Han vs Rome Ap World

Comparative Essay The massively extensive classical empires of Imperial Rome (31BCE-476CE) and Han China (206BCE-220CE) were extremely influential when it came to the world around them. In essence, the two empires were virtually the same in terms of political structure and military protocols, yet greatly different in the area of religious tolerance. Both Han China and Imperial Rome had a political system structure consisting of a sovereign emperor who made executive, almost dictator-like, decisions and directed the affairs of the empire.However, in both empires, emperors relied on regional governors to regulated affairs in their respective regions due to the fact that both empires were so massive and consisted of an enormous population. These leaders would also collect a tax that was imposed on free peasants of the empire. In both empires, the emperor was seen as a god-like figure, for example the Mandate of Heaven in Han China was used to persuade the citizens that the emperor was a direct link to the gods.Both Han China and Imperial Rome used religion as a helper in political culture. Confucianism was enforced by the government and promoted obedience, loyalty, and reverence to one’s social superiors. In Rome, Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 312CE, and used the church as a sort of guidance/advisor. Both civilizations established a type of â€Å"civil service† based on educated members of the middle class. As far as military protocols go, both militaries worked extensively on projects for the empire such as roads to expedite troop movement.Late in the histories of both empires, foreign soldiers were enlisted in the military due to a drop in population of plagues hit the society. The Roman’s enlisted the help of the Germanic tribes while the Hans enlisted the help of the Mongols. These â€Å"mercenary† soldiers lacked greatly in motivation and pride. Both civilizations enlisted the help of soldiers of the people who w ere invading them. The military prowess of both civilizations was used to hold and maintain peace once expansion was accomplished.While both civilizations consisted of one sovereign emperor, the methods in which emperors imposed their authorities differed between each. In Rome, the emperors resorted to threats and promises, where as in Han China, the emperors relied mostly on the Mandate of Heaven institution and tributes/gifts from the citizens. Both rulers had a slightly different role as well. The Emperor of China was judge, jury, and executioner, whereas the Emperor of Rome could not act without the senate's approval.With military expedition and empire expansion, the methods were quite different. When the Romans conquered a new region, they would enforce soldiers in that region until the tax was collected. After the tax was paid, the Romans allowed the conquered peoples to keep their cultural ways. This also applied to religion. Conquered peoples could remain with their religion as long as they followed the system. In fact, in 212CE, Rome offered citizenship to conquered peoples in exchange for adopting Roman culture.This offer was extended to all free people of the conquered region, and citizenship for them meant they had the right to hold office, serve in legions, and others. However, becoming a citizen did not erase their other identities like religious views. Rome also collected many foreign religions, making the entire empire a college of religious views. Unlike Rome, Han China forced Confucian beliefs upon their conquered areas. When the Han invaded and conquered Korea and Vietnam, they established a Chinese-style rule upon the people and forced Confucian beliefs upon them.Han did not collect foreign religions with the exception of Buddhism. Han China and Imperial Roman political structure, military protocols, and religious tolerance share various similarities in political structure and military protocols, and are more different in the area of religi ous tolerance. While both political structures involved a sovereign emperor who used regional leaders as a way to extend his control to the outskirts of the empire, they differed in the ways the emperor imposed his authority.With military protocols, both militaries were involved in the construction of roads that expanded all over the empire. However, the militaries differed in how they treated their conquered peoples with religion and culture. Both empires had some form of religious tolerance. Han Chinese citizens were allowed to practice Buddhism while the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. However, Romans had more tolerance for foreign religions in the empire than Han China did.

Killing vs Letting Die

In a paper entitled â€Å"Why Does Removing Machines Count as Passive Euthanasia?† Dr. Patrick D. Hopkins argues that â€Å"the removal of a machine which substitutes for a failed vital organ is equivalent to removing that life-sustaining organ.†( Killing 2004 p. 1). In this scenario, removing a breathing machine such as BiPap that essentially breathes for the patient when they are unable to breathe for themselves, would be tantamount to removing the patient’s lung in order to stop him from breathing. The ground becomes a little shaky if we rely on this theory; the patient or surrogate making decisions for the patient, when confronted with a terminally ill medical situation,   asks that all â€Å"life-support† machines and feeding tubes be removed. Is the doctor or nurse who performs this act of mercy â€Å"killing† the patient, or just removing artificial means of life and â€Å"letting die?†Ã‚   Unlike Dr. Hopkins, I don’t feel tha t â€Å"pulling the plug,† or ceasing life support machines is equal in any way to cutting out a vital organ. I believe â€Å"letting die† is a morally responsible act, while actively â€Å"killing† is quite another matter.Many people make a distinction between passive euthanasia and active euthanasia.   While the AMA maintains that people have a â€Å"right to die with dignity,† and believe it â€Å"morally permissible,† for a physician to allow the death of a person who is suffering unmercifully and has an incurable disease, they are unwilling to â€Å"countenance active euthanasia for a person who is in similar straits, but who has the misfortune not to be suffering from an illness that will result in a speedy death.† (Tooley 2006 p. 1).   Therefore, while a patient might have a terminal illness and be in extreme pain, if the illness is not likely to kill them fairly quickly, euthanasia is not an option, rather they are required to su ffer for a lengthy period of time before receiving assistance in ending their lives.This becomes a very touchy moral issue, with passionate arguments on both sides.   The motives of a person who intentionally kills someone is surely more evil than the motives of a person who lets someone die, most especially if the motives for letting that person die are purely non-selfish and a result of empathy for the person’s pain.   Watching a loved one die slowly and painfully is a hardship on those who love them as well as the person themselves. When a beloved member of your family is begging you to â€Å"let them go,† how can it be morally wrong to grant that wish?In the realm of withholding treatment versus withdrawing treatment, the consensus seems to be that if withholding treatment can be justified, then withdrawing it can be justified by the same criteria. (Jennings 2001 p. 2).   The reality is that while administering treatment that may, in fact, have to be later wi thdrawn buys time in the sense that the physician is able come to a solid prognosis of the patient’s chances for survival, many ethicists feel that it is â€Å"easier to justify not starting treatment.†Ã‚   (Jennings 2001 p. 2).   So, while administering treatment may allow the doctor, patient and family members time to accept the reality of the imminent death of a loved one, doctors are hesitant to administer treatment that they are fairly certain will have to be withdrawn somewhere down the line, and find it easier to let nature take it’s course in the first place.Life sustaining treatments are considered to be: mechanical ventilation, dialysis, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, antibiotics, transfusions, nutrition and hydration.   While most of us are relatively â€Å"okay† with the idea of withdrawing (or not administering in the first place) the mechanical ventilation, dialysis, or performing CPR, we are less okay with the idea of removing a feeding tube and iv’s or not administering antibiotics.We equate these acts in some sense as â€Å"starving† our loved one to death, or making them do without water, and we see this more as torture than assisting an inevitable death. The fact is that dehydration can produce a sedative effect on the brain, making the dying process more tolerable, so essentially it is an issue in our minds rather than one based on reality.   Technically it is all the same; if a person is unable to feed themselves in the traditional way, or drink a glass of water, then feeding tubes and IV’s are artificial means of keeping a person alive. However, if we were to disallow these basic medical care issues, many, many, people who go on to live happy, productive lives, would surely die.The question becomes to what degree are we good with measures to sustain life? Many times â€Å"comfort measures† are determined to be the most solid course, and, in general, family members are much more agreeable to allowing a loved one to die provided they are still administered IV’s, feeding tubes and pain medication.Extraordinary measures may in some cases be determined by the level of technological complexity, yet this can be misleading. â€Å"Certain procedures for providing artificial nutrition and hydration, for example, are technologically rather complex, whereas administering chemotherapy is not.†Ã‚   (Policy 2006 p. 3).   Therefore, we cannot say that administering chemotherapy is a rather simple procedure, therefore only an â€Å"ordinary† means of treatment while the complex artificial nutrition system must then be â€Å"extraordinary.†Ã‚   There must, therefore, be an assessment of the â€Å"benefits and burdens for the patient that each procedure or treatment provides.† (Policy 2006 p. 3).CPR is generally used to restore breathing capabilities to someone whose breathing has been interrupted for whatever reason. Because resuscitati on has no value in the management of terminal diseases, but is rather intended to return a person in a health crisis to a normal healthy state, CPR, while certainly an extraordinary, live-saving measure, is not a factor in a terminally ill patient. Mechanical ventilation may be ethically removed from a terminally ill patient at their request, just as blood transfusions may be refused by the patient who is terminally ill.Tony Bland was a victim of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster when football fans were crushed and 95 people died.   Tony survived but was in a coma that doctors believed he would never emerge from. (Tony Bland 2006 p. 1).   Tony could breathe on his own and all his vital organs functioned normally on his own. He could digest food but could not feed himself, so was put on feeding tubes.Because we don’t consider food and water â€Å"medicine,† but rather basic necessities to stay alive, the feeding tube for Tony Bland could not be considered â€Å"treatm ent,† and because Mr. Bland was not actually dying at the time, his food and fluids would have had to be withdrawn in order for him to die. The courts ordered, after four years of Mr. Bland being in a â€Å"permanent vegetative state,† that the fluids and feeding tubes be removed, and he be allowed to die, a process that took nearly two weeks as well as causing the suffering of his family.   (Tony Bland 2006 p. 2).The issue of medical euthanasia is one that will be debated passionately for many years to come, with ethical arguments on both sides.Works CitedJennings, Bruce (February 2001). Medical Ethics and Clinical Practice. Retrieved onMay 29, 2006 from:http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1071269Killing vs. Letting Die (June 13, 2004). Should Removal of Mechanical Life SupportMachine at the Request of a Patient be Considered Killing or Letting the PatientDie? Retrieved May 30, 2006 from:http://www.hsc.usc.edu/~mbernste/ethics.killingvs.lettingdie.h tmlPolicy (2006). Policy on Forgoing Life Sustaining or Death-Prolonging Therapy.Retrieved on May 30, 2006 from:http://www.clevelandclinic.org/bioethics/policies/policyonlifesustaining/ccfcode.htmlTony Bland. (2006). Tony Bland and PVS – Euthanasia. Retrieved June 1, 2006 from:http://www.spucscotland.org/education/students/euthanasia/tonyblandpvs.html.Tooley, Michael (2006). An Irrevelant Consideration: Killing versus Letting Die.Retrieved May 30, 2006 from:http://www.sunysuffolk.edu/pecorip/SCCCWEB/ETEXTS/DeathandDylingTEXT/Tooley

A Summary of a Mothers’s Newborn Baby

Twana PSY 210 Mrs. Stone March 7, 2013 On March 9, 2010 I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She weighed six pounds, eleven ounces and was 21 inches long. Her beauty took my breath away. Once the doctor spanked her bottom and I heard her cry it was like music to my ears. As they placed her in my arms all of the pain I felt from my 14 hour delivery vanished. I felt as if I had just won an Olympic race and I came in 1st place. My trophy was this beautiful bundle of joy. My husband and I decided to name her Adrianna Renee. The emotional bond or attachment that I felt for my daughter had me speechless.Then the nurse told me they had to take her briefly to do some type of test on her called Apgar score. She explained to me that the test was a standard scoring system that allows the doctor to evaluate Adrianna’s condition quickly and objectively. At first I was skeptical because my daughter looked perfect in my eyes. So the nurse takes her from me to go have the test done and whil e they are gone the other nurses tend to my needs. It seemed like forever but it only took 10 minutes and they were done with the Apgar score. Adrianna had done great scoring a 10 the highest an infant can get meaning she was perfect like I knew she would be.Our stay in the hospital was short and before I knew it my husband was taking us home. Once we arrived home Adrianna surprised me how well she adapted to her new surroundings. She acted as if she was home and that was where she was supposed to be. Since I was a new mother I wanted to breastfeed my baby. The nurses told me that my milk was healthier for her, so that’s what I wanted. Unfortunately Adrianna was not having my big ole floppy boob in her face and she screamed bloody murder. So my husband had to go out and purchase a breast pump.Personally I have to say that the rejection hurt my feelings at first, but I found other ways to bond with my daughter, such as skin to skin contact. She absolutely loved skin to skin co ntact. I guess it soothed her and she knew she was safe. Once my husband returned from Wal-Mart with the breast pump I immediately began to pump. Adrianna was hungry because she was trying to eat her little fingers and suck her thumb. The dr. told me those were survival reflexes and they had swung into action when we were at the hospital. Well Adrianna sucked that breast milk down and wanted more.I burped her after three ounces and then my husband wanted to feed her. So since she was still hungry, I let her daddy feed her another two ounces. I told my husband don’t forget to burp her, because if he didn’t he was going to wear some regurgitated breast milk. Ha I love picking with him. Since I had about 10 minutes to spare, I took this time to pump more milk and store it in the fridge and freezer. Adrianna burped again and was now sound asleep. I took advantage of this time to shower and nap with her while her father did the laundry and cooked dinner. Adrianna was a wond erful infant.She only cried when she was hungry or when her diaper needed changing, other than that she just slept. At night she would only wake once approximately about 3 a. m. for a bottle and to be changed. She would stay awake till 4 a. m. looking around and looking at me as I talked to her. Adrianna would slowly drift back to sleep in my arms, then I would lay her down in her crib. I stood over her crib and watch as she made the cutest little faces. She would smile huge smiles while sleeping. My mother always told me when a baby smiles like that in their sleep the angels are playing with them.I would silently go back to my room to get more sleep before my hubby came home from work. It seemed like once he got here he’d wake us both up. He had to have daddy time with the baby. So for the first three months of Adrianna’s life this was our routine schedule. By the time Adrianna was four months old she was more alert throughout the day and was sleeping through the nigh t waking at 6 a. m. , just in time for her daddy to get home. She had discovered her hands and feet. She would put her foot in her mouth and drool all over the place because she was teething.She was always in a good mood smiling and making cooing sounds. Adrianna was now 14 pounds and 9 ounces. She had more than doubled her weight and her body was a ? inch longer. 5 to 8 Months During the 5 to 8 months she felt like she could do things without support. If I sat her down she would sit without falling over. When I put her on tummy for tummy time she would get up on her hands and knees and go back and forth. It was the cutest little movement I had ever seen. So by the time she was 6 months she was crawling. She would babble on and on dada dada. Her first word was dada.I really don’t understand how her first word could be dada, when I’m here with her more than dada, but oh well that’s just how it goes I guess. Everything that she picked up off of the floor went into her mouth. So one day as usual she saw something on the floor and picked it up and to her mouth it went. I stick my finger in there to fish whatever it was out and low and behold she clamped down and I felt it. There was a tooth at the bottom of her mouth. I found Adrianna’s first tooth on September 18, 2010. I was so excited. I called her father when he was at work to tell him the good news, then I called my mother.At 8 months Adrianna was pulling herself up and taking few steps holding on to the coffee table. Finally she said mama, but I don’t think that she knew what she was saying, but I was sure glad to hear it. She could also say baba and she knew what that meant because she would pick up her bottle and say baba. Another tooth had come in at the bottom and one was coming in at the top. She loved playing peek a boo with her daddy. When we played together our game was patty cake and she had good coordination because she would clap her hands and feet at the same ti me.We made a video for my in laws because they were in another state. They were amazed just like we were because her coordination was so great. 9 to 12 Months On December 9 Adrianna was now 9 months old and had tripled her weight since birth. She now weighed 18 ? pounds and she was 23 inches long. She would still pull herself up and walk around the coffee table holding on for dear life. When she was 10 months old she would stand alone and be very hesitant about taking her first step. When she would stand by herself she would clap her hands and I would say â€Å"Yay†!At 11 months she finally trusted herself and her surroundings and took her first steps. Unfortunately her daddy was at work so he missed this event. When he got home Adrianna walked 4 steps to him. My husband was so surprised and happy his little girl was now taking steps. On March 9, 2011 Adrianna turned a year old. My goodness it doesn’t seem like it has been a year already. It feels like yesterday I was bringing her home form the hospital. Adrianna was now walking with ease as if it came natural to her. She had a new perspective of her world. Learning how to walk had given her a new freedom.She was more active and exploring everything. Also she was feeding herself little finger foods from Gerber graduates and Cheerios. She absolutely loved drinking from her sippy cup. At first I thought she was going to reject the cup because she was so attached to her bottle, but she surprised me. She transitioned from the bottle to cup with no problems. We had her birthday party at the park in Bay Minette and the weather was wonderful. We sang Happy Birthday to her and put the cake in front so she could dig in. Oh my Lord what a mess! Adrianna got cake everywhere. She even had cake in her diaper.We let her have her way after all it was her day. I stood back taking pictures and watching her cute facial expressions. I started thinking about all of her milestones she had accomplished since birth and I just could not believe that my baby girl was 1year old already. 13 to 18 months During this time the things she already learned had improved a great deal. When she would feed herself she acted as if it was easier and she no longer had to concentrate on picking up the cheerios and putting them in her mouth. She really enjoyed being a big girl. Her vocabulary had increased tremendously.She now spoke eight to ten words and her favorite was hello. Everywhere we went she told everyone hello. She was my little social butterfly. She was not shy at all. I could tell that her personality was out going just by the way she interacted with people. I thought it was so cute watching her interact with other people. She just never met a stranger unless they were creepy looking and that scared me too. My favorite was when she would imitate me, my mother, or her daddy. I talked to my mother on a daily basis even though we live 10 minutes away from each other.Well mom and I would talk on the phone and I noticed that Adrianna would get out her play phone and talk to whomever and when I would laugh at my mom Adrianna would do the same. When she reached 18 months old she weighed 24 pounds and she could maneuver her body so she could climb out of her play pen. So I’m in the kitchen preparing dinner and I look up and I see Adrianna standing on her toy jack in the box. She then throws her leg over the rail, balancing herself perfectly. All of a sudden her little feet hit the floor and she was gone.Watching her perform that task totally blew my mind. She was right on schedule with normal toddler activity. She was stacking three blocks on top of each other and scribbling with a crayon. Instead of scribbling on paper Adrianna preferred the walls or table. I was so happy the crayons were not permanent and could be washed off with soapy water. Adrianna did not like wearing clothes, so instead of dressing herself she would undress. She loved taking her clothes off so keeping cloth es on her was a chore. Every chance that I got I would video her doing her strip tease of the day.She was a normal toddler in every aspect and she was enjoying every minute of it. 19 to 24 Months I know now what my mother meant when she told me to cherish the days when Adrianna was a baby. I no longer had an infant anymore, she was my big girl. Her second birthday was approaching fast and I wanted to turn back the hands of time. Adrianna weighed 27 pounds and she carried her weight well. She was into everything so we toddler proofed the house. I always heard people talk about â€Å"The Terrible Twos† I know what they were talking about now and she wasn’t even two yet.She could jump in place with both feet and go up and down the stairs without assistance. I could not stand to watch her go up and down the stairs because it scared me so bad. All I could think about was her falling and hurting herself. I knew that I had to let her explore her physical world so she could en hance her developmental skills, but it was a very hard thing to do. She showed high interest in her surroundings. On the day of her second birthday we had her party at McDonalds with about six other toddlers her age. Oh my God talk about nerves wrecked.I think the staff at McDonalds was happy to see us leave. After that we went to the park with her playmate Chloe. Adrianna and Chloe were born 2 weeks apart so they always played together on play dates. As we played ball I noticed Adrianna could throw the ball further than Chloe, but Chloe could kick the ball really better than Adrianna. I guess all kids are different and some do things better than others. Well as time continued its rapid pace. Adrianna continued her rapid pace of exploring and learning. Now that she was two she could do a lot of tasks. So ow when I gave her crayons and paper she would scribble and be amazed at what she did. In her little mind I guess she thought it was a master piece of art. Every master piece she sc ribbled we would put it on the refrigerator or hang it in her room. She was much better at stacking blocks too. She could stack seven blocks without them falling over. She could even match shapes now. She could put the square block through the square hole and vice versa with the circle and triangle. Wow she was really smart and in my eyes she was the smartest toddler ever. Adrianna’s language seemed to advance overnight.She woke up one morning and said â€Å"Mommy I want cereal† and I said â€Å"Oh you do†. She had made her first complete sentence with no babbling. She was actually making sense to me. I was one proud mama that day. Adrianna was such a joy to be around and I wanted her to be around children her age so she could learn social skills. So we decided to put her in in daycare part time. The first 2 weeks it was hard because she was not use to sharing, but she adjusted. She did surprisingly well with daycare and before I knew it she was ready to be pott y trained. She came home from daycare and told me she wanted to be a big girl.So we got started using the potty and within a month she was potty trained. Yay! No more pull ups! It was just before her third birthday too. Today is March 6, 2013 and Adrianna birthday is in three days. She is so excited about her birthday because we are having a pizza party this time. My baby girl is a thriving toddler and she is healthy as a horse. I thank God for her every day, because she is truly a blessing. I look forward to the bright future she will have growing up and I pray that I live to see her all grown up and independent with a family of her own.

Project management Thesis Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Upgrading Windows XP Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Upgrading Windows XP - Term Paper Example Preparing Your PC for an Upgrade Before you start upgrading your PC, you need to know and record the existing hardware and software configuration of your PC and then perform the following tasks: 1. Know your upgrade path: Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000 Professional and Windows NT 4 Workstation are the operating systems that can be upgraded to Windows XP Professional directly. 2. Know the hardware requirements: A Pentium processor with 233 MHz is required or 300 MHz or higher processor speed is recommended. Minimum 64 MB RAM or higher is recommended. Minimum hard disk required is 1.5 GB or higher. An SVGA monitor is good enough or you can get a higher resolution monitor as well. (Donald & Chellis, 2005, p. 96). Windows XP is very demanding. Hence, before an upgrade, the aforementioned hardware requirements should be met to facilitate the installation process plus to prevent any post installation hardware failures due to incompatibility. More details regarding the hardware requirements are discussed as follows: a. Processor: In today’s computers, a 2 to 3 GHz processor speed would be efficient to run Windows XP. On checking your current processor configuration and if it is not at least 233 MHz, you would need to buy a new processor and install it as an upgrade. b. Random access memory: Once you have upgraded your PC’s processor, you are required to upgrade the RAM as well. RAM is the volatile memory that allows your computer to execute current programs and processes. Increasing the RAM size of your computer, makes the computer run faster and better. For Windows XP, you need to have at least 64 MB of RAM. This is a minimum amount. Ideal would be to have a 128 MB of RAM. Today computers come with a 256 MB RAM; so this is perfect amount to run the Windows XP on your system. c. Hard disk space: During and after installation, the Windows XP requires some hard disk space for storage. Hard disk is the non-volatile memory in your computer. It is capable of storing data and information permanently. It saves the operating system in it also. In order to upgrade your PC, you need to be sure that you have 650 MB free hard disk space to allow Windows XP to store its files. If you do not have enough free hard disk space, you need to make free spac e by deleting files, application programs and the like which you no longer need in your PC. d. Other requirements: You need an SVGA or higher resolution monitor, CD-ROM or DVD –ROM drive, a keyboard, and a mouse. You can also upgrade your internet connectivity speed and upgrade to a faster internet connection. You need to have good sound card, video card and speakers. If you have chosen to connect to a LAN, you would need a network adapter card upgrade. Furthermore, you can also get a tuner card to be able to watch television on your computer. These are options that can be considered after the installation but pondering over these before installation is a better option. (Simmons, 2005, p. 379-381). Whenever you are upgrading your operating system, you need to be sure of your data which you do not intend to loose. If the upgrade takes place in a smooth manner, then your entire data is still safely residing on your hard disk memory. However; problems may arise during upgrade wh ich can cause your data to get lost. Therefore, in order to be safe and careful, make a back up copy of all the important data residing in the hard disk of your computer. Using the back-up

Firewall Security Measures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Firewall Security Measures - Essay Example A packet filter is the most simple type of firewall that operates at the network layer of OSI model. Packet filtering works on a set of rules stored as rule base, which determines which packet are allowed within the session, likewise which address are allowed for the communication process. If by default, a rule base does not permit any session, all packets are a drop from the communication. Information included in packet filtering are as follows: The source address of the packet (or the Layer 3 address) and the destination address of the packet (also Layer 3 address). Type of traffic or the specific network protocol (i.e. Ethernet) And possibly some information about the Layer 4 communication sessions (which is why packet filtering are sometimes considered to operate at layer 3 and 4 of OSI model). Stateful inspection, on the other hand, is the just superset of the packet filter. It also employs the method by which packet filtering works and an additional of storing the state of the session. For example, a session between 192.168.1.100:1023 and 210.9.88.29:80 was stored as â€Å"established† as its state, then the next time this session takes place, it will automatically be allowed. This provides a faster mechanism for filter incoming and outgoing session between server and host system. Stateful inspection firewall also operates at layer 3 and 4, plus layer 7 of the OSI model, which is evident on how stateful inspections consider application within the application layer.

Human Resource Reflecting Paper - on The Cane Mutiny Article Essay - 1

Human Resource Reflecting Paper - on The Cane Mutiny Article - Essay Example verage age of German population was on a steady rise, and what effect it would have on the personnel of a midsize pharmaceutical firm like Medignostics. Frank’s other proposal which was to open day care centers for the children of young employees were also met with skepticism from Erwin. Frank wanted to emphasize the need of day care centers to facilitate young parents since the options of changing schools of children would make them join rival firms. Erwin saw this proposal as increased cost that would be detrimental to the company (Geissler, 2005). I feel that Frank should have consolidated his proposal with sufficient data and facts. In order to convince the executive management about personnel matters it is necessary for HR manager to present his argument in a manner that is comprehendible for the top team. If Frank wanted his HR strategy to be considered, then he should have given a clear picture of the negative consequences if a business enterprise ignores the demographic issue. He should have clearly stated how the growing average age of population would affect hiring of personnel, their costs, performance and innovation. A problem appeared among the older employees who are near retirement age when Part-Time Statute for the Elderly was implemented which paved the way for easy retirement of older workers so that there would be job vacancy for the younger aspirants. This program was subsequently scrapped since proved to be costly to the company and this directly affected older personnel. For instance, Matthias Hausmann who was 58 years old had worked for the company for over 20 years. He regularly made himself absent in office which resulted in his unavailability during decisions to be made or when clients needed him. This was proving to be a loss to the company as clients were moving their business elsewhere thus hurting productivity. Also, the salary structure indicated that older employees receive more than the younger group, and this must be

Most Americans Should Not Use Credit Cards Essay

Most Americans Should Not Use Credit Cards - Essay Example The credit card industry has evolved so drastically that it is predicted that an average number of credit cards per family is around 3.5 (Nilson Report, 2010). According to another statistics, it is reported that an average American with a credit file is responsible for $16.635 in debt; this amount is reported after excluding the mortgage charges (U.S News and World Report, 2008). Credit cards have had a huge impact on people spending spree and it is only because of this extravagant spending style, credit cards consumers have had to face severe bankruptcy issues. It was reported that the bankruptcy filed during 2009 amounted to $1.4 million dollars; this had increased by 22% compared to the figures of $1.09 million in 2008 (AACER, 2010). This bankruptcy rate usually comprises of young adults and it is reported that young Americans have the 2nd highest rate of bankruptcy. These increase bankruptcies, heavy spending and huge debts are all a result of psychological behaviour. Americans tend to live in an economy where debt has not been given any significant value by many households. Mortgages and other similar loans are a part of almost every American household. Besides that, people tend to have an emotional attachment to paper money, which if spent, is given to the provider of goods/service whilst credit card/plastic money has no sense of emotional feeling attached to it when it is being spent because of the psychological belief that nothing material is being given at the instance of buying. This reason makes people more vulnerable to heavy spending and eventually they end up in critical positions such as bankruptcy (Schor, 1998). Credit card use has overshadowed the entire world economy. According to Federal Reserve G.19 report, the total U.S revolving debt amounted to $793.1 billion as of May 2011 and the total U.S consumer debt as of the same date amounted to $2.43 trillion (Federal Reserve Report, July 2011). The amount of U.S consumer debt increased to 2.45 trillion as reported in the September issue of the G.19 report. Hence it is clearly evident that the expansion of credit led America to severe consumer debts and this debt has not been stopped, the credit is still being offered to the consumers and it is often argued that if this trend continues, the credit card industry would be highly susceptible to downfall and failure that would further lead to another economic collapse. This collapse can be prevented by using credit cards on a minimal level or paying off the dues as they fall due. Credit card companies tend to offer credit cards to customer on increased interest rates in order to reduce its use. This pullback is affecting the creditworthy consumers and it further increases the danger to already endangered banking industry. Credit card companies had to write off $21 billion in 2008 as bad credit card loans, issues like these clearly suggest the credit card industry would definitely affect the economy in a negative manner (Dash, 2008). Finally it is said that the Federal Reserve Bank is also one major factor that can lead to an economic collapse. This is because the Fed has enough power to lend to anyone whom it desires i.e. without the consent of the Barrack Obama’s government; hence only favoured institutions are bailed out when the total economy falls prey to this downfall (The Economic Collapse, 2011). The payment pattern of the credit card debt is such that according to

The concept of beauty in anthropology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The concept of beauty in anthropology - Essay Example Due to this it is considered a great challenge to find a uniform definition of beauty because what a person finds beautiful is not the same as another. Beauty is based on personal perspective and own concepts honed by own culture and society. It is a universal word but has many definitions and meaning. Scrotun (1) cited the idea of Pato and Plotinus that beauty is an ultimate value  ­Ã‚ ­Ã¢â‚¬â€œsomething that people pursue for its own sake and for the pursuit of which no further reason is needed to be given. As Santayan stated beauty is truth, the expression of the ideal, the symbol of divine perfection and the sensible manifestation of the good. According to Scruton (5) beauty pleases us, it is always a reason for attending to the thing that possesses it, and it is a subject-matter of judgement: the judgement of taste where it is all about beautiful objects not the subject’s statement of mind. Beauty is always associated with aesthetics and is always associated with arts. Stout as cited by Van Damme (40) defined aesthetic as a branch of philosophy dealing with the beautiful and the tests by which the beautiful may be judged. Beauty can be found in different works of art. Paintings on the wall that give joy to the audience; sculptures that please the eye and resonate the beauty that can be touched; and other works of art that are considered as important possessions because of beauty. According to Santayana (126), our judgment of aesthetic is intrinsic when based on the perception of beauty and based on the character of immediate experience and never consciously on the idea of eventual utilities of the object. Judgements about moral worth, on the contrary, are always based, when they are positive, upon the consciousness probably involved. However, in Africa, art forms are made to illustrate ugliness (Van Damme 41). This is the definition by the word anti-aesthetic introduced by R. Thomson

Labour Market in the United Kingdom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Labour Market in the United Kingdom - Essay Example The employment pattern in Britain is however different today. With over 70 per cent of the population in United Kingdom classified as being in work, there has been a notable trend of movement towards part-time employment from full-time employment (Mabey, Salaman, & Storey 1998). Worth noting is the fact that the number of women in employment in steadily increasing. For instance, women accounted for just over half all part-time employment in 1998 (Mabey, Salaman, & Storey 1998). Moreover, it was estimated that in the same year 45 per cent of women in United Kingdom were in part time employment as compared to 8 per cent of men. Additionally, the flexibility of the labour market in United Kingdom allows people to have more than one job. For example, nearly 1.3 million people had two or more jobs by 1998 (Mabey, Salaman, & Storey 1998) Although changes in the labour market in the United Kingdom have been towards a more open and non-discriminatory system, there has been criticism that the market employs a "voluntaristic" tradition (Mabey, Salaman, & Storey 1998). However, some economists view the labour market as a form of free market. In such a setting, there is freedom for employers to implement meaningful utilization of labour while avoiding impracticable and induced level of labour costs (Mabey, Salaman, & Storey 1998). Furthermore, the free labour market attracts inward investment in United Kingdom (Mabey, Salaman, & Storey 1998). In contradistinction, it is noteworthy that a very flexible labour market may compromise work relations or undermine worker output. As Mabey, Salaman, and Storey (1998) noted, employers in the free about market may seek low-cost strategies to access labour. Such a move would result in underinvestement in training, poor skills at work, low pay for the workers and fierce competition at the lower level of the labour market [Streeck 1992, cited in Mabey, Salaman, and Storey (1998)]. From the aforementioned perspectives, it is worth noting that the effects of transformation in the labour market in United Kingdom in the past decade are amenable to discussion. While some changes have brought plausible benefits, some have caused compromise in the workplace employee relations (Blyton & Turnbull 2004). As noted above, a flexible labour market encourages employer-independence in making decisions. Nevertheless, since the market is subject to competition, employers may use strategies such as pay adjustments to win employees. As such, employers may pay their employees based on performance (Blyton & Turnbull 2004). Effects of flexible labour market Although the free labour market allows employers freedom to employ without constraint, employers have to comply with the minimum wage directive that was introduced in 1997 (Howell 2005). Moreover, the flexibility in the labour market has caused a significant drop in the number of members joining trade unions. For example, while 49 over cent of the workforce in the United Kingdom were registered with labour unions, the figure dropped to 26.8 per cent in 2000 (Howell 2005). This may imply that employees enjoy better work relations currently than in 1980 hence the decline in

How Do Products of the Imagination Construct Sense of Place Essay

How Do Products of the Imagination Construct Sense of Place - Essay Example It is the words that an author pens that bring together the image of character in time and place and give rise to a stage upon which the words come to life in a reader’s mind. It is the contours and mixture of color in a range space and texture that creates in the viewer’s mind an interpretation of artist’s paintings; or the poet’s words that, while meaning little to one person, touch a place in the emotions of another such as to cause tears to flow from that person’s eyes. It is the expressed imagination of someone that causes another by way of his/her own imagination to move through time and space to a place that exists because of the creative machinations of the creator. In his book Life Place: Biorgeional Thought and Practice, Robert Thayer, Jr., writes, â€Å"To live in a place well certainly requires an imagination, humanity mires in mediocrity and stagnation; to imagine, to create, is to survive and thrive (Thayer, Robert Life Place ). Thaye r goes on to suggest that â€Å"True creativity has an other-worldliness to it (put page # only ).† Like the poet Andre’ Breton, who said, â€Å"Existence is elsewhere (Gaultier, Alyse 11),† Thayer, like Breton, is suggesting that the greatest level of creativity is the manifestation of that place where only the imagination takes us.

Fast food restauran Essay Example for Free

Fast food restauran Essay For each category I analyse I will show the male and female results in comparison then summarise what I interpret from the results below. Due to the fact that there are more females in Stotfold than there are males. The females preferences will have a larger bearing on any possible fast food restaurant to be developed. As there are unequal results from both genders I have converted my results to percentages before showing them on the graph. Visit Frequency Below is a bar chart comparing the visit frequency of male and female. I have shown the data on a bar chart because it is easier to compare. Male and female do not differ significantly as far as visit frequency is concerned. Most customers visit a fast food restaurant every two weeks, which, if there are enough customers, is sufficient to keep a fast food business afloat. Most Important Feature The bar chart below shows what both male and female consider to be the most important feature of a fast food restaurant. This just confirms what the general analysis stated: that if a business is to succeed its customers must have confidence in its hygiene. The bar chart below shows a comparison between male and female fast food type preferences. The females main preferences are already well catered for in Stotfold. Kebab shops are, however , hard to find in this area and are highly popular among males. If a Kebab restaurant opened in Stotfold it could target male customers, although I have noticed that it is not just younger males that enjoy kebabs as one might have expected. Cost The chart below shows what male and females expect to pay for a fast food meal for one. This chart shows that more men are prepared to pay more for their meal than women. I think this can be shown more clearly so here is another chart showing the same information but with different price categories. This shows that the majority of males expect to pay over i 4 whereas females expect to pay below. This shows the male market is more profitable providing production and retail costs are kept to a minimum, 4) Place Information about Stotfold Stotfold is a growing town. The development of new houses in the area means that by 2004 the population will have risen by nearly 25%. The population of Stotfold in 2000 was 6680. In 2004 it is estimated that it will rise to 8180. There are also plans to develop a leisure centre in Stotfold, which may attract even more people to the area. Stotfold is on the border between Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire; there are many fast food restaurants in Hertfordshire, including large franchises, which would pose a threat to small companies opening up in the area. In my research I have collected information from Bedfordshire but the well-established businesses in Hertfordshire should be taken into account when deciding to start a new company in the area. There is an area of land on the outskirts of Stotfold by the old doctors surgery. It has planning permission and there is a possibility of a Sports facility being put up there. It is on a main road so has good access and a cycle path leading past the area. It would be extremely expensive to develop this land but if a new Sports facility were to be opened there it may be possible to incorporate a new restaurant on the complex. Below is a map showing the location I referred to. The area is within the shaded rectangle.

Success Depends on Good Leadership

Success Depends on Good Leadership Introduction Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective of a firm. An organisations success depends on the good leadership in that organization. Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and the will power, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self study, education, training and experience. To inspire workers into higher levels of team work there are certain things to know and do. These do not come naturally, but are acquired through continual work and study. Good leaders are continually working and studying to improve their leadership skills. Leadership is a process where by an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership knowledge and skills. This is called process leadership. While leadership is learned, the skills and knowledge processed by the leader can be influence by his or her attributes such as beliefs, values, ethics, an character. Knowledge and skills contribute directly to the process of leadership, while the other attributes give the leader certain characterstics that make him or her unique. (http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadcon.html) Characterstics of a good leader Trust worthy A good leader has an exemplary character. It is of utmost importance that a leader is trustworthy to lead other. A leader needs to be trusted and be known to live their life with honestly and intergrity. A good leader walks the talk and in doing so earns the right to have responsibility for others. True authority is born from respect for the good character and trustworthiness of the person who leads . Enthusiasthic A good leader is enthusiastic about their work or cause and also about their role as leader. People will respond more openly to a person of passion and dedication. Leaders need to be ableto be a source of inspiration, and be a motivator towards the required action. Although the responsibilities and the roles of a leader may be different, the leader needs to be seen to be part of the team working towards the goal. Confident A good leader is confident. In order to lead and set direction a leader needs to appear confidentas a person and in the leadership role. Such a person inspires confidence in others and draws out the trust and best efforts of the team to complete the task well. A leader who conveys confidence towards the proposed objective inspires the best effort from team members. Tolerant Good leaders are tolerant of ambiguity and remain calm, composed and steadfast to the main purpose. Storms, emotions, and crises come and go and a good leader takes these as part of the journey and keeps a cool head. Main focus on goal A good leader, as well as keeping the main goal in focus, is able to think analytically. Not only does a good leader view a situation as a whole, but is able to break it down into sub parts for closer inspection. While keeping the goal in view, a good leader can break it down into manageable steps and make progress towards it. Positive A leader also needs to function in an orderly and purposeful manner in situations of uncertainty. People look to the leader during times of uncertainty and unfamiliarity and find reassurance and security when the leader portrays confidence and a positive demeanor. Good communicator A good leader easily explain to the others what he want to say and easily convey the ideas. He also easily understands the problems of his workers. Good communication makes a leadership more efficient and effective. These personal characteristics are foundational to good leadership. Some characteristics may be more naturally present in the personality of a leader. However, each of these characteristics can also be developed and strengthened. A good leader whether they naturally possess these qualities or not, will be diligent to consistently develop and strengthen them in their leadership role. (http://ezinearticles.com/?Seven-Personal-Characteristics-Of-A-Good-Leaderid=59305) Two good business leaders Vijay Mallya (Chairman of the United Breweries Group and Kingfisher Airlines) Talk of style, elegance and flamboyance He is a tycoon of indian business industry. He is very stylish and had a great impact on his collegeous. He also invest his money in games. Last year he invest money in Indian primier league of cricket. He invest on banglore team. He always remain in top stories in india. Vijay Mallya is the apt name. Even though Kingfisher Airlines might be incurring losses every quarter, Vijay Mallya has always been in the limelight for every other reason. His Kingfisher beer is omnipresent in India, and also after purchasing the Whyte and Mackay in 2007 for $1.2 billion, he gathered the chance to sell premium scotch to the worlds largest whiskey market. He is a good leader. Even though in losses he never gives up, he always move forward to gain profits. Ratan Tata (Chairman, Tata Group) a) He has always been soft-spoken and media-shy. b) The most admired business leader in India. Steel, telecom, autos, and mining interests of his group are diverse. More recognition was meted out to the group by the multibillion-dollar takeovers of steelmaker Corus and automakers Jaguar and Land Rover. New craze with the launch of the small car in India, Ratan Tata has made it really big in the Indian business environment. (http://business.mapsofindia.com/india-business/top-indian-business-leaders-2009.html) Part B 1. Poor communication by senior management The culture in our workplace, and the way we feel about working somewhere has a direct correlation to the performance levels that can be achieved. It is likely, then, that the performance in your business area is also under-achieving, which will add additional pressures to a management team already under stress. Any senior manager worth their salt should recognise that the leadership team are having a negative impact on performance and culture in your organisation, and that it needs to change. So it is the responsibility of the leader or manager to sort out the problems of the workers by communicating well with them. 2. Office politics In the organization sometimes the leaders use the politics amoung the workers to increase the profits or efficiency of the firm, which sometimes had adverse impact on the structure. The leaders praise the nearer worker to them than the actual one. on that fact that worker always pull others downwards. It decreases the effieciency of the works and firm march towards loses. 3. Lack of teamwork Team work has great influence on work place if there is not proper flow of information from top level to lower level it means there is lack of team support in an organization. As a result company production drop immediately and it means company have to improve it for workers satisfaction and in this way organization look forward for future profit. 4. The use of politically correct language Political correct language is a term used to describe language, ideas, policies, or behaviour seen as seeking to minimize offence to gender, racial, cultural, disabled, aged or other identity groups. Use of correct language can improve good communication between staff members and employers in this way we can say that companies can move forward without any hazard. 5. Nosy co-workers If a company unable to handle workers properly and dont  provide skills and material on time so there is problem related to product shape and size.workers dont show enthusiam in work this means an organisation unable to meet the reqirement of workers. References http://business.mapsofindia.com/india-business/top-indian-business-leaders-2009.html. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://business.mapsofindia.com/india-business/top-indian-business-leaders-2009.html http://ezinearticles.com/?Seven-Personal-Characteristics-Of-A-Good-Leaderid=59305. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Seven-Personal-Characteristics-Of-A-Good-Leaderid=59305 http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadcon.html. http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadcon.html.

Case Study on Social Identity Theory

Case Study on Social Identity Theory Zuneirah Omar Social Identity Theory is a social psychological study which includes self-conception in group memberships (Hogg, 1990). This comes from the concept of social identity which is the meaning that one derives from their social group as well as the fact that they are a part of that social group (Trepte, 2006). Henceforth, this essay on Social Identity theory focuses on the lives of two students at the University of Cape Town (UCT), namely Sisanda and Andrew. Their identities during their undergraduate years of study are described and compared throughout the essay, incorporating the social identity theory, by means of a description of the theory using three concepts to describe the events that point out their group memberships. Included in these concepts is the key assumption of the theory. In order to emphasise the use of this key assumption, the identity strategies of the theory are described as well as related to the lives of the two students. Finally, together with the identity strate gies are the criticisms of the strategies as well as the theory as a whole. Sisanda is a female from Kwazulu-Natal. She lived in a rural village with her grandmother, following this she moved to an informal settlement nearby to live with her parents. Sisanda did very well at high school and had many resources at her disposal to help her with her school work. Throughout her studies she has aimed to maintain her Zulu identity as opposed to adopting a western identity. Sisanda came to UCT in order to study and thereafter have the opportunity to return home and give back to her community, however, since she felt unwelcome by her community after leaving to study, she decided to stay in Cape Town and help improve communities here (Bangeni, 2005). Andrew grew up in East London and then moved to a â€Å"coloured† township in Cape Town. Andrew had a lot of motivation to do well in High school in order to change his life for the better. Andrew was a very good student, despite the lack of resources that his school offered. He wanted to finish his studies and thereafter give back to his community, however during an early stage in his studies, when he was away from home and at Residence at UCT he experienced a lot of rejection from his community. Finally, Andrew has a strong ambition to maintain his home identity (Bangeni, 2005). The events which occurred during Sisanda and Andrews time at university that have influenced or had an influence on their identities will be incorporated and elaborated further in this essay, by using the Social identity theory which will be described using three concepts. These include the individual positions, three social principles and a central assumption (De La Rey, 2003). The individual component discussed here is self-concept. This is when an individual comprises of both, a personal and a social identity (De La Rey, 2003). In this essay we will focus mostly on Sisanda and Andrews’s social identities in order to clearly identify their group memberships, however their individual identities will be touched on briefly. The three social principles are status hierarchy, legitimacy or illegitimacy of the status hierarchy and permeability of group boundaries and status security (De La Rey, 2003). They both came from backgrounds of a lower status in comparison to the individuals backgrounds they compare themselves to at UCT. We see this when they mention that the students at UCT have a lot of wealth and they spend a lot. They both chose to maintain their individual status identities by not giving in to spend money as easily as their colleagues do. In Andrews’s case this is evident from the beginning when he chose not to be a part of the peer group that wasn’t a part of his personal class and status identity, he chose not to be a part of the coloured group as he says they are middle class, English individuals and they tend to look down at less privileged individuals such as himself (Bangeni, 2005). Thus demonstrating how the status hierarchy influenced his identity. Correspondingly, both Sisanda and Andrew have strong associations with their identities in relation to the languages they spoke previously, i.e. before they left home and came to UCT. The importance of speaking in their own languages, i.e. Zulu in Sisanda’s case and Afrikaans in Andrews’s case, is emphasized. Although Sisanda maintains this throughout her studies, she only speaks English when she has to in order to avoid communication problems, and takes notes in Zulu, despite her proficiency in English. Andrew on the other hand feels that English is now a major part of his identity, in addition he is learning Xhosa and Zulu (Bangeni, 2005). Legitimacy or illegitimacy of the status hierarchy refers to whether or not the hierarchy system is deemed as fair, reasonable and just or not (Bangeni, 2005). According to Sisanda, she feels that the status hierarchy present at UCT is unjust as it puts a lot of undue pressure on herself as well as other students at the university (Bangeni, 2005). Finally, permeability of group boundaries and status security refers to the extent to which individuals are able to change their identities by moving across the social boundaries (De La Rey, 2003). In both the cases, Sisanda and Andrews, there was a lack of permeability of their group boundaries. This is seen when they both feel unwelcomed by their communities as a result of the change that they had made by moving from the community to the university. The key assumption in social identity theory is called the positive social identity. This states that individuals will always strive to achieve the best and most positive identity and self-concept for themselves. In order to determine what is considered to be the best self-concept an individual will make social comparisons to themselves and other groups. Both Sisanda and Andrew were motivated to do well at school and achieve good marks in order to improve their lives and thus create a positive self-concept of themselves. Furthermore, this key assumption results in the individual making use of various identity strategies in order to achieve a positive self-concept with a high status. In order achieve this positive evaluation of themselves, perceived cognitive alternatives to the group situation that they are currently a part of are required. In other words if the members of a group are not aware of the cognitive alternatives that exist then they will be unable to change their situation and achieve the positive identity they are searching for. This can occur both, on a group level or an individual level, when a cognitive alternative is not achieved. (Taylor, 1987). On an individual level, the strategies include social mobility and intragroup comparison. Social mobility is a social system that is flexible and thus permits free movement of the individual (Taylor, 1987). Thus this is when an individual leaves a group and joins another group which provides the individual with a more positive identity. Sisanda experiences social mobility when she comes to the conclusion that her community has rejected her and as a result she will remain in Cape Town and use her degree to empower communities in this town instead of going back home to her original social group, in addition she tries to recreate her home identity at the university where she is accepted and thus this will improve her self-concept and sense of belonging. Andrew on the other hand, was also rejected by his community but he did not want to move to another group. He always wanted to maintain his home identity and this made his transition even more difficult, as a result he still remained a p art of his group by participating n NGO Programmes in the community (Bangeni, 2005). However during Andrews’s studies he made use of the second strategy, which is intragroup comparison. This is when the individual compares himself or herself with other members of his or her own group (Taylor, 1987). This is seen with Andrew when he made comparisons to the other â€Å"coloured† individuals at the university who were of a higher class then Andrew and according to Andrew they looked down upon lower class individuals. This resulted in him avoiding this group, even though it formed part of the coloured group identity that he had belonged to (Bangeni, 2005). This however form part of the lesser postulation of the theory, which states that the intragroup comparison is less likely to result in an unfavourable or negative evaluation of the individual (Taylor, 1987). Furthermore, when Andrew joined a new peer group which was of a lower social status, we cannot assume that this is social mobility as the theory states that mobility requires movement from a low-status group to a higher status group (De La Rey, 2003). Thus a criticism of this theory is that even though Andrew experienced the exit from one group and entry into another group it was not social mobility, even though ultimately he had a positive identity, to summarise this criticism one could say that this theory only focuses on improving the group’s identity and not the individuals. This is captured by stating that the social identity theory does not does not include the more realistic idea of an individual mobility strategy (Taylor, 1987). Comparatively, the cognitive alternatives include absorption, direct challenge, creativity and redefinition of characteristics. Absorption, which according to some theorists is referred to as assimilation, refers to the idea of trying to become a part of the dominant group (Taylor, 1987). This can be achieved by trying to change you appearance, ways of living and ones behaviour in order to look or act like the members of the dominant group. In the case of Sisanda and Andrew they both share a similar change in which they tried to achieve this assimilation alternative. This is with regards to their language, they both tried very hard to maintain their language identity and started of doing this very well. However in order to be a part of the dominant group and be able to communicate and prosper at the university they needed to adopt new language strategies. Sisanda says she became tolerant towards other African languages and wants to learn Sotho and Afrikaans as these are the languages that are most prevalent amongst the dominant groups in Cape Town. Despite this she still tries to maintain her Zulu identity, she takes notes in class in Zulu, and this shows clearly how she only adopts the new languages in certain settings in order to be a part of the dominant group. Andrew on the other hand initially found it very difficult to communicate I English as he was very good in Afrikaans only, however as a result of the group that Andrew spent his time with he began to change his language. He started learning to speak Xhosa a form of slang dominant to the area and the group known as â€Å"Backstage language.† Andrew completely changed with regards to language, as he began thinking in English and no longer Afrikaans, thus he adopted a new language in order to be a part of the dominant group (Bangeni, 2005). Direct challenge refers to the opposition of the dominant group by challenging them (Taylor, 1987). Sisanda showed signs of this strategy when she defended her Zulu culture amongst other groups as a result of ethnic stereotypes. Sisanda realized that this strategy did not work well in the case as she was going to lose her status amongst the members of the dominant group and as a result she maintained her Zulu identity on her own, and developed an identity of learning the other languages and ways of the culture, by means of social mobility as described previously (Bangeni, 2005). Andrew did not adopt this strategy in his time at university. Creativity is when one develops new ways in which they compare their group to others (Taylor, 1987). Andrew used this strategy by spending a lot of his time with individuals with both linguistic and economic disadvantage, and thus comparing himself and his group to them and as a result it created a more positive self and group concept for Andrew, instead of making a comparison to a more dominant group of greater advantage which would not help improve his self and group concept (Bangeni, 2005). Sisanda, on the other hand did not adopt this strategy. Finally, a strategy that was not adopted by both Sisanda and Andrew during their time at the university is the redefinition of characteristics. This is when the group redefines characteristics of the group that were previously evaluated as negative characteristics, in order to evaluate them in a more positive light now (Taylor, 1987). As seen here not all strategies were used by both the students that were discussed. The reason for this is because there is a sum of strategies, but there is no concrete solution with regards to which strategy one may prefer or prioritise over another strategy. The adoption of the strategies also depends on the level of motivation by the individual and the group, as well as their motivation to adopt one strategy over another (Taylor, 1987). A further critique of this theory is with regards to the non-cognitive alternatives that were mentioned. If one cannot achieve social mobility, they will achieve intragroup comparisons. However the theory does not look at social mobility from a psychological perspective in that the individual mentally associates themselves with another group but does not physically leave the group (Taylor, 1987). Furthermore Social Identity Theory makes the assumption that everyone views the dominant group as one that would result in a positive identity, whereas this is not always the case (Hogg, 1990). This is seen throughout Sisandas story as she maintains her Zulu Identity even when it is not the dominant group. In conclusion, Sisanda and Andrew have many group identities including, their Zulu and Coloured culture, they are both students at UCT, the courses they have taken up, their social groups and cultural backgrounds amongst many others. The main identity that they have taken up is their language and culture identity and as time progresses their new identity as a student at UCT. They both come from less dominant groups in comparison to the groups they encounter at UCT and this results in the students adopting various identity strategies in order to create a more positive self and group concept and identity. By adopting these strategies they follow the key assumption and that is that they strive to create and maintain an identity that is of a more positive regard (Taylor, 1987). The strategies they adopted resulted in a change in their identity and as a result their group membership’s as well individual identities were changed and new identities were formed in most cases. Finally c riticisms of the theory were made, and from this we come to understand the central ideas of this theory by using examples which put it into perspective and context. 2500 Words References Bangeni, B., Kapp, R. (2005). Identities in transition: Shifting conceptions of home amongst black South African university students. African Studies Review, 48(3), 1 19. De La Rey, C. Duncan, N. (2003). A social psychological perspective. In N, Duncan. K, Ratele, Social psychology. Identities and relationships (pp. 45 66). UCT Press. Hogg, M. (1990). Social identity theory. In P. Burke, Contemporary social psychological theories (pp. 111-136). California: Stanford University Press. Taylor, D. Moghaddam, F. (1987). Social identity theory. In D, Taylor. F, Moghaddam, Theories of intergroup relations: international social psychological perspectives, second edition (pp. 59 84). Westport, CT: Greenwood. Trepte, S. (2006). Social identity theory. In J, Bryant. P, Vorderer, Psychology of entertainment (pp. 256-262). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Introducing Shakespeare :: essays research papers

Introducing Shakespeare 1b).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The concept of love in Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing is a complex idea as well as an impulsive act and can been seen among many of the characters. In particular, the relationships between the young lovers Claudio and Hero as well as the mature couple Benedick and Beatrice both demonstrate how uncomplicated it can be to fall in and out of love, the different ways that exist to fall in love, as well as what little substance in needed to base any decisions of love on.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The play begins with the citizens of Messina awaiting the return of the army of Don Pedro from war. As he returns he is accompanied by, among others, his close friends and fellow soldiers Count Claudio and Signior Benedick. Among the citizens present at the army’s arrival is the lovely Hero, the daughter of the Governor Leonato, along with her cousin Beatrice. Once the army arrives the young soldier Claudio realizes that he has fallen in love with Hero. This feeling of love engulfs Claudio and forces him into a state where all of his thoughts lead to Hero. When Claudio was at war all he was thinking about was war, and now all he could focus on was Hero. He is so overwhelmed with the intense emotion of love that he tells the Prince that he wishes to marry her. The arrival of the army also reunited Signior Benedick and Beatrice who illustrate that they have a very verbally abusive relationship. Upon their meeting the two of them call each other names and seem to have a light-hearted quarrel. Everyone around them laughs and enjoys their remarks but both Benedick and Beatrice mean more then what the others deem as jokes. Beatrice sees Benedick as a womanizing bachelor and Benedick sees Beatrice as a cold, distant woman. The meeting between Claudio and Hero has a very different outcome from the meeting of Benedick and Beatrice. Claudio and Hero quickly develop a common love for each other while Benedick and Beatrice seem to have a common dislike for each other. This rapid growth of love between Claudio and Hero demonstrates how unpredictable the idea of love in Shakespeare’s play is. The relationship between Benedick and Beatrice however, demonstrate the complexities of love as well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The play continues with a masked ball thrown in honor of the arrival of the soldiers. Introducing Shakespeare :: essays research papers Introducing Shakespeare 1b).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The concept of love in Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing is a complex idea as well as an impulsive act and can been seen among many of the characters. In particular, the relationships between the young lovers Claudio and Hero as well as the mature couple Benedick and Beatrice both demonstrate how uncomplicated it can be to fall in and out of love, the different ways that exist to fall in love, as well as what little substance in needed to base any decisions of love on.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The play begins with the citizens of Messina awaiting the return of the army of Don Pedro from war. As he returns he is accompanied by, among others, his close friends and fellow soldiers Count Claudio and Signior Benedick. Among the citizens present at the army’s arrival is the lovely Hero, the daughter of the Governor Leonato, along with her cousin Beatrice. Once the army arrives the young soldier Claudio realizes that he has fallen in love with Hero. This feeling of love engulfs Claudio and forces him into a state where all of his thoughts lead to Hero. When Claudio was at war all he was thinking about was war, and now all he could focus on was Hero. He is so overwhelmed with the intense emotion of love that he tells the Prince that he wishes to marry her. The arrival of the army also reunited Signior Benedick and Beatrice who illustrate that they have a very verbally abusive relationship. Upon their meeting the two of them call each other names and seem to have a light-hearted quarrel. Everyone around them laughs and enjoys their remarks but both Benedick and Beatrice mean more then what the others deem as jokes. Beatrice sees Benedick as a womanizing bachelor and Benedick sees Beatrice as a cold, distant woman. The meeting between Claudio and Hero has a very different outcome from the meeting of Benedick and Beatrice. Claudio and Hero quickly develop a common love for each other while Benedick and Beatrice seem to have a common dislike for each other. This rapid growth of love between Claudio and Hero demonstrates how unpredictable the idea of love in Shakespeare’s play is. The relationship between Benedick and Beatrice however, demonstrate the complexities of love as well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The play continues with a masked ball thrown in honor of the arrival of the soldiers.

Causes of the Great Depression Essay -- United States History Economic

Causes of the Great Depression Throughout the 1920’s, new industries and new methods of production led to prosperity in America. America was able to use its great supply of raw materials to produce steel, chemicals, glass, and machinery that became the foundation of an enormous boom in consumer goods (Samuelson, 2). Many US citizens invested on the stock market, speculating to make a quick profit. This great prosperity ended in October 1929. People began to fear that the boom was going to end, the stock market crashed, the economy collapsed and the United States entered a long depression. The Great Depression of the thirties remains the most important economic event in American history. It caused enormous hardship for tens of millions of people and the failure of a large fraction of the nation’s banks, businesses, and farms. The stock market crash in October 1929 is believed to be the immediate cause of the Great Depression, but there were many other factors and long-term causes that developed in the years prior to the depression. The 1920’s may have been prosperous for some Americans, but the growing prosperity was actually weakening the economy. Many US citizens were never participating in the boom from the start. There were some wealthy individuals, but 60% of people were living below the poverty line. The coal mining industry had expanded greatly, creating many jobs, but with the introduction of oil and gas, the production of coal was decreased along with the amount of jobs. The United Mine Workers Union’s membership fell from 500,000 in 1920 to 75,000 in 1928 (Temin, 33). The cotton industry experienced similar unemployment problems. In the agricultural industry, an increase in production was met with a decrea... ...n increased 50 %, but workers could not buy goods as fast as the industry produced them because their wages were low. Workers reduced their spending to hold down their debts, the amount of money in circulation decreased, and business became even worse. The Stock Market Crash was an immediate cause of the Great Depression, but there were many long-term causes that gradually weakened the economy. Bibliography Matthews, Layth. â€Å"What Caused the Great Depression of the 1930’s?† Internet. http://www.shambhala.org. 2002. Samuelson, Robert. J. â€Å"Great Depression.† The Concise Encyclopedia of economics. Internet. http://www.econlib.org. 2002. Tanner, Neal. â€Å"The Easy Life of the ‘20’s Contributed to Great Depression.† Overview: The Great Depression. Internet. http://www.marist.edu/summerscholars. 2002. Temin, Peter. Lessons from the Great Depression. 1989.

Spartan Political and Social System Essay example -- essays research p

Spartan Political and Social Systems Sparta was, above all, a military state, and emphasis on military fitness began at birth, imprinted through society and the political system. The education of the Spartan male children prove that the military and war was constantly a huge part of Spartan society, and the laws and systems that Sparta was governed by, only enforced the militaristic attitude into the society of Sparta. That the Spartans needed to be ready for war is proved by the discord between the Spartiate and the helots, who outnumbered and under ranked the Spartans. From birth Spartan children were expected to be physically strong and when male children were ten days old they were examined by a council of elders to see if the child had enough potential to be a warrior, or if it should be ‘exposed’. The children who were exposed were left to die at Apothetae on the slopes of Mt. Tygetus. The children who passed the examination were left in the care of their mothers until they reached the age of seven, at which point they left home to live in the barrack with other males, and were educated and trained in how to be a brave and strong warrior. While these children were still living at home they were mainly left in the care of a nurse, who taught them the first stage of their life-long education in the military. The nurses taught the children fight their fears as well as general superstition, toughening up the children so they would be able to better survive when they reach the age of seven and moved the barracks. Plutarch explains in source A how boys at the age of seven were put into the care of the state, and how they would grow up constantly training physically. When in the education system the boys learnt reading a... ...er’ in Sparta caused the Spartiates to be constantly prepared for a Helot uprise, as P. Cartledge explains in source F The helots were the Spartans slaves and were treated very poorly, being purposely set apart in image, given no rights, and beaten on several occasions. In fact each time new ephors were voted in, the helots would be rounded up and given an ‘annual beating’, so as the helots knew their place. However this treatment of the helots simply made the helots hate the Spartans, causing the Spartans to be even more prepared to an uprising, bringing the whole dilemma around in a circle. Spartans lived and breathed so that they could be ready for war. Their social and political structure shows this by their education of male Spartans, their laws and government procedures and also the necessity to be ready to protect themselves from a potential helot uprise.

Paper on the Costs and Benefits of Building Society

At the beginning of this century there were more than 2000 building societies, fiercely independent mutual organisations, formed in the spirit of Victorian self help. There are now just 71. Some of these that have disappeared were terminating societies with a fixed wind up date. The last â€Å"terminating† society was the Fist Salisbury which wound up in 1980. Other societies have been swallowed up in take-overs or converted into banks in the great 1997 demutualisation. This assignment will discuss this trend with particular reference to the potential costs and benefits in the short and long term. This assignment will examine the costs and benefits to the building societies as well as those to the members and staff. The Costs and Benefits to the Building Society Conversion to plc status is seen as having the major advantage that there would be freedom from the limitations imposed by the Building Societies Act 1986, 1997 the statutory framework for the Building Society industry. The restrictions the Act impose include the following: 1) 75% of all lending has to be secured against residential property This means that Building Societies are limited in their participation in the more risky, but more rewarding unsecured lending. At the moment, Societies can make unsecured personal loans up to a limit of  £15,000 per customer, whereas there is no ceiling for Banks. Building Societies with less than  £100m of assets are not permitted to make unsecured loans. 2) No more than 50% of funds may be raised on the wholesale markets This limit was previously 40% before the revised 1997 Building Societies Act. Building societies have eagerly taken the opportunity to raise money in the wholesale markets, which have frequently proved to be the cheapest source of wholesale funds (Wholesale funds are large deposits placed by companies and financial institutions, bearing an interest rate in line with the market rate rather than base rates). They have used these funds to even out any shortfall in the inflow of retail funds to meet the mortgage demand. Banks have no ceiling on raising wholesale funds, which are usually cheaper than retail funds. Building Societies may also find themselves at a disadvantage in access to wholesale funds at competitive rates. As only 50% of funds can be raised from the wholesale market only the very largest societies can maintain the necessary standing in the international capital markets which allows wholesale funds to be tapped on the finest terms. Equally, the capacity to cope with the volatility of the wholesale markets and the risks they pose, requires Treasury management teams on an increasing sophistication to which only the largest societies can aspire. 3) Before the 1997 Act, building societies could only offer temporary or occasional overdrafts to corporate customers. Now building societies can establish subsidiaries to lend to business customers, but have not yet become significant lenders to industry. This is in contrast to banks who are very much regarded as lenders to businesses. As a result of the Building Societies Act 1997, building societies are now also able to : a) make unsecured loans to incorporated businesses; b) to own a general insurance company which could write housing related policies (buildings, contents and mortgage payment protection insurance). Building Societies are limited in raising capital. Until 1991 building societies could only raise capital by means of retained profits. Now larger societies, to increase capital, can issue Permanent Interest Bearing Shares (PIBS). This is in contrast to plc†s who are free to raise capital in the market by issuing shares and bonds if they plan to expand. An example of this is Barclays 1987 rights issue to raise  £921m to finance â€Å"growth†. Building societies cannot in general engage in take-overs of, or mergers with other types of financial institutions in order to expand their breadth of operations, and retain their mutual status. Banks have this freedom and can finance mergers and acquisitions through the issue of new shares, whereas building societies can only finance acquisitions with cash. Efficiency is also an issue as a plc – profit making organisation is perceived as having greater efficiency than a mutual organisation. However ‘competition has proved a spur to efficiency at least as effective as the disciplinary effect of a public quotation† (PRIMA). As a result of the break up of the societies cartel arrangements for setting interest rates, the banks have made successful inroads into the mortgage and savings markets and hence competition is today very strong. There are many costs and disadvantages associated with building societies converting to banks including: The new plc will be regulated by the Bank of England, rather than the building societies commission. The plc will operate under the Banking Act 1987, compared to the Building Societies Act 1987, 1997. The plc may find it difficult and time consuming, at least initially, to deal with the new method of regulation. The Government†s planned new super regulatory body may also provided further legislation that has to be adhered to. 2) Need to pay out dividends and ability and pay competitive interest The plc will find itself under pressure to pay out growing dividends to shareholders. This reduces retained earnings, thereby reducing the plc†s ability to pay competitive interest rates. In the past building societies have been able to operate on a narrower margin than banks between their rates to the depositors and borrowers because: a) their low management cost (due to their less complicated specialist business); b) no requirements to pay dividends; c) low capital requirements due to the low risk nature of their assets; d) because the banks tended to subsidise their money transmission service by their deposit accounts, which lessens their ability to compete in the savings market. 3) The plc becomes open to possible take-over bids The change of status may have adverse effects on the institution†s image with customers. This may adversely affect its ability to compete with Building Societies. Building Societies are generally regarded as friendly institutions, concerned first and foremost with the customer. A comprehensive study of public perceptions of different financial institutions conducted in 1987 showed that building societies enjoy a positive rating of 85%, compared with only 51% for the high street banks (Personal Finance & The Future of the Financial High Street, Research Associates, March 1988). Building societies have traditionally been seen as a safe depository for the savings of working people. Building Societies are safe and a principal reason why is that mutuality has restricted them to safe, low risk activities. This safety and friendliness have strong customer appeals, which may be lost if conversion to plc status takes place. In general building societies have low levels of bad debt relative to banks. The lower levels of bad debt can be put down to the loaning restrictions set down by the Building Societies Act 1986, 1997 (e.g. 75% of loans must be secured against residential property). In 1997 a number of building societies decided to give up their mutual status in favour of plc status. These conversions and take-overs resulted in a number of windfall payments to society members. These windfalls were in the form of cash or free shares. The size of windfall varies from society to society, but investors due to receive windfalls from all the building societies that surrendered their mutual status during 1997 (Halifax, Northern Rock, Alliance & Leicester, Woolwich, Bristol & West) can expect shares worth an average total of about  £6,000 (IC vol. 120/1524 page 34). This is clearly a short term benefit to members but it is argued that as plc†s these former mutuals will in the long term not be able to offer such attractive interest rates for borrowers and savers. Christopher Rodrigues, Chief Executive of the Bradford & Bingley argues â€Å"The one off benefit of plc conversion is here today, gone tomorrow. The higher savings rates and lower loan rates of mutuality are for life not just for flotation day†. Mr Rodrigues points out mutuals don†t have to consider the demands of shareholders – particularly for high dividends or share price growth so profits can go to members – via better interest rates on savings accounts for example. Which?, the respected ‘Consumers† Association magazine has also criticised these conversions and claims the new banks will be forced to squeeze customers for maximum profitability. Which? Argues that mutuals offer better interest rates for savers and borrowers. This case of mutuals offering better rates is hard to prove in practice as there are so many financial intermediaries, products, min balances and interest rates available. For example, the Which? Report only examined two products over a narrow period of time. Most of their mortgage research is based only on the 12 months to March 1997, a period when the converting societies knew they could get away with charging windfall seeking customers more than their rivals. Over the longer term Money Facts, a savings rate specialist, claims mutuals record in savings rate best buy tables is poor. Each year Money Facts publishes details of how much money you would have if you had invested with each of the 90 or so Tessa providers 5 years previously. Just one of the five largest mutual building societies made it into the top 25 Tessa providers. The same was true last year. A quick look at the mortgage market tells a similar story. Research conducted by myself paints a similar picture. Investors Chronicle, a weekly investment magazine published by the Financial Times, carries a weekly updated table of highest deposit rates (Appendix 1). As at 29 January 1998 out of 36 financial intermediaries listed on this table offering the best deals on various products (e.g. Tessa, Instant Access up to  £2500) only 13 of them are mutual. In recent months, there has been a rush of new entrants to the banking arena that offer better deals than the mutuals and established high street banks. Insurer, Legal & General (60 Day Notice Minimum  £2500 7.65%) and supermarket, Safeway (Instant Access Minimum  £1000 7.3%) (Appendix 1), for example, both offer excellent interest rates on savings accounts. Equally, Scottish Widows† mortgage products are very cheap. Even if believed that mutuals offer better savings and mortgage rates it is a long wait for building societies to deliver the same return as there converting counterparts. One case that illustrates this point is a saver that had  £5,000 in an instant access account run by Nationwide – whose members rejected conversion this summer – would earn more money than he would at the Woolwich (see Appendix 2). However even if you were a non taxpayer, it would take more than 50 years to make  £1500 (Woolwich windfall approx.  £2000) extra in interest payments. The lure of the mutual building societies is not so compelling as it is often presented. Some building societies have recognised that they need some sort of scheme with which they can compete with the attractions of windfall bonuses. The Nationwide, Bradford & Bingley and Yorkshire have all announced cash back schemes where members will get a larger slice of the profits in the form of better interest rates. The Britannia has actually paid cash bonuses worth  £35m to members. However the average payout to members was  £35. Another aspect of consideration is the treatment the customer receives. Mutuals almost always beat banks in surveys on customer friendliness. Building societies staff are perceived by customers, according to market research, as more friendly, more pleasant and more interested in their jobs than those of banks and other financial institutions. (PRIMA). Many building societies have branches in estate agents in small communities. These branches are not usually prolifically profitable, but provide a valid service to the community. As plc†s are profit making organisations there is a trend that community branches are closed after conversion. The Abbey National, for example, closed 1000 community branches after conversion and all 200 of National & Provincial†s when it took it over. This is a great cost to those who live in these communities. Many are old people who are now faced with travelling long distances to get their money. Plc pay is generally higher than mutual pay for the senior managers of a building society. Peter Birch, Abbey National†s, Chief Executive, pay has increased from  £173,000 pa in 1987 to  £450,000 pa in 1996 and he now owns shares worth  £1.8m. This is in contrast to the Chief Executive of Halifax who†s pay did not increase by anywhere as much and was unable to receive share options. There is a clear benefit to the senior mangers of a converted building society, but in the long run they are also more open to being removed by discontented shareholders or a take-over. Share options are believed to produce more motivated and committed staff. In conclusion there are potentially more benefits to the Building Society than costs. The major benefit being the escaping from the limitations imposed by the BSA. The Building Societies Act 1986, 1997 excluded building societies from potentially more profitable, if riskier business. The regulatory constraints on a plc are less onerous than those on a mutual basis therefore although banks are subject to continuous Bank of England supervision, the basic limitations are the scope of company articles of association whereas building societies must comply with highly specific requirements of the Building Societies Act 1986, 1997 on such matters as the permitted proportions of wholesale funding, unsecured lending and advances by class of asset. In general, members also have potentially more benefits than costs. In the short-term members of converting societies have the benefit of windfall payments. In the long run it is claimed that members will lose out in less competitive interest rates, however this is very hard to prove. Even if it can be proved, the savings and mortgage rates offered by the mutuals will only be marginally better than those offered by the non-mutuals. It will take years to earn the equivalent of a windfall bonus from a mutual in the form of better interest. Some people urge others to think about the next generation and that one day there will be no mutuals left, but at present most of the best rates are offered by the new entrants to the banking arena (e.g. Safeway). Any member who retained their membership of a converted society through retaining their share allocation, at present would be benefiting even more. The reason for this is that the share prices are higher today than when the societies floated. Secondly as this is being written the Woolwich as part of it†s maiden full year results announced a â€Å"fresh  £100m windfall for Woolwich investors. A 6.5p special dividend added to the total year dividend of 9.5p will put  £105 in the pockets of hundreds of thousands of former Woolwich members who received the average windfall package of 657 shares. The Woolwich will also seek authority to return a further 100m to 200m of excess capital to share holders later this year in share buy backs. There is a clear cost to those members who relied on a community branch, however have these usually retired people examined the alternative technology available (e.g. telephone banking, cheques, debit cards etc.). Staff (particularly senior management) will benefit as a plc is able to offer share options which are believed to produce more motivated and committed staff. Senior management will also usually have greater increases in pay. These people are not ‘FAT CATS† they do a complex job and are paid the going market rate. In the long run senior managers of a plc are easier to remove from the company if their performance is poor. All in all the benefits of conversion outweigh the costs. This is true for all the interested parties, i.e. the building society, the members and the staff.