt making. Gandhi led a 240 mile walk in a peaceful protest against the British parliament. During this march, there were hundreds of thousands arrested, but his point was clear. Through chastity, poverty, truth, and fearlessness, Gandhi adopted four very powerful weapons of passive resistance. This led him to campaign against the British made goods, schools, offices ¡K etc. What made Gandhi such an important figure was that people saw him give up everything material worth value in his life to have nothin... Free Essays on Mahatma Gandhi Free Essays on Mahatma Gandhi Without question, Mahatma Gandhi is the quintessence of peaceful protest and humanity. He led India to independence from Great Britain and in his 79 years on this planet, he achieved so much more than he could have possibly anticipated. In his Hind Swaraj, or the Indian Home Rule written in 1909, Gandhi explains his concepts of self rule. Gandhi was a firm believer of many things. He gave up practically all of his belongings and clothes, despite coming from a rather wealthy back round. Some of his beliefs are  ¡Ã‚ §ahimsa ¡Ã‚ ¨, or non-violence, truth=god, to be fearless, chastity, character, not fighting injustice is cowardice, fight the system not the people, do not judge others, practice what you preach, and fasting. He practiced all of these beliefs and incorporated all of them in his book in which he wrote on board of a ship during his trip from England to South Africa after a mission. His writings, actions, and presence alone affected the lives of millions. Gandhi used his peaceful, anti-war attitude in a positive way. Instead of fighting violence with even harsher violence, he fought it with his mind. With protests, speeches, and sometimes clever/humorous negotiation tactics, he was somewhat of a guerilla. During the Great Salt Yatra (march) of 1930, the British denied the people of India from making salt because they were making too good of a living (in their eyes) of doing it, so the British put a ban on salt making. Gandhi led a 240 mile walk in a peaceful protest against the British parliament. During this march, there were hundreds of thousands arrested, but his point was clear. Through chastity, poverty, truth, and fearlessness, Gandhi adopted four very powerful weapons of passive resistance. This led him to campaign against the British made goods, schools, offices ¡K etc. What made Gandhi such an important figure was that people saw him give up everything material worth value in his life to have nothin...

Indigenous People - The Ainu essays

Indigenous People - The Ainu essays What are indigenous people, well there in universally accepted definition for indigenous people? There were certain characteristics that are common for indigenous people. Indigenous people tend to live in small populations. They have had their own land for quite some time. There cultural traditions are very strong. They have their own language. Indigenous people live in every part of the world. They can live in cold climates like the Arctic are they can live in the hot Amazon. There are approximately 370 million indigenous people in the world, belonging to 5,000 different groups, in 90 countries worldwide. Each indigenous culture has its own history so it makes it very unique. There many groups around the world I choose to write on the Ainu. Ainu means human The Ainu prayed and performed ceremonies to their gods. They had plant gods animal gods such as bears foxes and many more. The Ainu believed everyday life had examples of their gods including things like the sun the moon and the thunder. Prayers are offered on every occasion. There are plenty of gods in the Ainu cultural they have a god of fire, they have a mountain god the list goes on. Unlike most cultural the Ainu gods are not like we the gods that we know. If a god commits an error the Ainu are allowed to argue with them. There is mutual assistance between the gods and the Ainu. There are good and bad gods in this cultural which is similar to most cultural. The Ainu offers lavish gifts to the gods to please them. They would offer wines, salmon these are supposed to delight the gods and bring good fortune to the Ainu. There is also evil gods who bring diseases and mishaps. There are many ceremonies in this cultural throughout the year. There are ceremonies to send back spirits, ceremonies for ancestors. There is also a ceremony to launch the first fishing event of the year. The most frequent ceremonies of these are the ones that send spirits back. These spirits ...

20 Words That Contain mn

20 Words That Contain mn 20 Words That Contain â€Å"mn† 20 Words That Contain â€Å"mn† By Mark Nichol While looking stuff up, I became curious about how many words include the unusual pairing of m and n, and I discovered more than I had expected. Many more than twenty exist, but I’ve listed only that number (along with their definitions), choosing to exclude several categories of words. (See below for details.) Words ultimately derive from Latin by way of an earlier form of English or French unless otherwise indicated. 1. alumnus: a former student of a particular school (from a Latin root word meaning â€Å"to nourish†) 2. amnesia: loss of memory, a gap in memory, or, informally, selective memory (from a Greek word meaning â€Å"forgetfulness†) 3. amnesty: pardon or freedom for a group of people (related to amnesia) 4. amnion: a membrane around an embryo or fetus (best known in the adjectival form amniotic) (from the Greek word for â€Å"lamb†) 5. autumn: the season also known as fall, or a late stage of life or existence 6. calumny: slander 7. chimney: the part of a building that includes one or more flues for discharging smoke, or a similar-looking rock formation 8. column: a long vertical building support, a similar-looking structure, a vertical arrangement of text, a statistical category, or a long row of marching people 9. condemn: convict, doom, or sentence, or declare something wrong (the root word is related to damn) 10. contemn: treat with contempt 11. damn: condemn, or send to hell, or used as an oath or an intensifier 12. gymnast: an athlete who competes in exercise routines on a floor mat or on specialized equipment (from Greek) 13. hymn: a religious song (ultimately from Greek) 14. insomnia: inability to sleep 15. limn: describe, delineate, draw, or paint 16. mnemonic: relating to memory, or intended to assist in memory (from Greek) 17. omnibus: a large passenger vehicle (the full word from which bus is derived), or an anthology 18. remnant: a part left over from a whole 19. solemn: sad and or serious, or sincere 20. somnolent: sleepy, or causing one to feel sleepy (related to insomnia) I’ve excluded the following categories of words: variations and inflectional endings, the dozen other words beginning with the prefix omni-, the nine words that end with m followed by the suffix -ness (such as calmness), obsolete words, proper names like the Native American place name Tuolumne, and obscure, little-used terms like simnel (referring to a crisp bread or a fruitcake) that no one but a serious Scrabble competitor would know. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:When to Capitalize Animal and Plant NamesStory Writing 101Neither... or?

Strangers to these Shores Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Strangers to these Shores - Essay Example This book feature topics pertaining to a plethora of current issues, including Afrocentrism, multiculturalism, political correctness, the glass ceiling, ethnoviolence, immigration, illegal aliens, and bilingual education apart from serving as a popular and versatile guide and informant to general educators and historians alike in the field of racial and ethnic relations. The book unfolds in the form of a story of a society determined to rise out of the dredges of the disadvantages of diversity. The basic aim that this society seems to have in mind revolves around the achievement of unity through an amalgamation of all its varied sections as it strives to retain its right to be different. Unity in Diversity seems to be the underlying message of this book. The content builds up on the all important premise that without a clear understanding of different lifestyles and ways of living, the population in general will not get the scope to enjoy a broader perspective in their own lives. This thought can be called a summation of all the ideas in this book. Strangers to these Shores goes on to give an insight into various communities and so called minorities who have the potential to transport us to unknown lands and their unknown cultures. In this book, as the title implies, the author has dealt with the migrant and his experiences in terms of arriving upon the great land called America as a stranger. The stranger here is one who has come from far away and more importantly, it implies to that person who has ventured out of his home and accepted way of life for the first time in search of greener pastures. This stranger can change his status only when he lives here and has his future generations growing up to be essentially American. But what about those religious sentiments and one basic culture that is so strongly embedded into the migrant's identity and basic attitude towards life and work Does that simply vanish This book seek to find out the facts and present these findings in a clear and precise manner. As demonstrated by the author in all his chapters, the great American mosaic is one that consists of a plethora of races and ethnicities functioning under the salad bowl syndrome. While the ethnic background of a person, irrespective of the country he is residing in, is an important feature that forms the basic make up of his identity and renders him a strong identity, we also have to acknowledge the fact that religion has a large role to play in this regard. While not necessarily staunch or conservative, the American population in general is one that takes things easy on the religious front - barring a few catholic sections. This attitude is reflected in their religious structures and way of living, which lack the excessive ornamentations that one will constantly find in Europe. A important premise on which one can conduct studies regarding such religious minorities is that in any country that boasts of rich diversity where its population is concerned, there are various factors that support its argument for the state of political and cultural affairs. While race and ethnicity are important factors, religion holds its own when it comes to identities and conflicts that erupt in the face of group interactions. In the twelfth chapter titled, Religious Minorities, the author has dealt with those groups that follow a specific religion and are a minority. These groups exist in various nooks and

What Foreign Pressure Could Do And What It Could Not Do In Japan Essay

What Foreign Pressure Could Do And What It Could Not Do In Japan - Essay Example It had declined to yield in several other instances. However, because of its high dependency on America for economical stability, Japan was keen to grant America what it demanded at some point. During the SII talks, the negotiators tackled several topics. These talks occurred on the same sitting and this makes it obvious that political changes did not affect its stand on many issues. The negotiations lasted for a year during which Japan defended its policies against the American criticism. America presented its compilation of demands to Japan. It is worth noting that Japan did not show any signs that it would cooperate on any of the issues under discussion. In the end, Japan agreed on American demands concerning macroeconomics and Japanese distribution system. Japan also yielded to some compromise concerning its land policy. Regarding their business practices, Japan made minimal concessions. However, Japan completely objected to make any policy change regarding the keiretsu business group. America had applied uniform pressure with threats to force Japan to make readjustments in most of their policies. However, Japan’s compromise to some demands and objection to others was clear evidence that foreign pressure cannot exert changes to some of its policies. One fact became evident: Japan has its limit in conceding to foreign demands. All the demands from the American side aimed at penetrating the Japanese market. The American government wanted the government to invest its savings on infrastructure and other public spending projects. The land policy issue sought to force the Japanese government to reduce the cost of urban land through change of tax policies. This would enable American investors to venture...Japan has had many trade policies that America feels are very restrictive. America has great interest in penetrating into the trade scene with Japan. Japan’s decision on whether to yield to the pressure has highly depended on its domestic situations . The author of the book helps the reader analyze how much foreign pressure can achieve in Japan. In addition, the author brings out new ways in which the American government could have put into place to achieve its demands. The author highlights two case studies in the book that help the reader understand the effect of foreign pressure on Japan (Schoppa 10). One of these studies is the ‘Structural Impediments initiatives talks’ headed by President Bush. Earlier in 1988, America had described the unfairness in trade relationship with Japan. The book elaborates the American demands at the time and the threats coming along with the demands. Foreign pressure has had immense results in Japan several times. From history, policy change in Japan comes under the influence of foreign pressure. It is clear that foreign pressure did not prove to have the potential to force Japan to change all of its policies. According to Schoppa, it is possible that the negotiation tactics of the two governments were different.

Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies Essay - 8

Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies - Essay Example This paper will discuss the business level and corporate level strategies Eni SpA used to remain competitive in the ever-changing petroleum industry. Business level strategy is a set of commitments and actions a company takes to provide good value to customers thereby gaining a good reputation (Ireland, Hoskisson and Hitt, 2011). This may include establishing niches and product improvement to add value to already existing products and services. A successful business level strategy has to consider the five Ws; where, who, when, what and how v. At first, the organization has to determine its clients, the goods and services the client needs, how to deliver the best products and services and the competitors’ price for the same products and services (Ireland, Hoskisson and Hitt, 2011). Eni SpA’s business level strategy is fair pricing and consistency of products. In that regard, Eni had to invest in exploration of oil resources across the world (Maloney, 2012). This would allow Eni to provide petroleum products to its customers throughout. The company was successful in getting some oil reserves in Kazakhstan, Libya and Congo. The oil field Eni SpA struck in Kazakhstan is probably the largest old field the company has ever struck (Maloney, 2012). However, the numbers of oil fields are dwindling by the day. As such, the success rate of getting a good and productive oil field is challenging. With that knowledge, Eni had to acquire oil companies in other countries. This would guarantee Eni’s ability to meet the customers’ demands and expectations (Maloney, 2012). Eni SpA has also focused on the changes in the market dynamics as a business level strategy. In this case, Eni SpA determines whether there are any risks to the business environment in the future (Maloney, 2012). Currently, Eni SpA noted the shift from fossil fuels is gaining momentum. This is likely

Not sure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Not sure - Essay Example The scene challenges essentialist ideas about gender and identity issues because Merida undermines and opposes her family and community that promote the negation of women’s free will and autonomy. The scene exposes the binary distinction between traditional and non-traditional gender norms and conduct. Merida challenges essentialist norms about gender because she is not like typical princesses, who love beautifying themselves and preparing for romance and marriage. She dislikes making herself physically attractive to anyone, especially another man. She even hates acting and dressing like a princess because the tight clothing disables her from moving freely around and doing anything she wants. Figure 1 shows her slumped on the princess’ chair, instead of having the usual grand posture of a â€Å"real† lady, as her mother would have emphasized. Merida’s poor countenance and posture breach customary gender etiquette. Furthermore, Merida loathes having no free will in the events unfolding before her. Lady Elinor announces the goal of the arrow shooting competition. Whoever wins will marry her daughter. Merida shakes her head and looks sullen and dejected. See Figure 1. She contests the idea that she needs a man to vie for her, which fundamentally means, a man who will end her freedom and autonomy. Merida is unlike other princesses who are happily groomed to be married. Other princesses will be excited and eager to meet their princes, their future husbands. Lady Elinor prepares Merida for this stage in her life, but the latter has no inclination for a married life. The competition seems like a death sentence to her. In addition, romance usually serves as a driving force for princesses. Merida is not the typical princess at all because romance is the last thing on her mind. She wants adventure in the woods, shooting targets, and riding alone and free. As she blows out her exasperation, a stray hair falls on her face. It represents her stra y nature, a nature that resists heteronormativity. Heteronormativity insists that as a princess, her greatest role in life is to be married off to a prince someday. She opposes heteronormativity because she does not want to get married and lose her precious freedom. Merida wants to own her life, including her decision for marriage. Figure 1: Sullen and Dejected Merida Aside from exploring the sharp contrast between traditional and non-traditional gender norms, the scene depicts a young woman’s struggle in defining new gender-identity relations. Merida disrespects the traditional connection between gender and identity, where she is expected to be, not just an ordinary woman, but a princess who will preserve traditional inter-clan marriage customs. The scene shows that the community generally blindly follows gender norms and traditional customs. Women, in particular, believe in the romantic notion of the competition. When the vain prince is shown, some of them swoon and fall in love with him. These people represent women who reinforce traditional gender norms and identity, where they allow their society-molded womanhood to dictate their interests and destinies. Merida is different from them. She opposes the traditional gender-identity relationship by defying traditions and gender roles. Figure 1 suggests that she is not someone who will accept her fate too easily. She will not be forced to marry anyone, just

Tourism management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tourism management - Essay Example Smallness of state can be a source of comparative advantage and this has been proved in the case of two states like Dubai and Bermuda. Destinations that enjoy an international monopoly on a given tourism attraction are said to have absolute advantage (Vellas, 2007). This can be in the form of natural resources or historical heritage sites which cannot be enjoyed elsewhere. This is absolute advantage but at time in smaller destinations the absolute advantage is difficult because of poor economic development. Comparative advantage on the other hand refers to the conditions for producing tourism services. Many countries have abundant workforce and low labor costs. Since the tourism sector is labor intensive any countries enjoy comparative advantage as they can offer tourism services at competitive rates. This enables them to increase their share of world tourism market. If a country has an absolute advantage in relation to another in products that both commercialize in, then if one country chooses to specialize in one product in which it has a comparative advantage, then this country stands to gain. The development of tourism has been a boon for small economies and in some cases the sole source of comparative advantage of small island economies (Mehmet & Tahiroglu, 2002). Bermuda emerged as a tourism sector as it could successfully exploit the ability to take advantage of the climate and location. It attained rapid development and prosperity through tourism. It does not have any regional trading link or industrial capacity but it has proximity to the rich markets in North America. This advantage helped it to gain the strongest comparative advantage in the region. There are other Caribbean islands endowed with similar climatic and locational advantages but they could not achieve the gain that Bermuda could. Bermuda is not a part of the Caribbean but an island which is an overseas territory of the UK. Its dramatic coastline stretches

Make the topic, whatever you choose as the product Research Paper

Make the topic, whatever you choose as the product - Research Paper Example gy that produces the best quality, it uses reliable testing techniques and various quality assurance principles that make its products more appealing and long lasting (Licari 2005). Vaskovà ¡ and Vaskovà ¡ (2010) point out that the benefit of using the this type of website in conducting business is that the efficiency of communication between the supplier and the buyer is greatly improved that the buyer can easily communicate with the supplier on the type of products that are available and even the ordering process of the available products by the buyer is made easy. One drawback of using this website is that there are various security concerns that might jeopardize the transaction process. The main security threat is that the information of the transaction can be accessed by the hackers who are malicious and can use the information to their own advantage for example these individuals can access the bank details thus stealing money from either the supplier or the buyer. It is reasonable to speculate that most trade SME’s will take place in the context of sites like Alibaba.com because most of the sites are growing at a faster rate and are categorized as either medium or small enterprises as this will help to dive innovation and competition in the various existing economic sectors. The transactions that are conducted in the various sites that are available today help in building trust in the people that use the site to conduct business, therefore, the transparency of any site depends on the honesty of the owners in delivering what they are mandated to do. Fraud is a usual occurrence in the internet since there are many fraudsters who act as imposters for their own selfish gains, therefore, any individual who conducts business through various sites should be cautious of the fraudsters in the marketplace. The global financial crisis will create an opportunity for sites like Alibaba.com in that these small and medium enterprises will have the ab ility to create

Tourism management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tourism management - Essay Example Smallness of state can be a source of comparative advantage and this has been proved in the case of two states like Dubai and Bermuda. Destinations that enjoy an international monopoly on a given tourism attraction are said to have absolute advantage (Vellas, 2007). This can be in the form of natural resources or historical heritage sites which cannot be enjoyed elsewhere. This is absolute advantage but at time in smaller destinations the absolute advantage is difficult because of poor economic development. Comparative advantage on the other hand refers to the conditions for producing tourism services. Many countries have abundant workforce and low labor costs. Since the tourism sector is labor intensive any countries enjoy comparative advantage as they can offer tourism services at competitive rates. This enables them to increase their share of world tourism market. If a country has an absolute advantage in relation to another in products that both commercialize in, then if one country chooses to specialize in one product in which it has a comparative advantage, then this country stands to gain. The development of tourism has been a boon for small economies and in some cases the sole source of comparative advantage of small island economies (Mehmet & Tahiroglu, 2002). Bermuda emerged as a tourism sector as it could successfully exploit the ability to take advantage of the climate and location. It attained rapid development and prosperity through tourism. It does not have any regional trading link or industrial capacity but it has proximity to the rich markets in North America. This advantage helped it to gain the strongest comparative advantage in the region. There are other Caribbean islands endowed with similar climatic and locational advantages but they could not achieve the gain that Bermuda could. Bermuda is not a part of the Caribbean but an island which is an overseas territory of the UK. Its dramatic coastline stretches

Virginia And New England Essay Example for Free

Virginia And New England Essay Virginia and New England stand out as very distinct states that experienced different historical background especially in the early period of colonization. The New England region consisted of such states of modern day Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine. First European settlement in New England was in 1620 by European religious pilgrims who were fleeing Europe because of persecution. When the first settlers first came they believed the whole of North America was virgin and forested that thus the name Virginia. Jamestone was the first permanent European settlement in May 1607. (John Smith 122) Initially when the Europeans started settling in these areas they peacefully coexisted with the natives because they were few in number and posed no threat. The first tribes that controlled these areas were mainly the Algonquian tribes and had quite a different culture from the Europeans. Although the interactions thrived at first and peace prevailed, conflict bordering on land control and ownership stated increasing. (John Smith 132) In Virginia and New England the Europeans stated cultivating tobacco as a cash crop and as the demand increased more land was being cleared leading to an increased number of more settlers streaming in. There was bound to be an increased conflict between the Native Americans and the new settlers. The Native Americans depended wholly on the forested woodland as the source of food especially from hunting. As more land was being cleared to provide land for tobacco the natives could not stand it, they fought the encroachment. This would lead to the Indian massacre of 1622 and another one in 1644 against the Europeans by the Powhatan tribe. (John Smith 162) As time elapsed, by the 17th century there was an increased number of settlers who arrived from Europe in droves, on the other hand there was a serious decline of the native tribes as a result of assimilation with the general population which meant that their heritage and identity was being heavily compromised. Soon thereafter, because of the expansion of the land under tobacco, most of the land came under the control of the colonists who in turn started practicing slavery as a source of labor. The colony was under British control by 1622 ending the control by the Native Americans. (John Smith 167) Works Cited John Smith : The generall historie of Virginia, New England the Summer Isles : together with The true travels, adventures and observations, and A sea grammar Glasgow : J. MacLehose ; New York : Macmillan, 1907. P. 122-167

Gold and Silver Nanoparticles against E Coli

Gold and Silver Nanoparticles against E Coli Synthesis and Antibacterial Activity of gold and silver Nanoparticles against Pathogen species, E. coli and S.aureus Synthesis and Antibacterial Activity of gold and silver Nanoparticles against Pathogen species, E. coli and S.aureus Odai N.Salman*,, Duha S. Ahmed,a*,   Mohammed O. Dawood Abstract This work involved preparation Gold and Silver nanoparticles by pulsed laser ablation (PLAL) using laser operated at 532 nm wavelength at energy density about 17 J/cm2 for pure gold and 10 J/cm2 for silver metal plate immersed in Deionize Water DW and another aqueous solvent of 5mM Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The morphology, size and crystalline nature of nanoparticles were estimated by Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. Absorption spectrum of forming Au and Ag nanoparticles colloidal was calculated using UV-Vis Spectrophotometer. The Zeta potential of synthesized AgNPs and AuNPs was determined at 25 °C using Zeta plus and deionized water DW was used as dispersant. Finally, the antibacterial activity of Au and Ag nanoparticles against bacterial species E. coli and S. aureus demonstrate that Ag and Au NPs were more active against Gram negative bacteria than Gram positive bacteria and this was attributed to change in the bacterial cell membranes composition. Keywords: Gold and Silver nanoparticles, Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR), surfactants, thiol and sulfhydryl groups, Laser ablation method Introduction Noble metal nanoparticles like silver and gold nanoparticles are represented a resource of great attention because of their good electrical, optical, physical, chemical and magnetic features because of their surface plasmon resonance (SPR) associated features that are basically practical in biology filed [1,2].Pulsed laser ablation in liquids (PLAL) represented a base technique in manufacture of NPs with controlling shape and size. Ablation of noble metals in water environment is consider as a different process to usual chemical reduction processes for obtain colloids of nanoparticles, since this approach represented environmentally friend green procedure with products that commonly without stabilized molecules or additional chemicals. PLAL process can be apply in clean Deioniz Water (DW) or in biological aqueous solvent and can be joined with good establish protocols to improve the sensitivity of classic vibration spectroscope like in the case of surface enhanced raman (SER) phenome na [3,4] Controlling of noble metals NPs size that synthesis via Laser Ablation could be achieve by addition particular molecules to aqueous manufacture solution, which physically or chemically interaction with the surfaces of form particles, limiting their increase. Ionic surfactants, [5] like Cyclodextrins and Sodium Chloride were effectively used to decrease the particle size of noble metals. As well as, the accurate method reducing the increase of the particles remain uncertain [6,7]. Besides, sodium dodecyl sulfate SDS, represented the most qualified surfactants to limit average sizing of AuNPs and AgNPs down to 5nm through laser ablation of NPs. Recently, laser ablation technique permit to synthesis NPs with no difficulty and with no Contaminate by a reduced agent, but coagulation development of atoms leads to broaden size distribution of the NPs and its hard to be controlled [4]. Alternative, a perfect metal nanoparticles solutions can be efficiently create, when laser ablation take place in a liquid environmental [8].Since, noble metals have been used for centuries as bactericidal agents, can be represented by silver, gold and zinc, each with various properties, activity spectrum and their main antibacterial activity were due to to their cytotoxicity against a number of bacteria. Besides, AgNPs and AuNPs can interaction with the functional groups on the cell membrane of bacteria which leads to inactive pathogen [9].The main characteristics of metallic NPs are large surface energies, specific electronic structure, plasmon excitation and quantum confinement [10].For AgNPs, it probable consider that the high specific area and high fraction of surface atoms of AgNPs result in high antimicrobial activity when compare with bulk Ag metals. The antimicrobial effects of AgNPs have been used generally in various medical applications for years. Using AgNPs in bone ravels good quality of antimicrobial activity with no existence of cytotoxicity as studies in vitro assessment filed. AuNPs is one of significant applications in the medical filed because of they are easily tacking up by membrane of bacteria. The toxicity of AuNPs against various cell kinds depends on their sizing. Furthermore, the capability of pathogenic bacteria in resist antimicrobial agents is a fact that has emerging in latest years and represents a main health trouble [11-14]. Therefore, in this study we evaluate the synthesis and bactericidal activity of AgNPs and AuNPs against Es cherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus produced by using pulsed laser ablation in liquids, PLAL. Optical spectra and morphology of colloidal of AgNPs and AuNPs prepare by pulsed laser ablation in liquids, PLAL were explored. Materials and methods Preparation of silver and gold nanoparticles using PLAL (Pulse  Laser Ablation in Liquid) In this part, silver and gold nanoparticles are synthesized by irradiation the metal target plate by pulsed laser ablation in liquid (PLAL) and a thickness of 1 mm located on the underneath of quartz container contain deionized water DW and additional aqueous solvent of surfactants like (SDS) of 5mM concentration at ambient temperature. Laser ablation can be achieving used focusing production of pulse laser Nd: YAG (Huafei model) working with a repetition rate of 5 Hz and pulse width of 9 ns. Laser ablation was take place with laser operate at 532 nm wavelengths at energy density set in 17 J/cm2 for Au and10 J/cm2 for Ag with a positive lens containing focal length of 10 cm. The spot sizing of the laser beam on surface of metallic plate was 2 mm in width by the distance between the focus lens and the metallic plate at 7 cm. Laser is fixed by a holder on the target at the bottom of container as shown in Fig (1). Each of gold and silver plate was fixing in a container full with 5 ml DW water. Characterization studies Size and sizing distribution of AuNPs and AgNPs are confirmed by Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM,Carl Zeiss Germany EM10 C- 100 KV, Daypetronic co., Iran)that produced by PLAL technique. Absorption spectrum of AuNPs and AgNPs colloidal are determined using UV-Vis Spectrophotometer (SHIMADZU UV-1800) with wavelength range 190 ÃÅ' ´ 1100 nm and the speed of the wavelength scan is up to 2500nm/min. The Zeta potential of synthesized AgNPs and AuNPs was determined at 25 °C using Zeta plus(Malvern Instruments Ltd., UK)with the range between -250 mV to 250 mV(sample dependent)and Deionized water (DW) was used as dispersant. Antimicrobial Assay Antimicrobial susceptibility testing had done with quality control strains by using S. aureus and E.coli for appropriate antimicrobials. The antibacterial test is performing by using Disk diffusion method. The sterility paper discs (8mm) soaking with AuNPs and AgNPs are suspend in pure Deionized Water (DW) and let drying at 37 °C for 24h in a clean circumstance. Suspension of bacteria is provide by preparing the saline solutions of isolating colonies choose from nutrient agar plate, then agar plates are grow for 18h. 5ml of sterilized nutrient broth is inoculation with a loop full of test organism and incubation in 24h. Then, 0.2 ml from overnight culture of organism are distribute into 9ml of sterility nutrient broth and incubation for 3h to make standard McFarland turbidity using the Spectrophotometer of 600nm anf production the culture with concentration 106 CFU/ml. Surface of (MHA) agar was absolutely inoculate using a clean cotton swab in all directions and rotating the plate. The soaking discs are then placed on the inoculation agar and incubating at 37 °C for 24 h. After incubation, the diameter of the growth inhibition zone is measuring by width of the inhibition. Results and Discussion Zeta potential analysis Electric charge on the surface of AuNPs and AgNPs is measuring using Zeta potential. Zeta potential was found to be −28.13 mV for AgNPs and -40.31 mV for AuNPs as shown in Fig (2 a, b). The negative zeta potential confirms the negative charge on the surface of colloidal nanoparticles. The columbic repulsion forces induced by surface negative charge decrease the aggregation and thus contribute to the stability of the green synthesized nanoparticles. The attractive and repulsive of NPs can be evaluated using zeta potential. If the particles get a high positive or negative value of zeta potential, they repel each other and result a stable suspending. Since, the point at which zeta potential reads 0 mV is called zero electric point. Zeta analysis is essential in industries such as ceramics, minerals processing, water treatment, pharmaceuticals etc [15]. Optical properties of gold and silver nanoparticles by PLAL technique The unique optical phenomenon of metal nanoparticles, in the UV region enables their easy detection. This property occurs due to surface plasmon oscillation of free electrons. Fig (3) shows the absorption spectra of AgNPs and AuNPs colloidal solutions synthesized by laser ablation technique with wavelength 532 nm and using 5mM SDS and Deionized Water (DW). The results reveal the absorption peaks of AuNPs (blue line) and AgNPs (red line) depending on SDS concentration 5mM. In Fig (3), peaks of absorbance tend to increase by addition of SDS, 5mM. Moreover, depending on results the surfactant SDS, 5 mM fabricate high quantity of AuNPs and AgNPs depending on the experiment conditions. Obviously, the surfactant (SDS) playing a significant role in determine stable and size of the AuNPs and AgNPs, because of the extinction of NPs growing is controlling by the distribution and attaching rates of SDS on the nanoparticles. The samples set in (SDS) liquid, the particles were enveloped with surfactant. Since, using 5mM of (SDS) surfactants make distributed width become thin. Extremely negative charge nanoparticles are repelling each other more efficiently, that allow SDS surfactants covering them before connection take place. Since, the kinetics consideration is predictable to bound coalescence of the form clusters, resulting to lesser particles. The surfactants that contact with nanoparticles through the condensation avoid NPs from more coalescence and agglomerated and successfully stabilizing and reducing size of Au and Ag nanoparticles. Determination of bactericidal activity of silver and gold nanoparticles The antibacterial assay of AuNPs and AgNPs are evaluated against standards of the E.coli and S. aureusby using Disc Diffusion test with muller hinton agar (MHA) to determine the inhibition zone. The zone of inhibition was measured by the diameter of the inhibition circle as shown in Table 1. Table 1: inhibition Zones diameters in (mm) of AgNPs and AuNPs impregnated against S. aureus and E.coli bacteria The bacteria E.coli S. aureus inhibition Zones diameters in (mm) of AgNPs 17mm 11mm inhibition Zones diameters in (mm) of AuNPs 14mm 10mm The results in Table 1 show the bacteria are susceptible to the AgNPs and AuNPs. AgNPs illustrate further activity on test pathogens comparison to AuNPs. Besides, AgNPs and AuNPs colloidal reveal good antibacterial activity against tested pathogens as shown in Fig (4a,b). These results showed that AgNPs have higher antibacterial activity than AuNPs due to the relatively inert chemical nature of gold. In Fig (4 a), AgNPs were further activity against Gram negative bacteria than Gram positive bacteria and this was attributed to change in the bacterial cell membranes composition. AuNPs are less efficient against the tested pathogens as reveal in Fig (4a,b). The bactericidal mechanism of AgNPs may consist of variation of thiol or sulfhydryl groups including biomolecules like proteins and electrochemical collapse that penetrate across the cell membranes of bacteria [11]. It is assumed that heavy metals like silver and gold release ions reacting with thiol or sulfhydryl groups (-SH) of pro teins and inactivates them. Ionic silver and gold efficiently interact with thiol group of vital enzymes and inactivate bacteria. Since, ionic silver, Ag+ replaced ionc hydrogen H+ of thiol groups that deactivates the proteins by decreasing the permeability which leads to cell dye [14]. It is normally to state that attaching of AgNPs or AuNPs to the bacteria cell depends on the surface area presented for interaction. Nanoparticles have larger surface area presented for interactions, which improve bactericidal effect than the large size particles; therefore they convey cytotoxicity to the microorganisms [16] In present, mechanisms of penetrating bacteria using nanoparticles is still now not complete, but propose metals are cytotoxicity and reacting with protein, as a result the metals connect proteins molecules, metals efficiently interact with thiol group of vital enzymes and inactivate bacteria. Moreover, it is suppose that AgNPs and AuNPs binding to functiona groups of protein resultant in proteins inactivation, so that cellular metabolism is inhibiting causing inactivation of microorganisms [17, 18]. TEM Analysis TEM analysis confirmed the nanosize of AgNPs and AuNPs prepared by laser ablation in liquids (PLAL) with 5 Mm SDS surfactant solutions. The spherical shape of the Ag and Au nanoparticles is shown in TEM images in Fig (5 a,b), respectively. Besides, in TEM analysis, both AgNPs and AuNPs are dispersed and mostly spherical in shape with obvious morphology of Ag and Au nanoparticles and no aggregation. The average diameter AuNPs range of 20- 30 nm while the average diameters AgNPs range of 40-60nm, respectively. Conclusions To summarize, a high purity of silver and gold nanoparticles have been prepared via using pulse Nd: YAG laser operating at 532 nm wavelengths with a repeating rate of 5Hz and pulse length of 9ns in SDS solution. Obviously, the results exhibited, the surfactants (SDS) play a significant role in determination the stabile and sizing of AuNPs and AgNPs as shown in optical properties that affected by laser fluence and wavelength. The negative zeta potential confirms the negative charges on exterior of colloidal nanoparticles because of addition surfactant like SDS solution. Besides, AgNPs and AuNPs are shifting to a lesser size because of surfactant SDS solution. Since, the synthesized Ag and Au nanoparticles contain spherical shape and size distributed is almost Gaussian. Finally, AgNPs and AuNPs colloidal reveal good antibacterial activity against tested pathogens and becomes more active against Gram negative bacteria than Gram positive bacteria and this was attributed to change in the bacterial cell membranes composition. Since, complete bacterial inhibition depends the effect of laser ablation conditions in synthesized AgNPs and AuNPs colloidal and on number of bacteria cells; and concludes that silver and gold nanoparticles contain high bactericidal and potential effects in reduced bacterial growing in practical applications.

Bach and Schoenberg Essay -- Music

J. S. Bach was the first known composer to use a literal representation of his name in his music. He used the chromatic motive B-A-C-H , that is, B-flat, A, C, B-natural in American theoretical language in Contrapunctuas XIV from the Art of Fugue. Although Bach left this fugue unfinished, the third and last subject of the fugue was the B-A-C-H motive that composers after Bach have used to pay tribute to the great composer. There are a number of composers; including: Schumann, Liszt, Reger, Busoni, Schoenberg, and Webern, who have used the B-A-C-H theme in their works; varying the way they employed it to make it part of their personal style. NEED SCHUMANN, LISZT, REGER INTRODUCTION SENTENCES. In 1910, Busoni created one of most famous works, Fantasia Contrappuntistica, that "finished" Bach's unfinished fugue; the theme is easily noticeable in contrapuntal form. In 1923, the year Schoenberg created his twelve-tone method, he composed op. 25 Suite FÃ ¼r Klavier, which employs his tonal row in inversion, the B-A-C-H motive. In 1937-38, a student of Schoenberg and a purveyor of serialism, Webern used a tonal row beginning with the B-A-C-H motive to create his piece Streichquartett, op 28. Each of the three modern composers uses this theme differently but they each have used these four notes to create a piece that connects each of them to Bach in a unique way. In Fuga a 3 Soggetti (Contrapunctus XIV) from the Art of Fugue; Bach first presented two whole fugues with separate subjects before beginning the signature-subject . The subject begins with the four notes B flat, A, C, and B natural in a chromatic pattern that is easily recognized. As can be seen below, he quickly matches his subject in the tenor with a real answer at a fi... ...e is a key factor of serialism and Webern is able pull this off while maintaining the B-A-C-H theme in his row. Annotated Bibliography ARSIS Audio: CD168." ARSIS Audio. Web. 01 Oct. 2009. Electronic Bach, J.S. "Contrapunctus XIX: Fuga a 3 sogetti". Art of Fugue. Electronic Bailey, Kathryn . "Webern, Anton." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 9 Nov. 2009. Electronic Busoni, Ferruccio. "Fuga III". Fantasia Contrappuntistica. Print. Neighbour, O.W. "Schoenberg, Arnold." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 9 Nov. 2009. Electronic. Sitsky, Larry. Busoni and the Piano: The Works, The Writings, and the Recordings. New York: Greenwood Press, 1986. Print. Schoenberg, Arnold. Suite FÃ ¼r Klavier, Op.25. Wien: Universal Edition. Print. Webern, Anton. Streichquartett, Op. 28 / #c Webern. Wien: Universal Edition. Print.

Classical Greek Architecture Essay -- Greece Greek Essays

Classical Greek Architecture The reuse of older art works in contemporary times is not an uncommon occurrence, and many examples can be seen throughout the day as one goes from place to place. Even when one is browsing through the World Wide Web can many uses of older art and architecture be seen, as with the example shown. This image was found on the internet at the American Express homepage (http://www.americanexpress.com/student/), which functions as a resource for college students to find access to many commercial advertisements about discounts and products relevant for students. This homepage caters mostly to students, as non-students would not apply to the majority of the goods or services available. The picture itself is not exemplary of any one classical Greek building, but contains many elements of classical Greek architecture and design. The columns are what stand out the most in the architecture of this picture. The original Greek columns came in three different styles, or orders: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. All Greek columns consist of both a shaft and a capital, and sometimes there is a base as well. The shaft is made from round drums stacked one on top of the other. The main difference among the orders comes from the differences in the capitals. The Doric capitals are usually very simple and look like the weight of the roof is flattening them out. The Ionic capitals are a little fancier with a large volute, which looks like rams horns rolling off of the shaft. The Corinthian capital is much more complex with smaller volutes and many stylized acanthus leaves and rosettes, accompanied by a boss on the top of each side. All three types of columns rest on the floor of the b uilding, which is often a temple. The fl... ... draw a connection between the ability of a large Greek temple to draw people to it and the large amount of people that can view this one graphic on the web page. The relationship is direct; one temple in ancient Greece is visited by many, and one web graphic is accessed by many. The temple in ancient Greek times gave its message symbolically an directly to a large group of people via sculpture and statues. This one web graphic relies on associations of ancient symbols to convey its message to a large group of people. Therefore we can say that although the function of the temple and graphic are different, the properties are the same: they are both meant to be looked upon by a large amount of people. Thus the connection between ancient art and modern use is evident when one looks at everyday life, and even the latest in technology still uses the creations of the past.