Cuban Missile Crisis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Cuban Missile Crisis - Research Paper Example The Soviet Union plus the United States entered into an agreement through back channels of communication to withdraw the missiles. The United States withdrew it missiles from Turkey while the Soviet Union withdrew its missiles from Cuba (Chayes, 1974). After the communication between the two states, Cuba was not happy about it and considered it a betrayal by the soviet government. The relationship between Cuba and the Soviet Union deteriorated. This meant that mass destruction by nuclear weapons became abolished entirely (Cuban missile crisis, 2011). It ensured that there was diplomacy and bargaining power between the two super powers. The communication between the two made it clear that they could come to a compromise without necessarily going to war. They found a way of peaceful coexistence. The relationship between America and the Soviet Union did not remain cordial for a long time (Cuban missile crisis, 2011). The use of spy cameras and airplanes became predominant since the United States was following up the missiles on the bases of Cuba via satellite. The first telephone â€Å"hotline† became installed in order to offer direct communication between the two presidents. The negotiations were underway, and a compromise reached at (Chayes, 1974). Because of the great relationship, Kennedy got the public confidence after coming to an agreement with the Soviet Union since he became seen as a weak’ leader (Cuban missile crisis, 2011). After Kennedy, Reagan came to power and was able to overwhelm the USSR which brought about the downfall of this Soviet Bloc and also an end to the cold war (Cuban missile crisis, 2011). ... The experts informed Kennedy that he has only 10 days before the missiles are operational (Allison, 1969). Kennedy sets up a committee of National Security Council members to give him advice. The President soon announces that he was putting up a number of naval blockades on Cuba (Chayes, 1974). A number of B52 nuclear bombs became deployed, ensuring an eighth of all of them was airborne every time. On the same night, a Western spy working in Russia got arrested. His last message was that the Soviet attack was imminent (Allison, 1969) On the 23rd of October, Khrushchev provided an explanation that these missile sites were purposefully meant for defending Cuba against external attack (Chayes, 1974). 20 Russian ships became spotted heading to Cuba (Pfiffner, n.d). He accused the United States of piracy, and warned that Russia was preparing a fitting reply to the oncoming aggressor. The first Russian ship docked on the naval blockade on the 25th of October 1962 (Allison, 1969). This was an oil ship, and it was allowed to pass. The other Russian ships carrying dangerous missiles turned back. The US government had secretly offered to remove its missiles located in Turkey. They were to exchange them for the ones in Cuba (Chayes, 1974). On 26th October Russia was still going ahead with building the missile bases (Chayes, 1974). Kennedy began planning a military strike on Cuba. Khrushev sent Kennedy a telegram offering to destroy all the nuclear sites if he would lift the blockade he had placed and to agree not to invade Cuba (Clearly, 2009). The Kennedys’ met with the Russian ambassador and mentioned removing all the missiles located in Turkey (Pfiffner, n.d). Before Kennedy could reply to his letter,

Same-Sex Marriage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Same-Sex Marriage - Essay Example It is a social ordinal issue for what family life is being strongly affected through these transformations. The changing trends of family life are hazardous for long term family and social issue. The most emerging trend in most of the western countries is gay or lesbian marriage (Moats and David 32). The psychological disorder is basically reported behind the phenomenon. It is not natural hence it must not be permissible by law. However, the organizations supporting for human rights believe that everyone has the right to spend his or her life according to their own wishes and aspirations. There are many medical issues related with this case. It although is not taken as a good sign whether if it is permissible by law. The countries in which it is permissible are Brazil, Argentine, Spain, Sweden, Canada, South Africa and Mexico (West and Robin 45). The religious aspect of same sex marriage is divergent to the permission. Almost every religious teaching is against these sorts of marriages. It is backed by a complete campaign. The supporters are in support as a collective cohesion in the society. However it is psychologically, medically and socially ill proven phenomenon since long. The premiers of these marriages were not even aware of adverse consequences of this issue (Dryden and Caroline). The social disorders and family structure mismatch issues are associated with same sex marriage exclusively. A number of organizations are working to make these marriages banned across because of increasing damages being reported in the last decade. It is very dangerous for social systems and values. It is sign of anxiety in the people’s minds that makes them forced to do this (Olsen and Allene 11). According to Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Lesbian Gay Bisexual (LGB) persons usually suffer from adverse psychiatry disorders of disparity. These inferiority complexes further are transmitted to the children they adopt.

CBN and FDI Outflows to China

CBN and FDI Outflows to China Introduction and Research Problem Since its economic opening in 1979, China has become one of the worlds largest recipients of foreign direct investment (FDI). In 2007, inflows to China totalled over US$82 billion, bringing Chinas cumulative FDI to almost US$700 billion for the period 1979 to 2007 (CSB 2007). But what has particularly captured both academic and popular attention is the extent to which Chinas massive levels of FDI may be attributable to diasporic ethnic Chinese capital, what Harvard academic John Kao famously termed the Chinese commonwealth (Kao 1993: 24). It has often been asserted that some two-thirds of all the foreign investment that has poured into China originated from ethnic Chinese living outside of China (e.g., Wolf 2002: 134). This unprecedented level of intra-ethnic investment presents something of a headache to mainstream FDI theories, which, at the level of the firm, tend to explain internationalisation as an incremental process resulting from, variously, the pursuit of market power, an internalising of technological improvements, and the accumulation of foreign market knowledge and experience. Protesting against this type of theorizing as under-socialised and Western-centric, many Asia scholars (who are frequently also Asian) developed an alternative account drawn upon insights from network theory and some sociological studies of Chinese firms done in the 1990s. Their account—which in this dissertation is referred to as the Chinese Capitalism corpus—spans a variety of disciplinary frameworks including anthropology, economic geography and sociology, development economics, management, and Southeast Asia Regional studies, but has at its heart the premise that ethnic Chinese enterprises domin ate the economic activity of East Asia and FDI flows into China in large part because of their ability to draw upon dense, interlinked networks of social/family/political relationships that span national boundaries. These linkages are commonly known as Chinese business networks (CBN). The assertion that ethnic Chinese engage in pervasive networking on an international scale has become so ubiquitous in popular and academic literature that it is usually considered a stylized fact. But is it true that—despite citizenship in countries with differing social structures, political economies, and histories—the Chinese diaspora is linked by transnational webs of strong personalistic ties? And have these webs actuated and facilitated massive flows of FDI to China? If so, this would suggest that ethnic Chinese business operates in a distinctive manner, that it is proper to speak of a Chinese Capitalism in which flexibly linked Chinese enterprises might even form a competitive substitute for formally structured Western and Japanese multinational enterprises (MNEs). Alternatively, it has been suggested that the concept of CBN might simply be a cultural myth which obscures, possibly exaggerates and distorts, the internationalisation of ethnic Chinese enterprises (Mackie 2000). If so—if intra-ethnic networking is ill-defined, over-stated and under-researched—what should we make of the prevalence of the CBN discourse in economics-based discipline s? And, if they are not advantaged by networks, how should mainstream FDI theories be amended to account for the fact that at the turn of the 21st century we find so many Singaporean enterprises in China? The main purpose of my research was to move this debate forward. I did so by investigating claims of extensive intra-ethnic networking among the ethnic Chinese with an eye toward enhancing mainstream internationalisation theorising. More specifically, I tested whether evidence of CBN could be found in the transnational expansion into China of randomly-selected Chinese-Singaporean small-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This chapter has two main objectives. The first is to present my dissertations research question and to explain why it is important. The second is to provide an overview of how and why I investigated it as I did. To this end, the following section discusses the general context of my research problem and reviews the conventional theoretical frameworks that address the phenomenon of internationalisation. Section 1.1.2 explains why it is important that claims of extensive intra-ethnic networking be investigated. Next, the focus is narrowed to the specific research question that was tested. The concept of CBN is carefully defined in Section 1.1.3, and it is conceptually operationalised into testable sub-hypotheses in Section 1.1.4. Background of CBN Claims With some US$30 billion cumulative FDI invested in China between 1979 and 2006, Singapore ranked as Chinas seventh largest source of foreign investment, after Hong Kong, Japan, the Virgin Islands, the United States, Taiwan, and South Korea (CSB, 2007). In 2006, about 70% of the Association for East Asian Nations (ASEAN) FDI originated in Singapore, and between 1990 and 2006, over 15,000 Singaporean projects were set up in China. These figures are all the more remarkable given Singapores small size. Furthermore, as significant as Singapore now is as an investor to China, it is likewise true that China has become important to Singapore as an investment market. Since 1997, China—a vacuum cleaner for foreign direct investment, as Lee Kuan Yew has frequently called it—has each year received the largest share of FDI by Singaporean entities, replacing Malaysia as Singapores top investment destination (Hamlin 2002). In 2002, FDI to China accounted for over 17% of total Singaporean investment abroad (Department of Statistics 2002). It is clear from these figures that not only are Singaporean transnational enterprises (TNEs) a significant force in the rearticulation of China into the global economy, but that China has become an important factor in the regionalisation of Singaporean firms. How can we account for this tremendous and unprecedented diasporic transnational investment? Two corpuses of literature that purportedly shed light on this phenomenon are critically examined in this dissertation: the mainstream internationalisation construct and what I refer to as the Chinese Capitalism perspective. Three strands within the mainstream internationalisation literature are highlighted in this dissertation. The first is theories of the MNE, which grew out of Stephen Hymers seminal work on post-war multinational investment in Europe and has its roots in the utilitarian tradition of classical and neo-classical economics. This corpus of literature has expanded over the decades to encompass a range of views, but at its core is some version of the argument that MNEs are enterprises which, in response to market imperfection and a desire to exploit proprietary advantages, have internalised activities by investing abroad. A distinctive sub-group of these theories has arisen in response to the spectacular increase in developing-country MNEs since the 1970s. Within Developing-Country MNE theories, the leading argument is that emerging MNEs from developing countries follow an incremental internationalisation process driven by gradual internal technological accumulation. Internationalisation Process Models is the second important strand within the mainstream approach. With its roots in behavioural theories of the firm, it offers a more explicitly dynamic approach to understanding the process by which firms engage in FDI. Though there is some variation in the explanation employed in the models—for instance, some stress learning and others focus on technological accumulation—and though the process is variously described as cyclic, stage-based, or evolutionary, a key premise is that internationalisation is incremental by nature, as the firm acquires knowledge necessary for further internationalisation. A third major strand within the mainstream approach has explicitly incorporated the concept of network into internationalisation theorisations. It is important to note the schism in the network literature between viewing networks as a form of governance structure versus focusing on networks as social relationships. This has caused a number of definitional problems and contributed to a seemingly irreconcilable divergence between mainstream economics/business theories and an approach that has grown out of the sociology discipline. Of the former, perhaps the most important for this thesis is the Late Industrialisation framework, which treats the concept of networks as a distinctive mode of organisation through which learning and the adaptation of borrowed technology were combined to promote economic development in a number of late industrialising countries in the 20th century. These three strands within the mainstream internationalisation construct dominate much of the research on MNEs and FDI but they have their shortcomings. In particularly, many Asia scholars (who were frequently Chinese-speaking Asians) have objected that mainstream internationalisation theories, with their under-socialised and Western roots, cannot adequately explain the phenomenon of ethnic Chinese investment in the motherland (Yeung 2000: 10). These scholars have instead drawn upon the insights of network theory and several sociological studies of ethnic Chinese enterprises (that were done in the 1990s) to develop an alternative account—the Chinese Capitalism perspective—to elucidate the specific case of ethnic Chinese transnational expansion. As its name suggests, this large corpus of literature is exclusively concerned with ethnic Chinese enterprises because it is argued that they differ in important respects not only from Japanese and Western firms, but from other d eveloping-country enterprises (Kao 1993). Central to the Chinese Capitalism perspective is the premise that ethnic Chinese firms dominate FDI flows into China, and indeed much of the economic activity of East Asia, because of their ability to form and draw upon dense, interlinked webs of social/family/political relationships that span national boundaries and rest on trust and reciprocation (Hamilton 1996a: 17). These relationships—Chinese business networks (CBN)—are variously ascribed to cultural and/or institutional factors and ostensibly give ethnic Chinese TNEs a strong advantage, especially when entering culturally Chinese markets such as China, while non-ethnic Chinese businesses meet with less success (EAAU 1995). As Hamilton-Hart wrote: Investment and trade flows linking Southeast and Northeast Asia have been promoted by network-like relationships among firms and individuals. These relationships have fostered regionalization by reducing the costs and risks of transnational investment (Hamilton-Hart 2002: 1). Describing this advantage in an especially enthusiastic manner, Redding wrote that ethnic Chinese capitalism is essentially an economic culture characterized by a unique capacity to co-operate (emphasis added: Redding 1990: 79). And Hamilton, concluding that the Chinese diaspora will elbow out non-Chinese entrants in the China market, wrote: Many Westerners honestly believe that they have a real chance to sell to the one billion plus Chinese consumers, but I do not believe it will work out this way (Hamilton 1996a: 19). Journalists and management gurus have similarly embraced the concept of Chinese business networks (e.g., Seagrave 1996; Backman 1999; and Drucker 1994). The concept of CBN has historical roots in the centuries of mass migration that have fostered transnational ethnic Chinese communities which span the world. Many historians have argued that commercial and financial networks based on fictive and agnatic familism, pang or speech-group solidarities, and regionalism, were historically important social channels in some settings, such as for those emigrating to Southeast Asia from southern China. But the Chinese Capitalism literature, taking new life from the treatment of networks within the sociology discipline, extended this historical observation further. It not only asserted that CBN remained important at the turn of the 21st century, but it emphasized CBN as a distinctive characteristic or skill of the ethnic Chinese. Research Significance The skill or special ability to combine a firms resources with the complementary resources of its partners can no doubt be an important organisational capability. Among the benefits, networks lower business transaction costs, provide for better risk assessment, and lead to prompt decision-making. But is there evidence that networking has been a primary factor in ethnic Chinese transnational expansion? Does it explain why Singaporean FDI has flowed so far afield to China? My research contributes to academic understanding in a number of ways. It adds to the scarce academic research that has been published to date on Southeast Asian SMEs, and it contributes to a more rigorous definition of CBN and some of the terms associated with it, such as guanxi. But its most significant contributions are to the following three areas: 1) theorizing on internationalisation and FDI in general, and ethnic Chinese businesses in particular; 2) assessments of whether Singaporean FDI outflows to China represent actual or faux economic development, and what that implies for evaluations of Singaporean state developmentalism; and 3) the use of CBN as a small state strategy to facilitate economic development and to accommodate an ascendant China. Chinese Capitalism and Internationalisation Theorising Further research into CBN is necessary to enhance theorising in both the Chinese Capitalism and mainstream internationalisation corpuses. As discussed in detail in Chapter 3, the Chinese Capitalism literature has to date suffered from a serious lack of empirical evidence. Articles that discuss CBN do often reference prior academic works, but when checked these references typically are revealed to be rather insubstantial. There is also a marked tendency to repeat, mantra-like, the same three or four original works on the subject, but because these studies were largely descriptive and based on a tiny sample size, they do not provide an adequate buttressing for the claim of extensive intra-ethnic business networking. Moreover, there have been virtually no rigorous cross-cultural comparative studies, and little consideration has been given to the drawbacks and costs of operating through networks. My investigation into CBN also speaks to the appropriateness of the academic niche that has developed for Chinese Business. A virtual phalanx of Chinese business experts has popped up since the late 1990s, and it is common to find universities that have dedicated a Chair—or even a department—to the business practices of this specific ethnic group. In contrast, one is less likely to find similar attention to Russian or Indian business studies. Of course, this is due in part to the staggering market potential represented by Chinas 1.3 billion population, but it can also be traced to the essentially culturalist assumption that ethnic Chinese have unique business practices such as CBN. In fact, CBN has become so widely accepted that much of the academic discussion has shifted away from directly considering ethnic Chinese ties towards as pseudo cross-comparative approach that is problematic because it contrasts the fact of CBN with the lack of networking in other cultures. Research into how, for example, Nordic or Indian networks are not as strong as CBN have become common. In short, though some of the details of CBN may be contested, the general premise of the Chinese Capitalism literature has largely been accepted and is influential. This has been especially true in the international business rubric, but references to CBN abound in economics-based disciplines as well. For example, in an Institute for International Economics special report describing the lessons South Korea should learn from CBN, Young argued: In the 1990s, they [the Chinese diaspora] formulated an international strategy to form a global network of overseas ChineseThe experiences of overseas Chines e networks would be good models for Korea (Young 2003: 50). And how did Young define CBN? They are led by the unique Chinese personal network, guanxi, which links individuals, hometown associations, business associations in the same industry, and associations of people with the same family name (Young 2003: 53). Mainstream internationalisation theories also have significant shortcomings. The economics discipline has a long history of neglecting—often completely omitting—the social, political, and historical context in which firms are embedded. A large gulf between mainstream economics and other social sciences has developed, making each seem increasingly irrelevant to the other. Economics many insights and strengths are too often viewed as inapplicable to other disciplines, and disciplinary cross-fertilisation has been hampered. Sloppy theorisations arise and thrive in such an environment. One of the most significant ways that evidence for CBN affects mainstream theorising lies in its suggestion that informally-linked enterprises might serve as functional substitutes for Western and Japanese MNEs. Large firms, especially multinationals, enjoy significant benefits of scale and scope as well as learning and productivity advantages that are unavailable to smaller, isolated firms (Nolan 2001). In contrast, the relatively small size of ethnic Chinese firms, which tend to be family-owned and -controlled, is considered by mainstream theorists to limit their competitiveness in international business. But perhaps the 21st century will indeed be a network age in which the economies of scale that dominated in the previous period seem to have given way to network economies (Young 2003: 33). If so, then the concept of CBN suggests that ethnic Chinese firms are informally bound together in such a way that they can duplicate, and maybe exceed, the benefits derived from the larger sco pe of MNEs (Borrus 1997). This intriguing possibility—that the limitations on competitiveness inherent in a family-controlled firm may be overcome by networking—provides a further reason for why my research into claims of extensive CBN is significant. Moreover, as my results demonstrate in Chapter 5, irrespective of whether extensive intra-ethnic networking is taking the place, the effects of the CBN discourse are profound and have affected FDI decision-making. Mainstream economic theory would be improved if economists took a more open-minded and sophisticated approach to appreciating, understanding, and incorporating such social dimensions. Singaporean Development(alism): Actual or Faux? My research contributes in another key way. Empirical evidence (or its absence) of CBN should factor into evaluations of Singapores level of economic development and, hence, assessments of the states developmental policies. FDI from Singapore to China has not only been large but it continues to grow. Though this transnational expansion has been actively promoted by the ruling Peoples Action Party (PAP) through various policies, programmes, and an official discourse on creating an external economic wing, the state would have us interpret Singaporean investment in China as growing economic maturation, a sign that Singapore is moving away from MNE-led development to a stage in which home-grown capitalists diversify into new areas. Outward direct investments are beneficial to both firms and the home country as they provide access to strategic assets, technology, skills, natural resources, and markets. It is especially important for a small state with limited market size and resources to be able to access international markets and connect with global production/knowledge systems. The degree to which Singapore has experienced the social and technological progress associated with economic development has been a contentious subject for the PAP-state (e.g., Krugman 1994), and it is perennially anxious to demonstrate its effectiveness. As discussed in Chapter 8, signs of declining popular support for the PAP in election results since 1988, in conjunction with a series of accumulation crises over the past two decades, have the state very worried. Though recognized as highly intrusive, the state has largely been given credit for developing Singapore from a sleepy entrepà ´t into a major communications hub with a population that enjoys one of the worlds highest per capita incomes. Since the 1990s, the Singaporean state has to a striking degree officially embraced and propagated a (selectively Confucian) culturalist discourse alongside calls for the development of an external sector to help insulate the country from downturns in the world economy. Is this yet another sign of an enduring comprehensive developmental state (Pereira 2007) cheerleading the march towards the next stage in Singapores economic development, this time, in part, by encouraging latent networking capabilities in its ethnic Chinese population? This might imply that after years of neglect, the PAP-developmental state has reached a stage where it is prioritising the engagement of local capitalists in its economic strategies (Haggard and Cheng 1987). For while the developmental state is expected to be the most powerful political and economic player during much of development, at some point state strategies should pay off and produce a vigorous and competitive domestic capitalist class (Periera 2007: 3). But what should we make of Singaporean FDI to China, and the states insistence that these flows are rooted in Chinese exceptionalism, if evidence suggests that CBN claims are over-stated? Justifications for Singapores domineering one-party state have always pointed to the Republics strong economic performance. If public proclamations about Chinese business networking turn out to be rather more wishful thinking than actual practice, then the government may be judged to have taken a serious mis-step, especially considering its own massive investments in China and the problems associated with some of them (, The New Frontier, Far Eastern Economic Review, December 6, 2001, BY Ben Dolven e.g., the Suzhou Industrial Park). The implication would be that Singaporean investment in China represents, at least in part, something other than the cool, independent economic rationalism upon which PAP political legitimacy rests; concerns might be raised about the optimum use of resources and the degr ee to which political considerations have lead the state to invest heavily in China itself, push its GLC sector to do so as well, and create a discourse in which local capitalists are encouraged to make the risky move to China. More importantly, high levels of Singaporean FDI to China might not represent maturation out of the MNE-dependency that is widely recognized to now seriously limit economic growth and make the island-state exceptionally vulnerable to fluctuations in a world economy beyond its control. And it may hint that the hither-to developmental PAP-state is losing some of the political insulation, technocratic skills, and discipline it needs to continue to lead Singapore. In summary, my research contributes to assessments of the PAP-developmental state. Should Singaporean FDI to China be interpreted as a sign of economic development, with all the benefits this implies for a small state that has to date been extremely exposed to world economic conditions? Or, alternatively, is it at heart a sort of faux development that does not bring the social and technological progress that accompanies actual development? This important topic—the role of the PAP-states CBN discourse in FDI decision-making—is discussed at length in conjunction with the results of my research in Chapter 8. CBN as a Small State Strategy My research also contributes to an understanding of how CBN and the discourse surrounding can be used by a small state wishing to punch above its weight in its engagement with the international environment, especially an ascendant China. By this I am referring to Singapores strategic use of culture and ethnicity to further its economic and national security/foreign policy goals. Chinas growing economic and military strength is increasingly presenting a dramatic challenge to world, particularly East Asian, power relations. Tapping into (or manufacturing) the Chinese-ness of a states population or subgroup may be an excellent strategy for accommodating a rising China, especially for small states such as Singapore which are looking for ways to compensate for their power deficit. A small state faces an integration dilemma when it considers Chinas growing markets and reach (Goetschel 1998: 28). It can insist on economic and security independence but risk being abandoned or isolated, with the disadvantages this would like cause. Or it can accept a constraint on its freedom to act in ways that are contrary to Chinas economic and security goals and instead try to accommodate, identify with, even in some sense integrate with, China. Stressing as it does not just civilisational fluency but actual networks with China, the CBN discourse functions as a novel way of enabl ing Singapore to do the latter. Whether Singapores strategy might successfully be imitated by other small states remains to be seen. It is interesting to speculate how, for example, Africas over 7 million ethnic Chinese and Perus 1.3 million, might factor into their states strategic possibilities for engaging China (e.g., Mung 2008). Singapore has tried to modify the international environment through its cultural discourse in another sense. As discussed in Chapter 8, this former British colony has for the two decades heavily marketed itself as the Gateway to the East. Its stated goal since Singapores regionalisation drive was announced in 1993 has been to be the regional hub, a place where MNEs locate their headquarters and higher value-added operations (such as research and development), while situating lower value-added parts in China and other areas of East Asia where labour is cheaper. The clear implication of the self-orientalising discourse of CBN is that Western firms are unlikely to be successful if they invest directly in China. They need instead to engage a mediating force, such as Singaporean firms, in order to become part of the transnational networks in which Chinese business is accomplished, or so the story goes. As a Singaporean government minister put it: Those who have knowledge of the culture and cultural nuances are able to lower business risks [for foreigners]. The Chinese overseas understand Chinese culture because they are ethnically Chinese themselves, but they also understand the world outsideThey are like modems. They modulate and demodulate and add value in the process. (George Yeo, quoted in Crovitz 1993: 18). With its middleman familiarity with both East and West and its purportedly dense transnational networks with China, the CBN discourse therefore places Singapore in the enviable niche position of knowledge arbitrageur (Tan, K.B. Eugene 2006). It is a striking example of the claiming of territoriality over knowledge (Brown and Menkhoff 2006), in both a conceptual and quite literal sense. Defining the Concept of CBN Unfortunately, a clear-cut definition of the concept of Chinese business networking does not currently exist. Much of the Chinese Capitalism literature is largely descriptive rather than theoretically precise, and to the degree that a definition is specified it varies significantly from author to author. Some scholars discussing networks have stressed their origin in qiaoxiang (usually defined as ancestral homeland ties), kinship, religious, and/or school ties (Hamilton 1996; Liu 1998, 1999; Yeung 2000d). Other scholars have used a broader definition that characterises Chinese business networks as long-term, but extensible, personalized networks, based on trust and upheld by the indispensability of reputation within such a system (Tracy et al. 2001: 262). These are contrasted with what are characterised as the generally weak, situational, and non-enduring ties of the West (Zahra et al. 1999: 45). A particular problem with the fuzziness surrounding CBN is that this concept is often—and unhelpfully—confused with guanxi. Like CBN, the latter term suffers from a lack of definitional rigor. Guanxi has commonly been translated as both connections and relationships, but neither of these terms adequately gives a sense of how this multi-faceted concept is commonly understood by Chinese. A more sophisticated definition is, the concept of drawing on connections in order to secure favors in personal relations (Luo 2007: 2). There are obvious similarities between the concepts of CBN and guanxi, but closer scrutiny of the academic literature as well as the results of my fieldwork led me to a conclusion, shared with a few researchers (e.g., Fan 2002), that guanxi is not identical to CBN. For example, it is not generally considered to be something that is exchanged between family members or childhood friends, nor is it usually described as having any sense of qiaoxiang or ancestral homeland sentiment. Also, unlike CBN, guanxi has on occasion been described quite negatively by a few researchers. Fan, for example, argued that guanxi and corruption are inextricably intertwined in 21st century China (2002). This assessment was supported by my fieldwork, as most of the SME owners I interviewed ascribed negative qualities to the practice of guanxi. Some of them described guanxi as a payment—on occasion they used the term bribe—that must be paid to local government officials as a cost of doing busine ss in China. Others equated it with an obligation to pay for lavish dinners and parties for customers or suppliers in the (frequently forlorn) hope of receiving enough business in return to justify these outlays. When one of my interviewees was asked to define guanxi, he summed it up as, If you want to do business in China, you must pay to play (Interviewee #6). In summary, though any attempt to definitively delineate these two unwieldy and messy terms (Luo 2007) is beyond the scope of this dissertation, the results of my research, combined with a close scrutiny of the academic literature, led me to the conclusion that they are not identical. While creating guanxi with someone may lead to a close networking relationship, it should not be confused with the networking relationship itself. So, though these concepts overlap, it is important to carefully define and distinguish between them. Yet in many accounts of Chinese business practices these two terms—guanxi and CBN—are used as though they were interchangeable. As discussed further in Chapter 5, the frequent conflation of what are actually two separate concepts adds to the confusion surrounding intra-ethnic networking and has important ramifications for my research conclusions. In light of the definitional jumble surrounding CBN, it was important in this thesis that the concept be defined in such as way as to convey the general intent of the Chinese Capitalism literature, yet be specific enough to be rigorously tested. To this end, I chose to draw upon the definition of Chinese business networking suggested by Gomez and Hsiao (2001). They argued that the Chinese Capitalism literature is characterised by an emphasis on Chinese exclusivity, a special conception of trust, and an explicit challenge to existing theories of transnational expansion. Thus, contrary to the very broad definitions typically put forth or assumed, the concept of CBN must necessarily imply a precise, strong connection among businessmen that goes beyond the common, and casual, use in the West of the term business networking (Gomez and Hsiao 2001). More specifically, Gomez and Hsiao claimed that the concept should be reserved for: The e

Escape from Industrialization in Wells The Time Machine Essay examples

Escape from Industrialization in Wells' The Time Machine      Ã‚      Our society craves an escape from life.   When our tedious jobs bog us down, we escape into a hobby.   When the responsibilities of school tire us, we escape in a vacation.   When world affairs take a frightening turn of events, we escape in a good movie or absorbing book.   There are countless distractions available to lighten our heavy minds and ease our anxieties.   But it was not always as easy as it is today.   What if distractions such as these were available only to a leisured class?   What if the average person did not have the means to escape, even in small ways?   This was the dilemma in late Victorian England.   The people who needed and craved escape the most, the working and poor classes, could not achieve it.   Industrialization had locked many of them into their subservient social positions, disallowing any means of even temporary escape from the harshness of Victorian life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   H.G. Wells' The Time Machine addresses this desire to escape.   The unnamed Time Traveler himself does not necessarily have the desire to escape from Victorian life.   He is wealthy and educated enough to spend his days creating a time machine to satisfy his desire to explore time.   But escapism is addressed in his changing theories about the origin and nature of the Eloi and Morlocks, whom he encounters in his travels.   Related to this theme of escape is the concept of progress not universally yielding good.   The Time Machine speaks to the powerful late Victorian themes of escape and progress, painting a frightening picture of the dystopia that could result from the Victorians' ruthless exploitation of the working class during industrialization.   Begi... ...k. "The Railway God" The Birth of Neurosis: Myth, Malady, and the Victorians.   Simon & Schuster: New York, 1984. 108-122.   "Man or Beast?   The Lasting Effects of Darwin."   Victorian Monstrosities Essay 2.   3 December 2001. http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/rtotaro/ENL4122Essay2.htm Mitchell, Sally. "Class, Tradition, and Money" and "Working Life" Daily Life in Victorian England. Greenwood: Westport, Connecticut, 1996. 19-39, 43-61. Rose, Holly, Toni Veloce, and Bobby Zarnecki. "Feminism and Literature: A Look at Sarah Grand and The Heavenly Twins." Victorian Monstrosities Group Presentation. Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, Florida. 6 Nov. 2001.   Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. New York: Dover, 1991.   Wilde, Oscar.   The Picture of Dorian Gray.   New York: Dover, 1993.  

Isotopes and Their Uses

Isotopes Any of two or more forms of a chemical element, having the same number of protons in the nucleus, but having different numbers of neutrons are called isotopes. Some isotopes are unstable, especially those with a lot of neutrons compared to the number of protons in the nucleus. These isotopes tend to eject some particles, in the form of radiation, until a stable nucleus is produced; this is called the radioactive decay. Four isotopes as well as their uses are mentioned subsequently. Americium: Americium is a silvery metal, which corrodes slowly in air and is soluble in acid. It has the isotopes: Am-243, Am-242 and Am-241, with a half-life of 432 years, which was the first isotope to be isolated. The isotope Am-241  decays by  emitting alpha particles and intense gamma radiation to become neptunium-237. Americium (in combination with beryllium) is also used as a neutron source in non-destructive testing of machinery and equipment, and as a thickness gauge in the glass industry. However, its most common application is as an ionization source in smoke detectors, and most of the several kilograms of americium made each year are used in this way. One gram of americium oxide provides enough active material for more than  three million  household smoke detectors. Krypton: Krypton 85 (Kr-85) is a radioisotope of krypton. It is a radioactive gas found in the atmosphere and produced by nuclear explosions, nuclear power plants, volcanoes and earthquakes. Krypton-85 is odorless, colorless and tasteless and emits low-level radiation levels of both gamma and beta rays. Krypton-85 is usually produced in gas mixtures with argon or xenon to improve the ionization in light bulbs by reducing their starting voltage. It also is used in plasma displays, spark gaps and for leak detection. Strontium: Strontium-90 is a radioactive isotope, with a half-life of 28. 8 years. Sr-90 finds extensive use in medicine and industry, as a radioactive source for superficial radiotherapy of some cancers. Controlled amounts of this isotope can be used in treatment of bone cancer. As the radioactive decay of strontium-90 generates significant amount of heat, it is used as a heat ource in radioisotope thermoelectric generators, this is a device where heat released by the decay of a radioactive material is converted into electricity. It is also used as a radioactive tracer in medicine and agriculture. Thorium: Thorium-230 is a radioactive isotope of thorium, which can be used to date corals and determine ocean current flux. Ionium was a name given early in the study of radioa ctive elements to the Th-230 isotope produced in the decay chain of U-238 before it was realized that ionium and thorium are chemically identical. The symbol Io was used for this supposed element.

Juliet Character study Essay

Juliet is 13 going on 14 on the first of August. Juliet is a Capulet, and Capulets hate Montegues. Juliet lives with her parents, Lord and Lady Capulet and is cared for by her Nurse, all of whom are very protective of her. Capulet explains to Paris â€Å"My Child is yet a stranger in the world. † Act 1 Sc2 l8. Juliet is of a high status, mainly because of her family name. Juliet’s parents are extremely protective of her, they will not let her out of the house with out the nurse or one of the servants with her, this is because she is an only child † Earth hath swallowed all my hopes but she. † Act1 Sc2 L14. It was common in the time the play was set for Juliet to be already married, Lady Capulet comments about this near the beginning of the play, she comments on how she was married and had Juliet when Lady Capulet was Juliet’s age. From Act 1 Scene 5 it is evident that Juliet has never flirted before, because she is too forward, this is shown when she kisses Romeo, but she does show signs of hiding her feelings in the same scene, Juliet tells the Nurse to ask for peoples names who are at the ball and comes to Romeo last to try and make it not look too obvious. I have also learnt from Act 2 scene 2 that she is very practical, when she Romeo climbs up to her balcony she says â€Å"If they do see thee, they will murder thee. † Act2 Scene2 L70. Juliet is also very honest about how she feels and gets offended when Romeo says that he loves her and he swears by the moon. Act2 Sc2 L107-111. Juliet is also very certain of things and asks Romeo to marry her and she asks him to do all the arrangements Act 2 Sc2 L142-170. During the Play, Romeo has always tried the art of Poetry with women to get them to take to his fancy. Act1 Sc1 L165-176. Juliet doesn’t like this Act2 Sc6 L30-34, but Juliet does say that her love for Romeo has grown so much that it doesn’t even add up to half her wealth. Juliet doesn’t like her love to be sworn on things she just wants love to be shown. Act2 Sc2 L107-116. The factor in the play I find very peculiar is Juliet’s awareness that her love with Romeo is some how unethical there love actually is. In Act3 Scene5 Ln54-57 Juliet is saying that in the future she can see herself looking down into Romeo’s grave. This is ironic because this does actually happen When the play first started I thought that Juliet was a good little girl and seemed to be very obedient, towards both parents, because when Lady Capulet asks Juliet if she’ll marry Paris she says that if she likes Paris then she shall marry him, but I won’t involve myself any further without you consent. Act1 Sc3 L97-99. When Juliet started to change character Act3 Sc5 to me it seemed very unusual, before this scene she seemed very obedient, but then she just stopped, I do understand why though, she was already to married to Romeo and didn’t want to betray him by marrying County Paris. This shows despite all the things she has been through Juliet still stays Loyal to Romeo. The effect this had on Juliet’s relationship with her parents was catastrophic, her parents wanted to disown her, from her heritage â€Å"Hang thee young baggage, disobedient wretch! † Act3 Sc5 Ln160. Juliet’s parents were very unfair, cursing her, saying that they didn’t want anything to do with her any more, through out their speeches. An attribute I like about Juliet is her cunning, in they way that when after this scene, when she visits Friar Laurence and then returns to her home, her Father asks her where she has been and she says she has been to confession and told Friar Laurence that she has repented for being disobedient. Act4 Sc2 Ln16-22. I think this is very ingenious, Juliet tells her Father that she had been to confesion when really she has been plotting to fake her own death. In Act3 Scene5 when Juliet is talking to her mother, she shows her cunning yet again, the way she uses a play on words to makes her mother think she is cursing Romeo when really. Act3 Sc5 Ln93-102. This also shows that Juliet is very intelligent by using these play on words. Juliet is fond of the Nurse who is always there with Juliet. Act1 Sc 3 L8-9. This is because the Nurse brought Juliet up just like a mother would. The Nurse was employed buy Lord and Lady Capulet as a Wet Nurse, this is because Ladies of Lady Capulet’s high status would never damage there bodies by breast feeding there child, and also it would disrupt her routine with having to wake up at all hours in the night to look after a baby. The Nurse did have a daughter, Susan, the same age as Juliet but unfortunately she died at an early age. There is no particular reason why the Nurse is still employed it is just the fact that Juliet has become attached to her and the fact that she can be used as a chaperone. The Nurse is like Juliet’s best friend and her go between with Romeo, Juliet tells the Nurse everything. In Act 2 Scene 5 Juliet goes through a range of emotions. Juliet finds the Nurse extremely frustrating and the Nurse is teasing Juliet, which provokes this, but Juliet uses her shrewdness to get what she wants in the end, the answer if Romeo will marry her. To me this shows their friendly relationship. At the end of Act3 Scene5 the Nurse betrays Juliet in a way, she doesn’t help Juliet when she really needs it and tells her to marry Paris and to forget about Romeo. Juliet reacted to this very badly, she curses the Nurse for abandoning her, and she says that’s she will leave to go to Friar Lawrence’s cell and if that fails then she will commit suicide. Juliet is an exceptionally strong character for her age, seeming she was kept away from outside life for years. Juliet stood up to her parents for what she believed was correct and disobeyed them, by not marrying Paris. Juliet was extremely brave when she faked her own death, although she was scared of numerous problems that she might face if the potion didn’t work. Juliet was scared that the Potion would kill her, that she would wake up and die of suffocation or she will wake up and Romeo will not be there and she would have to stay in the Crypt until he came. All she wanted to do is be with Romeo. In my own opinion I think Juliet has a great and exciting personality. She seems to me remarkably intelligent, emotionally strong, and very brave. From what Romeo has told us she looks beautiful Act1 Sc5 Ln41-50 and the fact that Paris fell in love with her straight away and died for her also means she looked very beautiful as well. I personally would have loved to meet her or to have a friendly conversation with her about her love with Romeo. My own attitude is if Juliet had never met Romeo I would think that she would have stayed obedient, because the fact that she would have been pressured by her family to marry Paris, I know that she wouldn’t be happy, because she said earlier in Act1 Scene3 that she would â€Å"Look to like if liking move, but no more deep will I endart mine eye than your consent gives strength to make it fly† If she did marry Paris it would have been really depressing for her and she wouldn’t feel anything for him. In my own opinion Juliet would become boring, she would just stay the same, and wouldn’t have strength in character. She would have lived the stereotypical life of a rich Veronese woman of high status, but even if she did live this life she would have lived a lot longer than if she had married Romeo.

Truss essays

Truss essays The definition of a truss is any of various structural frames based on the geometric rigidity of the triangle and composed of straight members subject only to longitudinal compression, tension, or both: functions as a beam or cantilever to support bridges, roofs, etc. Trusses are the most commonly used structural device used in architecture today. Trusses are used in almost every thing they are in your attic, barns, buildings, and bridges. A truss is used in architecture and engineering, it is a supporting structure made of beams, girders, or rods usually made of steel or wood. A truss usually takes the form of a triangle or combination of triangles, this design is capable of carrying large amounts of weight. Trusses are used for large spans and heavy loads, especially in bridges and roofs. Their open construction is lighter than a beam structured platform but is just as strong. The parts of a truss are the tie-beams, posts, rafters, and struts; the distance over which the truss exte nds is called the span. A truss is formed by connecting the ends of straight pieces of metal or wood to form a series of triangles lying in a single plane. A truss is based on the fact that a triangle is a configuration that cannot collapse or change its shape unless the length of one of the sides is changed. The two most commonly used truss designs are the Howe and Warren trusses. In 1806 the first patented bridge system, the Burr arch truss was used in the US. The Town truss was invented in 1820, in 1840 the Howe truss was invented, and in 1841 the bowstring was invented it was a breakthrough in engineering design. The Pratt and Warren trusses were invented between 1838 and 1844. The first trusses were made of wood and used for building homes and roofs. During the 18th and early 19th centuries cast and wrought iron were used, mostly in the construction of railroad bridges. Later in the 19th century steel became the most used truss material. Trusses ar ...

buy custom Cost Minimization Algorithm essay

buy custom Cost Minimization Algorithm essay To ensure that the web services provided are efficient and cost effective, the QoS has to be implemented so as to derive an algorithm with lower and upper limits. Given that S represents the number of inquiries made into the system at any given time t, then the total number of service requests inquired at any given time t, becomes SRt. From this, it can be deduced that the cost of the service, Cs, is given by; Cs = SRt S Since the main goal is to achieve the highest service exploitation at the least cost possible, let Es be the service exploitation and SA be the number of stops reached for every request made. Thus the service exploitation, Es is given by; Es= SAt S From these, the algorithm for the competence of the services, Cs can be derived as; SC = Es = SAt Cs SRt Now since the main objective is to reach as many stops as possible while maintaining the service at a low cost, a conscience should be reached between ES and CS. assuming that the total number of stops is N and that all the stops in the clusters are reachable, then two clusters can be described as 2/3N and 1/3N. Thus when one service request is made, the service competence becomes; 1/3N 2/3N =N/2 Consequently, assuming that there are G (t) groups at any time t, then service competence can be redefined as; SC = Es = SAt Cs SRt Meanwhile, SRt should be maintained at levels that less than or equal to G (t). Analysis Idyllically, in any ad-hoc network that has N number of stops and G (t) groups at any given time t, then there must exists a perfect clustering algorithm that is accurate enough to classify all stops into groups. When one stop is chosen as the representative stop for every group for the purpose of an acclimatizing service, then SC and Cs can be redefined as; SC = SAt and Cs = G (t) G (t) In the case that all the stops are able to reach the representative stops in their respective groups at a time t0, then SAt0 =S, and SC = SAt0 = SA/C (t0) G (t0) This therefore becomes the maximum value of service achieved. However, this may not always be the case since an expected probability that some stops in the same cluster may not be reachable from the service request may exist. This dissertation is intended to be completed in fifteen weeks. The first three weeks will be for making notes on all the research done pertaining to the study as well as identifying the appropriate web services and platforms that will be used for the experiment. A draft will then be made from these notes and the findings. The following three weeks will comprise of further research and preparation of a second draft based on the first research and the results drawn from the experiment. The next seven weeks will be allocated for completion of research and preparation of a final draft. And finally, the last two weeks will be set aside for completion and binding of the final dissertation for presentation. Since the data stored comes in many forms, resides in numerous devices and is accessed by many users, there is no single solution to the protection of this data. The solution is multi-phased just as the problem is therefore appropriate policies should be defined, enforced and monitored so as to ensure maximum data protection. Since it has been discovered from the research that most of the search results are below standard and as a result they do not successfully meet the users requirements. So as to ensure that the search results meet the standards of the users, the current technology used in searching should be improved. Appropriate schema for automatic data classification should be invented so as to enable automatic classification of data into searchable categories. This will not only improve the search but the accuracy of the results as well. Unstructured data that has not been accessed for long periods of time should be deleted from the dynamic databases so as to create more spac e for active data. For as much as new technologies are invented to ensure quality protection of unstructured data, individuals should also be educated on the risks of storing their data in unsecured databases. Governments should impose new policies on privacy of data so as to ensure that data stored in the cloud is well protected. Data protection should be both in transportation and at rest. But before this is put into consideration, apposite tools have to be development so as to determine what the current abilities are e.g. whether they can deliver as expected or they can only work on restricted cases. Data should be categorized in a manner that it will be simple and efficient to locate and search. The eminence of internet-based and rich media applications has led to the sudden growth of unstructured data, formless data that includes PDF files, slide decks, videos, web pages, images, MP4 and Mp3 files and word documents among others, that in turn require secure and more reliable storage and retrieval solutions. Even though several researches have been done, sufficient research has not been conducted on the scalability and dependability of web services. The objectives of this thesis include; the determination of a Confidentiality Integrity Availability (CIA) assurance model as well as to come up with a new algorithm that is scalable for the minimization of web service cost using the Service Level Agreement (SLA) and the Quality of Service (QoS). All the objectives have successful been met; service competence has been obtained while maintaining minimum cost of exploitation. Buy custom Cost Minimization Algorithm essay

Returning Canadian Residents Bringing Alcohol into Canada

Returning Canadian Residents Bringing Alcohol into Canada There are some very specific rules and regulations about bringing duty-free alcohol back into Canada from another country. Not only will you need to be aware of the type and quantity of alcohol, but you also need to know when the alcohol was purchased during your trip. Personal Exemptions Based on How Long You Have Been Outside the Country If you’ve been gone less than 24 hours there are no personal exemptions.If you’ve been gone 24 hours or more you can claim goods up to CAN$200 without paying duty and taxes. Unfortunately, alcoholic beverages are not included in this amount.If you’ve been gone for 48 hours or more, you can claim goods up to CAN$800 without paying duty and taxes. Some alcoholic beverages are included in this exemption. You must have the goods with you when you enter Canada. Returning Canadian Residents Duty-Free Allowance for Alcohol If you are a Canadian resident or a temporary resident of Canada returning from a trip outside Canada, or a former Canadian resident returning to live in Canada, you are allowed to bring a small quantity of alcohol (wine, liquor, beer or coolers) into the country without having to pay duty or taxes as long as: the alcohol accompanies youyou meet the minimum legal drinking age for the province or territory in which you enter Canadayou have been outside Canada for more than 48 hours. You may bring in one of the following: 1.5 liters (50.7 US ounces) of wine, including wine coolers over 0.5 percent alcohol, or1.14 liters (38.5 US ounces) of liquor, ora total of 1.14 liters (38.5 US ounces) of wine and liquor, or24 x 355 milliliter (12 ounce) cans or bottles of beer or ale, including beer coolers over 0.5 percent alcohol (a maximum of 8.5 liters or 287.4 US ounces). Bringing More Than the Duty-Free Allowance of Alcohol Into Canada Except in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, returning Canadian residents may bring in more than the personal allowances of liquor listed above as long as you pay customs and province/territory assessments. The amounts you are allowed to bring into Canada are also limited by the province or territory in which you enter Canada. For details on specific amounts and rates, contact the liquor control authority for the appropriate province or territory before you come to Canada. Shipping Alcohol When You Move Back to Canada If you are a former Canadian resident moving back to Canada and you want to ship alcohol to Canada (the contents of your wine cellar for example), contact the liquor control authority for the appropriate province or territory to pay the provincial or territorial fees and assessments in advance. To have your shipment released when you arrive in Canada, you will need to show the receipt for the provincial or territory fees and assessments and you will also need to pay the applicable federal customs assessments. Customs Contact Information If you have questions or require more information on bringing alcohol into Canada, please contact the Canada Borders Services Agency.

Projects, Processes & Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Projects, Processes & Systems - Essay Example It also deals with motivating and managing all the people involved. The ultimate aim of project management is to complete the assigned project within the agreed time, cost and performance (KNUTSON, Joan and Bitz, Ira, 1991). The key players of a project include the client, the users, the project control groups, the project manager(s) and the stake holders (HEALY, Patrick L., 1997). The client is the person who pays for the project from the beginning till its end. It is the client for whom the project is being conducted. The users are those which will the run the project after the completion. For example, after the completion of a new product facility, those who will be running it, will be its users. These users are required to be considered during the project and some of them should be represented during the project so that they can contribute their skills. The project control group is a committee which usually has a number of representatives from various sections. The contractor is one who conducts the project management task for the client. There stakeholders are all the persons who are affected by the project. The Project Manager is the person who manages the whole project. His ultimate duty is to successfully complete the project as per the requirement of the customer. ... The Project Manager constitutes a team at the start, which should have all the required members for doing various tasks included in the Project. For example, when the state appoints a Project Manager for establishing a fire service in a new town, the Project Manager should have labor for infrastructure construction, finance department to keep check and balance, logistic department to bring necessary materials for construction, administrative department to see who is working to what extent and assigning tasks, engineering persons to design the infrastructure, decide on what vehicles to be bought for the service and IT persons to develop the network for complaint receiving. To constitute the team members and to work smoothly and efficiently on project, project managers need the full support of functional managers. The functional mangers are those which are working on the actual operations of the organization and are appointed for longer period of time. Project managers are appointed fo r specific tasks, after completion of which, their duties are no longer required. Functional managers expect their departments to exist indefinitely and they need resources for full-time while project exist for definite period and needs resources for a temporary period of time (HAYNES, Marion E., 2002, p.3). The importance of collaboration between functional and project managers can be elaborated with the example of expanding an airport services. Project managers might need people from functional managers who can tell the different locations of the airport. He might require info about the idle timing so that he can carry construction work so that flights are

Red badge of courige Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Red badge of courige - Essay Example As in "Hey, wouldn’t it be funny if we all just ran away?" Shortly before his first battle, he sees his first dead body, a gruesome corpse. They entirely appear as the ideal definition of intrepid men, something that makes Henry feel terrible about his trepidation. We are introduced to two men, Jim Conklin "the Tall Soldier" and Wilson "the Loud Soldier." Wilson who is afraid that death will befall him during battle, hands Henry an envelope of mail to deliver after the war. The men finally set out. Even though they are heading into combat, there are oodles of jokes. One guy even attempts to pilfer a horse from a farm and a young girl succeeds in having it back. As the war breaks out, Henry survives, but when the second round of cantankerous fighting begins he is horrified and goes for the hills. This to him was more of a survival instinct after intense thought. Henry comes across a group of wounded men leaving as he heads towards battlefront. He wishes he too had a red badge of courage when he saw their bloody injuries. A tattered and wounded soldier, taunts Henry by asking where his injury is injury is. This gets our â€Å"hero† very nervous and uncomfortable because the turn of events would make him be branded a deserter. Jim Conklin then dies a rather atrocious death before him. Henry takes off and is bonked on the head with a rifle butt by a pretty freaked out colleague in the army only for him to end up back to his 304th company. Due to the confusion which resulted in separation of everyone in the battle no one accuses Henry of desertion. His head injury further makes his colleagues assume a slug grazed him. Yet another war breaks out for which Henry is prepared. He puts up formidable resistance and battles wildly which earns him praise from the lieutenant. Suddenly someone yells, "Here they come!" And sure enough, the Confederates rush at Henry’s group of soldiers. Henry

Concept note Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Concept note - Essay Example It is in directive to achieve responsibilities. ‘Alvin Toffler’ first interpreted the word ‘Adhocracy’ in the year 1970 (Mintzberg & McHugh, pp. 160-197, 1985). The origin of the term adhocracy demonstrates that it specifically defines to explain the flexible dealing with daily changing objectives and motives. Nowadays, in the modern culture, these types of operational systems can be under implementation in the firms having high-risk rates to survive and among the blue-collar organizations, and in those organizations that plan to short-term projects or developed on a temporary basis. Similarly, if the organization persists to develop its structure permanently and is aware of the future risks then it has to maintain its bureaucratic structure to fight with the long term business deals. It also helps to maintain the company’s good will and repute in professional market. This term clearly contradicts to the term bureaucracy that refers to set of defined rules and set hierarchy in accomplishing organizational goals (Thatchenkery, pp. 67-74, 2010). It is a method of supple and casual organization and administration instead of unbending bureaucracy. Adhocracy (Dolan, pp. 33-50, 2010) later on revised in some common literature and in governmental pomposity to define a kind of unsystematic answer by politicians to developing issues, generally focused around American fiscal policy and in foreign policy development, unanimously that resembles Lind bloom’s "muddling through" metaphor (Thatchenkery, pp. 67-74, 2010) than a flexible, but determined organizational strategy. In other words, Adhocracy is simply a flat structure organization that does not follow any hierarchy (Dolan, pp. 33-50, 2010). The norms and regulations of such an organization rely upon a typical non-bureaucratic chunk of ideas. Selective decentralization is a specific characteristic of adhocracy that means a focus of control for decision-making. This phenomenon ex ist in functional divisions within the organization for example the decentralization of the pool system in some organizations taking place of centralized culture and also hierarchical system that majorly defines the outlines for responsibilities in the respective areas that helps in capturing errors and biases more easily. In the adhocracy, the business is proficient of rearranging its own structure including vigorously altering the work ?ow, shifting accountabilities and adjusting to changing environments (Aart & Wielinga, pp. 567-599, 2004). Adhocracies are the organizations and systems with a very beautiful concept in which a system operates in a non-hierarchical structure and has no uniform procedures for dealing with daily problems, is low in reinforcement and prearranges a momentary life. The variance between an adhocracy and the dual intent of bureaucracies is that there is a lack of typical job description definition and no classi?cation of programmed circumstances in adhocr acy. Simultaneously, professional bureaucracy and machine bureaucracy (Baum, pp. 29-43, 1987) is an older shape of Adhocracy, when adhocracy takes a growing form, it may lead to these two possible compositions. Machine Bureaucracy (Huber, pp. 50-67, 2006) is an obvious in its rigid observance to the important individualities of Weberian style bureaucracy. It is a preferred model in a constant atmosphere with routinized procedures. In any case, workers within an adhocracy will have to ?nd innovative keys to

Jesus, Antigone and Augustine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Jesus, Antigone and Augustine - Essay Example This paper shall seek to look at the figures of Antigone, Jesus Christ and Augustine. These three figures fought against established forms of authority. What is significant about this collection of revolutionaries is that all three of them adopted methods that were not violent. All three of them were however, practitioners of very different methods and controversies remain as to the reasons as to why these three employed the methods of resistance that they employed. Antigone is a fictional character created by the great playwright Sophocles. His characterization of Antigone was meant to evoke strong reactions. On the other hand are Jesus and Augustine, both of whom are historical characters about whom most information is present, however, in the form of legends. Augustine is more of a historical character than Jesus, since information regarding him survives in the form of his writings. Jesus Christ was a person who lived during the times of the Roman Empire was a Jew who was consider ed to be the messiah of the Jews. The Jews in the Roman Empire lived under the control of the Roman Empire and were resentful of the control of whom they considered to be foreigners. Jesus, according to the Bible, was the Messiah (Mark 8: 27-32). He claimed to be the son of God and thus divine. He, according to the Bible, was the person who had taken on the form of man in order to wash off the sins of mankind and provide him with redemption. According to writers like John Milton, he was to be considered to have volunteered to save man from eternal perdition by laying down his own life voluntarily. By voluntarily undergoing a gruesome death at the cross, Jesus would act the role of the sacrificial lamb and thus free mankind from the original sin. Milton talks of the beginning of this story in his great work Paradise Lost (Milton). This account of the life of Jesus is however, not a strictly historical one. Historically, he is considered by many to have been a member of the Jewish com munity that was oppressed by the Roman Empire. He was a religious leader who sought to change the dynamics of power as they existed between the Roman officials and Empire and the Jews and the other original inhabitants of what is known today as Israel. Jesus’ contribution to the liberation of the people f Israel is considered to be seminal and this is considered by some to be the reason as to why he was deified by some. Antigone, on the other hand, is an almost completely fictional character. She is present in the work Antigone, by Sophocles. The importance of the character can be gauged from the fact that she is the titular character in the play. She also is the character who provides the play with its thematic thrust with an emphasis on the resistance to the established powers of the state. She is the daughter of Oedipus, who was once the king of Thebes and Jocasta, who was also the mother of Oedipus. The Oedipal tale is one of how man is unable to change his own fate. The tale of Antigone is however, that of one who makes an effort despite this knowledge, to change her fate. The very existence f Antigone is a challenge to the traditional social structures of her time, since she is the product of incest. Hers is a situation where her mother and her grandmother are the same person. This situation is according to conventional understandings of events, an unnatural one and Antigone is thus, a challenge to the

Managed care and children with chronic illness Case Study

Managed care and children with chronic illness - Case Study Example However, distinct criteria are utilized by managed care providers to distinct degrees of medical care requirements. The recent decades are marked by the attachment of great value to such groups by the states that are faced with high levels of medical needs with an intention of including the poor and the needy in the healthcare programs. Nevertheless, the provision of these services has been limited by certain factors, thus leading to the denial of these services to some children with chronic ailments despite their being needy. Nevertheless, managed care ahs a rationale of providing care services at reduced costs to the patients as well as treatment efficiency measures are of high levels (Perkin, Swift, and Newton 2007). The discussion in this paper is a case study to investigate and establish Managed care and children with chronic illness. The comprehension of this will be enhanced by the study of the scope of the managed care as well as the chronic illnesses that need the managed ca re. In addition, it is deemed crucial to establish the managed care providers as well as the rationale for such services when provided to patients. More crucial, an explanation will be provided for the criteria which children with chronic disease are covered or denied by managed care (HMO, MEDICAID). Managed care and the ideal providers; Managed care is a term utilized in the US in the description of a diversity of techniques that are put in use with the intention of decreasing the healthcare costs. They are also deemed as a rationale for the provision of benefits of health as well as the improvements of care quality provided by the practitioners. The systems in use are those that imply financing and delivering healthcare benefits and service to those that e enroll. Hence, they are often referred to as healthcare concepts and techniques that are managed by a responsible body. The intentions for the steer towards the utilization of such programs are inclusive of the reduction of the healthcare care costs, some of which are deemed unnecessary via the use of particular viable mechanisms. The provision of economic incentives for care providers as well as their patients, in order to provide room for their selection of programs that are less costly is a long term rationale for the managed care. Specific services review performance and increased cost sharing services for beneficiaries are also the major functions of the managed care. They are also deemed crucial in the control of admissions for patients as well as reducing the lengths f time that patients have to wait for treatments. A variety of settings is deemed vital in the provision of such services, which are inclusive of Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO), Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO) etc (Birenbaum, 1997). HMO is a managed care entity that provides managed care health coverage to its clients, and based in the United States. The fulfillment of such services offer is done via hospitals, doctors or any other form of medical practitioners, all of those that have gained contract with the organization. Its running is based on the 1973 Health Maintenance Organization Act, which requires that public or private organizations with 25 and

Case Analysis of Staples, Inc., Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analysis of Staples, Inc., - Case Study Example Furthermore, this paper will comprise framing strategy that may help the firm to deal with all the factors in order to achieve its goal efficiently and smoothly (Fred, 2009). Analysis External Factor Evaluation (EFE): EFI is considered to be the strategic administration tool often used by all organization to assess current business condition of the firm. It is considered to be an important process as the end result helps the firm to visualize the threat and select all the opportunities that tends to arise. In accordance to case the EFI of Staple Inc. is stated below: Figure: 1 External Factor Evaluation (EFE) of Staple Inc. On the basis of the above mentioned figure, it can be stated that the factor of low currency value offers an opportunity for the company as the export policies of the government would be modified or directed to increase the foreign currency in the country. Such initiatives of the government would provide the organization with an opportunity to expand its business. The company’s strategy of diversifying its business and creating new products has also offered it with an opportunity to expand its product and service line and effectively meet the needs of discriminating customers. Moreover, the crisis in the economic condition would help the organization in terms of brand awareness as foreign company would be reluctant to invest in such economic condition. Consequently, the organization will be able to attract large base of customers. The factor of the firm size can also be considered as a positive factor as it helps in creating brand awareness as well as it will act as a barrier for new entry of firm (Meredith, Forest & Fred, 2009; Fred, 2009). On the other hand, the increasing competition due to the entry of new firms in the industry has imposed significant threat. The firm is further unable to penetrate into the local market as it is primarily focus on meeting the public needs. Moreover, frequent change in the government policies has s trongly deterred the ability of the organization to expand its business. Another important threat factor includes constant innovation in technology. The rapid advancement in technology has resulted in rapid obsolescence which has further contributed towards increased costs for the organization (Meredith, Forest & Fred, 2009; Fred, 2009). Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE): IFE consists of all the factors that relates directly or indirectly to the organizations functioning. The main motive behind evaluating the internal factor of an organization is to major weakness and the strength that exist in the operating area of a business. The IFE of Staple Inc. is represented below. Figure: 2 Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) of Staple Inc. On the basis of the above illustration, i.e. Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE), it can be asserted that the factor of being one of largest distributor of office goods acts as an opportunity for the firm. Moreover, its stable financial position has also contrib uted towards smooth functioning of its business operations. Additionally, the marketing and advertisement activities executed by the firm have significantly benefited it to attain increased brand awareness and has further facilitated in seeking greater competitiveness. At the same time, large number of retail stores situated at different locations

Managed care and children with chronic illness Case Study

Managed care and children with chronic illness - Case Study Example However, distinct criteria are utilized by managed care providers to distinct degrees of medical care requirements. The recent decades are marked by the attachment of great value to such groups by the states that are faced with high levels of medical needs with an intention of including the poor and the needy in the healthcare programs. Nevertheless, the provision of these services has been limited by certain factors, thus leading to the denial of these services to some children with chronic ailments despite their being needy. Nevertheless, managed care ahs a rationale of providing care services at reduced costs to the patients as well as treatment efficiency measures are of high levels (Perkin, Swift, and Newton 2007). The discussion in this paper is a case study to investigate and establish Managed care and children with chronic illness. The comprehension of this will be enhanced by the study of the scope of the managed care as well as the chronic illnesses that need the managed ca re. In addition, it is deemed crucial to establish the managed care providers as well as the rationale for such services when provided to patients. More crucial, an explanation will be provided for the criteria which children with chronic disease are covered or denied by managed care (HMO, MEDICAID). Managed care and the ideal providers; Managed care is a term utilized in the US in the description of a diversity of techniques that are put in use with the intention of decreasing the healthcare costs. They are also deemed as a rationale for the provision of benefits of health as well as the improvements of care quality provided by the practitioners. The systems in use are those that imply financing and delivering healthcare benefits and service to those that e enroll. Hence, they are often referred to as healthcare concepts and techniques that are managed by a responsible body. The intentions for the steer towards the utilization of such programs are inclusive of the reduction of the healthcare care costs, some of which are deemed unnecessary via the use of particular viable mechanisms. The provision of economic incentives for care providers as well as their patients, in order to provide room for their selection of programs that are less costly is a long term rationale for the managed care. Specific services review performance and increased cost sharing services for beneficiaries are also the major functions of the managed care. They are also deemed crucial in the control of admissions for patients as well as reducing the lengths f time that patients have to wait for treatments. A variety of settings is deemed vital in the provision of such services, which are inclusive of Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO), Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO) etc (Birenbaum, 1997). HMO is a managed care entity that provides managed care health coverage to its clients, and based in the United States. The fulfillment of such services offer is done via hospitals, doctors or any other form of medical practitioners, all of those that have gained contract with the organization. Its running is based on the 1973 Health Maintenance Organization Act, which requires that public or private organizations with 25 and

Public Human Resource Management Essay Example for Free

Public Human Resource Management Essay Please respond to the following: * Analyze the topics discussed in Chapter 1, with the exception of the laws. Select two topics and discuss two positive effects and two challenges the topic poses for human resource departments in the public sector. Performance Managementfor human resource departments it is important; to utilize the skills, focus and provide incentives for employees that are based on performance to achieve the organization’s goal. Human resource departments need to provide training and programs that are accessible to help enhance members of the organization’s learning with constant changes in policies and procedures. Two challenges posed to human resource departments; the inability to provide essential information to access or evaluate an employee’s performance accurately, Failure to provide quality and satisfactory customers services to connect with a task group with the strategies and plans the organization has implemented. Improvement in Labor Managementfor human resource departments it mean networking and communicating with various industrials and labor force can be a way to improve relationships even though they may not agree on some issues. Implementing policies and strategic plans that will benefit the public and private globally as well as nationally is vital in society today. Challenges posed to human resource departments; a human resource department or union disputing and failing to negotiation and resolve an issue, Trends in the change or advancement of technology and the ability of human resource departments to deal with the change especially in a global labor market. The outsourcings of jobs and employees that perform their jobs without being in a traditional workplace can create challenges for human resource departments when there is less or no communication among staff. Two topics that have an effect for human resources are 1) Recruitment and 2) Training and development. Two positive effects for recruitment is that there is a need to  fill 300k positions annually, and their is a need to attract quality applicants. Two challenges for Recruitment are recruiting qualified applicants, and keeping up with the rapid pace to hire the most qualified applicants. Two positive effects for training and development is that it will allow employees to take advantage of gaining knowledge to increase their chances of getting promoted. It will also allow companies to attract the best employees. Two challenges would consist of the cost for setting up training and development, and the alloted time allowed for an employee to complete neccessary training. Week1-Dq2 Public Human Resource Management in the News Please respond to the following: * From the e-Activities, discuss the current event you reviewed from the selected agency and determine the cause of the issue, noting if the cause was due to neglected public bureaucracies from elected and appointed officials. Discuss at least two results of the issue. Using USA.gov, I chose to investigate the United States Postal Service (USPS) agency. I was aware that this group was in financial strain for some time, but I found it interesting to review some of the latest information regarding key problems and possible solutions. Currently, the USPS operates with about 650,000 unionized personnel. Employees sort, package, transport, and deliver the public mail. Although the organization charges for its services (postage rates, etc), as an agency, much of its budget is subsidized by public funds. In discussing the current situation, the Washington Post reported, â€Å"first-class mail volume [is] plummeti ng as Americans conduct more business and communications through the Internet.† Perhaps what is most important is the fact that this trend is continuing as the USPS reportedly lost $16 billion in the 2012 fiscal year. For this reason the USPS issue has been debated in Congress for years and has recently been one of several key debates for lawmakers during the â€Å"fiscal cliff† dilemma. In the past Congress has had difficulty deciding whether to adopt solutions such as suspending Saturday delivery and limiting other specialty services. Also, there is the question of how much public money should go to USPS employee retirement benefits and labor contracts. To many individuals, this is traditionally seen as a bureaucratic problem; however, personally I do not believe that the problem is purely the result of public  sector negligence. Like many government services, it is more likely that the answer lies in serious reform rather than complete suspension. Interestingly, I located an article about the nonprofit National Academy of Public Administration – that suggested a kind of public/private hybrid approach to fix the USPS’s difficulties. The concept entails â€Å"farming out† much of the behind the scenes process while a federal letter carrier would still handle front-line delivery services. What is apparent is that there are several significant results from this issue including the continuing postal rate increases, the reduction of service (e.g. limited post office hours), and continued legislative debate of whether this public service is vital enough to continue to ask taxpayers to subsidize what seems to be a failing business formula. http://www.usa.gov/directory/federal/us-postal-service.shtml http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/think-tank-to-study-privatizing-most-postal-service-operations/2013/01/03/2adc0b08-55ed-11e2-8b9e-dd8773594efc_story.html http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/universal-service-postal-monopoly-history.pdf http://www.gao.gov/assets/210/203772.pdf wk2dq1 Building HRM Capacity Please respond to the following: * Imagine you are the consultant for the agency you selected in the Week 1 e-Activity (you may choose from one of the e-Activities). Assume the selected agency is large but poorly performing in a highly visible public program which did not have performance measures for employees. The public program serves over two million citizens across the 52 states. Propose and provide a rationale for two change strategies to address the agency’s performance. * Propose two methods of performance measures for the department to meet within six months. Provide a rationale for each method. * In week one I selected to analyze the United States Postal Service (USPS). Over the past decade this agency has been under increasing scrutiny regarding operation costs, procedures and personnel. Since last week’s discussion I took a few minutes to speak to my postal carrier in order to gain some perspective on internal communication within the agency. It was  surprising to learn that the departments within the organization are isolated in such a way that – with exception to â€Å"water cooler† talk – most USPS workers have about the same understanding of the agency’s problem as the general public. * * After reading the â€Å"Instructor’s Insight† supplemental article, I started to consider how the USPS personnel might benefit from a more constitutional administrative approach. Like many, I have noticed that customer service (or just simple pride in the job) is severely lacking with many USPS employees. Considering today’s job market, one would assume that individuals would take their work and team management very seriously. One might also say that it appears that some postal workers are immune from accountability. * * This said, one of the strategies that I would implement would be to reform the organizational culture. It should be a privilege to be employed by and serve the American people, while also being trusted to process citizens’ personal property. I agree with Newbold’s (2010) article, in that, public personnel members should pledge to uphold the U.S. Constitution through their service. I also feel that department management should be given the authority to make certain that this new attitude sustains. A simple professional attitude change within the organization can lead to greater productivity, and it could be measured in 6-months via public reaction (exit surveys, media reports, increase in sales, etc). * * After reading Chapter 2 in the Riccucci (2012) book, it also became apparent to me that the method in which recruiting and managing personnel could also benefit from change. In the section regarding â€Å"Strengthening Teaching† Klinger (2012) writes, â€Å"†¦transition includes ethical competencies: the ability to balance conflicting expectations like employee rights and organizational effectiveness†¦ (p22)† Balancing job productivity and employee needs is a challenge in almost every industry. Perhaps another solution might be to focus not only on hiring quality personnel, but continually reassessing employee qualities and how it might best serve the organization. * * Individuals can be motivated by compensation; however, exceptional performance tends to stem from passion. My recommendation would be that 21st-century HRM has to be focused on the individual’s strengths and weaknesses and not what the worker’s union requires. This in my opinion is currently a shortcoming of the USPS. Therefore, I would offer a 6-month challenge that involves department managers communicating with each staff members every 2 to 4 weeks – and document at least one unique item that each staff person could offer that would benefit the USPS operation team. I believe that with a slow transition, personality can be infused into traditional staff procedure which will lead to empowerment and greater productivity.

How Taoism Relates To Winnie The Pooh Philosophy Essay

How Taoism Relates To Winnie The Pooh Philosophy Essay This paper discusses how the book the Tao Of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff relates the concept of Taoism to the characters from the Winnie The Pooh by A A Milne and their application to life and therapy. In The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff utilizes characters from Winnie the Pooh to attempt to explain the fundamentals of Taoism. By observing Eeyore, Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, Tigger, and Pooh, it is easy to see that the actions of the character Pooh best describe Taoism. One of the most important principles of Taoism used in the book is the uncarved block. Hoff uses the characters from A A Milnes Winnie the Pooh books to illustrate and explain the basics of Taoist philosophy, showing how Pooh himself is the epitome of the Taoist thinker, enjoying life with simplicity but not stupidity. The author explains that Taoists try to appreciate, learn from, and work with whatever happens in life, whereas, in contrast, Confucianism attempts to impose order, and Buddhists see lifes tribulations as obstacles to be overcome before achieving Nirvana. He describes how Tao is the Way, which can be understood but not defined, and illustrates key elements of Tao such as Pu, the uncarved block, and Wu wei, goi ng with the flow. In case you should think that this book is altogether too simplistic, I should add that Hoff touches on the writings of Lao-Tzu (author of the Tao Te Ching), Chuang-tse, the poet Li Po, and other Taoist philosophers, giving his own interpretations of the passages. Hoff shows how Pooh best explains the Uncarved Block. The principle of the Uncarved Block is that things that are simple contain their own natural power, power that can be spoiled and lost when overcomplicated. Using the characters he shows how our lives can be sabotaged by errors in thinking and how it can be prevented. Hoff uses Rabbit to show when you are racing through life you can miss out on the valuable things that make up life itself. We seem to jeopardize ourselves by thinking too much of the self. Owl is used to show that when trying to find underlying meaning for everything you overcomplicate it. Hoff uses Piglet in the sense that Piglet is always scared and as a result scared to try things, if Piglet wouldnt dwell in worry, he would accomplish more, and find happiness .Sometimes staying less in your head is an advantage. Hoff goes on to show that the character of Eeyore is always depressed and dwells in negativity. If he abstained from this life would be completely different. Now finally we come to Pooh. The author exemplifies how Pooh doesnt stay in worry, nor is he over-analytical, he stays in the spontaneous. As a result of staying in the way he finds everything goes its own course and works out as a result of his non-action. Pooh goes with the flow of nature and doesnt interfere. He leads a life of simplicity and one free of worry. This is a perfect reflection of someone who follows the Tao. I think this is more or less a basic explanation of Tao and how to apply it to our lives by modeling out behavior in a likewise manner. There arent any obscure references here only face value application. The use of the cartoon characters that we all are familiar with is a very u seful strategy. It is a way of explanation that transcends all racial, sexual, gender barriers. For example, we wont try too hard or explain too much, because that would only Confuse things, and because it would leave the impression that it was all only an intellectual idea that could be left on the intellectual level and ignored. (p. 10) He uses each chapter of the book to teach a new principle of the Uncarved Block of Taoism. In each chapter he tells a Winnie the Pooh story and then explains how it relates to Taoism. Hoff writes a chapter teaching how cleverness does not always help, but it sometimes destroys things and is the reason that things do not work out. Hoff teaches that the Taoist believe that if you understand Inner Nature it is far more effective than knowledge or cleverness. He uses a poem called Cottleston Pie. The poem explains how things just are as they are and how people try to violate these principles with their everyday lives. There is also the story of Tigger and Roo. Tigger tries to be what he is not and as a result everything goes wrong and he always ends up getting stuck in a tree. Hoff also explains that working with Nature is best in the sense that you do not screw things up with a story about Eeyore getting stuck in the river. Everybody had been trying to think of clever ways to get Eeyore out of the river when Pooh said that if they just dropped a big stone into it, then it would just wash Eeyore ashore. He did it without even thinking, because thinking would complicate things, and of course it worked. Pooh worked with Nature and things worked out for him. As you can see, Hoff uses many different Winnie the Pooh stories to teach the uncomplicated ways of the Taoist. The only argument that Hoff really presents is whether or not the Taoist way is the best way and whether or not it really works. When you look at it from the point of Pooh and the stories he is a part of, you are able to see how easily the Taoist ideology fits snuggly into Pooh and his world. Obviously if you do not believe that cleverness and knowledge are not important, then you will not agree with anything Hoff is saying, but he makes you believe in showing you how it always works out with Pooh. He argues whether or not cleverness and knowledge really are important. For example, it can be explained in the story when Eeyore gets stuck in the river. Clever ways do not work, but Poohs simple way always seem to work surprisingly well. Hoff also argues how the Taoist believes that over exhausting ourselves needlessly only works against us. He uses Rabbit to explain this. Quite simply, Rabbit is always in a hurry, he is the very face of stress itself. Hoff explains these so called creatures like a shadow. Shadows are always rushing along. They are also always trying to lose their shadows. They try to run from them not realizing that they cannot, that they are one and the same. Hoff argues that by just sitting down and enjoying a nice sunny day, like Pooh would do, you can complicate things. You do not get the full fulfillment of your life. There is the argument that this is just using examples to match the conclusions that we have already come to. I believe however, that one cannot free himself of the weight of our foolish ways until we have exposed that fallacy and this is a vehicle to do that without feeling condescended by an authority figure that many associate with other comparative theories. Case and point Hoffs adaption of Winnie the Pooh to Taoist philosophy is brilliant and yet never strays from its humility. Through this I can now see how the field of psychology, is a chaotic discipline much more suited to the Taoist approach of going with the flow-the Wu wei, then against it. In Hoffs description of A A Milnes characters I was able to see myself trying to be like the Owl, while actually being a combination of the Rabbit and the pessimistic Eeyor e. Hoff has shown me how the ideal is to be a simple character such as Pooh himself, accepting life, work, and other people as they are rather than trying to impose order on them. I now seek to accept and move with events as they occur, preferring not to try to impose change nor viewing changes it as an obstacle to be overcome. It all comes down to acceptance and will. When you yield to the flow you find that it goes along with the grain of your life instead of against it. This approach spills over into every aspect of life, keeping them simple, letting nature direct the flow as it were.