BBusiness studies - Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

BBusiness studies - Economics - Essay Example Sloman (2006) has explained that demand is limitless and is related to wants. Moreover, if goods and services were free, people would simply demand whatever they wanted. Supply on the other hand has limits. It is related to the resources available to the firms (Sloman, 2006, p.5). Growth, inflation, unemployment, GDP etc are some of the areas in which microeconomics is mostly interested in. This paper mainly focus on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and its effects on a country’s economic growth and personal wellbeing. Mankiw & Taylor (2006) have mentioned that GDP is a measure of total income of a nation (Mankiw & Taylor 2006, p.464).They also pointed out that GDP is the total market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time (Mankiw & Taylor 2006, p.466). It is calculated based on the total consumer investment and government spending, plus the value of exports, minus the value of imports (GDP, n. d). The following formula can be used to calculate the GDP of a country in given financial year. From the above equation it is clear that when the import increases the GDP decreases whereas when the consumer spending, investment made by industries, and governmental spending increases, the GDP also increases. The current recession (Recession is a phenomenon in which the output in the economy declines or the growth becomes negative (Sloman, 2006, p.6)), has forced people to think twice before lavishly spending their moneys. Westerners who normally spend more than what they earn has already started to save some money for the future after visualizing the negative impacts of recession. But from the above formula it is evident that too much saving can drastically affect the GDP. GDP is a measure of standard of living in a country even though many economic Gurus have different opinions. The GDP performances of United State in the recent years can be

Boeing-Case Study Essay Example for Free

Boeing-Case Study Essay The key elements of the resistance to change described in the Perrier case are: Lack of communication and the companies inability to inform the employees of what changes affected production at Perrier, the company made excessive changes, the company introduces a series of changes and the people felt the changes were unnecessary, and they were unsure if they would still have the required skills to continue to work for the company. Perrier has made quite a fair amount of changes in a short period of time and they will need to be aware that some people may not agree to the change and might not work to their full potential. Most of Perriers employees did not think the changes were necessary for the organization to grow. There were some employees who thought Perriers conducted unnecessary changes to impact their normal workload. The latter change was considered as the lack of conviction that change is needed. There was also the Perceived Negative Effect on Interest -this resistance to change will be affected by peoples perceptions of the likely effect of the change on their interests, a term that can cover a wide range of factors including their authority, status, rewards(including salary), opportunity to apply expertise, membership of friendship networks, autonomy, and security. The employees at Perrier were concerned with the implication of the change for themselves and how it may affect their own interests, rather than considering effects for the success of the business. 2. Construct a change management strategy for dealing with this situation. In so doing, identify what approach (es) to managing resistance you recommend and provide a clear justification for your choice. An article by Kotter and Schlesinger provides the classic description on managing the resista

The Anasazi Indians Essay -- essays research papers

The Anasazi Indians   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From the scattered references made about the ancient Anasazi Indians in Tony Hillerman's A Thief of Time, one can identify several cultural characteristics of this mysterious tribe. One can discover how they lived, where they lived, their religion, simple day to day activities, and mysteries about their culture. Even though many references are made about this tribe, people will never know the truth, for there is an unsolved mystery to why the Anasazi disappeared. Even to this day no one knows what happened to them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The location of over 100,000 Anasazi sites have been found outside of Bluff, Utah along the San Juan river. Anasazi Indians were very picky as to where they lived. They chose to dwell in cliffs faced to catch the winter sun and shaded in summer, with enough floodplain to grow something and a source of water. These two story stone dwellings in cliffs were built large enough to fit 30 people in them. There is one odd fact about this: the Anasazi supposedly carried roof beams more than 50 miles from the forests of Mt. Taylor and Chuskas. These Indians lived as small scattered families of hunters and seed gatherers. They developed agriculture, learned to make baskets and irrigate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Anasazi religion was very different compared to other religions of the world. Anasazi Indians chose to bury their dead either in the trash or against walls. The ghosts of the A...

Women in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essay -- Young Goodman Brown

â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† and Women  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   What are the attitudes of the young Puritan husband Goodman Brown toward women, of the author toward women, of   other characters in the story toward women? This essay intends to answer that question.    Randall Stewart in â€Å"Hawthorne’s Female Characters† states that there are three types of female characters in Hawthorne’s writings: (1) â€Å"the wholesome New England girl, bright, sensible and self-reliant;† (2) â€Å"the frail, sylph-like creature, easily swayed by a stronger personality;† and (3) â€Å"the woman with an exotic richness in her nature† (98), and that â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† has in Faith â€Å"cheerfulness, prettiness, and a simple-minded domesticity† (99). So this categorizes her under type (1).    In Salem village that fateful night when the young Puritan husband was departing home for the night, he exchanged â€Å"a parting kiss with his young wife.† From this we can conclude that he had a basic respect for her feelings(?) The wind was playing with â€Å"the pink ribbons of her cap.† Literary critic Wagenknecht surveys some of the critical interpretation relative to these ribbons:    Mathews finds the pastel of infancy in pink, but since pink is a color intermediate between red and white, William V. Davis prefers to take it as suggesting â€Å"neither total depravity nor innocence† but â€Å"the tainted innocence, the spiritual imperfection of mankind,† a view shared, up to a point, by Robinson. . . . (62).      So the critics would have us believe that the author is making a statement here: that seemingly good Faith is not all that good, based on the author’s placement of pink ribbons on her cap. She whispered, â€Å"Dearest heart, prithee put off your journey until sunrise and sleep... ...tially.      BIBLIOGRAPHY    Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Complete Short Stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Doubleday and Co., Inc.,1959.    Lang, H.J.. â€Å"How Ambiguous is Hawthorne?† In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.    Leavis, Q.D. â€Å"Hawthorne as Poet.† In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.    Martin, Terence â€Å"Six Tales.† In Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Twayne Publishers Inc., 1965.    Stewart, Randall. â€Å"Hawthorne’s Female Characters.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.    Wagenknecht, Edward. Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Man, His Tales and Romances. New York: Continuum Publishing Co., 1989.

Drive by daniel pink

The Puzzling Puzzles of Harry Harlow and Edward Deci Drive offers a new way to think about motivation. Most of what businesses, governments, and nonprofit organizations assume about human behavior, particularly about what motivates us, is wrong. Short-term incentives and pay-for-performance schemes come from outdated assumptions that favor external motivations (i. e. , rewards and punishments for behaving a particular way) overintrinsic motivations (i. e. , the Joy that comes from completing a task).Organizations that rely on external rewards and punishments do so at their peril. In two separate studies, psychologists Harry Harlow and Edward Deci found that external motivations negativelyimpacted performance for non-routine tasks. Although Harlow and Deci's results were robust, they were controversial and ignored. In the book, Drive, Dan Pink argues that it's time to get rid of the old operating system and replace it with a more scientifically accurate understanding of human behavior . Drive, is organized into three parts. Part One reveals how external motivations (a. . a. , carrot-and-stick incentives) can do more harm than good, except in tasks that have straightforward solutions and that equire adherence to a simple set of rules. It's time organizations move to a new mindset that embraces what Dan Pink calls Type I behavior (i. e. , behavior fueled by the inherent satisfaction of the task itself). Part Two examines the three building blocks of Type I behavior: autonomy (i. e. , our desire to be self-directed), mastery (i. e. , our urge to make progress and get better at what we do), and purpose (i. e. our yearning to contribute and to be part of something greater than ourselves).

Increased interdependence among nations Essays

Increased interdependence among nations Essays Increased interdependence among nations Essay Increased interdependence among nations Essay Globalization has made it easier for nations to obtain the goods or services that they need from other countries. With the assurance that they can easily import life essentials such as food and clothing, many countries have reduced or completely stopped the manufacturing of these products. They instead focus their energy on offering financial services or medical services to other nations. One such country is India (Boudreaux 68). Most third world countries rely on developed countries for the provision of machinery and computers. This arrangement is beneficial to all the parties involved. However, it is not stable as it appears to the naked eye. If something should happen to cause further destabilization, then all the parties involved will suffer (Weinstein 98). If, for instance, a developing country that relies on a developed country for machinery lacks the capital required for importation, many businesses in that county will suffer. All countries are financially dependent on their trade partners. The U.S. dollar is used as the world currency in the financial market. Today, the U.S. economy is much stable than it was during the Great Depression. However, should the U.S. economy fall or destabilize, all other countries will face the consequences as well. The only nations that will be safe in such a situation are those that are fully dependent on globalization for their survival (Weinstein 165). Many of these nations are the third world countries, especially in Africa, that are believed to have nothing to offer to the world economy. Increased Rate of Unemployment Since the 2008 economic recession, the rate of unemployment in the U.S.A. and many developed countries has gradually gone up. Contrary to this, developing countries are experiencing a much lower rate of unemployment (Boudreaux 150). The wage policies and environmental protection laws in developing countries are much lower compared to those in the developed countries. Because of this, many corporations are investing in developing countries, hence creating more jobs. More job opportunities are lost to the developing countries due to frequent capital transfers from the developed nations (Boudreaux 154). To solve unemployment in the developed countries, more protectionism laws need to be put in place by the developing countries (Weinstein 189). These laws will protect the workers from developing countries from exploitation by the multinational corporations that are out to make more profits by hiring cheap labor. Developing countries are importing more products from the developed countries. The result of this is the closing down of many local industries, hence increased rate of unemployment (Boudreaux 134). One way of reducing unemployment in the developing nations is to regulate imports and encourage local production of good, thus creating more job opportunities. Exploitation of Developing Countries At the onset of globalization, there was the glamour of people having the chance to world oversees and conduct their business with much ease. While this has become a reality for many people, the negative impacts of the same are just beginning. Globalization has made it easier for the transferability of industries and jobs to the developing countries (Weinstein 186). All this is an attempt to lower production costs, have a lower wage bill and increase profitability in the corporation. Today, many U.S. industries have shifted their operation to either China, India or in some parts of Asia. A similar situation is developing in Australia. China, India and Asian countries produce goods at lower costs due to availability of raw materials. They also offer cheaper labor compared to the developed countries. The companies make more profits. The profits go back to the developed countries for more development. The third world countries are left struggling economically, despite the fact that they are in charge of manufacturing (Weinstein 197). The transfer of jobs to the developing countries may be viewed as a way of creating more jobs. However, it comes at a big cost as many people are paid less than $3 per hour. With the current living standards, this is barely enough to put food on the table. This can be solved by the developing countries putting into place better wage policies for their citizens. Before accepting to manufacture goods for a developed country, developing nations should sign contracts that call for financial benefits. The profits should also be reinvested in the developing country that production is taking place. Corporations should also be advised to pursue a more realistic approach to making profits (Casper 124). One such approach is one used by Henry Ford, where he paid his workers enough money that they could afford to purchase the same products that they were manufacturing. The lack of government regulation is another factor that contributes to the exploitation of third world countries. The governments in these nations need to step up to defend their economies and citizens. Establishment of minimum wage rates will help the people live better lives. Government agencies need to be created to help in the regulation of multinational companies that set base in developing countries. Cultural Erosion The observable impact of globalization is cultural erosion, especially in the developing countries. Prior to modernization and globalization, developing countries held their traditional way of life dearly. Their mode of dressing, eating habits, socialization of children, the value of placed on marriage and other cultural practices were passed from one generation to another. Today, the western culture is more prevalent in the world (Boudreaux 234). Few countries have held to their originality as many have taken up what is in fashion today. Today, practices such as alcoholism, drug abuse, sexual immorality and divorce are at an all-time high. It is high time that traditional values are brought back to the society before moral degradation destroys us. We still have our grandparents who can play the role of reminding us what their ancestors practiced. Cultural exhibitions should be held frequently to remind the youths of their roots. Increased Competition in the Market Due to globalization, many countries have eased up their trade regulations. This has made it easy for external companies to penetrate local markets, posing a threat to their operations. Multinational companies are able to set base in any country they so desire due to free trade policies and availability of capital. More businesses have come up, as people try to take advantage of the cheap labor, easier modes of transportation and higher demand of good and services, both locally and internationally (Weinstein 203). Each new business tries to outdo the other in terms of offering better products and services at affordable prices. This competition is healthy and dangerous at the same time. In a bid to lower prices, many companies are offering counterfeit products, which could be harmful to the consumers (Dollahite and Haun 156). Policies need to be put in place to regulate the number of businesses within a particular sector. This will help to control competition and reduce instances of fake and low quality products. Increased Health Hazards As mentioned before, globalization has caused serious environmental pollution. More industries have come up because of globalization. Many nations lack strict environmental laws. Industries have taken advantage of this fact by emitting dangerous gases into the air while manufacturing their products (Boudreaux 253). This has caused air pollution, which has in turn resulted into more air borne ailments. Today, asthma, pneumonia and respiratory diseases are at an all-time high because of breathing in polluted air. The noise made by the industries in the course of their operations has caused serious damage on the hearing of the employees and the people living close to the industries (Haldar 202). Waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid are on the rise due to disposal of waste products in water sources. Many industries lack proper waste disposal methods. They dispose their waste products haphazardly, completely ignoring the dangers associated with a dirty environment. Many trees have been cut down to create space for the creation of more industries. This habit has resulted in less rain for many countries. In the end, this has resulted in soil erosion, drought and famine (Haldar 230). These events have caused the death of so many people due to starvation. Every country needs to come up with strict environmental laws. Hefty penalties should be put in place for any individual or company that is caught polluting the environment. Social groups should involve themselves more in environmental clean-ups. In conclusion, globalization has achieved its potential but has caused several negative effects that are doing more harm to the people. It is imperative that globalization be redesigned in such a way that its negative impacts are reduced. Bearing in mind that globalization affects important areas such as democracy, the environment and the economy, policies should be put into place to regulate it. Developing countries need to step up and offer financial and planning aid to the developing countries. There is need to restructure the current international financial system to cater for the needs of both poor and rich nations. Globalization is meant to improve the living standards of all those involved. For this to be achieved, a human face needs to be put in globalization. Bibliography Boudreaux, Donald J. Globalization. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2008. Casper, J. K. Changing Ecosystems: Effects of Global Warming. New York: Infobase Pub. , 2010. Dollahite, Nancy E and Julie Haun. Sourcework : academic writing from sources. Boston : Heinle/Cengage Learning, 2012. Haldar, I. Global warming: The causes and consequences. New Delhi: Mind Melodies. , 2011. Houghton, J. T. Global warming: The complete briefing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Jones, L., Fraser Institute. Global warming: The science and the politics. . Vancouver: Fraser Inst., 1997. Weinstein, Michael M. Globalization : whats new? New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 2005.

Environmental Science in Today’s World Essays

Environmental Science in Today’s World Essays Environmental Science in Today’s World Essay Environmental Science in Today’s World Essay In a market economy, food flows in the direction on the economic demand. Need is not taken into consideration. This statement is a justification of the realities of life in today’s world. Various people have different needs, but in order for this needs to be fulfilled, that person should be willing and able to acquire it. The willing part is easy to fill in, but sadly, not all of us could continue with the able part. Many of us lack the resources necessary to acquire our needs. This is where poverty comes in – when you have the need but you don’t have the means to acquire it. Consider this situation: there are a lot of hungry children in the world today, and at the same time, there are domesticated cats that go hungry. When these cats are hungry, their owners buy them food, thus satisfying their need for food. But for the hungry children, not all of them are able to satisfy their need for food. They have the willingness to eat, but theyâ⠂¬â„¢re not able to do so because they lack the money to buy food. They have a poor family which can’t provide their needs, unlike the hungry cats whose owners are able to buy their cat food. This is the underlying theme in Environmental Science itself, wherein environmental problems have a cultural and social context, wherein man and his society directly or indirectly affects the environment. That is why it is necessary for us to comprehend the roles of the society, culture and economics in order to solve these problems. These problems and interactions revolve on man, and he is the only one who can solve it. Also, human survival is said to depend on the practices of development so that it could attain sustainable systems, wherein it could support the coming generations of man, without jeopardizing his needs today. This requires proper management of common resources so that it would last for a long time. Also, conservation and development should go hand and hand with each other so that people can live their lives to the fullest, and this is the concept of sustainable development. References: Environment.   2005. March 12 2007. usgs.gov/themes/environ.html. Environmental Science.   2007. March 12 2007. collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/sub_envsci.html?envsci.

Definition and Examples of Amphiboly in English

Definition and Examples of Amphiboly in English Amphiboly is a  fallacy  of relevance that relies on an ambiguous word or grammatical structure to confuse or mislead an audience. Adjective: amphibolous. Also known as  amphibology. More broadly, amphiboly may refer to a fallacy that results from a faulty sentence structure of any kind. Etymology From the Greek, irregular speech Pronunciation:  am-FIB-o-lee Examples and Observations [T]he 2003 election reform law demanded that politicians acknowledge in their own voices their responsibility for advertisements they run on public airwaves. But five years later, the I approved has become a pivotal device in commercials for Congress and the White House, a place for candidates to make a declaration of intent, summarize the message or take a parting shot. . . .A University of New Hampshire rhetoric professor, James Farrell, was irked as far back as the 2004 Democratic primary campaign, the first time the disclaimers were required. Then, as now, he said, advertisement writers were coming up with awkward non-sequiturs just to slip in something extra.Mr. Farrell noted a current commercial for Representative Don Cazayoux, Democrat of Louisiana, in which the candidate said, I’m Don Cazayoux and I approved this message because that’s who I’m fighting for. That, Mr. Farrell said, is an amphiboly, a logical confusion created by a grammatical ambiguity.Of course, if asked, the candidate will say he means he’s fighting for the middle class, said Mr. Farrell, of the spot’s theme. However, one could easily conclude that the disclaimer addition refers to the candidate himself, as in, I’m Don and that’s who I’m fighting for.(Steve Friess, Candidates ‘Approve’ Ads and Get a Bit Creative. The New York Times, Sep. 30, 2008) Humorous Amphibolies Amphiboly is usually so recognizable that it is rarely used in real-life situations to make a claim seem stronger than it is. Instead, it more often leads to humorous misunderstandings and confusions. Newspaper headlines are one common source of amphiboly. Here are a few examples: Prostitutes Appeal to Pope Farmer Bill Dies in House Dr. Ruth to Talk About Sex With Newspaper Editors Burglar  Gets Nine Months in Violin Case Juvenile  Court to Try Shooting Defendant Red Tape Holds Up New Bridge Marijuana Issues Sent to a Joint Committee Two Convicts Evade Noose: Jury Hung. . . . Most of these cases of amphiboly are the result of a poorly constructed sentence: I like chocolate cake better than you. Although we normally try to avoid them, intentional amphiboly may prove useful when we feel obligated to say something we would rather not have to say, yet want to avoid saying something that is patently not true. Here are lines from letters of recommendation: In my opinion, you will be very fortunate to get this person to work for you. I am pleased to say that this candidate is a former colleague of mine. From a professor on receiving a late paper from a student: I shall waste no time in reading this. (John Capps and Donald Capps, Youve Got To Be Kidding!: How Jokes Can Help You Think. Wiley-Blackwell, 2009) Amphiboly in a Classified Ad Sometimes the amphiboly is more subtle. Take this newspaper classified ad that appears under Furnished Apartments for Rent: 3 rooms, river view, private phone, bath, kitchen, utilities included Your interest is aroused. But when you visit the apartment, there is neither a bathroom nor a kitchen. You challenge the landlord. He remarks that there are common bathroom and kitchen facilities at the end of the hall. But what about the private bath and kitchen that the ad mentioned? you query. What are you talking about? the landlord replies. The ad didnt say anything about a private bath or a private kitchen. All the ad said was private phone. The advertisement was amphibolous. One cannot tell from the printed words whether private modifies only phone or whether it also modifies bath and kitchen. (Robert J. Gula, Nonsense: Red Herrings, Straw Men and Sacred Cows: How We Abuse Logic in Our Everyday Language. Axios, 2007) Characteristics of Amphibolies To become a skilled perpetrator of amphibolies you must acquire a certain nonchalance toward punctuation, especially commas. You must learn to toss off lines such as I heard cathedral bells tripping through the alleyways, as if it mattered not a whit whether you or the bells were doing the tripping. You should acquire a vocabulary of nouns which can be verbs and a grammatical style which easily accommodates misplaced pronouns and confusions over subject and predicate. The astrology columns in popular newspapers provide excellent source material. (Madsen Pirie, How to Win Every Argument: The Use and Abuse of Logic. Continuum, 2006) The Lighter Side of Amphiboly Some amphibolous sentences are not without their humorous aspects, as in posters urging us to Save Soap and Waste Paper, or when anthropology is defined as The science of man embracing woman. We should be mistaken if we inferred immodest dress on the woman described in a story: . . . loosely wrapped in a newspaper, she carried three dresses. Amphiboly is often exhibited by newspaper headings and brief items, as in The farmer blew out his brains after taking affectionate farewell of his family with a shotgun. (Richard E. Young, Alton L. Becker, and Kenneth L. Pike, Rhetoric: Discovery and Change. Harcourt, 1970)

Jewish culture and cartoons Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Jewish culture and cartoons - Research Paper Example Ideally, the information gathered herein is very essential as it helps in reaching to the disabled and prejudiced in Israel and empowers them to be acceptable in the society (Kaplan 125-146). The story dates back to 1933. It was in the course of 1933, that the Global world was experiencing vibrant and seismic changes in the political and modern culture field. Their lived a Jewish Novelty Salesman identified as Maxwell Charles "M.C." Gaines, who had a lot of passion in reading old comic strips, he had read various books since he was jobless. He initiated a very brilliant idea, as much as he loved reading comic books, there was a probability that even other Americans could develop such an attitude. Such an idea, from Maxwell enhanced the birth of an American Comic book. The book was reprinted in newspaper comical. Famous Funnies #1, Series 1, was thus published in February 1934, by Gaines and Harry at Eastern color printing. Publishing of this book enhanced a rise in rival comic book publishers. However, this did not last long and by the mid 1930s publishers has already drained the backlog of both daily and Sunday strips that were to be reprinted. The only opportunity that had been left for the emerging comic book features was to faucet writers and writers, who had no access to any literature, either due to their young age, untested or the Jewish. The advertising bureaus had anti-Semitic quotas, and newspaper consortiums only rarely got a token Jewish cartoonist like Milt Gross or Rube Goldberg. However, most of the Comic book companies were manned by the Jewish publishers, like, Timely Comic’s Martin Goodman or DC Comic’s (Harry, Baskind, Sherman 145-155). The situation could be reflected to the olden times motion picture industry, through which the Jewish Directors, producers and the studio executives who experienced anti-Semitism in other industries, resolved into setting up their own. Since the comic book stories, had taken

Christian worldview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Christian worldview - Essay Example God blessed them and ordered them to multiply in number, fill and control the whole earth. Humans were also to have dominion over all the created things, both living and non-living (Genesis 1:26-28) (Version, 2011). According to the Bible, God has chosen humans to be the leaders and rulers of the world. They have the authority to rule over all the living creatures on land and in the sea. Humans have more dignity than all the created animals in the sea and on land. Despite the fact that humans are more rational and have been chosen to be rulers over all other creatures, this does not give them the authority to harm other animals or living creatures. A suitable rationale for all human beings is created by the biblical worldview. One of the common problems in the Christian worldview is suffering. The vast population of the universe assumes that suffering results from human sin. The issue of personal suffering is widely addressed by Jesus in John chapter nine. In this chapter, the disciples assumed that the man’s blindness was because of his sins. In the chapter, Jesus explained that the blindness of the man was not as a result of the sins of the man’s parents but a way through which God’s works were to be demonstrated (John 9:3). Jesus argued that man’s suffering would not go to waste, but would instead be used to glorify God in his life. The illustrations reveal that man’s suffering is not because of his or her sins. However, God utilizes suffering to remind human beings that sins have adverse consequences. In conclusion, human value, suffering and authenticity play a significant role in the thoughts, beliefs and existence of human beings. The faith on which Christianity is based is cogent and practical. It offers solutions to varied questions that relate to the heart and mind. All human beings survive by faith. People may have faith in themselves, the government or a supernatural being. Other people have faith in

Globalization and the Capitalist State Redundant Essay

Globalization and the Capitalist State Redundant - Essay Example In view of the Marxist globalization has been seen as an expansion or development of capitalism in the world. Like other traditional works that were seen to fit in a loose framework of anti-globalization, Marxism may not be described as a single movement nor can it be described as following a unitary intellectual practice from a theoretical perspective. In this case we should understand that Marxism as whole has been engaging with contemporary phenomena in a way that the manner and the mindsets that it has been postulating in the past has been evidence in class, political economy, labor, capitalism and in many other socialism concepts and revolution described as the central axis of globalization. (Ollman 1998, p.87) Â  With the end of communism in Eastern Europe in the 1990s, and the consequent embrace of the capitalism like in the Peoples Republic of China has been expressed as the end of the Marxism’s period. Regardless of the fact that the world has embraced the capitalist economies, Marxism still present a poignant and painful way of accounting for globalization. This has been witnessed in what is happening in the aftermath of the wave that took the world from the 1990s. Marxism has been expressed in many areas like the free-markets, oppressed and exploited labor, modernization, and many other reforms that have been carried out in the political, social and economic systems of the world. Â  Globalization has been described as the increased interaction of the world or the opening up the world. In the last few decades, there has been increased movement of people and goods. There has been the emergence of the new market. Therefore globalization has been a tendency to create a unipolar world though it has been expressed mostly in economic terms.

Writing a screenplay for a short Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Writing a screenplay for a short - Assignment Example He then addresses the priest. Law and order are simply what needs to be done. Failure to follow the law leads to punitive measures. That is why you are in this cell. You did not follow the law and so you have to face the consequences. Even†¦(The first inmate disrupts him) The first inmate seems upset and starts moving up and down the cell. He seems to be in deep thoughts. He goes and leans on the wall and starts shaking his head. The second inmate walks towards him and shouts to him. The officer takes a glance at the priest and moves towards him. He does not seem convinced with the explanation the priest gives him. He takes the notebook and peruses it. He seems not to get the meaning of the writings inside. He takes the priests Bible and checks the cover. It is torn, and so he smiles meekly The priest seems hurt but grabs the notebook and the Bible from the pastor. He then turns to the prisoners who are sited at the corner of the cell. The officer grabs his hands and pulls him towards the door. Please officer let me say my final word to these inmates. They need encouragement from people like me, for consolation of the hassles they go through in this cell. You are one of the people who should treat these brothers as your friends instead you mistreat them. The Bible requires us to show mercy and compassion to all our friends. God shows us His mercies, and we must reciprocate to our friends. I will leave you with a few words for encouragement and hope for tomorrow. Keep your trust and faith in the Lord because only He can get you out of this damn place. Never forget to pray and commit all your wishes to Him. Also†¦ The priest hesitates as some noise is heard from outside the cell. Loud bangs can be heard from other prison cells as the officers try to stop the prisoners from shouting. Everyone from the room seems shaken. The officer is confused and does not know if he should get out or stay in the cell. As

A Science Column Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A Science Column - Essay Example A physical quantity is defined by the sequence of operations used to determine its value (Wiliamson). The grouping of several physical quantities to find out the values of each in relation to each other is what constitutes a physical law which is defined as. The laws of thermodynamics relate the heat with temperature changes in materials of different kinds. To be clearer on this, let us begin by defining the various laws of thermodynamics. To begin with the first laws which states that Heat is a form of energy, and energy is conserved (Wiliamson). Here the first law confirms that heat is a form of energy and that it can be conserved. This is seen when we use electricity in our homes, the electrical energy is usually stored in the form of water which is then used to drive turbines hence generating electricity which we often use in our homes. This can always be conserved to minimize wastages by either conserving the water stored in a dam or switching off the electricity when not in use . The second law of thermodynamics can be stated in three different ways as defined by three different scholars. For our study we are going to use the definition of Kelvin which states that No cyclic process exists which produces no other effect than the extraction of heat from a body and its conversion into an equivalent amount of work (Wiliamson). The second law of thermodynamics here brings out the reversibility of thermodynamic processes, that is heat is never lost to the surrounding environments given that all factors such as heat loss to the surroundings through evaporation and other heat transfer processes are under control. This is always carried out in the laboratory by using a calorimeter, a laboratory instrument which is used to measure the amount of heat generated through chemical reactions and other physical changes. The calorimeter is designed for this purpose as it is made in such a way that it can minimize heat loss to the surrounding environment as well as heat gain from the same thus ensuring that heat contained in the materials is the same that is used in the entire experiment. It was upon the realization of the limiting factors in the definition of the term temperature by the two thermodynamic laws that the Zeroth law was devised the help in bridging the gap that was omitted. The zeroth law suggests that If two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system, then they are in equilibrium with each other (Wiliamson). This law enables one to order systems according to the direction of heat flow when these two systems are put into contact with each other. For this reason, a system is said to be hotter if heat flows from it into the other system which in this case is considered a colder one than the other when these two systems are put into contact with each other. The reverse is however true in the other direction. The third law of thermodynamics on the other and explains that the entropy of a system approaches a constant value as the t emperature approaches absolute zero (Wiliamson). This law suggests that all motions in a material tend to come a standstill, cease within that particular material as the temperature of that material reduces to absolute zero. All materials however must reach a state whereby the temperatures reduce to absolute zero hence no thermodynamic motions occurring within them. The three laws of

Writing a screenplay for a short Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Writing a screenplay for a short - Assignment Example He then addresses the priest. Law and order are simply what needs to be done. Failure to follow the law leads to punitive measures. That is why you are in this cell. You did not follow the law and so you have to face the consequences. Even†¦(The first inmate disrupts him) The first inmate seems upset and starts moving up and down the cell. He seems to be in deep thoughts. He goes and leans on the wall and starts shaking his head. The second inmate walks towards him and shouts to him. The officer takes a glance at the priest and moves towards him. He does not seem convinced with the explanation the priest gives him. He takes the notebook and peruses it. He seems not to get the meaning of the writings inside. He takes the priests Bible and checks the cover. It is torn, and so he smiles meekly The priest seems hurt but grabs the notebook and the Bible from the pastor. He then turns to the prisoners who are sited at the corner of the cell. The officer grabs his hands and pulls him towards the door. Please officer let me say my final word to these inmates. They need encouragement from people like me, for consolation of the hassles they go through in this cell. You are one of the people who should treat these brothers as your friends instead you mistreat them. The Bible requires us to show mercy and compassion to all our friends. God shows us His mercies, and we must reciprocate to our friends. I will leave you with a few words for encouragement and hope for tomorrow. Keep your trust and faith in the Lord because only He can get you out of this damn place. Never forget to pray and commit all your wishes to Him. Also†¦ The priest hesitates as some noise is heard from outside the cell. Loud bangs can be heard from other prison cells as the officers try to stop the prisoners from shouting. Everyone from the room seems shaken. The officer is confused and does not know if he should get out or stay in the cell. As

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This is not a paper just a MIDTERM question - Essay Example However, it is cumbersome to prepare, offers little information to management, and usually creates parallel accounting systems. It also does not indicate levels of efficiency or address value. Generally, budgeted expenditures are based on a standard cost of inputs multiplied by the number of units of an activity to be provided in that period. It refers to the process of linking costs to activities, then identifying specific outputs to be produced by services or activities. Then setting targets or goals and afterwards preparing budget based on these performance goals set. The new approach to performance budgeting seeks to concentrate on the outcomes rather than the output. This approach has the advantage of offering a means of estimating future expenditures and measurement of activities efficiency. On the other hand, its drawback is that there is a need to distinguish between the fixed and variable costs. Furthermore, it has no benefit in public accounting, as efficiency is not the only measure required. Program budgeting refers to a variety of different budgeting systems that base expenditures primarily on programs of work and secondarily on objects. It involves organization of the business operations into programs with specific goals and missions. After identifying the goals, sub goals and objectives and their input and output are outlined, as budgets are prepared along these programs. They facilitate choice of alternative strategies, evaluation of goals and finally it takes budgeting beyond efficiency compared to performance budgeting approach. However, there is no single methodology to single out alternatives available. In addition, it places heavy demands on officials to achieve their stated goals. Zero-based budgeting operates by justifying budget requests probably of each department or functional unit of operation every budgeting cycle, regardless of prior

Dream Deferred Essay Example for Free

Dream Deferred Essay In a dream, a man was walking amidst a seemingly endless desert in the Middle East. At a distance, he saw a patch of land abundant with date nuts olives and a fountain-a mysterious oasis in the middle of the dessert. In his desperation to save his life from hunger and thirst, he walked towards the place. However, he was horrified with what he saw when he came closer. The land was destroyed before his very eyes. At the same time, he heard screams of anguish and death from the place. The man woke up from his nightmare- but could not shake the image out of his memory. It is once said that visionaries were born in dreams, and dreams are born out of visions. But so many dreams are deferred by the sudden awakening, in which awakened to visualize the bareness of facts and trace from the threshold of dreams. In today’s world, many have told about fragilities of society and frailties in life. Would there be enough reasons to find an answer in a society that has been divided by conflicts and the dogma of deceit? Could there be enough rationality to justify conflict of ideas being worsened by war? These questions may be meaningless but in a sense explains the obsessions of a dreaming man. This paper will discuss the typical American dream—of what can be done to visualize orderliness and reach out a dreamed legacy for the Middle East. Partnership for Reform Would qualifying the partnership for reform mean apolitical to the socio-religious-political life of the Middle Eastern people? Could apolitical be defined as maintaining the neutrality to the societal condition and cultural beliefs? How partnership for reform be then achieved without prejudice? The partnership for reform may be determined by recognizing and exposing a public interest—the interest where people enjoy the way of life; a life without fear and misery but peace, harmony and prosperity—that is not vindicated by the plagues of war. At a glimpse of the dailies between the consciousness, the partnership for reform is a day of celebration for the American families for the homecoming of their loved ones serving the Armed Forces; as the US Congress called the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, and as the President held its intrastate policies to foster diplomatic ties in the interstate political-religious affairs in the Middle East. What future can bring by this development may recoil to the governmental reform on fostering diplomatic ties. The Middle East governments has opened its cultural exchange as the rest of the Arab states [to include Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Palestine and Lebanon] paved its way to a unified democratic processes, and the leaders of these Arab states convened to political and economic planning that resembles with the creation of the European Union. Reflective of the partnership for reform is the unification of the Arab States that brought about subsequent political change. First, when the Islamic fundamentalism was supplanted with a neo-Islamism that isolates the Islamist paganism in Iraq and Afghanistan, in which many members of the Al-Qaeda has renewed their Muslim faith and intensely abhorred the doctrine of Bin Laden who is now in exile somewhere in Africa. Second, the leaders of the Arab States vowed to bring justice to the people of the world by eliminating and disarming themselves with weapons of mass destructions, and prosecute the individuals and government personalities that conspire and condone terrorism. The US-Middle East partnership for reform is jointly envisioned by the people and governments to reach out legacy of peace and world order. One of the first 100-day plans is the institutionalization of welfare and services to revitalize the rehabilitation process on the effects of war. This â€Å"healing of wound† of the war is likewise appealing to the member countries of the United Nations to spur the reform in Middle East by supporting the creation of livelihood projects for displaced families and generate employment opportunities by restructuring the economic base. The program of â€Å"re-education for all† is being established in order to improve the level of literacy and social awareness of people who once denied with the right to education as brought about by war. On the other hand, the democratic processes are being renewed by holding an Islamic Convention that will study the promulgation of Constitutional Assemblies in Islamic States. The constitutional assembly thus far takes into effect the modification and reforming of political-religious rights of Middle Eastern people to restore its cultural heritage and obliterate the stigma of jihad (holy war) with its Judeo-Christian brethren. It is then the partnership for reform harnesses the well-being of the people and rekindles its Islamic faith for the life of the world. Thus, the partnership for reform may be a dreamed legacy in 2012. Conclusion The dream for Middle East may not only be a mock article but everybody’s dream specifically by the progressive minds of the Middle Eastern people, and likewise the typical American dream. It may be said that the plagues of war in the Middle East has its in-depth origin from the socio-religious-political-economic perspective. But what is much been said about is the macabre tales of economic interest patterned by deceit and political overpowering. What

The Manifestation Of Hedonism In Malaysian Entertainment Theology Religion Essay

The Manifestation Of Hedonism In Malaysian Entertainment Theology Religion Essay The objective of this paper is to identify the effects and degree of hedonism in Malaysia. The study is conducted using secondary sources. The finding of this paper is indicated that hedonism occurs in Malaysian entertainment industry via the excessive of exposure persuasive advertisements and tremendous amount of reality show in local television. 1. INTRODUCTION Entertainment is any activity that is designed to delight and, to a smaller degree, enlighten through the exhibition of the fortunes or misfortunes of others, but also through the display of special skills by other and or self (Bates Ferri, 2010). It has been part of cultures. People from different cultures have different ways to entertain themselves. For instance, the traditional Malaysians tend to amuse themselves by playing congkak, gasing and many more. Thus, entertainment has become the identity of ones culture. As the life goes on, entertainment and media industry have been developing since the introduction of electronic television in the late 1920s (Maggie, 2008). However, this transformation has resulted to several impacts toward the local entertainment industry. For instance, the recent analysis on Malaysian entertainment in electronic media specifically has showed that this industry has adopted excessive element of Western cultures or in other word it has been westernized (Shriver, 2002). As a result of this process, most local television programs tend to exhibit the element of hedonism implicitly. Recent researchers have proved that one of the hedonic needs is entertainment (OBrien, 2010). Hedonism basically derived from the ancient Greek term which is hedonà ©. It means pleasure, joy or lust (Mees Schmitt, 2008). Hedonism as defined by Crisp (2006) is the view that human action is motivated by a concern for the greatest expected balance of pleasure over pain. Further, according to hedonist, what is good for any individual is the enjoyable experience in ones life and what is painful considered as bad. Therefore, the life best for an indi vidual is that with the greatest balance of enjoyment over suffering. Entertainment in Islam Entertainment in Islam is an issue which has been debated across time. It has no certainty whether it is prohibit or permissible or in Islam is called dhan (Ø ¸Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒâ„¢Ã…  .(. However, this issue should not be the reason Muslim being divided and separated. According to Yusuf Al-Qaradawi in his book al-halal wa al-haram fi al-Islam, entertainment can be permissible and prohibited according the situation. It is nature of human being to be entertained and entertaining others. Entertainment is prohibited when it is associated with things which forbidden then it is prohibit. It is in line with an Islamic legal maxim which says what lead to haram than it is haram. With the advent of technology, the entertainment industry has flourished and become immensely popular. Combine this with the exponential advances in technology, and the result is an increasing number of ways to amuse ourselves. According to Pahrol (2011) in Solusi, Entertainment in Islam generally can be divided int o two; primary and secondary. Primary entertainment is the entertainment that is aims to pleasure Allah such as prayer, zikr, reciting Al-Quran and more. Secondary entertainment on the other hand is entertainment that intends to please oneself in permissible way. Nonetheless, how Muslims scholars define entertainment? In Malaysia, the entertainment has its own guidelines or regulation to be followed. According to Perlis Islamic Legislation Council (1970) entertainment is include the singing and music with instruments or without that is permissible as long it is not against the few conditions; i) The programs were organized has good benefits, ii) Dress modestly and cover themselves, iii) Not to mix boys and girls up to mischief and disobedience stimulate, iv) Lyrics quality and does not conflict with Islamic law and v) Place of performance that does not invite evil. If these guidelines is broken then it has reach the status of prohibition or haram. Thus, from these conditions we shou ld be cleared whether the entertainment today is according to Islam or not. This fatwa was done on Malaysian culture but is it still applicable nowadays? 2. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM Hedonism requires leisure time and personal wealth. No nation in all of world history has ever been as hedonistic as the United States now is. Americans now spend more money on pleasurable pursuits of all types than on religion and education combined (as cited in William S. Banowsky, 1969). Hedonism also occurs in Malaysia. Hedonism makes Muslims easy prey for Christians, growing hedonism, materialism and liberalism among Muslim have weakened their faith and made them easy for Christianization. (Malaysian insider 4 April 2012). Many research have been conducted to study hedonism, little is known about the drive behind their behaviour. Thus it is necessity for a study to be conducted to identify the manifestation of hedonism especially in Malaysia. 3. RESEARCH QUESTION What are the effects of hedonism toward Malaysian entertainment? To what extent Malaysian society involve in hedonism? 4. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 1. To identify the effect of hedonism toward Malaysian entertainment. 2. To examine the degree of hedonism in Malaysian society. 5.1 THE EFFECT OF HEDONISM IN THE CONTEXT OF MALAYSIAN ENTERTAINMENT. Malaysia is considered one of Islamic world most modern and open societies. Although Malaysians fully embrace their own cultural and Asian values, influences from foreign cultures and values such as those of the West transmitted by the media are generally accepted. In Malaysia, these influences from the media are considered part of the media globalization process. More influences from the West, which conflict with Asian values, began to be transmitted in forms of Western television genres with the launch of Malaysias first government controlled satellite television station in 1997. Although the content is censored by the television station, there are still very strong Western influences in these programs which invite the Malaysian audiences to adopt Western practices. Unconditionally, it may affect the nature of Malaysia entertainment and may lead to hedonism. All products have a certain degree of hedonism. This is because all products have some degree of symbolic meaning that arouses at least some degree of hedonic motivations among individuals (Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982a, 1982b; Kleine, Kleine and Kernan, 1993; Schlosser, 1998). If products are varying in the extent of inherent symbolism, then one can expect that the hedonic value would vary across product categories. This is supported by research examining the extent of hedonism in different products (Batra and Ahtola, 1991; Bloch, Sherrell and Ridgway, 1986; Babin and Darden 1994; Lofman, 1991). Hedonic value across products seems to vary depending on the intrinsic and extrinsic attributes of the product (Dodds and Monroe, 1985). All products used advertisements to attract buyer. Advertisements or commercials are an important aspect of television broadcast. Merrill,et al. (1994) indicated that television lives and dies by advertising because sponsors directly or indirectly provides all of the stations revenue. Generally, television makes profits from advertising revenues. Thus, television station devote considerable effort to structure their programming in order to hold the larger desirable audience possible (Saenz, 2001). Higher and ranked program, for instance program with larger audience size, attract more advertisement compared to lower ranked program. Therefore, advertisements play an important role to instil information to the viewer directly or indirectly. It may influence viewer thinking and behaviour. In relationship with the concepts of hedonism, this excessive exposure of persuasive advertisement may lead to the act of unnecessary spending of money. It is because; frequent exposure may increase the likelihood of alteration in peoples perception toward the act of excessive spending. Those tempting advertisements may implicitly illustrate such wasteful act of using money as a means for to attain pleasure or to release their tension and stress. Based from this phenomenon, the tremendous increasing of entertainment industry profit may clearly indicate the raising of hedonic lifestyle among Malaysians without they realize it. Those people are actually blinded by the motivation to satisfy their hunger for pleasure. Thus, they are willing to spend huge amount of money just to watch their favourite contestant win the show. However, without they realize, those irresponsible television station companies are actually manipulating these reality TV shows as a means to seize viewers money for the sake of their earnings. Psychological View on Effect of Hedonism This relates to behaviourism concept, as behaviourist James Watson (as cited in Elliot Covington, 2001) suggested that, pleasure and pain can be regarded as springs of action. He further that, pleasure can be considered as a tremendous reinforce and pain as the tremendous inhibitor of behaviour. In other word, the experience of pleasure may represent reinforcement for an individual to repeat a specific action. Meanwhile, the experience of pain may represent the punisher for an individual to avoid the act. While according to Freud (as cited in Elliot Covington, 2001), he presumed that humans are like lower animals and constantly seek pleasure and avoid pain. He also viewed this hedonistic tendency as the motivational basis of psychodynamic and it is regulated automatically by the principle of pleasure (1939). Islamic Perspective 5.2 THE DEGREE OF HEDONISM IN MALAYSIA In Malaysia, television is the most popular among components of media. It has become an indispensable household item and watching television is a past time activity (Rahmah, 1996). I supporting this nation, Media Guide (2004) indicates that among the media available in Malaysia, television is the most popular as it is able to reach 96% of adult population. Adult populations are those above 15 years old. Reality TV gains its popularity in the Malaysian television industry with the introduction of the highly acclaimed American reality TV, Survivor in year 2000. After the success of the programme, Malaysia television industry has introduced its own local reality TV show, known as Explorace broadcast on TV3. The first season of the programme managed to attract an average of 2.3 million viewers and was billed as one of the most successful reality adventure/game show programme in Malaysia (Utusan Malaysia, 23 February 2005). A turning point in the Malaysian television industry came with the creation of Akademi Fantasia (2003) broadcast on ASTRO. Akademi Fantasia is an adaptation of La Academia, one of the most successful musical/ singing talent reality TV show originated from Mexico (Utusan Malaysia, 7 August 2005). For the first time, ASTRO through Akademi Fantasia has created the first interactive TV phenomenon that became a huge craze to almost every level of Malaysian society. Home an d studio audience are invited to vote for their favourite contestants. Audience through short message service (SMS) vote were given a hundred percent of deciding power to determine the winner (Utusan Malaysia, 6 July 2005). The first season of Akademi Fantasia in 2003 drew in profits through the votes made by audiences throughout the nine weeks of the show. All-Asian Satellite Television and Radio Operator (ASTRO) managed to collect 2.5 million ringgit as a profit in return for their services to entertain the audience. In 2004, 15 million SMS were sent to ASTRO, and the profit made for the second season amounted up to 7.5 million ringgit, all made possible by the voting system created for the audiences (Utusan Malaysia, 6 July 2005). Psychological View on the Degree of Hedonism Islamic Perspective 6. ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES The enemies have flocked towards us by using various approaches such as schools and creeds, theories and philosophies, organizations and institutions, states and countries. They have all gathered to fight Islam and the Muslims. Some of them are driven by a hidden hatred and some by an old animosity. The Twentieth Century has witnessed one of the fiercest blows inflicted upon our Ummah by our enemy such the collapse of the Khilafah. They did not stop there but to the extent they went on to indoctrinate Muslims with strange, foreign ideas and concepts, in order to confuse our understanding of our religion (Deen). Once we wake up and try to return to our original religion (Deen), we will be confronted with an intellectual perplexity, in which evil and good is mixed. Hence, the truth will be ambiguous and we will go astray, and lose the true understanding of Islam. It is clearly show in the philosophy of hedonism whereby it connotes the being pleasure is the ultimate goal of human being aside that it is used for avoiding pain. According to psychoanalysis we are born with sexual desire and the behaviourist tend to believe that we are promoted to hedonism due to reinforcement with the purpose of avoiding pain which is categorise as negative reinforcement. However, Islam does not put that ultimate desire or pleasure as the highest aim. We are born we sexual desire but we can educate or nurture it toward purity. Allah mentioned in the Quran that we are sent to this land to worship Him not to devote ourselves to only pleasure. I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve Me. (Az-zariyat 51:56) Then, for this purpose Allah has sent prophets to educate people with the knowledge how to worship Him. The Pleasure of Allah, Mighty is He, is an objective before which all other objectives diminish in importance: And Allah is better [as regards reward in comparison to your reward], and more lasting [as regards punishment in comparison your punishment. (Surah Ta-Ha 20: 73) Nevertheless, human being can seek pleasure as they want but within the boundary of Islam. According to Alias (2008) a lot of verses in the Quran defining or explaining about how we can use our sensation and perception to seek pleasure. It is our as His servant to fulfil our responsibility by using this senses to seek permissible pleasure. As we know, we are granted by Allah with lust (nafs) which defines by Al-Ghazali (as cited in Najati, 1993) the powers of anger and sexual appetite in a human being. Although being has sexual appetite we not should only fuel ourselves with sexual activities but by educating it to pleasure only Allah. In addition, this only can be change but purifying ones heart. Imam Al-Ghazali and Ibn Qayyim (as cited in Najati, 1993) even mention that heart (Al-Qalb) is the governor of the senses which if pure will make our perception cleaned and if it dark or dirty than it can make our perception polluted. Allah mentioned, Have you seen the one who chooseth for his god his own lust? (Al-Furqaan25:43) He followed his own lust. Therefor his likeness is as the likeness of a dog; if thou attackest him he panteth with his tongue out, and if thou leavest him he panteth with his tongue out (AlAraf7:176) and about the person who controlled the passion of his ego God says: But as for him who feared to stand before his Lord and restrained his soul from lust, Lo! The garden will be his home (An Nazià ¢t79:40-41) Hence, the total devotion to desire or pleasure is not being accepted in Islam but we need to put our ultimate goal to only pleasure Allah. By pleasuring Allah, the negative reinforcement which leads to seeking worldly pleasure will diminish because it is change by Allah with a lot of sustenance. As mentioned above, psychoanalysis only focus on sexual desire and hedonism explained about the avoidance of pain. In Islam, as Allah stated in the Al-Quran: And We send down of the Quran that which is healing and mercy for the believers, but it does not increase the wrongdoers except in loss (Al Isra17:82) In this verse Allah reminds us that the cure of the pain is in the Al-Quran. In order to reduce or cure the illness it is better for human being to follow what has been prearranged by Allah SWT. In addition to that, the most important things in Muslim life are prayer. The importance of prayer actually mentioned by Allah: Verily, prayer prevents from Al-fahsha(i.e. great sins of every kind, unlawful sexual intercourse etc.) and Al-Munkar (i.e disbelief, polytheism, and every kind of evil wicked deed etc.) (Al-Ankabut 29:45) Hence, from this verse we can see that as psychoanalysis believed that human are born with sexual desire and they need to fulfil it by doing sexual related behaviour which if not done conflict will arise. However in Islam it is prohibited to do sexual related behaviour in illegal way such as adultery that is the effect of hedonism. Thus, prayer eventually is one of the medications that have been provided from Allah to human being. Allah adds: O mankind! There has come to you a good advice from your Lord (i.e. the Quran, ordering all that is good and forbidding all that is evil), and a healing for that ( disease of ignorance, doubt.hypocrisy and differences, etc.) in your breasts, a guidance and a mercy (explaining lawful and unlawful things, etc.) for the believers. (Yunus 10: 57) This verse mentioned the healing process that give into the breast. Breast here can be defined as heart. According to Murad (1985) heart is not only mere part of flesh in your body, but the centre of all your thoughts, emotions, motives, drives, aspirations, memory and attention. It can be softened and can be hardened. Allah states: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦their hearts do soften to the celebration of Allah.s praises. Such is the guidance of Allah. He guides there with whom He pleases, but such as Allah leaves to stray, can have none to guide. (Az-Zumar 39:23) Thenceforth were your hearts hardened: They became like a rock and even worse in hardness. For among rocks there are some from which rivers gush forth; others there are which when split asunder send forth water; and others which sink for fear of Allah. And Allah is not unmindful of what ye do. (Al-Baqarah 2:74) The Prophet also said narrated from Abu Numan: Lo! Verily, there is in the body a small piece of flesh; if it is good the whole body is good and if it is corrupted the whole body is corrupted; lo! it is the heart. Thus, it is our responsibility to take a good care of our heart as it governs our body and mind. Therefore as Imam Al-Nawawi explained in al-Majmu`aas for the knowledge of the heart, it is knowing the diseases of the heart, such as envy, conceit and the like. Imam al-Ghazali said in ihya ulumuddin: Knowing the definition of these diseases, their causes and their cures, and remedies how to fix them, is personally obligatory (fard `ayn) on every Muslim. Hedonism only can be taken care by turn back to the only source of Al-Quran and Al-Sunnah however, the questions is the Muslim and non-Muslim which do not know it. How can it be possible to overcome this matter? We need to bear in mind and heart that the Quran and prophet Muhammads Sunnah and teachings is not only for Muslims but to entire universe. As the prophet mentioned:Abu Said al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) had said: Whoever amongst you sees anything objectionable, let him chan ge it with his hand, if he is not able, then with his tongue, and if he is not even able to do so, then with his heart, and the latter is the weakest form of faith. Narrated by Muslim. This hadith actually explain the way of dealing with evil deeds and hedonism is one kind of evil deeds. First, it is the responsibility of the authority which has been commentary by Muslims scholars that the hand it the one who with power. For instance, the government of Malaysia should realize their task is not only making development but also to instill the faith or creed of Islam in Muslim specifically and society generally by doing some changes in entertainment industry, educational system and media. Second, the role of society is basically taken from the word tongue in the hadith. The society should not only talk about the issue but eventually take opportunity to invite or promote good health lifestyle to their family and friends since hedonism only will lead to bad health lifestyle. Healthy lifestyle is not only limited to Muslims but also should be practiced by all races. 7. CONCLUSION As discussed above the concern about manifestation of hedonism in Malaysia revolved around the effect and the degree of hedonic values in the Malaysian entertainment industry.

Analysis of Epic Poems Essay -- Epic Poetry Iliad Greece Greek Literat

Analysis of Epic Poems An epic poem is a long poem that tells a story about heroes. The Iliad is a great epic poem written by Homer in the 8th century BC, reflecting on events that occurred around 1200 BC during the time of the Olympian religion. â€Å"There were twelve chief gods who supposedly lived in Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece. The twelve Olympian gods were common to all Greeks, who thus shared basic polytheistic religion (Spielvogel 84).† The first of the two excerpts I will discuss from the Iliad, is during the time of the Greek and Trojan War. At one point, the powerful god Zeus forbids the other gods to intervene in the war, but Zeus’s wife Hera, wants her brother Poseidon to help the Greeks during this time. Hera decides to distract Zeus’s attention by seducing him with her looks. She bathes herself with ambrosia, fixes her lovely and ambrosial curls, puts on her finest earrings, and dresses in intimate apparel. Hera then makes her way down under the clouds where Zeus could see her. Zeus then approaches her and asks where she is going. Hera lies to him and tells him she is on her way to visit her parents. He is so attracted to her that he insists they must make love above the clouds before she goes. Hera plays hard to get, and suggests they go to a place where they can’t be seen. Zeus then tries to persuade Hera by telling her that no woman, out of the many he's had relations with, had ever melted about his heart like she does. After many attempts, Zeus convinces her to make love to him under the golden cloud. Afterwards, they fall asleep, giving Poseidon his chance to help the Greeks. Although immortal, the gods seen in the Iliad, seem to be very human like; except for the fact that they are forever youthful. Zeus expresses himself to be a strong, powerful, horny, charming, but also, unintelligent god. On the other hand, Hera is seen as a seductress. She is a liar, and a very devious woman who uses sex to get what she wants. The second excerpt from the Iliad, is a face to face fight scene between the Trojan Prince Hector, and the Greek hero Achilles. Previous to this event, Achilles had chased Hector around the city of troy three times looking for revenge. Finally, the goddess Athena steps in and tells Achilles that she will trick Hector by disguising herself to be his brother Delphobus; and when he turns ar... ...and fruits of their victories, and, as usually happens, growing corrupted by flattery and idleness, show a tendency to violence and arrogance, it is in these circumstances, more than ever, that the constitution is seen to possess within itself the power of correcting abuses (Tierney & Scott 103.)† References Homer. â€Å"The Iliad,† Trans. Richmond Lattimore, in Tierney and Scott, Western Societies: A Documentary History. Plato. â€Å"The Republic,† Trans. B. Jowett, in Tierney and Scott, Western Societies: A Documentary History. Plutarch. â€Å"Life of Lycurgus,† Trans. A.H. Clough, in Tierney and Scott, Western Societies: A Documentary History. Polybius. â€Å"The Histories of Polybius,† Trans. E.S. Shuckburgh, in Tierney and Scott, Western Societies: A Documentary History. Spielvogel, Jackson. Western Civilization to 1715., West Publ. Co, Inc., St. Paul: 1999 (4th Ed.) Thucydides. â€Å"History of the Peloponesian War,† Trans. B. Jowett, in Tierney and Scott, Western Societies: A Documentary History. Xenophon. â€Å"Oconomics,† Trans. J.S. Watson, in Tierney and Scott, Western Societies: A Documentary History.

Babie’s Nutrition Essay

Is immunity compromised in babies who are formula fed for their first year compared to babies who are breastfed for the first year? Anastasia J. Jorgensen LCC Nursing 165 Is immunity compromised in babies who are formula fed for their first year compared to babies who are breastfed for the first year? Many hospitals are now implementing a â€Å"Baby Friendly† environment in their delivery and mother-baby units. This initiative promotes breastfeeding as the priority feeding method to new mothers and leaves formula feeding by the wayside. Is formula feeding hurting these children or all of the children who have been formula fed up to this point? One study suggests that there is a high use of laxatives in formula-fed infants (Gitte Zachariassen, 2013). While another sets out to prove that formula containing galactose, galactooligosaccharides (GOS) would help reduce infections and allergic manifestations with a prebiotic effect on intestinal microbiota (Carlos Sierra, 2014). Purpose In Sierra’s et al.’s (2014) article, which reviews the effect of prebiotic’s during the first year of life in formula fed infants, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial is performed to assess the effects of prebiotic supplements on intestinal micro bacteria and the incidence of infections and allergic reactions during the first year of life. In Gitte Zachariassen’s et al.’s (2013) article on preterm infant diet and the high use of laxatives among the formula-fed infants, a study was performed to see what the effects of formula were on the infant gastrointestinal system versus infants who were given breastmilk along with formula and breastmilk alone. This study included the number of meals given, number and amount of regurgitation, number of stools, and amount of laxatives used daily. Summary of Studies1 Population. The first study, Carlos Sierra et al. (2014), consisted of infants less than 2 months old and healthy term infants from eight Spanish hospitals. These infants ranged in gestational age of 37 to 42 weeks and weighed more than 2500 grams. The infants were then placed into different groups to monitor the effects of the different food given whether it was formula or breastmilk. In the next study, Gitte Zachariassen et al. (2013), parents of very preterm infants (  regarding breastfeeding is important but I believe that more information should be provided about formula feeding and the problems that can occur. Specifically, I think parents should be informed that their infant could be more irritable because they are gassy or constipated if they are only formula fed, this may deter some parents from the use of formula or at least encourage them to supplement with breastmilk. I also think that they should be informed that breastfeeding, while it does contribute to passive immunity, is not the only way to keep your infant healthy. Formula, while more convenient to use at times, is not going to make your infant less healthy but it will not increase their immunity eith er. References Carlos Sierra, M.-J. B.-I.-L.-M. (2014). Prebiotic effect during the first year of life in healthy infants fed formula containing GOS as the only prebiotic: a multicentre, randomised, double-blind and placeboi-controlled trial. Springerlink.com, 11. Gitte Zachariassen, J. F.-G. (2013). Preterm dietary study: meal frequency, regurgitation and the surprisingly high use of laxatives among formula-fed infants following discharge. ACTA Paediatrica, 7.

Compare and Contrast: Capital One 360 to Dezurik

Company OverviewFrom an operations management perspective, we compared and contrasted Capital One 360 to Dezurik. We looked at many different aspects of both businesses in relation to various operational and business elements. We conclude that both corporations have significant differences based on manufacturing versus service operations. Dezurik is a pure manufacturing company, which was founded in 1928, while Capital One 360 is a pure service company that was founded in 2013. Dezurik designs and manufactures valves for use in commercial and residential applications. Capital One 360 provides online banking options to consumers in the United States.Topics CoveredOur goal in this business report is to compare and contrast Capital One 360 and Dezurik based upon the following categories:Service vs Manufacturing contrastBusiness and Operations StrategyProcess Design and Supply Chain, Flow ChartTQM, Jit, Six SigmaKanban, KaizanSWOT AnalysisCapacity PlanningLayout and DesignRecommendations In summary, both companies are making short and long-term adjustments to prepare themselves for the years ahead. By implementing our original  recommendations within each company, they will both become more efficient and effective companies as a whole.Manufacturing often provides services, and services often provide tangible goods. Dezurik is a pure manufacturing company, whereas Capital One 360 is a pure service company. Dezurik designs, develops, and manufactures tangible products that are valves and inventories them inside their manufacturing facility. Dezuriks plant equipment is used solely for the production of their valves and related products. The dezurik manufacturing company has low customer contact and a longer customer response time. In contrast to Dezuriks pure manufacturing company, Capital One 360’s pure service corporation handles their business much differently.Capital One 360 has intangible products that cannot be inventoried. Capital one 360 has high custo mer contact and can be reached 24/7. They offer many different ways to service customers such as in their cafes, calling and talking to a real capital one associate, blogging, and also offer a mobile app. The cafà © allows customers to interact with Capital One 360 employees and the employees working behind the counter are educated in their business. Capital One 360 has a short response time; customers can go online to access their accounts which saves them time and money. They are also labor intensive and have around 450 associates working in their St. Cloud office.Although Dezurik and Capital One 360 differ in terms of service vs manufacturing, they share many similarities. Both corporations use technology. Dezurik uses modern up-to-date technology in the machines they use to manufacture valves, as well as in their 3-D solid modeling of valve parts and assemblies. Capital One 360 also uses technology by offering services over the web, phone, ATM or by mail. Both companies have qu ality, productivity, and response issues that must be dealt with on a daily basis to maintain customer satisfaction. Both companies must have forecast demand and each will have capacity, layout and location issues.Both Dezurik and Capital One 360 have business and operations strategies in place to ensure success in their respective businesses. Dezurik has a strategy of giving their customers high quality products that will withstand the test of time.   Capital One 360 wants to give the consumer an easy to use product that is incredibly efficient and environmentally friendly. Both companies have  strategies that are similar, while others are completely different from each other. Dezurik, being a pure manufacturing company, needs to focus more of their work on their manufacturing process.In order to produce the valves they need, they must regulate their supply to correlate with their demand. This can be shown in their manufacturing process. Dezurik has some valves that they are ma ss producing all of the time. They also are able to take on project builds for custom sizes and designs. These are two different segments of Dezurik which require two different business strategies. The first strategy that Dezurik has is to be continuously producing their standard size valves. This is a fairly straight forward operations strategy. Keep up with the demand for the valves, and at the same time maintain an efficient product assembly line. The second strategy has to do with their special product order segment. They do this in several different ways.The first is to complete the projects in house, which shares the same as the previous strategy. The second strategy is to have one of their teams build and complete their projects on site. This typically happens when they work on a project with components that are too big to build in house. The business strategy for Dezurik is much different. They want to become the largest producer of valves in the world. They do this by outso urcing some of their components to China, which brings down production costs. They also need to be certified to be sold in other countries around the world. They are trying to expand internationally and build up partnerships and relationships with governments and companies from around the world. In order to keep these relationships intact, Dezurik has a full time service team that travels around the world to ensure that their products are working correctly and that they have satisfied customers.Capital One 360 shares some similarities with Dezurik in their business strategies, but is completely different with their operations strategies. To begin, Capital One 360 is a pure service company. They have around the clock customer service to provide help and services to their customers. This is similar to Dezurik, but on a much larger scale. Since Capital One 360 has no physical locations, they need a much larger service department to help satisfy the demands of their customers. Their ser vice department does differ in that they do not need to travel around the world to help their customers, rather they can do it all from their computer with just a few clicks of the mouse.Capital One  360 has a unique business strategy for the banking industry. All of their banking business is done online. This means they have no physical banks. Also, all the money they have is virtual. This means they will need a large technical service department to help keep everything that is online, sorted out. Their operations strategies are different from Dezurik in several ways. First, Capital One 360 does everything online. They do have a sale department, but they never have to leave their cubicle to make a sale. This is different than Dezurik who may have to send their sales person out to a job site in order to ensure that the product they receive will be correct.While these two companies do share business strategies, their operational strategies do tend to be further apart from each othe r. Dezuriks process design supports product manufacturability and defines their product characteristics of appearance, materials, dimensions, and performance standards. Dezurik’s process design starts with the idea that customers need better valves. Dezurik uses a hands-on philosophy that begins with design. They then use modern computer aided design systems to construct 3-D models of valves and assemblies. From here, the models are transferred to an area where stress tests are performed on the models. The final step in Dezurik’s process design is continually analyzing and adding safety factors to the models to ensure long-term reliability.The flow chart inside Dezurik’s manufacturing facility starts at the loading docks. Here, ready to go shipments of valves are placed. As you enter further into the facility, the size of the valves placed in inventory decrease from 72 ’’all the way down to 3’’. This ensures that heavier and harder to move valves are placed closer to the loading dock to improve efficiency. Dezurik also uses intermittent operations, which means they produce a variety of products in lower volumes. Intermittent operations are used because different valves have different processing needs. This causes the workers to perform different tasks, and during the tour we learned that some workers switched stations on a daily basis. Dezurik has multiple buyers who want different specifications for every valve they receive.This creates a batch process within the manufacturing facility allowing Dezurik to separate one customers order from another customers order. Dezurik’s designing process and consideration consists of make-to-order strategy. Moving away from Dezurik and into Capital One 360, there is contrast in the design of services that  Capital One 360 has vs Dezurik’s design of goods. Capital One 360’s service design is unique in that the service and entire service concept are bein g designed. However, they are similar in which product and service design must match the need and preferences of the targeted customer group. Capital One 360’s flow chart differs from Dezuriks flow chart. Capital One 360 does not flow from one end of the building to the other in a line; instead they have different floors within their building where they communicate back and forth.This creates a batch process where each floor is a batch working on a different project then the other floors. This is also called intermittent operations where Capital One’s resources are grouped together by function. The overall efficiency at Capital One 360 is around 65%. Both Capital One 360 and Dezurik have Total Quality Management plans in place to help ensure that their customers get the products and services that they want. Capital One 360 has different banking plans that have been developed to help cover a wide range of customers. Basically, they have standardized their products to he lp ensure efficiency and to keep costs lower.Dezurik on the other hand, has many different products and services that can be produced based on what the customer wants. This may not be as efficient, but it gives them the advantage in securing business that cannot be obtained by companies that incorporate standardization. Dezurik also does a ton of product testing to ensure that the customer is getting a product that is guaranteed to last a long time. Capital One 360 and Dezurik also work with JIT. Just In time production can be shown more effectively in Dezurik since it is a pure manufacturing company. They use a pull system for production which causes them to have an inventory of their products. They can increase or decrease their production of certain models based upon forecasting.Capital One 360 does not focus as much on Just-in-Time manufacturing, rather they spend more of their time using TQM and respect for people. Since they are purely a service company, They are constantly wo rking with people to ensure that they have an enjoyable experience banking with Capital One 360. If Capital One 360 doesn’t respect their customers, it would be extremely easy for their customers to take their business to another bank. Like Capital One360, they also need to focus on TQM. They need to constantly be updating their products and services to give the customer want they want. They need to be surveying and working with their customers all the time to help them  develop effective strategies in the online banking world.Capital One 360 does focus a lot on Six Sigma. They have people in house that are constantly working to help make the company more efficient and effective. Basically, there are only four defects per million opportunities. This forces Capital One 360 to run incredibly lean. A few ways they do this is by going completely paperless. This saves a ton of money, as well as paper. Another way Six Sigma has been useful to Capital One 360 is in processing time . They have reduced the amount of time it takes to pull up and process a customer when they are on a service call. This is critical because the faster they can make their customer service process, the faster they can help more people. By doing some serious improvements to Capital One 360, they have become incredibly lean and efficient. This is different than Dezurik.They can’t run Six Sigma because they take on custom jobs. These can be made more efficient, but to run a whole company Six Sigma test just is not practical.Dezurik follows Kaizen, continuous improvement, which requires the company to continually strive to get better at manufacturing valves through learning and problem solving. One way they comply to Kaizen is in their testing room, where they test their valves to see where any improvement can be made. Dezurik uses a pull system where communication is made possible through the use of kanban cards. These kanban cards consist of the product name, the part number, an d the quantity that needs to be produced. The kanban cards are attached to a group of Dezurik’s products.When the employees need products from a preceding workstation, they pass the kanban to that station. This kanban authorizes the worker at the preceding station to produce the amount of goods specified on the kanban. These kanban cards are placed in visible areas for everyone to see. There are as many kanban cards in the system as there are batches of products or valves. This allows Dezurik to continually improve the efficiency of their system. In contrast, Capital One 360 does not have kanban cards, but they do follow the Kaizen approach of continuous improvement. Capital One 360 is constantly trying to help their customers save time and money. They are doing this in part by offering simple financial products such as giving fee-free checking and savings that they can access from their own computers. They are also continually trying  to find ways to outpace and outperform their competitors.This approach forces Capital One 360 to continually improve their business functions in order to get a step ahead of competitors. Layout and design for Both companies is incredibly different. Dezurik, being a pure manufacturing company, has their main office, and they also have a large warehouse where they manufacture their valves. The front office of Dezurik is rather old. This works for them because they don’t necessarily need to keep up with the newest, up-to-date technology to make their valves. Instead of investing money into their office, they have spent more of their money investing into newer, more efficient machines in their warehouse. They have also changed some of their design to allow for a more efficient production process. They run a pull process at Dezurik. At one end of the plant, they take in all of their supplies.The supplies then get put into an inventory rack until they are needed. The supplies are then distributed throughout the factory to where they are assembled. The first area you walk into from the supply area is where all of the standardized valves are made. They have multiple stations where one person is running about four machines constantly. These are very efficient. This is because they have outsourced the production of their standard valves to China for manufacturing. The next segment of the plant is made up of several assembly lines that produce other varieties of products. The other side of the warehouse is where all of the large valves are made. They are made here because they typically are too large to be moved across the entire plant. This end of the warehouse is also where their products get painted.The paint booths are strategically placed at the end of the assembly lines so that as soon as the products are manufactured, they can be painted. They then get sent off to testing. All the valves they make are tested to ensure that the product can withstand the pressures of daily use for years. After th e products are tested, they are either loaded onto trucks and sent off, or put into the warehouse until they are needed. Capital One 360 has a completely different layout than Dezurik. To start out, They are in a very modern building located right in the middle of downtown St. Cloud. When walking in the door of Capital One 360, the first thing you will notice is that you are in an ultra-modern cafà ©. Since Capital One 360 doesn’t have physical banking locations, the cafes are the closest thing that people can get.These cafes are not just for a cup of  coffee either, the people who work at these cafes are a highly knowledgeable sales associate who can make you a latte and sell you a checking account at the same time. This is for people who are either curious, or just not as comfortable with starting a new bank account online. Once past the cafà ©, Capital One 360 pretty much looks like almost every other office building except for a few key features. The first is that All the departments are located separate from each other. Sales is located on one floor, while fraud protection is located on another floor. Capital One 360 also has an interesting layout design. The cubicles are very different from your traditional office building.To start, they run diagonally across the entire floor. They also are much shorter than a normal cubicle. This is so people can locate each other without having to walk across the office to find out they are not there. They also are not enclosed. This promotes an open workspace that allows people to communicate information quickly and efficiently. Another interesting aspect is that they only have about 60 percent of their office filled with employees. This is so that they can grow and add on employees at any time. The new employees can start and have their own functional workspace instantly.Capital One 360 also has a central command area located right in the middle of the office. This is where security works. Also this comman d center has TV monitors that are linked up with their other offices around the country. This feature is so they all can be working together with their offices all around the country. If something happens at their Delaware office, they can get it verified by their office in St. Cloud.Capacity planning within Capital One 360 and Dezurik are decisions that depend tremendously upon forecasts of demand. These forecasts determine the size of current and future capacity needs. Capital One 360 recently put their capacity planning into effect when they purchased ING Direct and moved into a new building downtown St. Cloud. Capital One 360 made the choice to expand now enabling it to meet customer demand not only for now, but also in the future. If Capital One 360 planned its capacity incorrectly, they may find that they don’t have enough output capability to meet customer demands, or has too much capacity sitting idle. Capital One 360’s move into the new building required long- term commitments and expensive resources.This move  of purchasing a new building came in anticipation of greater demand from their customers. To measure Capital One 360’s capacity, you need the amount of available capacity and the effectiveness of capacity use. From our tour of Capital One 360, we determined that their capacity was operating at an efficient level. When examining Dezurik’s capacity planning, we looked at their recent expansion. In 2011, Dezurik acquired two water and wastewater brands and then in 2012 Dezurik acquired a valve company. This tells us that Dezurik is expanding to meet customer demands in the future. These recent acquires to Dezurik increases capacity and allows them to meet customer demands as well as sales.We can reasonably measure Dezurik’s capacity by measuring their input, which is labor hours, with their output, which are valves per shift. However this is not a very effective method to measure capacity because Dezurik produce s many types of valves. We believe that Dezurik is having success because of its focused factory that responds more efficiently to demand. In todays’ world, large factories need to be more flexible and focused, and from the tour, we believe Dezurik is doing a good job of staying agile within the industry.This will help Dezurik identify long-term capacity requirements in their forecasts of future demand. In Dezuriks planning for capacity, they have strategic and tactical decisions. Their strategic decisions consist of what investments in new machines and equipment it should make, and by the looks of it, they are investing in new machines that increase automation and decrease manual labor. Their tactical decisions consist of planning their workforce, inventories, and day-to-day use of machines. From the tour, we learned that some of the new machines run 24 hours a day. Dezurik and Capital One 360 have similarities in their capacity planning, that being that they are both prepar ing for long-term and high customer demands in the future.Let’s look at some of the strengths of Dezurik. The first strength is that they make a high quality product. Also, they have a very efficient production process for their standardized products. Another pro for Dezurik is they are working hard to become more efficient. They are implementing all sorts of new machines to help speed up and improve the manufacturing process. There are multiple weaknesses that plague Dezurik. To start, they are not an efficient company. This is mainly due to the poor layout of their production area.A second weakness is that they have begun to outsource some of their products to  China. This can be a negative because if they get a bad shipment, it can take over 6 weeks to be corrected. This could become a huge problem if they get the wrong product sent multiple times. There are a few opportunities that Dezurik can expand into. For starters, they are putting in a new paint booth. This will h elp cut down on time. Before, they outsourced their paint of some products to a place in Alexandria. This means that the product had to leave and come back before it can be shipped out.They are also making their assembly line more efficient which will really help them improve the speed at which they can produce valves. Dezurik does have some threats that they have to deal with looking into the future. The biggest threat will be imports from China and other places. These places have very low labor costs, and they also don’t have the same environmental regulations that we do. This means that they are able to produce similar products at a much cheaper price. The only flaw is that these products also tend to be of a much lower quality. This is why Dezurik has not been highly affected by this threat. Capital One 360 has multiple strengths as well. The first is they are incredible efficient.By not using any paper, they are able to cut down on the amount of waste that they have. No physical banks helps to cut down on their carbon footprint too. Second, by utilizing standardization, they are able to run a very lean company. These strengths can also be some of their weaknesses. Having no locations means that people have to do all of their banking online, or over the phone. They cannot go to the bank to talk to a person, rather they have to call into their customer service lines and do all of their problem solving over the phone. There are some opportunities that Capital One 360 has that they are taking advantage of. They are targeting the younger generation. This is because they are appealing to the tech savvy crowd.They younger generation tends to be more familiar with technology. They will be able to expand into this younger generation, and this is where their greatest opportunity will lie. In the world of banking, there are threats all over the place. For starters, all the banks are going to online banking. Most of these banks also have physical locations tha t people can go to when they have questions. Also, you will tend to be more of a number at Capital One 360. At the smaller banks, people will know you by name, and the service will be more  personal. If Capital One 360 can deal with these threats, they will be able to succeed in a threat filled environment.There are a few recommendations that could be made for both Dezurik and Capital One 360. To Start with Dezurik, we would recommend that they make some serious improvements to their factory layout. They should be able to take the supplies right off the truck and instantly put them into production. They could implement a better JIT strategy. They are doing a good job of spreading their business around the world. We would also recommend that Dezurik should go paperless. Its more sustainable, and it would help them to move towards and electronic inventory system. This would speed up their order processing time, and make them more efficient. For Capital One 360, we would recommend th at they begin to open more cafes around the United States.These are a tangible part of Capital One 360 that consumers can actually go. Also, they could provide their users with more banking options. Giving their customers banking options can be key in making them feel like they are more than just a number to Capital One 360.In Conclusion, Both Dezurik and Capital One 360 are both leaders in their respective industries. Dezurik, being a purely manufacturing company, is run completely different from Capital One 360. Being a bank, Capital One focuses their efforts on its services. This means they are more frequently talking to consumers while providing them with a service. Dezurik focuses its efforts on their manufacturing operations. Both companies compare and contrast greatly in relation to various operational elements. Overall, these are two strong companies that are innovative and leading the way in their respective fields.