Assess and comment on presentations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Assess and comment on presentations - Essay Example The presentation fails to define natural language and conversational interface, which are two key terms that should not be left undefined because we, the audience, need to understand the presenter’s scope of definition. Other limiting sections of the presentation are the First Street Investments example that does not fully capture the concept of natural language and conversational interfaces, and the use of only two references by the author. The researcher should have used at least six references to add depth to his arguments. 2/5 – use of a good example and good definition of a key term. The lack of a definition for natural language and conversational interface, limits our ability to fully evaluate the author’s understanding of these key terms. Limited use of references. The first item we notice is a wrong presentation title. The title is not appropriate because a communication interface need not necessarily be a conversation interface. Graphical interfaces are also communication interfaces and from the presentation the author restricts himself to conversation interfaces. Another concern is that the presentation is unnecessarily lengthy probably because of redundancy for example conversation interface is defined in slide 3 and 12, and the slides look clumsy from too much wording. Nevertheless, one of the biggest strengths of the presentation is the definition of key terms - natural language, conversation interface and natural language – and the presenters discipline in restricting his/her conversation within the given boundaries. Based on the author’s definition of both natural language and conversation interface the example provided about a webpage is appropriate. However, we notice that half of the resources used for reference are pr e year 2000. The presenter should seek more current references to work with. The presentation structure and skill utilized here

Issues in American Electoral System

Issues in American Electoral System John Palenschat   WORST CASE SCENARIO RESEARCH AND REFLECTION PAPER Like many other Americans, the election of Donald Trump was one of the worst things I could imagine happening. Even now, I am puzzled as to why Donald Trump was elected because a majority of voters view him unfavorably (Pew, 2017). So just how did he get elected? The point of a democratic election is to represent the will of voters in choosing an executive. With so many dissatisfied with the results of the election, one must wonder if our current electoral system is fulfilling its stated purpose. Might there be something wrong with the way elections are held now? [G1][G2] I did some research and have come to several conclusions: namely, that our current system of First Past the Post consistently leads to elections for candidates that are generally unfavored by the majority of the population (Pew, 2016). I believe that the United States should, as an incremental reform, generally adopt ranked choice voting: in order to reduce vote splitting, voter disenfranchisement, and to reduce the negativity of campaigning. Right now, most elections in the United States utilize First Past the Post voting, which is a system of elections in which an individual voter has only one vote and is allowed to vote for only one candidate (Aceproject, 2017). This system has a big flaw. People may vote for a candidate that they may not necessarily prefer in order that they do not split the vote in favor of an opponent. In the 2000 Presidential election, Republican George W. Bush beat Democrat Al Gore by less than 600 votes in the decisive Florida election. Green Party candidate Ralph Nader received over 100,00 votes in Florida. [G3]While he may not have spoiled the election, surveys indicate that people who voted for Nader probably would have voted for Gore had they known how tight the race would be (Jones, 2004). This event has had serious consequences for the American people. For example, a Gore administration might not have invaded Iraq in 2003, which destabilized the region and cost US taxpayers over $2 Trillion dollars (Trotta, 2013). Modern voters are cognizant of the results of that election and have adjusted their votes accordingly. As a result, voters now do not necessarily vote for their first choice. There has to be a better way. As I looked for an alternative voting method to First Past the Post, I discovered a system called Ranked Choice voting (RCV). RCV is a system of elections in which electors rank the candidates in the order of their choice, by marking a 1 for their favorite, 2 for their second choice, 3 for their third choice and so on (FairVote Instant Runoff). Although there are other ways (perhaps even better!) of doing RCV, for the purposes of this paper, I will be specifically discussing the form known as Instant-Runoff voting as it appears to be the most feasible to implement in our current political situation. [G4][G5] In this system, if no candidate has a clear majority of first votes, the trailing candidate may be dropped and the first votes for the dropped candidate are eliminated. Then, the second choices of the voters who voted first for the dropped candidate are distributed to the remaining candidates. This process is repeated until a candidate has a clear majority of the vote.[G6] The main advantage of Ranked Choice Voting is that the eventual candidate chosen better represents the consensus of voters. As candidates are unlikely to earn the majority of votes in the first round of counting, candidates may moderate their rhetoric in an attempt to earn second place votes (Aceproject, 2017); The candidates may tamp down on their own campaigns negative ads in order to not alienate potential voters, and they would want to appeal to the greatest possible base. Since voting for a third party candidate in this system is less risky, a wider variety of interests would likely be represented. As an example, in the recent election, a person could safely cast their first vote for Jill Stein and their second for Sanders and so on without spoiling their vote and splitting the ticket for a more popular candidate that they might agree less with, such as Clinton. As voters would not be forced to vote for the lesser of two evils, one might expect to see a proliferation of more diverse third parties that better represent [G7]the constituents desires. I believe that if Ranked Choice Voting is adopted broadly across the United States, voters will feel more satisfied with the results of the election[8] At first, I though that RCV was just an academic exercise, thought up by some Poli-Sci grad student working on their thesis[G9], but I was surprised to learn that Ranked Choice Voting has already been put to effective use worldwide and has proven to be a reliable system for several decades now[10]. For example, it is used in such diverse races as parliamentary elections in Australia (Paul, Owen, 2013), presidential elections in Ireland (Citizens Information, 2016), and in municipal elections in Minneapolis and Saint Paul (City of Minneapolis). [G11] Recently, the State of Maine voted to adopt an Instant Runoff system for congressional, senatorial, and gubernatorial elections (Grabar, 2016). According to a study funded by Fairvote, an electoral reform advocacy group, citizens in cities that have adopted RCV report that campaigns are less negative, that the system is easily understandable, and that they believe that it should be adopted more widely (Tolbert, et al). As people realize that the current form of voting isnt the only choice available, I believe that voters will increasingly demand RCV from election committees.[G12] However, there are several legitimate issues with Ranked Choice Voting that need to be addressed; Jason McDaniels of San Francisco State University believes that increasing the complexity of voting is much more cognitively demanding than merely choosing a preference For some, this may seem like a small change, but for others, it could make the already daunting task of being an informed voter even more challenging. Decades of research show us that when voting is made more complex, it tends to lead to lower participation and more unequal outcomes. (McDaniels, 2016). However, studies taking place in Californian cities that have adopted RCV paint a different picture. Nearly 90% of those polled reported that they had an easy time understanding how their ballots worked (Tolbert, et al). Perhaps, pre-election day, a city or state could wage a concentrated, multimedia campaign to educate voters on the new system. A multifaceted approach utilizing TV news spots, radio jingles, and mailed remi nder cards could be particularly effective. Another possible issue with RCV is that confused voters may simply list their preference by order in which the candidates appear on the ballot, as has been the case in Australia. This problem could perhaps be solved by holding a random drawing each election to determine in which order the candidates are listed on the ballot (AEC, 2016). In conclusion, I believe that seriously examining the institutions of our society and critically deconstructing their use and origin will help to build a more perfect union. It is important to recognize that structural systems have a large impact on our daily life and to realize that they are not unchangeable. Due to the effects of the recent election, I am very cognizant of how our electoral system alienates the very people that it was created to represent. Rather than giving into resignation, I have researched the issue and have come up with at least a very general course of action that could be taken to avoid another divisive election. I hope that I have interested you in the topic of electoral reform and encourage you to research the topic yourself and come to your own conclusions.[13] An informed and active citizenship is the best guarantee for the continuation of the republican ideal. Work Cited FairVote (No publication date). Ranked Choice Voting / Instant Runoff. FairVote. http://www.fairvote.org/rcv#rcvbenefits. Accessed 19 February. 2017 Minneapolis Elections and Voter services (No publication date). Frequently Asked Questions about Ranked-Choice Voting. The city of Minneapolis.[G14] http://vote.minneapolismn.gov/rcv/what-is-rcv. Accessed 19 February. 2017 [G15] Paul, Owen (2013). How does Australias voting system work?. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/14/how-does-australia-s-voting-system-work. Accessed 19 February 2017 McDaniels, Jason. (2016). What Ive found researching ranked-choice voting: It makes voting harder, lowers participation. Bangor Daily News. http://bangordailynews.com/2016/08/20/opinion/contributors/what-ive-found-researching-ranked-choice-voting-it-makes-voting-harder-lowers-participation/. Accessed 19 February. 2017 Aceproject. (No publication date) Advantages and disadvantages of first past the post. ACE Electoral Knowledge Network. http://aceproject.org/ace-en/topics/es/esd/esd01/esd01a/esd01a01. Accessed 20 February. 2017 Pew Research Center. (2017). Early public attitudes about Donald Trump. People-Press.org. http://www.people-press.org/2017/02/16/1-early-public-attitudes-about-donald-trump/ Accessed 22 February 2017. Pew Research Center. (2016). Voters evaluation of the campaigns. People-Press.org. http://www.people-press.org/2016/11/21/voters-evaluations-of-the-campaign/ Accessed 22 February 2017. Citizens information. (2016). Proportional Representation. The [G16]Republic of Ireland. http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/elections_and_referenda/voting/proportional_representation.html. Accessed 22 February 2017. Grabar, Henry. (2016). Maine Just Voted for a Better Way to Vote. Slate.com. http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2016/11/maine_just_passed_ranked_choice_voting_bravo.html. Accessed 22 February 2017. Tolbert, Caroline, et al. (No publication date). Ranked Choice Voting in Practice. Fairvote https://fairvote.app.box.com/v/APSA-Civility-Brief-2015. Accessed 22 February 2017 Trotta, Daniel. (2013). Iraq War cost US more than $2 trillion: study. Reuters.com http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-war-anniversary-idUSBRE92D0PG20130314. Accessed 22 February 2017. AEC. (2016). Positions on the ballot paper, draw for the Senate and draw for the House of Representatives. Australian Elections Commission[G17]. http://www.aec.gov.au/Voting/ballot-draw.htm. Accessed 23 February 2017. Jones, Jeffrey. (2004). The Nader Factor. Gallup.com. http://www.gallup.com/poll/10798/nader-factor.aspx. Accessed 22 February 2017 [G1]Deleted:, [G2]Deleted:u [G3]Inserted: , [G4]Deleted:u [G5]Deleted:. [G6]Inserted: s [G7]Inserted: , [8]This is a strong point in favor. Think of all the recent turmoil after the election. If everyone was content with the outcome of the election (even if they didnt get their first pick), that would be a great motivation to change the voting system. You could probably expound more on this point, or why you believe it to be true. [G9]Inserted: , [10]This is another strong point. The best predictor for success is past success. Nice! [G11]Deleted:, [G12]Inserted: n [13]Your two most important paragraphs are the first, and the last. In the first, you tell your audience what youre going to say, and in the last, you tell your audience what youve said. The last sentence will likely stay with your reader. After you recap your essay in the last paragraph, leave them with a final deep thought or conclusive statement that sums up your argument and/or point. Or maybe something theatrically doomsday-ish. Perhaps, The election of Trump is a direct consequence of our current voting system; If we dont take a good, hard look at the way we currently push people into power, the consequences could get even worst. A bit much perhaps, but its your final punch to convince the reader that this is something they need to act on. [G14]Inserted: The c [G15]Deleted:C [G16]Inserted: The [G17]Inserted: s

Construction: Depletion of Copper, Tin, & Zinc :: Geology

Construction: Depletion of Copper, Tin, & Zinc Building Construction procedures involve the erection of various types of structures. The major trend in present-day construction continues away from handcrafting at the building site and toward on-site assembly of even larger, more integrated subassemblies manufactured away from the site. Construction in the United States is the product of a diverse group of subindistries, with many individuals and organizations involved in the construction of a single structure, from the manufacture of necessary components to final assembly. The major elements of a building are as follows: (1) the foundation, which supports the building and provides stability; (2) the structure, which supports all the imposed loads and transmits them to the foundation; (3) the exterior walls, which may or may not be part of the primary supporting structure; (4) the interior partitions, which also may or may not be part of the primary structure; (5) the environmental- control systems, including the heating, vent ilating, air-conditioning, lighting, and acoustical systems; (6) the vertical transportation systems, including elevators, escalators, and stairways; (7) communications, which may include such subsystems as intercommunications, public address , and closed-circuit television, as well as the more usual telephone wiring systems; and (8) the power, water supply, and waste disposal systems. What is Copper? Copper, symbol Cu, a brownish-red metallic element is one of the most widely used metals. Copper was know to prehistoric people and was probably the first metal from which useful articles were made. Copper objects have been found among the remains of many ancient civilizations, including those of Egypt, Asia Minor, China, southeastern Europe, Cyprus ( from which the word copper is derived), and Crete. Because of its many desirable properties, such as its conductivity of electricity and heat, its resistance to corrosion, its malleability and ductility, and its beauty, copper has long been used in a wide variety of applications. The principle uses are electrical, because of copper's extremely high conductivity, which is second only to that of silver. It can be used in outdoor power lines and cables, as well as in house wiring, lamp cords, and electrical machinery such as generators, motors, controllers, signaling devices, electromagnets, and communications equipment. Pure copper is soft but can be hardened somewhat by being worked. Alloys of copper, which are far harder and stronger than the pure metal, have higher resistance and so cannot be used for electrical purposes.

Communication and Society

Can ideas from the past be useful in our modern day problems? The answer is yes, because people do not want to repeat the mistakes their ancestors made in the past. But some of the mistakes may be repeated due to it being inevitable. After World War II, the press was free to criticize whomever they want, and it appeared to the world that our press was irresponsible. And when Marcos became the president, he did not want the Media to overpower him, He was the president and he thought that having been seated in the top most position he should have absolute power, he couldn’t have the media scrutinizing him for every move he makes. Our grandparents and parents use to say that Marcos reign was the prime era of the Philippines because of the good deeds he has done for the country, but little did they know that his good image is due to the fact that Marcos has a leash on the mass media to prevent news of his somewhat malicious intentions on killing journalist who publish bad news about him. Media is a politician’s biggest opponent. The use of Media might have supported the government/politicians on campaigns but when fooled or did not kept their promise, The media has the power to ruin you in an indirect manner. When a government is hiding something, it will not last long for it to come out. As technology advances, being in a progressing country, truth be told, we always get left behind when it comes to new things. We have learned to make movies from the Western World, but in the present day, why couldn’t we make movies as good as them? Why can we only make films with so little special effects? Is it because we still lack the technology to do so? The problem is with us, Filipinos already made some animation films, but due to not having met the standards of American animations, we tend to ignore it. If we have supported our own, animation might have progressed in the world of Filipino film. Why is the trend in movies nowadays having an extramarital affair with another woman? Because it reflects the society, it shows the realism about the lives of ordinary citizen in a more glamorous and sophisticated manner, and we Filipinos love that, since many of us have lives that are routine and unexciting, we spice things up a bit by imagining life through celebrities, since they have the money, the status and influence we wish we had. Why don’t we Filipinos get tired of watching the same old stereotyped characters in melodramas? Why don’t we try themes that are based on sex, crime and drugs on television shows? The protagonist always win and the antagonist is always the loser. Why can’t the antagonist win in the end, instead of dying or be imprisoned? Since most of us are all Catholics, The Filipinos are not ready to take on new themes that would contradict the belief of the Church, that evil will finally defeat the good. That is the very reason why we are trapped in a never-ending cycle of protagonist vs. ntagonist themes. We sometimes think if the news that had been reported on the television or the newspaper is really news worthy? Much likely the â€Å"Amalayer† issue, should it have stayed on youtube instead? The problem with people today is the lack of common sense. An issue concerning the â€Å"Amalayer† situation, wherein a student confronted a lady guard who was working i n a train station and that the guard was accusing her of lying. The woman was identified as a student of a known school in Manila. This was videotaped by a passenger and was uploaded in the internet, this issue became a trend in Social Networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Common sense would tell most of us that causing a commotion in public would easily destroy not only our reputation, but have lessen our dignity as well. Basically the role of the mass media is to inform the people and comment about the issues regarding the society, but this issue doesn’t concern us at all, it is just a dispute between a student and an employee. Will we benefit something from watching this? It was basically posted in the internet so that other people could criticize and pass judgement on the girl to how she was treating the lady guard. In our modern society, the Philippine Media clearly reflects the society, since us Filipinos are easily influenced, an example is the Korean wave in 2009, bright and colourful outfits, hairstyles that I couldn’t even describe, eating Kimchi and most of us even studied the Korean language. The television was bombarded with Korean dramas. It is not only the Korean wave but the whole purpose of the media is to influence the society, we tend to imitate what we see in television. People go to a plastic surgeon, so they can look like their favourite celebrity, some would even go to the extent of having two of their ribs remove just to have a waistline they see on supermodels walking down the catwalk. These are the circumstances that will test a person’s ethical behaviour, from what they perceive on national television, if what they will acquire is good or bad, moral or immoral, appropriate or inappropriate. Ethics not only promotes a better individual but a better society.

Treasury Report

{TOPIC} AN ASSESSMENT OF TREASURY MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS AND REMEDIES IN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS BASED ON ITS REVENUE. BY: NAME: ONIFADE AYOMIDE OLUWATOBA MATRIC NO: 09/SMS02/015 BEING A RESEARCH PROJECT REPORT THAT IS TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING FACULTY OF AFE BABALOLA UNIVERSITY ADO-EKITI, EKITI STATE, NIGERIA. IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF BARCHELOR OF SCIENCE (B. SC) HONS IN ACCOUNTING. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE 1. 1Background of the study CHAPTER TWO 2. 0Literature Review CHAPTER THREE 3. 0Research MethodologyCHAPTER FOUR 4. 0Data Presentation and analysis CHAPTER FIVE 5. 0Summary 5. 1Conclusion. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1. 0 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Local government in any nation like Nigeria is an entity through which government and its policies are carried to the grass root. The government body of such an entity is selected or otherwise locally selected. It constitutes an integral party of a country overall political structure. The cr eation of local government is made by the law of the state government with intention of bringing government to the people.It is clearly understand that even if the machinery of the state government stops franchising law and order will still prevail, if local council in Nigeria continues to exist. According to Okoli (1998) local government exist to fell the gasp which the national government is to remote to fell, it bring the national government closer to the people and make its impact feet in all the nooks and cronies of the society. By implication the national government through thus medium caters for the grassroots. Local government plays vital roles in the development of the country.It can also be maintained that should local government machinery ground to a half, there is bound to be chosen and confusion. They are the overall of authority and it is through them that the provision of all facilities and services aimed at giving the people higher standard of living and maintenance of law and order can be made. Accordingly attempts have been made at different stages of the country political life to modify the local administrative system and to make them perform their role and function.But in spite of these efforts, the local government authorities continue to exhibit evidences of poor performance. Thus had led to the federal government affairs and eventual entrenchment of the system in the country’s constitution. According to Gbenga (2001) local government can be defined as the process through which government and its policies are carried to the grassroots, and stressed that during the early stage of local government in Nigeria (Gowon) which lasted from 1967-1975 the different state operated different system of local government.In the Northern state, the emirs retained some of their powers and influence because the counselors appointed by the military Governors where traditionally and spiritually expected to defer to the authority of the emirs. The East ern state and in the Midwest states abandoned the councilor system adopted the French system of decantation. In the west state Governor who had initially posted sole administration of local government areas where forced by the tax revolts of the late 1960s to reintroduce local government participation.Mustapha (2003)local government also become conduct pipe for cooting of national treasury for instance, elite cline of local government Chairman called the â€Å"Association of local government of Nigeria (ALGON) reportedly mandate the maximum military leader to deduct local government funds for the purchase of two Toyota land-cruiser jeeps for all LGA chairman, while the other belong to the police to facilitate effective policy and combat of armed robbery. Harriman (2006) local government is not creatures of state government, but one of the tiers of government of this country.Every effort should be made to allow local government councils to operate with prestige and not as beggar. Th erefore, the provision of funds and its disbursement in local government to perform its stated roles. So, importance of sound and effective management of the treasuring of a local government authority cannot be over stressed. Without effective treasuring management, the policies adopted by alocal authority in a great variety of field may not be successfully implemented comprehensive arrangement are therefore in force in all states for exercise of internal and external control over the treasuring of local government authority.But very little and in some cases, virtually no regard has been paid to the need for effective, progressive management of treasuring of local government authority. The management of treasury in the local government should be taken as a tool for controlling the activities of local authority in the country. Without proper and effective management of fund of a local government, the overall affair of the local government will be properly managed, as there will be no constant payment of staff salary, maintenance of law and order, provision of infrastructural facilities and execration of capital project.The treasuring management is a type of control exercise by the management within an organization. It is very important where the size of the organization is high and where the government of a state found it very difficult to have direct contact with the routine operation of the organization. 1. 1STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Large scale misappropriation of fund in public offices has now becomes a common practices in the society. And the local government is not exempted.Thus had led to performance in terms of services rendered to the people in spite of this modification there still exist a poor performance which is evidence in the case of the local government. This ineffectively can be traced to some factors of which poor treasuring management is one. So in this study, we will consider what constitute on effective treasury management and also how ineff iciency in the treasury can be avoided. 1. 2OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY This study was undertaken to provide: a)an attempt to closely look at how assessment is the treasury management, roblem and remedies in local government council in relation to the performance of roles and functions of their areas of authority. b)The length of area to which the treasury management process can contribute to the success or otherwise of a local affairs. c)What roles needs to be played by both the top level and lower level management for treasury management process to succeed in local government authority. d)The federal and state government involvement towards the attachment of defectives treasury management in a local government authority. )An overview of treasury management operation in local authorities f)An analysis of best practice and g)A basis for local governments to examine their own procedures to evaluate their performances so that improvements can be introduced where necessary. In view of the importance of treasury management in a local government is enumerated above, it is necessary also to look up into the treasury management procedure and practice employed by modern local government authority in order to accomplish their goals.Accordingly, this study will make an appraisal of the treasury management policy and practices employed by Ado local government concerned with a view of determining: A. To what extent has the proper treasury management helped the local government in performing the specific function of the local government? B. What procedure and techniques are employ by the local government in monitoring the effective treasury management? C. What principles difficulties are been faced by both management and lower level staff in treasury management planning and implementing?D. What condition is necessary in a board government to ensure effective treasury management? E. What (if any) are the probable causes of deviation in the planned and actual operation of treasu ry management and how they are redressed? F. What roles are being played by the treasurer of a local government in treasury management? 1. 3SCOPE OF THE STUDY The study focuses on treasury management system as a means of promoting proper accountability within an organization with a particular reference to Ado local government.This study will perform test and review the internal control system and the internal check that already exist in the organization. There will be careful study of the operation of the following division. ?Finance/Treasury Division ?Audit Division ?Budget and Planning Division ?Chairman / Sole Administrator 1. 4SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The outcome of this research work will be useful to the organization under reference because if the recommendation were adopted loopholes and other weakness in the existing internal control system would be exposed.This will urge the management to strengthen or if necessary build a new comprehensive treasury management which would promote proper accountability within an organization. The research work will also serve as a valuable document for students, business executives, middle management staff and other people who wish to consolidate their knowledge on treasury management. The result will also be essential to all government officers who are presently witnessing large scale of misapplication of fund and poor accountability. 1. 5DISTINGUISH BETWEEN HYPOTHESIS RESEARCH QUESTION The following are working hypothesis, which would be tested.Null and alternative hypothesis which are usually denoted by Ho and Hi, Ho: a)That well qualified personnel are employed as accounting staff and should be well – motivated in term of salaries and other fringe benefit. b)That proper internal control of the treasury management would improves staff warmth, skill and knowledge. c)That an effective treasury management is capable of executing materials frauds and error and also promotes proper accountability in an organizati on. d)That effective treasury management will enable the local government affairs its objective and standard. )The effective treasury management promotes effectives management funds. f)That management ensures reliability accounting information and document. In this study, the following questions were asked with a view of finding solution to the operation of the treasury management process. a)How important is treasury as a unit of operation in the performance of local government function and roles. b)What roles must treasurer play in the attachment of standard treasury management in the local government? c)What are the contribution of the state and the federal government toward attachment of treasury management standard in all the local government? )What are the causes of proper treasury management failure? e)What are the causes of derivation in planned and actual operation. 1. 6DEFINITION OF TERMS 1. Treasurer: he is the head of the treasury department, he manages and control the fi nance of the local authority. He keeps record of all money received or spent. 2. Auditor: he sees to the check and balance of all financial transaction of the local government. 3. Vote Book: it is use in recording all expenditure and liabilities incurred by the vote controller entrusted with the management of fund of the department. . Petty Cash Book: this is an imprest book, which is kept to meet expenditure of items whose payment voucher cannot be presented immediately. 5. Capital pay office responsible for physical cash and cheque payment of wages and salaries, pension and contract. 6. Receiving Cashier: responsible of collection of cash from outsiders who make payment on fines, licenses etc and also revenue granted by revenue collector. 7. Financial Account Unit: involved in preparation of final account as well as other financial statement of local government.

Colonialism and the Caribbean essays

Colonialism and the Caribbean essays Before one can appropriately discuss the validity of this claim one must first establish and comprehend what was colonialism, what were the social, economic, political, and cultural models instituted during and after colonialism. One must also have an understanding of the history of the Caribbean in order to appropriately establish and comprehend why things are the way it was, is, and is going to be. Colonialism, according to the Cambridge Encyclopaedia is a policy whereby a body of persons from a parent country migrates to and settles in acquired or conquered territories beyond the borders of their country. The colony of settlers establishes an administration that is subordinate to that of the mother country. A colony or foreign extension of an expanding power is therefore a political entity set up in a distant, eternal land, for purposes of settlement and exploitation, by a group of white settlers from a mother country that establishes ownership and sovereignty over the territory, which is kept dependent upon that mother country. Colonialism was a system for conquering or otherwise acquiring and managing non-independent territories, for extracting their mineral resources such as gold and silver, and for exploiting their agricultural and other raw materials, as well as their labour as cheaply as possible, for the benefit of the strong, white European powers over the weak, people of the Caribbean. Above all it was a system for the social, economic, political and cultural over-rule of the helpless in the Caribbean colonies by the colonial power that were militarily and technologically superior.Colonialism went hand in hand with nationalism and mercantilism and together these represented a closed system within which the parent country, particularly Britain in the eastern Caribbean, was dominant, and the colonies like Barbados were kept in a state of dependency. The colonies produced the raw materials and agricultural pro...

Britain Had Its Own Set Of Religious Icons Religion Essays

Britain Had Its Own Set Of Religious Icons Religion Essays Britain Had Its Own Set Of Religious Icons Religion Essay Britain Had Its Own Set Of Religious Icons Religion Essay Christianity as a faith is one that was foremost brought to the British Isles around 1st century AD, this was during the Roman Empire. Britain had its ain set of spiritual icons ; Pagan Gods of the Earth and Roman Gods of the sky. It was into this scene that Christianity arrived, and It is thought to hold started in England before traveling to Ireland, Scotland, and so into other British Isles. This evangelization was carried out largely by the Gregorian Missionaries ; this finally led to the beginning of the Church of England. Although Christianity finally received audience, prior to the clip of credence, it was one of many others and it demanded commitment from its followings. It was this intolerance of other Gods, and its secretiveness, which rattled the Roman governments and led to the prosecutions of Christians. However around the fourth century, Christianity survived and even through the dark ages. The Church of England which is the first signifier of Christianity in England has it beginnings towards the terminal of the sixth century, during the clip of the Anglo-Saxons. The Church of England high spots continuity through apostolic sequence and traditionally looks to these early events for its beginnings instead than to alterations brought approximately by the English reformation. Events such as Henry VIII s split with the Roman Catholic Church or the exclusion of Elizabeth I or the wider Reformation in mainland Europe are all events that contributed to the development of the Church of England as it is now established, but are regarded as a continuance of the reaching of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church to the British Isles. [ 1 ]- Wikipedia articles on the beginnings of the Church of England. However, as the old ages progressed the impression was formed that the Church was founded by God and the opinion sovereign was automatically the Head of the Church, appointed besides by God. Christianity rose from a little faith to being the national faith, with the association of Church to Monarchy. This therefore meant that all proceedings within the Kingdom were governed by God. Christianity was a portion of the people and the people were conditioned into the life style of being Christians. Children were being baptized, taught in the religion as portion of day-to-day life every bit good as in school course of study. Births, Marriages and Deaths/Funerals were conducted and registered by the Clergy. Therefore during this period, England was preponderantly a Christian state. It is deserving adverting that there was besides pagan religion in England, nevertheless as Christianity grew pagan religion reduced. The treatment in this essay nevertheless, is non about the beginnings of Christianity nor is it about the beginnings of the Church of England. Some of the points discussed below are from personal findings, while other points are secondary research. With the trumpeter of a more accommodative society, more faiths are being rooted in the British society. This is besides because of the addition in the cultural groups in England, who have assorted faiths, and with the universe of political rightness ; other faiths are blossoming and booming every bit good. Unfortunately, the per centum of English people of Christian beginnings are dwindling, go forthing coevalss after them to being less acute about faith wholly. Christianity is easy diminishing because we are now in a more secular society. There are less faith schools, and the per centum of Church departers has reduced over the last twosome of decennaries. Harmonizing to personal findings, Church edifices are been sold or remodelled to other functionalities. In current times, even though England is officially a Christian state, there are less than 40 % of the people who are Christians and even few much less of them are a portion of the Church of England. The staying population are either Atheists or of a different faith. Findingss have proved that the Church today has lost about 1 in 10 members are from 1996 to present twenty-four hours, at this rate the church will happen it difficult to last in the following 50 old ages. There is now a monolithic autumn in registered Births, Marriages and Deaths in the Church. The church today is been grounded by challenges from a altering society, where the Christian establishment is on a diminution every bit good as challenges from a rise in cultural and spiritual variegation. BBC beginnings record that the United Kingdom, which England is a portion of is ethnically diverse, partially as a bequest of imperium. Recently, the state has been fighting with issues go arounding around multiculturalism, in-migration and national individuality. This is against a background concerns about terrorist act and political and spiritual radicalismaˆÂ ¦ [ 2 ] In decision, we can accept that England is still officially a Christian state due to the fact that the Anglican Church is rooted in England and that the monarchy is associated with the Church of England, nevertheless it will be difficult for Christianity to keep its terms if the Church does non lift up and take a base. 1. hypertext transfer protocol: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Church_of_England 2. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/history/uk_1.shtml 3.http: //www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/5661035/Britain-is-no-longer-a-Christian-nation-claims-Church-of-England-Bishop.html

Four Powerful Ways to Bring Your Writing Goals Closer

Four Powerful Ways to Bring Your Writing Goals Closer Four Powerful Ways to Bring Your Writing Goals Closer Four Powerful Ways to Bring Your Writing Goals Closer By Ali Hale Do you wish you could get further with your writing? Perhaps you want to: Finally finish that novel that you started ten years ago Improve your spelling and grammar Make money from your writing Have a popular blog with lots of readers Publish a non-fiction book to support your business or something else entirely. Whatever your writing goal is, follow these four steps and you’ll find yourself making much faster progress. #1: Write More Frequently You don’t have to write every day, but you do need to write regularly. Be honest: how often do you write? If it’s less than twice a week, you’ll probably find yourself struggling to make any meaningful progress. The great thing about writing frequently is that small steps really do add up. For instance: If you write 500 words three times a week, you’ll have 78,000 words after a year. That’s a whole novel. If you write two blog posts every week, you’ll have 104 blog posts after a year. If you write just 200 words every single day (about two paragraphs), you’ll have 73,000 words after a year. That’s enough for three non-fiction ebooks. Do it: Decide on a time and place for your writing. Aim for at least two sessions per week, and a total of 1,500 words every week. #2: Edit After You Write There are two traps that writers fall into with editing, and both cause problems: Editing while writing Not editing at all If you edit while you write, you’ll struggle to get anywhere. You’ll write a paragraph or two and immediately delete them because you think they aren’t good enough. It’s much more efficient to simply write until you’ve finished the article, chapter or scene that you’re working on. You can edit later. If you don’t edit at all, your work won’t be as good as it could be. Nobody can write a perfect first draft. Your writing might need just a quick polish, or it might need a radical overhaul: either way, editing is essential – after you’ve written. Do it: Next time you write, don’t stop to edit. Keep moving forwards. When you do finish, print your work out and read it through on paper: this makes it easier to spot mistakes and things that you want to change. #3: Learn New Techniques Whatever type of writing you do, there’ll always be something new to learn. Great writers aren’t born that way: they become great through conscious practice and through deliberately developing their craft. There are all sorts of things you can learn, either from books or from taking a writing course. For instance: Freelancers: How to write great sales copy for clients Novelists: How to write dialogue Bloggers: How to write guest posts to bring in more readers Poets: How to use different formal structures Do it: Pick ONE new writing skill that you want to gain, in order to take your writing further. Look for a book or course that could help you. You’ll need to set aside time to learn and time to put what you learn into practice. #4: Get Help and Support Writing can feel like a very lonely activity at times – but it doesn’t have to be that way. Help and support from other writers will make a huge difference to your chances of success: it’s much easier to write regularly when you’re part of a supportive community. Your local area may well have a writers’ group that meets regularly: try looking for adverts in your library or in bookstores, or search on Meetup.com. If there isn’t a group nearby, how about starting one yourself? If it’s not easy for you to meet up face-to-face with other writers, you can find hundreds of different writing communities online. As well as giving you the opportunity to ask advice and share tips with other members, these also often allow you to share your writing and get feedback. Do it: Look for a writers’ group locally or online, and consider joining. If you’re not sure about joining a formal group, try searching for other writers on Twitter. Ali Luke is a writer and writing coach, and has just launched a new community and teaching site, WritersHuddle.com. The doors are open until 31st January. Inside, you’ll find mini-courses to help you learn new skills, forums where you can interact with other members, and lots of other goodies too. Make sure to check it out. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Freelance Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Types of RhymeCapitalization Rules for the Names of GamesA "Diploma" is not a "Degree"

Analizes of a case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analizes of a - Case Study Example The company always used outside the box thinking in its business strategies such as buying idle production time from manufacturers in other industries. One of the reasons for the success of the firm in the furniture business was its introduction of self-assembled furniture. This concept help the firm reduce its prices because it eliminated two of the highest cost drivers in the industry which are assembly and delivery. The company’s managerial philosophy is to have an open system in which nobody is superior to others. Input from the employees is always welcomed at IKEA. The management process stressed simplicity and attention to detail. Being cost conscious was also a part of the business culture of the firm. IKEA penetrated the United States marketplace in 1985. In the 1990’s the company was exposed to bad media when a revelation was made to the public that IKEA was dealing with suppliers in Asia that used child labor. Stakeholders Ingvar Kamprad – Founder of th e firm. His values and beliefs are embedded in IKEA’s culture. Using child labor goes against everything he stands for. He does not want to hurt the reputation of the company through a child labor scandal. Marianne Barner – IKEA business area manager for carpets division. She is responsible for finding a solution to the problem. Shareholders – The shareholders of the firm are worried about the problem of child labor because its occurrence will hurt the image and reputation of the company which will negatively impact the price of the common stocks of the company. Asian children – The children population in Asia are at risk due to employment exploitation by IKEA suppliers. The children are the biggest victims in this scandal. Issues By the mid 1990’s the company had grown tremendously. IKEA had 98 stores across 17 countries worldwide. Its supply chain had become extremely complex since the firm had almost 2,300 suppliers. It had become extremely diff icult to monitor the actions of its suppliers. To make things worse those 2,300 suppliers were scattered across 70 countries. The firm was sourcing around 11,200 products. During the 1980’s environmental problems occurred with some of the products IKEA sold. In the 1990’s a new and extremely serious issue occurred as the company was accused of doing business with suppliers that used child labor. Child labor is a growing problem in our society with over 250 million children working in the labor market (Humanium, 2010). IKEA in the 1980’s faced new regulations from the Denmark government that redefine the limits of formaldehyde emissions permissible in product building. At concentration above 0.1 mg/kg in air this material caused watery eyes, headaches, burning sensation in throat, and difficult breathing. The company was fined by the government of Denmark and it was heavily criticized by the media. IKEA sales in the aftermath of this scandal drop by 20% in Denmar k. The company reacted quickly to the problem by establishing stringent requirement regarding formaldehyde levels. At first the problem was not simply to attend since suppliers bought from sub-suppliers that were exposed to formaldehyde. The firm resolved the problem by dealing directly with glue producing chemical companies. A decade later the firm was once again facing issues with formaldehyde in Germany. Its best selling bookcase series had high levels of

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

Space Tourism Intro - Essay Example Over-all Introduction of the Topic This paper entitled Risk Management Analysis: Space Tourism is about the identification of risks involved–and its ways to resolve and reduce them–in getting Space Tourism in full swing. It emphasizes the risk identification; so that the concerned people can consequently apply them to reduce imminent risks in space tourism, to save lives. This paper–albeit its delicate stand towards space tourism–stresses the positive aspect of space tourism as an opportunity to bring Science and luxury travel to new heights. It looks at space tourism not a profiteering racket by industry giants but as an evolving idea of space travel capable of giving a completely safe travel option for the next destination in the outer space. This paper has emphasized the aspects, which are to be scrutinized, in the area of space travel. Generally, these aspects are: history of space travel, suborbital flights, past accidents and, ultimately, the risk id entification. The group behind this paper considers the topic as worthy of doing a detailed risk analysis since it is futuristic. And, it is simply bearing in mind the safety of people and of the entire space industry to prevent their loss of lives and their investment, respectively. Lastly, we hope that this paper entitled Risk Management Analysis: Space Tourism can be a good reference–and a scientific journal at that–for concerned people. Unless we can’t stress to NASA–and other space administrations worldwide–not to take for granted the safety issues of human spaceflights, the space industry can’t assure the riding public of a superior and safe travel experience. History of Space Tourism When the Soviet Union successfully launched the Sputnik artificial satellite fifty-four years ago on October 4, 1957 (nasa.gov), the humanity was ushered in a new era of space science which dates back from the past. Later, on April of 1961, the newspaper The Huntsville Times of Alabama reported the feat of a Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in the banner â€Å"Man Enters Space† (nasa.gov). Gagarin is said to be successful in his April 12 orbital flight in the Vostok 1 spacecraft. Alan Shepard followed suit when he â€Å"became the first American in space less than a month† (nasa.gov). These, and few others, were monumental turning points in history which started to encourage people to raise the bar in luxury travel. Recently, space travel is becoming exclusive to astronauts – or cosmonauts – and multi-millionaires who can shell out millions of US dollars for a ticket, as well. But, the more progressive breakthrough in space tourism is the relatively cheaper means to travel in the space. Private launch services and satellite builders are there to cater to people who wish to visit the  International Space Station. (nasa.gov). For those who cannot afford, there is cheaper alternative. There is even an intera ctive video game for simulated space tourism. For those who wish to have a taste inside the International Space Station, Vision Videogames LLC made an agreement with NASA to create the video game SpaceStationSim (nasa.gov) so that people can encounter lifelike missions inside the space station. But it has to provide actual experiences. To date, federal funds have also supported infrastructure development–

Paper_8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Paper_8 - Essay Example I am aware of at least one incident where a man had his medical records used without his consent and the records inadvertently revealed his identity. As a result, many people in his community discovered details of his medical history that he wished to keep private! Forcing individuals to divulge medical information without their consent also runs afoul of the Fifth Amendment's prohibition on taking private property for public use without just compensation. After all, people do have a legitimate property interest in their private information; therefore restrictions on an individual's ability to control the dissemination of their private information represents a massive regulatory taking. The takings clause is designed to prevent this type of sacrifice of individual property rights for the "greater good." To the extent these regulations sacrifice individual rights in the name of a bureaucratically-determined "common good," they are incompatible with a free

Vaginal Examinations Paper Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Vaginal Examinations Paper - Literature review Example Friedman created a cervicograph to  offer  clinicians with an objective  means  of gauging  labour  development, which  was later established  to  become  the partogram (Albers, 2001a:p351). While Friedman’s  curve  illustrates that the dilation  pace  should be one centimetre per an hour (Arya, Whitworth and Johnson, 2007), there has been a  dispute  on this  pace  of cervical development from both obstetricians and midwives. Albers (2007b: p209) researches on the care methods to  maintain  birth  normal, for  instance  social  sustenance  and non -pharmacological techniques of pain reliever,  position  change and activity. Her results show a slower  development  of  labour  with no a raise in complications for the  baby  or mother. According to Albers, the optional rate of cervical dilation should be between 0.3cm and 0.5cm per hour. Vaginal examination is an assessment tool that offers encouragement to the mo ther and midwife that labour  is  systematic  towards the birth. According to Albers (2007b: p212), the rate of vaginal examination is reliant on the health professional and the medical institution. There is a  difference  of three hourly, four hourly or six hourly or at the midwives’ judgment. ... on, for example, foetal position, `presentation and  drop  of the presenting part alongside with information on cervical consistency, effacement, and dilatation of the cervix (Thorpe and Anderson, 2006:p22). When placing into the  milieu  of what the woman is experiencing, and her  labour  concerning the length,  intensity  and  strength  of the contractions the midwife could  advance  her perceptive of that woman’s  labour. While interpretation of these aspects may be  variable, the vaginal examination is a  significant  ability  that midwives must develop. This can assists them to understand labour rhythms and signal  divergence  from the physiological process. Without a doubt, many midwives use vaginal examinations that  assist  them to  widen  their skills in the examination of labour. Hence, improving their skills in understanding the signs of the labour development, this could differ with each woman. The  performance  of midwives when doing a vaginal examination hints an  echelon  of awkwardness, as well as  potential  issues about  authority  and  control. In her research  survey, the midwives and women's incidents of vaginal examination in labour, Stewart (2006: p31) findings  indicate  that the midwives actions  imply  high levels of  embarrassment  when performing a vaginal examination. Stewart (2006: p34) employed a critical ethnographic advance to  centre  on how the to  converse  vaginal examination with the  woman  and how midwives  perform  it in practice. She institutes two main arguments that she explains as sanitisation through verbal and action sanitisation (Stewart, 2006: p35). Stewart proposes that midwives  employ  a number of physical and verbal strategies to  detach  themselves from vaginal examinations. These include the  employment  of

Organization Culture Development and Success of the Organization Essay

Organization Culture Development and Success of the Organization - Essay Example The intention of this study is organization culture as a USP or â€Å"Unique Selling Point† of a firm that differentiates itself from its counterparts. Organizational culture means the way human resource in an organization acts and performs its duties. The culture in an organization is usually developed by top leadership which is translated to the production workers or managers at the lower level of the hierarchy. Any organization that fails to develop a unique culture fails to communicate its value to its customers and hence loses its vividness in the eyes of its customers. In the 21st, the concept is more important than ever before because of the intensive competition by firm. Not only the firms in the same country are fighting for a same job, but outsourcing has included the foreign firms also in the fight for a job that comes to the market. In the midst of so heavy competition, it has become increasingly important for firms to â€Å"Break through the clutter†. No fi rm can break through the clutter or become vivid unless it has something other than that the conventional competition is offering. Many firms, as a result, have increased their focus on organizational culture. Many are trying to develop a culture that will help them gain an edge over their competition. Organizational Culture, apart from helping an organization in all of these, also help helps an organization in developing the ideal characteristics of its workforce overtime without having to incur the heavy training expense that also entails loss of productivity and may lead to boredom and job turnover. It is also suggest by organizational behavior experts to develop a long term strategy based on an organizational culture in order to achieve firm’s targets and goals. The long term strategy can be supplemented by incorporating several training regimes that are used to make sure that the organizational culture has been properly engraved into the conscience of the workers and eve ryone in the organization is following the same culture that is yielding synergy and resulting in achievement in difficult tasks and goals which are not possible unless everyone in the organization is following the same culture. (Jin, Drozdenko, & Bassett, 2007) Organizational Culture leads to more efficiency in the organization. In fact, organizational culture improves the efficiency because it gives the sense of direction to employees and tells them how they are supposed to act in a variety of situation. This reduces their response time and helps them focus on the customer satisfaction more that leads to very satisfactory results. This increases organization wide efficiency of the human resource and all the staff in the organization allocates more time to core competencies. This also increases job satisfaction which leads to customer satisfaction and towards profitability of the organization. (Denison & Mishra, 1995) Organizational Culture also affects the knowledge management pra ctices of an organization. Knowledge management is extremely important for an organization as concluded by Toyota Motor Company, UNIX, Microsoft and Mercedes-Benz. One cannot imagine an organization to achieve success if it does not pay any heed to the technology development and knowledge management flows within the organization. It is extremely difficult to assume the success of the organization without the technology factor playing its part. Hence, indirectly organizational culture plays an important role in the development of an organization and its technology management and knowledge management practices which are now considered vital for the success of the organization. So much so that even the large organizations are making their old staff who seemed incompatible to technology are training them to make them work on the technology of the new era. Of course all of this is not possible without organizational cu

Equity and Trusts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Equity and Trusts - Essay Example If it is developed in the country where monarchy system is followed, then monks would be required to live in the property. Therefore it may be concluded that it is not necessary that the idea of Trust Law will always find its origin in the English system only1. In this paper different aspects of the contemporary trust law will be studied and the importance of the beneficiary in this law would be discussed. The Origin of the trust law The historical origin of the trust can be found in the so called crusades in which the English noblemen fought and were away from England for years. The noblemen were significant land-owners in England under the feudal land system. The problem arose as to who would be using the land and in what way when the noble men were out of the country. As a consequence the rule of equity recognized that the land left unused by the noblemen, who were unable to exercise their legal rights on the other, will be used by other men. So the equity recognized an arrangemen t where the right of the noblemen will be retained. The nobleman was regarded as the person who will have the ultimate beneficial right and the person who will be benefiting from this arrangement is known as beneficiary. In the absence of the nobleman, the Stewart who accepts the charge of the land is entitled to raise taxes on the land and so on. So in such an arrangement the nobleman passes their legal rights of the land to the trusted person referred as â€Å"trustee† but the ultimate beneficial right of the property remains with the nobleman who serves as the â€Å"beneficiary†. The core duty of the trustee is to stick to the terms and condition of the trust2.Therefore the â€Å"beneficiary† is referred to have the â€Å"equitable interest â€Å"in the property3. A major traditional practitioner’s Lewin gave the following description of trust. He defined trust as â€Å"a duty or aggregated accumulation of obligations that rest upon the person descr ibed as trustee. The responsibility bestowed on him is due to the property held by him under his control. The property is compelled by the court in the equitable jurisdiction to administer in the manner lawfully prescribed by the trust instrument or where there be no specific provision written or oral, or to the extent of such provision is invalid or lacking in accordance with equitable principle†4. Problem with the Law In California, people presented petitions and pleaded for justice to the Chancellor (the keeper of the King’s conscience) stating that the property given to the trustee for their benefit was mis-applied. So the court of Chancery built up two ideas: first, â€Å"the obligation of the feoffee to uses or trustee to hold the property for the benefit of the cestui que use or beneficiary†5 and second, â€Å"the right of the beneficiary to obtain the use of the property†6. Thus this notion backed that the trustee’s obligation with regard to the property was correlative to the beneficiaries’ right in it7. A major traditional practitioner Lewin argued that the consequence is such that the benefits and the advantages accrued will not go to the trustee and in turn will go to the person called â€Å"cestui que† that is the beneficiary. The trustee may be the beneficiary in the case where the advantage accrued will be in his favor to the extent of his beneficial interest8. Importance of Beneficiary The central tension in the Trust Law is regarding the

Organization Culture Development and Success of the Organization Essay

Organization Culture Development and Success of the Organization - Essay Example The intention of this study is organization culture as a USP or â€Å"Unique Selling Point† of a firm that differentiates itself from its counterparts. Organizational culture means the way human resource in an organization acts and performs its duties. The culture in an organization is usually developed by top leadership which is translated to the production workers or managers at the lower level of the hierarchy. Any organization that fails to develop a unique culture fails to communicate its value to its customers and hence loses its vividness in the eyes of its customers. In the 21st, the concept is more important than ever before because of the intensive competition by firm. Not only the firms in the same country are fighting for a same job, but outsourcing has included the foreign firms also in the fight for a job that comes to the market. In the midst of so heavy competition, it has become increasingly important for firms to â€Å"Break through the clutter†. No fi rm can break through the clutter or become vivid unless it has something other than that the conventional competition is offering. Many firms, as a result, have increased their focus on organizational culture. Many are trying to develop a culture that will help them gain an edge over their competition. Organizational Culture, apart from helping an organization in all of these, also help helps an organization in developing the ideal characteristics of its workforce overtime without having to incur the heavy training expense that also entails loss of productivity and may lead to boredom and job turnover. It is also suggest by organizational behavior experts to develop a long term strategy based on an organizational culture in order to achieve firm’s targets and goals. The long term strategy can be supplemented by incorporating several training regimes that are used to make sure that the organizational culture has been properly engraved into the conscience of the workers and eve ryone in the organization is following the same culture that is yielding synergy and resulting in achievement in difficult tasks and goals which are not possible unless everyone in the organization is following the same culture. (Jin, Drozdenko, & Bassett, 2007) Organizational Culture leads to more efficiency in the organization. In fact, organizational culture improves the efficiency because it gives the sense of direction to employees and tells them how they are supposed to act in a variety of situation. This reduces their response time and helps them focus on the customer satisfaction more that leads to very satisfactory results. This increases organization wide efficiency of the human resource and all the staff in the organization allocates more time to core competencies. This also increases job satisfaction which leads to customer satisfaction and towards profitability of the organization. (Denison & Mishra, 1995) Organizational Culture also affects the knowledge management pra ctices of an organization. Knowledge management is extremely important for an organization as concluded by Toyota Motor Company, UNIX, Microsoft and Mercedes-Benz. One cannot imagine an organization to achieve success if it does not pay any heed to the technology development and knowledge management flows within the organization. It is extremely difficult to assume the success of the organization without the technology factor playing its part. Hence, indirectly organizational culture plays an important role in the development of an organization and its technology management and knowledge management practices which are now considered vital for the success of the organization. So much so that even the large organizations are making their old staff who seemed incompatible to technology are training them to make them work on the technology of the new era. Of course all of this is not possible without organizational cu

Discussion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 109

Discussion - Assignment Example She delayed some acquisitions. Had she made the decision for the acquisitions earlier, Xerox may have not missed the opportunity for high revenues, which the company realized upon completing the deals. Q2. A manager like Mulcahy should avoid experience-based biases. When Mulcahy was appointed the new CEO of Xerox, she like everyone else was surprised. In her mind and in the minds of others, she was not the right candidate because of her managerial inexperience. As the CEO, the manager is bound to meet different experience-based biases at the decision making table. The CEO should thus acknowledge that the final decision is on her/him and coordinate diverging minds to obtain a solution to the problem at hand. The CEO should also avoid recruitment biases as he/ she strives to find the best team/workforce for the company. Q3. It is often a big challenge for some managers to make ethical decisions as they strive to propel their companies to the next level. In order to ensure that they make ethical decisions, managers can emphasize on the following areas: honesty, breadth, and

Essay on the Difference Between Chiefdoms and Tribes

Essay on the Difference Between Chiefdoms and Tribes Introduction The Swazi of Southern Africa and the Mayogo of Northern Democratic Republic of Congo represent two different chiefdoms that live in Africa. The two chiefdoms share more with states than with tribes, a reason which explains its existence within the boundary of many states in Africa. The Swazi chiefdom is situated in the southern Africa in a landlocked country that was rule according to the chiefdom rules even with the coming of the white man and obtaining independence 1968. The chiefdom share many aspects with the state, a reason which explains the absence of conflict that inflicts the two institutions in comparison with the state and the tribe. The research paper will analyze the two chiefdoms of Mayogo and Swazi through the use of comparison with the state and the tribe by focusing on such points as kinship, marriage, citizenship. The Mayogo The Mayogo are people who live in the Northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, they used to live independently as chiefdom until the 19th century when the country was invaded by the Mangbetu who formed the state under which the Mayogo were governed. However, the internal affairs of the chiefdom were in control by the chiefs. The Mayogo speak a language that belongs to the same family of Swazi which is Bantu, most of them have converted from animism to Christianity mainly Catholicism. The areas in which the Mayogo live have certain autonomy as the people pay allegiance to the Chiefdom. Although the flag was apparent in the documentary but no allegiance is paid to the national anthem. One of the reason, why the state of Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly known as Zaire is not bother by the presence of the chiefdom of Mayogo in its territory is because it is not menaced by it in addition to the fact that the chiefdom provides protection to its population which the state cannot afford to due to the vast surface of the territory and its vicinity to war zones exemplified by the refuges that live in the country in addition to a civil war that it is undergoing. The Swazi The Swazi took their name from their king, Mswati, Swaziland is a chiefdom that is organized into dual monarchy with the king and the queen at its head, the king is refereed to by the Swazi as Ngwenyama (Lion) while the queen is known as Ndlovukazi (Lady Elephant).[1] The chiefdom is based on common ancestry and fictive kinship, like the state the chiefdom is based on a social contract between the population of Swaziland who accept top pay allegiance to the king by obeying his orders, providing goods and services, and paying taxes in return for protection from outsiders mainly Zulu and Shaka. For instance, King Sobhuza maintained the loyalty of his population by protecting them from Shaka to the extent that he sent his daughters to be married by Shaka knowing that they will be killed once they are pregnant.[2] The successor of king Sobhuza, Mswati, was left with a strong Kingdom, respected and feared by neighboring tribes, with a centralized political system controlling several thous ands of people scattered over areas reaching far beyond the boundaries of modern Swaziland.[3] The interest of Europeans to colonize the area came from two parties the Dutch Boers and the British, in 1865 the two parties are going to find an excuse to enter the country which to provide peace and end civil war. The year coincided with the death of King Mswati which entered the country into a civil war due the rivalry of who is going to become the new king. Eventually Mdandzeni was the king and even during his reign instability was present.[4] A Comparison between Chiefdom and Tribe The tribe and chiefdom have a similar aspect in terms of their value of raiding while the Swazi during the reign of king Mswati acquired a reputation of terror and fear many of their warriors were indulging in raids with neighboring chiefdoms and the looting was distributed by the King.[5] Likewise, the Famous tribe chief Auda abu Tayi the leader of the Howeitat tribe who said that he is like a river to his people meaning that all what he obtain from raids is going to be redistribute to his tribe.[6] Moreover, Hospitality is another characteristic that shared between tribes and chiefdom. Regarding chiefdom, the headman is expected to be magnanimous.[7] Kinship is an important factor that distinguishes chiefdom from the state and put on equal footing with the tribe, it used to define who is going to be married from a particular person and other issue as it is stated by Hilda Kuper kinship by descent and ties by marriage influence behavior in a great number of situations; they determine where and with whom a person lives, his range of friends and enemies, whom he may or may not marry, the positions to which he is entitled.[8] Regarding tribes the preference is being given to first cousins but instances of incest are not absent though rare, both among Tribes Swazi, especially the king who is allowed as he is the only man permitted to marry a clan sister.[9] This network of kinship was kept even when the British administration was in the country, it was only a current move to incorporate the dual monarchy as a single government for the whole country of Swaziland.[10] The importance given to law seems to be a feature shared by both the tribe and chiefdom as the tribe regulates its problems according to its tribal law while the Swazi have a highly developed legal system and a graded hierarchy of courts that coincide roughly with the political structure. In case of the Swazi seems to be working with the introduction of the state while it is the opposite for tribes as in some instances revenge requires killing a person as compensation. While the Swazi differentiate between private matters such as theft and cases that require death penalty such as murder. In The former the guilty party pays compensation directly to the ill-treated person while on the latter the compensation is given to the king as he the representative of the state.[11] Hilda Kuper mentioned an example that would illustrate this dichotomy of law among the chiefdom. It involves the case of a woman called Velepi Hlatshwako who deserted her husband, Alpheus shongwe, after 20 years of mar riage because of his bad treatment of her and eloped with her lover, Isauk Mabuzo. In order for the lover to marry the Velepi he has to pay lobola (bride price) to her family which it refused. The matter is going to exacerbates when Velepi had a daughter and Alpheus asked for both of them as a he paid lobola. This time the two couple became convert to Wesleyan church therefore the matter was taken to different court and in the end the court stated that Velepi soiled the law.[12] The state and chiefdom law tend to overlap and contradict each other, however the likelihood of going against the states is less than the tribe where state rule is absent. For instance, the Swazi people who work in the administration or white-controlled bureaucracy[13] but their loyalty falls under their chiefdom. One of the major difference between chiefdom and tribe lies on the fact that the way the tribal chief chosen has nothing to do with his noble heritage or family instead what matter is his reputation for hospitability, honor and experience while for the Swazi as well as the Mayogo of Northern Democratic Republic of Congo the chief is hereditary position which is banqueted only by inheritance. Therefore, competition and rivalry is major aspect of chiefdom and this best seen during the death of Kind Mswati, that resulted in a civil war between his sons whereas tribal people tend to elect a chief of their tribe based on reputation, which means that once the chief is being seen as corrupt the tribal people outstrip of his leadership automatically by not listening to him. And even the way the tribe vie their chief is different from chiefdom whereby the Swazi regard their king as a father and not a dictator.[14] Marriage is an important institution upon which a the follower of the king is taken, polygamy is abundant among kings and in order to avoid conflict between kings` sons it is the child of the senor wife that is entitled to the throne however, seniority is not always decided by age but by other factors as it is pointed out by Hilda Kuper Among the Swazi aristocracy the first wife is never the main wife. Seniority in marriage brings certain advantages during the headman`s lifetime, but upon his death other factors are considered. The most important is pedigree, and the daughter of a king or leading chief generally takes precedence over all other wives.[15] The Swazi developed a sophisticated system of succession to protect the future king from the rivalry of his brothers to the extent that the first son of king is never going to take his place, Seniority and pedigree play an important role in selecting the future king.[16] Regarding tribal law, it is very different from state law and d oes not tend to be mixed as is the case with both Swazi and Mayogo as knowledge of the chiefdom law and court procedure are part of the daily life of chiefdom people.[17] A Comparison between the Chiefdom and the State Just like the state, the country of Swaziland is divided into different districts. The queen shares power with the king, however her realm is situated in the area of household and rituals. Unlike Western countries, religion in Swaziland is an important aspect of the country that is governed by the queen; it is one of the characteristics that differentiate an outsider from a Swazi. The Swaziland chiefdom maintains its political system and insures its survival by following a system of military fear based on executions so that any enemy would think twice before trying to invade the country. The second way is upgrading lineage through marriage, whereby women play a major role in succession mainly the queen mother, as the children of a senior wife are supervised and shunned from going outside to protect them from magic spills. In other words, the king rules outside while the queen rules inside the household. Even though the country is big, the king insure that it stays in order by dividin g into district and letting local chiefs (sikhulu) reign them and in cases of district that the king does not trust he appoints his brother or his half brother to rule them, a practice used during the reign of King Mswati, when the Kingdom of Swaziland rule over a large territory and have a reputation. According to Hilda Kuper power moves down through a chain of British-appointed officials on the one side and the traditional hierarchy on the other, with conflict centered in a few leading personalities. Educated Swazi, including some of the traditional system for reaching rapid and major decisions, but they are seeking to build on certain accepted foundations and do not want an imitation of constitutional techniques developed in alien context.[18] In a chiefdom both power can be shared with states with small incidents of conflicts compared to tribes, and most of the time when the chiefdom laws came to contradict laws of the states it is usually driven by personal interest. For instance, the reason for changing the Westminster constitution that the British brought to Swaziland has to do with the failure of a Prince Mfanasibili in elections against Ngwenya, therefore to get rid of his rival he found the loophole that since he is a South African he was deported to the border in may 25 1972 and because the conistution was in favour of Ngwenya regarding his deportation, it was also changed.[19] The independence of Swaziland brought the problem of who is entitled toser ve in an office with such factors as loyalty and family playing a major role in appointment the educated Swazi who are not from a royal kinship posed a problem to the royal group and raised their concern over education as a means to secure their positions. The opposite is apparent in the Mayogo of Northern Democratic Republic of Congo. Unlike the British colonies where education was emphasize, the French colonies relied on military people to rule on their colonies Citizenship is an important aspect of defining who is Swazi and who is not, in practice all those people entitled to be Swazi have the privileges of security, that is protection from enemies, they can acquire land; and most importantly they can have the national mark in order to wear Swazi consume which is a slit in the lobes of the ears.[20] The chiefdom shares with the state the concept of citizen and who is entitled to be a citizen? Such a question is going to raise problems in Swaziland due to its diversified population and the changing concept of allegiance, as it system by which Swazi express their loyalty to their king. However, the influx of many non-Swazi who were brought by the white settlers brought the issue of loyalty to the fore as they plead their allegiance to their employers instead of the king, in addition to their different traditions and culture which makes the Swazi feel threatened about their status to the extent of putting the blame on crime on the non-Swazi po pulation.[21] According the Swaziland law Citizenship was a privilege, not a right; a commitment, not a label,[22] which means that factors such as language, history, race and religion come to define who is a Swazi and who is not, therefore citizenship is exclusive and not inclusive. Another problem that is brought the issue of citizenship is the fact that South Africa is home to 700, 000 Swazi people which indicates the problem of the king to grant them citizenship without land support and most importantly the problem of dual citizenship as they are both citizens of South Africa and also entitled to the citizenship of Swaziland, while the non-Swazi who live in Swaziland are not regarded as citizens as they lack the features of a Swazi. Land is an important accepts in Swaziland in addition to pastorals rooted in its cattle complex[23] due to the importance of lobola which is usually expressed in cattles. The land posed to be a problem in 1907 as 45% of the land in Swaziland was owned by non-Swazi owing to the Land Proclamation of 1907.[24] Unlike, its neighboring country Zimbabwe, the Swaziland government response to reform the land by taking into consideration the local Swazi without alienating the white community A major component of the state in addition to sovereignty and territory is monopoly over the use of violence. The distinction between police and soldier does not exit in Swazi chiefdom it was only brought by the British. The Swazi rely on emabutfo to provide protection; they are a mix of soldier and police. However by the coming of the British they introduced police force which was viewed as a rival by Emabutfo.[25] However the role of Emabutfo is going to be underscored due to the regional incidents that occurred in Ethiopia where Haile Selassie was deposed and Mozambique where the socialist Samora Machel was recognized as the leader of the country. These events prompted Swaziland to develop an army by relying on emabutfo. [26] Conclusion To conclude, the chiefdom share many point with tribes and states. however, the fact it has many point to share with the state that the tribe make it adaptable to survive even within the boundary of the state because it does not threat the establishment of the state. It shares with the state the social contract under which the population pays loyalty through obedience and taxes in return for protection. And unlike the tribe the chiefdom does not have the problem of minority group. Because even in their meeting not everybody in the chiefdom is invited in the secret meetings save the elders, whereas in a tribal society every person who is an adult has a saying that the chief has to take into consideration as he has the power to influence decision making but to the extent of making an order. Bibliography Chief Anga Ganga Kangolo Lost Kingdoms. Discovery Channel, 1988. Kuper, Hilda. The Swazi: a South African Kingdom. Mason, Ohio: Cenage Learning, 2002. Lawrence of Arabia, DVD, Directed by David Lean. 1962.

The Tempest Essay -- essays research papers

Gonzalo states: "We are people of our own minds and no one else's," by this Gonzalo is telling everyone that no one can control what someone sees or does. This is true unless one is using magic to alter the minds and reality of anyone under the influence of magic. In the Tempest, by William Shakespeare, Prospero uses magic to alter the reality and delude the minds of characters. Love or guilt is a form of magic that naturally occurs in one's life. Prospero creates another magic that is placed in the audience's mind when he asks them to become the master magicians. Alonso and Gonzalo's minds are deluded by Prospero's spells to make them unaware of what is happening around them or aware of something out of the ordinary, and Caliban is affected by Prospero's spells physically. Gonzalo sees the things happening around him through a new prespective because of the spell that makes him see everything in a good light. Because of this spell Gonzalo states that their clothes are better than new, and that they are not stained with salt water. Gonzalo also brings up that the island is in excellent shape and is adequate for living on. Antonio and Sebastian tell Gonzalo he is lying about the clothes and the island being in such fantastic shape. They tell him this because they are not affected by the spell that Gonzalo is under. Spells don't always affect a person directly, but it still makes a person see their reality in a different perspective. Alonso is fooled by Prospero's magic too, but it is not directly aimed towards Alonso. Because of the magic that put Ferdinand in a glen where no one could see him; Alonso thinks that Ferdinand drowned at sea. Alonso thinks that Ferdinand is dead because no one saw Ferdinand make it to land safe. This is because Prospero used magic directly on Ferdinand, but not directly on Alonso. Alonso is in a bad mood because of this indirect magic for an entire act because Alonso's crew couldn't find Ferdinand. Meanwhile Ferdinand is following strange music that is leading him away from the others. Prospero has Ferdinand walk away from the others so he meets Miranda, and also so Alonso's crew can't find Ferdinand. This shows some of the powers of indirect magic, but direct magic can be more effective when trying to accomplish something very quickly; such as punishment or trying to teach somebody a lesson. Prospero casts spells on... ...ero tells the audience that they are making him real in their minds now and are becoming part of the play. Now the audience has total control to send Prospero back to Naples or keep him on the island. Prospero tells the audience all of this to make them see the world through his eyes. Without telling the audience these final words they would have never thought about making Prospero real in their minds. When they make Prospero real in their minds, they can live the life of Prospero on the island or in Naples. It is up to the audience where he is to go and what life he lives, this is the magic of the play. Magic can alter the reality and perspective how one looks at life. In the Tempest, Prospero has the ability to cast spells that alter one's perspective of reality. One may say that reality is intangible, but one can grasp the concept of what is stands for. Magic can throw that concept away. If one sees magic in progress it will alter the true vision of reality. Whenever magic verses reality a group can not describe what the feel or see. The concept of magic and reality is different to everyone. Reality or magic, they're both what one makes them to be.

Story Of An Hour :: essays research papers

In the Story of An Hour, Mrs. Mallard seemed to me like an old misunderstood woman and as we are told in the very first line, afflicted with a heart trouble. I was surprised later, when it said that she was young. I think that Chopin is showing us a social situation of the times with the woman as a prisoner of her husband. Marriage was not always about mutual love between two people and during that time Chopin was writing, which was during 1804-1904, this was often the case. Marriage was as much about monetary comfort, social status as it was about possible love. There are no children mentioned in the story, which makes me wonder if there was a sexual relationship between the Mallards. It seems from the description that Mrs. Mallard has been trapped in this marriage for a long time even though we know she is young. How young is she? I would probably guess that she would be in her middle thirties. She probably got married very young, as they usually did at that time. The women would usually stay at home and the men would go to work. Things have changed a lot now a day. I don t think that this marriage is arranged. I think that she has been forced by her society to marry despite what she may want to do in her heart and soul. I believe she does love her husband, but it is possible to love a man and not be married to him. Is her heart condition purely physical or is it psychological and emotional? We know that women can be hysterical, timid, weak and very emotional. When is her first name mentioned and why? That is the interesting part of the story that gave me the idea of my whole conclusion. Her first name is only told to us after she hears of her husband’s de ath and when she feels the freest. Before her husbands death she is referred to us as Mrs. Mallard or she, and after when her husband returns home, she is referred to as wife. When Louise marries Brently she becomes Mrs. Mallard; she loses her identity and assumes a new and strange one. While it seems very normal and average for a wife to assume her husband s name in marriage and in that time, become the property of him, it cannot be ignored that a certain part of the self is lost.

Different Perspectives in Looking at Literacy

I. IntroductionThe objective of this paper is to provide a general discussion on how literacy can be understood from different perspectives. Just the like the proverbial 5 Blind Men of Hindustan who described the elephant albeit incompletely and relative to their experience, literacy can also be understood from different perspectives. We may say that though all these perspectives are correct, they are also at the same time all inadequate to describe the whole phenomena of literacy.Yet by bringing all of these perspectives together, we can come with a fuller picture and definition of what literacy really is. It is the aim of this paper to come up with a more complete understanding of literacy. In the end, we will bring together the different perspectives and come up with a wider view. Eventually it is hoped that through this, a better understanding of literacy can be achieved. Yet in the end, the definition would still be incomplete for literacy is a process and learning never really ends.The point however is to live it at its utmost definition and contribute to its enhancement. There are four perspectives that will be dealt with in this paper with which literacy is tackled. These are: 1. Literacy as a skill; where cognitive skills in speaking, reading, writing, and functional literacy are discussed 2. Literacy as socially situated; where literacy is defined by the specific social context from which it springs. 3. Literacy as a process of learning; where literacy is seen as a lifelong and unending process4. Literacy as text where critical analysis of the social constructions are processed.II. BodyLiteracy as a skill The Cognitive science perspective on literacy looks at literacy mostly as reading and writing skills where reading must become like second nature and automatic while at the same time having a very accurate interpretation. The brain must be able to process reading as fast as it can and in the most precise comprehension as possible. This skill must be practice in order to have mastery over it (Abadzi, 2004).Writing on the other hand is another skill which is intricately connected to a particular syntax of a specific linguistic script which are meaning-based and sound-based (Barton, 1994). An example of meaning based writing is the Chinese character which is not an alphabet but a representation of what is being referred. An example of sound-based writing is our current alphabet based on the Greek system of writing assigning vowels and consonant sounds to actual letters that would signify meaning. This is considered to have technological superiority over other forms of script (Olson, 1994).There is a belief that writing is more superior to speech because it is the actual transcription of the spoken word. Thus the cognitive argument emphasizes on the significance of literacy in society’s advanced capacities and progress. However this view has been criticized. To quote from Olson: ‘The focus on literacy skills seriously underestimates the significance of both the implicit understandings that children bring to school and the importance of oral discourse in bringing those understandings into consciousness in turning them into objects of knowledge.’ (Olson, 1997 cited in Street 2004)Thus one needs to factor in oral competencies together with reading and writing skills in looking at literacy as skill (Robinson, 2003). Numeracy skills also have to be added as an important component of literacy. Literacy skills must also include those that enable access to knowledge and information such as skills in surfing the internet, technological skills, computer literacy, among others (Lankshear, 2003). This new view paved the way for the concept of functional literacy which can complement the limitations of the skills based perspective.Functional literacy is defined by the World Congress of Ministers of Education on the Eradication of Illiteracy, Tehran September 1965: â€Å"Rather than an end in itself, l iteracy should be regarded as a way of preparing man [sic] for a social, civic and economic role that goes beyond the limits of rudimentary literacy training consisting merely in [sic] the teaching of reading and writing. † (Yousif, 2003) Functional literacy is most often linked to development which not only means teaching reading, writing, ‘rithmetic and speaking, but also knowing how to go about in society such as finding a job.Literacy as Socially Situated The ethnographic perspective to literacy looks into the practices of literacy in different cultural and social contexts. This perspective has been coined NLS or New Literacy Studies (Gee, 1999). This perspective looks at ‘the everyday meanings and uses of literacy in specific cultural contexts and links directly to how we understand the work of literacy programmes, which themselves then become subject to ethnographic enquiry’ (Street, 2004). This perspective looks at literacy not only as a skill but as a social practice which is socially constructed and imbedded in the culture of society.It argues that reading and writing are not neutral skills but based on concept of ideology, identity, being and knowledge. Thus this perspective emphasizes on the social situatedness of literacy. This is a more culturally sensitive approach where there is no single and universal definition of literacy but only in the social context wherein meaning is derived from (Doronilla, 1996). Most often than not the classification of illiterates are done on traditional societies on the hunting and gathering mode of economic production.However we cannot impose this definition on their lives because the applicability of being â€Å"literate† on their culture is not going to be very significant. Thus there is a call to review the literate-illiterate dichotomy. In a study by Sylvia Scribner together with Michael Cole in (The Psychology of Literacy, 1981) on the functions of literacy in Vai of north-west L iberia, they argue that literacy will only be fully understood within the context of the people’s social practices (Barton, 1994). The argument is such that being literate means that one can navigate well in his or her social world.In traditional societies, learning to read and to write is not as compelling as learning to hunt and survive in the forest. The criticism levelled at this approach is that it emphasizes too much on local context without factoring in external forces such as colonization, religious evangelization, economic globalization and others (Brandt, 2002). Others also question this overemphasis on cultural difference when literacy should be encouraging peoples of the world to integrate and create meaningful social, economic, and political linkages (Maddox, 2001).Anthropological and ethnographic researches looking into the communicative process reveals that it is the local contexts that define literacy and that the texts can only be produced within specific cul tural and social perspectives. Thus literacy should not be imposed from the outside as a dominant discourse but should naturally development from one’s culture. Literacy as a process of learning The constructivist perspective looks at literacy as a continuing process rather than an end product. Knowledge is seen as continually evolving and being socially constructed in the process of doing.This looks into the perspective of the learner and how he or she makes meaning and sense from his own experiences. In this perspective, critical reflection is the key to individual and social transformation. This was developed by Kolb in adult education where the design is experiential and learning begins by personal reflection (Kolb, 1984). Paulo Freire is one of the main theorists propounding on this perspective. I quote from Paulo Freire, â€Å"Every reading of the word is preceded by a reading of the world.Starting from the reading of the world that the reader brings to literacy progra ms (a social- and class determined reading), the reading of the word sends the reader back to the previous reading of the world, which is, in fact, a re-reading. (Freire, 1995)† For Paulo Freire, literacy is not a matter of learning to speak, then to read then to write. These are all part of the learning process. Literacy is such that it gives meaning to our life and to our world as we continue to be part of the never ending process of social transformation.The whole process of interpretation and meaning giving should not be without conscientization and resolve to higher action. Part of Freire’s pedagogy is praxis which is a combination of theory and practice where literacy can dialogically transform the world (Freire, 1995). For Freire literacy originates first and foremost, from the social practices of man and his actual encounter with the world. Literacy as text Linguists, educationalists, and literary theorists look at literacy from the perspective of it being the à ¢â‚¬Ëœsubject matter’ (Bhola, 1994)) where the nature of the given texts are created and used by individuals.These texts may vary in terms of genre and subject, the levels of difficulty in the language being used, and in ideological content which can be explicit or hidden. This perspective looks at literacy where texts are bound together in intertextuality where people’s practices and texts intertwine. Thus the texts have the power to reproduce social practices such as social inequalities, gender relations, and racism among others. This is referred to as discourse.Others improved this perspective by also including non verbal communication, gestures, body language are part of the communication process where different cultures and contexts can change the interpretation of meaning (Kress, 2001). Thus people choose ‘representational resources’ on a case to case basis depending on what situation and what context. To illustrate, even the theories of literacy are themselves embedded in the assumptions and values of institutions and individuals. This perspective requires a critical reading of the text as social constructed and at the same time socially recreating society.Meanings are constructed according to social binaries and collusion of different values and forms of life. The criticism levelled at this perspective is determining its applicability in multi cultural settings and in a rapidly globalizing information society where the internet serves as a main medium bridging different cultures. Moreover, this perspective tends toward nihilism if we begin to look at all text being socially constructed, one may conclude that there neither defining value nor stable foothold to culture. Literacy as a Dominating IdeologyNeo Marxists levels its attack on the idea of literacy itself as a western and dominating ideology that creates social inequalities. This is being done by derogatory classification of â€Å"illiterates† without even lookin g at their specific culture and life forms from their own point of view. Literacy as an ideology is said to impose a standard created by the First World which brings with its own economic system of capitalism as already accepted. Thus the space of indigenous peoples for discourse is reduced only to a certain level of â€Å"literacy† from which they can discourse.Those who cannot speak the educated language are silenced. Technical discourse is preferred over experiential discourse. Bringing it all together If we look at the various perspectives in which we have analyzed literacy, we can see some common denominators in which all these perspectives can agree upon. These are: 1. That literacy should involve the whole range of human communication skills such as reading, writing, speaking, counting and even non verbal communication and the study of proxemics and body language as forms of representation. 2.That literacy is contingent on the needs of the learners and the needs of soc iety. 3. That literacy must be able to empower and engage the people and must thrive within a positive learning environment. Yousif gives general definition of literacy based on these 4 perspectives: â€Å"Literacy is a technical capacity and a social act whose principal focus is reading, writing and numeracy as a step in a lifelong learning process that can lead to creative expression and conceptual problem-solving skills.Its principal objective is to enable the individual to achieve his goals and to  contribute to the welfare of his community (Yousif, 10-12 June, 2003). † If we examine the definition above we will observe that at the core of literacy are cognitive skills but it does not end there. The definition of Literacy further reaches out to creative expression, the ability to navigate the social world and survive, and conceptual problem solving. This definition further affirms the social roots and origins of literacy as human beings are social beings. As individuals they have to make meaning and interpret communication. As social beings, we need to be part and contribute to the welfare of society.As literacy is integral to culture and society, it is also a lifelong process of learning for human society is never static. The Significance of this definition This definition can prove to be very significant in the conduct of literacy efforts all over the world. While literacy efforts may stress on cognitive skills at the beginning, they should also emphasize on self actualization and social transformation as a direction. Literacy is also seen not as an end in itself but a lifelong process directed at creative self expression, psychological empowerment and self actualization, critical engagement, and social transformation.Literacy efforts should also look at the applicability and practicability of literacy programs on the actual life situation and culture of the people. There is no generic formula for literacy and the point of literacy programs is t o make human communities a better place to live in. While however accepting such diversity, we also have to take note that the mass media through the information high way is literally changing the communication landscape of the world.Thus we need to be open to learning how to navigate through fast developments while being critical of dominating discourses that flood the media.III. Conclusion:Education for Freedom During the last 300 years when the industrial revolution began, dramatic advances had made it a requirement for people in the modern world to have formal education in the schools. Before that, the transmission of learning and skills happened via oral tradition and the socialization of the young. Today, educational institutions are a must and acquiring formal education is already a necessity among the young.With the study of the different perspectives on literacy, we now know that literacy does not only mean skill but also competency. However, competency is not enough if one is to reach his highest potential. One needs critical self reflection to examine the deepest roots of our society and social life in order to change it. Thus literacy means gaining knowledge to understand the world and analyze society. Yet again the process never stops. For in the end, knowledge is useless if it has no goal and direction. The only worthwhile direction of human knowledge is none other than Freedom.This is what it really means when we say that reason has finally triumphed; where the world lives on free discourses and what matter is what’s right and not who’s right. This is where literacy brings not only development but also freedom and a better world guided by wisdom and reason. As information society increases global communication and makes the world smaller, so must the free exchange of culture and knowledge proceed without discrimination but with respect so there would be a diversity which is a unity in itself guided by the highest kind of literacy w e can ever imagine.