Who would you rather study with. Aristotle or Plato Essay

Who would you rather study with. Aristotle or Plato - Essay Example Aristotle on the other hand believed in logical reasoning. He is credited with laying the foundation of the use of logic as a basis for study and scientific thought. Thus, whereas Aristotle’s philosophical values are heavily influenced by Plato, there exist huge differences in their way of thinking. Based on my personal values, ethics, religion affiliation, beliefs, and philosophical orientation, I would rather study with Aristotle than Plato. Aristotle believed that when we breakdown and classify the natural world in a systematic and analytic way, we can reach a true argument where we can come up with a conclusion that is concrete and correct. This is against the arguments brought forward by Plato who insisted on making valid arguments that made sense logically but could not be either considered factually true or false. An example of a valid argument would be to suggest that old people are bad drivers. Therefore, when you meet let’s say Jack, who is old, you out righty judge him as being a bad driver. While this may be a valid argument, it may not be entirely true without seeing him driving. On the other hand, a true argument as presented by Aristotle would probably suggest that all fruits have seeds. Therefore, regardless of whether he picks an apple or an orange, he will know that these are fruits and thus they all have seeds. Therefore, Aristotle would make a better person to learn with because of his valid sci entific arguments. While both Plato and Aristotle contributed hugely to political philosophy and shared some sentiments on the ideal state, Aristotle still had some of his reservations on some of Plato’s philosophical teachings. While Plato advocated for communism in which he called for abolition of ownership of private property, Aristotle was a harsh critic on the abolition of private property. Plato was of the

Managing for Results Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Managing for Results - Essay Example The officer in command was Captain William Bligh and Fletcher Christian was second in command. Some countrymen are pressed into serving the English navy for this voyage of about 2 years. After having faced various hardships put forth by the sea and the Captain in command, alike, they reached Tahiti and obtained the breadfruit plants during their six month stay on the island. However, shortly after leaving Tahiti, Christian leads a mutiny against Captain Bligh in revolt of his atrocities on the seamen. They manage to capture and cast Bligh and his loyalists in a life boat with some supplies while Christian and his loyalists return to Tahiti in the HMS Bounty. Bligh and his people make the most remarkable conduct of navigation in the history of the sea - a 3500 mile open sea voyage aboard a life boat. Bligh reaches Timor Island. He returns to Tahiti aboard another ship in search of the mutineers, lead by Fletcher Christian. Christian and a few men escape in the Bounty while several oth ers remain on the island. They are taken to England by Bligh and are tried for mutiny. Most men are executed for their crime except Roger Byam. Christen and his followers reach Pitcairn Island, where they decide to spend the rest of their lives, and burn down the Bounty so as to not be found by English searchers. ‘A story of a man who robbed his seamen, cursed them, flogged them not to punish, but to break their spirit. A story of greed and tyranny.....and of anger against it, of what it cost’ – Roger Byam during the trial (Mutiny on the Bounty, 1935) Captain William Blighs managerial abilities on the Bounty is an excellent example of how one man changed from control leadership to team unity with a change in the situation, over 2 centuries years ago. Bligh tries to enforce harsh ‘discipline’ by various means - flogging a dead seaman for striking his captain, shortening rations as per the Captains prerogative, public chastisement of Christian, Bligh accusing

Co Action Effect And The Audience Effect Psychology Essay

Co Action Effect And The Audience Effect Psychology Essay The co-action effect occurs when a higher level of performance is present when surrounded by other individuals performing the same task. It can be applied to a variety of tasks competitive and non-competitive e.g. Sports, multiplications, spelling etc. It is also perceived that an individuals work rate can alter by merely watching the individual carry out a specified task. This is known as the audience effect. This theory however has positive and negative effects based on the degree of competence with the task given to the subject. If they are skilled in the task, their level of performance will heighten. However, the opposite will occur if the subject is not very capable with the task. These two theories are categorised under Social facilitation. Q2. Describe two psychology studies on this area of human behaviour stating their findings and conclusions. The co-action effect was first perceived in 1898 when a test was carried out by Norman Triplett. His theory was on cyclists and the speeds they reached when firstly, racing against each other and then racing individually against a stopwatch. He noticed that racing against each other rather than against the clock alone increased the cyclists speeds. He then tested his thesis in a controlled lab experiment where he gave children simple tasks to perform on their own and then with a partner. He again found that co-action resulted in improved results in the children. He concluded that the bodily presence of another contestant participating simultaneously in the race serves to liberate latent energy not ordinarily available (Triplett, 1898). An example of the audience effect was noted when psychologist J.Michaels 1982 carried out an investigation on pool players. First he assessed their ability and rated them either above or below average. He then stood by them to see if his presence had any effect on the way they played. The conclusions of the investigation showed that the more abled players performed to a higher calibre and the less abled decreased in ability proving that in fact even though the audience effect can have positive results, they can also facilitate negative ones too. The presence of an audience arouses humans and affects our ability to perform a task. This arousal stimulates us, so that if we are doing something we are good at, we do it better. However, we are already aroused when performing tasks in general. An audience overseeing the task can sometimes act as an over stimulant to certain individuals and interfere with the task at hand. Q3. Evaluate theories and research into the basis of social power including obedience and conformity. Power was found to be one of the most effective reasons as to why an individual feels the need to follow through with what another says to them. Psychologists have undertaken many years of experiments to try to figure out what types of powers are in our society and how they shape and influence the way we live today. There are two main points in social power that can alter an individuals thought process. Obedience and Conformity. Throughout this essay you will read how Psychologists have discovered the roles in which these two influences affect the society we live in. Conformity is described as the type of social influence involving a change in belief or behaviour in order to fit in with a group.  This form of influence can occur in two separate ways. A majority influence whereby the feelings and behaviours of a collective set of individuals within a group can alter or change the opinion of the minority, and the minority influence whereby an individual will change the opinions of the masses in a group. One way in which a majority may influence is known as public compliance. Solomon Asch (1956) set out to encompass what this type of conformity was by using a simple exercise. The aim of the experiment was to see how subjects reacted when faced with an unambiguous task. Would they be influenced by a groups behaviour or would they stick to their own belief that they knew to be true. Aschs test was carried out on 123 participants and all were American males. The subjects were asked to distinguish between three lines and pick a line that was of the same size as a fourth individual line. The procedure was carried out with the individual subject sat around a table of confederates all instructed to give incorrect answers with the subject having to answer last. The procedure was conducted 18 times and out of the 18 guesses, the confederates were told to guess incorrectly 12 times as to add a sense of validity to the experiment. The results showed that 75% of the participants gave incorrect answers at least once suggesting that they had conformed to the group ideology of thinking. Asch then repeated the test and altered a control of no confederates giving wrong answers. Asch found that there were mistakes made about 1% of the time. The conclusion of the experiment shows that there was a high amount of conformity when faced with pressures from a collective group. Questions must be asked however on the actual validity of the experiment itself when looking at real life and moreover the demographic used in the experiment. The participants were asked a simple question, yet if faced with a question that holds more substance, would the participant still conform to such a degree? The experiment has been repeated on many occasions by changing the type of sample used to English scientists (Perrin and Spencer 1980) and youths on probation (Perrin and Spencer 1990). Some more recent research suggests that Aschs experiment is merely an unpredictable phenomenon (Lalancette and Standing 1990). The ethics involved are quite negligible when considering other experiments that will be discussed later in the essay. Participants must have felt tricked once they found out the other participants were actually confederates, and perhaps the subjects may have felt distressed when being put in a difficult situation. We can go back further in the 1900s and see other forms of experiments used to analyse the use of majority conformity. Muzafer Sherif (1935) investigated responses to ambiguous statements by using the auto kinetic affect. This is when very small movements of the eye make a spot of light in a darkened room appear to move because the eyes lack a stable frame of reference. Sherifs participants were tested individually, being asked to say how far the light moved and in what direction. Their answers varied considerably. However, Sherif then requested the participants work collectively to estimate the movements. Their answers started to become quite similar demonstrating the influence of a groups ideology on an individual. The results of this study can also be questioned too. As the answers were ambiguous and there wasnt an obvious answer it could be argued that participants are more likely to conform as they are never completely certain of their answer. This methodology therefore affects Sherifs interpretation of conformity as it is not very reliable. The same ethical questions can be asked when looking at this experiment. The participants were deceived and additionally put under pressure to conform to a groups way of thinking which can cause stress. We can also analyse conformity through the use of a minority influence. Although conformity is generally led by the influence of groups, individuals are occasionally able to reverse this tendency and change the opinions of people around them. This is known as the minority influence. If an individual makes a strong, convincing case it can increase the probability of changing the majoritys beliefs and behaviours. One iconic example of this occurring was the suffragette movement at the start of the 20th Century. The faction started out with a very limited amount of members with strong opinions that women should have the equal rights. Initially their opinions were unpopular but as time went by, the minority influenced the majority with their concise and logical arguments and eventually it led to the majority conforming to the same beliefs. To test this theory a Psychologist known as Moscovici (1969), conducted an experiment similar to that of Asch. 32 groups of 6 were chosen with 2 confederates in each group. The groups were shown a slide of varied shades of blue and asked to convey what colour was perceived. Moscovici et al proposed that if the confederates had that of a different opinion to the group and stuck to that opinion consistently, they could alter the groups views. The confederates consistently said the slides were green. The findings of the experiment showed that 32% gave the same answer as the minority at least once. This suggests that although it is a minute amount of impact on the results, there is some kind of conformity to the minoritys way of thinking. This experiment unusually doesnt hold many ethical problems. Although participants were deceived initially, the deception was moderately low and the tasks given were of a low level of stress. We could go as far as to say that this study was ethically acceptable. However, there are a few criticisms of study. The participants were females, Eagly and Carli (1981) study suggests that females are more likely to conform to ideologies of a group than that of men and so this questions how reliable the study actually is. And so we understand that conformity doesnt necessarily have a boundary that requires a person to act in a certain way. Obedience can be considered entirely different. Conformity does not require us to react in a specified manner whereas with obedience we are instructed or ordered to do something and these orders stem from a higher authority. We can relate this to history when we look at the atrocities that shaped Nazi Germany in World War I and II. Millions of defenceless Jewish people (and many other ethnicities) were slaughtered by Nazi soldiers under the influence of the government ran by Hitler. The heinous crimes committed had many questions to be answered but mainly how were the crimes committed and why?! During the Nuremberg trials, many of the high ranking officials were put to trial over what they had done with the only claim to their innocence being that they were simply, obeying orders. These claims were blatantly thrown out of court and a stereotype was claimed stating t hat a Germans DNA was simply different to that of every other human. Yet a man named Stanley Milgram wanted to understand if there were any truth to these claims. In 1963 he set up a psychology experiment to test if any human, not just German, could be put under such strict obedience pressures, that they could commit these horrific crimes against humanity. His participants were American men aged 20-50 and were from various occupation backgrounds. The study was carried out at Yale University, where they were taken to a lab and introduced to an experimenter dressed in a lab coat (confederate). They were then introduced to what the participant thought was a fellow experimenter however he would be the accomplice in the experiment. These gentlemen had fabricated that he had a heart problem to add to the validity of the study. Participants were then given a summary of the experiment. The mock investigation was to distinguish the roles between teacher and learner. A fake ballot would decide what role would be decided for the two subjects with the actual participant always allocated the teacher role. The procedure of the experiment consisted of a simulated electrode machine in the room the teacher was placed in that would be used to administer an electric volt to the student in another room. The isolation from the two subjects was to add to th e already dissociation created. Every time the student answered a question incorrectly from a sheet the teacher, (participant) was given. The participant would control the shock machine and the teacher would purposely answer the questions incorrectly. The experimenter would push the participant and provoke them to administer the shocks even if they insisted on stopping. Surprisingly, some 65% of the teachers gave what they thought was the maximum amount of punishment (450 volts of electric shock). Based on these results, Milgram suggested a theory known as the Agency Theory. He states that when faced with a stressing situation, humans attribute their responsibilities to an authority figure. This experiment completely changed the impact on social policy, but came with many ethical and situational complications. The ecological validity of the experiment should be questioned as the experiment was conducted within a laboratory and it could also be argued that the participants used were more suggestible as they volunteered for the experiment. Although participants were debriefed to a satisfactory manner (84% felt glad to have participated), the stress endured within the experiment could have possibly had long-term affects to the subjects. Milgram himself states, The degree of tension reached extremes rarely seen in experimentsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Subjects were sweating, tremblingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦on one occasion we observed a fit so violent that it was necessary to call a halt to the experiment. Deterred by the ethical background of the experiment mentioned a man known as Zimbardo wanted to carry out an experiment to back up Milgrams study to add validity through using a less controlled environment. Male students applied for a study about prison life. 21 participants were chosen to be guards and prisoners (10 prisoners, 11 guards). The prisoners were arrested at home unexpectedly and blindfolded to disorientate them whilst taking them into their controlled prison cells (the basement of Yale University). Many symbolic items were used to associate the prisoners with their roles (ID numbers, nylon caps, orange jump suits). The guards also had many garments so they could associate themselves with their specified role (clubs, mirrored aviators, handcuffs). Over the two week period, the subjects became more and more connected to their specified role. The guards became more autocratic and the prisoners became tolerant of being punished for the miniscule of issues. The study shows how the guards and prisoners conformed to their roles given especially the prisoners through the use of obedience. However, the ethical issues developed throughout the case were even more severe than that of Milgrams. Five prisoners had to be released early due to depression and the whole experiment had to be cancelled only 6 days into the study out of an initial two weeks. So here we have seen how obedience and conformity influence humans and the test we have created to observe how these characteristics can be measured and implemented in real life. On the way we have seen many ethical questions arise as well as the validity of the actual experiments. If we can understand anything from the theories present, we must understand that the experiments involve human beings, who are probably, the most unpredictable sources to all the theories. Thankfully, we now have Ethical guidelines as a result of these experiments; human beings are malleable objects and must be handled with care. Hopefully the results from these investigations on obedience and conformity are used to help human beings in the future and not control them.

The Pathogenesis of Down’s Syndrome Essay -- Science Medical Genetics

The Pathogenesis of Down’s Syndrome Down’s syndrome (DS) is the most common cause of mental retardation in the United States. It occurs with a frequency of one in 700 live births. The disease is caused by the presence of three copies of chromosome 21 as a result of chromosomal mutation (95% nondisjunction, 5% translocation) during cell division, leading to a total of 47 chromosomes instead of the normal number, 46. There are no individuals with the clinical signs of DS who do not have at least partial trisomy of chromosome 21. Conversely, there are no cases of people with trisomy 21 who do not have DS (Patterson, 1987). Patients suffer from a variety of physical and mental problems. Physically, the disease manifests itself in epicanthic folds of the eyes, flattened facial features, unusual palm creases, muscular flaccidity and short stature (Patterson, 1987). Many are born with congenital heart defects and increased risk for cataracts, leukemia and Alzheimer’s disease. In addition to the anatomical abnorm alities, DS patients suffer from biochemical imbalances including elevated levels of purines - a condition that can by itself lead to neurological impairment, mental retardation, and immunodeficiencies. The life expectancy for DS patients is approximately 30 years. However, with advancing medical care and therapy more patients are living to the age of 50. All individuals with DS over the age of 35 develop the same kind of abnormal microscopic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain as people who die from Alzheimer’s disease, the major cause of presenile dementia. Although a vast amount of literature exists on DS, little is known about why the presence of an extra chromosome causes mental retardation. In addition to ... ...ogy and Experimental Neurology, 49: 509-518. Ferrer, I., Gullotta, F. (1990): Down’s Syndrome and Alzheimer’s Disease: Dendritic Spine Counts in the Hippocampus. Acta Neuropathol, 79: 680--685. Mann, D. M. A., Brown, A., Prinja, D., Davies, C. A., Landon, M., Masters, C. L., Beyreuthers, K. (1989): An Analysis of the Morphology of Senile Plaques in Down’s Syndrome Patients of Different Ages Using Immunocytochemical and Lectin Histochemical Techniques. Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology, 15: 317-329. Patterson, D. (1987): The Causes of Down Syndrome. Scientific American, 255: 52-60. Takashima, S., Ieshima, A., Nakamura, H., Becker, L. (1989): Dendrites, Dementia and the Down Syndrome. Brain Development, 11: 131-133. Wisniewski, K., Bobinski, M. (1991): Hypothalamic Abnormalities in Down Syndrome. The Morphogenesis of Down Syndrome., 153-167. The Pathogenesis of Down’s Syndrome Essay -- Science Medical Genetics The Pathogenesis of Down’s Syndrome Down’s syndrome (DS) is the most common cause of mental retardation in the United States. It occurs with a frequency of one in 700 live births. The disease is caused by the presence of three copies of chromosome 21 as a result of chromosomal mutation (95% nondisjunction, 5% translocation) during cell division, leading to a total of 47 chromosomes instead of the normal number, 46. There are no individuals with the clinical signs of DS who do not have at least partial trisomy of chromosome 21. Conversely, there are no cases of people with trisomy 21 who do not have DS (Patterson, 1987). Patients suffer from a variety of physical and mental problems. Physically, the disease manifests itself in epicanthic folds of the eyes, flattened facial features, unusual palm creases, muscular flaccidity and short stature (Patterson, 1987). Many are born with congenital heart defects and increased risk for cataracts, leukemia and Alzheimer’s disease. In addition to the anatomical abnorm alities, DS patients suffer from biochemical imbalances including elevated levels of purines - a condition that can by itself lead to neurological impairment, mental retardation, and immunodeficiencies. The life expectancy for DS patients is approximately 30 years. However, with advancing medical care and therapy more patients are living to the age of 50. All individuals with DS over the age of 35 develop the same kind of abnormal microscopic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain as people who die from Alzheimer’s disease, the major cause of presenile dementia. Although a vast amount of literature exists on DS, little is known about why the presence of an extra chromosome causes mental retardation. In addition to ... ...ogy and Experimental Neurology, 49: 509-518. Ferrer, I., Gullotta, F. (1990): Down’s Syndrome and Alzheimer’s Disease: Dendritic Spine Counts in the Hippocampus. Acta Neuropathol, 79: 680--685. Mann, D. M. A., Brown, A., Prinja, D., Davies, C. A., Landon, M., Masters, C. L., Beyreuthers, K. (1989): An Analysis of the Morphology of Senile Plaques in Down’s Syndrome Patients of Different Ages Using Immunocytochemical and Lectin Histochemical Techniques. Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology, 15: 317-329. Patterson, D. (1987): The Causes of Down Syndrome. Scientific American, 255: 52-60. Takashima, S., Ieshima, A., Nakamura, H., Becker, L. (1989): Dendrites, Dementia and the Down Syndrome. Brain Development, 11: 131-133. Wisniewski, K., Bobinski, M. (1991): Hypothalamic Abnormalities in Down Syndrome. The Morphogenesis of Down Syndrome., 153-167.

Free Will Essay

Vilayandur S. Ramachandran came from a distinguished family in Tamil Nadu, India, and was neuroscientist, which is a field of study encompassing the various scientific disciplines dealing with the nervous system. Ramachandran’s views on the brain and how it works are discussed in his work â€Å"The New Philosophy†. In his essay he discusses the nature of consciousness, discussing the effects of certain mental states and their influence on the body and the brain. One of his main topics, however, is the Ramachandran’s view of free will. He suggest that â€Å"†¦ neuroscience intersects with philosophy because the question of free will has been a philosophical problem for hundreds of years and more† (Jacobus 569). He discusses the significance of the brain imaging that shows a â€Å"readiness potential† and what it really means to have a free will. Through his essay, though, it is interesting to point out where religion and Christianity stands on the issue of free will and whether Christians are puppets under God’s command. Ramachandran poses this question about free will: â€Å"Is your brain the real one in charge, making your free will only a post-hoc rationalization; a delusion..? † When a special experiment was underway, it was discovered that when a person was told to move their finger within the next ten minutes at their own free will, their brain would kick in almost a second before the actual willingness to move the finger. This posed the original question stated above and brought on other questions as well. If this person is now shown the screen displaying the signal from the EEG scanner hooked up to your brain, they can then see their free will. They will then have three options: 1) They will experience a sudden lack of will, feeling as though the machine is controlling them, making them feel like a puppet. 2) They will refuse to have their belief of their free will to be altered but instead believe that the machine has some â€Å"paranormal precognition by which it is able to predict your movements accurately† (Ramachandran 559-60). 3) The person will reconfigure the experience in their mind, and cling to their sense of freedom, denying what their eyes have seen as evidence and maintain that â€Å"the sensation of will precedes the machine’s signal, not vice versa† (Ramachandran 560). The point when the brain would â€Å"kick in† before the movement is called the â€Å"readiness potential†. The â€Å"readiness potential† is what happens when there is a change in the electrical activity of the brain that occurs before the subject’s conscious decision to move a muscle (medical-dictionary. thefreedictionary. com). Ramachandran believes that â€Å"†¦ there is an inevitable neural delay before the signal arising in one part of the brain makes its way through the rest of the brain to deliver the message†¦ natural selection has ensured that the subjective sensation of willing to delay deliberately to coincide not with the onset of the brain commands but with the actual execution of the command by your finger† (Ramachandran 560). Ramachandran is a firm believer in evolution, believing that the events must have some sort of evolutionary purpose. â€Å"On one hand,† he says, â€Å"this experiment shows that free will is false and cannot be causing the brain events because the events kick in a second earlier. But on the other hand, the pause must have some purpose, otherwise why would the delay have evolved† (Ramachandran 560). Though these events have a purpose, evolutionary is not the answer. In Joshua 24:15 it says â€Å"Choose for yourselves this day who you will serve, as for me and my household we will serve the LORD. † God gives mankind a choice to follow Him and so free will is a gift from God as something to be accepted. Humans have the gift of God to reject or take the free gift that He offers. If humans really are descendants of apes, then when did the gift of free will come into the evolutionary chain of today’s mankind? John 7:37 says â€Å"Anyone who is thirsty may come to me. † It is an offer. Not a demanding command. ‘Anyone who is thirsty may come to me’, shows us that God does not want us to be without his living water and without him, but it is our choice whether we choose to accept God’s free gift of salvation. When studying free will in the Bible and through works of literature like Vilayandur S. Ramachandran, there will always be people on both sides of the argument. Do we have control of our own destinies or are we merely puppets in God’s giant game of the world? My personal beliefs on the subject are as I have stated in this paper: Though God has a control over the destiny of the world and each of our lives, he gives us a chance to make a decision to follow him or to ignore the free gift of his son that he has offered to us. John 3:16 it says: â€Å"For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believed in him would have eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. † Works Cited Jacobus, Lee A. A World Of Ideas. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. Print. The Free Dictionary. Medical Dictionary. Online source. http://medical-dictionary. thefreedictionary. com/readiness+potential Bible. New Living Translation.

Egg Supply Chain

In a few weeks you will start seeing quite a few sales on eggs. Why? Eggs are one of the main staples in the Easter holiday tradition. Everyone gets together the night before Easter and colors their eggs a wide range of colors to put in their Easter baskets for the Easter Bunny to hide. An egg seems like such a simple food item, very few people ever wonder what all had to happen in order for them to be able to buy their eggs from the grocery store. If there were suddenly no eggs to color for Easter I am sure everyone would then want to know. If it even possible to think that the grocery stores would have no eggs? The answer is yes! In order for that carton of eggs to be on the shelf of the store it must travel the supply chain. A supply chain is a system of organizations, people, technology, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer. Supply chain activities transform natural resources, raw materials and components into a finished product that is delivered to the end customer. Egg would seem like such a simple product that there really couldn’t be that much to the supply chain given that the chicken lays the eggs, the farmers puts them in cartons and a truck delivers them to the store. Eggs don’t go through processing like most other food products but still there can be a lot to them depending on what type of eggs you buy and where from. Many people still get theirs from the grocery stores but a rising trend is to purchase them farmers markets or directly from the farmer. Going directly to the farmer for your eggs is becoming more popular because people want to know where their food is coming from and want to know that the animals are not being mistreated or given hormones. In order to discuss the supply chain for eggs one must first ask the questions,Which came first the egg or the chicken? When you attempt to do a supply chain for eggs this is without a doubt the first question you would need to ask. Did the farmer get the egg first and then hatch the chickens to lay more eggs to sell or did he get the chicken first who then laid the eggs? For this paper we are going to assume that the chicken came first. So the first step in the egg supply chain is the hatchery no matter where you get your eggs the process started in the hatchery. Due to the rising trend of going straight to farmer for goods, we are going to look at the supply chain for eggs purchased directly from the farmer. Also this is how I get my eggs so I thought it would be more interesting, of course the eggs I get come from my aunt so there is not much to them aside from the gas used to drive to her farm and pick them up. Her chicks came from a friend who raised chickens but for those farmers who do not have friends or neighbors who raise chickens they would go to a hatchery. Hatcheries are found all over. There are quite a few in Ohio alone, a major one is found in the Cincinnati area. Once the farmer gets his peeps from the hatchery they are placed in a chicken coup which has access to a pasture for the chickens to graze. Chickens eat a wide variety of things but mostly are fed corn or other vegetables already found on the farm. Chickens that are allowed to graze produce better quality eggs due to the fact that they get more nutrients from the ground than those chickens raised in cages. The next step in the supply chain once you have the chickens and they lay the eggs is to gather and package them for sale. Eggs are usually gathered on a plastic tray and then washed and sanitized then stored in a refrigerator. Many co-op farms that you buy from have you bring your own container for your eggs, this saves them money and also the environment if you reuse the same carton. Most people just bring a carton from store bought eggs. The egg carton was invented in 1911 to help keep a farmer’s eggs from breaking while delivering. Egg cartons come in a variety of forms from Styrofoam to molded pulp and paper. You can even buy plastic storage containers for eggs that can reused again and again. One of major suppliers of egg cartons to small farms is a company called Eggcartons. com. They do not produce the egg cartons themselves but rather buy them in large quantity then sell in smaller quantity to farmers. Once the eggs are packaged they are ready for sale whether to a local farmer market or directly to the customer who visits the farm. Farm raised eggs there seems to not be too much competition out there. Very few farms do this and the ones that do are spaced a good ways apart, also the fact that the small farms cannot produce as much as the bigger companies limits them on what they can sell anyhow. The only major issue that could impact the supply chain for a local farmer is to lose his chickens or for them to fall ill and not be able to produce enough eggs to meet demand. Some interesting facts on eggs are according to National Egg Producer Organization ( I am not making this up, the group exists) Ohio is the number 2 egg producer in the United States, second to only Iowa. In 2008, over 209. 1 million cases of eggs were produced in the United States and of that 209. 1 million 68 million cases (32. 2%) were further processed (for foodservice, manufacturing, retail and export); 121. 7 million cases (58. 2%) went on to retail; 18 million cases (9%) went for foodservices use; and 1. 4 million (0. 7%) were exported. (http://www. unitedegg. org/useggindustry_generalstats. aspx) The Supply Chain Diagram {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame}

Free Essays on Teaching Should Be Highest Paid Profession

Teaching should be the highest paid profession What came first the chicken or the egg? The age old question that has puzzled and confused many but may never be answered. Now, ask yourself â€Å"Who came first the teacher or the doctor?† a question you may want to ponder upon the next time you vote not to increase the educational budget so that teachers maybe paid for their jobs rather than robbed of their earnings. Teaching is a hazardous sometimes frustrating and tiring occupation not to mention depressing due to the lack of pay. Teaching requires a person to be hard working, devoting, careful and most importantly able to portray different roles or people within the classroom. Due to these extensive requirements, Teaching should be the highest paid occupation. Being an educator is becoming increasingly dangerous. In 1998, students of a high school in Oklahoma were scared half to death when some teens brought guns to school injuring and killing many. More recently, a young teen shoots and kills his male teacher on the last day of school. Imagine that these are just two of the hundreds maybe thousands of instances where teachers have been harmed or placed in unsafe situations. A teacher must now live in fear, and they are now slapped with the hard and devastating realization that they could be harmed while at work. Now you may say that Policemen and firefighters are presented with life and death situations everyday, but these people enter their profession knowing the dangers and risks they will face. Teachers on the other hand enter their profession under false pretenses, never really knowing that their supposed rewarding jobs come with a high price. Another reason why salaries of teachers are not coherent with the level of work and should be increased is the amount of work and difficulty they face each day. Lets visualize a class of thirty students ranging from the age of six to eight years, now, all these childr... Free Essays on Teaching Should Be Highest Paid Profession Free Essays on Teaching Should Be Highest Paid Profession Teaching should be the highest paid profession What came first the chicken or the egg? The age old question that has puzzled and confused many but may never be answered. Now, ask yourself â€Å"Who came first the teacher or the doctor?† a question you may want to ponder upon the next time you vote not to increase the educational budget so that teachers maybe paid for their jobs rather than robbed of their earnings. Teaching is a hazardous sometimes frustrating and tiring occupation not to mention depressing due to the lack of pay. Teaching requires a person to be hard working, devoting, careful and most importantly able to portray different roles or people within the classroom. Due to these extensive requirements, Teaching should be the highest paid occupation. Being an educator is becoming increasingly dangerous. In 1998, students of a high school in Oklahoma were scared half to death when some teens brought guns to school injuring and killing many. More recently, a young teen shoots and kills his male teacher on the last day of school. Imagine that these are just two of the hundreds maybe thousands of instances where teachers have been harmed or placed in unsafe situations. A teacher must now live in fear, and they are now slapped with the hard and devastating realization that they could be harmed while at work. Now you may say that Policemen and firefighters are presented with life and death situations everyday, but these people enter their profession knowing the dangers and risks they will face. Teachers on the other hand enter their profession under false pretenses, never really knowing that their supposed rewarding jobs come with a high price. Another reason why salaries of teachers are not coherent with the level of work and should be increased is the amount of work and difficulty they face each day. Lets visualize a class of thirty students ranging from the age of six to eight years, now, all these childr...

Free Essays on The Monk

The Monk: A Rebellious Offspring of the Age of Reason Understanding the Gothic novel can be accomplished by obtaining a familiarity of the Augustan point of view, which helps to develop a reference point for comparing and contrasting the origin of Gothic literature. The thinking that was being questioned by the Gothic novel was Augustanism; and without some understanding of Augustan principles and their role in eighteenth-century thought it is difficult to understand the purposes of the Gothic revival, either in terms of history or in terms of the way in which it offered a new conception of the relations between man, nature and a supreme being. David punter describes the political relationship of the Augustan thinker to the literary world, â€Å" It is tempting to see in Augustanism the doctrine of a small cultural elite holding on to power and status under increasing pressure, and that pressure as precisely that exerted by the new reading public on the homogeneity of the old literary establishment (p 31 Punter). This small number of e lite would have included, but not limited to, Fielding, Johnson and especially Pope. However, Fielding and Johnson were slowly stepping outside of the realm of the Augustan limitations. Fielding was undoubtedly Augustan in his beliefs in the stability of social rules and the necessity of a social and psychological compromise, but his mocking attitude towards literary stipulation represents a more moderate Augustan replication. Johnson, on the other hand, was a firm believer in these literary rules and yet it was his ‘Preface to Shakespeare’ which became the first significant breach in these limitations. Alexander Pope’s ‘Essay on Man’ embodies the cosmological, theological and ethical beliefs of the Augustan age; while at the same time exemplifying submission to the rules of literary form. The Augustan approach was intellectual with formal restraint; while relying on reason and traditionalis... Free Essays on The Monk Free Essays on The Monk The Monk: A Rebellious Offspring of the Age of Reason Understanding the Gothic novel can be accomplished by obtaining a familiarity of the Augustan point of view, which helps to develop a reference point for comparing and contrasting the origin of Gothic literature. The thinking that was being questioned by the Gothic novel was Augustanism; and without some understanding of Augustan principles and their role in eighteenth-century thought it is difficult to understand the purposes of the Gothic revival, either in terms of history or in terms of the way in which it offered a new conception of the relations between man, nature and a supreme being. David punter describes the political relationship of the Augustan thinker to the literary world, â€Å" It is tempting to see in Augustanism the doctrine of a small cultural elite holding on to power and status under increasing pressure, and that pressure as precisely that exerted by the new reading public on the homogeneity of the old literary establishment (p 31 Punter). This small number of e lite would have included, but not limited to, Fielding, Johnson and especially Pope. However, Fielding and Johnson were slowly stepping outside of the realm of the Augustan limitations. Fielding was undoubtedly Augustan in his beliefs in the stability of social rules and the necessity of a social and psychological compromise, but his mocking attitude towards literary stipulation represents a more moderate Augustan replication. Johnson, on the other hand, was a firm believer in these literary rules and yet it was his ‘Preface to Shakespeare’ which became the first significant breach in these limitations. Alexander Pope’s ‘Essay on Man’ embodies the cosmological, theological and ethical beliefs of the Augustan age; while at the same time exemplifying submission to the rules of literary form. The Augustan approach was intellectual with formal restraint; while relying on reason and traditionalis...

Attraction Visit and Analysis for Eureka Skydeck - myassignmenthelp

Eureka Skydeck is one of the most popular tourist destinations of Melbourne. The Skydeck is located on the 88 th floor of the 91 storied Eureka Tower, providing the highest public view in the Southern Hemisphere at 935 ft (285 m) above the sea level (planetware.com 2018). In the heart of the Southbank of Melbourne, by the Yarra River, the attraction was built from 2002 to 2006. The tower is the tallest one in Melbourne and second tallest in Australia, after Q1 in Queensland. The tower was named after the Eureka Stockade, the rebellion at the time of 1854 Victorian gold rush and hence, the design has incorporated a gold crown at the top of the building representing the gold rush (Eureka Skydeck 2018). The Skydeck also features The Edge, a glass cube projecting outside the building providing a 360 degree view of the city. Eureka Skydeck has a complete website with all the relevant information about the observation deck. Right from the ‘About Us’ to ticket pricing, things to see, education, dining and many more, the website is filled with all sorts of information and pictures. Visitors can check out www.eurekaskydeck.com.au to get the detailed information before visiting this attraction. The website is user-friendly as it contains easy links to important information along with photos of the visitors. It also has multilingual options for visitors, not having proficiency in English only. It is located in the Riverside Quay in Southbank of Yarra River, which is easily accessible by public transport. All the public buses, trams and trains, crossing the Flinders Street Train Station and St. Kilda Road can be availed by the tourists to reach Eureka. Parking options are available at the Wilson Eureka Parking at the cost of AUD 13 for Monday to Friday, entry prior to 4pm, AUD 6 for Monday to Friday, entry after 4pm and AUD 11 for the weekends (Eureka Skydeck 2018). There are plenty of other parking spots at reasonable prices nearby where visitors can park their cars and bikes. The Skydeck has all the modern facilities such as, toilets, disabled ramp to the entrance, souvenir shop, with variety of gift products, free WiFi area (Yoo 2017), small cafes for sandwiches and hot drinks, small seating arrangements and a fine dining restaurant at 89 th floor. There are easy navigation signs that help the visitor through the attraction, from the entrance to the building up to the 88 th floor. There are maps of the path with ‘You are here’ sign at every point of stop for the visitors, however, the signboards are all written in English. Eureka Skydeck offers excellent opportunities for the schools to celebrate different educational events, such as, teacher’s day, education week, children’s day etc. and many more excursions. The schools are offered guided tours at no additional cost if they book during the offers, free entry to the teachers upon showing the VIT card during teacher’s day promotions. The visitor information can be found in the website (Eureka Skydeck 2018). Guides are available for the guided tours only. People mostly prefer to go on a self guided tour and spend time as their own. In case of education excursions and tourists, with difficulty in English, can opt for guided tours. The tourists can avail the audio aid with headphones for audio tour. There brochures and guide books about the Skydeck are available at the entrance of the tower, ticket counters and at the 88 th floor. However, apart from the ‘Serendipity’ touchtable, there are no touch screens for interactions throughout the path to the deck (Eureka Skydeck 2018). The visitors have the option to pick a headphone and walkman to get an audio visual experience of the tour. The AV experience depicts the view points at every angle along with the audio of the history of the construction of the tower and contemporary Melbourne life, some fun facts and trivia (lookear.net.au 2018). Through the interactive AV structure and scripts are also present in the 6 meter long ‘Serendipity’ touchtable presenting less well known facts of the city. Eureka Skydeck offers a 360 degree breathtaking view of the Melbourne city, especially, the Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne’s CBD and Dandenong Ranges through thirty view finders on the observation deck in 88 th floor of the Eureka Tower. It is open daily from 10 in the morning to 10 in the night. Sunset and the evening are the most favored time of the visitors (tripadvisor.in 2018). Apart from the deck, the Edge is also another favorite of the tourists. Eureka has introduced another visitor experience, Eureka Vertigo, where it presents to the visitors an illusion of loosing balance and falling from the 88 th floor at the extra cost of AUD 15. The elevator takes only 38 seconds to reach the deck (tripadvisor.in 2018). The open-air terrace gives a feel of the strong wind and people get the sensation of hanging midair in the Edge. Although it is a ticketed attraction, people prefer to visit the Skydeck to get an extraordinary experience of the magnificent view of the city. As stated by Swarbrooke & Horner (2004), tourists are motivated to visit a place due to the push and pull factors and personality of the tourists is a determining factor for motivation, perceptions and the tourist behavior. Skydeck is preferred by the tourists who are motivated by the features of the Eureka Skydeck and the uniqueness of the experience that it gives. According to the travel-motivation theory by Gray (1979), the consumers choose the travel destination based on the two motives, one is to travel from a known place to unknown place, known as the ‘Wanderlust’ and the other is to travel with a specific purpose to avail some facilities not available at the residential place, known as ‘Sunlust’. These are the mostly the recreational, pleasure, cultural experience, shopping and new experiences (Chen and Chen 2015). In case of the Eureka Skydeck, people come here to have new experience, following the ‘sunlust’ motivation. It can be said that, people love to visit the Eureka Skydeck in the Southbank of Melbourne to get the best view of the city from the tallest observation deck in the Southern Hemisphere. At a minimum cost, the tourists want to get a unique experience, which reflects the motivation of sunlust as well as due to the push and pull factors of the Skydeck. Eureka Skydeck is a must see attraction of Melbourne that provides all the modern facilities to the tourists apart from the marvelous view of the city. From gifts to dining experience, Eureka Vertigo and the Edge are the additional factors that drive the tourists to the Skydeck and make an incredible memory for the lifetime. Chen, L.J. and Chen, W.P., 2015. Push–pull factors in international birders' travel.  Tourism Management,  48, pp.416-425. Eureka Skydeck, 2018.  Eureka Skydeck. [online] Eureka Skydeck. Available at: https://www.eurekaskydeck.com.au/ [Accessed 20 Mar. 2018]. lookear.net.au, 2018.  Eureka Skydeck. [online] LookEar. Available at: https://www.lookear.net.au/eureka-skydeck.html [Accessed 20 Mar. 2018]. planetware.com, 2018.  17 Top-Rated Tourist Attractions in Melbourne | PlanetWare. [online] Planetware.com. Available at: https://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions-/melbourne-aus-vic-m.htm [Accessed 20 Mar. 2018]. Schroeder, A. and Pennington-Gray, L., 2015. The role of social media in international tourist’s decision making.  Journal of Travel Research,  54(5), pp.584-595. Swarbrooke, J. and Horner, S., 2007. Consumer behavior in tourism . Jordan Hill. tripadvisor.in, 2018.  Eureka Skydeck 88 (Melbourne) - What to Know Before You Go (with Photos) - TripAdvisor. [online] Tripadvisor.in. Available at: https://www.tripadvisor.in/Attraction_Review-g255100-d654640-Reviews-Eureka_Skydeck_88-Melbourne_Victoria.html [Accessed 20 Mar. 2018]. Yoo, T., 2017.  Melbourne's Eureka Tower now has superfast 200Mbps broadband to rival the NBN. [online] Business Insider Australia. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/melbournes-eureka-tower-now-has-superfast-broadband-at-double-the-nbns-speed-2017-2 [Accessed 20 Mar. 2018].

Consumer Behaviour - Report (3000 words) Lab Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Consumer Behaviour - (3000 words) - Lab Report Example will be followed by the meaning of brands and a few essential concepts relating to brands like brand awareness, perceived brand quality, brand association and brand loyalty. This will be followed with a discussion of the concept of brand personalities. These will form a basis for the second half of the paper. The second half of the paper has been based on three advertisements that have been chosen. The three charities that have been selected for discussion are a) Fred Hollows Organisation, b) Boys to men organisation and c) Melbourne Community foundation. The main reason for choice is due to the varying personality and the varying range of marketing efforts by each of these organisations. The not – for - profit – sector or the community sector, or charity sector is also referred to as the Philanthropic practice. This sector generally contains organizations which work with a purpose to help the society without the generation of profits or gain for any individual members or directors. The government is generally never referred to as a part of this sector, however, the government hospitals, universities and museums do fall into this category as well. The Australian markets have recorded over 70,000 such not – for – profit organizations and the organizations deal with a range of activities like environment conservation, charities to provide assistance to needy and disadvantaged, special schools, public hospitals, and many more. It is essential to note that organization that are altruistic entities and have been recognized and endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office alone are legal charities. These mainly deal with the care for people who are sick; disabled promote religion, provide educational scholarships, or even help after any disaster has struck. In simple terms they are the ones which work for the benefit of the community as a whole. â€Å"Philanthropy is a desire to improve the welfare of humanity through the giving of money, time, information, goods

Perceptions of the food marketing environment among African American Essay

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W. L. Gore & Associates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

W. L. Gore & Associates - Essay Example That is to say, their work is not under scrutiny, consistent monitoring and evaluation. Rather it is done in more of assisting than supervisory manner (Lussier & Achua, 2013). In the case, the crucial information entails the use of sponsorship programs. New associates are assigned a sponsor, who has the mandate of mentoring a new staff with an aim of ensuring they are successful in their respective roles. The same applies for employees undertaking new roles in the organization. As a result of employing this approach, many of the executives demonstrate their natural leadership skills, knowledge and attain the necessary expertise (Lussier & Achua, 2013). Consequently, there is creation and maintenance of high quality relationships at W.L. Gore & Associates. The quality of followership at W.L. Gore & Associates could be attributed to the structure and policies embraced by the company. For instance, new associates are not bombarded with outrageous expectations. Rather, they have a sponsor to help them achieve the targets they themselves set meaning they can concentrate on their tasks with minimal pressure. Secondly, the atmosphere created by the company makes the employees feel as part and parcel of the organization, hence a sense of ownership (Lussier & Achua, 2013). By relaxing the structures of chain of commands, the executives have a space of working leading to an escalation in

Strategic Cultural Interventions at Wal-Mart Research Paper

Strategic Cultural Interventions at Wal-Mart - Research Paper Example It is against this backdrop that Louis (1980) is quoted by the Air University (2003) as explaining that organizational culture is â€Å"a set of understandings or meanings shared by a group of people that are largely tacit among members and are clearly relevant and distinctive to the particular group which are also passed on to new members†. The discussions above point to the fact that the organizational culture of an organization cannot be over emphasized, overlooked or underestimated in any way. As much as possible, all corporations and organizations must make it a prime priority of achieving a socially and commercially welcoming organizational culture. Because of this, this essay has been set out to critically look into the organizational culture of Wal-Mart Company, looking at the company’s present organizational culture and evaluating how the present culture has impacted on the successes of the company and if any, suggest the way forward for the company in terms of its organizational culture. Current Organizational Culture Giving a clear cut definition or description of the organizational culture of Wal-Mart may be very difficult. This is because the public and especially the media tend to portray the company and many different ways. These ambiguities not withstanding, careful review of literature and scrutiny of media reports point to some common characteristics that run through the company and can therefore be generalized to be the company’s organizational culture. In the first place, Wal-Mart has and believes in the culture of respect. The company portrays a high sense and level of respect for all its stakeholders including customers, suppliers and associates. The company also practices an open door system of governance whereby there is an open communication channel for all stakeholders; especially customers and suppliers to get their ideas through. There also is what the company refers to as the Sundown rules. With this culture, th e company answers to requests even after the company’s usual closing hours. This is done in a bid to foster the culture of respect for meeting the customer at the point of his or her needs. Finally, there is an assumed and supposed servant leadership culture at Wal-Mart whereby it is said that Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart said that â€Å""It's more important than ever that we develop leaders who are servants, who listen to their partners – their associates – in a way that creates wonderful morale to help the whole team accomplish an overall goal,†Ã¢â‚¬  (Wal-Mart, 2011). Assessment of the current organizational culture of Wal-Mart using Deep Assumption Model Having discussed the organizational culture of Wal-Mart above, this section of the write-up shall be used to give deep assumptions interpretations to assess the current organizational culture of the company. Cummings and Worley (2009) explain that deep assumptions are very important because they r epresent the deepest levels of an organization’s culture that is generally unexamined. These assumptions shall be considered because as Cummings and Worley (2009) put it, they are â€Å"tacit and shared assumptions that guide member behavior and that often have a powerful impact on organization effectiveness.† Among some unexamined assumptions behind the culture of Wal-Ma

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology Essay

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology - Essay Example Understanding the RFID devices and how they work is critical for analyzing privacy issues that surround this technology. The main components of an RFID system are a chip/tag, reader, and database. A reader scans the tag for data and sends the information to a database, which stores the data contained on the tag (Federal Trade Commission 1-54). In the last several years this technology has gained popularity as a way to streamline different supply chain processes in various settings such as distribution centers, retail stores, hospitals and pharmacies (Davis n.pag [a]). RFID equipment vendors have been confident on the technologys adoption, but the consumers are worried that RFID technology can bring in unknown risks and is not cost-effective enough to be installed in a supply chain network. In reality RFID tags can be read much faster than bar codes indicating that RFID’s scanning capability can result in goods moving through the supply chain much faster than they do when bar codes are used. RFID facilitate quicker, more accurate recalls by enabling the tracking of a product’s origin and its location in the distribution chain. According to a survey conducted by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), it was found that IT resellers and vendors are all set to add RFID solutions to their portfolios. However, the major problem is from their customers who are reluctant and are slow to embrace the technology. According to the survey, 84% of resellers, solution providers, systems integrators, and consultants are prepared to offer RFID products and solutions in the next three years. About 65.6% of them said their customers are yet to implement RFID solutions. This survey also pointed out that the adoption of this technology has been challenged by equipment and tagging costs, murky and unclear return-on-investment for supply chain applications, and a workforce skills shortage. Though the

Strategic Cultural Interventions at Wal-Mart Research Paper

Strategic Cultural Interventions at Wal-Mart - Research Paper Example It is against this backdrop that Louis (1980) is quoted by the Air University (2003) as explaining that organizational culture is â€Å"a set of understandings or meanings shared by a group of people that are largely tacit among members and are clearly relevant and distinctive to the particular group which are also passed on to new members†. The discussions above point to the fact that the organizational culture of an organization cannot be over emphasized, overlooked or underestimated in any way. As much as possible, all corporations and organizations must make it a prime priority of achieving a socially and commercially welcoming organizational culture. Because of this, this essay has been set out to critically look into the organizational culture of Wal-Mart Company, looking at the company’s present organizational culture and evaluating how the present culture has impacted on the successes of the company and if any, suggest the way forward for the company in terms of its organizational culture. Current Organizational Culture Giving a clear cut definition or description of the organizational culture of Wal-Mart may be very difficult. This is because the public and especially the media tend to portray the company and many different ways. These ambiguities not withstanding, careful review of literature and scrutiny of media reports point to some common characteristics that run through the company and can therefore be generalized to be the company’s organizational culture. In the first place, Wal-Mart has and believes in the culture of respect. The company portrays a high sense and level of respect for all its stakeholders including customers, suppliers and associates. The company also practices an open door system of governance whereby there is an open communication channel for all stakeholders; especially customers and suppliers to get their ideas through. There also is what the company refers to as the Sundown rules. With this culture, th e company answers to requests even after the company’s usual closing hours. This is done in a bid to foster the culture of respect for meeting the customer at the point of his or her needs. Finally, there is an assumed and supposed servant leadership culture at Wal-Mart whereby it is said that Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart said that â€Å""It's more important than ever that we develop leaders who are servants, who listen to their partners – their associates – in a way that creates wonderful morale to help the whole team accomplish an overall goal,†Ã¢â‚¬  (Wal-Mart, 2011). Assessment of the current organizational culture of Wal-Mart using Deep Assumption Model Having discussed the organizational culture of Wal-Mart above, this section of the write-up shall be used to give deep assumptions interpretations to assess the current organizational culture of the company. Cummings and Worley (2009) explain that deep assumptions are very important because they r epresent the deepest levels of an organization’s culture that is generally unexamined. These assumptions shall be considered because as Cummings and Worley (2009) put it, they are â€Å"tacit and shared assumptions that guide member behavior and that often have a powerful impact on organization effectiveness.† Among some unexamined assumptions behind the culture of Wal-Ma

US Soldiers During and After the Vietnam War Essay Example for Free

US Soldiers During and After the Vietnam War Essay The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina war, was the battle between the South Vietnam Government supported by the United States of America against the National Liberation Front (NLF) and the North Vietnamese (Atwood Brigham, 2005). The US had to come to the scene when they felt that there was a need to prevent the â€Å"domino theory† (Atwood Brigham, 2005). With the advice of the US policymakers, they sent their US troops to Vietnam in 1965 to start the prevention of the spread of Communism in Vietnam (Atwood Brigham, 2005). They had this belief, as in congruence with their â€Å"domino theory† that if Communism enters Vietnam, it would most likely spread throughout Southeast Asia (Atwood % Brigham, 2005). As reinforcement to the Southern Vietnamese Government, the US soldiers had to make sure that this non-Communist government does not disintegrate. With this, the US soldiers had several difficulties during and after the war. First, a lot of people, Cambodians, Lao, Vietnamese, and American Soldiers died during the war. The numbers show that during the war, there were 3. 2 million Vietnamese, 1. 5 million to 2 million Lao and Cambodians, and 58,000 Americans (Atwood Brigham, 2005). It is sad to note that some of these died fighting for their principles while some died without them knowing it. Those who died with the latter group were mostly the civilians who were just caught with the war. As can be seen from the statistics shown above, the highest number of deaths came from the Vietnamese. This is a sad part for the US soldiers who had to watch civilians die amidst the war and never got the chance to see it come to an end. Apparently, there were alleged war crimes committed in the duration of the war by the American soldiers. However, it could still be noted that at the very least, some soldiers never wanted to be there and watch people die. Among the thousands of soldiers sent there, there would be a considerable, yet unsure, amount of soldiers who never wanted people to die when they were not supposed to do so. In addition to this, it is very hard for the soldiers to see the souls of their fellow soldiers fall one by one from their team. They had to move on with the battle they have started and just hope that it would soon come to an end. In addition to deaths of US soldiers in the battlefield, there were also deaths that were caused by other factors (Atwood Brigham, 2005). A table below shows the statistical breakdown for the deaths that occurred during the war in the side of the American soldiers. This table also includes the statistics of the incidence of nonfatal wounds that the American soldiers had. During this kind of war, where they had to fight against the Viet Congs, they constantly had to look out for each and everyone else’s safety, sometimes just their own. Nobody would know when there would be an attack or if someone shoots out during their sleep. The fear they had to go through had effects on the emotional and mental health of the soldiers. The presence of the dead bodies around them also had affected their hopes and diminished it to a certain extent as they had to trudge down dead bodies, wondering if they would have the same faith or see this war to an end. Second, some of the US soldiers inflicted several illnesses, one of them is malaria. More specifically, one of the diseases is cerebral malaria which some of them carried on even after the end of the war. A Vietnam War veteran who has inflicted such disease is Jim Manuel (Lloyd, n. d. ). The effects of such disease has affected their brain and even resulted in, as in the case of Jim Manuel, deterioration in his level of IQ (Lloyd, n. d. ). Fourth, there were Prisoners of War (POWs) who had suffered greatly in the war, many of whom never had the chance to step back into their motherland, America (O’Neill Corsi, 2004, p. 118). Fortunately, there were several of them who had the chance to go back to America and tell the tales of their captivity in Vietnam. They served as the shield of the Viet Congs against an intensive defense strategy of the Americans with the North Vietnamese group. Third, after the long efforts and lives lost during the war, the American soldiers have failed from preventing the Communism in Vietnam. They withdrew their troops as US, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) signed into the Treaty of Paris in January 27, 1972 (Atwood Brigham, 2005). The conditions set forth in the agreement were the release of all American prisoners of war from North Vietnam; the withdrawal of all U. S. forces from South Vietnam; the end of all foreign military operations in Laos and Cambodia; a cease-fire between North and South Vietnam; the formation of a National Council of Reconciliation to help South Vietnam form a new government; and continued U. S. military and economic aid to South Vietnam, [and a] $3. 25 billion in reparations for the postwar reconstruction of North Vietnam. (Atwood Brigham, 2005). After their withdrawal, the US soldiers still had to deal with another battle as they got back into their own country. During and on to the end of the war, there were campaigns rising for the war crimes and atrocities engaged into by the soldiers (Vistica, 2003, p. 233). This created a very negative impact even for those who had been fighting as anti-Vietnam War protests suddenly sprang up in America putting questions of doubt in the morality of the US military involvement in the Vietnam War (Atwood Brigham, 2005). Every strategic defense acted upon and carried out by the US soldiers has contributed to the intensity of the sentiments against the US soldiers by even the American protesters (Atwood Brigham, 2005). Another impact on the soldiers is the trauma they felt because of the war. Most, if not nearly all, of them showed different degrees of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Atwood Brigham, 2005). This mental disorder had symptoms of anxiety and depression (Atwood Brigham, 2005). What is more, over 20,000 of the Vietnam Veterans committed suicide and the incidents of veteran imprisonment rose (Atwood Brigham, 2005). Those who continued to live on still had the memory of their lost brother as they remember them during the hardest years of their lives (Atwood Brigham, 2005). There are surely a lot of ifs and buts questions going into their mind as soon as they got home. Sometimes, one could just wonder how they cope up after a situation similar to throwing oneself into a pool of sharks. The situations that the US soldiers went through during and after the Vietnam War contributed to making a double battle for them. They had to fight for a lot of reasons and against a lot of factors. While seeking for their main purpose as directed by their homeland, they had to fight for their own personal reasons and for their own life. The Vietnam War was never a simple war and will never be. The battle alone in mind has proved that these Vietnam Veterans are worth the salute and honor.Despite everything, the mere fact that they kept on going has made everything hard for them and for everyone else, too. References Brigham, Robert K. , and Atwood, Paul. Vietnam War. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006 [CD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2005. Lloyd, S. (n. d. ). U. S. Vietnam war soldiers and malaria. Retrieved January 12, 2008, from http://www. historynet. com/wars_conflicts/vietnam_war/3038271. html. O’Neill, J. E. Corsi, J. R. (2004). Unfit for command. USA: Regnery Publishing, Inc. Vistica, G. (2003). The education of Lieutenant Kerrey. New York: Thomas Dunne Books.

One True Thing Film Analysis

One True Thing Film Analysis The film that I chose to watch for this writing assignment was One True Thing. The story began with introducing a young woman with a busy life in New York. Ellen had a writing career that was beginning to look up that was, in a sense, stripped from her when she finds out from her father at his birthday party that her mother, Kate, is ill with cancer. Ellen finds this out from her father when he comes home from a routine appointment with his mother and sees that she is not with him when he walks in the door. Kate is about to have cancer surgery and her father expects her to drop her normal life and move back home to care for her mother. Her father feels as though she should be back in the home after the surgery has been complete and chemotherapy has been started. Ellen is at a loss for words when her father asks her this. At one point she asks why her brother could not stay home and tend to their mother. The father was not at all concerned with how Ellen felt and the fact that this co uld ruin her chances at moving up in her writing career. Ellen was immediately thrown into the housewife role with having to do her fathers laundry, having to cook for the family and guests, and also by having to figure out how to make the household run smoothly. As her mother begins to grow weaker and weaker, Ellen gets a glimpse into the life her mother has been living for so long. She finds that her mother is involved with the community on special occasions, cooks such wonderful meals, decorates and refinishes furniture, makes time to comfort friends that are facing challenges, and most important of all, she ensures that her husbands life runs seamlessly. In the start of the film, we can see that Ellen is struggling to keep everything together. She is in no way used to this and has never seen herself as this kind of a woman that would run a household like this one. She had always grown up admiring her father and just wanted to grow up and be the incredible writer that he had always been. By this point, Ellen feels for her mother and rea lizes that she had so much that was always expected of her, but this also helps Ellen realize how much her mother needs her. With all of this going on, she soon also realizes how little her father does around the house. The viewers can see, as the movie progresses, that her father is not as self-centered as he comes off as and that he is just distraught about the idea of losing his wife; someone that does so much for him and who makes his life run the way that it does. He cant imagine this life without her and does not want to sit around and watch his wife slowly slip away. This whole idea that the father actually cared about the fact that his wife was slowly dying was not evident at the beginning of the film, it was actually seen as the complete opposite. Ellen watches as her father continues to have affairs late at night while he is supposed to be working. This enrages Ellen because how in the world could he do this to his wife and the mother of his children. Was the fact that she was doing everything for him not enough to satisfy him? Another event was when the family was supposed to have a Thanksgiving dinner with just the five of them. Her father thinks that it would be a wonderful idea to forget about the plan that the family had agreed on and invite two writers, which he admires, to the family dinner. He then has the balls to ask his wife to get off of the bed whip up some appetizers for his guests. Oblivious to the fact that she is in bed because she does not feel well. This is the time when Ellen finally found her voice and became confrontation al with her father. Tensions flared in the household between the two and more things start to set Ellen off. Each night that her father calls, she cant help but think that he is having an affair with the other woman he seems to care so much about. One night when her father had still not come home, Ellens mother asked her to go and fetch her father. She finds her father, at a diner, slumped over the table. She urges him that he needs to come home but I feel as though he is more ashamed by his appearance to his daughter and tells her to leave. This caused Ellen to become confrontational because at this point she is so frustrated with her fathers lack of compassion for his own wife and that fact that her condition is declining. He tells Ellen that she has done enough at this point and that she is more than welcome to return to her life back in the big city. Following this, the mothers condition declines greatly. The Chemotherapy is no longer benefiting her and her cancer has spread. Ellen fights with the doctor and believes that they should continue treatment because she is not ready yet. The only real option at this point is to make her comfortable while she lives out the rest of her days. Before she gets to the point of being bedridden, Kate makes sure that she has a discussion with both Ellen and her father. She wants to let Ellen know that she is well aware of what her husband has been doing over the years and that she still loves him. They have come to an understanding and she loves what she does have with him. Kate wanted, more than anything, to just be able to talk to someone about how she really felt. Maybe she had a fake smile on over the years and now she was able to express her concerns. With Kate now being on morphine pills multiple times a day and her condition declining with each day, Ellen has a lot more responsibility. A nurse would come to help on some days during the week to make things go a little more smoothly, but one day Ellen had to help her mother out of the tub. This is when she finally saw the severity of her mothers condition. Her head was slowly balding, and her body was turning into merely a skeleton. After settling her mother into a wheelchair, she is faced with a disheartening situation when her mother expresses that the way she was living was no way to live. In a sense she is asking for Ellen to end the pain. The end of the film is when the mother overdoses on morphine pills and passes away on her hospital bed in the living room. An investigation followed the death of Ellens mother and both Ellen and her father were suspects. Both were under the impression that the other had done it. They later happen to cross paths at Kates gravesite and they fi nd out that neither of them was responsible for overdosing Kate. She had somehow managed to get out of bed and overdose herself because she knew that neither of them would be able to be strong enough to do it themselves. In the recent years, death has started to become more mainstream. I am saying this because pro-suicide, pro-euthanasia attitudes are being more openly expressed. This could also just be that people are finally allowing themselves to talk about the topic and that it actually has been around for a good amount of time. When it comes to the films that use this as a topic in their films, it is usually not the primary issue that is broadcasted throughout the film. In One True Thing does not focus primarily on this issue, but at the end of the film, there is a sense of pro-death attitude slipped into the background. The main part of this film is devoted to the relationship shared between a mother and daughter. The mother is deathly ill and the father has enlisted the help of the daughter to drop everything in her life to come home and tend to any of her mothers needs. The movie played out more like a flashback from the viewpoint of the daughter Ellen and I think that was a big part that I left out of the summary. She was speaking with an attorney regarding the morphine overdose of her mother and how the events led up to it. In a sense, the audience is left guessing about how the mother will die throughout the film; will it be natural causes, the cancer taking her life, but we as the audience would never be able to guess that she died of an overdose. At some point we are left questioning whether it was a mercy killing executed by either her husband or daughter. This move implies that all of these means of dying are morally accepted, but none of the relevant issues are explored in any depth. Instead, the situation is used as a whodunit device to spin up an otherwise straightforward issue. With Ellen having such a strong belief about how her life should run and her attitudes regarding her career and family were formed primarily by contemporary feminism. She was a Harvard graduate in her late 20s and scored a job with a high-profile New York magazine, so she could be seen as not being the typical woman one would think of in 1988. Ellen defines her life and herself according to her professional success and her personal relationships, whether family or intimate, are taking a spot on the sidelines. She is a strong and successful woman that is believes that woman are just as qualified to compete at the same level as men. Her mother, on the other hand, is what one would call a pre-feminist housewife. Her life revolves around the wellbeing of her husband and children, while her own needs stand off to the side. This is why, I believe, the cancer was allowed to progress to the point that it did because she would just shrug off the symptoms. Kate was also a great help in the loc al charities and was, at that time, the perfect housewife. The difference between Ellen and Kate becomes an issue when Ellens father tells her that she needs to drop everything and come back home to live in the family home and take care of her mother. He assumes that every woman should be capable and happy to complete the same housewife tasks that most women take on. Ellen made it a point in the film to say that she never wanted this life for herself. She never wanted to become the housewife and she looked up to her fathers lifestyle and believed that that was what she wanted to strive for. In the beginning of the film, when George and Ellen are sitting on the porch, Ellen asks her father how he feels about her recent piece that she wrote for the magazine. At first, he just gave a basic answer and said that it was good but that was not good enough of an answer for Ellen. When she asked a second time, she finally received the criticism she had been asking for. George said that her paper too emotional and that she needed to add a more masculine hint to her work. This sounds to me as though he wants her to hide who she really is and act as though a man is writing the article. He makes the comment that Less is more, a comment that was heard a little too often in the film. George seems to want to hold his daughter back in a way. Maybe he wanted to see his son reach her level and become a great writer like him, because back in that time, I would feel as though recognition for a son would be more beneficial than recognition for a daughter. Kate was a woman that only saw the positives during her battle with cancer. She strived to complete all of the daily tasks that she was used to doing until she no longer could manage. She can be seen as a very powerful woman, but I think she was struggling most with the idea of being sick and not being able to tend to her family. When she was told about how George told Ellen that less is more she counteracted and told Ellen that more is more. She is someone that wanted Ellen to hold onto all of her strong traits and stay the woman that she had become. In the film, the viewer can see that most of the men are portrayed to be weak and terrible people. This is more of the feminism coming into play. George is depicted as being self-centered, out of touch with his feelings, and a philanderer. Ellens brother flunked out of Harvard, while she excelled in the program, and he was then too afraid to tell his parents because of the idea of being a failure and the criticism that he would face fro m mainly his father. This is one of those examples of when men were thought to have been treated as better and more powerful people than women. Ending the movie, we are faced again with the morphine overdose that took the life of Kate. It wasnt until the last scene that we find out that she managed to do it herself and commit suicide and escape the pain she was in. This can easily be seen as the most harmful message in the film because its suggestion that the willingness to commit suicide, or to assist a loved one in the act is somehow proof of psychological strength and maturity when it is indeed the complete opposite. This twist at the end leaves the view in a kind of awe. We were initially left to think that the father crushed the pills and put them into Kates food, because Ellen had backed out. At the gravesite is when the truth was finally figured out because both Ellen and George thought that the other was guilty for assisted in Kates death. One True Thing. Dir. Carl Franklin. By Karen Croner. Perf. Meryl Streep, Renee Zellweger, and  William Hurt. Universal Pictures, 1998. HBO GO.

The Effect of Music on Psychology and Behavior Essay -- A Level Essays

The Effect of Music on Psychology and Behavior There have always been discussions of the effects music has on ones behavior, and how it’s related to Psychology. The truth has never really been verified among common knowledge, but it’s usually something that intrigues people. They say heavy metal and rap can make teenagers violent, sad and depressing music can make teenagers sad and depressed, and some say it’s best to listen to classical music when doing schoolwork because it makes your brain more active. There have been many people that reported how music has effects on their behavior. It can lift their mood, â€Å"fuel the fire† when they’re angry, or even make it easier for them to fall asleep. People never really get the chance to research the actual science of music, and how it changes people attitudes. It’s also interesting to think about how music plays a role in someone’s identity. Many articles found discuss the Social Identity Theory, and the people who conduct these experiments always keep this in mind, â€Å"Social identity theory (SIT; Tajfel, 1978; Tajfel & Turner, 1979) maintains that individuals gain a social identity from the groups to which they belong. The theorists claim that members have a desire to evaluate their own group positively and that they achieve positive evaluations through social comparisons with relevant other groups along valued dimensions. One maintains positive social identity and self-esteem through in-group favoritism, positive distinction from the out-group, and, occasionally, out-group derogation (e.g., Noel, Wann, & Branscombe, 1995)† (Tarrant, North, Hargreaves, 2001). Towson’s online database is an excellent place to research what has been found on music’s effects on psychology, and ... ... also determines their place in society. Ones place in society can then determine how their life will develop because you associate with the people and characteristics of that group. If one were to listen to rap and become associated with the people in that group, it’s likely that they will become sexually active and become involved in illicit drug use. This could then determine their education (whether or not they drop out of school) and eventually what they end up doing for a living. Music has a very strong influence on the lives of adolescents. It seems almost as if music has a stronger role than things like religion and politics. People usually think that music just determines how adolescents act, but after researching in depth you find that music determines much more than that. Music can be a determining factor in their education, social status, and their future.

A Comparison of East of Eden and Candide :: compare and contrast essay examples

East of Eden and Candide In the midst of 80s nostalgia and remembering the greatness that was this decade, I don't want readers to think that "children of the 80s," are oblivious to great, classic literature and today's current events. Recently, I have read two incredibly amazing books. Furthermore, I have noticed some interesting parallels. The first is East of Eden by John Steinbeck. This novel is an unbelievably grandiose recreation of the Book of Genesis. Salinas County is depicted as a place of incredible purity and innocence, in which people have simple values and work hard to sustain them. In contrast, there is Monterrey, a seedy, dirty, yet attractive town filled with brothels, bars, factories, and ports. Some sort of warped destiny once joined Mr. Trask to Kate, the union of good and evil. As a result, she gives birth to twins, Aaron and Caleb. Both Mr. Trask and Aaron embody all that is good, whereas Kate and Cal embody all that is evil. Cal often goes to Monterrey, and upon finding out that his mother is still alive as well as being the head of the most prestigious brothel in town, he seeks her out. After repeatedly being underestimated and rejected by his father, Cal decides that the ultimate revenge will be to take his brother Aaron to meet his mother. He was right? Upon hearing the news, Mr. Trask has a stroke, and Cal feels incredibly guilty. The last few chapters of this book compose the most intense writing or probably even the most intense experiences that I have ever had. Lee, the family's loyal servant, repeatedly notes a passage in the Bible, in which it is made clear that any individual, regardless of past experiences or trauma, has a choice in life. The fact that humans have the ability to always make this crucial choice and use a superior rational is what sets us apart from other species. Even though Mr. Trask is virtually a vegetable and at the brink of death, Lee begs that he show some sign that he has forgiven his son Cal or the cycle will not be broken. Cal will continue to be a resentful rogue, who feels unloved and has no direction. This simple idea is extended through and endless number of pages. I have never read so fast and understood so much in my entire life, not that my life is really that long yet.

Basic Concepts in the Law of Contracts

LGST 612 Prof. Kevin Werbach BASIC CONCEPTS IN THE LAW OF CONTRACTS Contracts are essential to business. They are a legal mechanism used in every industry and every part of the world to structure relationships among firms, and with customers, partners, and suppliers. Over several centuries, the law governing contracts has developed a large number of doctrines. Most are consistent with common sense, but unless you know what the rules are, you can easily make a mistake. This document introduces the fundamentals of contract law most relevant to businesspeople.Important legal terms are italicized. What is a Contract? And what is Contract Law? Legally, a contract is a set of promises that the law will enforce. We make promises all the time. Only some of them – the ones that meet the contract formation requirements listed below – are legally enforceable. That means the legal system, in the form of courts, can step in to order some action or payment for violation of the contra ct. Contracts are therefore private deals with the possibility of public (governmental) enforcement.Of course, there are many reasons to fulfill promises other than legal obligations. Reneging on promises may be unethical, or may result in a loss of goodwill or reputation as costly or more so than anything a court can impose. The general principles of contract law are fairly universal around the world. However, specific rules vary from country to country. In common law countries such as the United States and Great Britain, most of the legal doctrines governing contracts have been developed by courts over the centuries.In civil law countries such as those in Continental Europe, most of the terms of contract law are specified through comprehensive legislative codes. Even in the U. S. , some aspects of contract law are regulated by legislation. Certain classes of contracts involving employment, securities transactions, health care, and consumer financial transactions are subject to reg ulations that supersede the general principles of common law. Commercial contracts for the sale of goods (as opposed to services like consulting) are covered in virtually every state in the U. S. y the Uniform Commercial Code, which imposes specific statutory requirements. And certain contracts are made unenforceable by the Constitution: for example, a provision that a house may not be sold to a certain racial or ethnic group. Parties negotiating a contract each believe they will benefit from the agreement. For example, a corporation purchasing a license for enterprise software believes the benefit from the software will exceed the price it pays, and the software vendor believes the price will exceed sum of expected costs for providing access to its product.When parties enter into a contract, therefore, they generally do not expect it to be breached (violated), or to resort to the legal system. However, they recognize that sometimes a partner may make a promise with good intentions, and later fail to fulfill it, or that circumstances may chance in some way. When evaluating contracts, courts will generally not consider whether the deal was a good one for either side. The standard view is that no one forced the parties to enter into the contract; they should be held to the bargain they struck.Another way to think of a contract is as a legal hedge against uncertainty or risk. The contract gives each party confidence that if the other fails to perform, they can receive compensation through the courts. It also allows parties to specify how specific situations in the future may be addressed. For example, in the software license described above, what happens if the buyer decides to modify some of the software code and resell it? Rather than wait for the confusion if that happens, the parties can specify ahead of time how the situation will be handled, by adding provisions to the contract.LGST 612 (Prof. Werbach) Page 2 Contemporary legal systems focus on two things i n contracts cases: intent and reliance. If the evidence shows that all parties acted as though they intended to be legally bound to a contract, and the plaintiff (the one filing the lawsuit) reasonably relied on the defendant to follow through with the contract, the courts will generally enforce it. To do otherwise would be unfair to the party that was harmed by honoring their commitments. In modern contract law, intent and reasonable reliance often trump formalities.A contract may generally be enforced even if it not signed, written, or even expressly made. For example, if a fishmonger delivers fresh fish to a restaurant every Monday for a year and receives the same payment each time, there may be an implied contract even if the parties never explicitly spoke about it. The plaintiff still needs to convince the judge or jury in court, which is much harder to do based on oral testimony than documentary evidence. Unwritten contracts also leave significant gaps for courts to fill in.Th e implied contract between the restaurant and the fishmonger, for example, could be terminated at any time by the parties, because there is no explicit term guaranteeing how long it will last. Remedies What a court awards to a successful plaintiff for breach of contract is known as the remedy. In contract law, the sole purpose of the remedy is to adequately compensate for the breach. You cannot receive additional â€Å"punitive† damages to punish someone for breach of contract, as you might under a tort claim such as products liability. The same facts, however, might give rise to both kinds of claims, as when a party deliberately breaks a contract in order to harm the other party’s business. ) In most contracts cases, the remedy is a payment of money, known as damages. There are three main ways that courts may calculate the level of damages: †¢ Expectation is the preferred formula. Whenever possible, this is what courts will use. Expectation means that the plainti ff (who did not breach the contract) gets the â€Å"benefit of the bargain. † In other words, they receive compensation to put them in the position they would have been in, had the contract been performed.For example, if an airline enters into a futures contract to purchase jet fuel in one year at $4/gallon, and at the time of performance the fuel company breaches because the spot market price is now $7/gallon, the expectation remedy would be $3/gallon times the number of gallons. In other words, it is the difference between the market and contract price. That way, the airline can buy the fuel from someone else at the market price, and still get the benefit of the contract. Reliance is used when expectation damages cannot be calculated because the amounts are too uncertain, or there is some other reason not to give expectation damages.Under this formula, the plaintiff gets back any costs he or she has expected by relying on the contract, so they are no worse off than before t he agreement. Generally, this will be a smaller amount than the expectation remedy. Restitution is used in rare situations where even reliance damages are not feasible to determine. Under this formula, the defendant (who breached the contract) must give back whatever benefit he or she received from the plaintiff, even if this does not fully cover the plaintiff’s reliance.For example, if the plaintiff paid money to the defendant for some services, the defendant must give it back. †¢ †¢ Courts may also consider awarding incidental and consequential damages. These are other costs the plaintiff can demonstrate, which go beyond his or her expectation under the contract. For example, imagine a factory owner contracts for a $50,000 piece of machinery to power a production line, and LGST 612 (Prof. Werbach) Page 3 the supplier breaches the contract. It takes a month before the factory can obtain an equivalent machine from another supplier (also for $50,000).As a result, the factory loses one month of production, which produces financial losses of $500,000 and causes its customers to terminate future orders worth several million dollars. All those costs are considered consequential damages. Whether they can be recovered depends on how foreseeable they were, and on the terms of the contract itself. On the one hand, those are actual losses the plaintiff suffered; on the other hand, was it reasonable to think the defendant took on millions of dollars of potential liability when it sold a $50,000 machine?In limited situations, monetary damages are not sufficient to give the plaintiff an adequate remedy. In such cases, a court may order an injunction (forbidding the defendant from some course of action) or specific performance (affirmatively ordering the defendant to go through with the transaction). Specific performance is only available for unique objects, where the money to purchase a similar object is not considered sufficient. This includes things such as works of art and real estate. Breach Failing to follow through on the legal obligations of a contract is called a breach.A breach might mean one party totally ignored its contractual obligations, or that it failed to perform some of them (such as completing the contracted-for services within a specified time), or that it did so in an inadequate manner. Whether something constitutes a breach is a factual decision for the court. The decision may be easier if the contract itself specifies conditions for breach, or whether a failure to perform specific responsibilities constitutes a breach of the whole agreement.As mentioned above, breaching a contract is not the same thing as breaking a promise, because law and ethics are not identical. In particular, sometimes a breach is, economically at least, a good thing. Imagine that an architect contracts with a cabinetmaker for custom-designed built-in furniture in a renovated house. However, the owner of the house changes her mind before f inalizing her contract with the architect, and he loses the commission. The cabinetmaker has not yet started to manufacture the furniture.It would be wasteful to force the architect to go through with the contract, when he knows the cabinets will be useless. It is more efficient for the architect to breach the agreement. So long as the architect pays sufficient compensation to the cabinetmaker (voluntarily or in the form of monetary damages or a voluntary payment), there is nothing unethical in his breach. Contract Formation There are five required elements for a legally binding contract. In other words, a plaintiff suing for breach of contract must first show that all five were met. Then they must show the contract was breached, and they are entitled to a remedy. ) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Offer Acceptance Consideration Legality Capacity The first two requirements, offer and acceptance, are sometimes lumped together and called â€Å"mutual assent. † They are typically the most difficu lt and important elements to establish. LGST 612 (Prof. Werbach) Offer Page 4 An offer is a proposal that manifests intent to enter into a contract. It is distinguished from an invitation, which is merely a proposal to enter into negotiations and therefore not legally binding.The party that makes an offer is called the offeror and the party that receives it is called the offeree. For the offer to be valid, the offeror must: 1. Manifest the intent to enter into a contract 2. Be definite and certain regarding the essential terms of the proposed contract 3. Communicate the offer to the offeree Suppose you are at a used-car dealer's lot. You see a care you like with the price listed as $9,995. You ask the salesperson what he’d take for the car; he doesn't answer you, but responds by asking you what you would offer.If you then say, â€Å"I wouldn't pay the list price, but I might pay $8,000 if I could finance it,† have you made an offer? In considering questions of this typ e, courts will look to â€Å"objective† manifestations of intent. Would a reasonable (ordinary, average) person, listening to your conversation in context, think that you intended to bound into a contract if the salesperson accepted? Again, reasonable reliance is what the courts look to protect, so your subjective mental state, even if it could be reliably determined, is irrelevant. Courts do, however, consider the context.You might offer to purchase a candy bar simply by holding out a dollar bill to a cashier, but an offer to enter into a multi-million dollar merger agreement might require significantly greater formalities. Similarly, if it would be clear to a reasonable observer that a statement was made as a joke, or in a social setting that does not involve contractual obligations, such as a wedding invitation, there is no binding offer. All these, however, are factual questions that courts might assess by hearing witnesses, looking at evidence, and listening to experts.A cceptance An acceptance is the mirror of an offer. If the offeree (the one receiving the offer) objectively manifests intent to be bound, the other elements below are met, and the offer is still valid, a contract comes into being at that moment. Intent is evaluated the same way for acceptance as for the offer. For the acceptance, however, courts are more sensitive to situations where someone takes actions that indicate acceptance (such as signing a document), but does not in fact understand the obligations they are undertaking.In such cases, courts generally look to whether this is the sort of contract that is typically accepted in that manner, and whether the offeree had a reasonable opportunity to analyze the contract but chose not to. Many business-to-consumer agreements are so-called contracts of adhesion or form contracts, where the consumer has no real opportunity to negotiate the specific terms – think of a rental-car agreement – but acceptance is still generall y considered valid because there are other means to protect the consumers and the alternative would be extremely inefficient and cumbersome.There are four ways that an offer may no longer be valid: 1. The offeror may generally revoke the offer by communicating that to the other party at any moment before acceptance. 2. If the one receiving the offer rejects it, which includes making a counter-offer, the original offer is considered no longer binding. 3. After some reasonable period of time, determined by the court based on the context, offers lapse. You cannot walk into a used-car dealer and say you are accepting the list price of a car advertised two years before. 4. Death or incapacitation of an offeror generally cancels an offer.One exception to the rule about revocation of offers is the option contract. This is essentially a contract that binds only one party. For example, a property owner might grant a real estate investor LGST 612 (Prof. Werbach) Page 5 an option to purchase a building for $15 million within a period of 90 days. If the investor comes forward with the $15 million, the owner must sell the building. The investor, however, is under no obligation to do anything. (Options on stocks operate the same way; the price for the put or call is the payment for the option. ) Under U. S. aw, there must be a separate payment for holding open the option, even if it is specified in the same document as the purchase terms. In other words, in the real estate example, if the building owner promised to keep the offer open for 90 days, but received no compensation for that promise, it would technically be free to sell to someone else. In many other countries, a party that promises an option must keep it open for a reasonable period of time, even without payment. The acceptance must mirror the offer. That means the offeree must comply with any conditions the offeror placed on the offer.If, for example, the offer states that payment must be made in cash, or that t hose wishing to accept the offer must show up in person at a certain location, those conditions must be met for a valid acceptance. If the offeror does not specify, the offeree may use any reasonable means. This may even include actions rather than words. If I ask a friend to bring me a sandwich from the cafe downstairs, which I’ll pay for, and she immediately goes to purchase it without saying a word, her actions would likely be a sufficient manifestation of intent.As always, context matters. In a complex commercial negotiation, it may be reasonable to exchange numerous very specific drafts, which are not formally accepted until the final version is signed off on by senior executives. Consideration Consideration means that each party has committed to giving up something of value to induce the promise or action of the other party. It is the way the law distinguishes an enforceable contractual bargain from a gift. If someone promises to give you a gift, and then reneges on the promise, you cannot sue them for breach of contract.There was no contract to begin with, because you did not have to give anything up in return for the gift. In most contracts, consideration will be money in exchange for some goods or services. However, it can be anything of legal value, including property or voluntarily giving up a legal right to act in a certain way. In a famous case, a court held that an uncle’s promise to pay money to his nephew if the nephew gave up smoking and drinking was enforceable, because the nephew stopped doing something he was legally entitled to do. The consideration must, however, be needed to induce the promise.If your action or inaction wasn’t what motivated the other party, there is no consideration. The amount of consideration need not match the value of what the party receives in return. A contract to pay $100 for a computer worth $1,000 may be a bad deal, but it has sufficient consideration. The main question is whether there is something of value exchanged to demonstrate the agreement is not a gift. In business agreements, this sometimes means a recital (a contractual provision that simply states a fact) along the lines of, â€Å"in exchange for good and valuable onsideration of one dollar†¦Ã¢â‚¬  to ensure consideration is found. Legality Contracts that are made for an illegal purpose will not be enforceable in a court of law. An agreement with a hit man to kill a disfavored relative may meet all of the formalities of a contract, but it should be obvious that you could not sue him for failing to go through with it. More realistically, an agreement to engage in bribery or to restrain market competition in violation of antitrust laws would be unenforceable.Capacity All parties to a contract must have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement. In other words, they must have what the law considers sufficient mental fortitude to understand and commit to LGST 612 (Prof. Werbach) Page 6 the obl igations involved. Two main classes of people who do not have capacity are children and those under significant mental disability or impairment. Children are generally not allowed to become legally bound by contracts. (The specific age cutoff and other considerations vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. If an adult contracts with a child, the child can void the contract at will, but the adult is still bound if the child wishes to enforce the agreement. The other situations in which capacity becomes an issue are when a party either has a significant disability that prevents them from understanding contractual obligations, or they are too severely impaired by drugs, alcohol, or another factor. Capacity is judged objectively: would a reasonable observer think the party was in a state that made it impossible to express intent to contract?If so, the party at that moment lacks the legal capacity. It is important to note that capacity is not the same thing as capability or authority. A bank may not actually have the financial wherewithal to provide the financing that it contracts for, but this does not mean it is incapable of entering into any contract. If it fails to provide the financing that the other party reasonably relied on, it is in breach of contract, whether or not it actually has the resources needed to perform. Similarly, an agent may or may not have the legal authority to speak for a firm.If a sales representative (or someone claiming to be a sales representative) commits a company to an agreement with a customer that the company does not in fact wish to honor, that has no bearing on the legal capacity to contract. In that situation, the court must determine whether it is appropriate to bind the company. If the salesperson did not in fact have actual authority to sign off on such contracts, courts would look to whether it was reasonable for the customer to think that they did, especially without communicating with corporate headquarters.Whether a Cont ract Must be in Writing (â€Å"Statute of Frauds†) As mentioned above, there is no general requirement that contracts be in writing. It is generally a good idea to write contracts down, because that provides clear evidence of their existence and terms if they are ever breached. Fundamentally, though, an oral agreement, or an unsigned written agreement, is a valid contract, except in two broad cases. The first is when there is a statutory or regulatory requirement to put a certain agreement in writing. This is often the case, for example, with financial and healthcare agreements.The second is if the contract is under the statute of frauds. The Statute of Frauds was a 17th century English law that required some contracts to be in writing, because otherwise there would be too much risk of witnesses lying (the â€Å"fraud†) in their oral testimony in court. Today, the term refers mostly to common law principles that impose a writing requirement, plus provisions of certain modern statutes (such as the Uniform Commercial Code) that impose similar obligations. Saying that a contract is â€Å"under the statute of frauds† means that it has to be in writing.There are several categories of contracts that fall under the statute of frauds, including suretyship (promising to pay someone else’s debts) and contracts in consideration of marriage (such as prenuptial agreements). The three categories most likely to arise in a business context are: †¢ †¢ Sale of land. This also includes interests in land, such as a mortgage. Sales of goods worth $500 or more. Note that contracts for services, such as consulting or financial advice, are not covered under this provision. The $500 figure comes from the Uniform Commercial Code, and is an arbitrary figure, not pegged to inflation.LGST 612 (Prof. Werbach) Page 7 †¢ Promises not performable in one year. In other words, there is no way the contract could be successfully performed within a year. If the contract does not specify a term of longer than a year, and there is come conceivable scenario in which both parties would discharge their responsibilities before the end of the year, it need not be in writing. If a contract falls under the statute of frauds, a sufficient â€Å"writing† is a document that identifies the parties, describes the basic obligations of the contract, and is signed by the party to be charged.As with any written contract, if there are specific details not set out in the document, the court can interpret the language or fill in reasonable terms as necessary to enforce it. If, however, the writing is missing a material term – for example, the price in most sales contracts – it is not enforceable. Basically, the court needs enough information to determine a remedy. If the contract is not under the statute of frauds, the courts can look to other written evidence or oral testimony to find a material term. However, if the parties simply failed to agree on such an essential point, the contract is unenforceable.Note that when the statute of frauds applies, only one party is required to sign the agreement: the party who is being sued to enforce it (the defendant). The signature of the other party may still be useful to prove there was intent to enter into a binding agreement. Excuses to Performance In some circumstances, a party will not be held to an agreement, even when it met all the legal requirements for a valid contract. The most common excuses to performance are: Fraud. If one party induces a contract by lying to the other party, it is not enforceable even when the form of the contract is perfectly good.Duress. If a party felt it was forced to enter into a contract against its will, it can claim the contract is unenforceable due to duress. This means something more than a difficult situation or a tough negotiating partner on the other side. For example, if there is only one supplier for an important input with sufficient production capacity, buying from that supplier is not duress. There must generally be some misconduct, involving threats to engage in illegal conduct or breach other obligations, which convinces the other party it has no choice. Unconscionability.As noted above, a contract will not be considered unenforceable because it is unfair, or because there is unequal bargaining power (as is typically the case in business-to-consumer interactions). However, if one party has no reasonable opportunity to understand the obligations they are undertaking, or there are terms in the agreement so manifestly unfair that they â€Å"shock the conscience,† courts can declare specific provisions or whole contracts as unconscionable. This doctrine is successfully invoked infrequently, and then typically when there is unfairness in the process, rather than the substantive terms.Mutual mistake. If both parties were mistaken about the fundamental subject matter of the contract, such that th ey never truly had an agreement, the contract can be declared unenforceable. If the mistake is simply a bad business decision, such as an assumption that the price of a good will not increase substantially, it will not excuse performance. Impossibility/frustration of purpose. If circumstances change so dramatically that either a contract is effectively impossible to perform, or it would be pointless to complete it, courts can excuse performance.As with the other doctrines, courts will not release parties from their obligations if performance is merely more difficult or costly than they expected. – – – – LGST 612 (Prof. Werbach) Page 8 These excuses are considered by courts after the fact. In such situations, there is a contract, but there is no legal remedy for a breach. Sometimes, the result is merely to sever a problematic provision of the contract. For example, a contract may be enforceable minus the specific term the court considered unconscionable.Re covery Outside of Contract (â€Å"Promissory Estoppel†) Modern contract law makes it relatively easy for parties to enter into contracts, to specify the terms of those contracts, and to be excused from contractual obligations when fundamental fairness dictates. Consequently, the legal system generally focuses on whether the procedural obligations of contract law described above have been met, rather than on whether the outcome is just. After all, the parties were free to act differently, yet chose to structure their agreement in a certain way.Why should the courts interfere with their decisions? In a host of cases, this freedom-based view of contracts fails to account for reality. Inequalities in access to information or bargaining power may so warp the relationship between parties that the formal structure of an agreement may not actually reflect the intent of at least one of them. Or there may be significant public policy concerns, such as avoiding mistreatment of patients or retail investors, which counsel for heightened obligations beyond those of common-law contract doctrines.Another category cuts in the opposite direction. Sometimes the un-enforceability of an agreement is unfair. If one party reasonably relies on the other party, yet has no remedy because the agreement is unenforceable, it can create a situation in which the courts view themselves as parties to an injustice. The legal doctrine known as promissory estoppel arose to allow for recovery of damages in court, even when there is no enforceable contract between the parties.The Restatement (Second) of Contracts, a collection of â€Å"best practices† in contract law written by leading legal experts in the field, describes promissory estoppel as follows: â€Å"A promise which the promisor should reasonably expect to induce action or forbearance on the part of the promisee or a third person and which does induce such action or forbearance is binding if injustice can be avoided only b y enforcement of the promise. The remedy granted for breach may be limited as justice requires. † Most commonly this doctrine is invoked for charitable gifts.For example, imagine that a donor to Wharton promises the school $100 million for a new building bearing her name, the school builds the building in reliance on the gift, and the donor then reneges on the promise. There is no enforceable contract, because there is no consideration. (The school’s expenditure in building the building was a response to the promised gift; it is not what induced the promise, as required for consideration. ) In such a situation, if a court feels it would be an â€Å"injustice† that Wharton receives no compensation, it can award damages on a promissory estoppel theory.Courts have applied promissory estoppel in other situations where, because of some legal quirk, a party reasonably relies on a contract and yet has no adequate remedy. Note that promissory estoppel is a distinct legal claim, not a lawsuit based on a valid contract. One consequence is that damages are generally limited to reliance. In the donation example in the previous paragraph, this means that Wharton might recover the amount it spent on constructing the building, but not the full $100 million that was promised. And remember that the court can decline to award anything if it does not feel that an injustice has occurred.