Essay on Advertising and Obesity in America - 2871 Words

The fast food industry is one of the largest sectors of the United States economy. Companies such as Burger King, Wendys, Taco Bell, McDonalds and KFC have all become household names. Each of these companies operates under a similar mission statement: to serve a quick, filling meal for a very low cost. The primary marketing medium for these companies is television where via commercials, they can portray both their products and a lifestyle. Their intense advertising focus on minorities and children, however, has begun to exacerbate the epidemic of obesity that is sweeping our nation. Fast foods televised advertising is a significant contributor to obesity in todays minority youth. By promoting unhealthy tendencies and†¦show more content†¦Of that $486.3 million spent on commercials, just under half was focused on advertisements directly targeting children. Another analysis recently found that ?US companies spent $3.5 billion on fast-food advertisements.? The problem i s not just the advertising alone, but rather the amount of advertising that its? target audiences are subjected to. The average adult watches close to 1,500 hours of television each year; the average child watching just over 3 hours daily. This accumulates to the average child watching over 20,000 commercials each year (Singer 447). Fast food advertisers have also known children should be a separate, focused advertising market since the 1960?s and that often, the restaurant choice is made by the child, and then paid for by the adult (Singer 449). Because ?[children] lack the ability to differentiate between commercial and non-commercial content? they are vulnerable to the advertising of these companies (Lancet 2064). Moreover, by fast food chains convincing the youth worldwide that their food is the best tasting and the most fun to eat, they are creating a subconscious attraction to their company with the child. People that grew up with fast food advertising have a subconsciou s connection to the restaurant that they ate at as a child. This discreet bond also quickly penetrates children?s minds, and affects their decision to choose a meal. In 2007, The Food Commission published a study that reported ?half of 9-10Show MoreRelatedDoes Advertising Unhealthy Food to Children in America Cause Obesity?2106 Words   |  9 PagesDoes Advertising Unhealthy Food to Children in America Cause Obesity? Executive Summary Since the 1970’s the United States has been witness to a growing epidemic of childhood obesity tripling and in some instances quadrupling. Due to this major health concern it is believed that the advertising of unhealthy foods is the cause of childhood obesity in America. Majority of the advertising is done via television, which promotes fast food or â€Å"junk food† and is usually lowRead MoreChildhood Obesity And Its Effects On Children1188 Words   |  5 Pagesbetween childhood obesity and advertising. There has been a rise in childhood obesity in the past few years and many believe, and have evidence to support, that it is partly because of unregulated advertisements aimed towards children. The health of a child is very important childhood obesity is something to be concerned about. The definition of childhood obesity is: having a body mass index above the normal range for age and sex in children. The definition of childhood obesity may not sound veryRead MoreObesi ty : Obesity And Obesity1472 Words   |  6 PagesObesity in our society continues to grow at an alarming rate. America is the richest country but has the largest population of obese people in the world. â€Å"Nearly 36.5% of American’s are obese (Adult Obesity Facts).† It is important to note that obesity is defined as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of â€Å"30% or more† (The Socioeconomic Causes of Obesity). People become obese over times for many reasons like feeling there is less of a need to exercise and eat healthy. There are also more fast food selectionsRead MoreObesity And The American Health Care System914 Words   |  4 PagesObesity is an epidemic that is putting uncomfortable strains on the American health care system. With just under two-thirds of the American adult population being overweight or obese, a lot of time and effort has gone into uncovering the causes of this rise in the weights of American citizens. Several theories have been devel oped to help solve the mystery of America’s rising size. Obesity cannot be traced back to a single factor, but rather many aspects have contributed to the rise of obesity inRead MoreChildhood Obesity Affects The Children s Emotional Health1717 Words   |  7 PagesChildhood obesity has been a crucial global concern for the past years, especially in the United States. Obesity within children has become a concern because it can develop multiple health risks. Although some of the health risks can be treated, there are many that could follow them for a lifetime. Some of the health risks could be minor, but many of the health issues are deadly. Childhood obesity has been related to affecting the majority of the child’s main body systems. For example, childhoodRead MoreThe Effects Of Advertising On Children s Obesity Rate1056 Words   |  5 PagesThe Effect of Advertising on Children’s Obesity Rate It has come down to this, there is an obesity epidemic. It s like people can’t stop themselves from eating so much. Well, I guess eating isn t necessarily the big problem here... It s the type of food that people are consuming, fast food. America tops the list of world s most obese countries. It s just sad and something needs to be done about it. The worst part is that there are so many children being affected by obesity. According to CDCRead MoreObesity Epidemic Of The United States Essay1269 Words   |  6 PagesRecent Obesity Outbreak in America Obesity has rapidly emerged as a serious health issue in America. The cause of obesity results from America’s social injustices. Today, food advertisements are in all places promoting an unhealthy lifestyle. Considering the great expense of healthy foods, low income families can barely afford fruits and vegetables. These two factors contribute to the increasing obesity rate in the United States. Unfortunately, it has taken an excessive amount of Americans to becomeRead MoreChildhood Obesity : A Developing Problem1197 Words   |  5 PagesObesity in America is a developing problem, and not just in adults. Today, one in three American children and teens are either overweight or obese; almost triple the rate previously in 1963. Child obesity has expeditiously become one of the most genuine health challenges of the 21st century (â€Å"10 Surprising Facts About Childhood Obesity†). Physical inactivity, race, junk food in schools, the mass media, and the child’s pare nts flaws are all factors that have resulted in the prevalence of childhoodRead MoreThe Effects Of Advertising On The United States991 Words   |  4 PagesNine hundred sixty three million dollars was spent this year by McDonalds on advertising. This is up 8 percent from last year. The sad truth is that the number of fast-food ads produced each year is increasing, as well as the percentage of obese people in the United States. Advertisements of high in sugar and calorie foods are almost directly related to obesity within America. There needs to be a stop to this epidemic. Companies spend vast amounts of money to put out an enormous amount of ads. ManyRead MoreObesity : Obesity And Obesity Essay1740 Words   |  7 PagesIn America right now, more 68.8% of Americans are considered to be overweight or obese. About half are obese, with a number close to 35.7%. And even worse, more than 6.3% percent of America’s population has extreme obesity. These statistics keep rising, with a prediction that all fifty states will have obesity rates above 44% by 2030, with some as high as 66.7% (Hellmich). So what is obesity? Obesity is defined as being about thirty pounds over a healthy weight. The â€Å"healthy weight† depends on several

Fate The King The Theme Of Fate - 903 Words

In Oedipus the king the theme of fate is a crucial element that carries through the entire tragic play. It decides everything that leads up to the crucial events just like in real life, we each have a fate that we must meet.. No matter what, you can not escape your fate and pre determined destiny. His life was pre determined from birth and was given tragic life by the Gods. He was chosen for a specific reason to have this fate and learning how to cope and handle this throughout the play. Fate is a crucial element that often occurs frequently in Greek writing. Throughout the play Oedipus tries to change his fate. He found out that no matter what he did that his fate was sealed and there was no escaping that fate. His fate was predicted down to, he would kill his father, Laius and marry and have sexual relations with his mother, Jocasta. Oedipus wants to invade this entire situation once he learns what his fate is told to be by three oracles. â€Å"OEDIPUS Let the storm burst, my fixed resolve still holds,To learn my lineage, be it ne er so low.It may be she with all a woman s pride Thinks scorn of my base parentage. But I Who rank myself as Fortune s favorite child,The giver of good gifts, shall not be shamed. She is my mother and the changing moons My brethren, and with them I wax and wane. Thus sprung why should I fear to trace my birth? Nothing can make me other than I am. (1077-1086) (Shmoop).† Oedipus is trying his hardest to escape this fate. Oedipus had aShow MoreRelatedFate : The King The Theme Of Fate1068 Words   |  5 PagesOedipus the King the theme of fate is a crucial element that carries throughout the entire tragic play. It decides everything that leads up to the crucial events just like in real life, we each have a fate that we must meet.. No matter what, you cannot escape your fate and predetermined destiny. His life was predetermined from birth and was given tragic life by the Gods. He was chosen for a specific reason to have this fate and learning how to cope and handle this throughout the play. Fate is a crucialRead MoreTheme Of Fate In Oedipus The King778 Words   |  4 PagesThe greek myth told by Sophocles, Oedipus The King. Along with George Lucas’s popular modern film The Empire Strikes Back, a part of the Star Wars trilogy address questions that have been prevalent from the Ancient greeks and are still being pondered today. Both tales address Fate. In Oedipus The King, our protagonist Oedipus is constantly living with dreadful prophecies that are inevitable to prevent. While Luke Skywalker deals with his fate to become a Jedi Master. Likewise these stories deal withRead MoreThemes Of Guilt In Macbeth711 Words   |  3 PagesMacbeth is a story written by Shakespear filled with many different themes. These themes are statements about life and human nature. Some of the most important themes are guilt, things are not what they seem, fate versus free will, and nature versus the unnatural. All of these themes were important to us and the story. The first theme of guilt is a message that says that you should not commit wrong doing and suffer the consequences. In Macbeth guilt is shown in many different ways but one of theRead MoreMacbeth Theme Essay1329 Words   |  6 Pageswife kill the king of Scotland so Macbeth can become king. As a result, of the witches since they told him about the prophecy and how he would become king. He eventually does more evil things which fills Lady Macbeth with guilt. She ends up killing herself and Macbeth ends up dying. In the play, there are numerous of themes that you can see and examples that you can find. There are five themes that we have discussed in class which are ambition, guilt, things are not what they seem, fate versus freeRead MoreA Comparative of Shakespeares Othello and Oedipus Rex1511 Words   |  6 Pagescharacter in Oedipus Rex, is characterized as a tragic hero when he tries to run away from his fate and finds out that the cause of his fate was his attempt to escape it. O edipus Rex and Othello share a common thematic link in fact that both main characters meet the qualifications of a tragic hero at some point, the differences in how they meet Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero also create themes unique to each. Othello and Oedipus are similar in the requirements to be tragic heroes of havingRead MoreFate And Fate In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight741 Words   |  3 PagesFate, many people believe in it, while others believe that it is completely untrue. There is an unstoppable force about fate, no matter what someone does fate will take its course. Throughout many stories a characters fate is illustrated at the end of the story, but sometimes their fate may have a positive or negative effect. In the epic poem Beowulf, the hero battles many enemies and at the same time discovering his destinies. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain must be able to meet hisRead MoreAllusion In Antigone And Cleopatra826 Words   |  4 PagesDanaà « and Cleopatra, two royal women who suffered similar fates to Antigone, the chorus sympathizes with her.   In the first stanza of the ode, they allude to Danaà «, saying â€Å"even she endured a fate like yours, / (. . .) buried within her tomb† (1 036-1040).   Through this allusion to Perseus’s mother, who suffered in an underwater tower, the chorus praises Antigone for her fortitude and shows their support for her through their horror for her fate.   When they reference â€Å"the princes doomed at birth/ andRead MoreMacbeth Themes899 Words   |  4 Pages â€Å"What are the major themes in Macbeth† By Connor Maguire William Shakespeare’s Macbeth a play complete with many themes and viewpoints. The themes are exhibited by the main characters of the play, notably antagonist Macbeth. Themes seen in the play include ambition, where is is portrayed as both dangerous and unnatural. However, it does exist in both good and evil forms in the play. Another theme seen is whether Macbeths actions in the play are a result of fate, or free will. Although outsideRead MoreTheme Of Fate In The Kite Runner743 Words   |  3 Pagesis the main theme in both texts. Starting off with The Kite Runner, there are more clues of fate than those in Oedipus Rex’s story. For example, the simple kites in the story represent fate and prophecy pointing out themes from the beginning. Amir and Hassan had always been best friends, like brothers. They played together they had a unique bond as they were together all the time. They even fed from the same breast. It turned out that they were half brothers, making it fate that they hadRead MoreThe Themes Of Ambition In Shakespeares Macbeth853 Words   |  4 PagesThere are many different themes displayed in Shakespeares famous play Macbeth. Many of these themes play with nature, the supernatural, and fate. From ghosts to horses eating each other the play uses symbolism, language, and characters to portray these themes. During the play the audience learns of several themes such as ambition, guilt, fate versus free will, nature versus the unnatural, and how things are not always as they seem. Anyone who has read or seen Macbeth knows that his great undoing

Case Study of Hullaballo- Free-Samples for Students-Myassignment

Question: Analyse Complex Ethical Problems Similar to Those Which You Might Encounter in the IT Industry. Answer: Introduction The following case study is all about Hullaballo.com which is a new arrival in the online news business industry. This business is setup in a country that overlook laws stated by international bodies governing various subjects like protection of privacy and censorship. A recent graduate Jimmy Olsen form the IT department off Griffith University is looking for a job. By somehow he come across an ad for web developer by Hullaballoo.com. Jimmy is successful in securing a job as a web developer in the firm and the pay is quite enough for the job. Hullaballoo has a bad image in front of its clients. Jimmy needed the job so he swallow his concern and carried on developing websites for this fake news service firm. As jimmy is a tech guy, he decided to check the background of this website. On checking he found that this website is paid a good amount of money for spreading false new stories. This news firm is gets money to spread positive news for the client and negative news for the competitors of the client. This particular business firm introduced the concept of Native Advertising. After that Jimmy left the job and joined an ecommerce firm where he has a conflict with his boss Alec on judging the performance of his two developers. After that Jimmy again left the job and joined a competitor firm where he is treated with expensive meal and fine wine. Analysis Legal factors Factor 1 Unethical news in the following case study, the online news firm Hullaballoo.com gets money to spread positive publicity for their client and negative publicity for the competitor of the client. The term Native Advertising is introduced to Jimmy which focuses to create false advertisement as a news. Native Advertising is nothing but a response to large number of people using ad blockers on their web browsers. This is a legal factor as per the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 which govern working of news channel. Factor 2, Confidentiality and Privacy in the case study, Jimmy decided to do some digging into the background of this online news firm Hullaballoo.com. During his digging he found that one his employer has connection with a marketing firm with various clients ranging from political parties to advertising firms. These advertising agencies and political parties has the business of selling consumer service and goods. This is a legal factor as per the federal Privacy Act 1988 of Australia which govern the confidentiality and privacy of different firms. Factor 3, Code of Ethical Conduct in the case study, Hullaballoo.com parent firm has created a database that receive required data from its surroundings. This database is known as The Reaper. This new database system is quite helpful as it allow advertisers and marketers to conduct campaigns as per the requirement. Jimmy suggested his boss that his database is not safe for the people across the globe as it stores important information. Any hacker can demand a ransom against this information. This is a legal factor as per the federal Privacy Act 1988of Australia. Professional factors Factor 4, Misconduct in the following case study, Jimmy who is an IT graduate from Griffith University suggested his boss that The Reaper is not a good idea. Jimmy refuses to work on the terms and condition of his boss from Hullaballo.com. This is a professional factor as per the sections 68 and 69 of the Legal Practitioners Act 1981 of Australia. Factor 5, Freedom in Workplace in the case study, Jimmy is abandoned from placing his thought in the organization like Hullaballoo.com. Jimmy suggested his boss that the information entered by the user might help the organisation in offering deals and offers to them. His boss did not agree with him. This is a professional factor as per the Workplace RelationsAct1996of Australia. Factor 6, Conflict in the case study, after getting a job in an ecommerce firm Jimmy has a conflict with his boss Alec. The issue was judging the performance of a developer name Dev A. This is a professional factor as he has a conflict with his boss. Employment and Social factors Factor 6, Work experience in the following case study, Jimmy work experience from the reaper data collection project has qualified him for the job in the new ecommerce firm. This is an employment factor because Jimmy is connected to the notorious reaper incident. Factor 7, Getting ahead in the case study, Jimmy has a conflict with his previous boss from online news firm. After that, he left the firm and joined a full- time position in an ecommerce firm located in his home city. This is an employment factor as he left one firm and joined another. Factor 8, Stepping out of comfort zone, in the new ecommerce firm Jimmy decided to prove his worth by taking the place of his boss Alec until and unless the director of the organization has made a decision. This is a employment factor as the Jimmy took up the responsibility at right time. Factor 9, Hacking of database in the case study, The database named Reaper was hacked and downloaded which has 129 million records of people from 53 countries. After that ransom of 20,000 US Dollars is demanded by the hacker. This is a social factor as important information of thousands of people is on hold. Personal factors Factor 10, Securing his first job in the case study, Jimmy is a fresh graduate from the IT department of Griffith University. He applies for a job, after seeing an advertisement for an web developer in newspaper. Finally jimmy gets a job . The pay is quite enough for a 25 hour per week job. Intrinsic factors Factor 11, Co-developer in the case study, Jimmy notices two of this developer (Dev A and Dev B) were not competent to perform the work. Dev A of this ecommerce still works for the previous firm and is only a paid contractor here. Dev B a new arrival from overseas is technically sound on the contrary he is facing problem in settling in the new environment. This is a intrinsic factor because Jimmys own experience helped has helped him to judge the performance of the developers. Factor 12, Payback time in the case study, Jimmy is offered a job by senior developer manager Ben to work for him. Alec took revenge by cancelling his job interview. This is an intrinsic factor as Alec took revenge and it is his payback time now. Prioritisation Factor 13, Stepping up in critical situation in the case study, after the sudden leave of his boss Alec, Jimmy decided to took up the responsibility of his boss on his own shoulder. This is a prioritisation factor as Jimmy took up responsibility to satisfy the need of the organisation. Factor Related Issue 1 Unethical News (Legal) The term native advertisement is practiced by the firm to make profit for some companies who buy advertisement for them. 2 Confidentiality (Legal) Digging into the background of online news business website like Hullaballo.com. 3 Privacy (Legal) Digging into the background of online news business website like Hullaballo.com. 4 Code of Ethical Conduct (Legal) Jimmy is connected to the notorious incident like Reaper as reported in the news. 5 Misconduct (Professional and social factor) When Jimmy rejected to work on the terms and condition of the boss from hullaballo.com. 6 Work Experience (Employment Social) Jimmys work experience from reaper is highly valuable for the forthcoming ecommerce firm . 7 Hacking of database ( Professional and social Factor) Reaper database is hacked and downloaded by a hacker and a ransom of 20,000 US dollar is demanded. 8 Freedom in Workplace (Professional and social factor) Jimmy freedom is abandoned from placing his thought in front of his boss from news firm. 9 Get ahead (Employment and social factor) Jimmy has a conflict with his boss so he left the firm and joined an ecommerce company. 10 Securing his first job (personal factor) Jimmy is successful in securing a job where the pays was good . 11 Better Work place ( Employment and social Factor) The ecommerce gave him a full time position with work location varying from main office to various client sites. 12 Stepping out of comfort ( Employment and social Factor) After the sudden leave of Alec, Jimmy decided to prove his worth by stepping into his boss position. 13 Co-developer (Intrinsic factor) Both dev A and B developer of this ecommerce firm are not competent to perform the work assign to them. 14 Conflict ( professional and social factor) Jimmy has a conflict with his former boss Alec on the performance review of Dev A. 15 Payback Time (Intrinsic factor) A new job is offered to jimmy by Ben (a senior manager) later on it is cancelled by Alec to take a revenge. 16 Expensive meal (Intrinsic factor) During his new job at a competitor firm he was offered an expensive dinner by the CEO. 17 Stepping up in critical Situation (Prioritisation) After the sudden leave of his boss Alec, Jimmy took up the responsibility of the firm. Decision Decision taken by Jimmy like leaving the online news firm and joining an ecommerce firm is excellent on his part. This decision helped Jimmy in securing a successful future where he is promoted from a web developer to team leader. Jimmy decides to check the background of Hullaballo.com before joining it. It helped him getting in a brief idea about the working of the organization. After completing several months in the ecommerce , his boss Alec suddenly left the organization without any explanation. Jimmy then decides to prove his worth by stepping on his boss position and taking the full responsibility of the ongoing projects. This is a wonderful decision on his part as it saved the ecommerce organization from a huge loss. Jimmy do not wait for the approval of his directors from the ecommerce firm. In this new ecommerce firm Jimmy decided to replace two developers named Dev A and dev B as they are not adjustable with the work. Dev B is technically sound but is facing difficulties in setting in new environment. After having several months of conflict between Dev A and Jimmy on the matter of work performance, Jimmy decided to replace Dev A with someone better. Discussion Some news companies like Hullaballoo.com use the term native advertisement to gain profit for some organization. Spreading unethical news among the public is a legal factor. Digging into the background of the online business is a legal factor as it compromises with the privacy and confidentiality of the firm. Jimmy has been connected to a notorious incident like reaper which is a matter of ethical conduct. Due to this incident, Jimmys image is spoiled in front of the whole industry. Jimmys experience from the reaper database is highly valuable for the forth coming ecommerce firm. This is an employment factor as it is related to the work experience. Jimmys freedom has been chopped as he is detained from placing his thoughts in front of his boss. This is a professional and social factor as his freedom in workplace is compromised. The new ecommerce gave Jimmy a full time position with varying work location. During the absence of his boss Alec, Jimmy took his boss position in this way his worth in the organization is proved. Getting ahead in career life is a professional and social factor. Jimmy has a conflict with his former boss from the news firm and after that he decided to leave it and join an ecommerce firm. This is an employment factor as he got a better job than the previous one. Both Dev A and Dev B developer of this ecommerce firm are not capable of working with the task provided to them. This is an intrinsic factor as the capability of both the developers are judged. During Jimmys new job in the new ecommerce firm he has been offered an expensive dinner by the CEO. In the new ecommerce firm after the sudden leave of his boss Alec, Jimmy decided to take up the responsibility of the firm. This is a prioritization factor as he gave priority to work over everything. All the factors like professional, Employment and social, personal and intrinsic factor has been discussed. Conclusions on Analysis From this discussion it is concluded that in business domain, making money is on the top. In this case study Jimmy Olsen a recent IT graduate from Griffith University gets a job of web-developer in an online news firm. The pay was quite good for him. This company has created an online database known as the Reaper. Intention behind the creation of this database was to store demographic information of various people. This information is again used by advertisers and marketers to conduct campaigns in different zones for their promotion and making money. In the same the database is hacked by a hacker and a ransom of 20,000 US dollars is demanded against the vital information. Leaving the news company is a smart decision of Jimmys part. After that he joined an ecommerce firm where he had a conflict with boss Alec. Due to this conflict, certain company projects are hampered. After that he joined a competitor firm where he is treated very well by the CEO. He is offered an expensive meal with fine wine. The main intention behind the party is to informal business with senior businessman and government official in an armchair. Jimmy could not escape from his boss Alec, he followed Jimmy till the new firm. What I have learned from this course From the course it can be stated that in business world making money is on top of the priority list. Ethics comes after money in the business domain. In this case study Jimmy Olsen the IT graduate from the Griffith University wants a job in his domain. Fortunately he gets a job as a web-developer in an online business firm. This online news firm promotes the concept of native advertising. Hullaballoo is paid to spread positive news for the client and negative news for the competitors of the client. The term native advertising focuses an advertisement as a news story for driving attention of the crowd. Native advertising is used to attract the attention of people who uses ad blockers on their web browser. Now Hullabaloo has the intention of creating an integrated database that receives demographic information from all across the globe. The database is known as The Reaper. The collected information is very useful as well as valuable as it allow businessman from various domain to conduct high campaigns. Jimmy has the work of attracting more people on the website. The sign up form of the news firm ask more detail information of user. Apart from email id it also ask for age, gender, marital status, family members, post card and annual income. On the website the subscription cannot proceed until and unless all the detail information of the user are provided. This online database The reaper is not fully secure as the news firm has the right to sell information to third parties. Jimmy suggested his boss that the entered information can be used to offer deals to various people. Jimmy had a conflict with his boss on this topic. From this incident I have learned that boss is boss, the employees cannot disobey the orders of boss. Placing ones thoughts and ideas over the orders of boss might result in losing his job. Jimmy worked on the terms and condition of his boss which helped in surviving his job in the organization. Now comes the globe impact of the decision taken by an organization. The Reaper database was hacked by a hacker. After that a ransom equating to 20,000 dollars is demanded against the database. The future security professional must understand the need various legal and ethical responsibilities of an organizations. The professionals play a key role in managing liabilities like security and privacy risk for different organization. To minimize liability and reduce risk like Reaper incident in this case study from various threats, professional must have an idea about the present condition of various laws and regulation. It is the duty of the professionals to teach the employees of various organization about their legal and ethical rights. In an organization, the IT experts help to build security through various policies. There are certain policies and guidelines that describe acceptable and unacceptable employee behaviour in an organization. Care should be taken that these policies functioning as law must implemented on everyone on the workplace. Privacy is one of the important and hot matter of discussion in information technology. Nowadays many firms are storing and selling valuable information for money .People from all across the globe are depending on government for protecting their privacy. The Privacy of Customer Information Section of the common carrier regulation states that any important information can be used to provide services, on the contrary these information cannot be used for marketing purpose. The business firm cannot disclose personal information to anyone until and unless it is important for providing their services. A business firm can only disclose the information only when it is necessary for them. IT professional must understand that business firms do business globally. As a result these professional must be aware of laws and ethical values of different culture and society. Because of difference in political views among various countries there are certain international laws which govern the privacy and information security. Ethics in computer world are mainly affected by many factors expect from nationality. Employees must be trained and they must be aware of the recent and emerging topics related to information technology. This topic is vital in information technology as many employees are not aware of the various technical training used to judge whether the behaviour. Proper training must be provided to employees for building a well prepared and low risk system user. Codes of Ethics: Each member of Professional organization is expected to follow the codes of conduct or codes of ethics. Many employers do not encourage or initiate their employees to take part in these professional firms. Many employees who have gained certain certification and expert accreditation can lose their accreditation and certification if they disobey the codes of conduct. Loss of certification or accreditation will ultimately effect the marketability and earning of the employees. It is the duty of IT professional to follow the policies and procedure of the organization. The organizations must follow the different laws of society. From this course I have learnt about the International Information systems security certification consortium that mainly focuses on its working. (ISC)2 is a body of knowledge and information security which conduct examination for information security. The code of Ethics designed by (ISC)2 is mainly used by information security experts. System Administration, network security and security institute is another organization which is a professional research and education cooperative organization with lot of members. All these members have certain certification and value that follow the codes of ethics. Certification holders may lose their certification if they are disobey the laws. Information System Audit and Control Association is professional body which mainly focuses on auditing, control, and security of various organization. Its membership is open to both technical and managerial professional. It has certain codes of ethics, which must be followed by its professionals. Information s ystem security Association(ISSA) is a non-profit body of information security which has a primary function of bringing technical sound professional for education development. The working principle of various international bodies has been discussed in the above paragraph.

Is Psychology A Science Essays - Psychology, Behavioural Sciences

Is Psychology a Science? In order to answer this question it is important to understand the definitions of both psychology and science. The word 'psychology' comes from the Greek 'psyche' (or soul) and 'logos' (or study), which came to be known as the 'study of the soul'. The American Heritage Dictionary defines psychology as: 1. the science dealing with the mind and with mental and emotional processes 2. the science of human and animal behavior. In its pure definition the dictionary has provided us with a clue to the answer, it describes science as: 1. systematized knowledge derived from observation, study, etc. 2. a branch of knowledge, esp. one that systematizes facts, principles, and methods 3. skill or technique In order to prove this claim we have to look at whether or not psychology can fill this definition above. Scientific study is a valid way of coming to an understanding of life, and can be very useful in every area of life. Science develops theories based on what is observed. It examines each theory with rigorous and scrupulous tests to see if it describes reality. The scientific method works well in observing and recording physical data and in reaching conclusions which either confirm or nullify a theory. During the mid-19th century, scholars (although at that time probably termed philosophers) wanted to study human nature with the aim of applying the scientific method to observe, record, and treat human behavior that was deemed as unnatural. They believed that if people could be studied in a scientific manner, there would be a greater accuracy in understanding present behavior, in predicting future behavior, and, most controversially, in altering behavior through scientific intervention. There are many areas of psychology, each attempting to explain behavior from slightly different perspectives; Social psychology is concerned with the effects of social situations on human behavior. Personality theorists study individual behavior. Comparative psychologists study animal behaviors across the range of species Physiological psychologists are concerned with the biological basis of behavior. Developmental psychologists study principles and processes responsible for change throughout life. Cognitive psychologists investigate memory, thought, problem solving, and the psychological aspects of learning. Analysis of behavior studies the conditions under which a behavior can be learned and the situations that cause that behavior to occur. Learning is an area of psychology exploring how new behaviors are learned and maintained. Clinical psychologists study ways to help individuals and groups of individuals change their behavior. Industrial and organizational psychologists are concerned with the physical and social aspects of people's work environments as they affect work output. Community psychologists use scientific methods to study and solve social problems. As Western describes, the psychological paradigm is a collection of assumptions used to make sense of a subject area or experience, this can be applied to psychology itself. Psychology lacks one unified paradigm but has four perspectives that search for its understanding; The pyschodynamic perspective believes that behavior is a result of unconscious processes, personal motivation and early childhood experiences. It's most famous advocate was Sigmund Freud. Its method of data collection rely heavily on interpreting discussion, dreams and fantasies, actions, case studies and a limited amount of experimentation. The behaviorist perspective believes that behavior is learned and selected by environmental consequences. Its method of data collection relies heavily on experimentation conducted in the scientific laboratory where the factors studied can be controlled; or it may take place in a real life setting where more natural behavior is studied and far more variables exist. The cognitive perspective believes that behavior is a result of information processing, storage in the brain, transformation and the retrieval of information. The methods of data collection used are again experimentation but with much use of computer modeling. The evolutionary perspective believes that psychological processes echo the evolutionary processes of natural selection. Its method of data collection includes the deduction of explanations for behavior, and comparisons between species and cultures. It also involves a limited amount of experimentation. Of these four perspectives all lend common similarities to the traditional sciences. All have elements of controlled experimentation, as does physics or chemistry. Cognitive perspectives use computer modeling, as does mathematics. There are similarities, but there are also differences to any

Free Essays on Diet Pills; Not Quite The Easy Way Out

Diet Pills; Not Quite the Easy Way Out In today’s modern society diet pills such as Hydrocycut, Stackers and Xenadrine FRA-1 are all the new rave. They are supposed to be an easy, quick and healthy way to loose weight and gain energy without the burden of dieting or proper exercise. On the contrary, most individuals do not realize the health risks involved with taking theses so called â€Å"natural ingredient pills.† In fact, since ICOF last covered performance-enhancing diet pills in December 1998, the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy charged that almost 30% of Olympic athletes were using them (1). Are Diet pills safe? Just because a pill is made of natural ingredients, does not mean that those ingredients are not harmful. All of the diet pills on the market contain different ingredients. Ephedrine, the all-natural stimulant is, generating the most controversy. Ephedrine is a natural chemical found in the Ephedrine Sinica plant. As Dee Murphy has noted, â€Å"Ephedrine as a pill, has many side effect including but not limited to, rapid irregular heart beat, dizziness, headache, shortness of breath, sleeplessness, tremor, nausea, loss of consciousness and many other serious health problems.(18)† But some weight-loss experts believe such supplements are vital to helping many overweight people cope. Carlon colker, a weight-loss doctor in Greenwhich, Conneticut, says the message that Americans should simply eat healthy and exercise â€Å"just isn’t working.† If it were he argues that obesity-related problems from heart disease to diabetes would not be increasing as quickly as they are right now. He contends supplements like ephedrine, which he says is â€Å"absolutely safe† when taken as directed, give many people the extra push they need to begin taking proper care of themselves (1). There are many ways to loose weight in a healthy way. For some people it does take a little more than exercising daily and eatin... Free Essays on Diet Pills; Not Quite The Easy Way Out Free Essays on Diet Pills; Not Quite The Easy Way Out Diet Pills; Not Quite the Easy Way Out In today’s modern society diet pills such as Hydrocycut, Stackers and Xenadrine FRA-1 are all the new rave. They are supposed to be an easy, quick and healthy way to loose weight and gain energy without the burden of dieting or proper exercise. On the contrary, most individuals do not realize the health risks involved with taking theses so called â€Å"natural ingredient pills.† In fact, since ICOF last covered performance-enhancing diet pills in December 1998, the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy charged that almost 30% of Olympic athletes were using them (1). Are Diet pills safe? Just because a pill is made of natural ingredients, does not mean that those ingredients are not harmful. All of the diet pills on the market contain different ingredients. Ephedrine, the all-natural stimulant is, generating the most controversy. Ephedrine is a natural chemical found in the Ephedrine Sinica plant. As Dee Murphy has noted, â€Å"Ephedrine as a pill, has many side effect including but not limited to, rapid irregular heart beat, dizziness, headache, shortness of breath, sleeplessness, tremor, nausea, loss of consciousness and many other serious health problems.(18)† But some weight-loss experts believe such supplements are vital to helping many overweight people cope. Carlon colker, a weight-loss doctor in Greenwhich, Conneticut, says the message that Americans should simply eat healthy and exercise â€Å"just isn’t working.† If it were he argues that obesity-related problems from heart disease to diabetes would not be increasing as quickly as they are right now. He contends supplements like ephedrine, which he says is â€Å"absolutely safe† when taken as directed, give many people the extra push they need to begin taking proper care of themselves (1). There are many ways to loose weight in a healthy way. For some people it does take a little more than exercising daily and eatin...

The Tech That Ignited the Communication Revolution

The Tech That Ignited the Communication Revolution The 19th century saw a revolution in communications systems that brought the world closer together. Innovations like the telegraph allowed information to travel over vast distances in little or no time, while institutions such as the postal system made it easier than ever for people to conduct business and connect with others. Postal System People have been using delivery services to exchange correspondence and share information since at least 2400 B.C. when the ancient Egyptian pharaohs used couriers to spread royal decrees throughout their territory. Evidence indicates similar systems were used in ancient China and Mesopotamia as well.   The United States established its postal system in 1775 before independence had been declared. Benjamin Franklin was appointed the nations first postmaster general. The founding fathers believed so strongly in a postal system that they included provisions for one in the Constitution. Rates were established for the delivery of letters and newspapers based on delivery distance, and postal clerks would note the amount on the envelope. A schoolmaster from England, Rowland Hill, invented the adhesive postage stamp in 1837, an act for which he later was knighted.Hill also created the first uniform postage rates that were based on weight rather than size. Hills stamps made the prepayment of mail postage possible and practical. In 1840, Great Britain issued its first stamp, the Penny Black, featuring the image of Queen Victoria. The U.S. Postal Service issued its first stamp in 1847. Telegraph The electrical telegraph was invented in 1838 by a Samuel Morse, an educator and inventor who made a hobby of experimenting with electricity. Morse wasnt working in a vacuum; the principal of sending electrical current via wires over long distances had been perfected in the previous decade. But it took Morse, who developed a means of transmitting coded signals in the form of dots and dashes, to make the technology practical.   Morse patented his device in 1840, and three years later Congress granted him $30,000 to build the first telegraph line from Washington D.C. to Baltimore.  On May 24, 1844, Morse transmitted his famous message, What hath God wrought?, from the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., to the B O Railroad Depot in Baltimore. The growth of the telegraph system piggybacked on the expansion of the nations railway system, with lines often following rail routes and telegraph offices established at train stations large and small across the nation. The telegraph would remain the primary means of long-distance communication until the emergence of the radio and telephone in the early 20th century. Improved Newspaper Presses Newspapers as we know them have been printed regularly in the U.S. since the 1720s when James Franklin (Ben Franklins older brother) began publishing the New England Courant in Massachusetts. But early newspaper had to be printed in manual presses, a time-consuming process that made it difficult to produce more than a few hundred copies. The introduction of the steam-powered printing press in London in 1814 changed that, allowing publishers to print more than 1,000 newspapers per hour. In 1845, the American inventor Richard March Hoe introduced the rotary press, which could print up to 100,000 copies per hour. Coupled with other refinements in printing, the introduction of the telegraph, a sharp drop in the cost of newsprint, and an increase in literacy, newspapers could be found in nearly every town and city in the U.S. by the mid-1800s. Phonograph Thomas Edison is credited with inventing the phonograph, which could both record sound and play it back, in 1877. The device converted sound waves into vibrations that in turn were engraved on a metal (later wax) cylinder using a needle. Edison refined his invention and began marketing it to the public in 1888. But early phonographs were prohibitively expensive, and wax cylinders were both fragile and hard to mass produce. By the turn of the 20th century, the cost of photographs and cylinders had dropped considerably and they became more commonplace in American homes. The disc-shaped record we know today was introduced by Emile Berliner in Europe in 1889 and appeared in the U.S. in 1894. In 1925, the first industry standard for playing speeds was set at 78 revolutions per minute, and the record disc became the dominant format.   Photography The first photographs were produced by Frenchman Louis Daguerre in 1839, using silver-plated metal sheets treated with light-sensitive chemicals to produce an image. The images were incredibly detailed and durable, but the photochemical process was very complicated and time-consuming. By the time of the Civil War, the advent of portable cameras and new chemical processes allowed photographers like Matthew Brady to document the conflict and average Americans to experience the conflict for themselves. In 1883, George Eastman of Rochester, New York, had perfected a means of putting film on a roll, making the process of photography more portable and less expensive. The introduction of his Kodak No. 1 camera in 1888 put cameras in the hands of the masses. It came pre-loaded with film and when users had finished shooting, they sent the camera to Kodak, which processed their prints and sent the camera back, loaded with fresh film. Motion Pictures A number of people contributed innovations that led to the motion picture we know today. One of the first was the British-American photographer Eadweard Muybridge, who used an elaborate system of still cameras and trip wires to create a series of motion studies in the 1870s. George Eastmans innovative celluloid roll film in the 1880s was another crucial step, allowing large quantities of film to be packaged in compact containers.   Using Eastmans film,  Thomas Edison and William Dickinson had invented a means of projecting motion picture film called the Kinetoscope in 1891. But the Kinetoscope could only be viewed by one person at a time. The first motion pictures that could be projected and shown to groups of people were perfected by the French brothers Auguste and Louis Lumià ¨re. In 1895, the brothers demonstrated their Cinematographe with a series of 50-second films that documented everyday activities like workers leaving their factory in Lyon, France. By the 1900s, motion pictures had become a common form of entertainment in vaudeville halls throughout the U.S., and a new industry was born to mass-produce films as a means of entertainment. Sources Alterman, Eric. Out of Print. NewYorker.com. 31 March 2008.Cook, David A., and Sklar, Robert. History of the Motion Picture. Brittanica.com. 10 November 2017.Longley, Robert. About the U.S. Postal Service. ThoughtCo.com. 21 July 2017.McGillem, Clare. Telegraph. Brittanica.com. 7 December 2016.Potter, John, U.S. Postmaster General. The United States Postal Service An American History 1775 – 2006. USPS.com. 2006.History of the Cylinder Phonograph. Library of Congress. Accessed 8 March 2018.

Classifying talent Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Classifying talent - Essay Example The first talent chosen for the analysis is playing the piano. It is really a talent for it involves performance of musical pieces with special ability of mind and hands and virtuosity. In other words, playing the piano as a talent requires physical, mental and psychological skills. The uniqueness of this talent lies in the ability to master the musical instrument and being able to perform the hardest musical pieces in front of the audience, under psychological pressure. It is complexity of musical pieces, hours, days and even months of hard work on the performance and virtuosity which make this talent admirable and great. Overall, a person who has this talent obtains such characteristic features as diligence, patience to work a lot of time and not to give up, love of the beautiful, and perseverance. One more relatively wide-spread talent is dancing. This talent lies in a person’s ability to use his / her physical abilities to perform eye-pleasing movements to music and both render and trigger emotions. Thus, this talent also requires mental, psychological and, more importantly, physical skills. The uniqueness of this talent is in a person’s perseverance and hard work to get particular physical skills to be able to perform very specific and complex movements. Very often, it is physical form and gracefulness that are usually praised in this talent. Just like any other talented person, one that has this talent is hard-working, diligent, patient, and passionate. Today, there are many actors but not so many of them have a real talent of acting, which lies in the ability to get into characters and perform in front of an audience or camera. This talent requires mostly mental and psychological skills which allow some kind of transformation and influence on the viewers’ minds. The uniqueness of the talent lies in the person’s ability to warm to the role so much so that other people

Finance in the Hospitality Indusry Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Finance in the Hospitality Indusry - Assignment Example Suppliers offer credit by supplying goods that do not require an immediate payment. However, a good number of suppliers provide a credit to individuals that have developed an established track record. A majority of retailers are presently offering various products on credit, such as equipments, via a financial institution. In addition, an individual can obtain a loan and other financial products such as an overdraft facility and asset financing via various financial institutions. Financial institutions range from banks to credit unions. In relation to an internal equity, an individual can finance a firm by the help of saved funds or ploughed back profits. An internal equity is majorly employed by various individuals that are seeking to start a business or running an established business. An internal equity is cheap since an individual is not expected to pay fees for borrowing money (Robinson, 2009). The other method of financing a firm is via an external equity, which includes friend s, government, venture capitalist, stock market and private investors among others. A government may provide financing to a new or existing business. Venture capitalists are large institutions that provide a large amount of money for a potential or existing firm. However, venture capitalists are characterized by the need to have a large share of a firm to effect management about the firm’s operations. ... However, this approach is associated with a number of flaws given that a majority of markets are characterized by various inefficiencies. As a result, an individual can easily fall short of raising a required level of capital. Given that the William’s family is required to raise more than sterling pounds 62,000 to take over The Enchanted Valley B&B, the family should consider approaching the London Stock Exchange since it is more efficient than other stock markets in the world. This would give the family a chance to raise an adequate capital due to favorable qualities of the firms, such as a strategic location and executive finishing. The family should also approach various private investors. The family should, however, ensure that the investors do not seek more than 50% of the company’s share. These methods are appropriate for the Williams family to raise the required level of capital without risking transferring the power of making the firm’s management decisio ns. Sources of the Firm’s Generating Income The firm generates an income from a number of services and products. The key products that offer an income include food and beverages which amounted to $135,000 (selling revenues). Having resulted in a cost of $45,000 and allowance of $5,000, the firm experienced a gross profit of $85,000. The other income was generated by rooms’ rental which amounted to $600. Other services such as parking contributed to a significant profit of $3100. This means that beverages and food contributed to 95.83% (85,000/88,700*100%) of the total gross profit. On the other hand, rooms’ rental contributed to 0.068% of the gross income (600/88,500*100%).

An analysis on leaderships’ effect on culture Essay Example for Free

An analysis on leaderships’ effect on culture Essay Facts ConnectCo is an outbound call center in Toronto, Ontario and is the Canadian Subsidiary of a U.S. marketing and sales consulting practice. The parent company has provided services to Fortune 500 companies over its five years of operations and employs approximately 75 people. ConnectCo has annual revenues of $29.4 million, with Symbol Office Solution as their biggest account at $20 million annually, for a contract length of three years. This contract awarded ConnectCo net profits as high as 35% of sales. What ConnectCo offers to clients is the convenience and cost savings of removing a costly field sales force and replaces them with a more cost efficient outbound call center. These call centers help customers with technical problems, provide new equipment updates, and disseminates knowledge about new technologies or equipment. The Symbol account, as previously mentioned, provides a significant sum of ConnectCo`s total revenue and was first negotiated by Charlie Gallagher, the vice-president of Canadian operations, and is managed by Chad Macdonald. Joe Davis is a passionate and experienced consultant that has worked closely with clients to identify and implement solutions to very specific problems. He joined ConnectCo hoping to learn from the pool of experience that he saw within the organization, with the majority of them being former Xerox employees with considerable knowledge in increasing sales. His role in the organization was to ensure that the level of service that ConnectCo provided met or surpassed the needs of clients. As per his position within the company he was the first to notice the discrepancy within the Symbol account. The contract that was signed between ConnectCo and Symbol required that there be a certain number of Inside Account Executives (IAE) that be trained at all times and at a phone making calls in the client`s interests. The recent decline in the IAE pool has left several seats open, with no calls being placed on behalf of Symbol, however they were still billing the customer as if the seats where all operating at full capacity while they should only be billing them for filled operators. The amount of the discrepancy totals $81000. The terms of the contract have been modified several times over its effective term with the first being an extension of the contract and the notice of intent to develop mutually agreed to service levels. Service level targets were never established. Symptoms The four factoring symptoms are communication, trust, accountability, responsibility and integrity. These symptoms are the leading cause for Connectco’s inability to run operations smoothly and effectively. The lack of communication within Connectco is causing headaches for Davis as information continues to be blocked by â€Å"noise† within the company. The communication is next to nonexistent from the top of the hierarchy to the department managers within the company. The lack of trust throughout the company is not helping their cause when trying to create an effective and demanded product for fortune 500 companies. There is little trust betwee the top managers and employees that they will complete their respected jobs at hand with the level of trust level between employees and managers decaying over time and as the situation worsens. Accountability is near nonexistent within the organization. Davis is not able to hold his manager accountable because of his past record in doing so. Accountability is crucial in order for Connectco to run smoothly in the future. Conflict frequently causes employees to look to offload their work onto others to not be responsible for failure, as in the case of Chad Macdonald passing the role of dealing with the Symbol account off to Joe Davis. Finally, there is little integrity. Dealing with the account neither Chad nor Charlie believe that the best solution would be to deal with the problem and would both prefer to make a decision that would go against the main values of the corporation that includes trustworthiness. There is a valid case of values incongruence within ConnectCo. These four main symptoms are major attributes to the problems faced within Connectco and are the four elements that may be the solutions to solving Connectco’s organizational problems in the near future. Problem Statement ConnectCo`s current situation is the direct result of the poor corporate culture as evidenced by the symptoms that are present. This culture stems from the leadership`s poor ethics and lack of values and has cascaded to the rest of the organization. Joe Davis, the new manager of the Planning and Reporting department for ConnectCo, began his new job about a month ago finds himself in the uncomfortable situation of questioning the morals of his coworkers that has led to the jeopardized relationship between ConnectCo and their largest client: Symbol Office Solutions. Joe must decide how to approach this conflicting situation as a new member of the company without compromising his own morals and values. Analysis In evaluating the relevant models to address the problem statement there is one model in particular that effectively incorporates several of the models needed to perform an analysis of the corporate culture at ConnectCo; Edgar H. Scheins Model of Organizational Culture. Schein’s model is the most relevant to identify the reason for the symptoms and problems currently facing ConnectCo. The incorporation of the many different aspects to identify the culture of an organization including atifacts, shared values, and shared assumptions enables a thorough review of the culture present at ConnectCo. The following analysis will break down Schein’s model and evaluate each section with the following relevant analysis to get a better understanding of the situation. It will be presented in the following order; artifacts, shared values, shared assumptions. Artifacts Communication within the ConnectCo organization does not represent the ideal scenario for a well-run organization. This lack of proper communication and clarity is unfortunately spilling over into its business dealings with clients. Both represent one of the most evident aspects of the artifacts of the company, the cultural norms that are evident to others and neither is impressive. To begin, this analysis will focus on internal communication and then shift focus to the external communication with other organizations. â€Å"Davis opened up a new message and types a simple e-mail, in case Gallagher picked it up with his Blackberry†. This is but one example of the many e-mail conversations that take place within the ConnectCo organization. The situation that ConnectCo finds themselves in is extremely complicated, owing a client a credit for $81000, yet the medium with which Joe Davis chose to use to relay his message was e-mail. A quick analysis of the media richness hierarchy model shows that in this particular situation, which can be easily identified as non-routine and ambiguous, this medium carries too little data-carrying capacity. If ConnectCo is going to come up with a solution they are going to need to switch to a much richer medium such as face-to-face to get a better understanding of the issue and come up with better outcomes. A second occasion that warrants investigation is the initial email from Joe Davis to Charlie Gallagher. In this initial email he again used to wrong medium to convey the breadth of the issue that is ambiguous and non-routine. Charlie chose to respond in an email as well, with nine words. This will play a factor again in the analysis of the shared values, more specifically the espoused values that leadership (Gallagher) conveys. Communication between the organizations is also very weak, speaking to the weak cultural artifacts of the ConnectCo organization, and possibly Symbol. It has been acknowledged that they do indeed have face to face communications with their customers, Gallagher does meet with Puhl for golfing events face to face, this does not represent an ideal time, however, as the venue is much to informal to discuss business matters as public meetings contain significant noise, literally and figuratively, that may lead to the message being decoded incorrectly. The rest of the communication between the two parties, even between the account relationship manager Chad MacDonald and Steve Puhl was done either by telephone or by email. Another aspect of the artifacts of communication that deserves attention is the construction of the contract. Again, the communication process model is most relevant and one of the simplest ways to word the breakdown is that the contract contained too much noise and was not properly decoded by ConnectCo. The ambiguity of the contract comes from many revisions, some of which were not even available to the relevant employees such as Joe Davis and using words such as â€Å"notwithstanding† which was interpreted differently by Joe Davis, Chad MacDonald, and Charlie Gallagher. This occurred because the contract was not descriptive enough. Another aspect to the artifacts portion of the model of organizational culture is the ceremonies that take place within the organization. These ceremonies are used by certain employees and management to get the attention of an audience. In this particular situation the most evident are the golfing trips that Gallagher takes with clients to cement his position as the most important contact to the clients. And finally, the organizational structure, which has a great effect on culture. ConnectCo currently has a client structure, as negotiated within the contract agreement, the organization will maintain a set number of staff specifically to service that account. Espoused Values â€Å"Our values reflect what is important to us. They are a shorthand way of describing our individual and collective motivations. Together with beliefs, they are the causal factors that drive our decision-making.† (http://www.valuescentre.com/values/?sec=values_overview) The above quote reflects what should be the core of any business, the values shared by all of the different employees congruent to the plan laid out by management for the success of the organization. In Schein`s model shared or espoused values represent the second of the 3 components and the first of the invisible dynamics, as in they cannot be easily observed by others. Richard Barrett, author of Building a Values-Driven Organisation: A Whole System Approach to Cultural Transformation believes that values can be either positive or negative and each can have an equal and opposite effect on the corporations culture. The espoused values must begin as an individual value through some authority figure, such as a founder, senior management, or even an individual with significant power within an organization. These individuals` culture then influences their immediate coworkers, the teams with which they operate, then the organization as a whole. These individuals can therefore set the values for the whole organization regardless of what the dominant culture of the organization through countercultures. The culture of an organisation, or any group of individuals that share a common identity, is a reflection of the values and beliefs of the leaders. (http://www.valuescentre.com/leadership/?sec=leadership__culture) With limited information on the dominant culture of ConnectCo as established by its American head company, which include integrity and trustworthiness, it can only be assumed that the culture that prevails at Connectco is a subculture of the organization as a whole. The following analysis suggests that the counterculture present in ConnectCo is the direct result of the actions of Charlie Gallagher. As the leader in the organization Charlie has had a profound effect on the values and ethics present within the organization. His handling of the Symbol account clearly demonstrates his values and ethics. His position as leader and culture setter warrants investigation based on several components. First, the competency of his leadership will be analyzed incorporating an analysis of his personal values and the source of his power. To begin, Charlie possesses several characteristics of an effective leader. He has significant self-concept, his personality skills are high, he has the motivation to be a leader, and significant knowledge of the business. These competencies push those that work for him to have the same skills as demonstrated in Chad MacDonald; however, his low integrity has also been transmitted to other co-workers. By encouraging Davis to p lay with the numbers and do things that were out of the contract he shows his low integrity. This has led to a lack of trust that is evident from Joe Davis and several other members of the ConnectCo staff throughout the handling of the symbol account. This is not the only negative quality that has displayed. Gallagher also exhibits limited cognitive and practical intelligence. His recommendation to simply `go with the lowest cost` shows a lack of understanding of the situation (and going back to communication) the ambiguity of the situation , this has pervaded to his employees where Chad was more than willing to agree to a band aid solution going against ethical business practices. Neither fully understands the situation and Chad was more than happy to hand off the problem to Joe Davis even though he was the relationship manager on the account and dealing with clients is outside of the scope of work for Joe Davis. The reason for Gallagher`s lack of integrity can be easily explained through the Swartz values circumplex. Clearly, Gallagher is more focused on self-enhancement, his need for achievement is evidenced through the fact that everyone must know that he is the one that negotiated the Symbol account and demonstrated through his golf business trips, as well as his refusal to accept responsibility for poorly negotiating a contract and failing to adhere and communicate the contents of the contracts that he signed. He is also a leader that craves power and prefers significant power distance, as proven by his screening of his employees’ calls and not showing up to the meeting with Joe Davis and Chad MacDonald to clarify the contract for them. Both of these values compromise his integrity and unfortunately those values are only two that his leadership has caused the rest of the organization to adopt, the need for security security being another. Gallagher`s aforementioned need for power is also affecting the culture of the organization. His handling of the Symbol account and the contract shows that he uses a wheel formation of information control to maintain power within the organization. By him going golfing with the big shots at Symbol rather than relationship manager Chad, shows that he needs to maintain that control of information which in turn gives him control over Chad and the account. This is combined with Joe Davis` perception of an upward appeal within the organization that made him rethink his ability to go to the higher ups with the information because he believes that the management will take the side of Gallagher given that they are both MBA graduates. Fear is an influence tactic that Gallagher has wielded to maintain order and obedience from his employees through his connection with the president. The effect on culture is that because employees cannot contact upper management the values that he imposes on the organization will be the ones that dictate how operations are carried out. Indirectly, this is what has causes the problem with ConnectCo and Symbol. Gallagher controlling the information has prevented Chad from acting in the best interest of the company to ensure the contract is followed and that there are no issues. It also means that now since the contract has not been followed the persons involves will use the cultural aspects of poor integrity and dodging that he has used with his employees as Chad demonstrated by dodging Steve Puhl and pushing the problem onto Joe Davis. Shared Assumptions and Values Analysing the shared assumptions of ConnectCo with the Schwartz’s Values Circumplex, we notice that the company talks about wanting to keep their most important client Symbol satisfied by valuing self-transcendence and conservation however their actions and dealing of the contract with Symbol do not reflect those values. The appropriate way to describe the values that ConnectCo tend to go by is self-enhancing. They are working for the client to provide them with everything listed in the contract, in this case a sufficient amount of IAEs, but are hiding information from Symbol to protect their own well-being. This seems to be enforced by Charlie Gallagher as he is telling Joe Davis that they should not have to pay any penalty fees to Symbol for empty seats at the IAE position if there are current individuals in training for that position. Now we will look at the ethical values and behaviour the moral intensity of ConnectCo, more specifically Charlie Gallagher’s ethical s ensitivity to the issue. The degree to which they should be applying ethical principles should be is high because Symbol is their biggest client and has trusted ConnectCo for a few years. However, the intensity being put forth is minimal as they are trying to get out of paying money to Symbol for not having staffed enough IAE’s and they are forcing Joe Davis to go against his values and follow suit. This shows how little Charlie Gallagher cares about ethically conducting operations with clients and co-workers, as Joe Davis is being pressured into complying with Charlie’s demand because he does not want to risk losing his job even though what Charlie is telling him to do is illegal. Taking a look at the conflict process model we find our sources of conflict between, Gallagher, Davis and Steve Puhl from Symbol. The most obvious source is the communication between Gallagher and Puhl. First of all the contract between the two is too vague and open for interpretation as the service level targets have not been defined for almost two years. Charlie is also not communicating the issue of his understanding of the contract, as he is just assuming that they should not have to pay Symbol credit for not having the specified amount of IAE’s because he is claiming that during those times they had individuals in training to fill those positions. Another issue is that even if what Gallagher interpreted was true, he does not have any data to prove that he had employees in training because he failed to communicate to Chad MacDonald, Joe Davis and to Carole Lam the exact details of the contract. This puts Joe in a uncomfortable situation when he receives a call from Steve Puhl and is unsure what the contract requirements. Another source of conflict is the incompatible goals and differentiation between Charlie and Joe. Joe is simply trying to do the right thing because he is new to the company and wants to make a good impression by doing things ethically however Charlie is trying to make it seem like he is fulfilling the terms of the contract by making assumptions of the contract to get away with not having to pay Symbol their deserved credit. Another source of conflict is the scarcity of important resources. As mentioned previously Carole Lam the analyst was never told to keep data on the amount of days and which days that employees were in training. Joe needed this data to complete his work but obviously was unable to retrieve complete and accurate data on employee training. The way that Charlie seems to be handling this conflict is by avoiding communication with clients and co-workers. He is notorious for screening calls, he failed to show up to a meeting with Chad MacDonald and Joe Davis, and when asked how to calculate the credit owed to Symbol he simply tells Davis to use the lowest cost to save ConnectCo money and make himself look good. He also does not seem to be of much help to Joe Davis as Gallagher is the one who began this lack of communication which has led to faulty handling of Symbol’s credit account, and seems to be avoiding Joe Davis. This is causing the rest of the employees to obey his ideas beca use they have no idea what the contract actually calls for and even if they did know, would likely be unwilling to challenge his decisions because he is higher up in the company. Alternatives Alternative #1: Bring these numbers and issues to the President and CEO Pros| Cons| * Issues dealing with the Symbol account get addressed * Issues with the culture of the organization get addressed * Issues are addressed to an authority that can fix these problems and remove the negative counterculture * Keeps the organization from committing accounting fraud like other companies (Enron) * Brings to light all the ethical issues surrounding Charlie Gallagher and Chad MacDonald * Addresses turnover issues that have become routine in the company| * This act could cause tension between Joe and his direct superior (Gallagher) * There is a risk that the President sees this act as disloyal * Working with Gallagher and MacDonald after bringing their issues to light will be difficult moving forward * President/CEO may share the same dysfunctional attitude towards the culture in the organization| This alternative should include him making an appointment with the President/CEO and bringing analyst Carole Lam to help support his findings. She is well aware with the financial numbers and how Gallagher is letting ConnectCo take money from their top client. This meeting needs to be face-to-face in order to bring about the severity of the conflicting situation. The meeting needs to include all facets of the organizations current lack of corporate ethical values and which individuals must be held accountable. Joe must conclude that if there are immediate corporate culture changes, he would still like to keep working with Gallagher and MacDonald and build a trusting and functional working relationship with both. This will help ease the tension between himself and his immediate superior as well as showing the President that he is capable of handling mismanagement. This alternative is highly recommended and addresses all the facets of this situation. Alternative #2: Quit and find another job Pros| Cons| * Joe no longer has to deal with the resoundingly shaky ethical structure and poor communication at ConnectCo * Joe doesn’t become a â€Å"part of the problem† * Joe no longer has to deal with Gallagher’s lack of trust and consideration with their top clientele at his cost * Joe doesn’t become an accomplice to committing accounting fraud| * Leaving an organization after only one month doesn’t look good to future prospective employers * This would go against his newly engaged fiancà ©e who wanted to see him â€Å"get off the road† * No severance package * No recommendation or verbal support from ConnectCo once he leaves| This alternative does not come recommended as it leaves Joe and ConnectCo with an uncertain future. Should Joe decide to leave the company, he would not get a severance package and future employers will wonder why he lasted only a month at his previous job making it more difficult to find employment opportunities. Also, his fiancà ©e did not want his moving around for work a lot and two jobs in less than two months will leave his situation at home stressful. Also, should prospective employers contact ConnectCo, they would have no reason to support Joe for his limited work. Although Joe does not have to deal with this poor corporate culture, running away from the situation does not help in any positive way. Alternative #3: Try to resolve issue without Chad MacDonald or Charlie Gallagher Pros| Cons| * Helps ease relationship between ConnectCo and Symbol * Steve Puhl does not have to deal with Chad (who he is getting nowhere with) * Joe can try to incorporate cultural changes to those he can * Has Carole Lam to help him fix the financial disparities of the comapny| * Leaving Chad and Charlie in the dark is risky * Steve Puhl may accidently contact Chad or Charlie and miscommunication may occur * Does not address how to fix the imminent turnover issues surrounding the IAE’s * Not reporting these changes with his superior could cost him his job| Because Joe handles the reporting side of the company, it would go against his responsibilities as an employee to bring up any new information regarding Symbol and can be subject to his employment being terminated if Gallagher was to find out. This alternative is incredibly risky, but does see some rewards. These rewards include easing the relationship between ConnectCo and Symbol and slowly changing the culture in the corporation as best he can. Unfortunately, he is only just a manager and a new one, so it would be hard for him to get others to respond to his command when there hasn’t been enough relationship development between his other employees. With this in mind, it is best to look at other alternatives. Recommendation Our recommendation is based off of Alternative #1, in which we suggest brining the financial statements and issues to the attention of the President and CEO. This will allow us to ensure that all problems in relation to the Symbol account and the culture of the organization are addressed accordingly. This will also shed light on the ethical issues that need to be addressed, surrounding Gallagher and MacDonald. As well, it will prevent any consequences from occurring, resulting from accounting fraud. Once Joe Davis meets with the President and CEO to inform them of his findings, it will be up to the President to create and urgency for change within the organization. In order to implement this change we would recommend the use of Lewin’s Force Field Analysis Model. By implementing this model the President could unfreeze the current situation, change the organizational culture and ethics of the company, and then freeze the company in that state. By doing so the company would chan ge into operating with a more socially responsible client first attitude. By creating urgency for change the President could use client satisfaction as a driving force to push the employees, in order to ensure each client receives the customer service they deserve. By ensuring the client is always receiving social and ethical treatment, it will drive away any restraining forces, such as lack of integrity, which can be attributed to the accounting fraud. Now we can consider how the President could unfreeze and re-freeze the company in order to complete the change. The President should focus on creating an adaptive culture, in which the company will have an external focus. By creating an external focus the employees will realize that the organizations success depends on continuous change to be a more stakeholder and client oriented company. In this situation it means focusing on changing into a more socially and ethically aware organization to better serve the clients. There is also an internal focus that must be implemented as well. This includes employees working towards the organizational goals that are set. In this situation the organizational goals would be to provide better customer service. As well by creating an adaptive culture, employees would have a stronger sense of ownership within the organization, and therefore take more responsibility for their performance and tasks. Therefore we believe that since a company’s culture often reflects the leader’s personality, it really is up to the President to make the steps necessary to change the organization. One final step we would recommend taking, is to fire Charlie Gallagher. The basis of firing Gallagher is the fact that he was trying to commit accounting fraud. Therefore the company would have just cause for his dismissal. By firing Gallagher, this would also be the first step towards creating a socially and ethically driven company; Gallagher is simply a restraining force that is preventing the organization from making that move towards a better organizational culture. Action Plan Our recommendation is often referred to as whistle blowing, which is when a company employee goes public or to his superiors with private information that could hurt the company. This technique is usually used when social and ethical responsibilities are being neglected or ignored. While it may seem simple enough, the process is far from smooth and the employee doing the whistle blowing is often made out to be a burnt out low level employee who is unhappy. So before Joe does anything of the sort he must be prepared for anything to happen. The best way to approach this alternative would be: 1. Collect all relevant information and be prepared to present your case and be able to answer any and all questions 2. No president of CEO wants to hear that their company’s values and ethics are being compromised, so he must prepare a plan B in order to protect himself from media and personal scrutiny. 3. Joe must schedule a face-to-face meeting with the CEO to ensure that there is no outs ide noise or misinterpretations with his information and language 4. When presenting his findings, Joe must deliver his message in a way that is not an attack or critique. He must not point out what is wrong but what needs to be improved and why. 5. As part of his presentation Joe needs to incorporate his own recommendations and action plan. Once he goes through with this meeting there is not turning back. The recommendation and action plan should follow a similar tone to what was mentioned above, it should not only identify the problems but what needs to be done to fix them and how to go about fixing them. 6. After the meeting is over all Joe can do is wait for the decisions by the CEO and board of governors. At this point in time a lot of different things can happen and Joe needs to be prepared for any outcome. The optimistic outcome would be to have your action plan ready to implement and begin fixing the company. The pessimistic outcome would be that they reject his action plan and making his career a nightmare. If this were the case Joe should be prepared to look for another job, or be prepared to defend himself from public scrutiny. Joe is caught in the middle of a lose-lose situation, so his best alternative is the lesser of two evils. It is difficult being the new guy in a company, especially when you’re the one telling that what they are doing is wrong. However, sometimes it takes an outside perspective to identify the problems that have gone unnoticed for too long. If Joe can present a clear and strong case that does not personally offend the CEO, and present the opportunities for improvement, the process should run as smooth as possible.

Character Strength in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexand

Character Strength in "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" by Alexander Solzhenitsyn One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is a novel about survival. Solzhenitsyn shows us how even in seemingly atrocious circumstances each person can find sources of strength that gives them the will to carry on. Many of the things that the prisoners think of as their sources of strengths would mean nothing to us, but if one thinks about it, without them we would perhaps lose the will to carry on. Most of the prisoners have more than one source of strength, perhaps subconsciously they have made their own fail safes. If they lost one source, they would have other more personal reasons to carry on. The two main factors of strength that the prisoners need are physical strength and mental strength. All the prisoners have access to the basic source of physical strength, nutrition. The meals that the prisoners are given are just enough to keep them alive, but not enough to supply them for an extended period of time. This dependency on food allows the authorities to keep the prisoners on a short leash. A prisoner without food would not survive very long, even if he has many other things to carry on for. The physical need for food is not a choice, and therefore it is a necessity. Bread is symbolic in the novel, for most of the prisoners it is simply nourishment, it also has religious meaning. Alyosha thinks of the bread as a form of religious sustenance. The Bible refers to bread as the flesh of Christ. To Alyosha, religion is his biggest source of strength. He uses religion and literature to shut out the horrible physical conditions he has to live through. Religion and literature are his salvation. Shukhov envies Alyo... ... his team and this gives him a sense of higher purpose. Shukhov takes control of the building of the wall, and the other prisoners look up to him and listen to what he says. He ascends to Tiurin’s rank in the prisoners’ minds as they see him as a leader. It is with his leadership that the wall is well built. The novel shows us that the strength to live, to carry on, can be found everywhere. Even in the most terrible situations, there are always things that can be found, done or even created to give us strength, both physically and mentally. Solzhenitsyn really shows us that even in times where hope would see useless, we can always find a sense of purpose. It is the prisoners that are able to do this that will survive, and when they finally get out, they will be released into a world where they will want to use every object, every second, to the fullest. Character Strength in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexand Character Strength in "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" by Alexander Solzhenitsyn One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is a novel about survival. Solzhenitsyn shows us how even in seemingly atrocious circumstances each person can find sources of strength that gives them the will to carry on. Many of the things that the prisoners think of as their sources of strengths would mean nothing to us, but if one thinks about it, without them we would perhaps lose the will to carry on. Most of the prisoners have more than one source of strength, perhaps subconsciously they have made their own fail safes. If they lost one source, they would have other more personal reasons to carry on. The two main factors of strength that the prisoners need are physical strength and mental strength. All the prisoners have access to the basic source of physical strength, nutrition. The meals that the prisoners are given are just enough to keep them alive, but not enough to supply them for an extended period of time. This dependency on food allows the authorities to keep the prisoners on a short leash. A prisoner without food would not survive very long, even if he has many other things to carry on for. The physical need for food is not a choice, and therefore it is a necessity. Bread is symbolic in the novel, for most of the prisoners it is simply nourishment, it also has religious meaning. Alyosha thinks of the bread as a form of religious sustenance. The Bible refers to bread as the flesh of Christ. To Alyosha, religion is his biggest source of strength. He uses religion and literature to shut out the horrible physical conditions he has to live through. Religion and literature are his salvation. Shukhov envies Alyo... ... his team and this gives him a sense of higher purpose. Shukhov takes control of the building of the wall, and the other prisoners look up to him and listen to what he says. He ascends to Tiurin’s rank in the prisoners’ minds as they see him as a leader. It is with his leadership that the wall is well built. The novel shows us that the strength to live, to carry on, can be found everywhere. Even in the most terrible situations, there are always things that can be found, done or even created to give us strength, both physically and mentally. Solzhenitsyn really shows us that even in times where hope would see useless, we can always find a sense of purpose. It is the prisoners that are able to do this that will survive, and when they finally get out, they will be released into a world where they will want to use every object, every second, to the fullest.

Needs of Customer Essay

Greeting Service When customers walk into a restaurant, whether it is McDonald’s or Chez Pierre, they expect to be acknowledged. This is a small service, but it is imperative to the success of the restaurant, as customers who are not greeted may simply walk out and eat somewhere else. The type of host a restaurant has will depend on the type of restaurant it is as well as how busy it is. Some restaurants pay hosts to greet customers, call names off waiting lists and walk customers to their tables. In other restaurants, management and wait staff take over this duty. Regardless of what you can afford for your restaurant, always make sure someone has the responsibility of greeting the guests and that person knows it is her responsibility. Wait Staff When customers go to a restaurant, they expect a good wait staff, unless they are dining at a fast-food chain. Even then, customers expect the counter workers to get their orders right in an appropriate amount of time and solve problems quickly and courteously. In traditional, sit-down restaurants, customers expect the wait staff to be attentive, but not too attentive. Wait staff should not hover or interrupt, but they also should come back frequently enough to attend to their customers’ needs. In addition, they should bring food in a timely manner and handle problems, such as food that has been sent back pleasantly. Customers also expect wait staff to be friendly and personable. Environment Customers usually go to restaurants to meet with others socially in a friendly environment. Although environment is not usually considered a service, service plays a large role in creating a good environment. In addition to making sure the restaurant is clean, attractive and the decor is consistent with the food and restaurant’s image, restaurant owners need to tell their staff it’s OK to let guests linger. Wait staff should not hint that it is time for the guests to go. For example, they should not rush the food to the table unless the customer requests it. They also should not start to clean nearby tables in an obvious manner or wait for customers to get out their money to pay the check. To the contrary, wait staff should say things like, â€Å"Feel free to chat as long as you like — let me know if you’ll need some dessert or a drink refill.† Food and Drink Probably the most important service that a customer expects to receive when dining out is a good selection of delicious and well-presented food. According to London wine writer Jamie Goode, it is more important that food be simple and good tasting, made with quality ingredients, than to be fancy or pretentious. Goode also notes that customers expect a large wine selection that is not overpriced. Furthermore, customers expect food to be consistent with the image of the restaurant. Customers who are dining at a family restaurant, for example, expect sandwiches, traditional dinners and moderate prices. At a more elegant restaurant, prices can be higher but food needs to be more of the gourmet variety.

For four years the guilt still haunted my Mum

As we sat down for dinner or ‘tea' as it has come to be called in our small two up-two down house, 174, Lonsdale Street, there was that same ominous feeling in the air that all too often filled me with dread and a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach. That would set the tone for the remainder of the evening and most probably continue late on in to the night and early hours. The hunger that now eluded my whole body had earlier been forced to become a mind over matter issue as I struggled fruitlessly with my maths homework, but now, tea was ready. Unfortunately though, my hunger was no more satisfied even after I had ravenously finished off every last bite of my half – yes my whole half – of the gourmet dish of Heinz beans and sausage, so expertly cooked – or rather opened from the tin – by Paul. This was another tell-tale sign of what was to come in the next few hours. As per usual, the rather bland evening meal was complemented by certain happenings in our house that even I struggled to deal with as I maybe would have done in the past. By now, we had grown used to, and even begun to accept, the fact that Dad was no longer around to bring a sense of buoyancy and a friendly, smiling face to our home and our lives. Maths homework was left unfinished and certain D.I.Y jobs, such as the burst water pipe in the small dingy bathroom at the end of the landing, were left leaking. But we all understand that life must go on and we must stay strong – if not for our sake, for Mum's. This was something we had done very well since Dad left. Just the two of us, until she found Paul. As soon as we finished our tea, Mum set about busily clearing the table as I put the kettle on, offering Paul a drink and anxiously awaiting his most-probable violent reaction. Much to my disbelief, he simply just declined the drink, but left the kitchen hurriedly, in a similar fashion to the one in which he had entered, irritably mumbling something about Janet and how he had had to put up with this for too long now and how he is not putting up with it for much longer. With this, my thoughts and fears were confirmed and my heart pounded once again. It had been plainly obvious from the second I awoke that morning that they had been arguing the night before and it would once again be Mum who came out worse off. The atmosphere was tense all too often in our house. It was impossible to tell when things would boil over, but it was obvious that the tension was always at a light simmer, biding its time and appearing to await the perfect moment. It was for exactly this reason that I never invited any of my friends round to sleep or even to watch a film or for tea. The whole environment and aura is too aggressive, too heated for others to understand. In fact, everything that happens in our house with regards to this situation is kept to myself. Just as the kettle boiled my mind jolted back into reality and I poured water in to each of the three mugs. I heard the front door close with a bang and the letter box swung backwards and forwards, probably hanging off even more than it had before. â€Å"We shan't be seein' ‘im again tonight,† said Mum softly in her ever-calming voice. â€Å"He'll be back,† I replied tentatively. â€Å"Oh, he'll be back all right. Drunk as a skunk, no doubt.† She even said this in a subtle tone, as if she had seen it all before and was now finding the whole scenario increasingly monotonous. I decided that the best reply, was no reply. We sat in the lounge in silence. No sound apart from Matthew Kelly on Stars in their Eyes gaily welcoming some middle aged house-wife from Wales as Christina Aguilera. I glanced across at Mum, still glaring at the television intently, steel-eyed. She did not even look up, not a second thought. Nothing. Perhaps all recent happenings had hardened her to such petty behaviour†¦ When Gillian had finished her piece as Christina, I drained the remainder of my mug, said good-night to Mum and proceeded up the stairs that creaked more and more with each processional step higher, and to my bedroom. The only place of sanctity I could find. After having only a wash due to the broken shower, I wearily clambered into bed and took out my football magazine from my bedside drawer. The last thing I remembered before dozing off to sleep was groggily reading an article about the demise of Spain on the World stage. The lines upon lines of text slowly transformed into horizontal lines in my mind and became wood, lots of wood all lined up neatly, now vertical, forming walls. Fence panels. My eyes came into focus as I gazed around what slowly materialized into a beautiful open space, lined with borders and rockeries immediately before the mahogany slats, containing amazingly colourful trees, plants and grasses that thrived in the gorgeous weather. Now my mind caught up with my vision and I recognised the setting as our old house. It was peaceful. Perfect. Birds chirruped in the trees and a plethora of insects busily went about their duties. Bees buzzed in and out of open petals and buds all around the garden. Ladybirds landed gracefully on emerald green leaves and butterflies parading stunning spectrums of colour fluttered aimlessly in the gentle breeze. Beyond a finely pruned hedge towards the opposite end of the garden was a ray of light that glared brilliantly in my eyes. It drew me towards it with an almost hypnotic supremacy as I felt the heat of the beating sun on my neck. I stood over the pool and watched tiny insignificant creatures skate on the water's surface, backwards and forwards with no evident purpose. Gradually, large elegant petals floated down from an overhanging tree, landing on the surface of the water charmingly. One by one they came down in to the water. At first with grace, causing minuscule disturbances on the glistening mirror-like surface, but with each descent came a larger and more portentous landing until the pool was littered with petals that gave the water a mystical purple-red glow. At once – or so it seemed – the garden was silent. Insects and birds still seemed to buzz, sing and twitter contentedly in and around the garden, but no sound. Silence. I turned back to the pool to see its emptiness. No buds, no petals, not even a single solitary blade of grass. My eye lids opened with surprising ease to focus on the blankness of the familiar surroundings. Despite my disorientation, there were recognisable sounds from beyond my immediate surroundings. It took another moment for it to make sense. Mum? There was a loud, ear piercing smash, followed by a thud then an emotional cry of pain and torment! I was right. All my thoughts and fears were so damningly correct, but what could I do? Was I to go down? My mind wavered. Could I help her, or was it not worth it? Would it only worsen the situation? Could it only worsen the situation? It did on the previous occasion. Another loud scream later, followed by a familiar bang and it was over. He was home. Her haven. She whimpered in his arms, but he was oblivious. Immensely intoxicated by drink, he had fallen backwards onto the empty bottle on the table. Well, that was our version. Who would doubt it though? Her numerous breaks and bruises were plain for all to see. For four years the guilt still haunted my Mum. And Chloe, the result of that fateful night.