Sunday, March 29, 2020
What Should An Educated Person Read Brave New World Essay Example For Students
What Should An Educated Person Read Brave New World Essay Brave New World Brave New World As man has progressed through the ages, there has been, essentially, one purpose. That purpose is to arrive at a utopian society, where everyone is happy, disease is nonexistent, and strife, anger, or sadness are unheard of. Only happiness exists. But when confronted with Aldous Huxleys Brave New World, we come to realize that this is not, in fact, what the human soul really craves. In fact, Utopian societies are much worse than those of today. In a utopian society, the individual, who among others composes the society, is lost in the melting pot of semblance and world of uninterest. In the science fiction book Brave New World, we are confronted with a man, Bernard Marx. We will write a custom essay on What Should An Educated Person Read Brave New World specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Bernard is inadequate to his collegues. So he resorts to entertaining himself most evenings, without the company of a woman. This encourages his individual thought, and he realizes that independent thought is rewarding, and that he must strive to become a real individual. Although this is true to a certain extent, Bernard does not realize that he would much rather attain social recognition. At least, not until the opportunity presents itself. Thus, through a series of events, Bernard uses the curiosity of the society to his advantage, fulfilling his subconscious wish of becoming someone important; a recognized name in the jumble of society. This ends when the curiosity of others ends, and as a supreme result of his arrogant behavior, he is exiled. The instigator of this curiosity as well as the author of Bernards fame (and folly), is an outsider know as the Savage. The Savage is brought in from outside of the utopian society by Bernard as an experiment. He faces civilized society with a bright outlook, but eventually comes to hate it bitterly. Lenina, the supporting role of the novel, is the most pronounced example of the ideal citizen. She adheres to the principles of the society without so much as a second thought. In the utopian society that Huxley presents, everyone is happy. There are no differences. Everyone is brought up to be happy, and most do not even know what sadness or anger is. All is cured artificially through surrogates or drugs. Even happiness alone is not unique to the individual. Soma, the hallucinatory drug, the perfect drug that is used by all, even induces the same kind of happiness. The only variant is to what extent this happiness overwhelms the user (one or two half-gramme tablets?). Everybody belongs to everyone else (127) is the basic psychology of the society. This suggests that an individual owes everything to society, but society in turn owes everything to him or her. This applies to all. No one capitalizes on the efforts of others and no one performs excessive manual labor for minimum wage. Everyone is the same. In Huxleys perfect world, sex is a mundane undertaking. It happens to each individual almost every night. And no one knows what marriage is. They simply have each other and . . move on. All for one and one for all. Everyone is the same in bed. The inhabitants of this society are not given any sort of mental flexibility. If you spend time alone, or think, you are considered strange, and are considered an outcast. Nobody wishes for this, and so correspondingly nobody commits this unspeakable crime. Everyone goes out at night with a different partner, or takes a few grammes of soma and goes to bed for a soma-holiday. Nothing new, nothing different. Each person of this society has a predestined future. They all develop in their fetal stages inside a jar, where they are provided with their needs, are vaccinated against all known diseases. Also, special treatments are performed to aid in the mental growth (or standstill) of the individual after birth, according to their future occupation. The first of a batch of two hundred and fifty embryonic rocket-plane engineers was just passing the eleven hundredth metre mark on Rack 3. .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276 , .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276 .postImageUrl , .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276 , .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276:hover , .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276:visited , .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276:active { border:0!important; } .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276:active , .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276 .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf76633a0597a7040d57212110a156276:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Truth To A Ballad Essay A special mechanism kept their containers in constant rotation. `To improve their sense of balance, Mr. Foster explained. `Doing repairs on the outside of a rocket in mid air is a ticklish job. We slacken off the circulation when theyre right way up, so that theyre half starved, and double the flow of surrogate when theyre upside down. They learn to associate topsy- turvydom with well being; in fact, theyre only truly happy when theyre standing on their heads. (32) All two hundred and fifty beings will be the same they will look alike, talk alike, act alike, have the same job, and generally be the same people inside different media. One never knows which is which. After birth, all children are mentally conditioned to think and act with the same motives. Through hypnopaedia, all of the basic rules of the society are learned by the children, and they learn to repeat and obide by these rules. There are no chances for anyone to develop any differences. Or if they do, they are exiled so that they cannot influence those around them. Nothing changes, including the government and the lifestyle of the inhabitants. Last and most importantly, the Bokanovsky method of reproducing causes great numbers of genetically identical human beings (up to 96 at a time from a single egg alone). As well, the same ovary can be used to produce over seventeen thousand individuals with the same basic genetic background. Everyone is the same. Same birth, same upbringing, same lifestyle. Any differences are remedied immediately. Huxley presents the ultimate in utopian societies. But nobody is open for mental growth. All are limited to set barriers. Although this would appear a perfect society at first, it becomes obvious later on in the novel that the race will no longer evolve. Nobody will have new ideas. Nobody will improve on society. Nothing will change. This is not what the human race desires. It desires to acquire knowledge, unceasingly and neverendingly. Without this advantage, we will go mad.
Saturday, March 7, 2020
Free Essays on Evil in Macbeth
Evil In Macbeth In no other Shakespearean tragedy does the hero have so firm and correct grasp of self-knowledge, nor a well developed concept of the universe and his place in it. In Macbeth, the character of Macbeth has a perfect ability for moral judgment. He willfully disregards his own moral thoughts and institutions. According to Bernard McElroy, "more than any other Shakespearean hero, he [Macbeth] has a perfectly clear concept of who he is and where he stands - and it is exactly this perception that torments and spiritually destroys him"(330). Macbeth is strongly impelled to evil but he also abhors evil. It is this that causes Macbeth to abhor himself. The play explores the tensions between Macbeth's proneness to evil and his abhorrence to evil. Macbeth is a tragic hero because he becomes caught in tensions between his criminal actions and the reaction of his conscience. Had Macbeth committed the deeds without any remorse, he would have been simply an evil monster, without any hope. ! But it is his conscience about evil that makes him tragic. Through Macbeth's actions, Shakespeare is able to depict the nature of evil as being: lusftul, deceptive, tyrannical, and disruptive to family. To begin, Macbeth himself stands as a symbol for Satan's sin of ambition. Like Satan, Macbeth's insatiable lust for power and ambition drives him to commit evil. Although Macbeth's ambitiousness is not in itself evil: "His very strong social sense, worldly but valuable, together with that gift of imaginative expression whereby he far outshines all the others, makes him naturally and rightly desirous of winning `Golden Opinions from all sorts of people' [I.vii.33]" (Elliot, 288). However, Shakespeare asserts that Macbeth knows his place in nature, and is overly ambitious according to Calvinist doctrine of pre-determined fate: "temperamentally unfitted for sovereignty at its best. He is designed by God and nature to be a very excellent se... Free Essays on Evil in Macbeth Free Essays on Evil in Macbeth Evil In Macbeth In no other Shakespearean tragedy does the hero have so firm and correct grasp of self-knowledge, nor a well developed concept of the universe and his place in it. In Macbeth, the character of Macbeth has a perfect ability for moral judgment. He willfully disregards his own moral thoughts and institutions. According to Bernard McElroy, "more than any other Shakespearean hero, he [Macbeth] has a perfectly clear concept of who he is and where he stands - and it is exactly this perception that torments and spiritually destroys him"(330). Macbeth is strongly impelled to evil but he also abhors evil. It is this that causes Macbeth to abhor himself. The play explores the tensions between Macbeth's proneness to evil and his abhorrence to evil. Macbeth is a tragic hero because he becomes caught in tensions between his criminal actions and the reaction of his conscience. Had Macbeth committed the deeds without any remorse, he would have been simply an evil monster, without any hope. ! But it is his conscience about evil that makes him tragic. Through Macbeth's actions, Shakespeare is able to depict the nature of evil as being: lusftul, deceptive, tyrannical, and disruptive to family. To begin, Macbeth himself stands as a symbol for Satan's sin of ambition. Like Satan, Macbeth's insatiable lust for power and ambition drives him to commit evil. Although Macbeth's ambitiousness is not in itself evil: "His very strong social sense, worldly but valuable, together with that gift of imaginative expression whereby he far outshines all the others, makes him naturally and rightly desirous of winning `Golden Opinions from all sorts of people' [I.vii.33]" (Elliot, 288). However, Shakespeare asserts that Macbeth knows his place in nature, and is overly ambitious according to Calvinist doctrine of pre-determined fate: "temperamentally unfitted for sovereignty at its best. He is designed by God and nature to be a very excellent se...
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Managing the Performance of Individuals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
Managing the Performance of Individuals - Essay Example This paper presents a case study analysis based on ââ¬Å"Bad bosses: The Psycho-path to Successâ⬠and examines how corporate psychopaths are challenging the success pathways of the organization. The first part of this paper presents an overview of how psychopaths operate in the business world and what strategies to be considered to identify them. The second part presents a critical examination of whether the case presents an appropriate overview of issues of corporate psychopathy. Answer- 1- How psychopaths operate in the business world? Psychopaths are those people who, due to abnormal brain connectivity and other mental disabilities, lack a conscience and exhibit few emotions and inability to have any feelings, sympathy or empathy for others or their feelings. The psychopathy is mainly caused by abnormal connectivity and chemistry in the area of amygdala of brain as this area is highly critical segment of brain for processing socially relevant information (Boddy, 2011, p. 256 ). This gives a scientific explanation for how and why psychopathy leads to socially inappropriate behavior that causes organizational losses and destruction. People who are almost psychopaths or subclinical psychopaths are found in business world as they are attracted to money and power and that they have intruded upstanding positions in corporate and in the society. Schouten (2012, p. 147) emphasized that psychopaths are not only in prisons, but also in Stock Exchanges and that they can create havoc by creating dissention in sales or other departments through their charming, manipulative, credit-stealing or colleague-blaming conducts. Voigt (2012) underscores in his article ââ¬ËBad Bosses- the Psycho path to successââ¬â¢ a famous comment by Dr. Robert Hare that there are many psychopaths in the boardroom,. Organizational or corporate psychopaths are estimated to be between 1 to 5 percent of the total population (Boddy, 2006, p. 1461) and this highlights the view that one in 25 business leaders are found to be psychopaths (Morris, 2011). A study conducted by New York psychologist Paul Babiak suggested that psychopaths in the business world play with their charm and by manipulating others and thus they disguise the business conditions by hiding behind their supreme positions. Successful psychopaths are those who effectively encroach in to the highest levels of management and business leadership positions and they use their charm and manipulation to exhibit fewer transgressions. One of the most significant characteristics of psychopaths, especially in the business world, is that they have no conscience and are incapable of experiencing othersââ¬â¢ feelings. Boddy (2006, p. 1461) described that psychopaths tend to appear to be worthy of promotion and are behaving as smooth and adroit in manipulating conversations to whatever they want to talk or justify about. Psychopaths in the business are found to be willing to put others down and are accomplished li ars. For fulfilling individual ambition or to behave with bias and prejudice, the psychopaths in the business and management levels are often ruthless and opportunistic and are calculating without remorse. Corporate psychopaths are able to get employed and to climb up the organizational hierarchy with their charm
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
Are the constructive trust rules affecting co-owned housing based on Essay
Are the constructive trust rules affecting co-owned housing based on the common intention of the parties - Essay Example First and foremost, intimate relations are based on trusts and this is particularly important where ââ¬Å"individual autonomyâ⬠is ceded in reliance and trust on the perpetuation of shared goals and objectives.3 Secondly, the rules applicable to constructive trusts recognize that the intimate bond can be broken and equity will intervene to ensure that one party is not unjustly enriched to the detriment of the other.4 Thus the rules of constructive trust are designed to interpret and affect co-owned housing in circumstances where factual evidence contradicts the legally documented ownership of the house in question. The courts do not automatically interpret the mere existence of a relationship at time the house is acquired as evidence of co-ownership. The courts are guided by the concept of unconscionability and refer to the common intentions of the parties in determining what is conscionable or unconscionable. The main idea is to determine whether the common intentions of the p arties are sufficiently made out to justify a claim to co-ownership against the legal title to real property.5 Thus it is argued that the rules of constructive trusts affecting co-owned housing are based on identifying the common intentions of the parties. This paper demonstrates how the courts have relied on the identification of the common intentions of the parties to determine whether or not it would be unconscionable to enforce ownership by reference only to the legal title. The first part of this paper therefore examines and analyses the doctrinal basis of constructive trusts and the second part of this paper demonstrates how the common intentions of the parties forms the basis by which co-owned housing is interpreted under the rules of constructive trusts. The Doctrinal Basis of Constructive Trusts The result of a court finding the existence of a constructive trust is twofold. First the court may order that one party compensate another or that one party ââ¬Å"convey a particu lar rightâ⬠to another.6 It is this characterization of the constructive trust that has given way to criticisms that the constructive trust is no more than a fiction created by the courts and is not comparable to an express trust. More specifically it is argued that the constructive trust is confusing and with an unclear doctrinal basis because it interprets entirely personal matters relative to property and thus does not follow a clear and concise doctrine.7 Despite the criticisms about the nature and doctrinal basis of the constructive trust, it is based on a sound doctrine: the equitable distribution of property.8 As Hudson explains, the constructive trust serves a practical purpose. It provides a means by which the courts may imply a trust so that ââ¬Å"justice is done on the facts beforeâ⬠the courts ââ¬Å"on the basis of preventing unconscionable conductâ⬠.9 It therefore follows that constructive trusts are not based on a doctrine that facilitates random distr ibution of property. Rather, the constructive trust is applied ââ¬Å"to ensure that an ethical notion of good conscience is maintained in English law.â⬠10 The House of Lords puts the doctrinal basis of the constructive trusts in its proper perspective by noting the equity has always focused on the conscience.11 Hudson argues that constructive trusts are imposed: ...on the basis of the defendant knowing of some factor which affects her conscience in
Monday, January 27, 2020
Issues of business ethics and social responsibility
Issues of business ethics and social responsibility The achievement of the intentions or set objectives of the business organization requires the establishment of the management structure that ensures proper definition of role and responsibilities to provide the basis for the development of effective selection systems that aid the recruitment and engagement of suitable personnel to occupy positions created within the context of the business enterprise to discharge the assigned roles and responsible forward the achievement of the set goals and objective of the business concern Indeed, the set objectives of the business organization cannot be achieved unless the employees of the business enterprise demonstrate the appropriate ethical behaviours in the execution of assigned duties, ultimately enhancing the corporate image of the business outfit in the environment where it operates. This becomes essential to stralegies developed to stimulated the patronage of the goods and service produced and provided by the business concern According Dr. B. Odusina, Managing Partner of Upman Ltd in a lecture paper delivered titled: Business Ethics and Corporate Governance on 16 June 2001 at a Seminar Organized for Mobil Oil Producing at Ogere Training Centre; There is the need to stress that employees who demonstrate unethical behaviour do not promote the fortunes and the area being of the business organization, and thus, unless such negative behaviours are abandoned it becomes impossible for them to make the desired contribution towards the success of the business enterprise Odusina went further to say that management science, today has made available range of attributes, and traits that form the basis for the development of the appropriate business ethical behaviour that should should characterize the disposition and action of the individuals discussed in the latter part of this seminar paper. THE CONCEPT OF ETHICS What are Ethics? Ethics are mural laws that involve: A high Sense of self Awareness Manage tin: Time Management Life Goals Programming Personal Grooming Consciousness Human Relations Striving for Excellence Self Discipline A High sense of Responsibility and loyalty towards: Ones Own Roles Towards Superiors and Subordinates Towards Company Customers and Suppliers Towards the acquisition and use of other resources Towards ones own family, community and nation Nigeria 3. A high sense of Probity in: (a) Dealing with Confidential matters (b) Handling Companys Finances (c) In very different situations A high sense of Accountability For authority and roles played For resources utilized For the life spent HISRORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF BUSINESS ETHICS We start by looking at some causes in recent years of public concern about organizational behaviour. It would, of course be doing a great injustice to past generations to imagine that only our own taken this topic seriously. The 19th century, while giving rise to some highly undesirable business practices, was notable also for its pioneering work in area such as antislavery child labour reforms, and the development legislative framework to curb abuses in company financing. A society which deniers credit to the ethical pioneers of the past, just because they did not address all of today prominent themes, begins to undermine its own foundation. According to David Munay (1997) the ethics of business and organizational life have acquired a considerably higher public as well as professional profile during the past fifteen years Managers and top captains of industrial concerns now receive numerous invitations to conferences, seminars and workshops on topics such as corporate values, corp orate governance and other ethical aspects of management. The books falls carry an increasing number of specialist titles and no self respecting management text can now omit at least some discussion of organizational values or corporate social responsibility. The 1970s in Nigeria saw a focus on rapid wealth creation because of oil boom; a get -rich -quick syndrome and the widespread ignoring of moral imperatives beyond profit loss and cash flow statements. In Nigeria particularly we are now well into a decade of moral reflection Business if far from being the only spare in which this is happening, but it is particularly noticeable arguably because of the widespread neglect of such matters for so long To some extent, this increased interest may be a consequence of a relatively high number of widely publicized scandals as it includes bank frauds, failed contracts, tax evasing by corporate multinationals, swindles in hard currencies by top government functionaries, scandalous advance fee fraud popularly called 419 that is affecting our image abroad to mention a few About three consecutive times last year 2004, most of our popular dailies reported Nigeria to be the second most corrupt country in the world, after Cameroon. This was on the good authority of Transparency International These and other phenomenal unethical practice are giving the government and private sector operators a serious concern. The recent collapse of Arthur Anderson and other much respected international concerns are a case in point EVEYDAY ETHICS The key business ethics concern is the way that the business conducts itself in its ordinary, every day routline activities The way the firm deals with its staff and its customers, the way it designs and supports its products, the way it awards contract and apportions blameà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦ these are the key determines of whether a business is ethical, and are as important as the way it deals with crises. According to Elaire Sternberg (2000) the events that attract attention major frauds, for example may not represent ethical dilemmas for business: in such cases business people often agree on what is right. The problems that such events pose are real ones, but often concern practical difficulties; how to implement agreed moral standard, how to deal with the villains who sadly exist in business as in elsewhere: Sternberg opined further that the really thorny business ethics issues in contrast, are those where there a genuine disagreement about what is right or wrong. THE TOOLS OF ETHICS VALUES It is useful in this text to recognize that business ethics can refer to several different things most commonly, it refers to ethical conduct in and by business. In this sense, in benefits to business include doing the right typically promotes achievement of business goals. While doing the wrong things hinders the successive pursuit of those goals. To recognize things are the right things however, it is helpful to understand the principles that underlie ethical conduct in business. Accordingly business ethics as the knowledge and study of such principles can also be of value to business. According to sternbery (2000), an ethical decision that clearly sets out the principle of business ethic can help business both to identify and actually resolve business ethics problems. A model is theà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦equivalent of a map it can help guide business through the ethical issues that it inevitably must handle A model is not, however a panacea just as a Map does not physically smooth out the human. What an ethical decision model can do is extremely valuable. Most fundamentally, I can help to eliminate conceptual issues, it can help a business avoid wasting its resource on spurious problems and unwarranted guilt. An ethical decision model can indicate when and how ethical discussion is appropriate in a business context. When all within the business share a common vocabulary for ethical matter, they can articulate moral standards and moral questions easily By reducing moral muteness and promoting the early detection and resolution of ethical issues, an ethical decision model therefore enables the business to benefit from the vigilance its staff. Accordingly, an ethical decision model can do much to reduce the costs and adverse consequence of ethical problems. By illuminating what is at stake in any situation, and what the alternate course of action might be an ethical decision can indicate what information is relevant and what can be ignored. CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE TO VALUES In a given culture, at a given time, there is broad agreement on major values. Mos people agree on what is good (e.g. the right vole), and what is bad (corruption in government). Not all people or groups of people hold the same value, but the value o of those in majority will affect beliefs and behaviours of society. According to Yalokwu (2002), The action of managers are affected largely by then personal beliefs (Guth and Jaguini, 1965). For examples manager who are motivated by economic value will tend to stress the importance of growth for their companies. Managers who are motivated by social values on the other hand, might be willing to sacrifice some company growth to improve the conditions of service of the employees. But however, values are not only factors, that influence managers decision. The specific situation a manager faces will have great influence on or even dominate how a manager behaves. RIGHTS: Ethical concerns penneate every aspect of business activity Ethical issues arise obviously in connection with core ethical values; when there are question of, for example honesty or justice. They also are potentially at issue whenever action or decision affect other people, either by helping or by harming them. But ethical issues can even arise when other peoples right and interests are not directly at stake. Whenever there is a chose to be made between values or a better and a worse way of doing something or a thing is deemed to be a good one of its kind, an ethical judgment is involved. In this broad sense, most judgments and choices and decision about goals standard, quality and priorities are ethical. Accordingly, most business action and choices, decision and judgments have ethical aspects; they involve specifically ethical values or help or harm people or indicate character, or all of the above. Sternberg (2000) opined that, hiring and firing, choosing suppliers, setting prices establishing objectives, allocating resources, determining dividends; disciplining workers, planning schedules, awarding contracts à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦ all involve ethical choices. Even the most trivial decision and ones that appear to be made on purely technical or economic groups typically have ethical aspects, it is not, just in the fringe areas of do gooding that ethical issue occur, but through out all of business ethic is inescapable in business as in life In order, therefore, to know which ethical issues should concern business as business, and to resolve ethical problems in ways that are appropriate for business a clear understanding of business ethics is essential If it is a companys responsibility to be concerned with advancing the interests of its employees, then it will be essential to consider the issue of stability of employment as it is quit apparent that this constitutes one of the paramount interest of most employees. At the very least, losing his job is likely to cause grave in convenience loan employee: he will go through a period of uncertainty and anxiety, will face a period more or less long without stable income, will incur search cost looking for a new job, and at the end of the day may be forced to move to different locally (Elegilo 1996) A firm seen to be truly committed to do its best to provide stability on employment will be sending a very powerful message to its employees that is really concerned about their welfare. The firm is thereby laving the foundation for a two-may commitment. It is well known that guarantee of the life time employee constitutes one of the bases of the extra ordinary loyally that Jepanese employees traditionally exhibit toward their companies. However, what is clear is that the foundation of employee loyalty, in any cas can easily be destroyed by policies that seem to be based on a consideration of the employees so many cost to be cut. Still, it is important to keep a sense of perspective and make it clear that there is no question of auguring that terminating an employee is intrinsically immoral will not be so if the objective by germinating an employee is something good in itself. As would be the case in situations in which management seeks to preserve on enhance the long term viability of the firm, improve the cost structure of the company or (in the case of an unproductive or disruptive employee) remove cause of lower morale or a potential source of danger to other employees. As a matter of fact, terminating some employees may not be unethical but I source cases a may well be a definite ethical duty We may find it emotionally repugnant to dismiss an employee who has a large family; yet managers are not paid to follow the courses of action that they personality fund congenial, but to protect the common good of the company (Elegilo 1996). When preserving the jobs of some employee becomes incompatible with the health or even the survival of the whole organization as it eventually happened in the case of intel. Then failing to take the necessary measure can easily amount to gross irresponsibility. This will be much more so in the case of individual employees who through presistent misconduct erode the standard of the company Other tools of Ethics: 1. Loyalty Steadfastness in allegiance to the management of the business enterprise. The implies the commitment on the part of the set objectives of the business organization 2. Fairness The avoidance of discriminating tendencies in dealing with people of diverse background, endeavouring to treat all human beings as equal, and then give each person equal opportunities 3. Principled Behaviour: The demonstration of a consistent behaviour in similar situations that makes ones behavour predictable, and ensuring the same decision being made in similar situations 4. Confidentiality Being discreet in dealing with the publics in a manner that makes the employee to refuse to divulge official information even in the face of financial inducernent or inspite of threats to his life. MORAL RULES IN HUMAN RELATIONS AND COMMON MORALITY Human Relations Concept The concept of human relations is so vast and encompassing that it touches every aspect of our lives .it is true that whatever we are are doing involves human relation and in interactions in one form or the other Human relations encompass a body of knowledge through which workers and management get things done through each other. Ack Halloran (1978) defines human relation relations as all the interactions that occur among people, whether they are conflicts or cooperative behaviours. The study of how people in work effectively in groups in order to satisfy both organizational goals and personal Kosson Stan (1978) observes that human relations are concerned with the of the people and their groups. It also learns the what that can be done to anticipate, prevent or resolve conflict among organization members The field of human relations is action -oriented emphasizing the analysis presentation and resolution of behavioural problems within organization. Philosophy of Human Relations Dougleas, McGregor (1960) gave the following as the basis of Human relations:- The loyalty and cooperation of the individual in the organization must be earned, won and described. the individual employee in respect of his status, right, prospects for advancement, and his economic well-being, is inescapably linked with the success of the enterprise by which he is employed. The basic relationship of the individual should not be jeopardized by government or union and management activities Personal policies and practices must be designed implemented in such a manner as to promote and safeguard the rights and well-being of the workers. The organisation stays for the individual and not the individual for their organisation Organisation must to provide for the economic and social security of their employees. The society must be free and ready to safeguard their rights and privileges Steps Managers Should Take in Maintaining Human Relations According to William Scolt (1962) managers can create a good human relations environment if they do the following they should lead as they want to be led They should know their personnel they should be genuinely interested in their subordinate They should be afraid to share responsibilities they should tell their people why thins are to be done They should treat subordinates with dignity and respect They should help the people in performing the tasks assigned to them 8. They should praise their people even in public. Human Relations Effectiveness: Use of words The use of words in human relation is the key to it success. Good words in communication, motivation and leadership is essential in any human relations exercise. Good words can do miracles whereas bad words bad words can pollute the atmosphere. It can also cause enormous pain. Stan, Kossen, (1978) gave the following rules: The least important word is l The two most important words is we The two must important words Thank you The three most important words if you please The four most important works: What is your opinion? The five most important words you did a good job The six most important words: ladmit l made a mistake From the foregoing exposition of moral rules in human relations, it can now well be established that the principle of reciprocity will play a big dual-role of keeping strictly to ethical standards on the part of employee and ensuring that their (employee) welfare is not jeopardized by management. Every partly involved (employer/employee) will see themselves as stakeholder that must ensure the sustenance of achieving corporate goals. No side will feel a sense of insecurity or unfairly treated. Differently put, common morality will now say; Respect begets respects Therefore no party will want to jottion the contractual relationship of ensuring the human success through honesty by employees; on the one hand, and treasuring the human resource (employees) by management by seeing to their welfare on the other hand RE -ESTABLISHING LONG-TERM BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONS AND EMPLOYEES Step one: Re- establish Code and Policies for Sustainability Step Two: Re-establish Justice Step three: Re-establish Fairness Step Four: Re-establish Practices of honesty COMMON MORALITY 1. Dignity * Apologize for immorality delay * Extend personal à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦.. 2. Honesty * Stop the spiral of denials * Implement full and immediate disclosure * Facilitate access and respond openly to all queries 3 Fairness * Ensure compensation is commensurate with loss * Accelerate reconciliation to serve as many as possible, and as quickly as Possible Encode and practice lessons to benefit future transactions 4. Sustainability * Use the humiliation of this experience to lead a worldwide effort to standardize global practices 5. Auditing * Establish formal framework for monitoring ethical orientation * Report ethical progress alongside financial progress * Organize think tank ethical group to supervise compliance 6 Updating * Begin planning for ethical mandate beyond resolution of the Holocust issue * Report progress and plans to the world community, employees and industry association. All of us can give many example of ethical rules. Some which readily come to mind are: One should not tell lies, One should keep ones promises' one should respect ones parents, One should help people in distress etc. Many ethical rules are controversial at least to some extent. Thus, for example, while a large majority of people would agree that in most situation, one should not tell lies, there is far less agreement if one proceeds to ask whether exception is to this rule are allowed in some more or less extreme cases. Assume for instance that a mad man carrying cutlass in his hand, asked you whether your sister is in the house. You reasonably fear that he wants to attack her. Your sister is actually in the house. Does the rule that you should not lie cover this situation? When the proper scope and meaning of an ethical rule is called into question, one should refer it to the more ultimate principle and purpose that justify the rule. Thus for example, in the case of the mad man with cutlass, one could reason that one should fell no lie, because (i) telling lies is a way of harming the people one deceive and (ii), it tends to undermine mutual trust among people. If that were the complete justification of the rule against telling lie, which is not the case), it could follow that the rule did not apply in this case. By telling the madman that your sister is not at home, you would not be harming him in any way. One the contrary, you would be preventing him from doing him from doing something that, once he recovers his sanity, he would greatly regret harming alone, nor would you be undermining trust among people by acting in this way. According to Elegido (1996) the following constitute a reasonably complete list of independent and ultimate principle of business ethics. Principle of Solidarity: We must be concerned with promoting the well being of all human beings, not only our own. In so far as we fail to do so, we undermine our own fulfillment. Principle of Rationality: One should always strive to act intelligently Principle of Fairness or Impartiality: One should apply the same standards in judging ones own actions, those who are dear to one, and those of strangers Principle of Efficiency: In trying to promote human fulfillment good intentions are not enough: one must endeavour to use effective means. Principle of Refrain from willing harm to a human being: One should never choose directly to harm a human being. Principle of Role Responsibility: One does not have responsibility for all the aspects of the well-being of all human beings. Ones special circumstance, roles and commitments give one a priority responsibility for certain aspect of the well being of certain people. ETHICS AND SITUATIONAL FACTIRS IN ETHICAL BEHAVIOURS IN BUSINESS As noted by Gary Edward, President of the Ethics Resource Centre in the U.S, two-thirds of companies seeking ethical programmes came off the front page as a result of serious wrong-doing. This suggests that ethic are largely a tactical response to a serious problem, rather than a strategic commitment to a more enduring opportunity and obligation. From this perspective, most ethical initiatives aim to avoid repeating the mistakes that caused that particular crisis. The Federal Government established various agencies to curb a series of unethical practices in our national life. These include ICPC and EFCC Acts and the rest of it. The aim of these agencies among other reasons include overhauling the national and national image of Nigerians both at home and abroad. But this ethical renewal is one situation where the rifle short or fire brigade approach is clearly not enough. Codes and procedures, targeted to an impropriety may highlight the specific of the problem, and usually assign blame to one individual or a group of people, but without addressing the wider cultural competitive and personal factors that contribute to it. The Nigerian society is originally poverty-driven. Probably because of our low technology/agrarian nature or because of our leadership problem and/or total depending on oil, 90% of the national wealth us being controlled by less than 10% of our people. We operate crude capitalism in which the rich is getting richer and the poor, getting poorer. There is highly level insecurity felt by both the private and public sector workers especially about what tomorrow has in stock for them. It is everybody to himself, God for us all; who ever is slow, may the devil take him. In such circumstance, individual is desperately looking for the opportunity to grab and secure his tomorrow and that of his family. Therefore, a feel of patriotism or national consciousness is secondary in the minds of most Nigerians. Unfortunately or incidentally, we worship those who have been privileged to occupy the seat of power, not minding the fact that these people amassed their wealth by crucked means. We roll out chieftaincy titles, and national honours for the celebrated thieves According to John, Dalta Costa (2000) ethics as a reflex action are never as comprehensive or as motivational as the thinking and commitment applied to ethics as pre-eruption. That so many companies and notable corporate bodies and individuals in Nigerian are repeat offenders is directly due to the narrowness of seeing ethics in relation to a one time problem rather than in the context of the national psyche. Companies hire sonant people but do not leave them only to their wits to manage. Organisations expect strategies to be planted, analyses to precede decisions, and measure, to be put in place to monitor progress and results. Sonant companies, as learning organizations as Shell Petroleum, Mobile Producing to mention a few also invest consistently in training and skills development. An ethical orientation involves the same discipline. In addition to understanding the dynamics, that contributed to an error of ethical judgment, organizations need to explore the keeper tensions and contradictions that may put ethics at risk in future. Just as strategies require a situation analysis, ethics requires a temptation analysis. In other words, any individual or groups of people who are put into positions of responsible accountability must have their red alert threshold tests conducted. Retrogression analysis test or other psycho-analytical tests could be administered on them. Differently put, what moral and legal issues have raised ethical concerns in the past? How are these changing and testing the behaviour of the business organisation and its individual employees? What are new pressure points created by changes in technology or competition or globalization? How do corporate behaviours and policies influence the perception of those ethical conundrums? The process here is one of scanning the horizon with an ethical perspective, of expecting new confusions and temptations and anticipating risk. Central to the exercise is understanding not only the scope and scale of temptation but to the moral strengths and weakness of the business organisation for withstanding and overcoming them. This may involve and audit of past ethical performance an analysis of transgressions or an evaluation of the ethical concerns of the employees. The internent, as an example provides much more intimate access to customers, but it also à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Ã ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦. new issues of privacy and respect. So, in using this new medium, are the companys ethical skills maturing in concert with its, technical competence? How well equipped is the company for dealing constructively with new temptation afforded by the new technology? According to Dalla Costa, (2002) a strategic assessment sets the course for what must be done. An ethical assessment investigates the how. As we have learned from total quality and other programmes of corporate renewal, the what and how can no longer be separated. THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY People often speak of the responsibilities of the firm of the firm or in a more common phrase, the social responsibility of companies These expressions are often used very loosely and are given different meanings be different speakers. Some people assert that business organizations have responsibilities which go beyond making profits. Often, what they have in mind is that it is proper for companies to support worthy community initiatives like universities, museums, hospitals, to reduce a minimum pollution: going voluntarily beyond the standard, set by the law. To employ the physically handicapped; to refuse to invest in certain places (e.g apartheid south Africa) in order to hasten desirable political objectives: and generally to use their activities in a way which is not calculated to maximize their profits but which will contribute to the common goal/good of the communities in which they operate. Other people reject outright the above position and argue that the only responsibilities of a business company are to obey the law and make profits for its shareholders. Still other think that companies can legitimately concern themselves with some of the causes listed above but not with others. It is not easy to find ones bearing in this jungle of conflicting opinions. It is often said that it is the duty of a companys managers to maximize their companys profits. Now whether or not managers have such duty will be a debatable topic. Fundamentally, maximizing profit does not just mean making an effort to generate greater profit. It means making every efforts to make profits as large as possible, subordinating literally everything (including loyalty, compassion the environment social welfare and other such considerations) to the increase of profits. According to Elegido, there is no argument or at least, there outght not to be, that profit is externally important for all business organizations but before one agrees that firms ought to maximize their profits, one ought to ask whether one agrees that profit is ultimately the only thing that matters in business and that in case of conflict, every other consideration ought way before it. PROF. FRIENDMANS POSITION Prof. Friedman, the famous monetary economist has consistently argued in favour of the thesis that an organistion has only one responsibility: maximizing profits for its shareholders while operating within the limits set by the law. He set out his main arguments for this position in a famous and other quoted articles entitled: The Social Responsibility of Business is to increase its profits. In Friedmans view, it is certainly a responsibility of organizations to respect all the laws which protect the public interest. But going beyond this would amount to having socially responsible executives functioning as redistributors who would take other peoples money and spend it on what these executives themselves defined as the general social interest, as if they were some sort of self appointed tax collectors. It is Friedmans contention that it will be better for everybody if business executives concentrate on maximizing profit for in this way, they will more effectively be led by and invisible hand to promise the good of the society. In fairness to Friedman, it sho
Sunday, January 19, 2020
Battle of the Woods: Nollywood Versus Hollywood
The Battle of the Woods: Hollywood and Nollywood Cinema of the United States has played an undeniable role in the transmission and interpretation of many values that we hold today. We perceive real life situations based on what Hollywood has taught us. Some ninety years after the first huge success of American cinema, ââ¬Å"The Great Train robberyâ⬠was released, we were introduced to a new brand of films. The cult classic ââ¬Å"Living in Bondageâ⬠was distributed. This low- budget film produced in Onitsha, Nigeria set the scene for what would become an explosion. So impressed were the filmmakers and actors by their work, they coined the term Nollywood- the Nigerian Hollywood. The different environments and practices have resulted in obvious differences and a few similarities between Hollywood and Nollywood. The most noticeable characteristic of motion pictures produced in North America is their potential cost. In Hollywood today, a blockbuster that grosses $70 million could be considered a flop. Most major movies have production expenses that routinely top the $100 million mark. According to the Variety box office revenue chart, the total revenue for the U. S. box office in 2006 was $9. 49 billion. Spiderman 3 cost over $ 250 million to produce, and Titanic earned a remarkable $1,848,813,795 worldwide. With these huge costs, the number of Hollywood movies produced yearly is relatively low. On the average, 603 movies are released every year. In contrast, the average Nollywood film costs between N2,040,000 and N2,760,000 ( $17,000- $23,000) to produce. Most Nollywood movies are produced in rented-out hotels, homes, offices and not complex studios. With this, filmmakers have lower start-up and maintenance costs. Usofia in London cost a modest N 2. million to produce and distribute. These relatively low costs act as an incentive for many to produce movies. According to Hala Gorani and Jeff Koinange, the Nollywood industry churns out approximately 200 videos for the home video market every month. Furthermore, differences exist in the marketing and distribution of films in the two industries. Hollywood movies employ creative and bold methods to market their movies. A good deal of promotion and advertising is targeted to getting people into theatres. Media blitzes are launched to tout the movies weeks before its release. Posters on buses, billboards, designed T-shirts, websites are used to promote Hollywood films. These films are then distributed to a diverse audience. Unless they are extremely unsuccessful, Hollywood movies are always first shown in cinemas across the world, before they are released on DVD. Nollywood films, on the other hand, do not put in a lot of money and effort on the marketing of their films. Other than the movie posters which are usually seen at the selling point of the films, not much advertising is employed. As all Nollywood films go straight to DVD and VCD discs, the industry thrives on direct-to-video marketing. As many as thirty new titles are delivered to Nigerian stores and market stalls every week. Producers rely on the fact that with this outpour of releases, their movies would most certainly be picked up among the crowd; hence, employing further marketing practices is unnecessary. Currently, the available cinemas in Nigeria do not exhibit any Nollywood movies. The costs, methods of distribution, and themes of Hollywood and Nollywood films reflect strongly their target audiences; how the target audience affects the production of a film and how the production of a movie is designed to capture a specific target audience. Hollywood movies are designed to capture a specific audience. Critics have proposed that they use beautiful actresses and hunky actors to capture that audience ââ¬â the teenage population of the entire world. Hip, youthful plots drive the teenagers- the ones with the willingness and ability to spend money for entertainment purposes- to the cinemas. Even the movies with more elements of drama, and less action are still made to appeal to these teenagers. Halle Berry was able to win an Academy Award as well as completely amaze millions of boys who had just hit puberty for her racy role in Monsterââ¬â¢s Ball. The lack of detail that is characteristic of a Nollywood film from its conception to the time it is released on video is a cause to the effect that the target audience of the movies is generally the lower class and educated Nigerians. This stagnant market would seem to be what Nigerian movie producers want, as it is much easier to please this kind of consumers than a 16 year old geek that knows the meaning of CGI. Famous Nigerian filmmaker Chico Ejiro boasts that he can make a movie in three days. All he has to do is make a movie with the same plot as thousands before it albeit with different actors, put a title on it, and distribute it. Nigerians will always buy it. His target audience therefore does not influence his movies because they are always there; they will always buy and this gives him no incentive for creativity. However, with all the differences between the two industries, similarities do exist. Just like Hollywood, the primary purpose of Nollywood films is to entertain viewers. In their quest to entertain, the two industries may employ different procedures, but Hollywood and Nollywood filmmakers both share the burning desire to refresh the minds of audiences. The two industries can both be credited for producing many untouchable stars from mere mortals. Marilyn Monroe will be worshipped till the end of time, and Richard Mofe Damijo would forever be the ultimate sex icon in the minds of all Nigerian women above 18. King Joe Okechukwu would always be the pastor who speaks in tongues, and John Wayne is our idol in a cowboy hat that we will tell our children about.
Saturday, January 11, 2020
Golden Gate Bridge History Essay
The First proposal for the Golden Gate Bridge came from James Wilkins, who at the time was an engineering student. The cost of James Wilkins Bridge was unrealistic at the time which was 100million dollars, but none the less it set the bar for other bridge engineers to try to work out a cheaper solution. During this time a young Joseph Strauss had graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in Business and Economics. Joseph was an avid student at his school and was the class president and poet for his class. Josephââ¬â¢s interests with engineering and bridge design some might say happened by chance, in that, one day Joseph once tried out for his schoolââ¬â¢s football team but got injured and taken to the infirmary. During his stay, he gazed outside the window at the Cincinnati-Covington Bridge. Little did anyone know, Joseph was on his way to becoming a leader in his society and a hero amongst most. Joseph spent some time working at an office for an engineering fir m which designed bridges, and after a preposition to his firm was rejected, he though to start his own firm and take his idea with him. Joseph went on to create the Strauss Bascule bridge company of Chicago where he amped up the modern day bascule bridge (draw bridge) with his designs and ideas. At the Strauss Bascule bridge company of Chicago, Josephs worked on the Burnside Bridge in Portland in the year 1926, the Lewis and Clark Bridge in 1930, the Cherry street Strauss and Trunnion Bridge, the Washington Street Bridge, the Hoquiam Bridge, the Skansen Bridge and finally worked as the chief engineer on the golden Gate Bridge. All of this was done without a proper degree in engineering. Joseph first tackled the idea of designing the Golden Gate Bridge with a plan of having two double cantilever spans linked by a central suspension segment. This design was rejected and later on a fellow engineer working on the project under Joseph by the name of Leon Moisseiff came up with the Final Design for the Golden Gate Bridge. Joseph was a very conservative man and left plenty of room for error throughout the entire process of designing and building the Golden Gate Bridge. Joseph insisted that a net be placed under the work space to catch workers who accidentally fell off. This net tha t he implemented saved a total of 19 lives and he was commemorated more than ever for it. Joseph received a statue at the end of the Golden Gate Bridge on the San Francisco side. Leon Moisseiff received the Franklin Instituteââ¬â¢s Louis E Levy Medal in 1933 and was a leading suspension bridge designer within America. Leon graduated from Colombia University with a degree in civil engineering in 1895. Leon had a number of bridges which he has worked with but to name a few of most notable were the Manhattan Bridge and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in Delaware. Leon Moisseif was best known for his work with the deflection theory which simply stated that the longer a bridge spans the more room it has to wiggle and move. He applied this principle on the Golden Gate Bridge as it was to span a length no bridge has spanned before at the time. Moisseiff was mainly in charge of the calculation of force revolving the wind the Bridge would have to withstand and one of his co-workers, Charles Ellis was a big believer in Moisseiff and his ââ¬Å"Deflection Theoryâ⬠. Charles Ellis was first appointed onto the Golden Gate Bridge project by Strauss himself. Strauss recognized him as a well renowned scholar of mathematics but as ironic as it is, Ellis like Joseph Strauss never received a degree in Engineer either, but one thing Ellis had on Joseph was a certificate in the field. Charles had fallen in love with the engineering and went on to write a book named ââ¬Å"essentials of theory in framed structureâ⬠which became a mandatory text for Harvard and Yale engineer students. Charles graduated from the University of Wesleyan with a degree in Greek and Mathematics. Charles worked as a professor of engineering at the University of Michigan and the University of Illinois for some time. Ellis was a key part in the construction and design of the Golden Gate Bridge but Joseph made an alarming move which was controversial. Joseph accused Ellis of wasting time and money on the project and ordered Charles Ellis to take a vacation from work, and near the end of it Ellis received a letter from Joseph telling him not to come back to the job. Ellis was devastated and was still much attached to the project. After he had been released he began teaching at the University of Perdue and on top of his teachings kept working at problems and overlooking the designs for the Golden Gate Bridge dedicating around 70 hours a week. He found several errors which raised some eyes brows and in no time sent a letter to Moissieff. Charles Ellis was given almost no credit for his 3 years dedicated to working on the Golden Gate Bridge. His name was not mentioned on the list of builders but until recently was given a plaque acknowledging his participation in the bridge design. How the Golden Gate Bridge affected the local community. The Golden Gate Bridge is a historic achievement of great magnitude in the San Francisco and California region. It has created many jobs for the locals as positions were promised to be favouring them and also had brought attention to the area from all around the world. A total of 10 construction companies were called into the building of the bridge and materials from all over the world were brought in and in tremendous amounts, 83 000 tons of steel and 389 000 cubic yards of concrete. Conclusion The Golden Gate Bridge is a Remarkable piece of engineering. It has come a long way over its 4-5 years of construction and not to mention all that was needed to set its plan in motion. It has faced many obstacles to get to where it is at today, being one of Americas most recognizable attractions. The Golden Gate Bridge pushed the limits of its time, being the longest, highest bridge of its time really opened the eyes of many people in what exactly careful engineering can accomplish. It has had lots of passionate dedicated workers behind it since day one and along the road had its ups and down but in the end turned out to be one of mankindââ¬â¢s greatest accomplishments.
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