Personalistic and Naturalistic Theory Essay - 1139 Words

The study of history enables a society to understand the present better, prevent one from thinking the past is always better, and aids in the understanding of human nature. Psychology is an ever changing and evolutionary field. Recent years have presented numerous changes and increasing interest by many individuals, which have been inspired to help enhance the growth of modern psychology (Woodworth, 1918, p. 1). The use of the certain tools that have been deemed to be reliable in the fields of biology and physical sciences have been implemented in modern psychology to aid in the fields growth to take on an identity of its own (Schultz Schultz, 2004, p. 2). This paper will discuss the personalistic and naturalistic theory and how the two†¦show more content†¦The reasoning for the lack of recognition on the behalf of Vesalius and Harvey has been contributed to the personalistic theory. According to the definition of the personlistic theory, Vesalius and Harvey were not consid ered as great men of their generation and did not possess the uniqueness to cause a great impact on society. The personlistic theory does not consider the facts of the historian studies, even though there was sufficient evidence to support their theories. However, according to the zeitgeist steps in order to attempt to explain this by being the spirit of that generation was not open to the new idea’s of these two men, and therefore, their theories were rejected by that generation. According to McCauley, the definition of a zeitgeist is â€Å"spirit of times† McCauley (2008, p. 10). Zeitgeist is believed to be the compelling drive to cause major changes in history through unknowing forces. Social, economic, and political forces are considered as a part of zeitgeist theory to influence the ever changing field of psychology Schultz Schultz (2012, p. 11). Dean Keith Simonton a known researcher of leadership, talent, and esthetics describes zeitgeist as follows: â€Å"The traditional explanation of multiples is founded on what can be called the zeitgeist theory of creativity. According to this social deterministic view, the individual creator is largelyShow MoreRelatedNaturalistic vs Personalistic Approach in Psychology Essay1077 Words   |  5 PagesPersonalistic vs the Naturalistic Viewpoint History is a troublesome word in the English language, having a number of meanings and usages. We often use the term without really considering the underlying concepts it represents. We use history to stand for actual events that took place in the past. The view of history as a collection of events, a flow of actions and reactions is as old has human curiosity about things happened before their own time. The human mind has always seemed to seekRead MoreInvestigating The Expository Qualification And The Debate Between The Personalistic And Naturalistic Position1574 Words   |  7 PagesThe objective of this task is to investigate the expository qualification and the debate between the Personalistic and Naturalistic position in the originations of experimental history in psychological research, it likewise clarified the correlation between the two ideas and how the zeitgeist secured the associations with each of these ideas. Zeitgeist portrays as the â€Å"spirit of the time† and amid the seventeenth and nineteenth hundreds of years. On the occasion of the recorded advancement of exploratoryRead MoreRene Descartes: The Personalist vs. the Naturalist Viewpoint1203 Words   |  5 Pagespersons with the theories they are trying to support as a group. In this case, we see that society is ready for an innovation and that sometimes even multiple people, some of which might have even had this idea many years before, influence the creation of new concepts or even products because there is a societal demand for them. I have chosen to look at Rene Descartes as my philosopher and believe that in many ways he supports the Personalistic theory. When thinking of the personalistic Name and dateRead MoreHistory of Modern Psychology Essay754 Words   |  4 Pagesof philosophers and psychologists, which also celebrates â€Å"classic studies† and â€Å"breakthrough discoveries† (Goodwin p. 7). Furumoto believed that old history is based more on presentist, internal and personalistic views where as new history views are based more on historicist, external, and naturalistic approaches. Presentism versus Historicism The definition of presentism is to interpret the past only in terms of present concepts and values. Example, if an individual were to look at the RevolutionaryRead MoreAugust Comte- Zeitgeist2118 Words   |  9 PagesAuguste Comte: Personalistic Naturalistic Positions Claudette Spear Dr. Joan Hageman Northcentral University Abstract This paper will focus on Auguste Comte, the founder of Sociology and how he uses both views of both Personalistic and Naturalistic positions in order to justify his findings. Also it will explain how his personal feelings about numerous subjects greatly influenced his studies and works in which things were manipulated to support his findings. FinallyRead MoreThe Personalistic vs. the Naturalistic Viewpoint1752 Words   |  8 Pagesand explain the course of historical events. In considering the historical development of scientific psychology two main views of the historical progress the field of science have emerged: personalistic theory and naturalistic theory. The personalistic theory often times called the â€Å"great man† theory holds that a chosen few individuals are unique in that they are endowed with an extraordinary inner quality giving them the ability to do extraordinary things. When applied to scientific historyRead MoreEssay on The New Psychology and The New Psychologist1874 Words   |  8 Pageswill be discussing the new psychology and the new psychologist. You will learn the meanings of personalistic and naturalistic theories and their relation to zeitgeist. During this topic you may find that personally you fall in to one of these categories of belief. As humans ones finds themselves acting in certain ways or adopting different theories over another and do not understand why. These theories will help to bring into perspective decision making and thinking processes. We will also exploreRead MoreMulti Dimensional Factors Which Influence The Planning, Implementation, And Evaluation Of Health Interventions2092 Words   |  9 Pagesare often used as well as using herbal plants for healing. Taboos belief is common also, cause of illness can be attributed to mystical, personalistic and naturalistic. Mystical theory is the result of unfulfilled obligations of ancestors so commonly believe as bad karma. Personalistic theory is that evil spirits or witches gives the disease. Lastly, naturalistic, states that stress, infection, food and drugs are all causes of illness. These are the main taboos and practices that can be found aboutRead More Principles for Cognizing the Sacred Essay4240 Words   |  17 Pageslevels through which one could develop a true understanding of an objects essence.(1) A.Tchanyshev emphasized naturalistic and anthropomorphic principles for cognizing the essence of objects,(2) whereas B.T. Grigorian, through the principles of objectivism and subjectivism, made it possible to comprehend the notion of essence with regard to human beings.(3) Yu.A. Shreider juxtaposed natura listic and individualistic principles for cognizing the world.(4) S.N. Smirnov emphasized functional and structural

The Constitution Of The United States National Government

The Constitution The American Constitution is â€Å"a system of basic laws and principles that establish the nature, functions and limits of a government or other institution† (Harr, Hess Orthmann, 2012). The purpose of the Constitution was to make it so that no single person would be able to have power over all others. Before the Constitution even came about, there was the first development of the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation were written after the United States had declared independence from Great Britain. It established what the functions of the United States national government would be. This created a weak central government and it did not allow each individual state to create their own foreign diplomacy†¦show more content†¦By November of 1778, New Jersey agreed to ratify the Articles. Then in February of 1779, Delaware agreed. Maryland finally agreed to ratify the Articles in March of 1781 when Virginia agreed to relinquish t heir western lands. While the Articles of Confederation did create a sovereign, national government, it also brought limits to the states’ rights. It limited their right to conduct their own foreign policy and diplomacy (OHBPA, n.d.). The Articles of Confederation had many problems surrounding it. Congress didn’t have the authority to enforce the 1783 Treaty of Paris provisions and the exportation of convicts from the British government could not be prevented by the Confederation government (OHBPA, n.d.). There were also issues with the fact that any acts that were passed by congress could not be enforced because there was no executive branch to enforce them. Congress needed a 9/13 majority vote in order for laws to be passed. Regardless of the size, each state only had one vote in Congress. Congress didn’t have any power to regulate interstate and foreign commerce, nor did they have the power to tax. In order for any Amendments to the Articles of Confe deration to be passed, they need a unanimous vote. There was also no national court system (Constitutional Facts, n.d.). All of these problems had the delegates realizing that they needed a more powerful central

Lincoln One of America’s Best Film Free Essays

string(49) " Lincoln Electric in their foreign subsidiaries\." Both President Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich have referred to Lincoln Electric as an example of an American firm that is one of the best in the world. This statement may be bold, though holds truth in many respects and Lincoln managers like George Willis, who was the CEO in the late 1980s and early 1990s adds to this statement: â€Å"†¦ I believe that we are the best manufacturing company in the world. Lincoln Electric is best known for its productivity incentive program, which has been widely cited over the years, and has attracted thousands of managers to company†s headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio to learn about one of the country†s oldest and most radical pay-for-performance systems. We will write a custom essay sample on Lincoln: One of America’s Best Film or any similar topic only for you Order Now Founded in 1895 by John Cromwell Lincoln to manufacture electric motors and generators, The Lincoln Electric Company shifted its resources into manufacturing arc-welding products in 1911. Today, welding products account for more than 90 percent of net sales and range from basic units for light manufacturing to highly sophisticated machines used in robotics applications and high-production welding and fabrication. The remaining income is generated by electric motors and oxy-fuel and plasma cutting tools. The company is also the leading producer of self-shielded cored-wire electrodes and currently holds ninety percent of the world market in this area. With its over a 100 year existence, Lincoln Electric has had a successful past with a few downtimes, like the one during the 1991 recession because of an ill-conceived foreign-acquisition spree. Even during this time, the company kept its promise to its U. S. workers to pay their bonuses and went to extremes such as borrowing $100 million in 1992 and 1993, even though it lost $84 million in those years. The retired CEO Donald F. Hastings quoted saying: â€Å"We can†t break our trust with this group because of management mistakes and recessions elsewhere. From this unique example, we can understand the company†s genuine commitment to its compensation system. However, some argue that, after the 1995 sale of 40% of the company†s equity to public, this traditional close-knit relationship between management and the workers got affected. Lincoln Electric employs 5,700 workers worldwide and operates 16 manufacturing sites and 17 distribution centers in 11 countries. In 1995, the company celebrated its centennial year by posting record sales of $1. 03 billion. With increasing sales every year after 1995 – $1. 09 in 1996, $1,159 in 1997, the company is holding its leadership position in the manufacture of arc welding equipment and consumables. Lincoln†s longstanding commitments to linking pay to both individual productivity and the profitability of the corporation makes it an ideal case study for any business student. In this paper, I will explain the unique pay-for-performance compensation system of Lincoln Electric as well as investigating this system in our class context, also explaining the international expansion of the company. Incentive Performance System: its strength and weaknesses It was James E. Lincoln, John Lincoln†s younger brother, whose philosophies and beliefs about workplace relations shaped Lincoln Electric†s unique culture during his long term as head of the company from 1914 to 1965. The firm has had only a handful of leaders in a century of operation, which are mostly promoted within the company. Likewise, jobs at Lincoln Electric plants are highly prized and employee turnover is low. I think it is impressive that no one has been laid off since 1948, and the turnover rate is less than 4% among those with at least 180 days on the job. â€Å"There isn†t any other place to work like Lincoln Electric, they take care of you. † says Kathleen Hoenigman, an 18-year veteran. In today†s competitive markets, it is important to have dependable highly skilled workers and Lincoln Electric clearly is a great employer according to some employees like Mrs. Hoenigman. Companies like Lincoln Electric can afford to provide consistent employment, no matter what, by working and managing better. Thinking ahead and having creative solutions for when there is a downturn is what management is all about,† Hastings said. It really makes sense when one thinks about this statement: if no one worried about losing their job, then employees would create change instead and this kind of an ideology would definitely have a great impact on productivity. High wages, high productivity, and a high level of trust between management and workers characterize the laborer-employee relationship and this culture at Lincoln. Policies such as the â€Å"open-door† policy helps build this trust and while encouraging the employees to bring suggestions for improvement also helps the management to have non edited, raw data from their workers. It is true that millions of American workers, from sales representatives to truckers, are paid on a commission basis or according to their output. Many others collect annual bonuses tied to their employers† profits and revenues. But Lincoln is nearly unique among large American companies, paying all shop-floor workers according to a formula based on how much they produce and how much the company earns. Lincoln Electric†s compensation package for factory workers consists of a piecework system for base wages and a year-end bonus. The piecework system however is probably the major part of the total incentive system at Lincoln Electric. With this system, a worker can make more per day or per week or per month during the year with or without a bonus. The workers are paid on the quality of what they produce. Thus, in a way, Lincoln†s 3,400 U. S. employees are supposed to be self-managing entrepreneurs. Each employee is accountable for the quality of his or her own works and is rated twice a year on quality, output, dependability, cooperation and ideas. The ratings determine how much of the total corporate bonus pool each worker will get, which comes on top of his or her hourly wage. There†s minimal supervision and employers only get paid when they work, and there is no sick or holiday pay, which created some problems for Lincoln Electric in their foreign subsidiaries. You read "Lincoln: One of America’s Best Film" in category "Essay examples" â€Å"How much money you make is in your own hands,† says Thomas Gadomski, a painting-crew leader. All 3,400 Lincoln Electric shop-floor workers do well, with wages averaging $58,000 in 1995 (the last year for which company would provide data), not counting the value of their decent package of medical, vacation and retirement benefits. On the other hand, the programs developed 40 years ago at Lincoln to boost the production are helping contain workers compensation costs. Gil Frey, director of employee benefits and relations, said the company saves about $44,000 per month as a result of its return-to-work strategies. Despite all the incentives and high salaries, the company, which is publicly traded in NYSE, hardly operates as a charity. 1997†³s net income of $85 million represented a 20 percent return on shareholder equity in a very competitive industry. Donald Hastings who is strong defender of the piecework system argues against the people, who consider the piecework system as a type of 19th Century pay system that was designed to take advantage of the worker, and he adds that it is what killed the piecework system in the U. S. Thus, he believes that the piecework system at Lincoln has fairly set rates. However, very few manufacturers have taken the pay-for-performance route, and the reasons are not actually hard to comprehend. For one thing, it is difficult to sustain large differences in pay for the same job category also measuring individual productivity in industrial settings can be a challenge all by itself, unless if you have a well established system like Lincoln. Yet I am sure that, at times inevitably there is ambiguity at Lincoln too, but clearly it is very minimum. These are some of the reasons why it would be difficult to replicate Lincoln†s success, because it also requires highly disciplined and motivated labor. Moreover, in addition to piecework bonus system, guaranteed employment up to 30 hours and the annual bonus system where employees are paid once a year up to an average of 50% to 60% -recent years† average- of the base pay created a sense of ownership among the employees. Lastly, as a result of all these incentive systems, the high productivity and high output rate with less defects, and innovation gives Lincoln Electric the competitive edge in the market. One manufacturing manager explained it perfectly: â€Å"We strive for high productivity based on employee effort, continuous improvement in production processes, and a seven-day-a-week utilization of equipment. By passing on cost savings to our customers, we generate very high demand that allows you to send everything you make straight out the door. † These are the main strengths of Lincoln Electric, but just like any other organization, Lincoln Electric have some weaknesses too. Unfortunately, the Lincoln incentive model is not quite the smashing success it once was. Problems started with the recession in 1991, and in 1995, after management stumbles forced the family-controlled manufacturer to sell more shares to the public. From that point on, Lincoln started looking more like a public company. With new shareholders, and new board members came new ideas, which had impacts on some of the core values of the company, and the worker bonuses has started getting smaller. At the same time, management was readying itself for an expansion to remain globally competitive, putting even more pressure on the balance sheet. Even though that very same year, the company celebrated its centennial year by posting record sales of over $1 billion and record earnings, this was a year of change for the workers. All those factors I listed above crimped bonuses. For workers who expect high bonuses if they deliver in output, this shift must have hurt their morale. As new global markets are emerging for Lincoln†s business, the company has started questioning and reviewing their one-of-a-kind pay system. The company is by no means ready to completely change or get rid of the incentive plan, which once paid employees 100% of their annual wages in annual performance linked bonuses. But now with the new markets that the company is in too, the executives are considering ways to move toward a more traditional pay scheme and away from the regular percentage-bonus formula, or may be a mixture of the two. â€Å"The bonus program is a good program, and it has worked well, but it†s got to be modified some,† says director David C. Lincoln, whose father John C. Lincoln founded Lincoln Electric. So, the question is for how long more Lincoln†s pay plan can survive rapid growth of the company and globalization? Also the wide range of wages cause some problems within the company. The average Lincoln factory worker earns $16. 54 an hour, vs. the $14. 25 average manufacturing wage in the Cleveland area. With a 56% average bonus in 1995 – the lowest in years – production employees came out ahead of workers elsewhere even after paying for health-care benefits. But unlike at other companies, Lincoln has huge variations in production-worker pay: from roughly $32,000 to more than $100,000 for the most hard-driving. There is also a tremendous pressure to produce, but an employee board meets regularly with the top management to report workers† concerns. And Lincoln guarantees work to employees with three years† experience. Still, it gets harder and harder everyday to live up to the old deal. Even though, the company has bounced back from stumbling overseas, it has yet more problems to overcome. During this period, Lincoln had financially weakened. To make better acquisitions and expand further, Lincoln made its first public offering in July 1995, pushing outsiders† stake to 40%. It also slashed total debt by 40% to $130 million, and paid a lower bonus per person, though the total bonus pool was a record $64 million. Naturally, slimmer bonuses somewhat changed employees† attitude towards the system and the company. In November of 1995, some employees protested outside headquarters after they learned of the bonus size. Also again during this period, the turnover among the new hires was high, and the disparate pay upset the veteran Lincoln employees. â€Å"If an individual shows he can handle the workload, he should be rewarded with full pay† commented Joseph Tuck, an inspector with 18 years at Lincoln. Because of the protests, CEO Hastings eliminated the two-tier wage on December 1, 1995. This was a dilemma for both the company and the workers, both of which had never experienced this kind of a situation before. To edit the pay system without causing any resentment, the company set up a committee to study the bonus program and had even hired Price Waterhouse to study productivity. Even though, Hastings pledged at the time that the incentive system would remain the same, over time, he wants employees to focus on the overall earnings, not just the percentage bonus they receive. And that should be a tough job to do, to implement this kind of an ideology in employees† mind, who has worked so many number of years in a fixed, particular system. Lincoln Electric†s International Expansion On other hand, as I have mentioned earlier in the paper, because of both legal and cultural issues, Lincoln†s basic systems like the incentive system and annual bonus pay system did not work in many of the overseas operations in the long run, even though at the beginning it was successful. And, I think Lincoln Electric had especially a hard time understanding that operating and international business calls for a lot more than just technological skill. Also, I believe that the company didn†t truly understand the cultures of those countries where it expanded. The general assumptions made, such as the belief that everybody in the world would be willing to work a little harder to enhance their lives and their families and their homes didn†t turn out to be true for everyone. It was an inaccurate assumption and this was one of the main reasons why the company had to pull out of Germany. The underlying reason for this was mainly because Lincoln Electric executives didn†t know how to manage an international operation, nor did they have the international experience. Furthermore, the way Lincoln had gone about expanding internationally was too rapid an unstructured. Also, there were other barriers such as high tariffs, high manufacturing costs, highly unionization and misconception of Lincoln Electric†s incentive system. After closing down plants in Germany, Brazil, Japan and Venezuela, and reporting losses from these operations in 1992 and 1993, I am sure Lincoln Electric is going to be very careful about not starting another acquisition spree. During these losses however, the company expanded the number of employees in the United States, but I am sure that the firm will be going back to overseas in the future. This time though, they want to be very careful in selecting the region for the new facility, as well as the managers and the workers. One of these new markets that Lincoln has interest in is the Asia-Pacific area, including mainland China, and the company is already in the process of getting some alliances in Indonesia and Malaysia. These new interest regions may shape the future of Lincoln Electric. If we were to make a cost-benefit analysis for Lincoln Electric, we would find out that the company has a lot of pluses. Even after all these charges against it, Lincoln†s pay system is likely to remain innovative than most. But as it tries to hire more outsiders, expand further abroad and modernize, â€Å"we†re getting to be a more normal company,† says Director Frank L. Steingass. That may not be quite what eager visitors to the headquarters in Cleveland, who want to learn the secret of incentive system expect to hear. But if Lincoln can adapt to new times without sacrificing employee good will, another model pay plan may yet emerge out of this company. The over century long history and tradition, along with great organizational and pay systems, Lincoln Electric has a very strong organizational culture, especially in the United States. However, with the new emerging markets around the world today, Lincoln Electric can not afford to stay out of the global competition. Finally, I believe that its employees will always move Lincoln Electric to greater heights, no matter what. The former CEO Donald Hastings states this idea in a very profound way: â€Å"It†s a two-way street at Lincoln. We look after our people and they look after us. â€Å" How to cite Lincoln: One of America’s Best Film, Essay examples

Buddhist free essay sample

For my field research report my partners and I visited the largest Chinese Buddhist temple in Mississauga called Fo Guanh Shan Temple of Toronto on February 11th during their festival of the Chinese New Year. Originally this is my first time visiting a Buddhist temple in Canada, but the very first Buddhist temple I visited was at the age of six with my family on a trip to Thailand. During my visit in Toronto, I was really overwhelmed with all the different artefacts and architecture laid throughout the temple, the principles and guidance was outrageously fascinating. As we entered, the individuals working had recognized that we weren’t members of the Buddhist community but still displayed genuine hospitality and guided us around the temple. The culture I witnessed in this religious building really caught my interest, especially the unique artefacts and architecture in which I examined using Raymond Williams and Malory Nye’s theory on elite and popular culture and concluding that the people that interacted with this temple were seeking and describing what it means to reach the peaks of human expression. We will write a custom essay sample on Buddhist or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As well as the way the temple had advertised their culture and religion, in which, I analyzed through Stuart Hall’s theory on popular culture and concluding that business views in this community were definitely present. When we first forward to the entrance I pointed the unique artwork along the white entrance railings. The railings had some sort carvings that appeared to look like dragons, and as we approached to the foyer all I could see were vibrant colours. The lady at the countered enlightened me and explained that architecture on the building of such animals is part of the Chinese culture where animals symbolize characteristics, for example dragons symbolizes prosperity and good fortune. I began to get very curious and anxious to witness many interesting things around this religious building and the lady guided us to our first destination, which was the heart of the temple, the prayer hall. As we approached the doors, an individual that volunteered at the temple had notified us that due to respect to the Buddha everyone must take their shoes off before entering and that absolutely no pictures are allowed. Once I entered the very first that that captured my eyes was the artwork done along the walls of the prayer hall. At the front were three lively sculptures of Buddha for which the people pray towards. I took great interest in the architecture and one of the volunteer that was accepting offerings given from individuals had educated me about the artwork along the walls. In fact, the artwork in the eyes of the Buddhist community is more like a family portrait. In other words, along the walls there was a particular photo and below the photo there was a name written in Chinese, these were all ancestors of the Buddhist religion. What really amazed me is how they had presented their ancestors in such a beautiful and respectable way. The next stop was at the Buddha’s Cultural Figure 2: Picture Taken by Zain Malik Buddhas Cultural Museum Figure [ 2 ]: Picture Taken by Zain Malik Buddhas Cultural Museum Museum where many different artefacts, sculptures, and other pieces of art related to Buddhist culture were present. As I walked along the museum each piece of art had been given a cue card that had information on it. The key information was the material used to create such art, the material that was commonly used were: cooper, wood, bronze, ceramic, and clay. What leaves a question mark is that do these materials play a symbolic role in the culture that was present in certain Buddhist eras. I came across a sculpture of a huge elephant, which had been stated that it symbolizes power, commitment and action. A lady working at this section of the temple had informed me that in the Chinese Buddhist culture one gifts this art piece in situations of victory (war, sports, marriage, etc. ). Also, the lady had polished my knowledge and explained that each piece of art could Figure 3: Picture Taken by Zain Malik Sculpture1 Figure 3: Picture Taken by Zain Malik Sculpture1 ave multiple Figure 3: Picture Taken by Zain Malik Sculpture2 Figure 3: Picture Taken by Zain Malik Sculpture2 meanings, as in the sense of the temple it was placed to dignify the religious place. The presence of different sculptures and artefacts is way of the Buddhist culture to express human expressions. The art itself expresses the creativity on the individual or persons cre ating it, in other words the visual representation of their culture. As one of the members of the temple had told me that the techniques used in their architecture has been part of their culture for ages and has been passed down by their ancestors. Also, through architecture, one can express the culture’s environment, the association of people or dynamics of human interaction, customs, habitats, and as well as the relationships between all these aspects. Examining this portion of Buddhist culture at the temple referring back to Williams and Nye’s theory on elite and popular culture was very amusing. The focus on this essay is regarding chapter 2 in Malory Nye’s text, Religion: The Basics. In this chapter Nye makes emphasis on culture in correlation to religion (Nye 2008, 23). He had stated that culture is something that is done and is what people do (Nye 2008, 23). Williams had interpreted culture in the senses of engaging it and possessing it. In further contrast, one of his main arguments was that culture is an ideal or elite (Nye 2008, 24). In other words, elite culture revolves around high quality and artistic worth products. These products are could be an example of the Holy Bible that the Christians consider a spiritual text or, as Nye would say a piece of high culture (Nye 2008, 25). But Williams made an excellent and intriguing point that culture is beyond the ideal and elite stage, in fact it has approached the documentary level (Nye 2008, 25). In this level culture is viewed through forms such as: film, television, sport, science, geography, and even architecture. As I observed throughout the day at the temple, I seemed to gather a thought that architecture is the popular form of culture used in this Buddhist community. There methods and ways may be different but as Williams stated, its not about which artist is better, its about which artist produced cultural work (Nye 2008, 28). It is self-explanatory that these people have expressed cultural work in a magnificent manor. At the temple, the Buddhist people influence and enforce a lot of discipline. The elderly to the youth of the Buddhist community teaches such aspects. As I entered the bookstore held inside of the temple a lady had explained to me the different materialistic items that elderly reward kids for remarkable religious efforts, for example bracelets, clothes, etc. Also, I was escorted to attend the library where a collection of religious material was held, there an individual had assisted me and told me that the famous religious Buddhist text is called the Sutra. What makes this text different than other religious text like the Bible is that Sutra is not a single book. The Sutra is a large collection of books and teachings that were transcribed by Buddha. These materials have been duplicated and are for purchase in the bookstore, as well as other religious items like religious beads for prayers. Many things were for sale in the book store such as music which played stories in musical form of the Buddhist religion, ornaments, history books on the religion, beads, necklaces, bracelets, and much more. This leads to my analysis using Stuart Halls theory on culture, the business of culture. Stuart Hall had emphasized his interest on how to interpret popular culture, and the point that I am going to focus on is mass appeal and the business of culture (Nye 2008, 29). The standard points to note is that for one to be popular it must be on some scale have mass appeal. The problem to this theory is that in order to obtain mass appeal consumer commercialism is extremely crucial (Nye 2008, 30). This is why religions advertise their products such as books, religious items, history, etc. (Nye 2008, 30). Therefore, interpreting Halls theory into the circumstances at the temple, it seems that the bookstore is way for people to promote their culture and increase mass appeal because nothing was listed as free. During this research assignment, there was a lot of difficulty communicating with the people in the temple, as their first language was Mandarin. In situations for example where I couldn’t understand a single word that they were saying. I felt like if I knew the language they spoke or had a partner who spoke their language I could have gathered much more valuable pieces of information to make my essay even stronger than what it is. Overall my experience at the Chinese Buddhist temple was phenomenal with some exceptions. The people were very humble and friendly to assist us throughout this experience that I am thankful for. The knowledge I absorbed opened my eyes about Buddhism and religion itself with the help of Malory Nye’s text, Religion: The Basics in which Williams and Hall’s theories facilitated my analysis in the cultural aspects of religion. Bibliography Nye, Malory. 2008. Religion: The Basics, 2nd edition. London and New York: Routledge. Essay Grading Rubric

Chemistry Essays - Membrane Biology, Cell Biology,

Chemistry 1. a) Bulk movement is the overall movement of a fluid. The molecules all move in the same direction. Diffusion however is the random movement of molecules which usually results in a fairly even distribution. In other words the movement is not guaranteed to move in one direction but the probability that it will move in the lower gradient is greater. Osmosis is similar to diffusion but is differentiated by the membrane's behavior. The cell membrane does allow water to move from higher to lower concentrations but does not allow solutes do that. b) Water potential is the capacity of water to move to a from a region where there is high water potential to low water potential. This action happens without the affect of outside forces. When outside actions due occur and they give water a high potential energy than the water will move to the region where less potential energy is. Hydrostatic pressure is the pressure required to stop water the movement of water. This is a method of measurement. The osmotic potential is the measure of tendency of water to move through a membrane which contains a solution. This occurs when a cell does not allow a hypertonic solution to leave the cell membrane. The cell begins to increase with water but the cell membrane can not release the solution and thus the water potential within the cell increases. This causes the water to no longer enter the cell. c) Hypotonic is less solute to a certain amount of water. Hypertonic is more solute to a certain amount of water. Isotonic is the equal amount of solutes in two different solutions. d) Endocytosis is the inward bulge causes by incoming molecules. Exocytosis is the expelling of a material outside a cell. e) Phagocytosis is the process where the cell obtains solid matter. This is different from the pinocytosis where the cell obtains liquid matter. These both are endocytic processes. Receptor-mediated endocytosis is the process where there are interactions between a material and receptor sites on the cell. In this process the cell accepts the material if it matches with the receptor sites. f) Coated pits are areas which peripheral proteins indent the membrane. This is where the vesicles for certain materials are formed. The vesicle which is formed is called the coated vesicle. g) Plasmodesmata are the links which hold two adjacent cells together. Gap junctions are the channels which allow materials to flow between cells. 2. The concentration gradient is the difference in the density of a material from one region to another region. The concentration gradient affects diffusion by allowing the substance to flow from high concentration to low concentration. The concentration gradient affects osmosis by the same manner it does in diffusion. The cell does not allow the solution to exit the cell when water is entering. This keeps the solution in the cell making the concentration high and thus no further penetration of water. 4. Diffusion is more rapid in gases because they are less dense than liquids. They repel each other more resulting in faster diffusion. Diffusion is greater at higher temperatures because of the greater kinetic energy among the molecules. They push each other more making them less dense. 5. The concentration of the solute is 1%. This happens because a 1% sugar solution is isotonic with that of the 1% sugar solution in the tubes. The 2% sugar solution was increased because the substance was hypertonic. The membrane did not allow the hypertonic solution to exit because the pressure from the hypotonic solution was forcing water in. This later reached an equilibrium when the hypertonic solution was gaining water potential and the water stopped rising. The vice versa happened in the distilled water solution.

Good and Evil in Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm Essay Essays

Good and Evil in Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm Essay Essays Good and Evil in Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm Essay Essay Good and Evil in Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm Essay Essay Essay Topic: The Hunger Games Good and evil subjects. in some signifier. be in practically every piece of literature of all time written. It is found in literature every bit old as the Bible to newer narratives such as The Hunger Games. It is no surprise to happen this same subject in Lord of the Fliess by William Golding and Animal Farm by George Orwell. Golding and Orwell explore good and evil to demo what consequence morality. or the deficiency thereof. has on society. Both Golding and Orwell believe through their ain yesteryear experiences that evil corrupts people. To portray this. Orwell and Golding use similar thoughts with their characters and secret plan to demo how delicate the thought of civilisation is for us all. : In Lord of the Fliess and Animal Farm. the subject of immorality is obvious throughout the development of the characters. In Lord of the Flies. the primary character. Jack. is genuinely evil. Jack is a barbarous male child and he performs many violent Acts of the Apostless during his quest for power. The best illustration of this is when Jack encourages his folk to take part in the slaughtering of the beatific Simon ( Golding. 140 ) . While the folk is holding a wild. diabolic ceremonial. Simon crawls out of the forests disorientated after enduring a ictus. Mistaking Simon for the animal. the deranged folk. including Ralph. viciously rips Simon apart with their bare custodies and dentitions. Simon falls off of the drop and onto the beach below. where his organic structure washes out to sea. In comparing. immorality is besides outstanding in the narrative Animal Farm. The character Napoleon is the kernel of immorality in Animal Farm. He is the really manipulative and dictator-like leader of the farm. He performs many indefinable Acts of the Apostless against his fellow animate beings. such as taking the milk and apples for himself ( Orwell. 24 ) . After taking all of the milk and apples. Napoleon gets Squealer. a hog that he uses for propaganda intents. to explicate his â€Å"reason† for taking the milk and apples from them. Squealer provinces that Napoleon needs to take the milk and apples from the animate beings so that Napoleon has strong encephalon power. Squealer continues to explicate that Napoleon needs to hold good encephalon power because â€Å"the whole direction and administration of the farm depends on Napoleon† ( Orwell. 32 ) . Squealer so elaborates even more and says to the animate beings that â€Å"it is for YOUR interest that we drink that milk and eat those apples†¦Jones would come back! † ( Orwell. 32 ) . These grounds are non true. as Napoleon merely wants the milk and apples because he finds them tasty and non because he needs them to pull off the farm. Meanwhile. the other farm animate beings are left to travel hungry. In an effectual show of pure immorality. Orwell and Golding are able to utilize Napoleon and Jack as nefarious characters in an attempt to demo what happens to person with no ethical motives. In contrast. subjects of goodness are harder to happen. yet apparent in the word picture of Lord of the Fliess and Animal Farm. In Lord of the Flies. Simon is the prototype of morality. For illustration. he appears Christ-like as he helps the more vulnerable kids of the folk that the older male childs call the Littluns. Simon helps the Littluns by executing undertakings that they can non make. such as â€Å"picking pick fruit from subdivisions they can non reach† ( Golding. 50 ) . In comparing. Animal Farm besides has characters that reflect virtue. Specifically. Boxer is one character that shows his goodness through his actions. For illustration. in the Battle of the Cowshed. he sees his fellow animate beings being injured. so he stops the combat by kicking a stable-lad in the caput. As a consequence of Boxer’s actions. the worlds flee ( Orwell. 36 ) . Although Lord of the Fliess and Animal Farm are both predominately full of evil subjects. Golding and Orwell use subjects of goodness in the word picture to give the reader hope that good merely may predominate. Besides the subjects of immorality found in word picture. there are besides the subjects of immorality in the secret plan elements of Lord of the Fliess and Animal Farm. Towards the terminal of Lord of the Flies. Simon is murdered by the remainder of the male childs ( Golding. 142 ) . Simon’s decease is specifically the point when the immorality in the narrative victory over good. Up until the point of Simon’s decease. Ralph and Simon are the lone characters who still have good left in them. Since Ralph participates in Simon’s slaying. all of the good that exists in Ralph is gone and the last of civilisation dies with Simon. A similar immorality is present in Animal Farm when Napoleon anguishs and executes â€Å"traitors† of the farm. The animate beings that are accused of lese majesty are tortured until they admit to their offense. Once they confess. they are executed ( Orwell. 69 ) . Most of the clip. these animate beings are non even guilty. The animate beings live in a changeless fright ; they do non cognize when or if they will be accused of lese majesty and so executed. By utilizing subjects of immorality. both Golding and Orwell show that a deficiency of morality in society may finally ensue in the prostration of civilisation. In the same manner. subjects of good appear in the secret plan elements of Lord of the Fliess and Animal Farm. Specifically. there is a clip when Jack refuses to give Piggy any meat. Simon gives Piggy his portion because he believes that it is unjust that Jack did non give Piggy any meat. When Simon does non give Jack the satisfaction of eating his meat. Jack so gets highly angry with Simon and throws meat at Simon’s pess shouting â€Å"Eat. Damn you! † ( Golding. 68 ) . Simon still refuses to eat the meat. By his actions. Simon shows that even though they were populating in barbarian times. they could still stay sort to each other. Merely like Lord of the Flies. Animal Farm besides has subjects of goodness in its secret plan elements. In peculiar. Old Major creates a spirit of kindness and enthusiasm at the farm during his celebrated address. He uplifts the animate beings by singing them a vocal entitled â€Å"Beasts of England† . The vocal is about animate beings interrupting free from human control and life independently. Old Major continues to demo his concern for his fellow animate beings when he says in his address that â€Å"all animate beings are equal† ( Orwell. 11 ) . As a consequence of Orwell and Golding utilizing goodness in the secret plan elements of Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies. they are able to exemplify their point that one can take to be sort. no affair their milieus. Through word picture and secret plan elements. Golding and Orwell use good and evil in Lord of the Fliess and Animal Farm to show their fearful feelings for society. They believe that if society loses their touch of pureness and goodness so society will fall in. In other words. Golding and Orwell’s message to the reader is that it is human nature to transgress and execute immorality. and if society is non careful. it will finally take to the death of civilisation. Plants Cited Orwell. George. Animal Farm ; . New York: Harcourt. Brace. 1954. ( 11. 24. 32. 36. 69 ) . Print. Golding. William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Coward-McCann. 1962. ( 50. 68. 140. 142 ) . Print.

Reproductive Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Reproductive Rights - Essay Example Now, the government has seemingly decided that they have reached their limit of freedom—though many of us did not know there was such a thing. These days, as one group gains more rights, another group watches as theirs are eroded. At this time, it seems that women’s rights are under attack. For many years women have retained the right to make their own choices regarding their bodies. Should a woman find herself pregnant and, for whatever reason, not wish to remain so, she has had the right to have an abortion. Untold numbers of women were forced to endure sometimes difficult, sometimes life-threatening pregnancies and labors to deliver children they did not want. Sometimes these women were the victims of rape or incest, and yet they had to bear the child. The child itself would potentially be neglected, or given away to be brought up in a bad home. All this, before women were allowed the right to choose to not carry a fetus to term. These days, the Powers That Be have d ecided that they don’t want women to have abortions. Laws are being passed left and right that make it harder and harder for women to have an abortion, regardless of her reasoning.

Texas state laws on sex offenders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Texas state laws on sex offenders - Essay Example In addition, they need regularly to visit the registering authority to update the information on matters such as address change. Should one fail to register as a sex offender, they are liable for felony prosecution that could result in their being taken back to prison or having their parole revoked. The public can access these records through a variety of ways availed by the state of Texas, primary to this is a statewide database that maintains updated information on all registered sex offenders accessible to anyone freely at any time. Members of the public can access the information herein through the website https://records.txdps.state.tx.us/soSearch/default.cfm . In addition, native law administration agencies in the Texas are by law mandated to have a sex offender registry with information on all the registered sex offenders in the area. Based on the nature of the crime, the laws in Texas allow authorities to publish some of the sex offender registration information on local newspapers (Schiavone and Elizabeth 681). Finally, should an individual categorized as a high-risk sexual offender move into an area, the authorities will be expected to notify the community by mailing everyone in it a postcard with the description of the individual and nature of the crime. In 2011, the national, Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) was passed and states were required to expand their categories of sex offenders who are to include juveniles and adult offenders that committed certain crimes before the laws was passed (United States Congress). This law sets the minimum requirement that characterizes the offences and the way offenders should be classified and determines how long they should remain registered. States that refused to meet the requirements for the SORNA act would lose 10% of their Byne Law enforcement

Natural Resource Curce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Natural Resource Curce - Essay Example Likewise other OPEC countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have also lower GNP figures. As a whole, OPEC countries have less GNP per capita from 1965 to 1998 compared to countries that do not have sufficient resources (Ross, 297-322). The reasons behind these surprising results could be many including the wrong management of resources by the government, non competitive business environment, and inefficiency of overall economy. A brief explanation about the conflicts of the Natural Resources and the policies to reduce these conflicts will be discussed in this paper. Natural Resource Curse The phenomenon of the natural resource curse came into existence after numerous studies stated that the resource oriented countries were constantly producing insignificant GNP per capita as compared to the countries that lacked resources. It was not only the economy that was lacking but the resources dependent countries were found to be malformed with more corruption, spontaneous conflicts betw een the people and the government, higher poverty rates, and inappropriate management of the government (Gibbs, 35-40). Oil, minerals, gold, cotton and other gemstones are the natural resources that mainly cause conflicts. ... Furthermore, such wealth always results in domestic grievances which are the major cause of civil wars. This is what the phenomenon of natural resource curse is all about – the greater the natural resource wealth, the lower will be the economic growth and development. Let’s now briefly discuss the effects and causes of the Natural Resource Curse Effects of the Natural Resource Curse The countries that are facing natural resource curse are mostly associated with the following problems that results in low economic growth and development. The internal conflicts of the country The natural resource curse has been a major reason for internal conflicts of the country. It has been studied by various researchers that the region of the country that is highly resource oriented consists of certain groups that are openly asking for their share every now and then. But such conflicts are minor as compared to the conflicts that are taking place within the government ministries. The peo ple that are in power are unable to firm unity amongst each other and are more interested in having the authority over the allocations of the budget. This is where the collapse of the government takes place thereby resulting in insignificant progress. The outcomes of such conflicts could be very damaging for a nation as it can seriously affect the economic growth of the country. According to a research, the countries that have lower percentages of exports of gross national products are involved in less amount conflicts as compared to the countries with higher percentages of exports. Lack of Human rights and Resources One thing that has been a hot target of the natural resource curse is the education for people in resource

Semantic Priming: Effects of Related and Unrelated Words

Semantic Priming: Effects of Related and Unrelated Words Semantic Priming: Effects of Related and Unrelated Words on Response Times Introduction to Cognition, Biological Psychology and Quantitative Research Methods Abstract The aim of this experiment was to measure the response times on the string of letters that were shown to the participants on a computer screen. The task of the participants was to decide whether the string of letters were words or non-words. The hypothesis of the experiment was that the response time in the lexical decision task would be significantly faster for target words related to the prime than for target words unrelated to the prime. The experimental design was repeated measures, where participants responded to all the stimuli that were propounded. Participants were presented with a string of words related to the prime, words unrelated to the prime, non-word created from a word related to the prime and a non-word created from a word unrelated to the prime. The findings of the experiment showed that participants responded faster when the letter strings were related words rather than unrelated words. This is because related words are closely associated in implicit memory, theref ore the response times of the participants will be faster in recognising the words. Explanations for the results of the experiment will be discussed further in the report. Introduction Priming is an effect on implicit memory in which the reaction time of a response to a stimulus is faster due to having previous experience of the stimulus. For example, individuals can recognise a word faster if it is paired with a related word. For example, â€Å"table† and â€Å"chair† and are slower at recognising words if they are unrelated. For example, â€Å"nurse† and â€Å"butter† (Refer to appendix A). In the study of Meyer and Schvaneveldt (1971) we refer to semantic priming, where semantic refers to the logic and language individuals store in their implicit memory. Meyer and Schvaneveldt (1971) suggested that the response times were faster when the string of words were related because a part of the memory is activated in which the retrieval of words from semantic memory is faster. Associative priming and the lexical decision task is an extension of the study by Meyer and Schvaneveldt (1971). In their experiment they hypothesized that recognition of a word is faster when it is associated with its prime. In their experiment they presented 12 participants with two strings of letters, one above the other. Their task was to press the ‘yes’ key if the two strings were words and the ‘no’ key if one or both were non-words. In their results, they found that response times were faster when the target string consisted of related words such as ‘bread’ and ‘butter’ or ‘nurse’ and ‘doctor’ proving their hypothesis to be correct. Furthermore, another psychologist McNamara (1992) demonstrated results from a similar experiment of associative priming. He also found that mean response times were faster when words were related rather than unrelated. He also found that errors rates (percentage of errors) were much higher in the non-related condition than in the related condition. The present experiment is in favour of that of Meyer and Schvaneveldt’s (1971) and McNamara’s (1992) because similar results were obtained from both research studies. The difference to the present study to that of Meyer and Schvaneveldt’s (1971) was that the string of words were not presented simultaneously, they were presented one after the other and the participants were to decide if both strings were words or if one of both were non-words. From this it is unknown which letter string is the one that the participant responds to from their implicit memory. However the present experiment could allow us to investigate the effects of the time between the letters are presented on the effects on response times. Another modification that was made was that in the present experiment, was that one letter was changed in either a related or an unrelated word. This allows us to investigate the eff ects of the response time on the identification of words. Previous research by Meyer and Schvaneveldt (1971) and findings from the present experiment are relevant in explaining how the long term memory is organised in individuals. The hypothesis of the experiment was that the response time in the lexical decision task would be significantly faster for target words related to the prime than for target words unrelated to the prime. Participants 150 participants took part in the present experiment, all being part of the same educational institution. The participants consisted of mixed gender with majority being female. The age of the participants varied from 18 and above and they were also from various ethnicities. The type of sampling that was used in the experiment was opportunity sampling because the participants were available to take part in the experiment at that time. Apparatus As the experiment was computer based, each participant had access to a computer. The program was written in TCL for Windows, and ran on PCs using the Windows 7 operating system. There were two types of stimuli used in the experiment; words and non-words, related and unrelated words. Key findings in the experiment showed that participants responded faster when words were related to each other; for example, ‘bread’ and ‘butter.’ Thus, participants responded slower when words were unrelated to each other; for example, ‘table’ and ‘nurse.’ Design The experiment was set up in an educational institution and the task was carried out using computer equipment. There were 150 participants involved in the experiment and consisted of first year psychology students. This was an opportunity sample, as the participants were available at the time the study was being carried out. The program was written in TCL for Windows, and ran on PCs using the Windows 7 operating system. The design of the experiment was repeated measures where participants were presented with all the stimuli. There were two independent variables for this experiment: related or unrelated words and word or non-words. The dependent variable was the response time in which participants decided if the string of letters were words or non-words. The conditions in the experiment were to press the ‘L’ key or the ‘A’ key if the string of letters were words or non-words. The experiment program showed the participant which key to press for each response. The controls that were used in the experiment were the ways in which the stimuli were presented. The target was presented 300, 600 or 900 milliseconds after the prime was presented on the computer screen. When the results were presented the times after the stimuli were presented were averaged out. Procedure The participants carried out the experiment simultaneously. The participant was seated in front of the computer throughout the experiment. The stimuli were presented one after the other on the screen after which the participant had to make the choice if the string of letters presented were words or non-words. The participant responded by pressing the ‘A’ or ‘L’ key on the keyboard; these were random for each participant. Response time was measured by the computer programme. The experiment lasted around 20 minutes. Participants were shown 18 trials in which the target string was a word related to the prime, 18 trials in which the target string was a non-word, 18 trials in which the target string was a non-word created from a word and 18 trials in which the target string was a non-word from a word unrelated to the prime, which means there were 72 trials in total. (Refer to appendix B). Results The inferential test chosen for the present experiment was a repeated measure t-test. Using a repeated measures t-test, with alpha set at 0.05, response times for the related words were significantly faster than the unrelated words (t=-3.762, df=149, p=0.000, two tailed). Similarly, using a repeated measures t-test, with alpha set at 0.05, response times were significantly faster for related non-words than for unrelated non-words (t=0.974, df=149, p=0.332, two tailed). The difference between the mean response times in each condition varied, the mean response time was faster when the target string was a word related to the prime and was slower when the target string was a pseudo word unrelated to the prime. McNamara (1992) reports that lexical decisions are made faster because semantic memory consists of interconnected nodes (Refer to appendix C). When a stimulus is presented, a part of the semantic memory is activated and the spreads across the network activating related nodes. The c loser the nodes, the closer the words are associated in semantic memory. Mean Reaction Times and Standard Deviations in Lexical Decision Task Discussion The hypothesis of the experiment was accepted because response time in the lexical decision task was significantly faster for target words related to the prime than for target words unrelated to the prime. This is in favour of Meyer and Schvaneveldt’s (1971) experiment as previously mentioned because in their experiment, their mean response time was fastest when the target string was a word related to the prime; similarly with the present experiment. The results of the present experiment demonstrates that Meyer and Schvaneveldt’s (1971) and McNamara’s (1992) theory of semantic priming is both valid and reliable. An opportunity sample was used in the experiment and may be considered as a weak research method by many researchers. Therefore this kind of sample may produce a biased sample as it is easy for the researcher to gather participants from their social group; in this case, a sample of students from the same educational institution. Hence the results of the experiment are not generalizable to a whole population. Since majority of the participants involved in the experiment consisted of students, the results can be affected because a much educated, mature individual will have more knowledge of the world and whose memory may be better than that of students. Similarly, a younger, uneducated individual may not have a reasonable good memory so their results will differ from the student’s results. A more appropriate type of sample may be a volunteer sample, where the experiment will recruit all types of individuals from the society. This way the findings of the experiment may be general izable to a total population. References Friedenberg, J. Silverman, G. (2006). Cognitive Science: An Introduction to the Study of Mind. London: Sage Publications Ltd. Goldstein, E. (2010). Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research and Everyday Experience. (3rd ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. McNamara, T. (1992). Learning. Memory, and Cognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology. 18 (6) 1173-1190. Meyer, D. Schvaneveldt, R. (1971). Facilitation in Recognizing Pairs of Words. Journal of Experimental Psychology. 90 (2) 227-234. Proctor, R. Healy, A. (Eds.) (2003). Experimental Psychology, Volume 4 (2nd ed.). New Jersey: John Wiley Sons, Inc. Appendix Appendix A Stimuli used in the experiment. The words in the brackets indicate where the pseudo word originated from. Appendix B Number of trials per condition. Appendix C A diagram of how knowledge in semantic memory may be organised.

Analysis Of Relationships In Fijian Society :: essays research papers

Fijian relationships between men and women have undergone many changes since the introduction of Western influences. These changes are due to the desire to become more "Westernized" and therefore, incorporating the ideals that they perceive are important within Western society to their culture. This has caused relationships based upon an idealized version of "love". These Western influences, such as movies, magazines, and books make it seem as if many people have casual sex, and that they are all in "love" relationships. They portray love as this necessary aspect in a relationship and do not focus upon the amount of time that the majority of people feel is necessary in order to fall in love. Fijian society does not encourage relationships that are conducive to the Western view of "love" because they focus upon separation between men and women, and do not encourage cross sexes to spend time together before they are married. Even after marriage, separation between the sexes is promoted through division of labor and male dominance within the marriage. Since Fijian relationships have applied the idea of "love" to relationships which are based upon separation and male domination, idealized "love" relationships are occurring. This can be seen in premarital relationships in the fact that many of the couples do not have a friendship before they have a relationship, and often claim to be in love Premarital relationships are not based upon significant amounts of time spent together. Couples do not get to see each other often and when they do they often meet in crowded areas so that it is not suspected that they are together. It is not uncommon to have long distance relationships Many of the traditional means for choosing a spouse, such as parents influence and male domination, have remained as strong influences. This is because premarital relationships are based on this idealized view on "love" and therefore, are not strong enough to basis marriage choices upon. Marriage relationships have changed due to Western influences, they however are also retaining many of the traditional views. Traditionally marriages were arranged. However, due to Western influence Fijians are now having "love" marriages. These marriages are facing many of the same issues that premarital relationships are. Because of separation of the sexes, these marriages are not based upon significant amounts of time spent together. They are instead being based upon traditional views. These relationships are based on little contact.

Kfc Inventory and Process Management

Manipal Institute Of Management, Manipal| OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT| KFC Inventory And Process Management| | | Group 7 Section B| Roll No. | Name| Signature| 121202070| Niranjan N Naik| | 121202081| Binay Kumar Sahoo| | 121202031| Ribu Roby| | 121202050| Julian Joel Roche| | 121202120| Dhanush Patel| | 121202122| Suraj Pereira| | | | Submitted to: Yogesh Pai Date: 16/03/2013 Contents INTRODUCTION1 Logistics1 Inventory Storage2 PROCESS3 Cleaning4 Disposal5 Conclusion5 INTRODUCTIONKFC Corporation is based in Louisville, Kentucky, and is the world's most popular chicken restaurant chain. KFC and its franchised employees are more than 200 thousand, all over the world. It is the world’s largest and most well known  fast food restaurant preferably known as chicken restautants. Their restaurants are served in 109 countries and territories around the world. The study is done on a fast food restaurant and the analysis done on inventory management and process in kitchen. The study is rest ricted to KFC utlet present in Manipal. The purpose of the study was to understand the process of the organization and with the completion of this project we have learned that how operations Management Strategies plays very important role in achieving an organizational goals. The restaurant follows Just In Time (JIT) and First In First Out (FIFO) to manage inventory. Inventory, is divided into three types consisting of Daily, Weekly and Monthly inventory. The daily inventory consists fast moving products like Krushers, Non-veg items, ice-creams.Here the orders are placed by the inventory department every night after the restaurant closes for customers. The requirement sheets are filled inorder to place the order and products are moved from inventory. The weekly inventory consists of Dry storage items like disposal plates ; equipments and recipes needed to cook. The requirement sheet is filled while placing order which is placed every Thursday and the products reach the outlet to the max by Monday or Tuesday.The monthly inventory consists of detailed stock verification of the items present in the store and the products disposed off due too non consumption on reaching the standard time are also recorded. The update of stock verification is done via website and once updated its final and no changes can be done by the staff, if in case there are changes they call up the head quarters and make the necessary changes. Logistics The products/goods are transported from Bangalore warehouse via road transport. The outlet does not purchase from any other local dealers for any items.In regular process, the truck reaches the outlet on Monday or Tuesday between 9am to 11am. Before moving the products to storage the 3stage process is followed, at first the temperature is measured which should be between (-18oC to -23oC) , then expiry date of the product is verified and at last the quality of the product is checked via Tell-Through machine. At any point of the this 3steps any one step is not upto the standards the products are sent back to warehouse. In case of urgent stock from the time they place they take 2days to get the stock via courier. Inventory StorageKFC implements different storage for different products consisting of dry storage, cold storage (frozen) for non-veg items, chill storage and cold storage for veg products. Dry storage consists of items like cleaning products, Disposable plates spoons towels, recipes etc. The products are stored at room temperature. Cold storage consists of veg products, cold drinks, water etc stored at temperature (-1oC to -4oC). Cold storage fr non- veg products are stored at temperature (-180C to -23oC) wher the product validity is 6months. Older batches are placed at the front.Items are placed in simple rack system and fast moving items are placed in a such manner that they are easily accessible. The products are moved in FIFO method. Chiller storage are stored in temperature of (-1oC to -40C). It’s a no n-veg defrosting room. Stores fresh product and frozen product (for thawing) is placed here. Frozen product once taken out of freezer cannot be returned (expire time 12 hours). Items are placed in rack system placed along with time tag placed with it. PROCESS Here the items are moved from cold storage to the chiller are placed for thawing and defrosting with room temperature of (-1oC to -4oC).Frozen product once taken out of freezer to chiller cannot be placed back. Once the duration of 12 hours are done items/ packets are removed out and goes to the cleaning process. The duration of cleaning depends from staff to staff usually on an average 5-10 minutes are needed. After the items are cleaned, it is placed in an Marinator where basic masalas are mixed. The machine takes 10minutes and makes 300 rotations. Once the items are marinated there is a need for the products to absorb the masala so they are kept for absorption in a process called Ageing which takes 2 hours.After that the pro ducts need to get a layer for themselves so they pass through a process of Breading. On the basis of requirement cooking is done. Cooking consists of 3 types: Grilled, Fried and Baked. The duration of items which are grilled is 45 minutes from the time it is ready. Fried and Baked items duration is 2 hours from the time it is ready. Grilled and baked items are cooked in an micro oven called â€Å"Convotherm†. After that the products are placed in an oil dry machine which absorbs oil from the dishes which takes time duration of 1 – 2 minutes.At last the prepared items are moved to display rack where they are placed in tray along with an tag which determines the time and life span of the item. There is a time keeper who keeps record of the duration and expiry of products. If any of the products are not consumed till the expiry of duration there is an step is taken to dispose of those food items as wastage. The disposal items are recorded and then disposed. Its bee said t o us that for every 1 lakh worth inventory, company sets a standard of Rs. 1000 diposal waste as free as there are every chance of wastage at any point of time by human error. If at all the limit exceeds Rs. 000 there is a need to record it and report it to the demand manager and also be mentioned in the monthly inventory. As far as our study we found out that there is an wastage of 6000-7000 for RS. 1,00,000 inventory. In order to reduce the wastage and disposing items which at present is an complete waste in point of cost, the outlet can make some announcements when the food items are near to their expiry stating buy this particular food product in matter of 15minutes and get discount of certain percent as discount so that they could reduce the wastage and incur certain percentage as profit instead of waste. Customer happiness is our happiness and any customer should not leave the outlet unsatisfied†. Items like Krushers and ice creams are prepared on demand. The standard ti me once an customer places an order, the food needs to be delivered in 1 minute. At present in the outlet they take 5-6 minutes on an average to deliver the order. If at any point of time the food ordered by customer is not prepared or is in process the staff needs to deliver the food in time of 15minutes, if they fail to do so they should take every possible measures are to be taken to keep the customer happy.Steps like providing chocolates to customers or a sweet smile or providing free items as complimentary etc is done. During the crowded hours there is an need to have 1 helper each for 3 cashiers, 2 people working on juice and ice cream section so that they can work effectively and reduce the waiting time and keep the customers more satisfied. Cleaning Concealed drainage are placed on floor for easier cleaning. When it comes to cleaning of vessels, they follow 3 steps.First the vessels are washed with chemical water and then Sanitized with hot water with temperature of (32oC to 38oC) and at last they are Rinsed with normal and kept to dry. At present the cleaning area has only one entrance and the order of steps are chemical wash, rinse and sanitize there is an need to change this by having two entrance for cleaning area and order in sequential order of chemical wash sanitize and rinse. This will reduce the matter of plates falling from hand and causing damage while shifting from chemical wash to sanitize.Disposal Each counter has a separate disposal bin. All disposal collected in one disposal unit. Disposal bag is then taken to public disposal area behind the restaurant to be collected by municipal. Conclusion From a simple idea, and simple adventure, Harland Sandards started his dream, that had been grown and became one of the most popular restaurant among the world. Goodwill image, Loyalty, Spread, are 3 of the most important indicators of KFC popularity. Efficirnt utilization of space and all resource has reduced their expense.

Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. essays

Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. essays Can you imagine planning for one of the happiest days of your life, and then having all of that change in the blink of an eye? Imagine finding out that your unborn child will be born with a very serious congenital heart defect. I am going to talk to you about a congenital heart defect known as Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. I became interested in hypoplastic left heart syndrome after learning that my nephew would be born with this defect. I believe that it is important to know about HLHS because it is a syndrome that is not well known, but that can affect all of our children. In the next few minutes I will be talking to you about the diagnosis, characteristics and available treatment options for HLHS. HLHS is described by the Mayo Clinic as an abnormality in which the left side of your child's heart (left ventricle, aorta, and both the aortic and mitral valves) are severely underdeveloped. HLHS is a heart condition present at birth, it affects the normal blood flow through the heart. According to New York Presbyterian Hospital HLHS is the most common serious heart defects in newborn babies. It is believed to make up 8% of all cases of heart defects present at birth and is likely to show up slightly more frequently in boys than girls. Prior to birth HLHS can be found during an ultrasound during the second trimester of pregnancy. Doctors can also use a fetal echocardiogram to get a better idea as to how severe the defect is. After birth if a defect is suspected doctors will use an echocardiogram to diagnose HLHS. In babies born without HLHS the right side of the heart pumps oxygen poor blood from the heart to the lungs, and the left side supplies the rest of the body with oxygen rich blood. In babies born with HLHS, the left side of the heart cannot function properly therefore not supplying the blood like it should this lack of supplying blood correctly can leave HLHS babies with a blueish coloring of the lips, and fin...

The Civil Rights Act as a Milestone Element of American Legislation

The Civil Rights Act as a Milestone Element of American Legislation Civil Rights Act The Civil Rights Act is a milestone element of American civil rights legislation that seeks to prohibit discrimination based on a number of aspects such as gender, religion, nationality, ethnicity, and race.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Civil Rights Act as a Milestone Element of American Legislation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Although the Civil Rights Act has undergone several amendments, the Civil Right Act amendment of 1964 was the main amendment that addressed the above types of discrimination (Lawson 22). Moreover, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 removed discrimination in learning institutions, at work and other facilities termed as â€Å"public accommodations.† These institutions are entities, whether public or private, that are for public use in the US. President Kennedy proposed these changes in response to some experiences of racial based violence in the southern reg ion (Bowron 20). According to the Act, all public accommodations must be accessible to every person regardless of his or her color, race, national origin or religion. Improving on the Civil Rights Act of 1875, the 1964 amendment introduced clauses seeking to prohibit discrimination in all state facilities. It also gave the Attorney General the power to support court cases against state agents that support or perpetrate segregation in schools. However, the proposal did not accommodate some provisions considered important by civil rights activists. For instance, it did not consider giving the department of Justice the authority to start court cases on job discrimination or desegregation, stopping discrimination in private sectors, and public protection against law enforcement cruelty. The Civil Right Act of 1968 aimed at introducing housing rights as a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act 1964. It discriminated any act that tends to discriminate individuals based on color, race, creed, e thnicity or origin when providing housing opportunities (Branch 73). The Act allowed the federal government to make it an offense to intimidate, injure, force, threaten using force, or restrict someone based on nationality, color, ethnicity, or race. Moreover Civil Right Act of 1968 (Title VIII) is known the â€Å"Fair Housing Act† and was intended to enhance the Civil Right Act of 1866,which had banned different forms of discrimination in housing, federal crime was not included in the proposal. The Fair Housing Act banned any discrimination regarding finance, leasing, and sale of housing based on nationality, religious grounds, and race (Conroy 621).Advertising Looking for research paper on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Moreover, although it did not have much impact during its early years, the Civil Rights Act of 1968 had a significant influence on succeeding legislation processes. For example, it supported the American with Disabilities Act of 1990, which removed discrimination against people with disabilities. This issue had not been addressed in America before the enactment of the Civil Rights of 1964 (â€Å"Lyndon Johnson Signs Civil Rights Act of 1964†). Voting Rights Act Voting Rights Act of 1965 is an important element of federal legislation that banned any form of discrimination during voter registration and voting. President Johnson signed the Act into law in response to various civil right movements. To improve voter protection, the Congress made five changes in the original proposal. In order to impose the voting rights assured by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 had criminalized discrimination against racial minorities. This Act is one of the most valuable elements of civil rights legislations in the country (â€Å"African-Americans Vote in South Carolina†). The Voting Rights Act allowed the federal government to oversee elections. Supporting the statement in the Fifteenth Amendment, the Voting Rights Act forbids all states or agents from enforcing any voting requirement, process, practice, or standards that may cause rejection or violation of voting rights based on minority status or race. Along with this general ban, the proposal explicitly bars literacy tests and other tools that were traditionally used to discriminate minorities during voting (Branch 91). The Voting Rights Act is made up of two main provisions- special provisions and general provisions. While General provisions address national issues, the special provisions address particular local government or states. These two provisions are intended to provide protection of voting rights based on language and racial minorities. The special provisions support persons who are American Indian, Asian American, Alaskan Natives or of Spanish heritage (Conroy 664). Section 5 of the Act addresses special provisions by prohibiting authoriti es from enforcing any law that may influence voting process without initially passing through the â€Å"preclearance† process. Preclearance process permits changes after confirmation from the judge panel or the Attorney General (Lawson 36). The changes in voting process are only allowed if they do not have any influence on race or language status. The Congress has made some changes in 2006, 1992, 1982, 1975, and 1970 on the Voting Rights Act. In all these changes (except 1992), the Congress improved the preclearance standards. For instance, the coverage formula was improved in 1970 and 1975. In addition, section 2 was updated in 1982 and bans any discriminative voting law (Conroy 664).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Civil Rights Act as a Milestone Element of American Legislation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These are laws that have a discriminatory effect or purpose, which was banned regardl ess of whether they were passed or sustained for a discriminatory purpose. Moreover, the latest amendment of 2006 has updated various protections that offered the Department of Justice the ability to approve any voting changes, monitoring during Election Day and allowing language assistance. Noteworthy, the voting Rights Act has allowed a free and equal voting process. The voting rights have been protected because the Act provides the minority groups with various privileges to vote during all elections. African-Americans Vote in South Carolina. Prime News., BBC, New York, 23 Mar. 1965. Television. Lyndon Johnson Signs Civil Rights Act of 1964. Prime News., BBC., New York, 27 Mar. 1964. Television. Bowron, Aaron. Celebrating the Progress of Michigan’s Civil Rights Laws. Michigan Bar Journal 2.3 (2012): 20-21. Print. Branch, Taylor. Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years 1963–65, New York: Simon Schuster, 2008. Print. Conroy, Terrye. The Voting Rights Act of 1965: A Selected Annotated Bibliography. Law Library Journal 98.4 (2006): 663-690. Print.Advertising Looking for research paper on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Lawson, Steven F. Black Ballots: Voting Rights in the South, 1944–1969. New York: Columbis University Press, 2006. Print

Technology in international business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Technology in international business - Essay Example If one tries to find out the huge impact of Web 2.0 on the social sphere, the search should start from the 2008 US presidential election. The election witnessed the use of social networking and YouTube for passing information and videos. In fact, President Obama even announced the vice presidential selection via text message. However, the question here is to analyse how the tool can be used to enhance cross-cultural team performance, for example, that of a virtual team. At this stage, it is easy to proceed if one knows the ‘Container Model of Learning (Knowledge Transfer) and Communication. As Jin, Mason & Yim (n.d.) point out, according to the model, if A and B are two entities, and if A communicates its knowledge to B, both A and B get the knowledge that initially resided only with A. 1. One can undoubtedly say that Web 2.0 technologies can greatly enhance team work, especially when they are virtual teams, by enhancing collaboration and sharing of information. In fact, Web 2. 0 helps teams to bring their core project management process online. At that stage, using social networking like Facebook makes the project process visible to all members of the team, irrespective of geographical area and time. Additionally, there is Wiki where all team members can update the status of tasks as required. In addition, there is blogging to mention. It seems that Web 2.0 offers much more than what is required to have proper communication and collaboration in teams. Also, the benefit of using Social networking platforms like MySpace for interaction cannot be neglected. Such networks allow invisible human networks. If properly used, these networks can function as sources of expertise that can be made available whenever and wherever required. As experts observe, communication is the main hurdle that hinders cross cultural communication most of the time. However, computer environments have offered a much greater possibility of communication, though there still are problems . Email, instant messenger, and chatting communication allow constant communication that was impossible earlier. In fact, many Web 2.0 tools can be used as communication tools. The list is long and vibrant, ranging from Blogs, Wikis, Flickr, podcasts, and videos. In addition are social networking sites like MySpace, and Facebook. There are tools that facilitate person-to-person and group-to-group communication. Some of them are email, IM, text messaging, Google Groups, and Web conferencing (Thing 7. Web 2.0 communication tools). It seems that Web 2.0 opens up a whole new arena of interaction and cooperation in international organizations. For example, webcam enabled video conferencing allows instant face to face communication, though this will not be so interesting for non-English speaking countries. However, one cannot deny if it is claimed that collaborative blogs can help members communicate effectively, share views, and thus result in better team performance. In addition, everyo ne knows how a wiki can be used to analyse controversial issues. It is very evident that it will be interesting to see how staff from various cultural backgrounds interact and reach better rapport. In addition, Google documents can be used to promote writing on the development of intercultural competencies, and this will help

Public relations Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7250 words

Public relations - Dissertation Example The field of Public Relations has been rapidly growing of late mostly because of the non-commercial and commercial organizations have started realizing the need for introducing various public relations activities. The means through which the public relations message need to be conveyed has increased considerably in the recent years for instance the cables, internet and satellite are the mass Medias which are unevenly distributed and globalized at the same time. A simple definition of Public Relations can be â€Å"Public Relations is the positive communication of a company or brand's message to all its target audiences is they staff, customers, the general public, the trade or government bodies†. However a more significant distinction by Destiny could be- PR as tactical communication, at a superior stage within the firm, and; PR as largely applied: intended at attaining column inches in the technical journals or favorable remark in the financial press. Public relations have bee n accompanying us for over thousands of years. â€Å"Sematikos† is the Greek term for Public Relations which mean Semantics. During 50 B.C. Julius Caesar created the first campaign memoirs named, â€Å"Caesar’s Gallic Wars†. There he revealed his military utilization strategies to persuade the Roman citizens that he was the best Monarch of the state. St. Augustine, who was a professor of public speaking in Milan during the 394 A.D., used to deliver the usual acclamation to the ruler and was the closest person to a minister for the imperial court. Thus, it can be said that St. Augustine was the first to be charged with public relations function. Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet named â€Å"The Crisis† In 1776 that convinced the Washington Army to settle and start fighting at a time when there will be a number of people prepared to move towards arid region so that they could flee from the cold and the adversity of a winter operation. He was known as a master o f political communication whose works could easily influence the actions and thoughts of the mass. Lincoln's secretary of state, William Seward, gained a large number of audiences of America, during the year 1861, through his considerate way of speaking by the efficient usage of the press. He stated, "I speak to the newspapers – they have a large audience and can repeat a thousand times what I want to impress on the public.† In the year 1963, John Marston held a perception of PR which is still considered as true in today’s context, which says, â€Å"a brotherhood of some 100,000 whose common bond is its profession and whose common woe is that no two of them can ever quite agree on what that profession is â€Å"Public Relations has been defined in different ways by a variety of scholars and practitioners in which the term â€Å"management† has been used largely. The definition of Public Relations as stated by Grunig and Hunt says â€Å"management of comm unication between an organization and its publics†; Ledingham and Bruning described PR specifically as â€Å"relationship management† while the argument by Cutlip states that PR is â€Å"the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the public on whom its success and failure depends† According to Kitchen and Papasolomou, several scholar states that PR

Airline Mergers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Airline Mergers - Essay Example Over the years, the number of airlines have been intentionally narrowed down to just a few major airlines. Narrowing down of the airlines have been actualized by mergers that have taken place over the years. The number of mergers have been exceptionally high. This has resulted in creation of some of the world huge airlines. Mergers happen in order for the two partners to gain a certain leverage that was not there before. Universally the reasons behind most of this unions are known. The main reasons include-: 2. Cutting cost- this might be the biggest motivator if not among the best factors. The situation can be looked as previous competitors marrying. This means that we will not have price wars into the future and costs of advertising automatically drops. 3. Surviving- it is a last resort on most companies, it is usually a case of staying in the business or being driven out of business. Therefore when a company is bankrupt or does not have the capability of surviving the tough market forces, merger come through as the only remedy. 5. Competitive advantage- it is a huge factor. Companies are able to reach out to market traditionally not accessed. Therefore this creates a headache for other players since the new merger brings with it financial might. 7. The reasons behind the mergers in the USA airline industry are factored in the above explained reasons. Mergers are nice for business but they are not immune to the law. It is normally a case of trending carefully in order not to break the laws of consumerism in the name of mergers. Therefore, it was not by mistake that in 2013 the government of the USA with support from numerous consumer federations filed a law suit stopping the merger between the mighty American and the mighty US air. The previous mergers that ever occurred did not raise as much issue and outcry as the

A Comparison of Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian Societies Essay Example for Free

A Comparison of Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian Societies Essay Although Egypt and Mesopotamia were both early agricultural societies built upon the water provided by the major rivers which sustained them, they exhibited important differences as a consequence of the different physical environments in which they developed. In this paper I will first focus on what I consider to be the major aspects of these differences in environment and then explore the consequences of these differences in their religious beliefs, political organization and commercial practices. A major difference in physical environment between these ancient societies was the seasonal river flows on which they depended for farming. The Nile which supported early Egyptian civilization was characterized by predictable and annual flooding in the early fall. These floods occurred after crops were harvested. This pattern was a consequence of the regular late summer monsoon rains which fell at its headwaters. The Nile also possessed a large spreading delta area that gave rise to natural irrigation canals that would flood the areas between them with fertile nutrients for the next planting year. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers which supported the Mesopotamian society would typically flood in the late spring just when crops would be ripening, often with disastrous results on harvests. This pattern was a result of these waters originating from winter snow melt in the Anatolian mountains (now in present day Turkey) where these rivers originated. These floods sometimes caused the rivers to change their course abruptly cutting off fields from water. Another primary physical difference contributing to cultural differences was the relative isolation in which ancient Egypt developed compared to Mesopotamia. According to our text book ‘Egypt’s natural isolation and material self-sufficiency fostered a unique culture that for long periods of time had relatively little to do with other civilizations’. In contrast, Mesopotamia was open to migration or invasion and was dependent on imported resources. Also many different ethnic peoples contributed to the growth of Mesopotamian society. The religious beliefs of Egypt and Mesopotamia were influenced by many factors. The rivers, every day objects, and the beliefs of the people. In Egypt in contrast to Mesopotamia the Pharaoh was considered to be a god in addition to being the supreme ruler. He was the main god of their religion. In Egypt people praised their gods for the annual flooding of the Nile. However in Mesopotamia the people were frightened of their gods because ‘the gods could alter the landscape’ arbitrarily. In return they gave their gods gifts in hopes of appeasing them. In both of the civilizations religion was polytheistic, i. e. , having many gods. The political organization of Egypt was based on the central authority of the Pharaoh. Since he was the embodied form of a god, he was the law. He chose where the capitol would be located, such a Thebes, Memphis, etc. Although smaller cities existed in ancient Egypt the majority of Egyptians appeared to live in small farming villages. In contrast, Mesopotamia was built around a number of independent city states surrounded by farming villages. Many of these cities competed with each other or even warred with each other to become a dominant center of power. No uniform basis for law or justice existed in this decentralized environment until Hammurabi succeeded in becoming the first king of Babylon and established the Babylonian Empire with control over all of Mesopotamia. He created a law code of which may copies were made. These inscribed tablets were sent to the different clans of Mesopotamia and became a basis for a uniform legal system, including classification of the people living under his dominion The commercial activities in Mesopotamia were quite extensive as a result of the requirement to develop trading relationships between the different city states and other regions to obtain needed resources. This resulted in the development of a merchant class in the urban centers unlike the situation in Egypt. Trade was based on bartering rather than money. Goods traded included wood, metals, and stone in exchange for wool, cloth, barley, and vegetable oil. These practices required the development of the skills needed for acquiring, transporting, and protecting valuable commodities. According to our textbook, independent merchants and merchant guilds had gained considerable influence in Mesopotamian society by the second 2000 BC.