Strategic managment report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Strategic managment report - Essay Example (Kuhn, 1996) A paradigm can also be described using its four basic elements: symbolic generalisation, metaphysical assumptions, values and exemplars. Symbolic generalisations refer to the different ways in which problems within the paradigm are put across and solved. Metaphysical assumptions involve the beliefs about what will be considered to be real. Values on the other hand are the characteristics that represent the basic priorities of what issues to pursue and the goals that need to be served. Finally, exemplars are the worked out approaches and answers which represent the whole world view as a logical form. (Kuhn, 1996) Paradigms, according to Thomas Kuhn, are culturally oriented and very discrete. For example, an Asian medical researcher who has an enormous amount of knowledge on eastern medicine would encompass a totally different paradigm to that of a western medical researcher. (Kuhn, 1996) Organisational paradigm implies the beliefs, philosophies, values policies, structures and operations that embody an organisation. (Kuhn, 1996) Organisational paradigm can be applicable to the domain of an organisation and also explains the frame of reference of an organisation as well as its culture and world view. The importance of an organisation’s paradigm for strategic management is that it can be used to revamp the management system of the organisation. (Kuhn, 1996) This can bring about a number of elements like the importance of the role of a leader, intensive employee training, increased salaries and budgets and combating any resistance to change. Strategic management paradigm leads to various generalities, for example towards the external environment which means that the organisation must show commitment to the social, economic and environmental issues that surround the firm. Institutional actions must also be considered which stress the values and principles of total quality

Drugs State Control Essay Example for Free

Drugs State Control Essay A drug is any substance that alters the normal biological functions of the body. Production of Illegal drugs is normally prohibited and their use is strictly controlled because they can lead to addiction or habituation. Drugs such as heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, and marijuana can be extremely dangerous if wrongly used and beneficial if put into correct use. The issue of drug use and misuse has posed a serious real problem. Prohibition of drug use has been at the center of discussion in various countries across the globe. Since this drugs are now on the hands of the nastiest criminals all over the world, control and regulations are necessary. The only remedy to this menace is full legalization accompanied by appropriate controls. I fully support the motion that drugs should be legalized since prohibition will deny the authorities the chance to educate the children on proper use of the drugs (Gargaro). The ongoing debate on legalization of drugs is asking the government whether it will help in solving drug problems appropriately. If I were asked a similar question, I would say yes. This is because the current prohibitions on drugs are just mopping up the problem and not providing real solutions. Legalization and taxations are the only ways through which real solutions can be achieved. Just think of this situation; at least every year in Britain, criminals control billions of pounds in the drug industry instead of the government and traders through the black market. This kind of business has encouraged global terrorism, illegal munitions trade, control on prostitution, and sexual slavery. Almost half of all the criminal offenses committed in the country are drug related. Couldn’t reducing these crimes free our legal services and prisons at least for a moment? Unnecessary prohibitions on drug use has led our children into committing drug related crimes, and this has denied them the much needed advice on drugs, besides undermining our respect for the law. The government should therefore take the obvious step, put all the drugs state control, and impose legislation and taxes on their sale. This will relieve our country the burden of staggering under unnecessary prohibitions (Gray). Prohibitions on drug and substance abuse such as alcohol have been in place since the 1920s in the US and other developed countries. It has made people believe that taking it is a criminal activity, which can land someone in jail. The ill effects of the drugs and alcohol are so adverse such that no sane person could like to be associated with them by using the drug. So many people are convinced that these effects are harmful, and have successfully restrained from the habit. It is good to establish such a law in the society, and most government has effectively controlled drug abuse since time immemorial through prohibitions. For example, the alcohol prohibition act of the 1920s proved effective because cases of alcohol consumption greatly dropped even though it did not succeed in eliminating the alcohol. The rate of crime and drunkenness dropped and taxes were reduced by putting the offenders in jail. Minor crimes such as vagrancy, public indecency, and disorderliness have been successfully eliminated use to these prohibitions. This is enough prove that this method really works (C.S). Prohibition of drug use in countries such as the United States, Britain, and other parts of the larger Europe has proved to be futile and the war on drugs in these societies has caused multiple harms to the users. Since prohibition is aimed at increasing price and penalty of a serious drug habit, it makes it unaffordable for most individuals. Penalizing the use of the drugs drives the law-abiding individuals into the criminal market economy. Criminalizing users and prohibitions exposes them to health risks that could have otherwise been avoided. In addition, it doesn’t make sense to criminalize some drugs while providing a free market to others. This distracts attention from legal to those that a re harmful but legal, such as alcohol. The prohibition on drugs has never and will never work. This attempt of trying to deny people their right of doing what they want with their bodies is doomed to fail as long as the person using the drug does not harm his or her neighbor. The current method that has long been used to fight the drug war is very expensive and has not yielded any meaningful results. It is a simplistic solution that has all along failed to recognize the complexity surrounding the problem. It has also been oblivious of the dangers a drug has on the individual. Full scale legalization of the drug act will enable the state to educate the public on risks associated with drug use, and how such problems can be taken care of. While there is a possibility that the act of legalization of drugs will attract more users, their lives will be much healthier and safer. Let us not get speculative here, since we are aware of people who used to take drugs but still leading healthy lives. For instance Barrack Obama to have taken Cocaine (Hope). The common myth surrounding the whole idea of legalizing drugs is that it will make people law abiding citizens, and enable the government to tax the industry. However, I am not sure whether the cartels will be naà ¯ve enough to allow the government takes over such a lucrative business. If the cigarette market has been able to evade the government’s taxing system, what about this industry that has an elaborate network of producers and illegal suppliers in the market? Legalizing and taxing drugs as some argue is not a solution to the drug menace in the world today. The reason is that the black market will be given an easy path to groove is because the act will be made socially acceptable. It will be much easier to take these substances to the market under the legalization act as opposed to government regulated outlets. This would also increase funding for the crime because the drugs will be easily accessed by users who can in turn lure non-users since there are no laws prohibiting the act. What are the results? The drugs will circulate in the society, destroy more lives, tear families, and cause people to be violent. Even if the current war on drugs is not effective, legalizing drugs is much worse and should not be passed into law (James). Conclusion The war on drug has brought more harm than good, and the policy on drug use has failed to protect the people it is intended to. In Mexico alone, the war on drug policy has claimed close to 14,000 lives since 2006. This figure does not however include those people who have been traumatized, maimed or displaced. Prohibitions on drug use have resulted in wars between the authority and the users in most cities across the world, and this battle seems not to be coming to an end any time soon. The war on drug should therefore, be stopped and pave way for the government to impose control measures and legalize the whole business. I support this motion because I believe that the outcomes of such a move would be beneficial, both for the state itself and in the fight against global drugs crime.

Human Resource Planning and Development: Tesco

Human Resource Planning and Development: Tesco Introduction of Tesco Jack Cohen founded Tesco in 1919 when he began to sell surplus groceries from a stall in the east end on London. The Tesco brand first appeared in 1924. Jack Cohen made new label using the first three letters of suppliers name (TES) and the first tow letter of his surname (Co), forming the word TESCO. The first Tesco store was opened in 1992 in Burnt oak, Edgware, Middlesex. Tesco was floated in London stock exchange in 1947 as Tesco Stores (Holding) Limited. The first self service store opened in St. Albans in 1951 and the first supermarket in Maldon in 1956. Tesco is one of the worlds leading international retailers. Nowadays it deals in different sectors like telecom, online services, clothing, insurance, electronics, fuel etc, but the principal activity of the Tesco group is food retailing and it has over 2,500 stores worldwide. Tesco is public owned company its major shareholders as of 2004 were [1] Barclays Global Investors (3.82%) Legal and general (2.79%) Schroder investment Mgt Ltd (2.87%) State street global Advisors (2.73%) Axa Investment Manager (2.63%) Threadneedle Investments (2.63%) Scottish windows (2.08%) M G Investment Mgt Ltd (1.99%) Morley fund Management (1.88%) USB Global Asset Company Profile It is one of the biggest retailer companies in the world which has 702 stores in UK and employee 240,000 people. It originally caters in food but expanded it scope of services to clothing, finance services, electronic, etc. Company strategy is to focus on long term business. Tesco start self service supermarket in US in 1930s. After 20 years Tesco has become a familiar name not only for groceries but also for fresh food, clothing and hundreds of household goods in 1940s. Tesco has built its 100th superstore by 1985 and in 1987. By 1991 the success of its petrol filling station earned for the company Britishs biggest independent petrol retailer. It broke new level in food retailer in 1995 the first customer loyalty card, which offer benefit to regular customer and other different kinds of offers was given to customer like Tesco Baby club for new parents. Tesco acquire the HIT chain of hypermarkets in Poland in July 2002. By the end of 2002/2003 Tesco had 45 percent of its space overseas. Tesco has developed various kinds of Tesco stores like Tesco Extra, Metro Tesco, and Tesco Express. The grocery store is also offer club card for the customer from which a significant 80% of the sales are transacted.after certain points Tesco gives voucher to the customer to met with a similar success as over a billion vouchers are already given away. The market share is now 16.2%. Tesco operate 4 store formats in the UK. Introduction to Human Resource Management Human resources are the people that work for an organisation, and Human Resource Management is concerned with how these people are managed. However, the term Human Resource Management (HRM) has come to mean more than this because people are different from the other resources that work for an organisation. People have thoughts and feelings, aspirations and needs. The term HRM has thus come to refer to an approach, which takes into account: The need of organization The need of its people Different individuals have their own needs and aspirations. HRM therefore involves finding out about the needs and aspirations of individual employees, for example through the appraisal process and then creating the opportunities within the organisation (e.g. through job enlargement) and outside the organisation for employees to improve themselves. HRM therefore relates to every aspect of the way in which the organisation interacts with its people, e.g. by providing training and development opportunities, appraisal to find out about individual needs, training and development needs analysis, etc. Three key activities of HRM in TESCO Manpower planning: Planning staff levels requires that an assessment of present and future needs of the organization be compared with present resources and future predicted resources. Appropriate steps then be planned to bring demand and supply into balance. Thus the first step is to take a rough sketch of the existing workforce profile (number, skills, ages etc) of existing employees and then audit for 1,3 and 10 years ahead by amendments for normal turnover, planned staff movements, retirements etc in line with the business plan for the corresponding time frames. What future demands will be is only influenced in part by the forecast of the personnel manager, whose main task may well be to scrutinize and modify the crude predictions of other managers. Future staff needs will derive from: Sales and production forecasts The effects of technological change on task needs Variations in the efficiency, productivity, flexibility of labour as a result of training, work study, organizational change, new motivations, etc. Changes in employment practice Variation which respond to new legislation, eg. Payroll taxes or their abolition, new health and safety requirements Changes in government policies. What should emerge from this blue sky gazing is a thought out and logical staffing demand schedule for varying dates in the future which can then be compared with the crude supply schedules. The comparisons will then indicates what steps must be taken to achieve a balance. That in turn will involve the further planning of such recruitment, training, retraining and labour reductions or change in workforce utilization as will bring supply and demand into equilibrium, not just as a one off but as a continuing workforce planning exercise the inputs to which will need constant varying to reflect actual as against predicted experience on the supply side and changes in production actually achieved as against forecast on the demand side. Recruitment and selection: The overall aim of the recruitment and selection process should be to obtain at minimum cost the number and quality of employees required to satisfy the human resource needs of Tesco. The three stages of recruitment and selections are Defining recruitments Attracting candidates Selecting candidates The number and categories of people required should be specified in the recruitment programme, which is derived from human resource plan. In addition there will be demands for replacements or for new jobs to be filled, and these demands should be checked to ensure that they are justified. It may be particularly necessary to check on the need for a replacement of the level of type of employee that is specified. These provide the basic information required to draft advertisements, brief agencies or recruitment consultants, and assess candidates. A role profile listing competences skill, educational and experience requirements produces the job criteria against which candidates will be assessed at the interview of by means of psychological tests. Attracting candidates: Attracting candidates is primarily a matter of identifying, evaluating and using the most appropriate sources of applicants. However in cases where difficulties in attracting or retaining candidates are being met or anticipated, it may be necessary to carry out a preliminary study of the factors that are likely to attract or repel candidates the strengths and weakness of the organization as an employer. Advertising is the most obvious method of attracting candidates. Tesco basically advertise its vacancy on its web site. This means looking at the alternative sources mentioned above and confirming preferably on the basis of experience, that they will not do. Consideration should be given as to whether it might be better to use an agency of a selection consultant. When making the choice, refer to the three criteria of cost, speed and the likelihood of providing good candidates. The objectives of an advertisement should be to attract attention, create and maintain interest and stimulate action. Employee Motivation: Tesco employees are encouraged to ask themselves strategic questions in order to assess their skills and ability to progress. Employee motivation is important for the organisation. It is one of the basic activities needed for the smooth running of an organization. To retain good staff and to encourage them to give of their best while at work requires attention to the financial and psychological and even physiological rewards offered by the organization as a continuous exercise. Basic financial rewards and conditions of services are determined externally in many occupations but as much as 50 % of the gross pay of manual workers is often the result of local negotiations and details of conditions of services are often more important than the basics. Hence there is scope for financial and other motivations to be used at local levels. As staff needs vary will vary with productivity of the workforce so good personnel policies are desirable. The latter can depends upon Other factor but unless the wage packet is accepted as fair and just there will be no motivation. Following are the motivation techniques Celebrating annual holidays: the regular celebration of annual events help form the company culture, the environment you provide for people at work. Tesco gives pay holiday for its employee which will motivate its employee. If the workers are involved in creative work by which they share their ideas and culture with each other which helps keep the culture of an organization well. Tesco provides different kinds of bonuses and voucher to its employee which helps to motivate them. Ranking the workers and giving them the rewards which help employee to spend all their time at work place and company gain good profit from this. Providing benefit, medical treatment and basic requirement facilities to the workers motivate workers to give good output to an organization Human Resource Management Models of Tesco: This company has introduced a high commitment model which offers training and development to all employees. They have developed their culture through extending their logo every little helps to prove commitment. This organisation was chosen, through their introduction of strategies which has led to an increase in business. This has demonstrated they are a first class provider of training to their employments, and has given opportunity to expand into new markets. The matching Model The early HRM model developed by Fombrun emphasizes the interrelatedness and the coherence of human resource management activities. The human resource management cycle in their model consist of four constituent components: Selection, appraisal, development and reward these four human resource activities aim to increase organizational performance. Rewards Performance Performance Management Selection Human Resource Development This model also ignores different stakeholder interests, situational factors and the notion of managements strategies choice. The strength of the model however is that it express the coherence of internal HRM polices and the importance of matching internal HRM policies and practices to the organizations external business strategy. The HRM cycle is also a simple model that serves as a pedagogical framework for explaining the nature and significance of key HR practices and the interactions among the factors making up the complex fields of human resource management. As we progress through the book, we will refer to the HRM cycle to explain the relationship of each individual HRM function to other HRM practices. The Harvard model of HRM The analytical framework of the Harvard model offered by Beet consists of six basic components: Situational factors Stakeholder interests Human resource management policy choices HR outcomes Long-term consequences A feedback loop through which the outputs flow directly into the organization and to the stakeholders The situational factors influence managements choice of HR strategy. This normative model incorporates workforce characteristics, management philosophy, labour market regulations, societal values and patterns of unionization, and suggests a meshing of both product market and socio-cultural . The framework is based on the belief that the problems of historical personnel management can only be solved when general managers develop a viewpoint of how they wish to see employees involved in and developed by the enterprise, and of what HRM policies and practices may achieve those goals. Without either a central philosophy or a strategic vision- which can be provided only by general manager- HRM is likely to remain a set of independent activities, each guided by its own practice tradition. Beer and his colleagues believed that today many pressures are demanding a broader, more comprehensive and more strategic perspective with regard to the organizations human resources. These pressures have created a need for a longer- term perspective in managing people and consideration of people as potential assets rather than merely a variable cost. They were the first to underline the HRM tenet that HRM belongs to line managers. They also state that Human resource management involves all management decisions and action that affect the nature of the relationship between the organization and its employees- its human resources. They suggest two characteristic features one is line managers accept more responsibility for ensuring the alignment of competitive policies that govern how personnel activities are developed and implemented in ways that make them more mutually reinforcing. Human Resource Planning and Development for Tesco Every organisation has its own HR planning and development process under consideration. Human resource planning is indeed concerned with broader issues about the employment of people than the traditional qualitative approaches of manpower planning. Appraisal of HR Planning Training and Development Programme Selection Process Recruitment Plan Determine Job Requirement Work Study Demand forecasting Inventory of HR skills (Findings Gaps) Objective of HR Planning Fig: The Process of Human Resource Planning Objectives of Manpower Planning:- The persons concerned with manpower planning must be clear about goals of manpower planning because once the wrong forecast of future requirement of human resources are made, it may not be possible to rectify the errors in short-run. Inventory of Skills: Assessment of demand for operating personnel presents less problems of uncertainty current manpower supply can be adjusted accordingly. But for supervisory and managerial levels projection is complex problem because required talents are not available at a short notice. This will also help in drawing recruitment development plans to meet the needs of certain skills future. Demand Forecasting: A proper forecast of manpower required in future say, after one year, two years so on must be attempted. The factors relevant for manpower forecasting are as follows. (i) Employment Trends: Manpower planning committee examine number of employees on pay roll during past 5 year to know trend within each group to determine whether particular group has been stable or unstable. (ii) Replacement Needs: if staffs leave the job due to death, retirement, resignation termination of employees. It may relate to supervisory, skilled, clerical groups and must be anticipated in advance. In this case the HR planner set a develop plan to replace staff. (iii) Productivity: Gain in productivity will also influence requirements of manpower. Planning for productivity has several aspects. The first aspect relates to effective utilisation of manpower. The second aspect relates to installation of more productive tools, equipments. The last aspect relates to matching of skills with requirements of jobs. (v) Absenteeism: Means a situation when a person fails to come for work when he is scheduled to work. Due to absenteeism work get upset leading to overtime work which in turn leads to increased cost of production. The management should go into cause of absenteeism attempt to reduce absentism as far as possible. (vi) Work Study: Can be used when it is possible to apply work measurement to know how long operations should take amount of labour required. This is also known as workload analysis. Job Requirements: Job assessment is done to find out the requirements of the worker, like if employee needs any help from the managerial side, if they need any type of benefits and support from other. If they need to transfer form one department to another, whether the number of staff is low or high and so on. Employment Plans: This phase deals with planning how organisation can obtain required number of right type of personnel as reflected by personnel forecasts. Training Development Programme: Training is essential not only for new employees but also for old employees for improving their performance. Similarly executive development programmes have to be devised for development of managerial personnel. The talent of employees are not fully productive without a systematic programme of training development. Appraisal of Manpower Planning: After training programmes have been implemented, an appraisal must be made of effectiveness of manpower planning. Deficiencies in programs should be pointed out catalogue of manpower inventory should be updated periodically. Connective actions should also be taken whenever it is necessary to remove deficiencies in manpower planning. Evaluation of HRM planning and development methods of Tesco According to the method described is one of the best methods for HR planning and development method. By following the above method an HR department of an organization is good at organizing the manpower. It covers the methods form the beginning of the recruitment process to management level. It first evaluate whether the employee is needed or not then after is set up a plan for the recruitment process and goes on to the recruitment process. After that it analyse whether employee needs any training, transfer, motivation etc. So this method is effective development method. Performance Appraisal Tesco measures the abilities of its employees to check it has the correct skills for the future. After reviewing and career discussion if staffs need training then they can apply for training. Tesco mainly focus on three things Customer, working with other and own behaviour. This will help to select the leader. Decision is taken for giving training or promoting the staff according to the performance audit of the employee. In this step job performance of an employee is evaluated typically by the corresponding manager or supervisor. A performance appraisal is a part of a guiding and managing career development. It is the process of analysing, obtaining and recording information about the relative worth of an employee to the organization. It is also the judgement of an employees performance in a job based on considerations other then productivity alone. There is the long process of evaluating the performance of an employees in Tesco. Managerial team prepare an appraisal sheet where individual employee fills in the form in monthly basis. Which includes the feedback on performance of the employee and then manager analyse the sheet collected from different employee and identify whether training is needed and document the criteria used to allocate organizational reward. It also analyse the personal evaluation and decide whether to improve salary, promotion, disciplinary action, bonus etc. It also provides opportunity for organization to diagnosis and develops in facility provided to the communication facilities between employee and administration. Its main aim is to provide performance through counselling, coaching and development of organization. Methods of Performance Appraisal: A common approach to assessing performance is to use a numerical or scalar rating system whereby managers are asked to score an individual against a number of objectives. In some companies, employees receive assessment from their manager, subordinates and customers while also performing a self assessment. Establishing performance standards: setting up of the stanandards which will be used to as the base to compare the actual performance of the employees. This step requires setting the criteria to judge the peroformance of the employee as succesful or unsuccesful and the degees of theri comtrubution to the organizational goal and objectives. The standards set should be clear, easily understandable and in measurable terms. In case the performance of the employee cannot mesasured, great care should be taken to describe the standards. Establishing performance standards Communicating standards and expectations Measuring the actual performance Comparing with standards Discussing Results Decision making-taking corrective actions Communicating the standards: Once set, it is the responsibility of the management to communicate the standards to all the employees of the organization. The employees should be informed and the standards should be clearly expained. This will help them to understand their roles and to know what exactly is expected form them. The standards should also be communicated to the appraisers or the evaluators and if required, the standards can also be modified at this stage itself according to the relevant feedback from the employees or the evaluators. Measuring the aperformance: it is difficult to measur the work done by the employees during the specified period of time. It is a continuous process which involves monitoring the performance throught the year. This stage requires the careful selection of the appropriate techniques of measurement, taking care that personal bias does not affect the outcome of the process and providing assistance rather than interfaceing in an employees work. Comparing the actula with desired performance: the comparision tells the deviations in the performance of teh employees from the standard set. The result can show the actual performance being more than the desired performance or the actual performance being less than the desired performance depiciting a negative deviation in the organizational perofrmane. It includes recalling, evaluating and analysis of data related to the employees performance. The result of the appraisal is communicated and discussed with the employees on one to one basis. The focus of this discussion is on communication and listening. The results, the problems and the possible solutions are discussed with tha aim of problem solving and reaching conssensus. The feedback should be given with a positive attitude as this can have an effect on the employees future performance. The pressure of teh metting should be to solve the problem faced and motivate the employees to perform better. The last step of the process is to take decisions which can be taken either to improve the performance of the employees, takes the required corrctive actions, or the related HR decisions lile rewards, promotions, demotions, transfers etc. Conclusion: Tesco  is a succesful organization in UK. They have incresase market share and retails unit over the last five year. Their model of HR is strong and highly practiced and highly commited. Their main focus on the training issues and also on vital to the success of the organisation, without commitment, it would amount to a wsate of resources. The entire organisation is involven in training and is offered to all levels within the organisation.Give good training and development of its employees is necessary for Tesco to continue its work and sustain in the world as a world leading retailer. It uses same approach with both existing and new employees. This ensure the staff of this comapay have right skills to provide a strong base to support future growth of the business.

Mesopotamia, Egypt And The Hebrews :: essays research papers fc

October 10th, 1994 Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Hebrews Their development from the 3rd millennium to 2nd C.E. When the canonization of the Hebrew Holy ("TaNaKh") took place. Frank Mancini irg@ix.netcom.com MESOPOTAMIA Mesopotamia was the land of four primary civilizations: the Sumerian, the Akkadians, the Babylonian and the Assyrians. The Hebrews, like the Akkadians, belong to a group of people known as Semites and from there we can see the influence of Mesopotamian culture in some of the Hebrews traditions. During the same time, civilization began in Egypt, and there can be seen a distinct difference in the social, religious and political system from Mesopotamia; that the link between the two civilizations are the Hebrews, and although no historical records are available aside from the Holy Scriptures, it is believed that the Hebrews settled in Egypt during the era of Hyksos domination in the seventeenth century B.C.E. These three civilizations to be discussed were the foundation of today's society and provided the common era with concrete religious beliefs still practiced today. Evidence of the mechanics on the evolution of social, religious and political values, as well as the fluctuating development of the role of women then and now, are present in these documents, beginning with the oldest document which is most likely the Epic of Gilgamesh, first passed on by word of mouth and later recorded by the Sumerians around the third millennium and finally edited and written down in cuneiform by the Babylonians. This legend appears to have been used by all the civilizations in Mesopotamia in order to satisfy the need to know why we die and to justify the instincts that drove the people of these societies to war, to kill and to control as a must for survival. The gods were the only outlet available to justify such behavior to grant permission to rule, to kill and subdue the weak. The Epic of Gilgamesh does just that: It serves as a model for the warrior, the king and the tragic hero and the standards for divine right, friendship, brotherhood and loyalty. Finally, it becomes evident from the beginning of a higher consciousness that justifies love, brotherhood and loyalty in the midst of this need for war and gods. The Epic is divided into seven main parts: the "Coming of Enkidu", the "Forest Journey", "Ishtar", the "Search for Everlasting Life", the "Story of the Flood", the "Return", and the "Death of Gilgamesh". The Creation of life was, and is, a mystery and therefore must be justified as it shows in the "Coming of Enkidu", where he was created by Aruru by dipping "her hands in water and pinching off clay" (EOG 62).

Moral Fragments and Moral Community: A Proposal for Church in Society Essay

Devil’s Playground Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The film â€Å"Devil’s Playground† is considered as one of the films ever produced that is more of a psychological thriller that is developed in a church setting, schools as well as the upper levels of power which exist in the Catholic Church, specifically, Australian when there was change in late 1980s. The film has various stars including Simon Burke who plays the role of Tom Allen. The other characters in the film include Don Hany, Jack Thompson, Toni Collette, John Noble, Andrew McFarlane, Anna Lise Phillips, Leon Ford, UliLatukefu, Matt Levett, as well asJarinTowney (youtube.com).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Form this film, it can be noted that the Amish youths, when they reach the age of 16 years, they are allowed to make their personal decisions and take other ways apart from following the set Amish rules. The youths sample the outside life from the routine life of the Amish which is often under strict rules (Rasmussen, 9-20). The youths get to have modern life whereby they do things as they please and engage in all manner of activities that comes with modernism. In the year 1988, Tom Allen was still recuperating from the loss of his wife as well as the love affair that he had with Alice. One boy goes missing from a Catholic School and there are a lot of questions which are asked by the community. Desperate search by Andrassi as well as Brother Warner to find the boy that has gone missing. In the second episode of film, there is a body which is discovered as well as a note, cryptic, which gives the suggestion that the death of that has occur red is not a normal death or as a result of accident(Rasmussen, 9-20).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The film is quite clear on the lessons that it tries to pass through to the society at large. As it is depicted in the film, the youths are left to make their choices in life, whether to follow modernism or to follow the Amish rules(Beaty, Carlton, and Mark, 107). The film is all about freedom in the society to make choices and live according to what the world offers. From the film, the concept of change is eminent in the film whereby the youths, at the age of 16, are left to do what they want(Rasmussen, 9-20). The film depicts the society as weak and lacks the control that it needs to have on young people. For example, Faron, who is the son of a preacher, gets involved in drugs and leaves the teachings of his father.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is a lot of disrespect for authority that is depicted from the picture of Faron getting in to drugs and other social vices(David, n.p). The producer of the film tries to show the society that when people are left without any rules, there are high chances that things will definitely go wrong. However, it is ironical that the son of a preacher is ardent drugs user, something that the society greatly believes can only happen to those that do not go to church.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this film, there are several characters that have been used, which includes students, clergymen, as well as person in authority. The use of the different characters helps in bringing out the themes in the film as well as the development of the film. The use of the clergy and having church settings as part of the film helps in bringing out the religious aspect that people have in the society (Beaty, Carlton, and Mark, 107). However, despite there being the aspect of religion and beliefs, the society is full of vices, some of which are associated with the church. The clergy are expected to perform the role of teaching morals to the followers and the society as well as offer the much needed support for the people. However, in the context of the film, the church is seen as one that is riddled with politics as well as social vices, although these are not outwardly displayed(Beaty, Carlton, and Mark, 107). The use of the clergy in the film he lps in supporting the theme of religion whereby people get hope from religion, as it is seen through the various youths that decided to get back to their communities instead of continuing with their reckless life(Rasmussen, 9-20). The church is the source of hope and future in the society. It is important that in society moral values should be supported by all the relevant authorities so that the young people can have some form of guidance since they are naà ¯ve and inexperienced.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Contrary to the moral values that are expected, the authorities have instead turned around and became symbols of immorality in the society, as this can be seen in the film. The clergymen fail in their responsibility which in turn leads to the death of a boy, and some form of note claiming that the death is not an accident(David, n.p). From the tile of the film, the Devil’s Playground†, it is symbolic since the events that take place in the film such as the way the youths have left the ways of the Amish and instead engaged in modernism, depicts the title of the film.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The producer of this film managed to bring out the title of the film since there are a lot of social vices which are depicted throughout the film. The vices cover up the religious beliefs that exits leaving in the film, and the church seems not be effective in carrying out its duty of ensuring that the moral values that are expected in the society are upheld by everyone. The schools are not left out as it is depicted in the film (Brooks, 125). The students are the victims that are greatly affected by the vices in the society. The film is a clear indication of what modernism has on a society that does not hold on to its cultural values. The students are presented as intelligent and are aware of what is happening in their surrounding and from observation, they try and practices what they see(Beaty, Carlton, and Mark, 107). The use of the students as part of the characters in the film the producer of this film were simply trying to show that there is no one in the society that is immune to vices which are in a society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is the responsibility of everyone in the society to ensure that moral values are upheld. Furthermore, it is not just the responsibility of the clergy, as they are not as perfect as they may be viewed to help maintain moral values in the society. Parents have the first responsibility of instilling moral values in their children. In the film, parents are seen to be strict to their children and want the children to follow what they want (David, n.p). However, as the children reach the age of 16 years, they are left to make their choices without the guidance of the parents. The effect of this laxity on the side of the parents result in the death of a boy, many of them getting involved in drug abuse as well as sexual relationships, things they are not supposed to do. The whole aspect of religion and parental guidance is lost as it is depicted in the film, and instead, evil is left to prevail(Rasmussen, 9-20). Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In conclusion, the use of the different characters in the film is quite accurate and matches the title of the film, bringing out the clear theme that was intended by the producers of the film. In addition to the characters, the use of different settings, that is, the church, schools and homes, helps to support the theme of the film and the development of the film, something that is a plus to the film. The whole aspect of the film is to help people understand the behavior of human beings when faced with changes, that is, the psychological impacts of different events in the life of an individual(Beaty, Carlton, and Mark, 107). In a society, there it is important that moral values should be maintained and young people should be taught how to live morally upright lives. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of everyone in the society to help and support each other in ensuring that cultural values are not lost. References Beaty, Michael D, Carlton D. Fisher, and Mark Nelson.Christian Theism and Moral Philosophy.Macon, Ga: Mercer University Press, 1998. Print. P.107 Brooks, Thom. Ethics and Moral Philosophy. Leiden: Brill, 2011. Print. P.125 David Dale, Catholic church is in the spotlight for Devil’s Playground TV series viewed from http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/catholic-church-is-in-the-spotlight-for-devils-playground-tv-series-20140902-10b5hx.html on 23rd November 2014 Rasmussen, Larry L. Moral Fragments and Moral Community: A Proposal for Church in Society. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993. Print. P.9-20 The Devils’ Playground viewed from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMmf-20w5IA on 23rdNovember 2014 Source document

Testing of life expectancy Would you want to know

Testing of life expectancy Would you want to know Introduction Throughout the internet, there are numerous websites claiming to have softwares where people upon entering some personal information, they are informed with accuracy their life expectancy. The apparent accuracy of these tests is inadmissible and most of those people who take them rarely believe what they are told.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Testing of life expectancy: Would you want to know? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This is because different softwares produce varied results making it difficult even for the most ardent believers of these frauds to swallow what they see. While most of the online tests are frauds with little credibility, there could actually be a new way to determine people’s life expectancy. Scientists in the UK may be able to tell how long one will live through a special blood test that will involve study of a person’s genetic make up. Most of the people who par ticipate on the online tests will find this interesting because of the level of scientific involvement and the increased interaction with those that are offering the test. The fact that these scientists are ready to roll out the service in the market shows that they are convinced that it is credible and that they are ready to shoulder any legal challenges and are ready to prove scientifically that their method works. The question however is whether people will be willing to take the test or not. I would not want to have the test Before a person takes this test, a number of factors come to play. When carefully analyzed, the demerits outweigh the merits that should discourage any person of sound mind from taking the test. Validity of the test, the financial aspect, and the mental preparedness of such an undertaking will discourage me from taking the test. The reasons for not taking the test are tackled below in detail. Validity of the test and financial aspect The test seeks to analyz e a person’s status of telomeres, to determine the speed of aging. The wisdom behind this is that the shorter the telomeres, the faster someone will age.Advertising Looking for essay on aging? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Since old age is generally associated with end of life, these scientists reckon they can use statistics like the prevailing life expectancy of a person’s region to calculate the number of years he/she will live. What they do not tell people is that this test will only test the biological age of a person. While biological age may have some correlation with chronological age, it is not in entirety an accurate way to determine how long a person will leave. To be fair, this test takes a ceteris paribus approach to chronological age. While it is possible for one’s biological age to be over a hundred, chronological age is subject to many factors like accidents that can easily take a person’s life at any age. Unless they include the element of other factors that cause death and are beyond human control, its will be a mere waste of time to take the test. All the above comes at a staggering figure of an equivalent of $700, a figure way beyond what many of those that will want to take the test. As it is, there are currently many tests that are available and that take into account many factors beyond biological age with somewhat accurate results of life expectancy. Well, assuming the test is to some extent accurate and one’s life expectancy is ascertained, its will be a source of personal problems like emotional breakdowns that may prove difficult to handle. Emotional breakdown Given that this test is backed by some scientific prove, some people are likely to take the results in their entirety. Human beings have for along time thrived in mystery and ignorance. The mystery that surrounds death and the lack of knowledge on how it is caused and when it will happen has spared many people a lot of agony. Knowledge of a person’s date or apparent date of death is likely to plunge some people into a state of emotional distress that is brought about by denial, fear, and apprehension.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Testing of life expectancy: Would you want to know? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is safe to assume that not many people can face the certainty of death in their sober state of minds. This alone is reason enough for one not to take the test because clearly the benefits of knowing your date of death are less those of not knowing. Conclusion There will be a lot of pros and cons about the life expectancy tests. The decision however lies with any individual that is interested. Whatever it is, the bottom line remains that this test will do more harm than good.