The role of humor in conveying a spiritual message

Humor appears as an important component of literature, since it provides stress-coping strategies and mocks misdemeanor, conveying hypertextual spiritual or moral messages and appealing to human cognition as well as to emotion. The paper is designed to discuss the role of humor in illustrating genuine spirituality and virtuousness, in particular, in Boccaccio’s ‘The Decameron’. The Decameron presents an integrative perspective of social ethos, primarily – through questioning the existing values and seeking alternatives. Morality and spirituality are not necessarily described as dogmas, but rather as the main way of handling unfavorable situations and liberating from burdening conditions. Boccaccio finds that the most convenient and reliable method of proving the necessity of empirical application of universal human values is approaching to social pathology from opposite. The narrators, day by day, demonstrate that deception and trickery either bring additional problems directly to an individual or simply turn into absurd or ridiculous tale. For instance, the fourth tale, narrated on the first day, depicts the divergence between the ‘holiness’ of clergymen and their factual behavior, which is far from ideal (Boccaccio, 2004). The monk is caught sinning, that is to say, his sin deserves the most severe punishment, but the protagonist manages to get rid of any responsibility, putting the blame upon the abbot. On the one hand, the reader is really amazed by the character’s inventiveness, but viewing the situation more broadly, it is possible to presume that the situation itself is extremely awkward, so it would be more reasonable to avoid it through following ethical principles, established for the certain social group. In psychological terms, this technique is known as behavioral learning – i.e. the reader, instead of learning the actual patterns of valued behavior, gets the knowledge about devaluated actions, which merit societal censure. Another prominent example of conveying spiritual message through using humor is the third situation, presented on the third day. In this story the young woman, enamored of a man, creates the conditions, in which she can gratify her feeling through misusing the principles of holy confession (Boccaccio, 2004). In this sense, the protagonist naturally abuses the religious fundamentalism, but this bold actions seems to be favored by the narrator and the author, since in spite of the comic and to some extent unpleasant circumstances, in which she throws her beloved, her cunning plan finally allows her to reveal her true feelings, which indicates that the rules and social bonds are powerless against the really strong feeling and that spirituality can sometimes neglect strict and rigid societal norms. The tenth novel of the third day (ibid) continues the anti-Catholic epopee, as it narrates about the abuse of celibacy. Its humorous tone, however, is aimed at religious dogmas cannot hide or inhibit the real human nature – in this sense, the story demonstrates the faultiness of clerical institution and therefore offers social norms concerning marriage as an alternative to religious dogmas, which appear as theatrical performance (‘putting the Devil into the hell’). More interestingly, the second novel of the fourth day provides the logical continuation of the topic, as it demonstrates the clear interrelation between the monk’s crime and the resulting punishment. This story logically supplements the fact that genuine morality and spirituality are rewarded through depicting the execution of punishment, deserved by genuine and absolute ‘wickedness’. Again, its humorous attitude towards the situation allows the reader to evaluate the protagonist’s action in terms of distinguishing between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. To sum up, Boccaccio’s stories are particularly valuable in terms of conveying moral and spiritual messages, since they allows the reader to draw appropriate conclusions by him/herself through analyzing human experiences, without imposing artificial or abstractive morality. Works cited Boccaccio, G. Decameron, 2004.

Book Report on Silent Spring Essay

In the book ‘Silent spring’ written by Rachael Carson we find a picture of Carson’s deep concept about the connection between nature’s equilibrium and the web of life that has been ruined by the uncontrolled use of insecticides which in turn affected the healthy livelihood of this earth’s creatures. Furthermore, she tells the readers of substitute techniques of achieving the same ends. The title of the book is enough to make us understand that it was a hint of a spring season with no bird songs painting our atmosphere meaning that all birds had vanished due to misuse of pesticides. The book starts with a story of a town in America. Carson explains the town as being very beautiful and lively where the spring time is the most pleasant time of the year. However, this perfect scenario is soon destroyed as Carson tells â€Å"On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of robins, catbirds, doves, jays, wrens, and scores of other bird voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh†. This town has never really existed. Rather, it just portrays the present as well as future of other numerous towns of this world. In order to stay alive we require taking from all portion of the environment to grant us with our essentials and hence, comes the interrelation between us and the environment. To indicate mainly it is us who have contaminated our own home, the earth. Carson clearly states â€Å"They should not be called ‘insecticides’, but ‘biocides’† as they are harmful for every life on this planet. According to her the chemicals are being used in the wrong way and by the wrong people. The third chapter of Carson’s book explains in details the elixirs of death that is, what these chemicals such as DDT and arsenic are and how they eventually gain the magical powers of causing death by spreading through the entire food chain of our ecosystem and giving rise to many fatal diseases like cancer. We all know how significant water – a resource- to us is. Then we should also know â€Å"It is not possible to add pesticides to water anywhere without threatening the purity of water everywhere†. Chemicals are washed from land to bodies of water which seep into ground water – the source of public water supplies. Once in the water, chemicals combine with other chemicals that have either been washed or deliberately dumped into the water. Ultimately no one can guess what the synergism will be in the coming days. Our life is greatly dependant on the ecology of the soil. Carson states â€Å"We must not only be concerned with what is happening to the soil; we must wonder to what extent insecticides are absorbed from contaminated soils and introduced into plant tissues.†. Without the tiniest life that sustains inside it, the whole biogeochemical cycles are changed. Even if plants that have grown in the contaminated soil are removed, the soil will stay contaminated and continue to set birth to new contaminated plants. In Chapter 6 we come to know how the green segment of our earth connects all lives. Carson’s main focus was on the devastating change on life of animals linked to the destruction of weed and sage. Rachel Carson clarifies that it is an unnecessary chaos to promote massive insecticides spraying operations because this results in efficient killing of non-targeted plants and animals and inefficient killing of insects and pests. She points out that adequate research is need ed before performing such campaigns. â€Å"The early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty of bird song.† The disappearance of the birds has been linked back to usage of insecticides again because birds are dependant on insects and worms for food. Alternative cheaper solutions are given by Carson in Chapter 8. â€Å"If we would divert to constructive research even a small fraction of the money spent each year on the development of ever more toxic sprays, we could find ways to use less dangerous materials and to keep poisons out of our waterways.† – Carson says this when mainly salmon fish and other aquatic animals are killed in mass numbers through spraying of DDT in an attempt to destroy certain spruce budworms in Miramichi River. She tries to get across the fact that the aerial spraying campaigns to kill the gypsy moth in the northern states and the fire ant in the southern states were very much damaging, ineffective and also expensive. This incident had a chain reaction resulting in crop failure, hurting wildlife and also cattle products (such as milk) and vegetables were found having DDT and thus unhealthy for human consumption. Carson lets us know that people are a victim to daily chemical poisoning in even minute doses. She goes into the very details of domestic appliances and necessities. Carson talks about many things that don’t seem to be much of a danger on a daily basis to a regular person. Things such as bug sprays, lotions, paints and varnishes, and even a pocket-sized insecticide dispenser are brought up to help demonstrate the everyday risks we encounter. â€Å"Only yesterday mankind lived in fear of the scourges of smallpox, cholera, and plague†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Today we are concerned with a different kind of hazard that lurks in our environment—a hazard we ourselves have introduced into our world as our modern way of life has evolved.† According to Carson we have given rise to a new range of health problems because the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and everything else in our environment is polluted. As a result the total ecology of our human body is badly affected. Then she starts her discussion about what a cell is, how the organelle mitochondria inside our cells functions to produce energy and ends chapter 13 by informing us that radiations, and chemical poisoning affects this metabolism resulting in mutations. â€Å"The battle of living things against cancer began so long ago that its origin is lost in time.† She says that cancer causing agents had already existed in the nature but not to the extent of causing cancer to the living organisms which the humans have already exceeded that particular level via the chemicals already discussed above. Chemical control proponents overlook two key facts of nature. First, nature applies the most effective control of insects. Second, insects have an explosive capacity to reproduce once they have adapted to chemical control methods. Carson goes on and talks about human attempts to break the balance of nature. She gives example of the coyote, the deer predators, and insects. She talks about how at first the idea seemed to work, but in the end there was some kind of backfire that made every effort pointless. She believes that if people would just sit back and study what happens when nature takes care of itself, many of our problems would be solved. Through the years of chemical spraying against insects, their species have ditched the weak and reproduced the strongest to become more powerful. Chemicals had to be altered every month to overcome the resistance. â€Å"We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost’s familiar poem, they are not equally fair†. In the last chapter Carson explains the alternate cheaper and effective methods to overcome the problems mentioned earlier. Carson says that biological controls are best of the two because they do not disrupt the equilibrium and system of nature. By using natural controls, such as predators, nothing in the environment is harmed. Rachel Carson has done a huge contribution to our plant, the Earth, by creating environmental movements. Without her, the condition of our Earth could have been worse. Still, we can see uses of chemicals in an uncontrolled way around us because many people are not aware. People are being selfish in this case. They think it is for their own good. But the reality is reverse because every living and non-living component of this planet is connected either directly or indirectly. Humans are harming themselves as well as their own community through their activities. A lot can be learned from this book. A small initiative can make a big change. It is a must for us to keep our home, the Earth healthy and let others lead their healthy life.

Bestow Is a Transitive Verb

Bestow Is a Transitive Verb Bestow Is a Transitive Verb Bestow Is a Transitive Verb By Maeve Maddox The following use of the verb bestow in an article about Harper Lee in The Washington Post caught my attention: But for Christmas 1956, a wealthy couple who doted on the struggling young writer bestowed her with enough money to take a year off and write. The verb bestow has been in the language since Chaucer’s day. It derives from an Old English verb meaning â€Å"to place† or â€Å"to put.† The meaning that survives in modern speech is â€Å"to confer as a gift or as an honor.† The thing being conferred will be the direct object of bestow. Here is the Harper Lee quotation rewritten: But for Christmas 1956, a wealthy couple who doted on the struggling young writer bestowed enough money on her to take a year off and write. Here are two more examples that demonstrate the correct use of bestow: In 1938, Harvard  bestowed an honorary degree  on Walt Disney.   The object of bestowed is â€Å"an honorary degree.† The prior year, the Belgian  government bestowed a  set of six medals on the pair for their work with undernourished children. The object of bestowed is â€Å"a set of six medals.† One source of error is in the use of bestow is to treat it as if it were an exact synonym for give: The village has also  bestowed her a  new clinic The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce  bestowed her a  star on the Walk of Fame. Each of these sentences uses her as if it were the indirect object of bestow, but bestow does not take an indirect object. Note: An indirect object stands between a transitive verb and its direct object. Either the preposition to or for is â€Å"understood† when an indirect object follows a transitive verb: She sent me a letter. She sent [to] me a letter. He built the child a tree house. He built [for] the child a tree house. The preposition that goes with bestow is on. The previous sentences may be rewritten in one of two ways: The village has given her a new clinic. or The village has bestowed a new clinic on her. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce gave her a star on the Walk of Fame. or The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce bestowed a Hollywood Walk of Fame star on her. Another error with bestow may result from confusing it with endow: Incorrect: Johnny Carson  bestowed him with  the nickname â€Å"Excitement.† Correct : Johnny Carson endowed him with the nickname â€Å"Excitement.† Incorrect: And this genetic trait  bestowed him with  a gorgeous, spicy-colored ginger coat and big, bright sapphire eyes. Correct : And this genetic trait  endowed him with  a gorgeous, spicy-colored ginger coat and big, bright sapphire eyes. I can’t think of any explanation for this example I found on LinkedIn: Her experience has  bestowed her a  notable leader as a seasoned Real Estate Professional. The intended meaning seems to be â€Å"Her experience has  transformed her into a notable leader as a seasoned Real Estate Professional.†Ã‚   Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Punctuating â€Å"So† at the Beginning of a SentenceThe Four Sounds of the Spelling OUGlimpse and Glance: Same or Different?

Critically Examine The relationship Between Ethnicity and Health The WritePass Journal

Critically Examine The relationship Between Ethnicity and Health Introduction Critically Examine The relationship Between Ethnicity and Health IntroductionReferencesRelated Introduction The policy makers are concerned with addressing or correcting imbalances that impact directly on ethnic minorities’ well-being, such as socioeconomic, health, housing, education, lifestyle and discriminatory factors. Aggleton (1990, p.5 as cited in Baggott, 2004) posited that health can be defined in two ways; ‘‘the positive approach, where health is viewed as a capacity or an asset, and the negative approach, which emphasises the absence of specific illnesses, diseases and disorders’’. Similarly the World Health Organisation (1946 as cited in Baggott, 2004) defined health as ‘‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’’. This definition is significant in that it highlights physical as well as mental aspects of health while emphasising the ‘positive sense’ as in Aggleton’s definition of health. According to Giddens (2009, p.633) ‘â⠂¬Ëœethnicity refers to the cultural practices and outlooks of a given community of people which sets them apart from others’’. Ethnic groups have different traits that set them apart from other groups, such as religion, dress style, language, and history. However, ethnic differences are learned to an extent there have been associations made with health for most of these minority groups. While there is nothing innate about ethnicity, it is central to group and individual identity and similarly important to the health professions who suggest there is a relationship between health and ethnicity. Giddens (2009) argues that this relationship is partial at best but concedes that there is a rather high incidence of illnesses among individuals or groups of ethnic origins. This essay will critically examine and explain the relationship between ethnicity and health. In Britain as the 21st century progresses, its population composition of ethnic minorities is rapidly changing, despite Queen Elizabeth the 1st’s proclamation in 1601 that ‘negroes and blackamoors’ should be deported. She believed they were responsible in part for the social and economic dilemmas, such as famine and poverty (Haralambos Holborn, 2000, p.199). In contemporary Britain this contentious issue has continued amongst a mass population about what they believe to be ‘Britishness’ when it comes to ethnic minorities. According to Stillwell Van Ham, (2010) some see it as a disaster, which will lead to spatial segregation, communities breaking down and a burden to the health delivery system. Perhaps this could be explain why extreme right-wing parties such as the British National Party, which contests immigration and blames all social predicaments on ethnic minorities continues to attract support.   While others will argue that this will be goo d in terms of diversity and see it as an opportunity for an integrated society (Stillwell Van Ham, 2010). There are various ways in which health and ethnicity are related. For example there are differences in population structures, education, genetics, generational and socioeconomic factors between different ethnic groups that impact differently on their health (Bardsley, Hamm, Lowdell, Morgan Storkey, 2000). Prevalence of health related behaviours such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease to mention a few can be distinctively different for different ethnic groups, which indicates an association between ethnicity and health. However, Karlsen, (2004) posits that indicators or factors employed to investigate the relationship between ethnicity and health are likely to fail accounting for the central facets of ethnic minorities’ experiences which could influence health, especially the impact of socio-economic disadvantage, housing, poor health services, harassment and discrimination. As already mentioned above factors such as discrimination, socioeconomic, housing, education and the accessibility of health services have a direct impact and possible relationship between health and ethnicity. In the UK alone, research indicates that at least one in eight from the ethnic minority group experiences some form of racial harassment each year. While two fifths believe that half of the British employers would decline to offer someone a job on the basis of their ethnicity. Ethnic minorities have been shown to experience repeated health and socioeconomic disadvantages than the majority ethnic group. This has a direct impact on the mental health of ethnic minority individuals who experiences such. In a study using data from the Health survey for England, (1999) plus a follow up study, the Ethnic Minority Psychiatric Illness Rates in the Community (EMPIRIC) to explore relationships between interpersonal racism experienced, discrimination as perceived in wider society, occupational class and various indicators of physical and mental health for the diverse ethnic groups in England including minority and majority white groups. The results indicated that there were significant independe nt relationships found between each of the factors explored and health. Hence, from these results current assessments were urged to take into account the different forms of structural disadvantages experienced by ethnic minorities and the diverse ways in which racial expressions can impact on health (Kalsen, 2004). However, there are a number of important but varied factors bearing on the health of ethnic groups and the overall population, which Stubbs (1993) argued that to understand these health patterns of ethnic groups there has to be a comparison with the host   group (majority ethnic group).   For instance, demographic, housing, lifestyle, socioeconomic and health service factors have a direct impact on the health of individuals (Baggott, 2004). Bannister (1901 as cited in Haralambos Holborn, 2000) argued that an individual’s ethnic background contributes to whether or not they are at a decreased or increased risk of developing a certain disease (s). For instance, he was very critical of Jews and their lifestyle describing them as ‘‘Yiddish money pigs’’ who did not like taking baths hence, were prone to blood and skin diseases. Conversely, it is opined that Bannister in this instance was expressing his hostile feelings towards this particular ethnic m inority group instead of advancing an evidence based argument for the association(s) of certain diseases and ethnicity. African-Caribbean and South Asians are more prone to developing diabetes than white Europeans. However, African-Caribbeans are far less likely to suffer from coronary heart disease than white Europeans which is more prevalent within the South Asians (Harding Maxwell, 1997; Nazroo, 1998). Suffice to say access to high quality health services is vital in sustaining a state of total physical, mental and social well being. According to Bunker, Frazier, and Mosteller (1994 as cited in Baggott, 2004), preventative measures such as screening, immunisation and medicine add at least 18-19 months to an individual’s life expectancy. A similar effect is also found when curative medicines are taken increasing the life expectancy by between 44-45 months. Generally this has not really happened with the ethnic groups as there are factors like discrimination and language barriers that impinge on the accessibility of health care. The social context in which ethnic minorities live and experience presents various challenges and disadvantages that will directly impact on their health negatively (Giddens, 2009). Pickett and Wilkinson (2008), argued that one’s health could be determined by the neighbourhood in which one lives, for example if a minority low status individual l ives in a higher quotient vicinity of their own racial or ethnic group then their health is likely to be better than those that live in lower quotient vicinities, this is referred to as the ‘group density effect’. Conversely, Smaje (1995) posits that concentration of ethnic minorities into poor vicinities has an independent and direct bearing on their health. Social structures for ethnic patterning in health show that African-Caribbean and Asians are more disadvantaged (Baggott, 2004). Harding and Maxwell’s (1997) study of the health of ethnics suggested that Indian, Pakistani and Bangladesh have a particularly high rate of diabetes and ischemic heart disease in comparison to other ethnic groups. This could be attributed to poor or overcrowded housing facilities amongst other factors already mentioned briefly above. Nazroo, (1998) from the findings of his study on the health of ethnic minorities agrees that Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic minorities experience high morbidity in comparison to other ethnic minority groups. He also found out that African Caribbean men had a lower mortality rate due to coronary heart disease, but were more prone to dying of a stroke compared to their counterparts including the majority ethnic group population. African-Caribbean and Asians ethnic groups do tend to record higher rates of hypertension, d iabetes and are three times more liable to having renal replacement therapy compared to the ethnic majority population (Raleigh, 1997). The health of ethnic minorities as mentioned above can be negatively affected by socioeconomic factors such as, employment and employment conditions. The majority of ethnic minority groups work in hazardous occupations, receive poor remuneration with diminished prospects for career progression. Their employment relationships are akin to the bourgeoisie and proletariat relationship. Bartley, Lynch, Sacker and Dodgeon (1998) suggest that the above findings of poor employment conditions and remuneration highlight the relationship between work conditions and high morbidity and mortality in ethnic minorities. Conversely, unemployment has an association poor health in that it cultivates financial hardship, stress, poor diet and living conditions. Factors such as socioeconomic disadvantages, poor housing, discrimination and poor health services create a knock on effect in one’s life cycle, ultimately exposing individuals to a host of disease and illnesses through a lack of equal opportunities. This leads to, anxiety, hypertension, depression and social isolation loss of one’s self esteem and purpose in life, which may result in the development of physical and mental health problems (Bartley, 1994 as cited in Naidoo Willis, 2000). However, Hull (1979) suggested that there is a correlation between migration and health. He attributed this to factors such as nature of symptoms and language barrier hindering ethnic minorities from accessing the right treatments because of the existing contextual cultural differences. Furnham and Bochner (1986) argue that if the host group does not offer any social support, and discrimination is displayed within vital institutions such as work environment, health, judiciary, and welfare. It creates more social stress resulting in mental illnesses for the migrating ethnic minorities. In addition Smaje (1995) links discrimination stressors to the psychological well-being as he suggests that racism has a bearing on differences in health between minority ethnic groups and the majority ethnic population. According to Pilgrim and Rogers (1999) black ethnic minority groups have a relatively short life expectancy and often have the worst health amongst ethnic minorities. In addition to that they posit that black ethnic minorities who experience mental health issues are likely to be discriminated against, often being depicted as an added threat or risk compared to the majority ethnic group. The Ethnicity and Health Report (2007) suggested that ethnic minorities have a higher probability rate of being confined in psychiatry through the criminal justice system unlike through diagnosis from the health system compared to the host group, especially Afro-Caribbean and Black Africans. Giddens (2009) supports the above statement by positing that indeed ethnic minorities mostly afro-Caribbean and black Africans are more likely to be stopped by law enforcers than their white counterparts. This form of institutionalised racism by law enforcement agents and the whole criminal justice system has sign ificant negative effects on minority groups’ psychological well being. Smith, Kelly and Nazroo, (2008) posited that racial discrimination, socioeconomic factors and policies that do not allow for equal opportunities and generally improve their existence within a host group could lead to a lasting effect on their mental and emotional health. In addition, injustice within the vital systems that provide help, health, work, and education further corrode ethnic minorities’ dilemma in terms of their physical and mental health (Smaje 1995). Evidence provided from the Ethnicity and Health Report, (2007) indicating the disparities in mental health between ethnic minorities and the host group is to some extent contentious, given that a cosmic amount of data employed is based on treatment rates. Consequently, this research indicated that ethnic minorities, particularly Afro-Caribbean people have higher rates of psychosis which is seven times more compared to the host group. Kalsen, Nazroo, Mckenzie, Bhui Weich (2005) from their research in the UK, on racism and mental health in ethnic minorities found that there was a significant relationship between racial discrimination and psychological well being. Indication from the results suggested there was a recurrence rate of psychosis annually of six per thousand for Bangladeshi people, ten per thousand for Indians, thirteen per thousand for Pakistani people, while they was sixteen per thousand for Afro-Caribbean people (Nazroo King, 2002 as cited in Kalsen et al., 2005). Nazro o (1998) from his studies posits that ethnic minorities’ mental health is worse than that of the host group. His findings were based on comparisons of the rates of reported suicide and para-suicide cases. Furthermore, Afro-Caribbeans are much more likely to be diagnosed as schizophrenics than their white counterparts (Smarje, 1995). Evidence reviewed in this essay has shown that there is a relationship between ethnicity and health (Kalsen, 2004). However, some of the evidence is contentious in that treatment rates were used to make a general assumption on ethnic minorities’ health (Ethnicity and Health Report, 2007). Evidence also suggests that indicators such as low-economic statuses, migration, and discrimination, poor access to health services, local area deprivation and high unemployment have a direct bearing on ethnic minorities and their health. It could be argued that the determinants of health vary between ethnic groups as a result of differences in genetic and socioeconomic factors which cannot be generalised across all ethnic groups. The evidence reviewed demonstrates differences in health across ethnic groups. These findings are important indicators of the need for investment programmes that are specifically targeted at improving the quality and quantity of health and other related services for ethnic minority groups. Future policies need to move away from a capitalist approach were ethnic minorities are exploited for their services with little reward and improvement of their social being. There should be a balance of socio-economic factors in-order to stimulate change and shape policies that improve accessing of quality health and related services such as education. They are fundamental to the health of both ethnic minorities and ethnic majority in modern day Britain. References Baggot, R., (2004). (3rd ed). Health and Health care in Britain. Published by Palgrave Macmillan. Bardsley, M., Hamm, J., Lowdell, C., Morgan, D., Storkey, M., ( 2000). Developing health assessment for black and minority ethnic groups; Analysing routine health information. Retrieved March 21 2011from apho.org.uk/resource/view.aspx? Bartley, M., Lynch, K., Sacker, A., Dodgeon, B. (1998). Social variations in health: relationship of mortality to the ONS socio-economic class (SEC) schema. In SEC Validation Workshop, University of Essex. Ethnicity and Health Report (2007). Retrieved March 3 2011, from parliament.uk/documents/upload/postpn276.pdf Furnham, A. And Bochner, S., (1986). Culture shock: Psychological reactions to unfamiliar environments, Routledge, London Haralambos, M. Holborn, M. (2000) Sociology themes and perspectives (5th ed). Published by Harper Collins. Harding, S., Maxwell, R., (1997). Differences in the mortality of migrants. In: F. Drever, M. Whitehead, Health inequalities. London: The stationer Office. Hull, D., (1979). Migration, adaptation and stress: A review. Social Science and Medicine 13A, 25-36. Kalsen, S., (2004). The influence of racism on ethnic inequalities in health: A missing link? University College London. Retrieved March 21 2011 from http://www2.Ise.ac.uk/socialPolicy/BSPS/annualconference/2004/healthAndEthnicity.aspx Karlsen, S., Nazroo, J. Y., Mckenzie, K., Bhui, K., Weich, S. (2005) Racism, psychosis and common mental disorder among ethnic minority groups in England. Psychological medicine, 35, 1795-1803. Cambridge University Press. Giddens, A., (2009) (6th ed). Sociology, Cambridge, Polity Press. Naidoo, J., Willis, J., (2000). (2nd ed) Health Promotion, Foundations for practice. Harcourt Publishers limited. Nazroo, J., (1998). Genetic, cultural or socio-economic vulnerability? Explaining ethnic inequalities in health. Sociology of health and illness 20, pp 710-730. Cited in Scopus (87). Pilgrim, D., Rodgers, A., (1999). Sociology of Mental Health and Illness. Buckingham, Open University Press. Pickett, K. E., Wilkinson, R. G., (2008). Ethnic group density effects on health; Ethnicity and Health, 13, 4, 321- 334. Retrieved March 3 2011, from informaworld.com/openurl?genre=articleissn=1355%2d7858volume=13issue=4spage=321. Raleigh, V.S., (1997). National Institute of Epidemiology University of Surrey Guildford GU2 5YD. Smaje, C., (1995). Health Race and Ethnicity, King’s Fund Institute, London Smith, N. R., Kelly, Y. J., Nazroo, J. Y., (2008). ‘‘Intergrational continuities of ethnic inequalities in general health in England.’’ Journal of Epidemiology and community Health 63, 253-258. Stillwell, J., Van Ham, M., (2010). Ethnicity and Integration: Understanding population Trends and Processes, Vol 3, 1-25 retrieved 16 March 2011 from https://springerlink3.metapress.com Stubbs, P., (1993).’’Ethnically sensitive’ or ‘anti-racist’? Models for health research and service delivery’, in W. Ahmad (1993b), pp.34-47.

Behavior Traits of Successful Businesses

The planner must recognize how to balance the current products against possible policies for future development and their likely implications in terms of cash flow, market share, return on capital employed and other key components of company objectives. A successful behavior trait taking hold for successful companies is to develop business models to assess a strategy. These models provide change models expanding on issues such as â€Å"what†, that provide a picture of the company now of analysis; and â€Å"which†, that suggest alternative action paths for the company to take. Both of these models provide information to build a more complete picture of events within the business and options for future development. Managers should make use of these models and many don†t. Those that do are more likely to be successful and have the ability to minimize risk of failure. Business managers who do are far more likely to survive. For planners and non-planners there is not a single universal technique that can be applied in all situations. Use of strategic planning models can be a very important behavior trait for successful companies. Companies that do not use strategic planning models usually don†t because the model does not offer what the customer wants. It may be inadequate because of its analysis of the relationship between company resources and markets. These result in advice about overall investment decisions rather than about the specifics of how to manage the alternatives in the market/business relationship can be shortsighted, since there are always alternatives in order to gain the maximum competitive advantage. Since change is so an important aspect of business continuity, many models don†t necessarily provide assiduous suggestions for what type of change should be considered. An example of modeling one such model in use by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) subdivides their profit centers into four main subdivisions. This breakdown does help in planning for strategic investment matters but it does not assist the planner in identifying a single product development proposal to investigate further from a number of alternatives. The matrix system comprises the following: 1) Stars, which are products generally with negative cash flow 2) Question marks, which are products with generally negative cash flows but with low relative market share in growing markets 3) Dogs, which are products unlikely to be generating substantial positive cash flows due to the fact that they are in slowly growing markets with low relative market shares 4) Cash cows, that are products that generating cash which have high relative market shares and are established in slowly growing markets. BCG model like the previous statement in the above paragraph does not define the product enough and does not create opportunities to explore alternatives in which to improve profitability or market share. The growth concept is divided into five separate levels one being dominant, strong, favorable, tenable and weak and relates this to the stages of market development. The stages are embryonic, growing, mature, and aging, which produce a series of strategic guidelines for company development. The market growth concept provides valuable guidance about broad policies, replacing the concept of market attractiveness in the GE matrix with stages of market growth. A PLC (product life cycle) are frameworks for planning. It suggests that specific changes in product policy should be followed after the initial product introduction. A major problem is that few products follow â€Å"typical† PLC curves. This implies that the organization evaluates the likely progress of each facet of the product†s performance over the ensuing time scale to identify particular areas where investment should be concentrated without a clear indication as to whether that product will follow the predicated path of the PLC. There are several other types of commonly used models and analysis (Product viability, Market newness, technology position, opportunity cost risk, and the Ansoff matrix) that can be employed each having strengths and weaknesses and should be applied to achieve a specific outcome. By carefully defining the likely market attractiveness for innovation and the resource environment for innovation, management can identify the types of innovation that are appropriate for a particular business unit. The key components of the market and resource environments are: 1. Market attractiveness is degrees of synergy, market size, barriers to diffusion, the expected product life and the stage of technological development. 2. Resource components are likely to be market position and personnel resource, which combine to yield a definition of the company core competence. By establishing a weighting scheme the analyst can create a three-by-three grid of market attractiveness versus resource environment to provide a measure of the likely ability of the organization to carry out particular types of innovation and the expected profitability of the proposed innovation policy. Personnel are the hearts of a continuing effective innovation policy. But, it is just as important that management and leaders are made aware of their unique roles and how crucial their behavior is upon the organization – ultimately the success of the company. Managers must be able to stimulate conversation and innovation. Leaders must be clear on how paradigm shifts and leadership is interwoven. Managers must be able to demonstrate paradigm pliancy if they are going to expect others to practice it. The more active managers can be in the search for new paradigms, the more likely those managers will be to have people work with them. An example made in the paradigm text indicated that the piston engine was on its way out in the 1970†³s because of the mandates on for a cleaner environment. Once the engine engineers stepped outside the old boundaries, they found that electronics could help to resolve the issue. Managers must facilitate and encourage cross talk. More and more the answer to a particular problem will lie with someone else and if you don†t apply the cross communication, that idea won†t be brought to surface effectively. It†s especially important that managers listen. Even when some ideas sound off the wall, you want people to approach with their ideas in an on-going fashion. On the other hand, the merger of these ideas though on their own may seem a bit far-fetched; when combined they offer leverage for the manager to generate great and unique solutions. In the text, Paradigm, the author Joel Arthur Barker defines a leader, as a person one will follow to place one wouldn†t go by himself or herself. To be successful in the twenty-first century means that leaders will need to be competent on managing within a paradigm and leading between paradigms. One without the other will not work. Successful leaders tend to lead to new paradigms in a variety of ways. Leaders need to be aware of the pattern of choices that occur during paradigm shifts. Typically three opportunities emerge: 1. Keep the paradigm; change your customer 2. Change your paradigm; keep your customer 3. Change your paradigm; change your customer Warren Bennis set forth a list of characteristics of leaders in the May 1990 issue of training magazine. The manager administers; the leader innovates. The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective. The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why. The manager has his eye on the bottom line; the leader has his eye on the horizon. The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it. Roger Milliken, CEO of Milliken and Company, a privately held textile company in South Carolina demonstrated true leadership when he began his company drive to world-class status in the early 1980†³s Though most industry experts predicted the demise of the U.S. textile industry, Milliken continued to pursue excellence. In 1990 Roger Milliken won the noted Malcolm Baldridge Award demonstrating excellence. Employees operate at different levels, some are visionaries (don†t have people following them), some are leaders, some are managers, some are leaders and even a smaller percentage have all four roles – remarkable is a company that has an individual having all four characteristics. The most important factor in sector creating innovation is the concentration on academic and theoretical concept development, which demands a specific organizational framework. They contrast with the rapid developmental demands of performance extension, technological reorganization and process innovations and with the need for close contact with the market required by other types of innovation. Therefore, three broad types of organizational patterns can be described as appropriate for components of the innovation matrix and it can be described as follows: 1. Common room – appropriate for the development of sector creating innovations 2. Rugby scrum – approaches are best for the management of performance extension, technological reorganization and process innovations and those innovations that require a close and continuing contact with the marketplace for effective control 3. Coffee shop – reformation, service, branding, design and packaging are most suited in this sector Once a company has formulated an innovation policy it must evaluate whether to acquire the expertise from outside the organization (acquisition), to borrow it (licensing), to develop it with a partner with some specific expertise in this area (joint venture), or to concentrate on developing the knowledge internally. By studying how knowledge has been acquired and the problems associated with each route, it is then possible to come to some general conclusions about the best overall method for developing competitive advantage in the 1990†³s and beyond. Behavior Traits of Successful Businesses The planner must recognize how to balance the current products against possible policies for future development and their likely implications in terms of cash flow, market share, return on capital employed and other key components of company objectives. A successful behavior trait taking hold for successful companies is to develop business models to assess a strategy. These models provide change models expanding on issues such as â€Å"what†, that provide a picture of the company now of analysis; and â€Å"which†, that suggest alternative action paths for the company to take. Both of these models provide information to build a more complete picture of events within the business and options for future development. Managers should make use of these models and many don†t. Those that do are more likely to be successful and have the ability to minimize risk of failure. Business managers who do are far more likely to survive. For planners and non-planners there is not a single universal technique that can be applied in all situations. Use of strategic planning models can be a very important behavior trait for successful companies. Companies that do not use strategic planning models usually don†t because the model does not offer what the customer wants. It may be inadequate because of its analysis of the relationship between company resources and markets. These result in advice about overall investment decisions rather than about the specifics of how to manage the alternatives in the market/business relationship can be shortsighted, since there are always alternatives in order to gain the maximum competitive advantage. Since change is so an important aspect of business continuity, many models don†t necessarily provide assiduous suggestions for what type of change should be considered. An example of modeling one such model in use by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) subdivides their profit centers into four main subdivisions. This breakdown does help in planning for strategic investment matters but it does not assist the planner in identifying a single product development proposal to investigate further from a number of alternatives. The matrix system comprises the following: 1) Stars, which are products generally with negative cash flow 2) Question marks, which are products with generally negative cash flows but with low relative market share in growing markets 3) Dogs, which are products unlikely to be generating substantial positive cash flows due to the fact that they are in slowly growing markets with low relative market shares 4) Cash cows, that are products that generating cash which have high relative market shares and are established in slowly growing markets. BCG model like the previous statement in the above paragraph does not define the product enough and does not create opportunities to explore alternatives in which to improve profitability or market share. The growth concept is divided into five separate levels one being dominant, strong, favorable, tenable and weak and relates this to the stages of market development. The stages are embryonic, growing, mature, and aging, which produce a series of strategic guidelines for company development. The market growth concept provides valuable guidance about broad policies, replacing the concept of market attractiveness in the GE matrix with stages of market growth. A PLC (product life cycle) are frameworks for planning. It suggests that specific changes in product policy should be followed after the initial product introduction. A major problem is that few products follow â€Å"typical† PLC curves. This implies that the organization evaluates the likely progress of each facet of the product†s performance over the ensuing time scale to identify particular areas where investment should be concentrated without a clear indication as to whether that product will follow the predicated path of the PLC. There are several other types of commonly used models and analysis (Product viability, Market newness, technology position, opportunity cost risk, and the Ansoff matrix) that can be employed each having strengths and weaknesses and should be applied to achieve a specific outcome. By carefully defining the likely market attractiveness for innovation and the resource environment for innovation, management can identify the types of innovation that are appropriate for a particular business unit. The key components of the market and resource environments are: 1. Market attractiveness is degrees of synergy, market size, barriers to diffusion, the expected product life and the stage of technological development. 2. Resource components are likely to be market position and personnel resource, which combine to yield a definition of the company core competence. By establishing a weighting scheme the analyst can create a three-by-three grid of market attractiveness versus resource environment to provide a measure of the likely ability of the organization to carry out particular types of innovation and the expected profitability of the proposed innovation policy. Personnel are the hearts of a continuing effective innovation policy. But, it is just as important that management and leaders are made aware of their unique roles and how crucial their behavior is upon the organization – ultimately the success of the company. Managers must be able to stimulate conversation and innovation. Leaders must be clear on how paradigm shifts and leadership is interwoven. Managers must be able to demonstrate paradigm pliancy if they are going to expect others to practice it. The more active managers can be in the search for new paradigms, the more likely those managers will be to have people work with them. An example made in the paradigm text indicated that the piston engine was on its way out in the 1970†³s because of the mandates on for a cleaner environment. Once the engine engineers stepped outside the old boundaries, they found that electronics could help to resolve the issue. Managers must facilitate and encourage cross talk. More and more the answer to a particular problem will lie with someone else and if you don†t apply the cross communication, that idea won†t be brought to surface effectively. It†s especially important that managers listen. Even when some ideas sound off the wall, you want people to approach with their ideas in an on-going fashion. On the other hand, the merger of these ideas though on their own may seem a bit far-fetched; when combined they offer leverage for the manager to generate great and unique solutions. In the text, Paradigm, the author Joel Arthur Barker defines a leader, as a person one will follow to place one wouldn†t go by himself or herself. To be successful in the twenty-first century means that leaders will need to be competent on managing within a paradigm and leading between paradigms. One without the other will not work. Successful leaders tend to lead to new paradigms in a variety of ways. Leaders need to be aware of the pattern of choices that occur during paradigm shifts. Typically three opportunities emerge: 1. Keep the paradigm; change your customer 2. Change your paradigm; keep your customer 3. Change your paradigm; change your customer Warren Bennis set forth a list of characteristics of leaders in the May 1990 issue of training magazine. The manager administers; the leader innovates. The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective. The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why. The manager has his eye on the bottom line; the leader has his eye on the horizon. The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it. Roger Milliken, CEO of Milliken and Company, a privately held textile company in South Carolina demonstrated true leadership when he began his company drive to world-class status in the early 1980†³s Though most industry experts predicted the demise of the U.S. textile industry, Milliken continued to pursue excellence. In 1990 Roger Milliken won the noted Malcolm Baldridge Award demonstrating excellence. Employees operate at different levels, some are visionaries (don†t have people following them), some are leaders, some are managers, some are leaders and even a smaller percentage have all four roles – remarkable is a company that has an individual having all four characteristics. The most important factor in sector creating innovation is the concentration on academic and theoretical concept development, which demands a specific organizational framework. They contrast with the rapid developmental demands of performance extension, technological reorganization and process innovations and with the need for close contact with the market required by other types of innovation. Therefore, three broad types of organizational patterns can be described as appropriate for components of the innovation matrix and it can be described as follows: 1. Common room – appropriate for the development of sector creating innovations 2. Rugby scrum – approaches are best for the management of performance extension, technological reorganization and process innovations and those innovations that require a close and continuing contact with the marketplace for effective control 3. Coffee shop – reformation, service, branding, design and packaging are most suited in this sector Once a company has formulated an innovation policy it must evaluate whether to acquire the expertise from outside the organization (acquisition), to borrow it (licensing), to develop it with a partner with some specific expertise in this area (joint venture), or to concentrate on developing the knowledge internally. By studying how knowledge has been acquired and the problems associated with each route, it is then possible to come to some general conclusions about the best overall method for developing competitive advantage in the 1990†³s and beyond.

Ethical and social ethical Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ethical and social ethical - Essay Example eligious understanding of social justice as a current moral issue considers issues are dealing with human life that is very vital in equality, fairness and responsibility of all human beings (Mizrahi & Larry, P 44). For instance, the Catholic Church regards social justice with respect to human life through the maintenance of dignity and respect. In contrast, Hinduism considers social justice in equality terms to all human beings. The fundament concepts or issues social justice and ethics has continuously developed as a result of the change in the human development and technology revolution affects the nature of human interaction with his environment. For instance, rapid technology advancement in genetics, communication and the nature of wars, climatic changes, and other issues has diversely changed the social role and responsibilities. The family as well as the individual in social and moral manner is expected to conduct itself in a manner that fit the ethical principles (Mizrahi & Larry, P 43). The autonomy respect would require people to live and act in their freedom that benefit others and act in a way that is just and faithful. Conversely, religious and social ethic as an emerging issue will shape the society behavior in which human issues are solved or dealt with in acceptable and ethical manner. For example, in an ethical objectivism approach, the society or individuals would be forced to believe the outside existence of social and religious ethics that requires people to practice goodness, righteousness and with justice. From a different perspective, religious and social subjectivist would expect all human beings to exercise standards within the inner reality of thoughts and mind that is distributive or correctively expresses equality, justice and in a transformed judgment (Mizrahi & Larry, P

New product Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

New product - Essay Example The first stage was the idea generation stage where various ideas were generated (Keiser and Myrna 75). The ideas were thereafter screened looking at the feasibility and the profitability of the product sales. The ideas that passed the screening test entered the concept development and testing stage. It is at this point that the ideas are stated in a manner that targeted consumers can understand. The concepts were then tested with a small constituency of the target market. Strong concepts that meet the target market expectation proceeded to the marketing strategy stage whereby the initial products are marketed among the target consumers. The next stage is the business analysis stage in which the sales and costs analysis is taken to determine whether they are in line with the company objectives (Keiser and Myrna 76). Since the magic cloth, met the customers’ satisfaction and was profitable because of the high sales rate. The costs analysis also showed that the economies of scal e would reduce the unit production stage. The final stage is the commercialization stage in which the product was launched officially for sale in the market. In setting the prices, the company considered the costs incurred in the production process and marketing costs (Keiser and Myrna 77). Other factory overheads and operational costs was also included in determining the total costs. After consideration of all the costs, a margin was set which would ensure that the targeted profit is earned. Besides, the price set was pegged on external factors like the prices of competitors. In the highly competitive industry, consumers are sensitive to prices and any overcharge could lead to loss of sales. Moreover, the demand also had an impact on the sales price. At times of high demand, magic cloth was sold at a higher rate compared to low demand period. Since the prices cannot be constant in a free market where competition is encouraged, there was ways in which the prices were adjusted. First,