The Legend of Shaolin Monk Warriors

The Shaolin Monastery is the most famous temple in China, renown for its kung fu fighting Shaolin monks. With amazing feats of strength, flexibility, and pain-endurance, the Shaolin have created a worldwide reputation as the ultimate Buddhist warriors. Yet Buddhism is generally considered to be a peaceful religion with an emphasis on principles such as non-violence, vegetarianism, and even self-sacrifice to avoid harming others — how, then, did the monks of Shaolin Temple become fighters? The history of Shaolin begins about 1500 years ago, when a stranger arrived in China from lands to the west, bringing with him a new interpretation religion and spans all the way to modern-day China where tourists from around the world come to experience displays of their ancient martial arts and teachings. Origin of the Shaolin Temple Legend says that around 480 CE a wandering Buddhist teacher came to China from ​India, known as Buddhabhadra, Batuo or Fotuo in Chinese.  According to later, Chan — or in Japanese, Zen — Buddhist tradition, Batuo taught that Buddhism could best be transmitted from master to student, rather than through the study of Buddhist texts. In 496, the Northern Wei Emperor Xiaowen gave  Batuo  funds to establish a monastery at holy Mt. Shaoshi in the Song mountain range, 30 miles from the imperial capital of Luoyang. This temple was named Shaolin, with Shao taken from Mount Shaoshi and   lin meaning grove — however, when Luoyang and the Wi Dynasty fell in 534, temples in the area were destroyed, possibly including Shaolin. Another Buddhist teacher was Bodhidharma, who came from either India or Persia. He famously refused to teach Huike, a Chinese disciple, and Huike cut off his own arm to prove his sincerity, becoming the Bodhidharmas first student as a result. The Bodhidharma also reportedly spent 9 years in silent meditation in a cave above Shaolin, and one legend says that he fell asleep after seven years, and cut off his own eyelids so that it could not happen again — the eyelids turned into the first tea bushes when they hit the soil. Shaolin in the Sui and Early Tang Eras Around 600, Emperor Wendi of the new Sui Dynasty,  who was a committed Buddhist himself despite his Confucianism court,  awarded Shaolin a 1,400-acre estate plus the right to grind grain with a water mill. During that time,  the Sui reunified China but his reign lasted only 37 years. Soon, the country once more dissolved into the fiefs of competing warlords. Shaolin Temples fortunes rose with the ascension of the Tang Dynasty in 618, formed by a rebel official from the Sui court. Shaolin monks famously fought for Li Shimin against the warlord Wang Shichong. Li would go on to be the second Tang emperor. Despite their earlier assistance, Shaolin and Chinas other Buddhist temples faced numerous purges and in 622 Shaolin was shut down and the monks forcibly returned to lay life. Just two years later, the temple was allowed to reopen due to the military service its monks had rendered to the throne, but in 625, Li Shimin returned 560 acres to the monasterys estate. Relations with the emperors were uneasy throughout the 8th century, but Chan Buddhism blossomed across China and in 728, the monks erected a stele engraved with stories of their military aid to the throne as a reminder to future emperors. The Tang to Ming Transition and Golden Age In 841, the Tang Emperor Wuzong feared the power of the Buddhists so he razed almost all of the temples in his empire and had the monks defrocked or even killed. Wuzong idolized his ancestor Li Shimin, however, so he spared Shaolin. In 907, the Tang Dynasty fell and the chaotic 5 Dynasties and 10 Kingdom periods ensued with the Song family eventually prevailing and taking rulership of the region until 1279. Few records of Shaolins fate during this period survive, but it is known that in  1125, a shrine was built to the Bodhidharma, a half mile from Shaolin. After the Song fell to invaders, the Mongol Yuan Dynasty  ruled until 1368, destroying the Shaolin once more as its empire crumbled during the 1351 Hongjin (Red Turban) rebellion. Legend states that a Bodhisattva, disguised as a kitchen worker, saved the temple, but it was in fact burned to the ground. Still, by the 1500s, the monks of Shaolin were famous for their staff-fighting skills. In 1511, 70 monks died fighting bandit armies and between 1553 and 1555, the monks were mobilized to fight in at least four battles against Japanese pirates. The next century saw the development of Shaolins empty-hand fighting methods. However, the monks fought on the Ming side in the 1630s and lost. Shaolin in the Early Modern and Qing Era In 1641, rebel leader Li Zicheng destroyed the monastic army, sacked Shaolin and killed or drove away from the monks before going on to take Beijing in 1644, ending the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, he was driven out in turn by the Manchus who founded the Qing Dynasty. Shaolin Temple lay mostly deserted for decades and the last abbot, Yongyu, left without naming a successor in 1664. Legend says that a group of Shaolin monks rescued the Kangxi Emperor from nomads in 1674. According to the story, envious officials then burned down the temple, killing most of the monks and Gu Yanwu traveled to the remains of Shaolin in 1679 to record its history. Shaolin slowly recovered from being sacked, and in 1704, the Kangxi Emperor made a gift of his own calligraphy to signal the temples return to imperial favor.  The monks had learned caution, however, and empty-hand fighting began to displace weapons training — it was best not to seem too threatening to the throne. In 1735 to 1736, the emperor Yongzheng and his son Qianlong decided to renovate Shaolin and cleanse its grounds of fake monks — martial artists who affected monks robes without being ordained. The Qianlong Emperor even visited Shaolin in 1750  and wrote poetry about its beauty, but later banned monastic martial arts. Shaolin in the Modern Era During the nineteenth century, the monks of Shaolin were accused of violating their monastic vows by eating meat, drinking alcohol and even hiring prostitutes. Many saw vegetarianism as impractical for warriors, which is probably why government officials sought to impose it upon Shaolins fighting monks. The temples reputation received a serious blow during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 when Shaolin monks were implicated — probably incorrectly — in teaching the Boxers martial arts. Again in 1912, when Chinas last imperial dynasty fell due to its weak position compared with intrusive European powers, the country fell into chaos, which ended only with the victory of the Communists under Mao Zedong in 1949. Meanwhile, in 1928, the warlord Shi Yousan burned down 90% of the Shaolin Temple, and much of it would not be rebuilt for 60 to 80 years. The country eventually came under Chairman Maos rule, and monastic Shaolin monks fell from cultural relevance.   Shaolin Under Communist Rule At first, Maos government did not bother with what was left of Shaolin. However, in accordance with Marxist doctrine, the new government was officially atheist. In 1966, the Cultural Revolution broke out and Buddhist temples were one of the Red Guards primary targets. The few remaining Shaolin monks were flogged through the streets and then jailed, and Shaolins texts, paintings, and other treasures were stolen or destroyed. This might have finally been the end of Shaolin, if not for the 1982 film Shaolin Shi  or Shaolin Temple, featuring the debut of Jet Li (Li Lianjie). The movie was based very loosely on the story of the monks aid to Li Shimin and became a huge smash hit in China. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, tourism exploded at Shaolin, reaching more than 1 million people per year by the end of the 1990s. Shaolins monks are now among the best known on Earth, and they put on martial arts displays in world capitals with  literally thousands of films having been made about their exploits. Batuos Legacy Its hard to imagine what the first abbot of Shaolin would think if he could see the temple now. He might be surprised and even dismayed by the amount of bloodshed in the temples history and its use in modern culture as a tourist destination. However, to survive the tumult that has characterized so many periods of Chinese history, the monks of Shaolin had to learn the skills of warriors, most of important of which was survival. Despite a number of attempts to erase the temple, it survives and even thrives today at the base of the Songshan Range.

The Americans with Disability Act Essay - 1002 Words

Usability is a critical portion of web design that one must be ever mindful of when constructing websites. Whether creating a personal web space or building multiple pages for a large corporation, it is the burden of the designer to guarantee people can access that content. According to the United Nations, disabled people compose roughly 10 percent of the world’s population (United Nations, 2010). Many regulations and standards have been set forth to provide disabled people with the same opportunities to access content available on the World Wide Web, as it is most of the World’s population. The presence of medical conditions, classified as disabilities by the Americans with Disabilities Act as, â€Å"†¦a physical or mental impairment that†¦show more content†¦In order to comply, there are particular methods for ensuring that web sites are ADA compliant. When considering visually impaired person one must use text colors that are easy to read with the right combinations of colors as well as the right contrast adjustments. Additionally, color blindness must be considered. There must be an alternative to images for individuals who cannot view them in their browsers as well (for example, alt=†text†). In addition, the use of screen reading capabilities must be taken into account due to users that are visually impaired. For persons with hearing impairments, audio content must have a text alternative provided, besides this, for users who use alternative speech inputs, there should be a text equivalent. Web designers should also direct their attention to other disabling conditions such as the need for alternative navigation elements for people with learning disabilities or lower motor skills. There are also many tools available to web designers to ensure that their sites are compliant with current ADA laws. In accordance with the ADA’s mission statement, the World Wide Consortium (W3) created the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). In turn, the (WAI) developed a set of guidelines (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines [WCAG]) with the intent of providing remedies for design concerns that may arise when designing with the needs of disabled people in mind. The WAI purpose is a means for developing standards,Show MoreRelatedThe Disabilities Of The Americans With Disabilities Act1551 Words   |  7 Pageswith a disability (US Census Bureau, 2015). There are 6.4 million children between the ages of 3 to 21 that are receiving special education services (National Center for Education Statistics, 2014). In Georgia, 23.4% of the po pulation are people under the age of 21 living with a disability (Erickson Schrader, 2014). Bulloch County has a population of 71,214 and of the entire population, 16% of them are living with a disability (Cornell, 2012). By the standards of the Americans with DisabilitiesRead MoreThe Americans With Disabilities Act1277 Words   |  6 Pageshaving a disability was seen as a physical imperfection. People with disabilities were treated as moral and social subordinates. We were trained that if a person had a disability they were not able to perform a task with the same ability as a normal person. They have been denied jobs for which they are highly qualified because they have been considered incompetent, or because employers were not comfortable with their presence in the workplace. Occasionally people with certain disabilities have beenRead MoreThe Americans With Disabilities Act931 Words   |  4 Pageslaw in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been a challenge for employers to implement. This law prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in both public and public businesses. There were numerous lawsuits where disabled employees have charged that employers h ave failed to accommodate his or her needs in the workplace. However, Supreme Court decisions interpreted the act in a way that made it difficult to prove that an impairment was a disability thereby ruling inRead MoreThe American With Disabilities Act971 Words   |  4 Pages The American with Disabilities Act was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by President George H.W. Bush. (Mayerson, 1992). According to Hallahan, Kauffman, Pullen (2015, P, 14) â€Å"the ADA provides protection of the civil rights in the specific areas of employment, transportation, public, accommodation, State and local government, and telecommunication. According to Mayerson (1992, P1) â€Å"the ADA did not began at the signing ceremony at the White House, but it began in the communities, when parentsRead MoreAmericans with Disabilities Act779 Words   |  3 PagesAmericans With Disabilities Act Website 1 http://www.cato.org Sponsoring Agency: The CATO Institute Content and Website Layout: The CATO Institute has afforded the public with myriad resources, regarding disabilities, education, child policy, welfare, government and politics. This website is fraught with publications, informative videos and commentary. Summary of Contributions: In essence, the CATO Institute has invariably aided the public, including segments of the population who have sufferedRead MoreThe Americans With Disabilities Act Essay964 Words   |  4 Pages All Americans deserve the right to receive the best medical treatment available, that includes those with disabilities. So what is ADA? What makes it so essential? ADA may seem like just a couple letters from the alphabet, although to a person that has a disability it means a whole lot more. ADA stands for Americans with Disabilities Act. The Americans with Disabilities Act is extremely vital in the medical field. Not only is it the law to ensure that there is appropriate access to those with disabilitiesRead MoreThe Americans With Disabilities Act1577 Words   |  7 PagesAmericans with Disabilities Act I Introduction The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is federal legislation designed to prevent discrimination against disabled people. It applies to all disabled persons, no matter the nature of their disability. This paper examines the ADA and discusses some of the ramifications of the legislation. II Americans with Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act (hereafter ADA) was enacted in 1990, and its purpose is stated thusly: â€Å"The Americans withRead MoreThe On The American With Disability Act931 Words   |  4 PagesAs a supervisor according to my knowledge based on the American with Disability Act, I as supervisor would give Cheryl an oral warning. I will notify her that the ADA law states that she needs to do her job appropriately. I will check on her time and performance. If she did not perform a good job then I will give her a written warning. My first recommendation is that she should meet the EPA advisor and get some assistance from that program because that program may give her the lesson how to improveRead MoreAmericans with Disability Act926 Words   |  4 PagesAmericans with Disabilities Act was established to restrain illegal discrimination in employment against individuals qualified to be disabled. The purpose of the law was to generally end discrimination in the place of work and to deliver equal employment chances for individuals living with disabilities or have had histories of disabilities. The act defends employees that experience physical or mental deficiency that greatly limits a key life activity. In addition to that, it protects the rights ofRead MoreThe American With Disabilities Act998 Words   |  4 PagesDisability is a complex word to define. Several attempts have been made to provide simplistic definition of the word however, it just added to more confusion and misuse of what the word disability m eans. The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines disability as â€Å"a physical or mental impairment that limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual†. There are many different perspectives of what the term disability means from an administrative, clinical, or academic research

Phaedo ( Plato ) and The Wall ( Jean-Paul Sartre ) free essay sample

Compares their attitudes toward imminent death (serenity vs. terror) of Socrates and the protagonist in the short story. In Platos dialogue Phaedo, Socrates expresses a spiritual and accepting view of death in general and of his own imminent, personal death in particular. In contrast, Pablo, in Jean-Paul Sartres story The Wall, faces what he believes to be his own death with abject terror, although he tries to hide his fear behind a mask of toughness: I wanted to stay hard (Sartre 9). The differences between the two men in their attitudes toward death are the results of the ways they have lived their lives. Socrates is a man who has diligently sought the truth about life, death, virtue, wisdom, and himself, while Pablo seems to have lived his life with little self-examination or seeking after deeper truths. The results are two men facing their deaths, one with serenity, one with terror. We will write a custom essay sample on Phaedo ( Plato ) and The Wall ( Jean-Paul Sartre ) or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Socrates would say that Pablo has not lived a life of philosophy, has not lived a pious, wise or

Jews In Argentina Essays - Immigration To Israel, Aliyah

Jews In Argentina The Jewish Community of Argentina Argentina is the second largest nation in Lain America and boasts the largest Jewish community in the region (200,000 of its 35 million people). From an open door policy of immigration to the harboring of Nazi war criminals, Argentinas Jews have faced period of peaceful coexistence and periods of intense anti-Semitism. Argentinas Jews have numerous Jewish community organizations. The DIAI (Delegacion de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas) was founded in 1939 as the political arm of the Jewish community. The DIAI protects Jewish rights and represents the community in the government. Another organization, the AMIA, an Ashkenazic mutual-aid society, provides health and human services to Argentinas Ashkenazi population. History After the expulsion from Spain in 1492, conversos (or secret Jews) settled in Argentina. Most of these immigrants assimilated into the general population and, by the mid 1800's, few Jews were left in Argentina. Argentina gained its independence from Spain in 1810. Bernardino Rivadavia, Argentinas first president, gave support to policies that promoted freedom of immigration and respect for human rights. In this atmosphere of tolerance, a second wave of Jewish immigration began in the mid-19th century with Jewish immigrants arriving from Western Europe, especially from France. In 1860, the first Jewish wedding was recorded in Buenos Aires. A couple of years later, a minyan met for the High Holiday services and, eventually, the minyan became the Congregacion Israelita de la Republica. In the late 19th century, a third wave of immigration fleeing poverty and pogroms in Russia, and other Eastern Europe countries, moved to Argentina because of its open door policy of immigration. These Jews became known as Rusos and became active in Argentine society. In 1889, 824 Russian Jews arrived in Argentina on the SS Weser and became gauchos (Argentine cowboys). The gauchos bought land and established a colony, which they named Moiseville. Due to lack of funding, the gauchos appealed to Baron Maurice de Hirsch for funds and the Baron subsequently founded the Jewish Colonization Association. During its heyday, the Association owned more than 600,000 hectares of land, populated by more than 200,000 Jews. While non-Jews now own many of these cooperative ranches, Jews continue to run some of the properties. Between 1906 and 1912, Jewish immigration increased at a rate of 13,000 immigrants per year. Most of the immigrants were Ashkenazi Jews from Europe, but a number of Sephardic Jews from Morocco and the Ottoman Empire also settled in Argentina. By 1920, more than 150,000 Jews were living in Argentina. Anti-Semitic attacks against Jews were infrequent in Argentina before World War I. Following the Russian Revolution, between 1918 and 1930, anti-revolutionary feelings developed into full-blown anti-Semitism against the Rusos. From January 7-13, 1919, a general strike in Buenos Aires led to a pogrom against the Jews. Many were beaten and had their property burned and looted.i Despite anti-Semitic actions against the Jews and increasing xenophobia, Jews became involved in most sectors of Argentine society. Still they were unable to be work in the government or military and so many became farmers, peddlers, artisans and shopkeepers. Cultural and religious organizations flourished and a Yiddish press and theater opened in Buenos Aires, as well as a Jewish hospital and a number of Zionist organizations. Post World War II Juan Perons rise to power in 1946 worried many Jews because he was thought to be a Nazi sympathizer with fascist leanings. Peron halted Jewish immigration to Argentina, introduced Catholic religious instruction in public schools and allowed Argentina to become a haven for fleeing Nazis. According to Argentine journalist and historian Jorge Camarasa, author of two books on Nazi refugees in South America, There are indications that Peron received Nazi Funds and access to secret Swiss accounts in payment for allowing people like Eichmann a new start. Many former Nazi officers served as military trainers and advisers under Peron. On the other hand, Peron also expressed sympathy for Jewish rights and established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1949. Since then, more than 45,000 Jews have immigrated to Israel from Argentina.i Peron was overthrown in 1955, which was followed by another wave of anti-Semitism. In 1960, Israeli agents abducted Adolf Eichmann who was deeply involved with the formulation and operation of the final solution to the Jewish question.

Law 201 Case Study Essays

Law 201 Case Study Essays Law 201 Case Study Essay Law 201 Case Study Essay Raymond Smith recently bought a new car from a car dealership. The sales contract he signed contained language expressly denying liability for personal injuries caused as a result of defects in the car. It also limits the remedy for breach of warranty to repair or replace the defective part. Unfortunately one month after purchasing the auto, Smith was seriously injured when the car veered off the road and into a ditch as a result of a defect in the steering mechanism of the car. I will determine what would be the result if Raymond Smith sued the dealership. Under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) Article 2, unless omitted or changed, the sale of any goods suggests a warranty by the seller that the goods are of reasonable and average quality. Also that it is fit for the ordinary purposes that the goods are to be used. In this case, because the car dealer has omitted personal injuries caused by the car, from the warranty provided to Raymond, the car dealer would be able to enforce the disclaimer against Raymond Smith. But since Raymond was simply driving the vehicle under ordinary onditions and not driving recklessly, the car dealer personal injury disclaimer would not be enforced against him. Therefore, as the vehicle defect renders it unfit for ordinary use, Raymond will prevail against the dealer for breach of warranty. The bottom line is that the type of disclaimer given by the car dealer is invalid. The car dealer can be sued for the defect and breach of warranty. What we still do not know is whether the defect was caused by the car dealership or by the manufacturer. If it is cause by the dealer than the dealership would be liable for Raymonds accident.

State Unit Study of California

State Unit Study of California These state unit studies are designed to help children learn the geography of the United States and learn factual information about every state. These studies are great for children in the public and private education system as well as homeschooled children. Print the United States Map and color each state as you study it. Keep map at the front of your notebook for use with each state. Print the State Information Sheet and fill in the information as you find it. Print the California State Map and fill in the state capital, large cities and state attractions that you find. Answer the following questions on lined paper in complete sentences. State Capital What is the capital?State Flag Who designed the flag?State Flower Where did the scientific name come from?State Bird How is this bird easily recognized?State Tree What is the average trunk diameter?State Song Who wrote the state song?State Seal What river is the miner working by? Heres a great picture of the state seal.State Animal How tall do these animals grow?State Marine Mammal How big do these whales grow?State Reptile What are the eating habits of this reptile?State Fish When did this fish become the official fish?State InsectWhat is the wingspan of this insect?State MineralWhat is the foundation of the economic history of California?State RockWhat is the coloring of this rock?State Motto What does this Greek word mean? California Printable Pages - Learn more about California with these printable worksheets and coloring pages. California Word Search - Find the California state symbols and other related words. Did You Know... List two interesting facts. California Landmarks - The state of California has designated nearly 1100 sites as California State Historical Landmarks. This site has pictures of many of them. Your Idea Becomes a Law - Learn how a bill becomes law in the State of California. San Diego Natural History Museum - Explore the activities at the Kids Habitat. Energy Quest - Energy education from the California Energy Commission. Big Orange Online - Learn about the California orange industry and create your own label. The California Gold Rush - Learn all about the California Gold Rush with this online student booklet. Odd California Law: It used to be illegal to peel an orange in a hotel room.

Are Women Really Better Leaders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Are Women Really Better Leaders - Essay Example Thus, this paper intends to explore the issue of the difference in leadership styles between the two genders to answer the question: Are women better leaders? In 1996, Belenky made a study on organizations run by women and identified how female leaders assumed their functions differently that from men. Belensky (1996) noted that women leaders â€Å"developed themselves as public leaders by extending and elaborating women’s traditional roles and women’s ways to an extraordinary degree† (p. 412). This statement can be supported by the case of Anne Mulcahy, former CEO of Xerox who influenced people by working side by side with them through hard times. Xerox then was in a time of financial bankruptcy; in fact, she herself worked for two consecutive years without a weekend off. Her passion and perseverance kept her going on despite the warnings of financial advisors that Xerox would not be able to make it. Mulcahy was not just an ordinary leader, she was very extra-ordinary that gender did not matter at all. Amazingly, she was able to change the course of Xerox and her successor is even a woman too. It is easy to manage people when they are satisfied; however, good leaders emerge when the scenario is full of adversity. This is what made Mulcahy different since she rose from the ranks and took the helm without doubting herself. However, this does not mean that Mulcahy is a good leader because she is a woman; instead, she performed beyond her traditional role that is why she became a great leader. Sex-typing of leadership abilities does not place women in higher position nor does it give them more respect. Rather, society should view women as â€Å" people†, not â€Å"men and women† (Debate, p. 151). Women are managers and good leaders because they worked hard to educate themselves and earn professional experience. The successor of Mulcahy is Ursula

PATIENT TO NURSE RATIO IN HOSPITALS Research Paper

PATIENT TO NURSE RATIO IN HOSPITALS - Research Paper Example The first group of subjects examined consisted of 2585 patients that had utilized mechanical ventilation following admission for pneumonia treatment or for more than two days irrespective of diagnosis made at the time of admission. The research subjects, categorized on the basis of varying staffing levels were taken into account during the study. Results from the study showed that 393 patients developed pneumonia out of the 1658 subjects that were in the secondary group. This amounted to a percentage of 23.7. In study groups with PNRs of 1:1, 2:1, 2.5:1, and 3:1 units with patient to nurse ratios of 1 to 1, 2 to 1, 2.5 to 1, and 3 to 1, the rates of pneumonia development were 9.3 percent, 25.7 percent, 18.7 percent and 24.2 percent in that order. Overall, the study showed that after adjustment for contradictory variables, PNRs of more than 1:1 were not associated with elevated risk for pneumonia linked to ventilator usage. The conclusion, therefore, was that even though a 1:1 ratio i s associated with a reduced risk of ventilator-linked pneumonia, adjustment of the variables reduces the significance of the difference. The second article under scrutiny is titled â€Å"Patient-to-Nurse Ratios and Outcomes of Moderately Preterm Infants† and is written by Profit et al. (2010). The research article begins by denoting that, in many spheres of medicine, increased PNRs are linked to improved patient outcomes. The authors are keen to note that the impact of nurse-staffing on health outcomes of preterm babies has not been addressed in research. This clearly identifies the research gap and justifies the study. The objective of the study, therefore, was to examine the influence of PNRs on the outcome of healthcare afforded to fairly preterm babies. In this study increase in nurse staffing was linked to a decline in the preterm infants’ weight gain each day. However, nurse-staffing in relation to the number of infants, as measured by the

Twayne’s Social Movements Essay Example for Free

Twayne’s Social Movements Essay Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It has often been said that the work of all good authors are shaped by the times through which they live, for with personal experience, the author is given the unique ability to temper even research of past events with their own trials and tribulations.   Such is the case when looking at the work of the controversial author Herbert Aptheker, whose unique historical perspective was influenced by his life experiences, political beliefs, and the changing world around him.   In this research, one of Aptheker’s pivotal works, â€Å"Abolitionism: A revolutionary Movement† will be the focus, along with other works of his being considered to add depth to the research, as well as the facts of the life of this controversial author himself. Author’s Thesis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Overall, Aptheker’s thesis, not only in this work but in many others which he wrote in a very prolific career, is that slave labor is a key element which made it possible for the United States to be able to reach the economic, military, and cultural heights that it did in less than a century from its foundation, and also that slaves made it possible for many people to become wealthy at the expense of people who simply had no say in the matter.   Therefore, Aptheker maintains, there is a level of reparation which the descendants of slaves are entitled to receive.   This thesis, it appears, has a substantial basis in the political beliefs of Herbert Aptheker himself. Further research into Aptheker the individual has indicated that he, by many accounts, was an avowed Marxist and Socialist, and these beliefs tempered his analysis of the practice of slavery, its abolition, and the firm belief that while slaves contributed a great deal to the advancement of American society, those who were slaves of course did not receive their fair share of the fruits of their labors, and that slaves had a great deal more potential to realize than what they did in their slave roles, and of course in many cases fulfilled their greatest potential only after being freed from the bondage of slavery itself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Aptheker’s thesis makes more sense, in fact, when it is compared to the ideas of Marxism, which likewise proclaims that those who are enslaved by the wealthy in society must in fact rise up and claim their own rightful piece of the fruits of labor, lest they be crushed under the feet of those who would use them for their muscle and effort, without providing them with just compensation for the amount of work they have put in to whatever they are doing.            Book Summary   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Abolitionism† is as unique a book as was the author that wrote it.   Overall, what the book succeeds in doing is to overturn all of the conventional myths about the practice of slavery in the early southern United States from several different perspectives.   To begin, Aptheker challenges the myth that all of the people who lived in the southern United States in the years prior to the American Civil War were all strongly in favor of slavery. Rather, Aptheker maintains in the book, those show supported slavery in the south were essentially those who were able to benefit financially from the practice of slavery itself, such as the plantation owners who used huge numbers of slave laborers in order to allow for the harvesting of crops in efficient and inexpensive ways, thereby maximizing profits (Aptheker).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moving forward in Aptheker’s book, he then challenges the assertion that those who fought for the Confederate States of America during the Civil War were all pro-slavery.   Rather, Aptheker maintains, many of these individuals were either interested in maintaining freedom from what they saw as an increasingly oppressive federal government, or simply to protect their homes and families from the invading armies of the north. Therefore, these were not slavery supporters but were simply doing what most people would do in a similar situation-protect their land and loved ones.   Additionally, the author also makes it clear that freed slaves could, and did, contribute a great deal to the political climate of the United States, and were in fact highly regarded by whites, thereby totally debunking the myth that once a slave, always seen as a slave by others (Aptheker).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ultimately, having defeated many of the myths of American slavery, Aptheker moves forward with his discussion of â€Å"Abolitionism† by discussing how the slave labor of the early United States in fact helped to build up the early United States, and since this progress would not have been possible without slaves, these same slaves, or more correctly the descendants of these slaves, are in fact entitled to financial reparations in a way of compensating them for the hardships inflicted upon them at the hands of slave owners (Aptheker).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Overall, what one sees in reviewing Aptheker’s book is a challenging of the misconceptions about slavery, the fight against slavery, and the aftermath.   As was mentioned in earlier portions of this research, the author’s theories seem to have been shaped as much by his life experience and political leanings as anything. How the Author Wrote the Book   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was stated earlier in the research that Aptheker seems to have relied heavily on his life experiences and political opinions in the writing of â€Å"Abolitionism†, and this is a more reliable fact when the book is looked at in a much closer manner.   Beyond this, Aptheker also utilized historical material in the form of primary materials to form the foundation of his book.   There is also something much more important that Aptheker used in the writing of this particular book which makes it all the more unique and compelling. This book was written in the final years of Aptheker’s life- a life which led him to study the human condition, write and lecture on it extensively, and fearlessly state his opinions on the topic, many times to his own disadvantage.   What this has done, however, is allowed an insight that very few authors could ever achieve, and this comes through in this, and many other works of Aptheker’s. An Opinion of the Book   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In one humble opinion, based on research, Aptheker’s book is a well researched, eye-opening work, as long as the reader keeps in mind that the author has a very specific political slant in writing it.   However, it must also be noted that the researcher was impressed by the fact that this book was able to challenge myths that are based on only a few opinions, and that Aptheker took the chance of using established research, modern political theory, and logical conclusions to put together not only an historic work of research, but also insightful social commentary. Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this research, a controversial man and his insightful book about a controversial topic have been discussed and analyzed.   More importantly, however, it seems that in the final analysis, Herbert Aptheker and his vast body of work have forced all of us to take a closer look at ourselves. Putting aside what some would consider to be Aptheker’s questionable political beliefs, what we see when looking at the man and his work with a healthy dose of tolerance and respect for his point of view is a man who understood all too well the depths to which the human mind can plummet in pursuit of its own goals, how innocent people can be hurt in the process, and also how the struggle against the establishment has taken place in the past and must continue in the future.   In conclusion, perhaps this is Aptheker’s most lasting legacy.

Ghost Story of the New Jersey Devil :: Urban Legends Ghost Stories

The New Jersey Devil The urban legend I chose to write about for this assignment is the story of the Jersey Devil. The Jersey Devil is a creature that was, according to legend, born from a woman in southern New Jersey and it is supposed to have haunted the people of the surrounding area for at least 260 years. The Jersey Devil is known as a creature that mutilates livestock as well as other animals and is said to appear shortly before disasters occur. I was able to listen to two versions of the story surrounding the Jersey Devil while conducting research for this assignment. The first story teller is an 18 year old female from Rockaway, New Jersey. This town is a suburban community in northern New Jersey with the majority of residents belonging to the economic middle class. I collected this story during a trip to see my parents on April 1, 2006 at the story teller’s home. She told me the story shortly after dinner so it was nearly dark when she told me the story. The second story teller is a 15 year old female that is also from Rockaway, New Jersey. This story teller also told me the story of the Jersey Devil on April 1, 2006, and also delivered the story from her home during dinner. When the first story teller, the 18 year old female, began to tell me her version of the story of the Jersey Devil, she first said that she did not know much about the legend. She then explained to me that the Jersey Devil is an animal-like creature that lives in the Pine Barrens (the Pine Barrens is a sparsely populated, wooded area of southern New Jersey). He has been seen by many different people who have camped in the area, and he has killed several campers over many years. She finished her story by saying that he is very scary and that she has been afraid of the Jersey Devil for years. When I asked her where she heard this story, she told me that she could not remember but she did remember hearing about the story while she was in elementary school. The second story teller, the 15 year old female, also stated that she did not really know much about the Jersey Devil. She started by saying that he lives in the woods, and then corrected herself by saying that he lives in the Pine Barrens in southern New Jersey.

Recording, Analysing and Using Human Resource Information Essay

This assignment is based around a retail organisation. This organisation is in the fashion sector, primarily selling ladies fashion (although it does have some lines for men and children). The organisation has 34 stores, primarily based in the Midlands and South of the UK. It tends to employ significant number of students during the holiday period (to help cover staff holidays) and it always employs a number of temporary workers in the busy weeks leading up to Christmas. Answer the following questions (total of 1000 words): 1. Why does this organisation need to keep employee records (identify at least two reasons?) Two reasons as to why the above mentioned organisation would need to keep employee records are as follows; 1) To satisfy legal requirements – There are numerous legal requirements regarding the recording of employee records. The key legal requirements that this or any organisation or Human Resources (HR) department would need to be aware of are; Storing records for the Inland Revenue, The Working Time Regulations 1998, The National Minimum Wage Act 1998 and the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR). This list is not exhaustive. [1]According to Martin et al ‘there is an extensive body of legislation that regulates and controls the management of personal data and information. HR records have to satisfy a number of legal principles’. 2) To provide information to support the organisation in its decision making – By keeping employee records the above mentioned organisation can support the organisation in its decision making in various ways. For example as this organisation tends to employ a significant number of students during the holiday period they would be able to look at records from previous years and perhaps re-employ students who had a good previous record in attendance and performance etc. On the other hand if they had an employee who caused them problems with areas such as attendance or performance they would know not to re-employ them. This could help to save time and resource when it comes to recruiting for the holiday period. 2. What data relating to employees might this organisation want to collect and how will this support HR or L&D practices? (Give 2 examples of types of data) Two examples of types of data the above organisation may want to collect to support with HR or L&D practices are as follows; 1) Primary employee records – These records include all employee personal information such as name, address, date of birth, start date of employment, bank details, National Insurance number, and tax information (P45 or P46). This information will support the HR department in a variety of different ways ranging from simple tasks such as producing letters to more complex tasks such as producing reports. The HR department may need to produce letters for employees relating to anything such as a change in working hours to information about a sickness absence. The employees contact information would be gathered from the primary employee records as mentioned above. The HR department may also need to produce reports; these reports may refer to the age of the workforce, or the length of service within the workforce. Again the HR department would look to these primary employee records to support. 2) Absence – It is vital for any organisation to record absence levels however, ultimately if the information gathered is not used then it is of no real benefit to the organisation. [2]According to Daniels ‘if absence data is going to be of any use it needs to be: †¢ Reported monthly †¢ Reported alongside data that shows at least the past 12 months †¢ Compared with the rate for the industry †¢ Broken down by group of employee (e.g. manual and non-manual) or by department.’ Recording absence levels will support the above mentioned organisation within the HR department in numerous ways. One example of this would be if there are any months where absence is particularly high then operationally the organisation may look at the possibility of needing temporary cover. The organisation may also look at yearly trends, therefore if they know that December for example is a month where absence levels are particularly high they can strategically plan and prepare temporary cover in advance. 3. What would you recommend as effective methods for this organisation to store the data, and why? (Give two different options) My recommendations as effective methods for this organisation to store the data relating to primary employee records and absence are as follows; 1) Primary employee records – As this organisation has a large number of employees spread across 34 different stores in different locations throughout the United Kingdom; my recommendation would be to use a Personnel Database. I believe this would be a key requirement in keeping the data stored efficiently. HR departments may need to access information from different Stores for reporting etc therefore I feel it would be necessary to have a master database for all employees. Common examples of types of data stored on a database would be name, address, start date, date of birth and salary etc. This information can then be used in a variety of different ways ranging from simple tasks such as producing letters to more complex tasks such as creating spreadsheets and reporting. [3]Martin et al cited that using databases for employee records ‘could be used in its raw, unprocessed form to send out a letter. In addition it could be processed to identify who is due to retire or to calculate salary costs for department.’ 2) Absence – My recommendation for this organisation to store their absence rates would be through Computerised Personnel Information Systems (CPIS). [4]According to Daniels, ‘as well as holding personnel records and data, there are a number of other functions that can be incorporated into CPIS. These may not always come with the standard package, but they might be bought as additional facilities’. Absence management being one of the functions Daniels refers to. One of benefits in using CPIS in relation to absence would be that all Stores would have access to absence information relating to every Store within the organisation. This would enable decision makers to efficiently and effectively analyse trends relating to all the Stores. [5]Martin et al refer to the fact that only actions taken by managers and supervisors can bring absence levels down however good records can help them to do this job. A CPIS will produce accurate data therefore making it easier for managers to monitor this. 4. Why is it important for the organisation to effectively input and retrieve information? Answer this with particular reference to payroll and personnel records. The importance of effectively inputting and retrieving information is key to the successful operation of the above organisation, or in fact any organisation. I will specifically concentrate on the areas of payroll and personnel. Firstly I will discuss the implications relating to payroll. Paying employees the correct amount of money at the correct time is essential to employee satisfaction, therefore within any business it is vital that all information needed for processing payroll has been input and retrieved accurately. As this organisation has 34 stores there will be a large number of employees, therefore there will be a large amount of information stored relating to pay. If information has been input or retrieved incorrectly this could result in incorrect payments to staff. For example if an employee left the business however someone forgot to input that they were a leaver, this could result in an incorrect payment, therefore losing the company money. On the other hand if an employee started the company however someone forgot to input the information this would mean that the new employee wasn’t paid as the information would not be in the system. This would instantly give the new employee a bad first impression of the organisation. Secondly I will discuss the implications relating to personnel records. It is vital that personnel information is input and retrieved effectively for numerous reasons. The first example would be in case of an emergency; when a new employee starts within the business they are always asked to submit a contact who is to be contacted in case of an emergency. Therefore it is very important that this information in input or retrieved in the correct manner. If the telephone number was input incorrectly and the employer came to use the number in the case of an emergency the employer would then not know who to contact especially within a large organisation as mentioned in the case study. If the information is retrieved incorrectly the employer may contact the incorrect person which may lead to unnecessary worry for someone was has been inserted as an emergency contact for another employee. Another example as to why personnel records need to be input and retrieved correctly would relate to medical information. When an employee is new to the business medical information will be gathered. For example if an employee suffers from a medical condition such as epilepsy and this has not been input into the system because of an error then staff may not understand or be aware if they had an epileptic fit. It could be the same with allergies to nuts etc. If staff are not aware they won’t be able to provide medical information to the ambulance when they arrive to support in cases like the above mentioned. Very often providing this information to the ambulance services can make the difference in life and death situations. 5. Identify three aspects of the storage of data that need to be addressed as a result of the Data Protection Act. [6]According to government legislation, The National Archives cited that The Data Protection Act is an ‘Act to make new provision for the regulation of the processing of information relating to individuals, including the obtaining, holding, use or disclosure of such information.’ Three aspects I have identified of the storage of data that need to be addressed as a result of the Data Protection Act are as follows; 1) Data that is processed must be done so fairly and lawfully. [7]The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) cites that ‘in practice, it means that you must: †¢ have legitimate grounds for collecting and using the personal data; †¢ not use the data in ways that have unjustified adverse effects on the individuals concerned; †¢ be transparent about how you intend to use the data, and give individuals appropriate privacy notices when collecting their personal data; †¢ handle people’s personal data only in ways they would reasonably expect; and †¢ make sure you do not do anything unlawful with the data. 2) Data stored must be adequate, relevant, and not excessive – This means that any information gathered must be relevant to the specific job of the employee. You must ensure that you do not hold more information than what is needed for a specific purpose. The organisation should identify the minimum amount of information that is required. 3) Data stored must be accurate and where necessary kept up to date. This principle places a responsibility to take steps to ensure accuracy of information processed and stored. When collecting the information reasonable steps must be taken to ensure the information is correct. [8]According to Martin et al ‘in employment one way to achieve this is to allow employees to check, and even update, their own records.’ Task 2 Input this data into an appropriate IT package (e.g. Excel) and then display the data in the most appropriate way. I have chosen to present my data in a line graph as I feel this is the most appropriate way to show the two variables (absence rate % in the last 12 months and staff turnover % in the last 12 months) in one graph. [pic] Now write a report (no more than 500 words) identifying what this data tells you, and suggesting how this might impact on the decision making in the organisation. Key findings within this data are as follows; †¢ Store D has the highest absence rate, that being 7.2% in the last 12 months †¢ Store C has the lowest absence rate, that being 1.8% in the last 12 months †¢ Store C has the highest staff turnover, that being 21% in the last 12 months †¢ Store F has the lowest staff turnover, that being 10% in the last 12 months As Store D’s absence rate is relatively high decision makers within the organisation and the Human Resource department (HR) should consider focusing on areas such as job motivation, employee engagement, working condition etc so as to try and improve overall absence % rate for the year. Decision makers should also ensure that the absence policy is being managed by line managers and that managers are correctly trained in following the policy. Another key area decision makers should focus on are key trends of absence types. For example sore throats and colds can be an indicator that the air conditioning is set to the wrong level. It is vital that decision makers understand why the absence rate is high so as they can take measures to improve it. Even though store C’s absence rate is the lowest at 1.8% they still have the highest staff turnover, that being 21%. A low absence rate can indicate that an employee is engaged and they want to be in the work place. One of the reasons for the highest staff turnover could be due to the significant number of students being employed in the holiday period and also the temporary workers in the busy weeks leading up to Christmas. These figures may lead the decision makers within the organisation to consider a different approach for staff cover over the holiday periods and Christmas if it is going to have a negative effect on the turnover % for that period of 12 months. An example of how they could improve this would be to offer overtime to existing employees rather than hiring temporary workers for the Christmas period. They could also have more part time employees throughout the year, for example they could employ students on a low number of hours throughout the year and then ramp up their hours at the busy periods such as Christmas. Store F has the lowest staff turnover that being 10%. This may be for numerous reasons such as location or employee engagement. Store F may not employ as many students for the Christmas or holiday period as it is in a smaller community where fewer students live. It may be that the people who are employed in the store are from a smaller community and they have worked here for years and there isn’t the need to ramp up over the Christmas period. Very often people who come from smaller communities tend to stay within the same place of work and don’t look to leave, therefore contributing to low staff turnover. Another factor could be that staff are engaged and motivated. The decision makers within the business should look to considering why Store F has the lowest staff turnover. They could look at how other Stores manage the Christmas and holiday period ramp up and also if they have any programmes with employee engagement. Then they could look to transferring skills and ideas from Store F to other stores with a high staff turnover. References †¢ Information Commissioner’s Office (2012) ‘Processing personal data fairly and lawfully (Principle 1)’ (online) (cited 6th August 2012). Available from: http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/data_protection/the_guide/principle_1.aspx †¢ The National Archives (2012) ‘Data Protection Act 1998’ (online) (cited 6th August 2012). Available from: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/introduction Bibliography †¢ Martin, M. Whiting, F. and Jackson, T. (2010) Human Resource Practice, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, London. †¢ Daniels, K. (2010), Recording, Analysing and Using Human Resource Information, ICS Limited, Glasgow. ———————– [1] M.Martin et al (2010) Human Resource Practice, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, London, p. 278 [2] K. Daniels (2010), Recording, Analysing and Using Human Resource Information, ICS Limited, Glasgow, p.17 [3] Martin et al, Human Resource in Practice, pp. 284 [4] Daniels, Recording, Analysing and Using Human Resource Information, pp. 29 [5] Martin et al, Human Resource in Practice, pp. 284 [6] The National Archives (1998) [7] Information Commissioner’s Office (2012) [8] Martin et al, Human Resource Practice, pp.289

De Stijl and Bauhaus Movements: Modernism in the Soviet

Formed in Holland in 1917, De Stijl (The Style) or Neoplasticism is a movement constructed by artists whose concepts are in line with utopian approach to art. Its founders were painters Theo van Doesburg, who is also an architect, and Piet Mondrian, a painter. The group which composed of other painters, and published the paper called De Stijl. Recognizing the need to remerge art and design, the De Stijl movement promoted functionalism. The basics of their design include rectilinear shapes sliding across one another.Opposed to surface decoration and free space, De Stijl explored the use of cubic or 3-D shapes to fill in space. With a tendency to be aesthetically simple, it applies only pure primary hues, black and white (Matthews, n. d. ). From functionality, one can derive that the proponents favor the use of space for abstract function and style. Arts produced in this movement had their own way of expression, which opposes pure art and natural design, but promotes other possibilitie s with the constructivist’s use of plastic art.Artists of De Stijl movement include Le Corbusier, who constructed designs using bold 3-D geometrical shapes set on the exterior. For example, in his House at Weissenhof, the designer used a massive horizontal block for the upper structure to attain highlight. Windows are designed similarly to avoid irregularity, thus suggesting order and functionality. Such design with the geometrical boxes set on the exteriors is most commonly used nowadays in office buildings, condominiums, and malls. The square boxes are used either as terraces or box plants, and each is designed with uniformity.In some schools nowadays, this design takes the form of extended ledges, which serve as safety structures to prevent falling. The United Nations Headquarters designed by Le Corbusier is another example of De Stijl art. As one can see, the building which towers high above has a similar structure to the office buildings nowadays. This 39-storey building accommodates 3,400 employees. The side walls are made of tinted glass, while the narrow end walls are of white marble. Considerably, buildings made subsequently take on this example, with tinted glass windows as walls, which combine high aspects of functionality with aesthetics.Although short-lived, the influence of De Stijl has been very prominent in the modern era. For instance, the concept of the toy Lego, which uses plastic art to construct structures, has been very popular among children. Also, many buildings and houses have been constructed based on the philosophy of this movement. Influenced by De Stijl, the Bauhaus movement followed, with a philosophy of turning away from old structures, and employing modern or international art with a higher sense of functionality for social and political purposes.Led by Walter Groupis, the artists focused on urban planning, housing, and development for the common people or the masses. Included in the teaching of Bauhaus arts is industrial production. Unlike De Stijl which supports plastic art, students under Bauhaus are taught to work on handicrafts to gain understanding of theoretical principles. One Bauhaus artist well-famed for designing multi functional buildings is Walter Gropius. Designed in 1911, Fagus Works boasts of modern art and style.The exterior is a combination of glass and brick walls, which allows passersby to view the interiors. Steel staircases adorn the corridors and add to the eclectic impression when viewed outside. Influenced by De Stijl, this building employs elucidative design but limited colors of beige and grey, thus striking a balance between simplicity and grandiose. Moreover, the use of bricks and glass, steel and wood for staircases also sets a balance between smooth and rough surfaces, or hard and soft, which further suggests both permanence and impermanence—a universal theme in the modern world.References Jirousek, Charlotte. (1995). De stijl. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from ht tp://char. txa. cornell. edu/art/decart/destijl/decstijl. htm Matthews, Kevin. Le Corbusier. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from http://www. greatbuildings. com/architects/Le_Corbusier. html Matthews, Kevin. Walter Gropius. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from http://www. greatbuildings. com/buildings/Fagus_Works. htmlhttp://www. google. com. ph/search? sourceid=navclient&hl=tl&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLJ_tlPH259PH259&q=soviet+de+stijl+artists

Supply and demand; Market for Milk

Supply and demand; Market for Milk Introduction Demand can be defined as the amount of goods or services that the buyers are willing and able to buy in a specific duration of time (Rittenberg, 2008, p. 58). The quantity demanded can be determined by various factors. In most cases, consumer’s choice to consume a particular product is determined by their preferences and tastes for particular products as well as the prices. On the other hand, the quantity supplied is the amount of goods or services that buyers are willing and able to supply in the market in a specific time. In this study, we are considering the market for milk.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Supply and demand; Market for Milk specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Impact on price and quantity of milk of an advertising campaign which highlights scientific studies that finds that drinking milk can help reduce weight gain The main aim for an organization to conduct an advertisement is to increase the level of sales. An advert plays a role of enticing consumers to buy a certain good or service. Advertisement also has a purpose of creating top of mind awareness. This offers a form of branding which attracts customers. An advert informing potential buyers on its significance in weight loss will entice new customers who may not have been consuming milk to switch into milk consumption. This will lead to an increase in the quantity of milk demanded. An advert informing customers on scientific discovery indicating the importance of milk in weight loss may also encourage the existing buyers to increase their levels of consumption. This will also lead to an increase in the level of milk sales. As already seen, an advertisement increases the level of the quantity demanded. With time, the level of demand may exceed the quantity supplied. This will lead to an increase in prices. This is based on the assumption that all other factors are held constant. There are other factors wh ich affects the quantity demanded for milk. For instance, an increase in the level of households’ income increases the quantity of milk demanded. For instance, an increase in the level of the household’s income in China and the surrounding regions has significantly led to an increase in milk prices (Arnold, not dated, par 4). Prices increases as a result of high demand for milk which is as a result of high household incomes. Impact on price and quantity of milk of a mad cow disease epidemic A mad cow disease has various effects on the milk market. It can lead to a decrease in the level of quantity supplied in the market. The affected animals reduce the level of production. If the disease persists, the level of quantity demanded will exceed the level of quantity supplied. This will lead to rising in milk prices. This is under the assumption that other factors are held constant. Impacts of milk price decrease According to the law of demand, the prices and the quantity of product demanded are moves in opposite direction. That is, when the prices increase, the quantity demanded decreases. This conclusion is based on the assumption that other factors which affect milk market are held constant. Therefore, a decrease in the prices of milk leads to an increase in the quantity of milk demanded.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Impact on price and quantity of milk by the government decides to implement a price ceiling. A price ceiling is a form of government intervention to protect consumers. Through a price ceiling, a government sets price limits over which the prices of a particular commodity should not exceed. In order for a price ceiling to have any effect to the consumers, it must be set below the market equilibrium. Otherwise it will be ineffective. A price ceiling on the prices of milk will lead to a lower milk price below the mark et equilibrium price. This will lead to an increase in the quantity of milk demanded. Impact of an increase in the prices of a compliment good; cookies Compliment goods are goods which are used in conjunction with each other. Therefore, we expect an increase in level of demand in one of these to induce an increase in the level of demand for the other good. For instance, it is assumed that cookies are used in conjunction with milk. Therefore, a change in demand in one of these will lead to changes in the quantity of milk demanded. Therefore, an increase in prices of cookies leads to an increase in the quantity of milk demanded. Price controls Price control is the attempt by the government to control the prices of goods and services in the market. This is usually aimed at maintaining availability of basic needs to the customers. Advantage Of To Price Controls One of the main advantages is that it maintains the affordability of basic goods and services. For instance, a price ceiling lo wers the prices of milk below the market levels. At lower prices, more people can afford milk and this will maintain a healthy nation.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Supply and demand; Market for Milk specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Disadvantage of price controls There are several drawbacks associated with price controls. Price control leads to shortages. When the government puts demands the producer to provide prices below the market prices, the amount of the product demanded will exceed the quantity supplied in the market. The level of demand increases to the point where supply cannot be kept up. These shortages can lead to black markets as people try to find a solution for shortages (Anonymous, 2008, par 2). Price Elasticity of Demand Elasticity of demand can be defined as the percentage change in the level of quantity demanded of a particular good or service divided by the percentage change in the prices of th at particular good or services all other things held constant (Rittenberg, 2008, p. 115). In the case of inelastic goods, consumers are less responsive to changes in prices. In this case, the elasticity of demand is less than one. That is, e1. In the milk market, consumers are less responsive to changes in prices. This is because milk is a basic good. Also, there are no close substitutes for milk. Therefore, the demand for milk is inelastic. Consequently, people may continue to consume milk despite of increase in prices. However, there may be slight changes in quantity demanded. There are several determinants of elasticity of demand. These include the availability of substitutes, time or availability of households’ budget. In the case of milk, there are no close substitutes; therefore the demand is likely to be inelastic. Impact of Milk Prices Increase on the Total Revenue Total revenue is the amount of money received from the sale of goods and services. That is, TR=QP. In th e case of elastic demand, any change in price has a significant impact on the quantity demanded. Since the demand for milk is inelastic, changes in price will lead to a small change in the level of revenue. Therefore, the total revenue will change with a small percentage. Reference List Anonymous (2008). Price Controls – Advantages and Disadvantages. Web.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Arnold, A. (n.d.). Thirst for Milk Bred by New Wealth Sends Prices Soaring. Web. Rittenberg, L. (2008). Principles of Microeconomics. New York: Flat World Knowledge.

Metal Jewelry Stamps Marks

Metal Jewelry Stamps Marks Jewelry made from precious metals often is stamped with a mark to indicate the chemical composition of the metal. A quality mark contains  information about metal content that appears on an article. It is usually stamped or inscribed on the piece. There is considerable confusion about the meaning of quality marks that are seen on jewelry and other items. Here is some information that will de-mystify terms such as plated, filled, sterling, and others.​ Gold Quality Marks karat, carat, Karat, Carat, Kt., Ct., K, C Gold is measured in karats, with 24 karats being 24/24ths gold or pure gold. A 10 karat gold item contains 10/24ths gold, a 12K item is 12/24ths gold, etc. Karats may be expressed using a decimal figure, such as .416 fine gold (10K). The minimum allowable quality for karat gold is 9 karats. Karats are not to be confused with carats (ct.), which are a unit of gemstone mass. One carat weighs 0.2 gram (1/5 of a gram or 0.0007 ounce). A hundredth of a carat is called a point. Gold Filled and Rolled Gold Plate gold filled, G.F., doublà © dor, rolled gold plate, R.G.P., plaquà © dor laminà © The quality mark for gold filled is used for an article (except optical frames, watch cases, hollowware, or flatware) consisting of a base metal to which a sheet of at least 10 karat gold has been bonded. Additionally, the weight of the gold sheet must be at least 1/20th the total weight of the item. The quality mark may specify the ratio of the weight of the gold in the article to the total weight of the article as well as a statement of the quality of the gold expressed in karats or decimals. For example, a mark of 1/20 10K G.F. refers to a gold filled article that consists of 10 karat gold for 1/20th of its total weight. Rolled gold plate and gold filled may utilize the same manufacturing process, but the gold sheet used in rolled gold usually is less than 1/20th the total weight of the article. The sheet must still be at least 10 karat gold. Like gold filled articles, the quality mark used for rolled gold plate articles may include a weight ratio and a statement of quality (for example, 1/40 10K R.G.P.). Gold and Silver Plate gold electroplate, gold plated, G.E.P., electroplaquà © dor or or plaquà ©, silver electroplate, silver plate, silver plated, electroplaquà © dargent, plaquà © dargent, or the abbreviations of these terms The quality marks for gold-plated indicate that an article has been electroplated with gold of at least 10 karats. The quality marks for silver plated indicate that an article has been electroplated with silver of at least 92.5% purity. There is no minimum thickness required for silver plated or gold plated articles. Silver Quality Marks silver, sterling, sterling silver, argent, argent sterling, abbreviations of these terms, 925, 92.5, .925 The quality marks or a decimal figure may be used on articles containing a minimum of 92.5% pure silver. Some metals may be called silver when, in fact, they are not (except in coloration). For example, nickel silver (also known as German silver) is an alloy consisting of about 60% copper, about 20% nickel, about 20% zinc, and sometimes about 5% tin (in which case the alloy is called alpaca). There is no silver at all in German/nickel/alpaca silver or in Tibetan silver. Vermeil vermeil or vermil The quality marks for vermeil are used on articles made of silver of at least 92.5 percent purity and plated with gold of at least 10 karats. No minimum thickness is required for the gold plated portion. Platinum and Palladium Quality Marks platinum, plat., platine, palladium, pall. The quality marks for platinum are applied to articles composed of at least 95 percent platinum, 95 percent platinum and iridium, or 95 percent platinum and ruthenium. The quality marks for palladium are applied to articles composed of at least 95 percent palladium, or 90 percent palladium and 5 percent platinum, iridium, ruthenium, rhodium, osmium or gold.

Analysis of Socrates' Passage in Apology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analysis of Socrates' Passage in Apology - Essay Example In Apology, he quoted: For if you kill me you will not easily find another like me, who, if I may use such a ludicrous figure of speech, am a sort of gadfly, given to the state by the god; and the state is like a great and noble steed who is tardy in his motions owing to his very size, and requires to be stirred into life (Plato, in McIntyre 20). In this statement, Socrates compares himself to a gadfly – a biting, noisy insect commonly found buzzing around and refers to the state as the horses. What Socrates meant by this is that his frequent questioning (or â€Å"biting†) is intended to wake the state up. For him, the people during that era were in an idle stage because they are just accepting the things that have been set for them by the previous generations, by the government, the rich and powerful, or by the church. Socrates does not want that. Socrates would like the people to wake up, ask questions that challenge their minds, like – Where are we from? Is th ere really a god? Why do we live? He wanted to bring the people to reality by taking them out of their ignorance. I think what Socrates feels is that ignorance is like a chain that restrains the people and the first way to make them free is to recognize that they still do not know everything. For Socrates, the â€Å"horses† (referred in his statement as the state) only looks at him as a â€Å"gadfly† or a nuisance. ... Socrates sees himself as a catalyst whose purpose is to formulate questions to irritate a person’s minds. Socrates understands that this is the foundation of progress and change. He asked questions and attempted to find answers for them; questions that lead to another questions; questions that probably made the citizens annoyed of him; questions that reduced the nobles and the most powerful into blubbering idiots (Ober â€Å"Socrates† 11). Socrates said further: I daresay that you may feel irritated at being suddenly awakened when you are caught napping†¦ then you would sleep on for the remainder of your lives unless God in his care of you gives you another gadfly. This statement means that Socrates also served as a critique to those who are in power and pointed out their mistakes. Of course when someone does that to people with power, they will go mad at you, hence he was condemned to prison. However, he reminded the people that if they do not want him to point ou t their mistakes, then they will never realize that there is something wrong with the system. And therefore, we will not be able to adjust the world into something more that is more just and something more human. For me, Socrates is truly God’s precious gift. It is difficult to find someone with a mind as inquisitive as he is and someone who is willing to swim against the current, someone who willingly labeled himself as a gadfly in order to bring about change. By becoming a gadfly, Socrates opened a trend to the philosophers of the new generations. More and more people are acting like gadflies themselves. People are nowadays asking more questions and finding ways on how the humanity can improve. The journalists and the mass media for example are

Safety and Risk Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Safety and Risk Management - Essay Example It employs over 10Â  000 people worldwide with a number of modern development and manufacturing facilities. All these facilities, along with the extensive network of trading and marketing units have enabled the Company to effectively penetrate the world’s pharmaceutical market, as well as to offer one of the broadest product portfolios, including over 1200 products either in the market, or under development stage and pending registration (Actavis Group, 2008). The Company’s branch, which is object of the audit, is comprised of two manufacturing facilities at the cutting edge of pharmaceutical production, storages and administrative offices. For several years, the Company has been conducting Corporate EHS audits similar to ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards, and recently acquired an OHSAS 18001 certificate. OHSAS 18001 Overview and Company’s Assessment OHSAS 18001 is an international occupational health and safety specification intended to help with the control over occupational hazards and risks, and covers all organisation’s employee – both full- and part-time, subcontractors and suppliers, visitors, organisation’s own facilities and equipment, as well as rented or borrowed facilities and equipment (Eighty 20 Consulting, n.d.). ... The degree of compliance with OHSAS 18001 requirements, in this particular case, is being assessed using a scale of 0 to 1, namely 0, 0.5, and 1 as a top grade (SGS Bulgaria ltd, 2007). After assessments of seven issues referring to OHSAS 18001’s Clause 4.2, which deals with the policy compliance, the following findings are available (DNV Certification Inc., 2008): The Company’s branch policy is in line with the corporate policy, which is placed on the intranet and communicated to all managers. The commitment to continual improvement is contained in Company’s EHS Policy. The commitment required to comply at least with current applicable Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) legislation is being stated that it will be in accordance with the local regulations. The Company’s policy is documented and implemented but not document-controlled. It has been stated within an uncontrolled document, as well as in part on intranet and posted in canteen. EHS brief is bein g conducted. The policy is available to all interested parties via HR&PR Manager. There is no document control found in regard to the requirement for periodic review of the policy (BSI Management Systems, n.d.). The overall score attained according to the abovementioned scale of assessment is 4 out of the maximum possible 7, which is 57.1 % compliance. Several recommendations appear useful in order to be reached a higher level of compliance: the policy must be a controlled document and an agreement should be made on whether the corporate or site policy is to be used or issued; the policy should be clarified within the corporate and site policy structure and all employees should be provided with a copy of that policy, whether at recruitment or amendment stage. The

Management At a Company Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management At a Company - Assignment Example Apple Inc. is best known for its creative and proprietary software and hardware and has reached many milestones in the world of technology in the recent years. Studies have shown that it is among the most admired organizations in the world and it tops in innovation and management of employees. From the time it was established it had a different and unique way of management i.e. it deviated from the traditional corporate structure that was common with organizations at that time. Its operations were based on the idea of information corporate culture within the industry of technology. It was in favor of the flat organizational structure to the tall structure. This replaces the rigid bureaucracy with informal forms of organization. This is best suited for organizations with difficult problems to solve and where the innovative culture is sophisticated. The advantage of this type of structure is its effectiveness in empowerment and innovation. It is also easy and quick to implement policies, coordination is also increased. This organization has the disadvantage of difficulty in changing the leadership or the culture of the organization. It may face damaging consequences especially when other components of the strategic structures may not fit together. One major management change that has been at Apple Inc was the time Steve Jobs became the CEO of the company. Many considered his management style as what it is expected in management as his leadership style could be admired or criticized but could not be copied. His management was orthodox and that’s how the company was managed. The leadership style approach was of vertical, top-down approach which was often harsh. He was the leading character at new product launches. His workforce was his most treasured asset and he offered meaning to them. The workforce worked hard on visionary projects,

Downsizing Strategy Is Being Used Management Essay

Downsizing Strategy Is Being Used Management Essay Given the issues relating to this research field are introduced and research objectives are also be proposed carefully in Chapter 1. In Chapter 2, the researcher would like to continuous introduces the concepts, definitions and theories relevant to the issues that already mentioned in Chapter 1, through that, Chapter 2 will provide and build research hypothesis for research. Basically, Chapter 2 includes the main parts as follows (1) The definition of downsizing, (2) The definition of Survivors Syndrome, (3) The research hypothesis (4) Chapter summary. Definition of Downsizing In the economic context of continuos competitive, developing, changing and unpredictable, organizations suffering severe downturns in their business or facing difficulties, downsizing strategy is being used by many organizations in every industries and sectors with different goals and visions, their perception regarding the implementation of the downsizing policy within their organization also be different. There is not a single downsizing definition accepted by all researchers (Davis, Savage, Steward Chapman, 2003). There are many different definitions or understanding about downsizing, for example Cameron, (1994:194) defines downsizing as a positive and purposive strategy for organizations: a set of organizational activities undertaken on the part of management of an organization and designed to improve organizational efficiency, productivity, and/or competitiveness. Businesses for a long time that no longer considered downsizing as a situation solution in the hard time period, but they considered downsizing as an effective strategy to reduce costs, human focus, create job opportunites, increased job challenge and promotion. The right sizing contributes to better decision-making and the control of human resource so that the cost of expenditure can be cut short effectively. It develops a value system of proactive work culture where the members in the organisation get opportunity for better participation and involvement in the decision making process. It develops an ownership mentality among members and they shoulder forward an organization with more collaboration, fidelity, and accuracy. According to Mishra and Spreitzer (1998) defines downsizing has become the strategy favored by many organizations attempting to cope with fundamental, structural changes in the world economy. Or Freeman and Cameron (1993) defined downsizing as a set of activities, undertaken on the part of the management of an organization, designed to improve operational efficiency, productiv ity, and/or competitiveness. Downsizing as a deliberate reduction in size or complexity of a firms activities intended to improve the profitability, productivity, and/or competitiveness of the firms continuing operations(Legatski II, 1998). But in conclusion, most researches have defined downsizing as any reduction in the size of the organization (e.g. Budros, 1999; Cascio, 1993; Freeman Cameron, 1993; Kozlowski, Chao, Smith Hedlund, 1993). Downsizing, in general, refers to the reduction of work for certain organization. For employees, downsizing is considered as a management weapon to enforce greater control over the workforce. To management, it is a strategic measure to bring optimized operation efficiency and productivity in organization. Cameron and colleagues (e.g Cameron et all., 1991, 1993; Cameron, 1994b) have identified three organizational strategies to achieve downsizing: workforce reduction strategy, work redesign and systematic change. The first strategy is workfo rce reduction is typically a short-term strategy, which simply focuses on reducing organizations headcount. In a confirmatory study, Mishra and Mishra (1994) found that such strategy might lead to loss in valued organizational competency or negative outcome of those who remains. Human resource is essential and is a factor that makes the decision for the development of organizations. Lack of human resource will increase workload, anxiety about losing their jobs at any time, and these feeling leads to insecurity psychological, these are reasons that cause labor productivity reduced. Work reduction is applied by organizations through some programs such as attrition, early retirement or voluntary severance packages, layoffs and terminations. The second and third strategies are work redesign and systematic change strategies. While work reductions resulted is lead to reduction, rather than improvement, the work redesign and systematic change are positively related to organizational perfor mance in term of both cost reduction and quality improvement (Cameron et all.,1993; Mishra and Mishra, 1994) and to survivors (people who remains) of downsizing having a positive learning orientation (Farrell and Mavando, 2004). Many previous researches indicated that the use of workforce reduction is increasing and become popular despite the harmful impacts may arise for organization. Workforce reduction or simply called workforce downsizing is becoming the most popular strategy and a plethora of workforce reduction strategies for downsizing of employees has been proposed (e.g. Greenhalgh et al., 1988; Gutchess, 1985; Leana Feldman, 1992; Price, 1990). Whenever reduce equipments, machinesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ organizations can find out the outcome and its impact through simple calculations, but in workforce downsizing, the emotions, loyalty, and human effort can not simply calculate. In an organizational context, employees not only contribute their individual skills and knowledge, they also collaborate and integrate their separate skills toward creating firm capabilities. As such, both human and social capital-and therefore the commitment and the loyalty of employees-play an important role in dictating a firms c apacity to create competitive advantage. Reducing headcount may lead to immediate labor cost savings, but it can also seriously erode employee commitment and loyalty, with negative consequences for firm competitiveness and performance. So the questions are what the impacts of workforce downsizing to organizations are, how it effects, and what the advantage and disadvantage of the impact are? Some researches indicated the opinion that organizational downsizing produce better result in performance and productivity, while, others indicate downsizing as a threat to the human resources and existing organizational culture. Downsizing has been defined as an attempt to increase organizational effectiveness(Kozlowsky, et. al. 1993). Freeman Cameron (1993) and Tomasco (1990) indicate from their findings that the presumed benefits of downsizing include faster decision making, greater flexibility, and improvements in quality and increased efficiency and productivity. Cascio (1993:97) suggested that proponents of downsizing generally expect the following benefits: lower overheads, less bureaucracy, faster decision making, smoother communications, greater entrepreneurship and increases in productivity. Downsizing can suggest to financial markets or government funding agencies that an organization is cutting costs and reducing waste, which may increase availability of capital for subsequent activities (Cascio, 1993; Dial Murphy, 1995; Palmon, Sun Tang, 1997). Downsizing has been defined as an attempt to increase organizational effectiveness (Kozlowsky, et. al. 1993). It develops a value system of proactive work culture where the members in the organization get opportunity for better participation and involvement in the decision making process. It develops an ownership mentality among members and they shoulder forward an organization with more collaboration, fidelity, and accuracy. However, many others strongly disagree with those arguments and indicate that it has devastating effect on human morale, motivation, and productivity. Downsizing may provide a decrease in operating expenses in the near term, but the long term impacts may not be so positive (Difrances, 2002). Downsizing can lead to a loss of knowledge and experience base because of some laid off will be the people who worked for a long time with organization, old people, who may not have a fast and efficient action in work like young people, but they have extensive knowledge, experiences that young people learn in short time, loss available mentors for existing and new employees, loss of corporate culture, and downsizing can have direct impaction to the customers such as loss of established customer service and contacts. Therefore, whenever workforce downsizing is chosen by organizations in hard time or peaceful time, there is definite and obvious impact good or bad on organizations. But in all the affected elements, the human factor is probably the most affected element. They are staffs of organization, they dedicated their soul to the development of organization, they are people who be laid off or people who lucky enough to keep their job. The individuals who lose their jobs (called victims) are obviously the most affected by downsizing. Numerous researchers have focused on the impact of downsizing on workers whose employment is terminated due to reasons independent of job competence (Cappelli, 1992). These individuals are often known as the victims of downsizing due to research that documents the devastation of job loss, focusing on negative consequences in terms of psychological and physical well-heing (e.g., Bennett, Martin, Bies, Brockner, 1995; Cappeili, 1992; Fallick, 1996; Leana Feldman, 1 992). The real pains of downsizing cannot be minimized. Careers change, families struggle, and downsized victims suffer loss of prestige, income and security. While a few downsized individuals may be victims of their own past inefficiency, the vast number are those who have performed well and played by the rules but have become the victims of a changing economic environment. However, several researchers have analyzed those who remain in the downsized organization called survivors (e.g., Allen, Freeman, Russell, Reizenstein, Rentz, 2001; Appelbaum Donia, 2001; Brockner, 1988a; 1992; 1995; Brockner, Grover, OMalley, Reed, Glynn, 1993; Cascio, 1993; Mollica Gray, 2001; Noer, 1993; ONeill Lenn, 1995; Shah, 2000). The survivors of downsizing are not the happy campers, grateful to have their jobs, but rather that surviving is so difficult that continuing employees experience higher levels of stress than displaced employees (Collins-Nakai, Devine, Stainton Reay, 2003). The downsizing has more effect on the psychological contract that exists in between management and workers within the organization. Many researches reported that it would develop stagnation, deterioration, low morale, low trust and productivity. The fear and anxiety of the retainers of the organization is more, as there is more uncertainty and insecurity feeling among them. This is called a s survivors syndrome. Definition of survivor syndrome The literature suggests a condition referred to as survivor syndrome, or a set of attitudes, feelings and perceptions that occur in employees who remain in organizational systems following involuntary employee reductions (Collins-Nakai, Devine, Stainton Reay, 2003 p.109-110). Survivor syndrome is defined by some human resource professionals as being the mixed bag of behaviors and emotions often exhibited by remaining employees following an organizational downsizing (Appelbaum, Close Klasa, 1999 p.424-436). Survivor syndrome has become known as the emotional and attitudinal characteristics of those who have survived from a downsizing (Mossholder et al., 2000; Iverson and Pullman, 2000; Allen et al., 2001). The emotional responses of each survivor are different. There are not many previous researches confirmed the positive response for survivor when downsizing occurs, some note that concentrating on core operational competencies can reduce unnecessary management layers and increase the speed of decision-making (DeWitt, 1993; Tomasko, 1989), somes even suggest that fear of termination may increase individual effort among employees who wish to retain their jobs (Kraft, 1991). A few active survivors feel themselves so lucky because they still have their job, survivors may work more hours without compensation to help the organization through the transition. They believe that they quite understand the difficulties as well as the main reasons why organizations choose to apply downsizing strategy, they are willing to stick with organization for a long time and continue add their efforts to the development of organizations. Contrary to a few positive responses, a stream of research, both laboratory and field, has provided a lot of evidences of the h armful effects downsizing can have on survivors, these effects have been described in terms of lower morale (e.g., Armstrong-Stassen, 1993), high stress (e.g., Leana and Feldman, 1992), and anger, envy, and guilt (e.g., Noer, 1993). According to Collins-Nakai, Devine, Stainton Reay (2003) consistent with the terminology of a syndrome, this collection of symptoms includes anger, depression, fear, distrust, and guilt, or Baruch and Hind (2000) indicates that survivors exhibit a plethora of problems, such as de motivation, cynicism, insecurity, demoralization and a significant decline in organizational commitment. Termination of co-workers may lead to perceptions of organizational injustice and distrust of top management (e.g. Brockner Greenberg, 1990; Mishra Spreitzer, 1998; Noer, 1998). A lot of research shows that in case of downsizing, the organization breaks the implicit psychological contract between employer and employee-a contract that implies lifetime employment in return for hard work and loyalty. As a result, the feeling of dependency that may have evolved into entitlement is transformed into a sense of betrayal. Downsizing survivors often curious about management and spend their times to observe the intention of management after downsizing occurs; they have greater concern on their future with the organization. It leads to stress and strain among members in the organization; it affects their next attempt and the willing to stay with the organizations. With survivors, organization may thinks they are lucky, but in the reality of many people, their emotions are anger, loneliness, feel lost in broken team work because of missing their colleages, they do not feel confident enough for work due to their wondering about their job. Downsizing occurs that means org anization is left with fewer employees who are expected to put in their best effort in a manner that enhances organizational productivity (Kets de Vries Balazs 1997). They are the ones who organization put their faith in; expect long term commitment, but with fews people, it may lead to workload, role conflict, and role ambiguity tend to be high among the remaining staff after downsizing (Hellgren et al. 2005; Parker et al. 1997; Tombaugh White 1990). Workload reflects the perception of having too much work to do in the time available (Beehr, Walsh Taber 1976). Workgroup membership changes also may be associated with the loss of important organizational knowledge (Fisher White, 2000). Role conflict concerns the experience of having to deal with conflicting terms, instructions, and demands in the work environment (Rizzo, House Lirtzman 1970). Role ambiguity relates to the individuals experience of not knowing what is expected of her at work (Caplan 1971). Beside that, survivors may view downsizing as a threat to their job security, an indication of poor organizational performance, or a symptom of unfair management behavior. Survivors may also develop negative feelings toward the organization, as well as perceiving that organizational goals are difficult to achieve. According to Isabella (1989) has noted that while organizations are usually prepared to meet the needs of those being laid off, they are often unprepared for the strong emotions, lengthy adjustment periods, diminished morale and lower productivity often experienced and expressed by survivors. Managers may expect survivors not only to be grateful they were spared and to forgive what happened to their friends, but also to put their feelings aside and work harder. But the reality is not that, a bag of survivor behaviors or called survivors syndrome has always existed, it is like a contract between employees and organizations, the contract gives survivors psychological control over their work enviro nment, which lets them freely invest themselves in caring for customers. Trust Granovetter (1985) and Lewis and Weigert (1985) define trust as a willingness to be vulnerable to others, based on the prior belief that those others are trustworthy. Another definition of trust is offered by Mayer, Davis and Schoorman (1995), who proposed that trust is the willingness of a party to be vulnerable to the actions of another party based on the expectation that the other will perform a particular action important to the trustor, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that other party. Or according to Mishra Spreitzer (1998) trust is related to psychological contracts since trust is the expectation of a future action based on the action in the past by observing the rules of behaviors in relationships. If these expectations are not met, the expecter becomes hopeless, frustrated and will lose confidence, distrust will appear instead of trust (Robinson, Kraatz Rousseau, 1994). The trust is an essential part of managing people and building a high performance, pro ductivity organization. Trust is the foundation of all relationship from top to bottom in the organization. If employees believe in their manager, their organization, this relationship will always help to create good working conditions, employees are willing to stand up for their organization at any situations, they will naturally want to do a good things, contribute their best effort for the success of their organization. Conversely, if there is no trust between employees and managers, employees will have negative actions, will not devote their energy to the development of their organization, the relationship is broken. Downsizing organizations appear to suffer a deterioration of trust (Buch Aldridge, 1991; Cascio, 1993) and an increase in fear (Buch et al., 1991). The occuring of downsizing makes employees feel uncertain about organization, stress à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the responses tends to score lower in problem solving, creativity and the ability to learn new skills, uncertainty and anxiety reduces the focus of work. Trust between employees and organization also reduced because downsizing is usually a headful though of managers, they need along time for making the decision, but with employees, downsizing is just a sudden result, sometimes they do not have a chance to prepare or may not believe that they will be the one who be laid off. According to ONeill Lenn (1995), survivors who believe that management is competent and reliable, may view downsizing as less threatening because they believe that the managers will keep their promise, be honest và   open và ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ºi what is going on with their employees. Trust is instrumental in overcoming resistance to change, for it shapes how individuals interpret the implementation process (Kotter Schlesinger, 1979). If they have trust, survivors are willing think that all the things that organization do, have a reason, it is a good thing for them, for organization, downsizing just helps organization stand in difficult time as well as creating opportunities for employees in the future. In other words, trust in top management minimizes the categorization of threat by helping survivors to understand and believe in managements intentions and expected behavior. If they do not have trust, survivors wil have negative thinking such as the decision of manager is wrong, or managers put their personal interests above the interests of employees. Without trust, employees are likely to feel threatened by downsizing, leading to resistance and retaliation, rather than the constructive cooperation that is necessary to facilitate deep change (Quinn, 1996). Commitment There are a lot of definitions about employee commitment such as A force that stabilizes individual behavior under circumstances where the individual would otherwise be tempted to change that behavior (Brickman, 1987), or The relative strength of an individuals identification with and involvement in a particular organization (Mowday et al, 1979) or simply A psychological state that binds the individual to the organization (Allen Meyer, 1990). Commitment is loyalty to the organization. A loyal employee identifies with an organization and is involved in being an employee of that organization (Price Mueller, 1986). Committed employees feel that there is a tight string between them and the organization, which, in the positive form, makes them more willing to perform their job. Organizational commitment is the driving force behind an organizations performance (Suliman and Iles, 2000, p. 408). The multidimensional approach poses that organization commitment is influenced by three constru cts: emotional attachment (affective commitment), perceived costs (continuance commitment) and moral obligation (normative commitment) (Allen and Meyer, 1990). Affective commitment is mean that employees stay with organization because they want to, they believes in organization and feel it like their home. Normative commitment is mean that employees stay with organization because they feel obligated to continuew to work for many different reasons and purposes. Continuance commitment is mean that employees stay with the organization because cost of giving up the job is too high for them. (European Motivation-Index.com). It has also been proposed that different types of commitment can have different effects on behaviors and attitudes (Iles et al., 1990). For example, continuance commitment can have detrimental effects on job satisfaction compared to the beneficial effects of affective commitment (Suliman and Iles, 2000). Affective commitment has been shown to be the best predictor of intention to leave (Stallworth, 2004) and found to be more important than job satisfaction in determining service quality of customer-contact employees (Malhotra and Mukherjee, 2004). It can be seen that in human resource management process, organizations should pay attention to the affect commitment group because these people will add value, increase productivity and quality to the organization, but they also be the most affected by downsizing, or in other word maintaining a high level of employees affective commitment to the organization is assumed to be a critical factor for successful downsizing, but downsizing tends to reduce employees affective commitment to the organization (Lee Jaewon, 2002). According to many research about employee commitment, in downsizing context, employees commitment to an organization is challenged. Moreover, commitment has been shown to positively influence other variables related to survivor syndrome, such as job satisfaction (Liou, 1995; Fletcher and Williams, 1996; Mowday et al., 1974; Wong et al., 1995; Vandenberg and Lance, 1992), performance (Hartmann and Bambacas, 2000) and perceived organizational support (Eisenberger et al. , 2001). A negative relationship has been shown for absenteeism (Iverson and Deery, 2001; Metcalfe and Dick, 2000) and turnover intention (Schnake and Dumler, 2000) Stress According to Casico Wynn (2004) stated that the downsizing create a breach of an unwritten rules that constitute the psychological contract between employer and employee leads to a rise in stress and a decrease in satisfaction, commitment, intention to stay and perceptions of an organizations trustworthiness, honesty, and caring about its employees. Stress has been defined as a stimulus, a response, or the result of an interaction between the two, with the interaction described in terms of some imbalance between the person and the environment (Cooper, Dewe ODriscoll, 2001). When downsizing occurs, like the victims, the survivors often lose control over their employment status and work situation. Survivors often feel angry and overwhelmed by the sudden disruption of the workplace, similar to people who be laid off, survivors also have feelings of betrayal and fury when downsizing occurs. Research also indicates that other stressful characteristics tend to emerge when work has to be carried out by fewer employees (Hellgren Sverke 2001; Hopkins Weathington 2006; Pfeffer 1998). The lack of people to work become overwhelmed, constant anxiety because of imbalance as well as job lossed can be happened anytime that creates stress to survivors. Employee stress can take many forms and significant impact on both employees and organizations; it can manifest as anxiety, irritability, dependency, depression and it results in reduced productivity, employee burnout, absenteeism (Valueoption.com). It has been suggested that layoff survivors experience stress that is as great, or even greater than, the stress felt by those who have been laid off (Kaufman 1982). Job insecurity Job insecurity is the exact opposite of job security, is defined as the perceived powerlessness to maintain desired continuity in a threatened job situation by Greenhalgh and Rosenblatt (1984). Job insecurity represents one of the most frequently investigated stressors in the context of organizational change and downsizing (e.g., De Witte 1999; Sverke/Hellgren 2002). The string sticks employees with organizion is job, in other word, any organization keeps their employees by proper job with many opportunities to learn, to develop, and above all of them, the job has to be durable and security. When downsizing occurs, survivors feel like the promise of organization has broken down, they see their colleagues lose their job and they fear of losing their jobs at anytime, fear of instability of income, loss of status or self esteem. They believe that their work will no longer be safe, if the organization was willing to let the employees go in the past, they would be willing to do it again i n the future. Job insecurity leads to dissatisfaction, people intent to leave the organization and come to a safer place; it also leads to greater absenteeism, higher turnovers and disability claims (Boroson and Burgess, 1992; Koco. 1996; Mishra and Spreitzer. 1998; Tombaugh and White. 1990). Previous studies such as Moore, Grunberg Greenberg (2006); Ashford, Lee Bobko (1989); Brockner et al. (1992) or Hellgren Sverke (2003) have concluded that job insecurity are related with organizational downsizing both in short and long term perspective and the worried about future job loss is associated with impaired work attitudes and well-being. Theorists have emphasized that job insecurity is a multidimensional phenomenon (Ashford, Lee Bobko, 1989; Greenhalgh Rosenblatt, 1984; Jacobson, 1991). The first dimension, called severity of threat, consists of the range of work features at risk, the valence of these features, probabilities of losing each feature, and the number of sources of threat. The second dimension is perceived powerlessness, or ones ability to respond to risks. Job insecurity can also be thought of in terms of expectancy (i.e. probability of loss) and valence (i.e. value of job features) from expectancy theory (Jacobson, 1991). Job insecurity is a broad concept , including threats to any desired work features including opportunities for career development or wages. perceptions of job insecurity also can be considered as stress inducing, so reports of worry and stress are sometimes used as proxies for perception of job insecurity. Results showed that perceived job insecurity increased over time as layoffs unfolded but no new information arrived. Job insecurity was lowest among those employees who had no contact with workforce downsizing, with higher insecurity among those who had friends or co-workers laid off, and the highest insecurity among those who had been warned that they would be laid off or who had been laid off and then rehired. Hypothesis Many organization managers apply workforce downsizing strategy for their organization, often focus their attention and effort for those employees who be laid off and pay little attention to those who remain with organization As the large bank in Vietnam, VietinBank is also applying workforce downsizing like many other organizations to overcome the current difficulties. Get to know the survivors syndrome is very important not only for VietinBank but also for many other organizations. The future of the organization can be at stake if these warning signs take hold and start to have a long-term effect. Organizations that understand and combat the causes of survivor syndrome at an early stage have a far better chance of weathering the storm and moving forward after the period of unsettling change. Based on the previous studies, in the scope of this research, researcher would like to find out the impact of workforce downsizing to the behavior such as trust, commitment, and stress and job insecurity of Vietinbanks staffs to see how they were affected by downsizing and which elements of fours will be the most impacted by downsizing. Through this research, researcher hopes to put some help for VietinBank managers in order to have a better understanding about their employees so that they can looking for an appropriate direction as well as specific plan to minimize the harmful impacted may arises from downsizing. Based on the above theory discussion, the Hypothesis is formulated as following: (H1) There is a significant relationship between downsizing and VietinBank survivors trust. (H2) There is a significant relationship between downsizing and VietinBank survivors stress. (H3) There is a significant relationship between downsizing and VietinBank survivors commitment. (H4) There is a significant relationship between downsizing and VietinBank survivors job insecurity. (H5) There is a survivors symptom that be strongest impacted by downsizing in VietinBank Chapter Summary Through out the chapter, researcher give a deeped review of previous research on downsizing and its impacted on survivors. There are many different opinions about the effects of downsizing on organizations, somes indicated that downsizing is an effective stratefy for organization, which may lead to increase innovation, human resource focusing. However, numerous previous studies have concluded that there are adverse effects of downsizing on organizations, especially for survivors, who is considered to be lucky one for remaining their job. Previous researchs have come up with a term survivors syndrome to describe the behaviors or attitudes of survivors during and after the workforce downsizing occurs. And by understanding the attitudes, emotions and viewpoints of the survivors, a clear perspective on the true short and long term benefits, gains or losses of downsizing for corporations can be derived. Even in early survivor syndrome literature there was some evidence that effective mana gement of downsizing can control for negative effects on the survivors (Brockner, 1990; Brockner et al., 1992) The next section of the research studied further the impact of downsizing on trust, stress, commitment and job insecurity of VietinBanks survivors. This research enables better understanding about the perspective and behavior of VietinBanks survivor when downsizing situation occurs.