Burger King marketing & Employee Motivation Strategy Essay

INTRODUCTION This research deals that how Burger King (BK) following the procedures to motivate the Employees, how these procedures helps in achieving the objectives of Burger King and influences the objectives. Hamburger is a parent company of Burger King and it is operating worldwide. Headquarter of Burger King is situated in Florida, U.S.A. It was first established as Insta Burger King in 1953. Due to tough external environment of Insta Burger King, it faces financial problems and in 1954 its franchises were sold and its name was changed as Burger King. At the end of 2013 it was reported by Burger King that it has over 13000 franchises operating in 79 countries out of which large amount of franchises operating in United States, almost 66% in United States. Burger King has almost 40 subsidiaries that are operating under the management of different countries, their operations, financial matters and production are controlled by the management of those Countries. (Burger King Corporation, 2013). Franchises of Burger King are mostly privately owned by the businessman and they followed the SOPs given by the Burger King Company (Christina, 2011). A holders of Burger King franchises has to follow the strict obligations and duties given by the Burger King; it includes designs of a company, internal and external appearance, brand standards, quality and serving of food, training programs and employee compensation plans (Jonathan, 2011). Burger King is giving license to the operators and administrators of stores to run the franchises of Burger King in North America (Elizabeth, 2006). Now Burger King is working in many countries. It is using many promotional techniques as well. It has fan page on a social media called Facebook. Moreover it has an account on twitter as well. Burger King has a large variety in its menu  including burgers, fries, pan cakes, shakes etc. Burger King says that their employees are the vital part of their organization. Employees are the main assets of a company because they face the customers, deals with them and provide services and products to the customers. To get good results of this employee and customer relationship, Burger King has set rules to give Professional training to the employees so that employees should use their abilities to get the desired goals of Burger King. Not only trainings but Burger King is also investing on career development of employees by giving them a chance to work in different departments and giving a chance to the employees to polish their skills and competencies by attending different seminars. Feedback from employees is very important in bringing the positive changes in the Company, Burger King also follows this rule and they encourage their employees to do open communication with the top management. In this way satisfaction of employees increases and they are free to use any mode of communication, which includes videos calls, meetings, Emails, voice mails etc. Burger King motivates its employees with different rewards to engage them in the progress of the organization. When staff works hard and continuously makes a positive difference to the company. Employee achievement awards given to the employees working with the Burger King more than five years and these awards are given to the employees after every five years and reached up to fifty years. There are other programs and awards as well that are given to the employees at both management and lower level to motivate the employees. RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY The research purpose is to see how motivation of workers is being maintained by the organization. For this purpose Burger King is selected. This research will help in starting new studies in this field so that the new researchers will investigate that how the motivation of employees results in the success of company, company’s growth and progress in future. Organizations have to made good motivational programs for employees to get good performance from  them. If employees are motivated then they perform better, they feel satisfied with their job, so they are committed to their organization as well. This research will encourage organizations to motivate their employees and understand the things that motivate them. BUSINESS RESEACH QUESTION â€Å"What are the contributing features, plans and programs of the company that motivate employees? To understand the phenomenon of employee motivation of Burger King, given below questions of research should be kept in mind to make a base of this research. The current benefits that employees are getting? How the motivation of employees is maintained by the organization? What are the organizations current and future strategies to motivate their workers? RESEARCH OBJECTIVES Motivation is the challenging issue to manage and work, because of the individual behavior or attitudes. As every individual is different from each other, their behaviors, attitudes and needs are also different. For every individual the motivating factors could be different according to their circumstances as well as their priorities. Another factor could be that an employee is not fit for the job he is doing or he has no interest in that work. So such resources and encouragement should be provided to him so he can develop interest. This research assignment will results in understanding the motivation of  employees given by the Burger King and which leads to overall better and good performance. LITERATURE REVIEW PRELIMINARY Literature review is a process of studying published or unpublished work given in the journals, magazines, newspaper, thesis and online information to get references. These references will help in getting knowledge of the other people’s work and will also help in providing support to our arguments and judgments. In organization’s point of view â€Å"motivation† means the drive force which creates interest in employee to work hard. A motivated employee will have capacity to work hard and give good results. It also determines the employee’s effort and level of persistence (Bernie, 2012). Organizations need motivated employees to work. Motivated employees help organizations in their survival. Motivated employees are more productive as they know when they will be productive they will get reward for it (Bowen & Radhakrishna, 1991). Motivated employees are also quality oriented. They find different good ways to do the job. There are many factors that could help in motivating employees. The first and most important factor is job design. Good job design will surely results in creating the positive motivation of employees. The design of job can have a significance impact on employee motivation. If a job is challenging and different interesting tasks are involved in it then employee could be motivated enough to do it. Job design approaches are four in number: job enlargement, job simplification, job enrichment and job rotation (Bernie, 2012). Standardization and specialization of the work is known as job simplification. Job simplification results in motivating the employees because they have clearly identified tasks. But sometimes Job simplification does not helps in creating motivation for the employees because it may result in boring of employee by doing the same task again and again. A large  variety of different tasks to perform by the employees, so that employee can have interest in the job and may result in motivation of employees, this phenomenon is known as Job Enlargement. Job rotation helps to move workers to different tasks and departments after a specific period of time to maintain their interest and motivation to work. Job enrichment aims to enhance the actual job by introducing different motivational factors (Bernie, 2012). Large numbers of studies are conducted to see the impact of job design techniques to motivate employees. Job design questionnaire was used to study the impact of Job design in motivating the employees by Campion and Thayer (1985) and the result of their study has shown that jobs having proper Job design will lead to motivate the employees and employees will have less problem in performing the work needed for a job and less health complaints. Hackman (1980) conducted a study and results shown that redesigning a job will surely leads in providing good productivity, increase the quantity of work and motivation in employees. Job Enlargement or Job Enrichment is the main tool to do this. This is a human nature that he always motivated when he knows that his work is valuable and worthy. Motivation also comes from the sense of acknowledgement and respect. Rewards are another type of motivation. Intrinsic reward and extrinsic reward are main two types of rewards. Rewards that are internal like feeling good about doing something, sense of accomplishment is known as intrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards are external like incentives, bonuses, increments etc. (Fair & Silvestri, 1992). When specific goals are set for employees then they also produce good performance and feel motivated as they feel themselves an important asset of organization. Many researchers have worked to investigate the effectiveness of reward on the motivation of employees. Pierce, Cameron, Banko and So (2003) researchers have arranged a research to get the exact idea that how extrinsic rewards given by the company creates an impact on employee’s motivation. They found that people who got rewards for their performance  were motivated intrinsically and those who do not get rewards were not motivated at all. Another study on the same topic was conducted by Wiersma (1992). He found that extrinsic rewards are important and they increase motivation. Dobre (2013) argued that empowerment and recognition are the factors that increase motivation of employee. Employees are motivated on getting empowerment and appreciation which results in good performance of employees. Organizations should try to give empowerment and appreciation to the employees so that they can perform well. Bartol and Martin (1998) studied that motivation is a powerful tool to get good performance from the employees. Kalimullah (2010) argued that a motivated employee puts his efforts for the progress of organization. Sara et al. (2004) suggested that good salaries are the most important factor in motivating employees. Employees are also motivated through good leadership (Baldoni, 2005). Working environment is also another important factor for employee motivation. If organization provides a good working environment to their employees then the employees feel motivated and happy to work in that organization. Many Psychological theories also talks about motivation. Most important theory is Maslow’s need based theory (1954) that suggests that there are different levels of needs and on each level when need is fulfilled the person is motivated. The levels in the hierarchy of Maslow are physiological needs, safety needs, belongings needs, self-esteem needs and self-actualization needs. Alderfer (1972) suggested that there are three need levels, existence, relatedness and growth. He said that fulfillment of these needs makes a person motivated. Herzberg (2003) further worked on Maslow’s theory and modified it by saying that there are two areas of need that motivates employees. Hygiene and motivators are two need areas. Hygiene’s are considered as motivators of low level which includes policy of a company, compensation plan, working environment and employee-employer relationship. The motivation has a high level in factors. These factors include achievement, responsibility, growth  and advancement. If managers want to be effective and need progress in organization, then the manager should know the basics of motivation and the different ways to motivate the employees. With the help of these they can be able to make different motivational strategies to keep their employees engaged in work and motivate them to work even better. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research methodology is process or way through which a research is being conducted. There are different types of methods for research. The method is being selected by the researcher according to the topic and feasibility to collect data as well. Success of a research is directly proportional to the methodology selected to conduct a research. Types of methodologies are given below: QUANTITATIVE METHOD It mainly deals with the numerical data or empirical investigation by using statistical or mathematical tools of research. Main objective of quantitative method is to use mathematical models to get results. It is a large and random selected process. Collection of data can be done with the help of questionnaires, telephone conversation, mail, interview, experiment, and surveys. QUALITATIVE METHOD Qualitative research is about the strong knowing of a specific company or occasion, rather than surface information of a population having a large sample. It further helps in getting information related to human groups in natural or social environment. Collection of data is totally different in qualitative method, because in qualitative method data is more subjective than quantitative and human behaviors are kept in consideration while collecting the data. Every emotions and behaviors of human should be  recorded so that researcher may get the exact answer of respondent. Techniques mostly used in collecting the data are interviews, focus group, case studies, individual interview, objects and images. MIXED METHOD OR COMBINED METHOD It is a mixture of both quantitative and qualitative methods. It is the best approach in investigating the critical issues because researchers can apply both methods to get better results. Mixed method provides analysis of how the organizations maintain the motivation of their employees. For this purpose Burger King Company is being selected. Implementing or providing motivation to the employees is not an easy work, in the same way to do research on it a large amount of information is required. RESEARCH TECHNIQUES Research technique is known as a guideline to complete the research. Research technique has several steps and they are given below: Research design and method. Sampling. Data collection. Data analysis. Outcome of research. In mixed method researcher uses both qualitative and quantitative method for getting more accurate result. The process of research will go through the given steps. Researcher will require the consent of the concerned authority as well as of participants that they are willing to participate in the research. SAMPLING Sampling is the process in which researcher finalize which will be the sample of the research, or who will be the participants. Sampling is process or technique of suitable sample or information collection for research work. There are a lot of types of sampling like simple random selection, snowball sampling, convenient sampling, systematic sampling, quota sampling etc. In the present study simple random sampling technique is being used as it is the best way of sampling in which every individual has an equal chance of selection. With the help of it we can get data full of reliability but it needs more money to carry out the process. DATA COLLECTION Data collection is the process in which information is being collected from the sample. The Process of data collection starts when you decide your sample. It mainly deals with the preparation and collection of data from different pool of knowledge and sources. It is the major element for research work. Data should be collected from reliable sources and from those people who are willing to give information. Those who are not willing to provide information and forcefully do it then the data could be faked. Mainly there are two types of data: Primary data and Secondary data. PRIMARY DATA: It is a collection of data directly from the people in the field and known as first hand data. This data is always fresh and reliable as well as it provides an accurate information needed to collect from the sample. This type of data collection needs a large amount of investment and time, researcher may use both methods to collect the data including qualitative and quantitative. SECONDARY DATA: It is a collection of data from books, journals, newspaper, annual reports, and internet or through some other sources etc. and it is not first hand data. It can be archival data that is already present and you are using that. This type of data collection is less expensive and less time consuming but mostly it does not gives accurate information needed for the  research. In this research, primary data will be collected which will comprise of both qualitative and quantitative technique. EXECUTION OF THE PROJECT After completing and observing data collection, a request letters for specialist to authenticate the devices are sent to them. Results were cross checked by researcher. In analyzing the test consequences the researcher sought the help of a statistics person to check that data is properly calculated and evaluated or not. DATA ANALYSIS DATA ANALYSIS IS VERY IMPORTANT AND CRITICAL PROCESS OF RESEARCH, BECAUSE IT CONSISTS OF WHOLE PROCESS OF CHECKING, CLEANING THE DATA AND ANALYSING THE DATA. DATA SHOULD BE ANALYSED PROPERLY, IF THE DATA LACK OF THIS PROPERLY ANALYSED PROCESS THEN IT WILL AFFECT THE RESULTS OF RESEARCH AND THE OBJECTIVE OF RESEARCH WILL NOT BE OBTAINED. SOME OF THE DATA ANALYSING TECHNIQUES ARE: FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION, DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS, COMPARING MEANS, CORRELATIONS AND LINEAR REGRESSIONS. To get the best result of this research both Statistical and qualitative techniques will be used. To test the null theory of the research statistical technique will be used and the standard deviation, mean will be used where needed. BARRIERS AND LIMITATIONS OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH This research deals with the employee’s motivation and employees should perform for the betterment of an organization. This research is a mixture of many different aspects and subjects which are Psychology, human nature and Sociology. So it is necessary that the correlation between all these aspects and subjects should be aligned to each other and should be according to rightful definition. It may cause some barriers due to tough routine of employees, problems in timings and other external factors. They all should  be remove with the help of experts and thesis should be defended with the help of good and reliable sources. SUGGESTED FURTHER RESEARCH ACTIVITY Further studies can be carried out to find out the Impact of extrinsic and intrinsic rewards on motivation. Furthermore the relationship between performance of job and organizational commitment by conducting interviews of management level as well as official level.

Froogle V. Mary Ccp 410.10

Relevant Facts Our Client, Froogle (â€Å"Froogle†) has retained our firm to file suit againt Mary, a small manufacturer and retailer of downhill snow skis. Froogle and Mary signed an agreement in January of 2012. On or about March 15, 2012 Froogle discovered that Mary had breached several of the terms of their agreement. We filed suit in Superior Court for the County of Monterey in Salinas, California on behalf of Froogle on May 31,2012.Mary, a resident of Vermont, responded by filing a motion for non-conveniens claiming that because her business and residence are in Vermont, California has no jurisdiction over her. Mary violated the terms of her agreement and should be brought to answer for her actions in a California court of law, as Froogle’s main place of business is Salinas, California. Issue Presented The issue is whether or not Froogle has jurisdiction over Mary who is an out of state resident and business owner.Applicable Law Under the California Code of Civil Procedure â€Å"A court of this state may exercise jurisdiction on any basis not inconsistent with the Constitution of this state or of the United States. † CCP  §410. 10 Also known as California’s â€Å"Long Arm Statue† the law provides that the use is usually constitutional â€Å"where the defendant has certain minimum contacts with the forum state and there has been reasonable notice of the action against him or her. (Cite)Additionally, under the ruling â€Å"Any person may maintain an action or proceeding in a court of this state against a foreign corporation or nonresident person where the action or proceeding arises out of or relates to any contract, agreement, or undertaking for which a choice of California law has been made in whole or in part by the parties thereto and which (a) is a contract, agreement, or undertaking, contingent or otherwise, relating to a transaction involving in the aggregate not less than one million dollars ($1,000,000), and ( b) contains a provision or provisions under which the foreign corporation or nonresident agrees to submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state. † In 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Gator. com Corp. , Plaintiff-appellant, v. L. L. Bean, Inc. , Defendant, appelee, L. L. Bean had an internet catalog and mail order site or a â€Å"virtual store†. Court held that LL Bean's marketing and retail activities and â€Å"virtual store† created a â€Å"consistent and substantial pattern of business relations in California, sufficient to confer personal jurisdiction over the Maine-based company [Gator}. † In Pavlovich v.Superior Court, the court addressed the issue of internet and jurisdiction holding that â€Å"[t]he Internet, as a mode of communication and a system of information delivery is new, but the rules governing the protection of property rights, and how that protection may be enforced under the new technology, need not be. † 2001 Cal. App. LEXI S 623 (Cal. Ct. App. August 7, 2001) However, in Zippo Mfg. Co. v. Zippo Dot Com, Inc. , the court determined that â€Å"A passive website that does little more than make information available is not generally grounds for the exercise of personal jurisdiction. † It then goes on to say that â€Å"The middle ground is occupied by the interactive websites where a user can exchange information with the host computer.(Zippo test cases) 957 F. Supp. 1119 (W. D. Pa. 1997). The middle ground definition cited above is key in Froogle’s case because Froogle was not simply a passive website. Users were able to click on the Froogle â€Å"store† and search for items. The store then quoted pricing and directed the user to the defendant’s website or alternatively they could purchase through Froogle, using their credit card or other financing available and Froogle would forward the order to the defendant to fulfill the order. In Frank Snowney v. Harrahs the plaintiff res erved a room by telephone from his California residence. He was told that the room would cost $50/night plus tax.When he received the bill he paid a $3 energy surcharge. Plaintiff filed a class action against Harrahs alleging they charged him and other guests more than the advertised price†¦. † The defendants filed a motion to quash for lack of personal jurisdiction, arguing that they were incorporated and based out of Nevada, they conducted no business in California and had no bank accounts in California. The plaintiff submitted that â€Å"the defendants 1-advertised extensively to California residents through billboards in California, newspapers and radio & television; 2) maintained an interactive website that accepted reservations from California residents. The Court concluded that defendants had sufficient contacts in California to justify jurisdiction in the state. 116 Cal. App. 4th 996, (2004). Application to Our Case Froogle is a California corporation with home o ffices in Salinas, California. Froogle’s contract was signed by the defendant and the defendant was well aware of Froogle’s location. Froogle’s software was developed in California and their servers are all located in various parts of California – Froogle is clearly a California product. As the defendant used online transactions through Froogle’s site to set up their account and perform other implementation functions it can be easily argued that this was a California based transaction.Further to this, the defendant benefitted from Froogle’s high profile in California, expanding their customer base throughout the state and thus increasing their sales. The California Code protects Froogle’s right to jurisdiction in California under the â€Å"Long Arm† statute. Although there are rare circumstances where this can be overturned, the statute provides the ability for a California corporation that has entered under a contract or simil ar document with a non-resident partner to gain jurisdiction over that entity should breach of that contract occur. The Snowney case more than implies that if one enters into an agreement with a California entity, and a breach or other violation of the agreement occurs, the parties will more than likely be bringing their action to a California court.The reservation can certainly be interpreted to be a contract as it binds both parties to an obligation and by acceptance of the terms of a reservation, the parties have entered into an agreement or contract. Froogle has the right as a California corporation to file their action in the state of California. The defendant knew it was entering into a contract with a California corporation based out of Salinas, CA. The defendant chose the website due to its power in the retail internet market. It also took advantage of the plaintiff’s website store which brought leads to the defendants store from prospective customers. The defendantâ €™s business benefitted greatly from its presence in the plaintiff’s search engine and webstore. The defendant has no right to jurisdiction in this case and this proceeding should continue in California.

Athens vs Han China Dbq

10/17/12 DBQ Athens vs Han China In the 5th century BCE Sparta and Athens constantly battled for 27 years for the number one spot in Greece. Despite being at war for such a long time, Athens made their culture most memorable in our world's history. Athens, located in Attica was rather small surprisingly, smaller then Rhode Island. Athens was known for it's talent; like we know today, Pericles, Plato, Socrates and more. While Athens Greece was prospering, China was suffering. During this period, Confucius lived and taught. His teachings had a rather big influence on Han China and China's Golden Age.Chinese achievements rivaled the achievements of the Athenians. In spite of Han China and Athens Greece, they were two major empires that both ruled around the same time frame. They had differences such as population, government, and religion/culture. One of the differences Athens and Han China shared were there forms of government. Document 4 shares the characteristic of government with do cuments 5, 6 &7. In â€Å"the oration of Pericles†(4) â€Å"Our form of government is called a democracy because it's administration is in the hands of the peoples† while â€Å"Mandate of Heaven† (6) In this document Mencius tells the story of Yao and Shun.The Mandate of Heaven is China's belief that emperors where chose by Heaven. In the document Wan Chang asked â€Å"in that case who gave the Empire to Shun? † and Mencius said, â€Å" Heaven gave it to him. † Wang Chang believed that Heaven gave Shun the Empire. He had that point of view because of what Mencius had told him about the Mandate of Heaven. In â€Å"Government in Athens† (5) It discusses how the Athenian Golden Age was inspired by the development of democracy by the Athenians. â€Å"In the most precise and literal sense Athenians governed themselves† there wasn't a King or an almighty ruler. Generals were elected from the Assembly and served for a year's term† On t he contrary, â€Å"A remarkably Successful Kind of Government†(7) discusses how the Emperor appoints governors to each district. This type of government was effective because the central government was further enhanced by delegation of different areas. â€Å"The Chinese empire was indeed the largest political system in the classical world. † A document that would have been nice to read about would be a document with citizens from both Athens and Han, and their perspective and outlook on their form of government .Another difference Athens and Han China both had were population. Document 1 shares the characteristic of population with documents 2 & 3. In document one it shows two maps, one of Athens, and one of the Han Empire. These maps are a biased point of view though because it has the Han Empire map enlarged so it makes the map of Athens look smaller, but also on the map of Athens in the bottom corner it has an enlarged box of Attica. This document is not resourceful if you wanted to compare the size of Athens and Han because the maps are two different sides.It would have been helpful to have the maps the same size, also they could have showed the populations in the areas and where most people lived and where they traveled. â€Å"Athens population distribution† (2) This document shows the total population of Attica which is 315,000 . It also shows how many people were in each class, the class that had the most people were the slaves with 115,00. â€Å"Han China : population distribution†(3) This document shows the total population in Han China, 65,000,000 . Clearly Athens and Han differed in there size and population.Also in this document it shows how many people were in each class. The class with the most people is, Peasant farmers/urban workers with 58,500,000 people. Culture/ Religion is another difference Athens and Han China had. Document 8 shares the characteristic of Culture/Religion just like documents 9,10,11 &12. â€Å" what is a good citizen†(8) This shows Athenian culture and what they had believed is a good citizen. This document discusses how each individual isn't just interested in his own problems or his own self, but he's also interested in the state and it's affairs.While in document 10 â€Å"Confucius on the Individual and the State† This document is showing culture because the people of the Han China culture believed what Confucius taught and said. In this document Confucius said that fathers are to cover up for their sons and sons to cover up for their fathers. What would have made this document more relevant to Han China's culture would be facts on how Confucius culturally and religiously influenced Han China and it’s peoples to believe his teachings. â€Å"Dialogue of Socrates and Crito in Prison†(9) This document is about Crito trying to get Socrates to escape from prison.Socrates was thrown into prison because he was charged for not believing in the gods th at everyone believed, introducing other gods, and corrupting the youth. This shows culture because that's what people did if you did not believe in the same Gods they believed in. Socrates did not believe or listen to Crito, he had that point of view because nothing would convince him other wise of what he thought, â€Å" I know that anything more, which you may say, will not convince me† – Socrates. Document 11†Discus Thrower† is a painting of an Athenian man throwing a discuss, the cultural style of art differed from Han China's style of art. Ch' iu Ying Landscape (12) differed from document 11. This is a painting of a landscape, while document 11 was a portrait. What would have been better to help further contrast these different cultures styles of art would be more documents of Han & Athens’s artworks. In closing, Han China and Athens Greece had there differences in three categories, but there are more differences then just those three. For examp le, everyday life for the citizens. Although Han China and Athens Greece were two major empires that both ruled around the same time frame. They had there differences such as population, government, and religion/culture.

Genetically Modified Foods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Genetically Modified Foods - Essay Example And the many varieties of apples we eat today were produced through genetic modification. Traditional genetic modification methods, such as cross-fertilization can produce a desired trait, such as a sturdier plant. Using these methods, scientists mix thousands of genes from several plants to weed out the unwanted traits by multiple attempts at cross-breeding and selective breeding. Modern methods of genetic modification like genetic engineering are more precise, predictable and instant. By controlling the insertion of one or two genes into a plant, scientists can give it a specific new characteristic without transferring undesirable traits. GE is a revolutionary new and fast growing technology. This technology involves randomly inserting together the genes of non-related species, utilizing viruses, antibiotic-resistant genes, and bacteria as vectors, markers, and promoters and permanently altering their genetic codes and creating gene-altered organisms that pass these genetic changes onto their offspring through heredity. In some cases chemical additives manufactured by genetically engineered bacteria may also be classified as genetically engineered foods. ... Fortifying foods with minerals and vitamins helps prevent sickness and keeps the body functioning well. Also, genetically engineered foods can help to introduce improvements in research for other foods as well as help incorporate new ideas for food into production programs. Sometimes genetically engineered foods may prove to be a more economical option and may help in the financial problems particularly in poorer nations, but have ecological consequences. Although most genetically engineered foods are safe, some may not be. Most consumers consider these foods as those with added substances which are most often proteins. This is because genes are "translated" into proteins by cells. Just as with conventional food additives, substances added to foods via genetic engineering may in some instances prove hazardous. The main health with protein additives in genetic engineered foods is that they may cause susceptible individuals to become allergic to foods they could consume safely otherwise. Food allergies are a serious public health concern as allergic reactions can cause discomfort and in some cases fatal anaphylactic shocks. Since virtually all known food allergens are proteins, foods with new proteins added via genetic engineering could sometimes become allergenic. Unfortunately, food related allergies are poorly understood and often scientists fail to test the potential allergenicity of genetically engineered foods. Genetically engineered products clearly have the ability to have toxic effects on human health. In 1989 a genetically engineered brand of L-tryptophan, a common dietary supplement, killed 37 Americans and permanently disabled or afflicted more than 5,000 others with a

Business report of Zee company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business report of Zee company - Essay Example Zee Co. should also critically analyze the provisions of the purchase as stipulated by the English Dairy company. For instance, in the analysis report given to the Zee Company, it is clearly stated that the purchase of the company could be financed by two options; sales and lease back (1.4 million pounds head office) or by the bank loan that the merchant bank consented to provide upon agreement with the Zee company. The bank proceeded by giving their terms and conditions regarding the loan as 4% of the total purchase price and an additional 4,000 pounds for the arrangement fee. These information is suppose to help Zee company to brainstorm and come up with a sound decision which is financially a plausible in their attempt to make the purchase. Question 2 a The accounting ratios that were given by the English Dairy Company could be misleading because the ratios were calculated on the assumptions that favored the financial position of the English Dairy Company. ... The financial ratios given by the English Dairy Company could also be misleading in that the aspects of stockpile of the finished goods were not stated and if was stated then were quoted as sales. This gave a very impressive picture of the company’s performance which was fictitious. The key fundamentals involved in the calculations were hidden and this resonated by impressing Zee Company who by the time of purchase believed the report of the English Dairy Company as a honest financial position of the business. In regard of all these, Zee company was vulnerable for deception on grounds that not all the material facts were given to reflect and inform the buyer company to make choices that were sound. Question 2 b The published company’s accounts are entirely dependant on the good will of the company responsibility to report honest financial position of the business. Just because businesses clearly knows that it is the financial reports that are used to gauge the performan ce of the companies, they are always bound to fix figures regarding the business in order to create the feeling that the business is performing favorably. In most cases this may not be the case more so if the business is currently shopping for investors, loan or in the process of floating their shares. The financial reports of the businesses are normally corrected to suit the agenda that is moved by the company as at the time the report is required. In some other stretch, the financial reports of the companies are altered in the elaborate plan to evade tax payments. The need to relay the actual business position with regard to its finances has become an issue as business have been under legal obligation to

Risk Management Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Risk Management Plan - Assignment Example regarding legal risks; reputation damage, firm position, claims from third parties due to tax schemes, contractual risks and regulations and policy changes. Legal risk management for accounting firms should start with an engagement letter that contains terms of business, scope of work, and a reasonable liability cap. Engagement letters ensures the identity of all the contracting parties that rely on accountants work. This letters are important to the firm to reduce the amount of claims from third parties in the company. There are also different policies and regulations that govern the accounting firms; Ontario requires that all certified general accountants should have a mandatory errors and omissions insurance (Buchan, et al., 2012). These policies can change with time and this poses as risk to the company. A legal risk management framework is advised to ensure that the organisation will pursue its corporate objectives and aims within its legal obligations for example, legislation, codes of practice, and significant contracts. Compliance with auditing standards has to be followed in accordance with the Auditing Practices Board. Training of employees and proper planning of the work is therefore essential. The relationship between the accounting firm and the entity being audited maybe the source of audit failure to detect issues in audit (Buchan, et al., 2012). Training of employees should be thorough to allow them to pick up the warning signs for example, unexplained debts, late information provision and risk management lack in an entity. Failure to incorporate such information in audits may lead to the closure of the firm. Audit software packages should be revised on yearly basis and professional sceptism should be maintained when carrying out an audit. In reference to insurance, indemnities and warranties should be well considered to avoid catastrophic claims against the accountant professional. It should be ensured that the indemnity clause is well capped

I am a liberal and I am a conservative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

I am a liberal and I am a conservative - Essay Example Law – the enacted laws should be geared towards full equality of all citizens without consideration of social, educational, or economic status. In this regard, I prefer more freedoms for individual citizens such as the right to free abortion, allowing for gay marriages, rejection or elimination of the military draft or compulsory military service, allot more funds for basic stem cell research, encourage and defend the freedom of speech and assembly for people to air their grievances, impose more restrictions on the right to bear arms of private citizens, and abolish the death penalty for heinous crimes or recidivist criminals but instead impose longer life sentences or even a life sentence if deserved but subject to review for parole. Government – in this regard, I prefer that government should regulate prices of basic commodities, impose price controls on important services like utilities, and put Big Business under more scrutiny through stiffer regulatory oversight to prevent corporate abuses or a rise in their market power through such devices as monopolies or cartels. Government agencies should have a more direct role in the provision and regulation of essential public goods which affect the overall quality of life of every citizen, a hybrid form of social insurance. Economics – the government should impose fewer or lesser taxes so that rich people can re-invest their earnings or profits and thereby help create more jobs instead of agencies of government imposing their own ideas. Additionally, the government should lower interest rate so people can borrow money more easily for whatever purpose they see fit and government must reduce its spending, eliminate unnecessary social programs like free health care, welfare programs for the unemployed, food stamps, and other dole-outs to effectively balance budget. Law – abortion laws should be revoked and abortion made illegal because it is a form of murder of the innocents and defenseless, marriage

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

Youtility - Essay Example This discussion declares that the biggest catastrophe that a business would cast upon itself is to assume that Youtility is a one-off project when it is in truth a process. The reason behind this assertion is that customers have a continued need for change in ideas over time. The fact that technology is growing and developing every now and then means that companies have to keep changing and improving their products at all times. Companies and businesses must adjust to, and keep up with, the changing preferences among their customer base if they harbor any dreams of success. Therefore, Youtility is an infinite process driven by customers’ desire for new and improved ways of making their lifestyles better.From this study it is clear that the measurement of Youtility can start with the number of users of the Youtility process within its application scope. Next, the frequency of forwarding the information is measured so that the needs of the customers can be met. Thirdly, a measur e of the number of people that are willing to buy the product and that of how many are willing to learn more is calculated. Lastly, the actual impact of Youtility on the revenue is then ascertained. The reason for these measurements is primarily to gauge and ascertain the effectiveness of the Youtility process. By so doing, the company is able to make adjustments where weaknesses arise.  Youtility is a primary driver of success within companies and businesses because of its ability to attract customers even where they seemed not to exist.

Legalization of prostitution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Legalization of prostitution - Essay Example Given the time period, poverty, disgrace and lack of education was a primary cause of young women becoming prostitutes. Sanger asked many women why they became prostitutes, and often they answered the same. They had been kicked out of their homes or deserted, were forced into it to survive, or, in some cases, they would turn to it as a remedy of their current situation, and only wanted to pursue it until something better came along. In the 19th century, prostitution evolved again into a highly profitable, visible and industrialized business. Women became commercial products, and were â€Å"sexed bodies for hire† and the business of prostitution was of high profit from the women’s ‘owners’ as â€Å"illicit sex increasingly became an attractive form of capital investment† (Barry, p 97). The labor market of the time saw the decrease of women in ordinary domestic labor into prostitution because of this rapidly developing industry (Barry, p 97). As prosti tution grew, society could no longer ignore the problem that it was creating, but they could not stop the men that went to visit these houses of ill repute. It went so far as to create a book that became known as the â€Å"gentlemen’s guide†, which included â€Å"better houses, giving addresses, benefits to be gained from particular establishments and the names of favorite prostitutes† (Pivar, p 31). ... They were ultimately forced to stay in the business, whether they wanted to or not (Bullough, p 245). The police and doctors that supported the regulation of prostitution were concerned with the control of venereal diseases, crime and sanitation (Pivar, p33). Today, prostitution is still seen by the majority of society as a crime against the morality of humanity (Scambler, p 7). These women are commonly referred to as hookers, whores, sluts or simply prostitutes. They are seen as trash, a bane on society with no moral compasses and whose bodies are ravaged by venereal diseases. There is a plethora of opinions of prostitution, but it is not something that is sick, wrong or unjustified. The argument has been made by opposition to prostitution that they are merely desperate women with cloudy judgment because of the economic issues that they suffer from (Stolba, 2000). This may be true in some cases, but if it were completely true, then the number of women in the business would do someth ing else. There are over one million women in the United States today that make their living by prostitution. Oppositely, about one in every six American men has been a client of a prostitute at some point in the past five years. Oddly, the threat of AIDS and other venereal diseases is now the most compelling argument for the legalization of prostitution. Roughly, half of all street prostitutes in New York City and Washington, D.C. are HIV positive. In Newark, New Jersey, nearly 60% of all prostitutes there have HIV. Despite this, in the state of Nevada, not a single prostitute in a state-licensed facility has ever tested positive for HIV/AIDS (Armentano, 1993). The brothels in Nevada require that their prostitutes

America Beyond The Color Line Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

America Beyond The Color Line - Essay Example The main idea is that falling in love can stand some attentions such as public housing, education, race, politics and social welfare. He also shows that racism is over as whites and blacks can work together as brothers and sisters and even intermarry. Through the numerous interviews, Louis Gates examined the future, past and present relationship of the black and white race. The American beyond Color Line illustrates how the African Americans struggled in order to fit in the community and how life had been changing from the past to the present and how life might be in the future by regarding the relationship between the whites and the blacks. Louis travelled to the major cities in U.S. in order to look at the role of black communities in several key sectors of the American society. In his interviews, Gates has folksy styles and friendly association with the interviewees. However, he also had various weaknesses. For instance, he was remarkably willing to release tough subjects after the brief exploration. He repeatedly presented his interview subject with a challenge, â€Å"let me play the devils advocate for a moment.† He then asks questions that might annoy the respondents. The film presents a situation of struggle among the races. It makes the audience feel the importance of social justice. From the interviews, the blacks illustrate their struggle and hopes of socializing as brothers and sisters. This can be seen from the dream of Martin Luther King. As Louis interviewed other interviewees, they explained that the Blacks and Whites were working together. Louis stated that the U.S. Army consisted of 26% blacks compared to the past where the Blacks were restricted from socializing with the Whites. Louis’ document mainly promotes diversity among the races. It illustrates how there was extreme racism in America but the situation changes with time. As he made his interviews,

The Paradigm Debate Essay Example for Free

The Paradigm Debate Essay The heart of the debate between the quantitative and qualitative paradigms in research is based on the authenticity and correctness of the data gathered from each approach. I believe that the central debate is based on which paradigm best portrays what is real, what is scientific and what is valid. The endless debate of these two approaches will stay if not for the most part of the 21st century but a few more decades from now, since there has been slow development in the field of research methods (Mahoney Goertz, 2006). The quantitative approach says that the rigors of science, the objectivity of the scientific approach and the use of statistics will generate the true picture of the problem as what the research had entailed to investigate. On the other hand, the qualitative approach says that human life cannot be thought of as variables, experiments or even number because it takes out the essence of the social interaction, the emotional and mental processes involved in the experience or the behavior. In the past, the distinction between what data or variables lend itself better to quantitative approach and which data should be examined using the qualitative approach was clear (Tashakkori Teddlie, 2003). But at the moment, the rising awareness of the qualitative approach as a valid research method and the quantitative approach becoming more cognizant of the less objective variables are in a battle to which approach will yield the most valid and truest result. In the past the quantitative approach was the only way to do research, the introduction of anthropology and ethnographic researches have widened the research methodology of various disciplines (Salomon, 1991).   With it was the start of the unending debate over which approach was most beneficial to the research. The idea however is a far cry from the present state of mixed methods approach, recognizing that each approach had its own merits, a different breed of research approach now utilizes the two paradigms and calls it mixed methods approach. As a student of psychology, I am inclined to favor the qualitative approach as it is more able to provide a deeper understanding and meaning of the variables being studied, it would make more sense to me to explore how bipolar construe friendships which can never be captured by the use of a quantitative friendship scale which offers less insight to the experiences and dynamics of friendships. However, the scientific part of me wants to believe in the wisdom of objectivity and science, I have been trained under the old school experimental and behavioral psychology which gave much importance to experimentation and control of variables. This would mean that my orientation towards research is that of the quantitative fervor. Choosing which side to favor is like asking me to choose between the devil and the deep blue see, each approach presents a different understanding of the variables under study and I am often reminded of the nature and nurture debate which predominated the developmental psychology field. Therefore, I would rather say that I support the quantitative approach because it has been around far enough to at least become more refined to provide better measures and control for the study of variables   which in the past have been questioned with regards to the validity and reliability of the results of the study (Adcock Collier, 2001). Moreover, the quantitative approach is the form mostly accepted by the scientific community and therefore is more established and more credible, although it does not mean that all quantitative researches are excellently written but that some may have sacrificed the integrity of the conduct of the research due to budget constraints or a poorly designed research method (Mahoney Goertz, 2006). The quantitative approach has reached an almost cult like following and dissenters have naturally went to support the qualitative approach but whichever it is, I am convinced for now that the quantitative paradigm has more sense and purpose than qualitative approaches (Mahoney Goertz, 2006). References Adcock, R. Collier, D. (2001). Measurement validity: A shared standard for qualitative and quantitative research. American Political Science Review 95; 3: 529-546. Mahoney, J. Goertz, G.(2006). A tale of two cultures: Contrasting quantitative and qualitative research. Political Analysis 14: 227-249. Salomon, G. (1991). Transcending the qualitative-quantitative debate: The analytic and systemic approaches to educational research. Educational Researcher, 20, 10-18. Tashakkori, A. Teddlie, C. (2003). Handbook of Mixed Methods in Social Behavioral Research. Thousand Oaks, CA.: Sage Publications.

Understanding Business Research and Concepts Essay Example for Free

Understanding Business Research and Concepts Essay There are many different types of quantitative data collection instruments and sampling methods available to researchers. The ones that I have picked for the purpose of his paper are questionnaire, sampling and surveying. Each can be a value to a researcher when completed with accuracy. Validity is the degree to which an instrument measure what it is purports to measure. Invalid instruments can lead to erroneous research conclusions, which in turn can influence educational decisions. Reliability is the internal consistency or stability of the measuring device over time (Gay, 1996). A questionnaire is a series of questions ask to the subject to get responsive directly from the subjects. Questionnaires are widely used especially in descriptive survey studies. Surveying collects factual data from participants and gain opinions. The first of two research articles I picked was â€Å"A descriptive study of workplace conflict management styles,† The study has a non-experimental, descriptive, and quantitative research design, a sample size of 103 employees working in financial, IT, academic and marketing sectors were analyzed (stratified random sampling was used for the purpose). Statistical measures like Cranach’s alpha, independent samples t test, bivariate correlation, robust tests for equality of means, multiple comparisons (Turkey HSD) and chi square tests were employed to analyze the data. Research revealed that employees of fairer sex in Indian organizations used integrating, compromising and avoiding styles of interpersonal conflict handling. Dominating and obliging styles were followed by males and same was true for all the employees as their age increased. Additionally, employees having superior income and work experience were found to be less  integrative and more dominating in their management of conflict. Further, marital status of the employees also affected the conflict handling style. Interpersonal conflict understanding is crucial for smooth functioning of the organizations. Managers today are devising innovative handling techniques as conflict poses a great challenge for them. The present study can facilitate the management practitioners in understanding the concept and its implications. (Abbas, 2012). Tukey HSD test shows that there is significant difference in dominating conflict handling style only among the undergraduate and post graduate employees (p  answers are able to give you trusted results. Using qualitative research design methods is most essential when dealing with business research. Understanding how numbers and data effect a business’ growth and production are essential in determining what is making or breaking a company’s vision. Profit is understandably the primary goal of any business; however, qualitative data is most essential when determining data on what products, programs, or ideas are attractive to a potential or current customer. Using qualitative analysis will help in making the right choices and provide quality overview for necessary adjustments. One of the largest understandings of Adobe was unmet customer needs. Their belief was that even in an age of collecting data, no light can be shed on the gap of unmet customer needs. By determining what customers needed by using surveys, collecting email comments and letters, and by communicating with people and businesses, Adobe believed that it could continuously make adjustments to their programming to satisfy the needs of customers and potential customers. Keeping the questions simple, the ideas of Adobe and its future were generated through a series of questions that customers could answer. Without going too much into detail, customers could have simple questions answered, and thus be more satisfied, which in return generated more business. Some of the sample questions derived from (adobepress.com) are as follows: â€Å"Why do customers come to the business? Why do they leave? Do customers understand what the business has to offer? Do customers want what the business has to offer? Is there anything customers want from the business that it is not providing? When analytics data shows areas of concern—for example, high drop-off rates, repeat page views, and so on—what are the reasons for the customers’ actions? Which product or service is most important to customers? The above questions were a qualitative aspect design in an attempt to conduct research and analyze that research to better serve the customer. Providing customers with a questionnaire template, allowed for millions of  reviews and feedback. Taking this research and feedback allowed Adobe to make adjustments where needed and ultimately provide the customer and or business with a better product. Updating and revamping programming through technological advancements has been key to the Adobe enterprise when satisfying its customers. The desire and key aspect of successful qualitative research is being able to see ones business and products through the eyes of the customer. When one puts his/herself in this predicament, one will see the significance of such important research and designs methods as in qualitative research analysis. References Abbas, S. M. (2012, Jul-dec). A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF WORKPLACE CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STYLES IN INDIAN ORGANIZATIONS. Retrieved from ProQuest: http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/1524709477?pq-origsite=summon LUND, D. A. (2013). Laird Statistics. Retrieved from Descriptive and Inferential Statistics: https://statistics.laerd.com/aboutus.php Troshani, I.R. (2007, Oct-Dec 98-105,107-111). Drivers and Inhibitors to XBRL Adoption: A Qualitative Approach to Build a Theory in Under-Researched Areas. Retrieved from International Journal of E-Business Research: http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/222302520?pq-origsite=summon

Pure Culture Methods and Gram Staining

Pure Culture Methods and Gram Staining Individual and well separated colonies are crucial when working with bacterial cultures. Pure culture method involves the step of taking a small and well isolated colony and transferring it to a sterile growth medium in a suitable culture vessel (Ryan Ray, 2010). There are three types of commonly used methods to produce pure cultures. They are the streak plate, spread plate and pour plate. All these methods require the use of aseptic technique. Streak plate is suitable for the direct plating of media that contains a large number of cells. To prepare a streak plate, a colony or a loopful of bacteria culture will be taken using a sterile inoculating loop and then the sample will be streaked several times over the surface of the solid growth media. Single cells are obtained along the streak as each streak represents a dilution process. The bacteria will grow into a separate colony and to be used for pure culture after being incubated at optimum condition (Carter Wise, 2004). Another alternative to obtain pure culture is the spread plate method where a small volume of suspension is spread evenly over the surface of an agar plate. The bacteria colonies will be evenly distributed over the surface of the agar plate after incubation. Larger colonies are the colonies that are well isolated. Pure culture can also be done by using the pour plate method. The diluted sample is suspended in agar growth at about 50 à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ °c. The mixture is then poured into a suitable vessel and incubated. The bacteria colonies will grow throughout the agar plate. The colonies within the agar will be very tiny and difficult to see and count as compared to those which grow on the surface of the agar. Objectives: The purpose of conducting this experiment was to understand the principles and aim of obtaining pure cultures, to compare the separation of bacterial colonies using streak plate, pour plate and spread plate techniques and to observe and compare the colonial features of isolated bacterial colonies on solid nutrient media as well as the morphological cellular features of isolated bacterial colonies using the gram stain method. In addition, the experiment explained about the principles of gram stain method and allowed the interpretation of each of the steps in gram staining. Method: Refer to lab manual page 32-36. Results: In this experiment, mixture of Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus was used to prepare pure culture using the three methods which are the streak plate, spread plate and pour plate. The plates were incubated and the colony morphology of the plates was observed. The cellular morphology of the bacteria was determined using the gram stain method. The results were recorded and tabulated in a table. Table 1: colony morphology and cellular morphology of different organisms. Organism Colony morphology Cellular morphology Gram stain Shape Arrangement Bacillus cereus Irregular, opaque and cream in colour, flat Positive (purple colour) Rod Chain Escherichia coli Circular, center, smooth, translucent, white (small), raised (Cham Tan, Group 1). Negative (pink colour) Rod Cluster Staphylococcus aureus Circular, smooth, some yellow, some white, convex. Positive (purple colour) Cocci Cluster Discussion: 1) Bacillus cereus was obtained from the big bacteria colony. When observed from the agar plate, it appeared to be irregular in shape, flat, opaque and cream in colour. It is a gram positive bacteria. So when gram stain was performed, the bacteria appeared purple in colour under the microscope. Bacillus cereus is of rod shape and the arrangement is in the form of chain. It has ÃŽÂ ²- capsule and is non motile. For Escherichia coli, it was obtained from the medium colony. When observed from the agar plate, it appeared to be circular in shape and mostly was located at the center of the agar. The bacteria colony appeared to be smooth, translucent, and some were white in colour (Cham Tan, Group 1). Escherichia coli is a gram negative bacteria. Therefore, it was pink in colour under the microscope. It has rod shape and its arrangement is in cluster form. It is motile and is a type of non spore forming bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus was from the small bacteria colony. It is circular, smooth, convex and some are yellow in colour while some are white in colour. It is a gram positive bacteria where it showed purple colour when under the microscope. The shape for Staphylococcus aureus is cocci and it is in cluster form. It is a non spore forming bacteria and is non motile. The cells seen in the original mixture matched with those obtained in the pure culture. Streak plate method is suitable for the direct plating of media that contains a large number of cells and as for spread plate method, a small volume of suspension is spread evenly over the surface of an agar plate. On the other hand, bacteria are suspended and grow throughout the agar plate for pour plate method. 2) Spread plate will be more suitable to produce well isolated single colonies from a broth culture that contains a mixture of organisms as the bacteria will be on the surface or the agar and not suspended. This way, the isolated colony can be counted and also be obtained easily compared to streak plate and pour plate method. When the bacteria is taken from a mixed broth culture, the colonies will grow and overlapping each other after being incubated. When the bacteria is incubated using pour plate method, the bacteria grown will be smaller and it will be harder to obtain a well isolated colony as they grow throughout the media. Agar has a higher melting temperature than gelatin. Gelatin will melt and becomes soft when bacteria is being incubated on gelatin media at their optimum temperature which is 37 à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ °c. 3) Agar is used in preference to gelatin for making solid media as agar will remain solid at the optimum temperature for the growth of most bacteria. Therefore, the property of agar makes it to be more effective than gelatin as a solidifying agent (Muir Ritchie, 1953). 4) Bacteria that are well separated grow as isolated colonies without affecting the growth process as these bacteria cell do not merge or overlap with other bacteria cells in compete for sources. The growth of isolated bacteria will not be limited by the depletion of the nutrients (Cruickshank, 2005) 5) Individual colony does not always consist of one type of bacterium as the bacteria could be from a mixed culture of different organisms. Therefore, an individual colony does not always originate from a single parent cell. Before staining process, bacteria culture has to be dried and fixed. Heat fixation is convenient and it retains the cell wall structure. 6) Smear preparation has to be heat fixed through the Bunsen burner flame to kill the bacteria and make them adhere to the slide. Besides, it will also allow the cells to stain better during the staining process. A good smear preparation will allow a better microscopic view of the bacteria cellular features. Correct techniques in preparation of smear are important. 7) If the whole colony is used to make the smear, the smear will be too thick. Thick smear will cause the difficulties in distinguishing individual cell. In addition, the stain might not be completely washed out. If the bacteria used is gram negative, the cells will appear purple in colour giving gram positive results which is wrong. If the bacteria is gram positive, the intensity of purple colour will be so high that it will not be easy to differentiate the cellular features of the cell. 8) Cell wall determines the shape of a cell. Cells that lose their cell wall will change its shape. However, changing the shape of the cells will not affect the reaction to gram stain. Hence, there will be no association between cell shape and reaction to gram stain The cell wall structure of gram positive bacteria is different from the cell wall structure of gram negative bacteria. The cell wall of gram positive bacteria has a thick peptidoglycan layer while the peptidoglycan layer in the cell wall of gram negative bacteria is thinner. The thick peptidoglycan layer of the cell wall of gram positive bacteria retain the crystal violet dye and stain purple even after decolourisation but for gram negative bacteria, it is decolourised by the decolourising agent. Gram negative bacteria retain the second dye and stain pink. 9) The cell wall structure of a bacterial cell is important to determine its gram reaction. 10) The third step which is the decolourisation step of the gram staining procedure is important to determine the outcome of the result. The time taken should not be too long or too short as over-decolourising will cause the cell not able to retain the crystal violet dye and appear colourless. If the decolourising time is too short, the gram negative cells will remain purple giving a gram positive result. Conclusion: In conclusion, pure culture can be obtained by using several methods which are the streak plate method, spread plate method and pour plate method. Using the pure culture, the separation of bacterial colonies, the colonial features and cellular features can be compared. Aseptic technique should be followed all the time to prevent introducing new contaminants to the environment.

The Cost of the Vietnam War :: Papers

The Cost of the Vietnam War The Vietnam War was the longest and most unpopular war in which Americans ever fought. And there is no reckoning the cost. The toll in suffering, sorrow, in rancorous national turmoil can never be tabulated. No one wants ever to see America so divided again. And for many of the more than two million American veterans of the war, the wounds of Vietnam will never heal. Fifty-eight thousand Americans lost their lives. The losses to the Vietnamese people were appalling. The financial cost to the United States comes to something over $150 billion dollars. Direct American involvement began in 1955 with the arrival of the first advisors. The first combat troops arrived in 1965 and we fought the war until the cease-fire of January 1973. To a whole new generation of young Americans today, it seems a story from the olden times. In 1983, the unfolding of the Vietnam tragedy was the focus of an extraordinary documentary series broadcast on public television. When first aired, the series was recognized immediately as a landmark. It had taken six years to make. Researchers had combed film archives in eleven countries and the result was a stunning record of the conflict as it happened. Program Notes Roots of a War The end of World War II opened the way for the return of French rule to Indochina. Despite the ties he had forged within the American Intelligence community, and his professed respect for democratic ideals, Ho Chi Minh was unable to convince Washington to recognize the legitimacy of his independence movement against the French. French generals and their American advisors expected Ho's rag-tag Vietminh guerrillas to be defeated easily. But after eight years of fighting and $2.5 billion in U.S. aid, the French lost a crucial battle at Dienbienphu - and with it, their Asian empire. America's Mandarin With a goal of stopping the spread of communism in Southeast Asia, America replaced France in South Vietnam - supporting autocratic President Ngo Dinh Diem until his own generals turned against him in a coup that brought political chaos to Saigon. LBJ Goes to War With Ho Chi Minh determined to reunite Vietnam, Lyndon Baines Johnson determined to prevent it, and South Vietnam on the verge of collapse, the stage was set for massive escalation of the undeclared Vietnam War. America Takes Charge In two years, the Johnson Administration's troop build-up dispatched 1.

The Software Piracy Problem in China :: Technology

The Software Piracy Problem in China 1. The truth: Software piracy at issue in China. Surprisingly, software counterfeiting has such a profitable global market that â€Å"organized criminal groups using the proceeds from software counterfeiting to pay for terrorist operations overseas†, according to Brad Smith, Microsoft general counsel international. [1] Even though most people nowadays are aware of pirated software either from various news medium, or by seeing illegal software copies distributed among friends or students in their personal PCs, it would still be a shocking fact that, in the year 2000, software companies estimated that they lost $12 billion in revenue because of counterfeiting. That's 15% of the industry's $80 billion in worldwide sales.[2] Although software piracy is undoubtedly a global issue, people have been paying special attention to this issue in China. The truth is that, even though the piracy rate is increasing worldwide and the rate rose in 2000 to 37% from 36% in 1999, which means 37% of the software sold is estimated to be fake, the software piracy rates in China are up to 92% in 2002 according to Business Software Alliance (BSA). [3] Compare to China, in U.S. the average piracy rate by states is only 25.1%. Software piracy has different types. BSA identifies five common types as follows.[4] First, end user piracy. It occurs when a company employee reproduces copies of software without authorization, including using one licensed copy to install a program on multiple computers, or copying disks for installation and distribution, etc. Second, client-server overuse. It occurs when too many employees on a network are using a central copy of a program at the same time. Third, Internet piracy. This occurs when software is downloaded from the Internet where the same purchasing rules should apply to online software purchase as for those bought in traditional ways. Fourth, Hard Disk loading. It occurs when a business that sells new computers loads illegal copies of software onto the hard disks to make the purchase of the machines more attractive. Finally, Software Counterfeiting. This type of piracy is the illegal duplication and sale of copyrighted material with the intent of directly imitating the copyrighted product. In China, most of the software piracy is conducted as the type of Software Counterfeiting. Street gangs selling pirated software can be easily seen in grey market anywhere in China. 2. Who is able to protect your software right? The government?

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in E-Commerce Essay -- Trade Ec

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in E-Commerce The US is seeking to extend the duty-free status of international online transactions to protect the development of global electronic commerce, the Clinton administration said yesterday. Susan Esserman, deputy US trade representative, said the US wanted the World Trade Organization to agree "at the earliest possible date" to extend the current moratorium on customs duties for electronic trade. In testimony to the Senate foreign relations sub-committee on Europe, Ms Esserman said duty-free cyberspace was particularly valuable to US software companies that were seeking to distribute their products electronically. The US is also looking for WTO members to affirm that electronic commerce is subject to existing rules and agreements, and should not face "unnecessary regulatory barriers to trade". However Ms Esserman said "more time and work are necessary" before electronic goods could be subject to final classification under WTO rules. Electronic commerce in the US is forecast to grow to $1,300bn by 2003, while in India it is expected to grow by $15bn within two years. Richard Wolffe, Washington Protectionism, it seems, is always with us and it is useful to examine the intermittent attempts made to establish rules for its containment. This book is one such examination, on the conception, birth, and early years of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT); it is restricted to the years 1940--53. It is the work of an historian but one at the political, rather than economic, end of the spectrum. The heavy emphasis throughout is on the American role within an essentially Anglo-American tussle. The argument is that although trade was a relatively small proportion of US output it was used for political and diplomatic purposes. The general thrust is that the US was keen on a new liberal order and determined to break the British empire's preferential trading arrangements. However, when we read that the central argument is that, 'by liberalizing trade while protecting domestic economies -- a bargain consistent with US trade law, practice, and history ...', we might reasonably expect to be in for a roc ky ride. Politics is important and possibly even central in the process of trade protection, but will always be found to depend on economic forces. The politics... ...sn’t have enough of its own trees to meet its demand for paper. The cheapest way for the Japanese to meet their paper needs has been to import raw logs from America, a trade which ended in the 1980s because there simply was not enough timber to supply Japan and satisfy domestic U.S. needs. Free trade, of course, demands that traders sell to the customer who offers the highest price; they cannot be required to fill the needs of one market at the expense of another. Should Americans sell to Japan at higher prices even if it means domestic shortages, or is it appropriate to say, "These are our trees, hands off"? The arguments that apply to protecting timber can also be easily applied to other natural resources, such as coal or copper. On the other hand, free trade agreements work to the benefit of the United States in terms of resources where we cannot fill our own needs, such as oil or gold. Although each of these arenas has its own specific issues, in each case the essential question boils down to: "Is this important enough to our country that we should protect ourselves against the inroads of foreign traders, thereby cutting ourselves off from the benefits of free trade?" General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in E-Commerce Essay -- Trade Ec General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in E-Commerce The US is seeking to extend the duty-free status of international online transactions to protect the development of global electronic commerce, the Clinton administration said yesterday. Susan Esserman, deputy US trade representative, said the US wanted the World Trade Organization to agree "at the earliest possible date" to extend the current moratorium on customs duties for electronic trade. In testimony to the Senate foreign relations sub-committee on Europe, Ms Esserman said duty-free cyberspace was particularly valuable to US software companies that were seeking to distribute their products electronically. The US is also looking for WTO members to affirm that electronic commerce is subject to existing rules and agreements, and should not face "unnecessary regulatory barriers to trade". However Ms Esserman said "more time and work are necessary" before electronic goods could be subject to final classification under WTO rules. Electronic commerce in the US is forecast to grow to $1,300bn by 2003, while in India it is expected to grow by $15bn within two years. Richard Wolffe, Washington Protectionism, it seems, is always with us and it is useful to examine the intermittent attempts made to establish rules for its containment. This book is one such examination, on the conception, birth, and early years of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT); it is restricted to the years 1940--53. It is the work of an historian but one at the political, rather than economic, end of the spectrum. The heavy emphasis throughout is on the American role within an essentially Anglo-American tussle. The argument is that although trade was a relatively small proportion of US output it was used for political and diplomatic purposes. The general thrust is that the US was keen on a new liberal order and determined to break the British empire's preferential trading arrangements. However, when we read that the central argument is that, 'by liberalizing trade while protecting domestic economies -- a bargain consistent with US trade law, practice, and history ...', we might reasonably expect to be in for a roc ky ride. Politics is important and possibly even central in the process of trade protection, but will always be found to depend on economic forces. The politics... ...sn’t have enough of its own trees to meet its demand for paper. The cheapest way for the Japanese to meet their paper needs has been to import raw logs from America, a trade which ended in the 1980s because there simply was not enough timber to supply Japan and satisfy domestic U.S. needs. Free trade, of course, demands that traders sell to the customer who offers the highest price; they cannot be required to fill the needs of one market at the expense of another. Should Americans sell to Japan at higher prices even if it means domestic shortages, or is it appropriate to say, "These are our trees, hands off"? The arguments that apply to protecting timber can also be easily applied to other natural resources, such as coal or copper. On the other hand, free trade agreements work to the benefit of the United States in terms of resources where we cannot fill our own needs, such as oil or gold. Although each of these arenas has its own specific issues, in each case the essential question boils down to: "Is this important enough to our country that we should protect ourselves against the inroads of foreign traders, thereby cutting ourselves off from the benefits of free trade?"

Relationship Between Humans and Objects

CUL341 INDIVIDUAL REPORT Indeed, there is a powerful relationship between humans and objects in today’s society. An object is a tangible something that one can take hold off with their senses. Some objects have the power to create social relations between humans, for example there is the trident and the wand that changes the image of a person who utilizes the object. Indeed, such are objects that allow the power of symbolism to give meaning to human activity.The trident is one of these objects that have the great power to create social relations. A trident is a long stick usually having a small double-u (w) looking symbol at the top of it. It’s a three-pronged spear known for giving social power to a person or vice versa, a powerful person in the society carries it and utilizes it to express their power. Although the object has many other uses such as fishing and also as a weapon, there are several examples in history where it would be carried just to symbolize power.In Hinduism, their God Shiva and the Roman God Neptune too are both are known for a trident being clutched to them most of the time. The trident gives a different image of one who carries it; it expresses their power to the society. In Roman myth, God Neptune used it to create earthquakes and other natural disasters as it was indeed a powerful object, and hence created social relations between the Gods and their worshippers as it allowed them to see the power it has.Today we obviously don’t see powerful people carrying it around; however, it is still seen in animated TV shows and movies to give a meaning to the character. It is seen in the little mermaid where King Triton bears it on him to convey his power to the rest of the creatures of the sea. Also in the Lion King, the monkey who is characterized to be an influential persona popping up when someone needs advice amongst the animal kingdom bears the trident on him at all times. Thus, again the object is able to create social relations amongst the characters.Another object that was discussed is the wand. The wand is a thin stick made from wood, of even sometimes metal. They are known to give a magical sense to one who bears it. The wand indeed also creates social relations amongst people as when one utilises a wand, he is will be known to be a person who performs magical spells. The wand is used to perform magical spells so therefore, the one who bears it is conveyed by the society to have great power as wands can only be owned and used by a fairy, wizard, witch or a sorcerer.Wands are known to have also created social relations in historical myths and legends. In Roman myths, Mercury also beared a wand that allowed the worshippers to have a powerful view of Mercury amongst the society. In fairy tales and other science fiction, the magic wand is used to do many powerful acts used for good and evil. Evil acts include defeating or transforming people into animals and good acts can include used for protect ion or other useful acts like opening a locked door.Some fairytales in which the wand is used widely is Cinderella where the fairy godmother would have the power to perform good acts such as make Cinderella beautiful and grant her clothes to go to the ball. Furthermore, in today’s world we most often exposed to wands and their magic in popular fiction novels and movies/TV shows. A well known novel plus movie is Harry Potter. Harry Potter is a wizard who studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His aim in the movie is to defeat his enemy Lord Voldemort who killed his parents.Everything in the fictional movie is pretty done through the power of the wand. The good acts, the bad acts by wizards and witches gives viewers insight to how a single object can create such social relations in a society. Indeed, a single object can have the power to shape ones image of a persona. Indeed, in the modern world, the relationship between objects and humans has developed to becom e a great influence on the view one has for another in the society. It is evident that the triton and the wand both are very good examples of such objects enhance their powers to create social relations amongst humanity.A Trident has been used in history and even today in fiction movies to allow a view of a persona to be great and powerful. Similarly, the wand also creates social relations amongst a society where one can be seen as a normal person and just by bearing a wand; he will be seen to be a wizard whom can perform magical spells. Indeed, Objects can enhance the power of symbolism and give a different meaning to a person. REFERENCES http://www. ehow. com/about_4759212_magic-wand-stories. html http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Trident

Code of conduct Essay

A Code of Conduct is published and disseminated to its employees, and to existing and potential stakeholders such as members of the board of directors, customers, partners, vendors, suppliers, potential employees and the general public. Frequently posted on the organization’s website and in their annual report to shareholders, the Code of Conduct is both an internal commitment to a standard of behavior and beliefs and a public declaration of the organization’s position on a set of standards, values, principles, and beliefs. The Code of Conduct is the heart and soul of a company. Think of a Code of Conduct as an in depth view of what an organization believes and how the employees of an organization see themselves and their relationship with each other and the rest of the world. The Code of Conduct paints a picture of how employees, customers, partners, and suppliers can expect to be treated as a result. After going through major corporation code of business I decided to write a paper based off of one companies code of business ethics outline. That company is Amazon. The reason I chose Amazon was how simple there code of conduct in ethics was for how large of a corporation they are. The following are the things I felt could used revision. The company I found online for code of conduct was Amazon. They had a short and simple code of ethics page. Although short and to the point I feel they left a few things out. Amazon is a company that relies on distribution through vendors and returning customers. I felt that nowhere on this page was there a place that states they hold management or vendors accountable. Owner and upper level management accountability is very import for a company’s code of conduct. These individuals are requires to show honesty, transparency and integrity in their daily rolls. This sets the ethical base for a company, along with it also keeps individual owners and managers accountable for their actions. A unethical manager that is allowed to rein free in a business can create a difficult business situations and over extend a company’s resources. The next point I would like to make is, even though they mention compliance  with the laws I think they fail to mention anything about inappropriate behavior. Many companies use a code of ethics to prevent inappropriate employee behavior. Inappropriate behavior can include lying to clients, engaging in froud, failing to meet specific operational standards or similar conduct. A code of ethics about this subject can help employees understand why these actions are inappropriate and the reasons companies expect better behavioral performance. Companies may also limit their legal liability from poor employee performance by usiing this code of ethics. Another great point I would like to bring up about Amazons ethics code is their ability to institute the code. For a code of conduct to be useful, it is importance to introduce and endorse it at the highest level of business. Once the code is written, The CEO and governing body should sign off on it. Then, the company can incorporate it into training programs. Many companies require staff members to sign a document that they read and understand the code, and others require all employees to abide by the code as conditions of their employment. Many companies also use an internal review to measure the effectiveness of their code. This may be all done internally, but nowhere on the code of conduct was it instructed or announced that they do this. A code of conduct is developed either by a powerful executive, or often the owner. In amazons case is feel this was a cross section of employees that have executive influence, so it would be easier to incorprate and integrate. It is more likely to affect the actual beleifs and operation of the organization. The code of conduct will most likely acheive full implementation with in the organization when more are involved in the creation. Due to this I feel amazon has missed a few valuable areas in which they can improve on with their revisions for the future with code of conduct and ethics. Cite: Retrieved June 1, 2014, from http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97664&p=irol-govConduct

Modern Ethical Theories

Philosophically Egoism theory purports that one’s self is or should be the motivation and reasons of our own actions.   This theory has two variations, descriptive or normative variation and altruism variation.   Altruism variation holds that one should maximize good for all being in the world (Hobbes, 1651).   Altruism is the opposite of egoism. Ethical egoism is a normative theory that revolves around the idea that each individual should do what is entirely in his or her self interests and by doing actions that aimed at self interest he or she achieves morality.   The theory states that one’s self interest is the primary motive of actions and is the moral thing to do. Hence the theory is a self effacing theory which tries to justify reasons for actions as duty bound or morally right. Psychological egoism theory on the other hand is a descriptive theory that describes human actions as wholly motivated by self interest it implies that individual’s actions are purely by self centered even though the actions may seem to be motivated by interest of others (More, G.E., 1903).   It states that, â€Å"all human actions are selfish acts at their roots†. Thus it asserts that if individual helps others, acts which may seem to be of benefit to others.   The primary motive may be the need for an individual to better him/herself thus making the act self-seeking.   It is impossible to empirically prove the psychological egoism theory wrong but it is just as hard to empirically prove the theory right.   In addition once the premise of the theory is accepted the actions can be interpreted to support the theory. Fallacy of Psychological Egoism Psychological egoism theory states that people are always motivated by their own interests.   This   however hastily   generalizes actions and their motivation   since there are instances we can disapprove this such as, when an individual smokes .this is an act that can be harmful to one’s wellbeing thus not act in   self interest, others such as soldiers carry out their duties without considering personal gains. There are also instances where motivations to act may appear to be of no self interest   at face value but   are nevertheless self interest motivated (Rachels, J., 2003).   For example if an individual is motivated to act out of fear or his acts are motivated by fear, he/she may be acting in the interest of self-preservation. On the other hand, these actions/reactions may be driven by the interest of the other individual or threats from this other individual thus his/her action may be classified as an action motivated for other’s interest.   In this case, the individual actions are what she/he is motivated to do, for instance run. The strong and weak versions of Ethical Egoism The ethical egoism can be split into two versions; the strong and the weak versions.   The strong version supports the endorsement of an individual’s own good as the moral thing to do.   Individual actions that are driven by self-interest or self fulfillment arise out of moral judgement while the weak version supports the premise that there are situations where it may be prudent to ignore personal welfare when making moral judgement (Rachels, J., 2003). For instance if a soldier lies on a grenade to save his friends he may act this way to be able to live with himself In other words if he acted otherwise he may live the rest of his life with a guilty conscience .However the strong version might interpret this action as the moral thing to do. Contrast in Motivation Doctrines of the two theories Psychological egoism theory is the empirical doctrine that an individual’s act is a desire for one’s own welfare (Sigmund, F., 1966).   However, these acts usually conceal the determining motives.   This concealment is usually in their self-interest.   The theory results from observation of human behaviour and can only be proved empirically if there are no exceptions.   It makes no claim to how individuals should act for their self-interest.   This premise can be argued to be verifiable but non-moral. On the other hand, the ethical egoism theory is prescriptive doctrine that individuals actions are in self-interest that is for personal welfare thus the personal welfare is the most valuable thing for an individual.   However, the theory does not claim that all individuals seek their own self interest.   It only claims that individuals should seek their own self-interest that is all individual might not seek self-interest (Sigmund, F., 1966).   For the ethical egoism theory to hold or to be proven as a theory its premises must hold for all individuals. Differences between ethical egoism and psychological egoism Psychological egoism is descriptive while the ethical egoism theory is prescriptive, that is, the psychological theory states why individuals act the way they do while the ethical theory suggests the reasons for such.   The other difference is concerned with their motivation doctrines.   In psychological egoism it is human nature to be driven by selfish reasons whereas in the ethical egoism theory selfish acts are the morally right thing to do (More, G.E., 1903).Psychological egoism deals with reality while ethical egoism deals with what reality should be. It   can also be argued that ethical egoism approves of cooperative behaviour   while psychological egoism does not since the theory   believes in achieving maximum welfare though selfish actions . Conclusion Self-interest actions are not always selfish actions in that one can act in such a way as to benefit or for his personal welfare improvement.   Such actions cannot be termed as selfish and this is always seen as acts out of self-interest.   Self-interest acts are not always selfish acts but selfish actions are always out of personal self-interest. For example if an individual’s self interest is to obey the law we can claim the individual is doing this out of self interest, that is, it is in his/her self interest to avoid legal troubles like being jailed.   This can be seen as a selfish act.   But by obeying the law, it can also be argued that he is doing this in the interest of others or out of consideration of others.   In this case, this is not a selfish act.   However, self-interest actions are not always incompatible with the interest of others for example to help others, which is not a self-interest act.   An individual must first help himself inorder to be in a position to help others. Reference G.E. Moore (1903).   In Principia Ethica: Cambridge University Press. Rachels, J. (2003). The Elements of moral philosophy (4th ed). New York: McGraw-Hill. Sigmund, Freud (1966).   The Interpretation of Dreams.   New York: Avon.   

Chinese philosophy Essay

. Introduction A. Thesis There are so many different philosophies and religions, and they greatly influence people’s life. In this paper, I am going to introduce and define the representatives of the Western philosophy such as Plato’s metaphysical Dualism and Chinese philosophy like Daoism. And I am going to compare these philosophies and explain the difference between them. ?. Dualism A. Explain Plato’s metaphysical Dualism Plato’s Dualism divided the reality into two different realms of existence (World of the Senses and World of the Forms). One world (the physical world) is constantly changing, and another world (the world of the Forms) is unchanging. Plato further divided these two different realms of existence. The world of Forms can be divided into the higher world (realm of the form) and the lower world (the Empirical world). The world of senses can be divided into physical objects (ordinary objects we perceive) and images (shadows, reflections and pictures). B. Summary of Allegory of Cave Plato explained his metaphysical dualism by using the Allegory of a cave. According to Marc Cohen: In the allegory, Plato likens people untutored in the Theory of Forms to prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave. Behind them burns a fire. Between the fire and the prisoners there is a parapet, along which puppeteers can walk. The puppeteers, who are behind the prisoners, hold up puppets that cast shadows on the wall of the cave. The prisoners are unable to see these puppets, the real objects that pass behind them. What the prisoners see and hear are shadows and echoes cast by objects that they do not see. However, one day one of them is released from what keeps them the guy sitting, and they look back. At that time, the guy realizes that there are objects and the fire behind people and someone moves the objects. The shadow people have seen is a fake. People who are still sitting have never seen the objects behind them, so they believe that the shadow is real. The guy is free to move, so he starts to run to the exit of the cave. After getting out of the cave, the guy feels dizzy because the world out of the cave is too shiny. After a while, his eyes got used to the brightness and the beautiful world like the mountain, the sky, the river, or the sun is in the eyes of the guy. And then he realizes that the world out of the cave is real. He goes back to the cave and tells people who are still sitting in the cave what he saw out of the cave. However, they do not believe that what the guy told is the truth. C. Interpretation of the Allegory By using this Allegory, we can think about today’s world. There are too much in formation in the world, and the world seems to be narrower than before. Especially the appearance of mass media like newspaper, television, magazine, Internet, or SNS changed how we deal with information. Too much information is created and flows every day, and we can get the information you need any time by the device like a smart phone, a PC or a tablet. However, is the information you can get really the reality? The information created by mass media might be like the shadow in a cave. Before I was born, there was already too much information. I learned much information like Japanese history in a school, and I also know the new information of the incidence that occurs every day at the same time through mass media. So I learned most of things that occurred around the world through the information created by mass media, and the information is like a shadow in Allegory of a Cave. Suppose that an internal warfare is happening in one country. We know about that through mass media. We might see suffers in a TV or in a photo. We feel like understand everything about the war through the picture on TV or words of the News, but that is not a whole thing but just part of that. We need to seek the reality by my own eyes today’s world. ?. Plato’s Legacy According to Philip, â€Å"Plato thought that the soul could and would exist apart from the body and would exist after the death of the body. He offered a â€Å"proof† for this position and was the first to do so in writing that we have any evidence of doing so. He offered several different proofs or arguments none of which are convincing today†. His argument was that humans were composed of bodies and souls, but soul was more important and immortal. His arguments used premises that are questionable today. For example, Plato thought he could conclude that the soul could exist separating from the body because it worked independently from the body when it engaged in pure thought. But today, it is proved that how we think depends on the physical brain works. So this is no longer accepted as true. Plato thought that they are remembering the knowledge implanted in their souls when the souls were in the realm of pure thought and eternal forms before entering into the body after which they forgot as they became confused by physical emotions and feelings and limited experiences through the senses. And that is the only way to explain how people come to know. This is no longer accepted as the best explanation of how people come to have knowledge. However, Plato is credited with being the first human to attempt to set out any sort of a proof that humans had souls and that they survived the death of the body and that they were immortal. A. Descartes-Substance Dualism According to Philip, â€Å"Descartes also believed that the soul existed prior to and separate from the body, and it was immortal. In his view, all of reality consisted of two very different substances: matter or the physical and spirit or the non-physical. † The physical was what would be extended in time and space and the non-physical would not be characterized. He thought that his famous claim that â€Å"I think therefore I am† established not just that he existed but that he existed without a body as a â€Å"thinking thing†. A â€Å"thinking thing† is a thing that thinks and by that would be included: imagining, conceiving, hoping, dreaming, desiring, fearing, conjecturing, reasoning, remembering and more. For him a â€Å"thinking thing† needed no physical parts to do what it does. Modern science has established that there is no evidence of humans that are without a physical body and its brain. There is no evidence that thought is possible without a brain. There is much evidence that what has been associated with Descartes’ â€Å"thinking thing† is now explained solely in term of the brain and how the brain is physically structured and the functioning of the brain. B. Aquinas According to the text, â€Å"Saint Thomas Aquinas is the philosopher who explained five ways to demonstrate the existence of the God within the framework of a posteriori (the knowledge comes from, or after the experience) and developed cosmological and teleological arguments. † I am going to explain one of the demonstrations. The way is from the nature of efficient cause. In the world of sensible things, there is an order of efficient causes. It never happens that the thing is the efficient cause of itself. If you look at one phenomenon, you can see many efficient causes behind it. But you cannot go back to infinity. There must be the first efficient cause. Aquinas claims that that is the God. The Aquinas’ claim is similar to Plato’s claim. He thought the God is the first efficient cause and independent one. That is close to the concept â€Å"the realm of the form† Plato claimed. And the things in the world of sensible things are the secondary things of the God. It is close to â€Å"the Empirical world† Plato claimed. ?. Chinese Natural Cosmology A. Ames `Image of Reason in Chinese Culture† Ames claims the difference between the dominant conceptions of reality in the West and in the Chinese tradition in his â€Å"image of Reason in Chinese Culture†. According to the text, Ames claims that â€Å"to explore the Chinese philosophy, he thought you needed to recognize at least that you are dealing with a fundamentally different world if you are familiar with Western culture. To bring into relief certain features of the dominant Indo-European view and Chinese alternative to it, he constructs a â€Å"logical sense of order with an â€Å"aesthetic† order. † What we call â€Å"logical† sense of order has developed Western philosophical and religious orthodoxy, and it is based on the presumption that there is something permanent, perfect, objective, and universal that disciplines the world of charge and guarantees natural and moral order-some originative and determinative arche, an eternal realm of Platonic edios or â€Å"ideas†, the One True God of the Judeo-Christian universe, a transcendental strongbox of invariable principles or laws, an annalistic method for discerning clear and distinct ideas. In a single-order world, the One God is the initial beginning of the universe. The God is primal and unchanging principle that causes and explains that origin and issues everything from itself, and that is familiar and presupposition in Western tradition. Although the world is explained by â€Å"logical† order in Western tradition, however, there is no â€Å"logical† order in Chinese philosophy. The order of Chinese tradition is immanent in and inseparable from a spontaneously changing world. The universe possesses within itself its organizational principles and its own creative energy. In the view of Chinese tradition, the world creates itself. That is scandalous from the view point of Western scholar reason. The yin and the yan come together and guide the infinite combination of these two opposite source of energy. These two sources of energy make a spontaneous intelligence possible. Yin and yan as the characterization of a particular relationship invariably entail a perception from some particular perspective that enables us to unravel patterns of relatedness and interpret our circumstances. They provide a vocabulary for sorting out the relationship among things as they come together and constitute themselves in unique compositions. Ames also mentions the Chinese word â€Å"li†. In both classical Chinese corpus and modern language, the closest term that approximates â€Å"reason† or â€Å"principle†. He claims that identifying the meaning of the word â€Å"li† correctly is essential to understand Chinese philosophy. According to the text, â€Å"Philosophically, the most familiar uses of li lie somewhere in the cluster â€Å"reasoning† or â€Å"rationale† (A. S. Cua), â€Å"principle† (W.T. Chan), â€Å"organism† (J. Needham), and â€Å"coherence† (W. Peterson). † Among these several alternative translations used for â€Å"li†, although philosophically as protean as â€Å"principle† for Western tradition, unwarrantedly restrict li to a notion of human consciousness and tend to introduce distinction such as animate and inanimate, agency and act, intelligible and sensible. Li is much different from being some independent and immutable originative principle that disciplines a recalcitrant world. It is the fabric of order immanent in the dynamic process of experience. That is why â€Å"psychology† is translated in to Chinese as â€Å"the li of the heart-and-mind,† but then â€Å"physics† is â€Å"the study of the li of things and events. † What separates li rather clearly from Western common understanding of â€Å"principle† is that li is both a unity and a multiplicity. Li is the coherence of any â€Å"member of a set, all members of a set, or the set as a whole. † Both the uniqueness of each particular and the continuities that obtain among them are reflected by this description. Li then is the defining character or ethos of a given community, or any other such composition. Ames also claims another point at which li departs from â€Å"principle. † In Western tradition, the discovery of originative and determinative principle gives us a schema for classifying things and subsuming one thing under another. That is why people seek â€Å"principle† in Western tradition. However, the investigation of li, by contrast, is to seek out patterns that relate things, and to discover resonances between things that make correlations and categorization possible. B. Hans-Gorg Moeller In Daodejing, the meaning of â€Å"the root† is described by using metaphor. From the view of the Daoist, our world is a â€Å"self-generating† process. In Daoism there is no initial beginning for â€Å"logical† order. In Daoism, order is immanent in and inseparable from a spontaneously changing world, and then â€Å"the world creates itself. † In this point of view, the role of â€Å"the root† is very important. â€Å"The root† is an origin of phenomenon, and many things are derived from â€Å"the root. † Unlike many Western philosophical perspectives, this â€Å"root† has a somewhat unique, interesting, and different meaning in it. The Western philosophy’s principle or arche is the first cause of the event. And nothing would exist if there were not any of the Western philosophy’s principle or arche. However, the concept of â€Å"the root† is different of that. From the Daoist perspective, â€Å"the root† is a part of the plant. â€Å"The root† does not exist before the plant although plant cannot exist if there is no â€Å"the root. † That is, â€Å"the root† itself is not a creator of the plant. It is the origin of the growth of the plant. â€Å"The root† is buried in the soil or ground, so it is invisible. However, â€Å"the root† greatly influences its visible part. This illustrates Daoist’s â€Å"autopoiesis,† self-generating concept well, which differs a lot from the Western philosophical concept â€Å"arche,† which is stated or recognized as â€Å"the God. † ?. Comparative Epistemology A. Hellenistic-Prescriptive theoretical knowledge In Western tradition, most of philosophers think there is one principle or one God and things happen from it. And the mind is separable part from the body. One of the examples is Plato. Plato’s dualism is that there are the realm of form and the imperial world. The body belongs to the imperial world and the world is constantly changing. And what we sense by the body is limited, and the Empirical world is not real. The true world is the realm of the form, and the mind belongs to the world. Plato argues that the â€Å"knowledge† continuously exists and must be justified conviction. However, the Empirical world that we belong to is contentiously changing, and there is no unchanging thing in the world. That is why there is no thing from which we can get â€Å"knowledge† in the Empirical world, so we cannot get â€Å"knowledge† by our own senses. The unchanging things exist in the realm of the form, and we cannot reach the world by using our senses. So we need to use our mind to get â€Å"knowledge†. Not all of Western philosophers claim like that, but most of philosophers claim that the truth does not exist in the world where we live today. This concept greatly influences Christianity or other religions that have the one God. In Christianity, there is one God named â€Å"Jesus Christ†, and he is the reason why things happen or why we live. People pray to seek â€Å"knowledge† that exists in the world where we are not living. That is, we cannot get the â€Å"knowledge† about it in the world where we are living, and we need to get it from the other world to know the essence of the things. B. Chinese philosophy-Prescriptive practical On the other hand, there is no the one God in Chinese philosophy. In China, the war occurred constantly, and Chinese dynasty changed over time, so people did not come to rely on one thing. This influenced the Chinese philosopher. Instead of one god or one principle, Chinese philosophers think that the world creates itself and that the world is constituted by the combination of determinacy and indeterminacy, and spontaneous, dynamic changing is the universal principle of the world. In Western tradition, the philosophers try to attribute many phenomenons to the one reason. However, Chinese philosophers think that each thing is â€Å"self-so† creativity, self-generating, and spontaneous. For Chinese philosophy, the Nature is very important, and in Daoism it is important not to try to force thing. That is why there is the concepts in Daoism; wu wei(without intentional action), wu si(without deliberate thought), wu si(without selfish interesting), wu ji(without self-awareness), wu zhi(without knowledge), wu xin(without heart-and-mind). Daoists claim that when you are thinking something, the world is also changing at the same time, so you are missing something. That is why it is important for Daoism to stop thinking by your head, get out of the world of your head, look around the world, and take action. The most important thing for Daoism is that we ought to take action as a part of the world. ?. Conclusion There have been so many philosophers through the history, and each of philosophy has been developed around the world. And how people think about the world is different, depending on the philosophy. Of many philosophies, the significant different philosophies are the Western and Chinese philosophy. In the Western philosophy, the philosophers try to attribute everything to the one principle or the one God. On the other hand, there is no principle, and the philosophers have recognized the world as self-generating process, and the world is the source of itself without no exact start and end point. This thought influences religion and how people think about the world. Around the world, many wars related to religion occur today. The difference between the religions is just what ancient people developed, so it is important to try to understand the difference in today’s world. Reference. Pecorino, Philip, Ph. D. â€Å"Chapter 6 : The Mind-Body Problem Section 3: DUALISM. † Introduction To Philosophy an Online Textbook. Queensborough Community College, CUNY, n. d. Web. 4 Dec 2013. . Deutsch, Eliot. Introduction to World Philosophies. 1st ed. 509. New Jersey: A Pearson Education Company, 1997. Ex-255-256. Print. Deutsch, Eliot. Introduction to World Philosophies. 1st ed. 509. New Jersey: A Pearson Education Company, 1997. Ex-469. Print. Cohen, Marc. â€Å"The Allegory of the Cave. † Philosophy 320 History of Ancient Philosophy. University of Washington, 07 11 2013. Web. 4 Dec 2013. .