Important assignment in History Class Essay

Reading: â€Å"Rules for Peasant Life in Japan-1619† In the â€Å"Rules for Peasant Life in Japan-1619,† the society is ruled by an authoritarian leader. Social inequality existed, wherein strong social and class differences among people were identified and reinforced through laws. Peasants were considered as people from â€Å"lowly origin† (Kanetaugu, 306). They were also expected to earn for their families, to pay their taxes, and to contribute to other public obligations. The ruling body was malevolent, because when peasants could not pay their taxes, they take away the peasants’ wives. The ruling class also indicated that they may do whatever they wish with these women, a clear sign of threat to the peasants. The ruling party even included that the elite can rape these women, and yet the peasants would be the ones, who would suffer because of tarnished images. In 1916 Japan, there was no gender quality, because women, who were found to have extramarital affairs, were immediately exiled, even when the proof was merely because they had excessive amount of tea reserves. At the same time, women were mandated to take care of their men and their basic needs, the whole day, as if they were slaves to their men. For instance, daughters and wives were required to â€Å"sew and weave China-grass† clothing for their men (Kanetaugu, 305). Wives and daughters should also serve their male family members and massage their feet afterwards. They must do the bidding of their male family members. Hence, this is a society remarked by authoritarian leadership, social inequality, and gender inequality. Reading: â€Å"The Declaration of the Rights of Women by Olympe de Gouges, 1791. † Olympe de Gouges (1791) describes a gender-equal social climate. It is a climate that allowed women to freely express their opinions and to fill public positions. It is also a climate that made women responsible for their errors. De Gouges is not asking for women to be exempted from the law. Instead, she states in Article VII: â€Å"No woman is an exemption†¦Women, like men, obey this rigorous law† (de Gouges, 416). For her, women are also strong enough to be held accountable for their mistakes. She also depicts a benign ruler, who will protect and advance equal rights and treatment for men and women. She also believes that sovereignty depends on the people, and on its most basic foundation, the â€Å"union of woman and man,† or in other words, the family (de Gouges, 416). This indicates libertarian views, wherein the voice of the people reigns supreme. de Gouges also demands public transparency of taxes and activities in Articles XIII and IX. Finally, de Gouges depicts a world, wherein men and women are equal in every regard. For her, women should not be given preferential treatment because of their gender, and at the same time, they must enjoy the same rights and opportunities for growth as men. Hence, the state must ensure that men and women both possess the rights to liberty, security, property, and protection from oppression. Reading: â€Å"Program for Cuba by Fidel Castro- 1956. † Fidel Cuba espouses a social climate that is based on socialism. Through socialism, the oppressed sectors that he identified- the unemployed, farm laborers, industrial workers, small farm workers, underpaid teachers and professionals, and small businesspeople- would be given the full right to change or abolish the Constitution, and free themselves from traditional social, political, and economic obstacles, through following the Five Revolutionary Laws. The ruling body is benign to the underprivileged sectors, whom Castro felt had been used by the politicians and companies to make profits out of their lives. The benign ruler also confiscates lands for large landowners to be distributed to all â€Å"planters, non-quota planters, lesses, share-croppers, and squatters who hold parcels of five caballerias of land or less† (Castro, 556). This ruler also ensures that workers are handsomely paid for their services, by having the right to share 30% of the profits of companies. The Fourth Revolutionary Law also provides fifty-percent share for laborers involved in sugar production. Hence, Castro aims to change the ownership of and access to the forces of production, so that the poor can improve the quality of their lives. Women were not particularly mentioned in this reading. Still, Castro also did not differentiate women from male workers and professionals. It is inferred that Castro also envisioned equality of the sexes, wherein men and women can finally have the resources that they need, in order to feel like real human beings, who can genuinely pursue self-development.

Comparison of Julius Caesar and Abraham Lincoln

Julius Caesar is remembered as one of the history greatest general, and a popular leader of the roman republic. Julius Caesar would always compare himself to Alexander the greatest. For almost 15 years Julius Caesar led armies against enemies. Abraham Lincoln was also remembered as one of the greatest in American history at his time, he was the 16th president of the United States of American. He was born on February 12, 1809; Lincoln was 51 years old when he was elected president.Abraham Lincoln was a leader in the union of the civil war; he impacted on American history because he help get rid of slavery and also kept our union together as one. Slavery was a big issue in the United States Abraham managed to bring the country closer to equality. Julius Caesar was one of the first leaders to publish the newspaper, he made the Roman calendar, and the month of July was named after him.Julius Caesar effectively transformed the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire under his rule. He made p olitical alliances that helped him rise in power, then he started a civil war won and became dictator for life in the Roman world in 48 B. C. Julius and Abraham were both assonated. Julius Caesar helped poor people. He took the money from the rich and gave it to the poor. Unfortunately the rich didn't like this. Most of the rich people were in the senate.One day when Caesar went to the senate they all teamed up against him and stabbed him to death. Julius Caesar had too much control and power, Rich people wanted to rid himself. Abraham Lincoln was the first president to die of assassination. Abraham Lincoln was killed because of his promotion of voting rights for blacks. He was shot once in the back of his head by John Booth this shot immediately dropped him to the floor.

WorldCom and Reliant Should be Charged With Felonies Essay

WorldCom and Reliant Should be Charged With Felonies - Essay Example With respect to the USDOJ's definition of corporate crime, in the case of Reliant Energy and WorldCom, the companies were liable for the actions of its officers due to a failure to prevent their actions and allowing a culture that promoted the illegal activity. In the case of Bernie Ebbers, it's hard to imagine a scenario in which he was not aware of the dealings of his subordinates. In addition , he did nothing to affect the methods that WorldCom did business. He had no system in place for oversight or compliance and this placed the corporation as guilty as its officers. As the DOJ has indicated, "management is responsible for a corporate culture in which criminal conduct is either discouraged or tacitly encouraged' (USDOJ, 22003). This was further exacerbated by the WorldCom CEO's insistence on his innocence and refusal to be totally forthcoming in the matter. If there was not a willingness to cooperate, the corporation should be charged as if it was an individual for securities fraud, and filing false reports. Throughout the trial, the defense, "contended that Mr. Ebbers was in the dark about the fraud" and "Ebbers denied discussing any element of the fraud with Mr. Sullivan" (Belsen, 2005).

Look at the directions I uploaded Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Look at the directions I uploaded - Term Paper Example A manager would be effective in his respective roles when he understand the strategic, technical and operational responsibilities he holds within the workplace (â€Å"Henry Mintzberg’s Managerial,† n.d.). What are specific roles this first category consists? These set of roles are associated on how a manager will interact to his employees and the entire workforce in general. These are the first three roles out of the 10 roles of management by Henry Mintzberg – figurehead, leader and liaison (Burgaz, 1997, p. 15). The first is a symbolic head. A manager is expected to perform routine duties legally and socially. He is like a father. The father is the head of the family. He is expected to initiate actions for the welfare of his family. In the same manner, if the organization needs resources to complete certain projects, he would initiate actions to provide these resources to ensure productivity. In a social gathering within the organization, a manager may send soli citation letter to sister companies and other organizations requesting them to participate and donate to the said event. He is also the leader of the workforce, which is the second crucial role of a manager. Mr. A, for example, is responsible to motivate his employees. He is responsible to initiate and conduct training to enhance the skills of his subordinates. He is also in charge to fill vacant positions and activate the workforce to perform the tasks and duties as defined in their respective job descriptions. As a leader, he must learn how to follow the rules and protocols of the company or organization. As a leader, he must portray the right attitude in the workforce to become an ideal person and to strengthen his authority with his employees. Authority is not enough for a manager to become effective with his roles – he needs respect and he must learn to gain it from his employees. Mr. A. acts as the liaison officer – that is the manager’s third role. He sha ll facilitate communications between organizations (â€Å"Roles and Responsibilities†, 2012). He maintains a self-developed contact to the outsiders and other companies for the benefit of the organization (Burgaz, 1997, p. 15). Mr. A. needs to know the news outside which can affect his operation and decision-making factors. These outside contacts are expected to provide favors and important data to help him activate the workforce efficiently. In order to build a self-developed network between outsiders, he needs to build a strong relationship to these outside parties for them to entrust him with unbiased details. What are informational roles? Mr. A. is expected to monitor, disseminate and transmit information for the benefit of the entire organization. He seeks and receives different information that would help him develop an effective techniques and strategies to make the entire workforce productive. Mr. A. would monitor his subordinates’ performance and measures it p roductivity. He must exert extra effort to gather information from the outside – e.g. examining the competitors techniques. Most of the times, people reinvent ideas rather than building something from scratch. Competitors are spending millions of cash to enhance their management techniques and approaches – a wise manager can make use of these data and information as important resources to develop an approach suited for his management. Disseminating information to the organization is

The Impact of Nuclear Weapons on Humans and Environment Research Paper

The Impact of Nuclear Weapons on Humans and Environment - Research Paper Example Chemical weapons have known to be mainly unproductive within combat; biological weapons have not been positioned at some major level. Both forms must be better selected as weapons of fear against residents and weapons of threat for armed forces. Conditions of their transportation method fluctuate very much from those for nuclear weapons. They are capable of causing significant apprehension, fright, and mental illness without perimeters in huge elements of the people. Accumulation of biological weapons is not feasible for an extensive time scale. Merely nuclear weapons are totally indiscriminate by their unstable influence, heat emission as well as radioactivity, and only they should â€Å"therefore be called a weapon of mass destruction† (Croddy et al, 2004). From the end of the Second World War, there have been many settlements focusing on the constraints, declines, and eradication of alleged weapons of mass destruction along with their delivery systems. A number of the settl ements are mutual, some multilateral, or, in exceptional cases, global. In this paper, chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons will be examined with stress on the standards to eradicate them (Busch & Joyner, 2009). Literature Review By their character, chemical weapons have a comparatively inadequate range: they form local instead of international security issues and decrease the pace of functions. In this respect, they are militarily more similar to conservative weaponry as compared to nuclear or biological arsenal (Hashmi & Lee, 2004). Even lengthened utilization of chemical weapons had no significant effect on results of wars, had just local achievements and created conflicts to no use. Due to these and other reasons, it is hard to observe why they are there to begin with. Nonetheless, they had been developed in huge amounts, and humanity has to cope with their very expensive eradication. Impact on Humans Not only scientists should be blamed for their creation, fabrication, uti lization, and also for the removal of chemical arsenal; armed forces and politicians also claimed their creation. On the other hand, people need the aid of scientists for the complicated task of neutralising or removing them (Kort & Nolan, 2010). The utilization of biological means as war tools has constantly had a doubly unfavourable world opinion in comparison with chemical warfare. A SIPRI Monograph (Prelas, 2005) explains, along with other issues, the varying view of biological and toxin warfare means, the fresh invention of biological weapons, the altering position of toxin weaponry, a latest production of vaccines to be used against biological as well as toxin artillery, and its inferences. Allegations that biological means have been applied as warheads of battle can be seen in both the printed accounts as well as within the artwork of a number of early societies. At some point in 300 BC, the Greeks contaminated the wells and other supplies of drinking water of their rivals wi th the dead bodies of animals. Afterwards, the Romans and Persians applied the similar methods. During 1155, in a battle in Tortola, Italy, Barbarossa widened the possibility of biological combat, utilizing the corpses of dead fighters along with animals to contaminate drinking water. During the year 1863, in the US Civil War, General Johnson did the same with the dead bodies of sheep as well as pigs to contaminate d

Break Down of Marriage Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Break Down of Marriage - Article Example Shukumar finally recognizes that their marriage is beyond salvation and he retaliates by revealing the secret of the gender of their miscarried child, to hurt Shoba. This story is about a couple, Shoba and Shukumar, who are wife and husband. Shoba is a proofreader and Shukumar is a teacher and undergraduate. The story starts with their present rift in their marriage. The narrative has flashbacks to explain the circumstances leading to their current situation. Shoba feels alienated, suffers from post-natal blues and other troubles after her miscarriage and late caesarian delivery. Shukumar has mistakenly assumed that she would recover from this experience but their lack of communication has created an abyss. Shukumar is motivated by his love for Shoba. He loves her and hopes that she would convalesce and that everything would return to normalcy. Shukumar loves Shoba even as she distances herself to him. He waits at home for her even when she tries to stay away from the house by getting more work outside. (Lahiri 2). While not working, he stays home to write his dissertation. Shoba leaves for work early in the morning before Shukumar wakes up. As a consequence, Shukumar does not feel motivated to arise from his bed before noon. The narrative says; 'But nothing was pushing Shukumar.' (Lahiri 4). He is motivated by his love for Shoba to cook as he cannot bear to see Shoba eating cereal for dinner because she does not cook anymore. (Lahiri 8). There is an apparent reversal of traditional roles as Shukumar becomes the house husband while Shoba 'treated the house as if it were a hotel'. (Lahiri 6). This is evidence to show that Shukumar's motivation is love and he still desires to stay in his marriage. Shukumar's obstacle is that he is ignorant of Shoba's source of unhappiness and this has caused a rift in their relationship. He is oblivious of the extent of Shoba's discontent with him. The narrative says; 'In the beginning, he had believed that it would pass, that he and Shoba would get through it all somehow. She was only thirty-three. She was strong, on her feet again.' (Lahiri 5). Shoba expresses her indifference to Shukumar when she does not bother to look beautiful for him but she does not reveal her source of discontent nor does she directly voice her dissatisfaction. (Lahiri 1-2). Shukumar is ignorant of Shoba's distancing herself from him when he wrongly assumes that Shoba is too busily preoccupied with her work to make efforts to look good for him. Shukumar's obstacle is his misconception that Shoba needs him. He deceives himself when he voices his confident opinion that she desires him to be around the house when the electricity is cut off. Shoba ignores his statement and Shukumar's obstacle causes him to overlook the signs of Shoba's cold attitude towards him. Another sign of their disunity and aloof attitudes lies in the fact that they did not celebrate Christmas that year. Shukumar's mistake was in the misconception that Shoba and himself would heal over the tragedy of losing their firstborn. Shoba's attitude shows that she was hiding her bereavement in her work and distant attitude towards Shukumar. Shukumar's deep bereavement fro his firstborn is an obstacle because

Busness Skills for proposals and Pitches Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Busness Skills for proposals and Pitches - Essay Example ith rise in the disposable income of the household and individuals around the world, expenses are also mounting and therefore the people with less income are also purchasing the floriculture products to decorate or beautify their homes. Those who run flower shop business in Coventry UK also offer an extensive variety of package from stylish and simple reception arrangements to the corporate clients. They provide an efficient, professional and reliable service to the customers (Gilesflorist, 2015). Floriculture industry is considered as a main global industry in developed as well as developing countries. Worldwide trade volume is approximated to be over $100 billion annually. The main consumer markets are UK, Germany, US, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Italy and Switzerland (Ravinath, 2007). People from the entire world make use of floriculture products initially for traditions and customs and then for other purpose (Ravinath, 2007). Organisations and businesses also exploit these products for the purpose of decorations. In the Coventry, UK, the major part of potted plants and flowers are sold through Sainsbury, Waitrose and Tesco’s supermarkets (Ravinath, 2007). In the developed countries, there are artists and local florists selling decorations and ornamentals. The price of the flowers generally goes high during the time of special occasions. One of the ways for the business of flower shop to grow is by establishing affiliations with the event organiser where they ca n offer the flowers according to the event and also arrange it as per the choice of the client. This type of affiliation paves a means for the flower shop companies to grow as well as the growth possibility for this type of business is high (Ravinath, 2007). Strengths: The strengths of this new flower business may incorporate the variety of flowers available in the shop. The company will also provide free shipping on its entire orders. These will be regarded as the positive attributes which will

Company Analysis on eFax Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Company Analysis on eFax - Essay Example The objective of the company was to turn every fax machine virtually into an internet-on-ramp. The company provided millions of professionals a revolution in their document communications reducing the clutter of paper work and making faxing easy and accessible (Business Wire). eFax.com was the first company to provide such a free unlimited Internet service which had set a new standard because of the easiness to use technology involving fax - to - email delivery. The free service by the company was intended to unite 500 million global users of fax with approximately 100 million users of email. eFax.com was a breakthrough of web services and this paper brings out an analysis of the company eFax including its evolution and the final takeover by J2 Global. The company was utilizing its digital messaging technology for Internet applications. This included the use of Hotsend software, introduced in December 1998, and he M900e MFP which came to the market in January 1999. On February 8, 1999 the company changed its name from JetFax Inc to eFax.com and made the announcement of its eFax service, the first free fax to email service. eFax.com Inc was formerly known, as JetFax Inc was a leading provider of internet document communications solutions. ... The MFP market consists of office equipments that combine the print, fax, copy and scan functions in a single machine. The company had built up its product of eFax.com basing on this strong technology emphasizing the internet applications for the domestic transmission and software expertise. SWOT Analysis The SWOT analysis reflects the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats relating to the operation of eFax.com. Strengths Unique product line that covered business related associations and also the company is the first one to introduce efax kind of a product Free eFax service attracted more number of online customers increasing the advertisement revenue Combination of embedded system technology and connected software enhanced the utility of the products and services offered with scope for further technological improvements The company has a wider and prominent customer base Weaknesses The company had several products with misplaced focus on marketing The currency and other associated risks with the business in foreign countries increased the currency risk and other losses associated with the foreign exchange transactions The changes in technology entailed more expenditure towards research and development Opportunities The technological advancement provides scope for the development of newer and improved products and services including VoIP and other voice communication products The products are capable of being marketed internationally which increases the scope for the increased revenues Combining the embedded technology system software with the latest technological advancements make the application of the services easier

The Diversity Board Assignment Essay Example for Free

The Diversity Board Assignment Essay 1. 2-3 pages typed, double-spaced, using 12 pt. Times New Roman font. 2. 2-3 sources required using APA format—Magazines, Books, Newspaper Articles, Internet Articles, etc. a. Resources for using APA format and for evaluating internet sources: i. Pg. 237 of Guidebook: Sample Bibliographic Citations in APA format ii. Purdue OWL: APA formatting guide: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ iii. Pg. 239 of Guidebook: â€Å"Checklist for Evaluating Information Found on the Internet† 3. Title page required. 4. Use at least 3 of the class topics listed on pg. 50 of your guidebook (under â€Å"7 Written Responses†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) b. Please BOLD these terms within your paper so they are easy for me to find. 5. Answer the 7 written responses—1 paragraph per question. c. The first question is more of an introduction to your diversity role and should contain a thesis statement previewing your paper as its last sentence. d. Include an 8th conclusion paragraph at the end—reiterate your main points/thesis and give a solid conclusion. 6. Write in 1st person—i.e., â€Å"My morning is much like everyone else’s†¦Ã¢â‚¬  e. Feel free to be creative and create a completely new character with a unique name, job, lifestyle, etc. 7. Edit your final draft for grammar and punctuation errors. At LEAST hit â€Å"spell check†!! 8. Please only print on one side of the paper. 9. Rip out pg. 53 of your Guidebook (the grading rubric) and staple it to the back of your final paper. This is what I will use to grade your essay. Guidebook Page Numbers: * pp. 49-50: Full Description of Assignment * p. 53: Grading Rubric that you must turn in to me BLANK * p. 55-60 pp. 61-65: Sample diversity board papers (your papers should look and sound like these!) I am A Muslim In America David Poku My name is Ahil, my name is from Arabic decent and means Prince. I was born very dark skinned. I am now 21 years old man living in America and I am Muslim, it is for this reason that I have been both blessed and cursed. As a Muslim, we are just like most any people aside from the fact that we are not entitled to drink alcohol, have any type of pork, and no sex outside of marriage. I live in Austin, TX. The people here are very different yet in many instances can seem to be the exact same. The word Muslim is an Arabic word that means â€Å"One who submits to Allah and Allah as the one and only one God with no partner, no son, no companion, no associate, and no equivalence.†(). I came to America for an opportunity that I could not be granted in the place of my birth. Since I could remember I have aspired to be a great car salesman. When I was young and living in Jordan, everyone always spoke of doing whatever they could to try and get an opportunity to come and find success in t his so called wonderful place called America, but I am here to tell my fellow people that why there is a great set of opportunities beset upon those who travel here, there is also two sides to this story. My religion is a s just a part of me as the air that I breathe, or the food that I eat, or the very water that I drink, but for the life of me, I have tried to in almost every way possible to conceal this. All of the stories and the things that I heard from the place of my birth were crammed with positive affirmations of achieving a dream that can be attained with hard work and time, but like I said before there is two sides to every story. When I came here, I was told that people were more accepting to various cultures, but after a terrorist incident that the people in America call 9/11, the public eye has since seemed to scrutinize people who follow the Islamic foundations. Apparently the people tied to the terrorist attack were of Middle Eastern decent and because of that fact the masses of America seemed to have all adopted the inconsistent notion that these people followed this religion. This is the first curse and a blessing that I have been brought acknowledge. The ignorance of people permeates me, I have tried to educate the few that I was unfortunate enough to engage in a conversation that dealt with this, thinking that maybe if I educate a few the word would somehow get out and spread to those who belief this faulty notion that everyone who is Muslim is a part of some secret terrorist regime and cannot be trusted. Five years passed as I spread the word to many and many more. I started my own church and preached the true word of Islam to everyone, it didn’t matter what religion they were, what the color of their skin was, or what the once thought before, as long as I could burden them with the truth. Do not be confused, I was not pressing my religions beliefs to change or convert the religion ideologies of others, I just wanted to let everyone know the true meaning of y religious foundation. I was now 26 years old, with a wife, Sara, and 2 kids, and I had spread around 3 different church facilities in Austin. My boy who was 6 years olds name was Aaban, and my daughter, who was 8, was named Manha. One day I was taking my family to the airport to go visit the place of my birth. I realized something very peculiar, as we were boarding, the people in the airport stared at my family, as if we were doing something wrong. You see some people can easily identify Muslim people sometimes; my wife and daughter were wearing Shawls that day. In the Muslim religion, women are supposed to cover their hair as means of being modest. Many people in American may not know or understand this. As a people we tend to fear or express caution to things we do not understand. It was then and only then did I realize that no matter how many ears I reached with my initiative to spread the true meaning of Islam that it would not change a thing. These people seem to hold the people who identify with Muslim as a whole responsible for the terrorist attack that took place on 9/11. It was because of the realization of this fact that I handed off the ownership/pastoring of my churches to another individual who I had met that was willing to take it over. I sought to become the car salesman that I had always aspired to be. I sent out more than a thousand applications in one month, driving from place to place. I met with over 100 managers for different car salesman jobs, and on my own free time took all the spare time I had to learn about cars. Every single meeting I went to, I was met with a sort of indifferent look, that always followed wit where are you from? By the time I was 30, I knew everything there was to know about cars, I even at times impressed interviewees that were questioning me because I had known things that their staff did not, but one small fact remained, I still had not found a job. I was beginning to lose hope, but my nature was to strive for success at any cost, I could not let my family down. One day when I was at a Starbucks parking lot, I saw a very young man with the hood of what looked like his car up and there were clouds of smoke engulfing the engine. I went over for assistance, and saw that this man was a well versed with car mechanics, yet he was flawed with one aspect of what he was doing. I asked the young man if I could fix his car for him. I saw a very arrogant smile on his face, and he said you can give it a try. Ten minutes later I had his car running. When I waked to go shut the hood of his car, I was met with a very firm handshake of another man, an older man, the man looked familiar. He shook my hand, and said, I thank you for fixing my car. He looked at my kind of funny and said: â€Å"aren’t you the man who started that set of churches a couple years back?† I replied yes, but I am no longer running those churches. The man replied: â€Å" I have always was admired your way with people and wanted to tell you about an opportunity. You see.. I run a car dealership wanted to see if you would be interested in working with me? I smiled and told the man, that the foundation of Islamic faith is peace and at this very moment I have found it, through all of the prejudice, the ignorance that has beset itself upon my family and I, I am now in a place where I can surrender myself to my god and derive peace and it is for that, that I thank you. So this message is for everyone that plans to come to America, this is the other side of the story, you will be faced with prejudice, with people who fear you because they do not understand you, you will hesitate and may start to resent your decent or question your religion, but I am here to tell you when you find peace you will finally see that the curse is a blessing in disguise. References Associated Press, (10/24/12). Spying on the Muslim Community. Muslim In America, pp. 1-2. Rauf, Feisal. A. (April 1, 2011). Five Myths About Muslims. American Muslims, N/A pp. 1-2.

Hip Mask Representing An Iyoba Essay Example for Free

Hip Mask Representing An Iyoba Essay The exquisiteness of the material and the sophistication of the carving indicate that it was created by the exclusive guild of royal ivory carvers for the king. This exquisite piece is made out of ivory, iron and cooper. This piece also contains pieces of inlaid metal and elaborate coral carvings. The piece dimensions are as followed; H. 9 3/8 x W. 5 x D. 3 1/4 in. (23. 8 x 12. 7 x 8. 3 cm). The mask is a sensitive human idealized portrait, depicting its subject with softly modeled features. This piece is framed with an elegant tiara-like coiffure and openwork collar. The pupils were inlaid with iron metal, the forehead has carved scarification marks and also she is wearing bands of coral beads below the chin. In the necklace you can see miniature motifs that represent heads of the Portuguese soldiers depicted with beards and flowing hair. In the crown tiara-like coiffure are carved more Portuguese heads alternated with figures of stylized mudfish, which symbolizes Olokun, the Lord of the Great Waters. You can see that some of the necklace portion is damage or missing and this could be due to the age and fragility of the coral. This piece is from early African art also known as â€Å"Queen Mother Pendant Mask: Iyoba†. Today, you can find this piece at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Although images of women are very rare this piece has come to symbolize the legacy of a dynasty that continues to the present day. In many of the African cultures the head is a very important, powerful and symbolic piece. The head was consider to be the symbolic center of a person’s intelligence, wisdom, and ability to succeed in this world and/or to be a tool to be able to communicate with spiritual forces in the ancestral world. In Art of History, published in 2011, both Professor Marilyn Stokstad and Michael W. Cothren claim that â€Å"one of the honorifics used for the king is the â€Å"Great Head†. The head leads the body as the king leads the people. All of the memorial heads include representation of coral-beaded caps, necklaces and royal costume. Coral, enclosing the head and displayed on the body, is still the ultimate symbol of the oba’s power and authority. † In an article titled â€Å"Iyoba Idia: The Hidden Oba Of Benin† published in 2006, issue 9 of Jenda: A Journal Of Culture And African Women Studies Nkiru Nzegwu wrote â€Å"Iron and copper inserts were embedded in these cavities in the original model and formed part of the decoration. Some have claimed that these cavities were receptacles for embedded magical potions, and there is a historical explanation for them. The striations were the result of incisions a local doctor-diviner made to disfigure Idia and render her unattractive to Oba Ozolua. As narrated by the present Oba Erediauwa, Idias parents did not wish her to become an Obas wife, and the oracle they consulted advised that they mar her beauty to make her ugly to the Oba (Kaplan 1993, 59). The two incisions not only scarred her face but, to make assurance double sure, they also contained potent medicinal potions which the consulting physician-diviner had assured them would repel Oba Ozolua. The royal explanation is that the plan failed because the Oba sensed that something was wrong before he even saw Idia and quickly neutralized the effects of the medicine. † This is a pendant or ornament mask that represents an iyoba (queen mother-the oba’s mother), the senior female member of the royal court. It’s believed that this piece was produced in the early sixteenth century for the King or Oba Esigie, the king of Benin, who ruled from 1504 to 1550. This piece is to honor his mother, Idia. There are different versions of the purpose of this piece. The most common ones is that this was used a as belt ornament and it was worn at the oba’s hip. The Oba may have worn it at rites commemorating his mother, although today such pendants are worn at annual ceremonies of spiritual renewal and purification. Esigie had the support of Ida and the Portuguese soldiers in the expansion of his kingdom. Ida is remembered for raising an army and using magical powers to help her son Esigie to defeat his enemies.

Negative Externality: Pakistans Carbon Tax

Negative Externality: Pakistans Carbon Tax Table of Contents (Jump to) Introduction Answer 1 Answer 2 Answer 3 Conclusion References Introduction The assignment is based on the concept of negative externalities. A negative externality normally is a cost that is incurred to the third party as a result of an economic transaction. The assignment is based on the case study of Pakistan’s policy for implementing the carbon tax. This way the government of Pakistan has taken a positive step towards dealing with the negative externality – pollution and green house gas emission. Later the assignment covers the other steps that must be considered by the Pakistan government to deal with the problem ad reduce the impact of negative externalities. Answer 1 Negative Externalities: It can be defined as the action of products on consumers that has the negative impact on the third party. Negative externalities are mainly concerned with the environmental effects of producing and consuming a product (Laffont, 2008). The main examples of negative externalities are air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, systematic risk etc. A negative externality normally is a cost that is incurred to the third party as a result of an economic transaction. In this type of economic transaction, consumer and producer are the first and second party, and the third party is comprised of organization, individual, resource or property owner that get indirectly affected due to that transaction (Caplan, 2008). The negative externality is also known as external cost in economics. Some common negative externalities are: The smokers ignore the fact of the harmful impact of the passive smoking for the non smokers around them. Air pollution caused by the traffic impacts the lungs of the people who are not even travelling on the road The food wastage (Source: Buchanan, James, Externality.Economical) Negative externalities normally occur in the situations where property ownership of the assets and resources are not properly allocated and are uncertain. For instance, there is no owner of the oceans or the forests, so anybody can pollute them without any fear of getting sued by the owner. External cost like the cost of pollution makes the marginal social cost curve mush higher than the marginal private cost. (Source: Economicsonline.co.uk) Government Intervention to correct the negative Externalities: The environmental concerns are the most important challenge in front of government now days. They are taking up many steps to deal with the negative externalities and eradicate its harmful effects from the third party. The most common among them are the: Environmental tax: This is the most common approach of adjusting the negative externalities. This is also referred to as the â€Å"making of polluters day†. This tax increases the private tax of production or consumption with the aim of reducing the overall demand for the product that is causing the negative externality. For instance: money collected from the congestion charge of a vehicle that is entering a busy road. The environmental taxes include – the landfill tax, the congestion charges, vehicle excise duty and plastic bag tax. Problems with environmental taxes: Pollution tax has the following related problems: Assignment of the right level of taxation Consumer welfare effects Investment and employment consequences. Carbon Tax: Carbon tax refers to the tax that is imposed on the fuels’ carbon content (Holler, 1991). All the hydrocarbon fuel contains the carbon content in it like petroleum, natural gas and coal. They release the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere when they are burnt. Carbon taxes are formed to reduce the green house effects of gas emission through cost effective means (Gupta, 2007). . Carbon taxes are very regressive and impact the lower income group largely. The impact of carbon taxes can be addressed using the tax revenue for the lower income groups. The features of carbon tax are: This is a direct tax on the content of carbon in fossil fuel. It is considered as the most economical and efficient means for conveying the price signals that are crucial for reducing the carbon content It can be structured for softening the impact of the additional cost by distributing to the households. Carbon tax is supported by economists, public officials, environmental leaders and citizens. The carbon tax policies of government are significant for taking the global effort to fight the climatic changes. Pricing carbon is a positive step towards it. The government may interfere through the use of laws and regulations. For example, theHealth and Safety at Work Actcovers all public and private sector businesses. Local Councils can take action against noisy, unruly neighbors and can pass by-laws preventing the public consumption of alcohol. Answer 2 Case Study – Overview Pakistan has recently considered taxing the carbon emission from the big fossil fuel industry and reduces its negative impact on the world’s climate. This was declared in the national climate change strategy. They emphasize on the use of renewable resources. The government will â€Å"consider introducing carbon tax on the use of environmentally detrimental energy generation from fossil fuels†, said the plan, launched at an event in Islamabad. (Reuters Point Carbon) The Pakistan government in their policy announced the tax on carbon at the rate of Pakistani Rupee 25 per ton. It started from 1 July 2012 with the objective of changing the policy later to market based emission trading scheme (Gillard, 2010). Pakistani economy suffered slow-down due to the climatic changes. Climate change refers to situation that reflects the significant changes in the patters on weather conditions over the particular time period. Climate changes are caused by various factors such as solar radiation variations, biotic process and volcanic eruptions. The human activities are also responsible for the severe climatic changes that have lead to global warming (Edward Miller, 2001). These severe climatic changes have the adverse impact on the overall cycle of earth’s process. Evidence for recording the climate changes has been taken from various resources that were used to reconstruct the past climates. The changes have affected the entire world and Pakistan has f aced the significant economic impacts due to this. It has affected the infrastructure, coastal communities, and agriculture and water security in Pakistan. Carbon taxes are important for reducing the negative effects of carbon emission. Carbon taxes are formed to reduce the green house effects of gas emission through cost effective means . Carbon taxes are very regressive and impact the lower income group largely. The impact of carbon taxes can be addressed using the tax revenue for the lower income groups. These taxes provide the incentives for the firms that adopt the environment friendly approach for production process. These are also important for raising the money required for taking the initiatives to save environment. The impacts of carbon tax on the economy of Pakistan are as follows: Macro economics effects: Pakistan economy promotes the reduction in usage of carbon related energy resources for the industry purpose and switch towards the renewable energy resources. Carbon tax is the cost to the producers that use the carbon efficient energy resources. So in order to reduce the cost and increase the profit, it is important for them to shift towards the other renewable resources of energy. Carbon tax is important for reducing the tax as well as the negative impacts on the environment. (Source: Self Study) The left graphs clearly states that the tax will increase the cost of production and decrease the quantity of fuel energy. The will also lead to higher labour cost and also it will lead to increase in fuel prices. The right graph on the contrary shows the benefit of using the renewable resource of energy and increase in production level. So it is seen that carbon tax will impact the business negatively, but at the same time encourage them to use the renewable resources of energy that will have the long term positive impact on environment and business. Effects on employment: The carbon tax has the direct negative impact on the employment because it will lead to additional burden on the production cost. The trade sector will see the shift towards the non trading sector due to this. Effects on households: The household will experience the change in cost of the general commodities as the industries will include the cost of carbon tax in total cost of production. This will lead to negative impact and the household income will be reduced. Direct Action The government replaces the carbon tax with the direct action plan. The direct action plan includes the incentive program for the industries that reduce the carbon emission rate significantly (Preston, 2006). The key points of the policy are: Target of 55 reduction in carbon emission rate Scrapping the carbon tax and associated taxes Creation of green army for conducting the environment conservation work. The government released the white paper that has the details about the policy and the working of fund for emission reduction. The labor as well as the coalition supported this policy over the carbon tax. Contrary to the carbon taxes the policy emphasizes on gaining the incentives by reducing the carbon emission in environment. Policy also has the provision for compensation payment to tax payers for reducing the increase in prices. It directs the business to work towards the emission reducing projects. Pakistan is the largest contributor towards the green house gas emissions, so this policy will help the entire worlds by reducing the carbon emission without imposing any impact on the cost of production. The main feature of the direct action policy is creation of emission reduction fund, which will be $3 billion for four years. The fund will ask the industries to fill the tenders for the emission reduction projects. This will initiate the reverse auction and the industries will compete for reducing the emission rate to win the incentive from the government. The auctions will be held quarterly. The government is sure about the positive outcomes of the policy in terms of reduction in carbon emission. (Source: Self Study) The direct policy has the positive impact on the Pakistan economy. Pakistan actually has the capability of achieving more than the 5% target. Pakistan will achieve the emission reduction project by 2020 in more efficient way. It will contribute towards the global action for addressing the climate change. By reducing the emission amount the economic growth of the Pakistan is expected to be doubled in next few years. It will directly impact the long term projection of the economic growth. Since it has no cost attached to it, it will be beneficial for the business as well as the house hold income. Instead the policy rules of taking the advantage of incentive will direct the business house to reduce the carbon emission without any impact on the cost of production. It is estimated that Pakistan economy will grow by 17% with this project. (Source:Climate Change Authority, 2013) The level of the price attached to carbon with incentive plan will reduce the economic cost. There will be no cost passed to the customers in the form of goods and services. It will also regulate the direct income transfer from Pakistan for buying the additional emission from the overseas. This will also reduce the indirect cost. This will have the positive trade effect. Carbon Tax Vs Direct Action Carbon tax policy as well as the direct action policy aims towards the reduction of the carbon emission in the environment. The base is same but the approach is totally contradictory. The direct action is better than the carbon tax policy because of the below mentioned facts: Carbon tax has the cost attached to it which will in return increase the cost of production whereas the direct action has the incentive policy which encourages the industries to reduce the amount of carbon emission without any effect. Carbon tax will lead to reduction in employment opportunity due to increased labor cost whereas this will not occur in the case of direct action policy. The direct action policy has the better targets and objectives as compared to carbon taxing. The carbon tax will reduce the household income due to the increased prices of commodity whereas the direct action plan will not have the negative impact on the household income. Carbon taxing policy will lead to increase in fuel prices and the actual efficiency will be reduced whereas the direct action plan will increase the efficiency of the industry and the quality of production. The direct action policy has the clear targets in terms of reduction of carbon emission whereas it is missing in the carbon tax policy. For dealing with the negative externalities, the Government of Pakistan has taken a positive step in the form of Carbon tax. This will reduce the green house gas emission and promote the use of renewable resources. This was not only Pakistan but the climate of entire world will get the positive results. Pakistan is taking the considerable steps to reduce the carbon emission in the environment. This is because of the fact that the economy of Pakistan has suffered due to the large amount of green house gas emission. The government introduced the carbon tax and direct action policy for the reduction of carbon emission. The carbon tax policy does not get the enough success and the direct action plan replaced it successfully. By the year 2020 Pakistan is aiming at significant control over the carbon emission in the environment. Answer 3 The carbon tax is very unique in nature but it is quite effective for reducing the impact of negative externalities. The main purpose of carbon tax is to reduce the carbon dioxide emission and with this save the severe climatic changes. However this is noted that only the carbon tax cannot save the climatic change and reduce the impact of negative externalities. The Pakistan government should also make other policies to reduce the impact of carbon emission in the environment. For this purpose they must make the policies and regulation of reducing the coal usage in industry as it causes lots of pollution and also it is a non renewable resource of energy. The government should compulsorily regulate the use of renewable resources of energy that are natural and reduces the emission of green house gases. Carbon tax policy is quite cost effective for the Pakistan economy and it is quite easy to switch from the pollution taxes to direct subsidies and promotes the cleaner and greener production technologies. However the impact of these taxes totally depends on how this money is being used for the reducing the impact of negative externalities (Scott, 2005). They must be balanced by decreasing the amount of other taxes by the method of revenue recycling. The green taxes can actually help the overall economy of Pakistan provided it is used in the right direction and the taxes are imposed religiously to achieve the main objective behind them. In the nutshell, it can be said that imposing the carbon tax is a very progressive step of the Pakistan government. However along with this they should also consider the following for dealing with the negative externalities (Bonnieux, 2002): Preserving the tropical rain forests in Pakistan Limiting the public access to the farm land for their recreational purposes Preservation of wet land Following the traditional ways of farm building Implementing the price-based instruments alter the prices of goods and services to reflect their relative impact. Providing the grants to farmers under the Control of Farmyard Pollution Scheme Conclusion To conclude, negative externality is a type of economic transaction, consumer and producer are the first and second party, and the third party is comprised of organization, individual, resource or property owner that get indirectly affected due to that transaction. Pakistan Government has decided to impose the carbon tax for dealing with the situation of extreme pollution and green house gas emission through their fossil fuel industry. The level of the price attached to carbon with incentive plan will reduce the economic cost. There will be no cost passed to the customers in the form of goods and services. It will also regulate the direct income transfer from Pakistan for buying the additional emission from the overseas. Main purpose of carbon tax is to reduce the carbon dioxide emission and with this save the severe climatic changes. However this is noted that only the carbon tax cannot save the climatic change and reduce the impact of negative externalities. The Pakistan government should also make other policies to reduce the impact of carbon emission in the environment. References Bonnieux, F. and Rainelli, P.( 2002). Economics and the interface between agriculture and nature, in Brouwer, F. and Van der Straaten, J. eds, Nature and Agriculture in the European Union, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar ARTS 338.1094 P2. Caplan, Bryan(2008).Externalities. InDavid R. Henderson(ed.).Concise Encyclopedia of Economics(2nd ed.). Indianapolis:Library of Economics and Liberty.ISBN978-0865976658.OCLC237794267. Edwards, Paul Geoffrey; Miller, Clark A. (2001).Changing the atmosphere: expert knowledge and environmental governance. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.ISBN0-262-63219-5. Gupta, S.et al. (2007).13.2.1.2 Taxes and charges.Policies, instruments, and co-operative arrangements. Climate Change 2007: Mitigation. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (B. Metzet al. Eds.). Print version: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K., and New York, N.Y., U.S.A.. This version: IPCC website. Retrieved 2010-03-18. Hoeller, P. and M. Wallin (1991).OECD Economic Studies No. 17, Autumn 1991. Energy Prices, Taxes and Carbon Dioxide Emissions(PDF). OECD website. p.92. Retrieved 2010-04-23. J.J. Laffont(2008). externalities,The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Ed.Abstract. McKibben, Bill (2011). The Global Warming Reader. New York, N.Y.:OR Books.ISBN978-1-935928-36-2. Preston, B.L.; Jones, R.N. ( 2006).Climate Change Impacts on Australia and the Benefits of Early Action to Reduce Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Scott, S., (2005),Fertiliser Taxes Implementation Issues, Final Report, Wexford, Environmental Protection Agency. Williams, C. (1997) Environmental victims: Arguing the costs,Environmental Values, 6:3-30. Innovation and Managing Change: ExxonMobil Innovation and Managing Change: ExxonMobil Innovation and change are the most important concepts discuss in modern dynamic business environment. The development of technology and the increasing burning needs of the people have created a dynamic environment of which the corporations may not be able to survive unless they simultaneously change their strategies with those global environmental and technological changes. This report intends to provide a detailed discussion of the management of change within Exxon Mobil Corporation (EMC) which is one of the worlds largest publicly traded international oil and gas company, providing energy that helps underpin growing economies and improve living standards around the world. My discussion mainly covers three perspectives. First, I explain the factors influencing the EMCs innovation and change strategy and then, I evaluate the importance of change to EMC and the potential problems they face when EMC implementing the change. Finally, I evaluate the effectiveness of EMCs strategy for managing change within the organization. OVERVIEW OF THE COMPANY Exxon Mobil is the worlds largest publicly traded international oil and gas company. They hold an industry-leading inventory of global oil and gas resources. They are the worlds largest refiner and marketer of petroleum products. And their chemical company ranks among the worlds largest. However they are also a technology company, applying science and innovation to find better, safer and cleaner ways to deliver the energy the world needs. EMCs organizational structure is built on a concept of global businesses and is designed to allow Exxon Mobil to compete most effectively in the ever-changing and challenging worldwide energy industry. EMC operates facilities or markets products in most of the worlds countries and explore for oil and natural gas on six continents. Exxon Mobil uses innovation and technology to deliver energy to a growing world. They explore for, produce and sell crude oil, natural gas and petroleum products. They are committed to meeting the worlds growing demand for energy in an economically, environmentally and socially responsible manner. Therefore innovation and change strategy of EMC would be the most significant factor for the future business expansion. FACTORS INFLUENCING INNOVATION AND CHANGE Factors influencing the innovation and change differ according to the business context of the organization. For example if a particular company is engaged in energy industry they may highly concern about environmental factors whatever the change they need. Because the environment has a major impact on all the product and services portfolio of EMC. Therefore it is more important to understand the context of business of which a particular corporation is engaged in before moving into a changing situation. In addition modern technological advances, cultural changes, structure of the corporation and regulatory requirements also can be identified as other factors to consider. However, there is also a need to understand the magnitude of challenge faced in trying to effect strategic change. To do this it is useful to consider the type of change required , the wider context in which the change is to occur and the specific to change that exists Following main factors can be considered as the i nfluencing factors of change. The context There is no one right formula for management of change. The success of any attempt at managing change will be dependent on the wider context in which that change is taking place. For an example managing in a small, perhaps relatively new business where a motivated team are themselves driving change, would be quite different from trying to manage change in a major corporation, or perhaps a long established public sector organization, with establish routine, formal structures and perhaps great deal of resistance to change. The contexts are completely different and the approach to managing change therefore needs to be different. [Balogan and Hope Hailey] Balogan and Hope Hailey build on this point to highlight a number of important contextual features that need to be taken into account in designing change programs. See above exhibit. It reflects few examples of contextual features and their influence on strategic change programs. The time available for change could be dramatically different. When consider EMC for example there may be new enactments from the governments for usage of energy resources and exploring energy resources. Or there may be a new alternative for fuel such as water. Then EMC need to have a rapid change. So there is no more time to waste. However there may be corporate decision and management plans for change. The management of EMC may have targeted at a kind of a change with the future forces. That can be taken a along time arena to change. No matter how significant the change, it may be that there is a need for the preservation of certain aspects of the organization, in particular those that are to do with the competences which changes need to be based. For EMC it is necessary to concern the environmental factors whatever the change they expect to see. And also there may be some competent employees and professionals to be retained in the corporation. Change may be helped if there is a diversity of experience, views and opinions within an organization. EMC has expanded their operations in six continents. So the diversity is higher than any other organization. Therefore EMC has to consider different needs of the diversified stakeholders in all over the world. The previous experience of change is also important. Therefore capability also plays an important role in change management process. EMC has demonstrated their capability in managing change with the current successful business portfolio. Capacity of the organization is also important to survive with the available resources. If a corporation has problems of lack of required resources the change will cause for a business failure. EMC has sufficient resources in all over the world. The current stage of the business life cycle in EMC has paved the way for this. The readiness of EMC is good. The management has understood the need for change. They have established them into their budgets. EMC has announced the expected change and the innovative expectation in there news article of A view to 2030. The power to change in EMC also is in a good position. The board of director consists of 11 directors of which 10 of the 11 directors on board are independent. CEO has 4 vice presidents for the decision making. Therefore EMC should understand from where the resistance is effect i.e. from top level or lower level. EMC is currently engaged in various activities such as production, exploration, refining, fuel marketing, natural gas and power marketing etc. And also it is global firm operates in six contingents with billions of employees around the world. Therefore when concern the business context of EMC it is much complex in nature. In addition the industry also is highly volatile with the development of the technology would also be significant to EMC. Culture As EMC operates in six continents this factor is highly an effect to the innovation and change strategy of EMC. EMC has to manage the stakeholders such as customers, suppliers and employees etc. in different contexts. Therefore there is a significant impact on the innovation and management strategy in order to create proper change management process. The cultural web provides a good basis of understanding the effects of cultural changes to any organization. It is a representation of the taken for granted assumptions or paradigm of an organization and the physical manifestations of organizational culture. (See below exhibit.) [Gerry Johnson Managing the strategic Change] Above all the factors are the parts of the organization culture. When consider the EMC the culture is the most significant factor as it operates in globally. Therefore it is necessary to consider the cultural changes and their effects to the modern business arena for EMC. The cultural web also can be used as a way of understanding current organizational culture and desired future culture for EMC. Environment The environment is the most significant factor influence to any corporation to their innovation and change strategy. The concepts such as environment protection, sustainable development etc. has created the concerns of various regulators to control the organizations. The nature of the business portfolio of EMC is highly linked with the environment. They explore in environment, mining and extracting from environment and finally the consumption of energy also releases the polluted air to the environment. Therefore EMC has to be highly concern about the environmental factors when they determine their changing strategies. Technology The technology is also a significant factor for the innovation and change strategy of EMC. The development of the modern technology has created a massive cost benefit opportunities to EMC. For example the mining machines can produce more efficiency than the laborers. In addition different technological developments have increasingly changed the research and development perspective of EMC. THE IMPORTANCE OF CHANGE TO EXXON MOBIL It is important to any organization to realize the need of change. The strategic change is considered at the initiation of the business portfolio and it should be evaluated by time to time ongoing basis. Change can be in any context. Therefore it is important to understand why EMC needs the change. By nature EMC engaged in energy industry. The crude oil prices and the regulatory requirements of government in different countries and the authorities may change time to time. Those external forces of change can not be predicted and also effect to whole organization. As EMC operates in diversified cultures around the world the effects of the stakeholders in different arenas are also may be demanded for change. Past experiences of change management in EMC has proved that the growth of the company depends on how quickly the company finds the innovative products. The technological advancement in modern world has changed the way of research and development. The technology has facilitated a lot for improving productivity in R D sections. Therefore EMC should be highly concern regarding the future advancements to the industry and there effect on EMC. There may be alternative substitutes in future and also there may be newer technologies for exploration, mining and other activities in the industry. Therefore change is very important to EMC. PROBLEMS OF IMPLEMENTING THE CHANGE However, even though the change is the most important thing to EMC there are several potential problems they have to be faced when they implement the change. The complexity of the geographical area is the major problem. In here EMC has to determine change strategy in order to line with the cultures, regulatory requirements and needs of the people in those countries. Some times there can be higher resistance from the above forces when we implement the change. Managing the risks from increases in global greenhouse gas emissions is an important concern for EMC, industry and governments around the world. Kurt Levins forcefield analysis provides an initial view of change problem that need to be tackled, by identifying forces for and against change. It helps to identify the driving forces and restraining forces to a particular change situation. EFFECTIVENESS OF MANAGING THE CHANGE WITHIN THE ORGANISATION The effectiveness of managing the change is depending on how management, employees and finally the organization as a whole face to the change event. In here it is most important to understand the styles and roles of change in a particular organization. Whoever is in the position of managing change needs to consider the style of management they adopt. According to the organizational context different styles are likely to be more or less appropriate. Education and communication This involves the explanation of the reasons for and means of strategic change. It might be appropriate if there is a problem in managing change based on misinformation or lack of information and if there is adequate time to invest in persuading people and give them the chance to assimilate the information. However there are problems here. Assuming that reasoned argument will overcome perhaps years of embedded assumptions about what really matters could be native specially if there is a lack of mutual trust and respect of between management and employees. Relying on processes of communication in a top down fashion may also be problematic. Change is likely to be more effective if those affected it are involved in its development and planning. This is what EMC is doing. They give the opportunity to management and employees to contribute to the change event. EMC has long term focus on their change strategy. They have taken several measures to create educated environment within the organization. EMC has continued investing heavily in math and science education in the United States. They supported initiatives that encourage students to take an active interest in careers in the math and science fields, encourage the professional development of highly qualified teachers and promote involvement of women and minorities in these subjects. Exxon Mobil has a long history of supporting and improving educational programs as an important business priority. There is a separate teachers academy for EMC to develop quality people. EMC communicates using news releases and gives the employees the opportunity to view them. Collaboration This is the method of participating in the change process is the involvement of those who will be affected by strategic change in the change agenda. For example the identification of strategic issues, the strategic decision making process, the setting of priorities and the implementing the changing event is done by the lower level. In EMC those all the parties are the contributors of the change. Its like a routine aspect but finally top level management can achieve the expected change event. Therefore the collaboration has become a way of building readiness, and capability for change. EMC has effectively collaborated with the people in order to create current expanded business portfolio in all over the world. Intervention and Direction Intervention is the coordination of and authority over processes of change by a change agent. Direction involves the use of personal managerial authority to establish a clear future strategy and how change will occur. It is essentially top down management of strategic change. It may be associated with a clear vision or strategic intent developed by someone seen as a leader in the organization. EMC has the motto of taking on the worlds toughest energy challenges. Therefore it can be understood the direction of the management for the strategic change. Coercion In its most extreme form, a directive style becomes coercion involving the imposition of change or the issuing of edicts about change. This is the explicit use of power and may be necessary if EMC is facing a crisis or a conflict of change. However it should be noted that the management change in EMC by using above techniques may be effected by the factors such as capability, time and scope of change, power structure of EMC, capacity to change etc. When it comes to consider strategic change, there is too often an overemphasis on individuals at the top of an organization. It is useful to think of change agency more broadly. Change agent is the individual or group that helps effect strategic change within an organization. When consider the top level management EMC has a number of change agent within the organization with massive experience. There are highly qualified CEO and four vise presidents for the decision making. Rex w. Tellerson Chairman and Chief Executive Officer a native of Wichita Falls, Texas, Mr. Tillerson earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin before joining Exxon Company, U.S.A. in 1975 as a Production Engineer. Senior Vice President Mr. Mark Alberts born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and raised in Texas, Mr. Albers joined the company in 1979 and holds a bachelors degree in petroleum engineering from Texas AM University. Mr. Michel J Dolan Senior Vice President joined Mobil Oil Corporation in 1980 at the Paulsboro, New Jersey, and research laboratory. Over the next 13 years, he worked in a variety of engineering and managerial positions supporting Mobils worldwide refineries. Andrew P. Swiger is senior vice president of Exxon Mobil Corporation and a member of the corporations Management Committee. Throughout his career, Mr. Swiger has held a variety of techn ical and managerial positions in production, operations, engineering, planning and gas and power marketing. He joined the company in 1978 as an operations engineer in Morgan City, La., eventually progressing through a series of upstream staff and managerial assignments in Africa, Europe and North America. Donald D Humpheyars Senior Vice President and Treasurer a native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Mr. Humphreys earned a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering and Management from Oklahoma State University in 1971. He served in the U.S. Army from 1972-1974. He obtained an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania before joining Exxon Chemical Company in 1976. In 1986, after several assignments in Houston, Baton Rouge and Baytown, he transferred to Exxon Corporation in New York as Senior Financial Advisor in the Controllers Department. In 1988, he moved to Exxon Company, International as Financial Reporting Manager and later served as General Auditor. In 1990, Humph reys became Upstream Controller of Exxon Company, U.S.A. SUMMARY Innovation and change are the most important concepts discuss in modern dynamic business environment. The development of technology and the increasing burning needs of the people have created a dynamic environment of which the corporations may not be able to survive unless they simultaneously change their strategies with those global environmental and technological changes. Exxon Mobil is the worlds largest publicly traded international oil and gas company. They hold an industry-leading inventory of global oil and gas resources. They are the worlds largest refiner and marketer of petroleum products. And their chemical company ranks among the worlds largest. However they are also a technology company, applying science and innovation to find better, safer and cleaner ways to deliver the energy the world needs. Factors influencing the innovation and change differ according to the business context of the organization. Therefore it is more important to understand the context of business of which a particular corporation is engaged in before moving into a changing situation. In addition modern technological advances, cultural changes, structure of the corporation and regulatory requirements also can be identified as other factors to consider. However, there is also a need to understand the magnitude of challenge faced in trying to effect strategic change. To do this it is useful to consider the type of change required the wider context in which the change is to occur and the specific to change that exists. The factors such as context, culture, environment and technology are the most important. It is important to any organization to realize the need of change. The strategic change is considered at the initiation of the business portfolio and it should be evaluated by time to time ongoing basis. Change can be in any context. Therefore it is important to understand why EMC needs the change. By nature EMC engaged in energy industry. The crude oil prices and the regulatory requirements of government in different countries and the authorities may change time to time. Those external forces of change can not be predicted and also effect to whole organization. As EMC operates in diversified cultures around the world the effects of the stakeholders in different arenas are also may be demanded for change. Past experiences of change management in EMC has proved that the growth of the company depends on how quickly the company finds the innovative products. The technological advancement in modern world has changed the way of research and development. The technology has facilitated a lot for improving productivity in R D sections. The complexity of the geographical area is the major problem. Managing the risks from increase in global greenhouse gas emissions is a problem of EMC to consider. Forcefield analysis can be used as a good technique. The effectiveness of managing the change is depending on how management, employees and finally the organization as a whole face to the change event. In here it is most important to understand the styles and roles of change in a particular organization. Education and communication, Collaboration, Intervention and Direction, Coercion can be considered as factors affecting the effectiveness of the change within the organization. It is useful to think of change agency more broadly. Change agent is the individual or group that helps effect strategic change within an organization. When consider the top level management EMC has a number of change agent within the organization with massive experience.

Importance of History in George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) :: Nineteen Eighty-Four 1984 Essays

The Importance of History in 1984 Â   Time is an amazing element of the universe we are in. It is a driving force - we cannot speed it up or slow it down, it perpetually marches forward at a constant speed. After a moment in time has past, it becomes the past, and we have absolutely no way of going back to it to experience it again in a new way. Once time has past, all that remains is our perception of it. History is nothing more than our collective perceptions of the past. And perception is not like time - it is not constant, it can be altered. In George Orwell's 1984, the leaders of the Party use written records to alter the peoples' perception of history, ultimately as a means of control. Â   Everyone has different perceptions of the same reality. Everything that we experience is altered by our individual perceptions. There is one reality, but each person experiences slightly different versions of that reality. The source or reason for this is the individual experiences of each person. Everything we experience in our lives piles up to form our past. Our memory brings back experiences from this heap of the past. These memories combine with the reality we are experiencing in the present to form our individual perception of reality. Â   Everything is perceived differently by each person, and different perceptions of reality vary greatly. An potato is a completely different thing to a farmer and a chef. The idea of music is completely different to a musician and a deaf person. Hitler was a completely different person to a Nazi and a Jew. Even though there is really only one real idea of a potato, one definition of music, and one Hitler, many different realities of these exist within people's perception. Â   History is convoluted by perception. There are two ways of looking at history: through our own memories and perception, and through that of others. It is impossible to preserve history in its ideal form. If we look at history through our own memories, we will not see the reality of history, we will see our individual version of the reality. The same thing happens when we look at history through the memories and perception of others. Media is sometimes used to preserve history, but even this is only a perceived version of history.

Lord Of The Flies :: essays research papers

The adventure novel, The Lord of the Flies, was an epic tale that depicted the different facets of the human spirit. It was written by William Golding in the 1950’s and recieved many awards. Idt was declared the â€Å"Outstanding Novel of the Year† by E.M. Forrester. The author did in no wat mean for this story to be biographical, but Mr. Golding depicted well the many different aspect of human nature. The book has been described as â€Å"provacative, vivid and enthralling,† but Time and Tide said it best when they wrote, â€Å"It is not only a first-rate adventure story but a parable of our times.† The novel took place on an island probably somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic. This can be inferred because of the fact that the boys are British and that they arrived on the island by way of a plane cradsh. The story also occurred during wartime. The story begins when a group of British boys crash on an uninhabited island. In the beginning they area all unruly and unmorginized. Finally, a boy by the nakme of Ralph decides to take charge and call a meeting. The boys declare him â€Å"chief† and then begin to follow his lead. Ralph is also assisted by another lad by the name of Piggy. The group of boys were getting along fine until Jack Merridew, a boy who wanted to be â€Å"chief† instead, decided to go his own way. He disobeyed Ralph and did things his own way. He was to preoccupied witdh his own whims to do the act that was most important on the island, which was to keep the signal going so they could be rescued. Finally, Jack went against Ralph and declared that if any of the other boys wanted to have â€Å"fun,† which meant acting like savages, that they should follow him. The boys splot up into two groups and then havoc insued. Jacks group went around hunting and being barbaric while the others tried to get rescued. In the end Jack had gotten all the boys except Ralph to run around loke wild animals. Then when Jack got tired of dealing with Ralph, he convinced wveryone to try and kill him. By then however, a navy ship had come an they could never get around to the nasty deed. There was more than one antagonist in the story, The Lord of the Flies.

Race-Based Internment and Korematsu Essay

The internment of Japanese-Americans following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was shameful not only because of the fact that it was allowed to happen, but mostly because it was a national public policy joined in by all branches of the American government. President Roosevelt initiated the policy as the head of the executive branch by issuing executive orders declaring zones of exclusion for people of Japanese backgrounds, curfews, and even relocation programs to what some scholars have referred to as quasi-concentration camps. The legislative branch failed to protect the rights of these Japanese Americans; instead, â€Å"On March 21, 1942, Congress ratified and confirmed Executive Order No. 9066, which authorized criminal penalties for persons disobeying exclusion orders† (Justl, 2009, p. 272). Ultimately, with both the executive and legislative branches having failed to protect or defend the rights of American citizens of Japanese ancestry, the United States Supreme Court would be called upon to decide whether these orders and policies were in violation of the American constitution. To be sure, the notion that Americans could be rounded up and compelled through force to confined in internment camps seems to offend the dearest principles of American liberty and justice. Hoping that the judicial branch would extend the constitutional guarantees to American citizens of Japanese ancestry, a man named Korematsu filed suit alleging that these orders and policies violated the American constitution in a case now well-known as Korematsu v. United States. This particular case originated when an American citizen, who was born and raised in San Francisco, openly refuse to obey the exclusion order issued by President Roosevelt. Korematsu was loyal to the United States, having volunteered for military service though rejected because of health limitations, and there existed absolutely no evidence that he posed even a minor threat to American national security. He was allegedly subject to the exclusion order purely because of is Japanese ancestry. Korematsu was gainfully employed, he had a girlfriend who was not of Japanese ancestry, and he took deliberate steps to avoid and later challenge the constitutionality of the exclusion order. Ultimately, he was arrested and relocated to an internment camp. Specifically, he was arrested because he refused to leave an area open to others but closed to those of Japanese ancestry and because he refused to voluntarily report to an internment camp. The judicial branch, like the executive and legislative branches before, failed to protect the rights of Japanese-Americans; indeed, â€Å"the Supreme Court upheld the exclusion order and Korematsu’s conviction† (Justl, 2009, p. 274). Significantly, however, the Supreme Court’s decision was a six to three majority rather than a unanimous decision. The majority reasoned that war constituted a national emergency and that certain laws and orders designed to prevent spying or sabotage were sufficient bases upon which to restrict or eliminate individual rights protected in the constitution for the duration of the emergency. This case and its rationale still functions as a landmark type of legal case because it stands for the proposition that the constitutional rights of Americans can be suspended in times of national emergency. The minority opinions, recorded in dissents in the Korematsu case, argued that these laws were racist that they offended American ideals, and that the rights guaranteed by the American constitution ought to always apply regardless of alleged fears and national emergencies. This case effectively allows the judicial branch to relinquish its sacred duties as guardian of the constitution in national emergencies; this, in turn, gives the executive and legislative branches powers perhaps not intended when the founders of the constitution sought to create a stable balance of powers. In the final analysis, the Korematsu case is troubling because it stands for a legal principle that transcends its origins. More particularly, it can be seen in contemporary times that the War on Terror has been used as an indefinite type of national emergency to restrict or eliminate rights for American citizens even though the main enemies have been defined as foreign nationals. Arab-Americans and Muslims have in this way replaced the Japanese-Americans of World-War Two. Additionally, the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been treated as a type of environmental national emergency and the media has been restricted by the American Coast Guard from covering the story on-site. Korematsu is a tragedy both because of the individual harm done to Fred Korematsu and because it continues to stand for a proposition to the effect that politicians can cry â€Å"national emergency† in order to suspend or eliminate constitutional rights for different classes of American citizens. It is perhaps time that the Supreme Court reasserts its intended role as a true guardian of the constitution by accepting a case challenging the Korematsu precedent so that it can eliminate the vague national emergency exception. References Justl, J. M. (2009). Disastrously Misunderstood: Judicial Deference in the Japanese-American Cases. Yale Law Journal, 119(2), 270+. Retrieved June 2, 2010, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=5036190287

Different Types of Human Communication

Different Types of Human Communication Most animals communicate with each other in some way. Dogs bark at those they perceive as a threat in order to communicate their hostility and in some cases the threat that they will attack if provoked; bees have a pouch in which they carry the scent of their hive so as to identify themselves as members of the community. However, it is only in humans that communication breaks off into different types of communication: verbal and non-verbal, and formal and informal. Verbal communication is just what one would expect from the name: communication using words, and in some cases written characters. There are subcategories for verbal communication, depending on who is at the receiving end of the communication. The main division is between interpersonal communication, in which one person speaks directly to another person, and public or group speaking, in which one person speaks to a large group. From here, the intention of the person speaking breaks it down into still further categories depending on whether they are trying to persuade the listener or listeners to think or act in a certain way, to convey information in the clearest manner possible, or even to entertain. However, in many cases, the intentions of the speaker will overlap: speakers may want to persuade, inform, and entertain their audiences all at the same time. Sometimes, they may even be unaware of what their true intentions are themselves. Non-verbal communication is the type that is more similar to what the dogs and bees mentioned above do. Non-verbal communication includes all the information we convey to others, whether consciously or subconsciously, without actually using any words. Probably the most ubiquitous example of non verbal communication is that of facial expressions. For example, when a person rolls their eyes at someone, they are expressing skepticism about what the speaker said. They are not using any words to convey this message, but using their understanding of the non-verbal cues they can send that message without having to explicitly say, â€Å"I really find what you are saying unbelievable†. Not all facial expressions are so calculated though: there are those like smiles that come naturally when someone is happy, and indicate this to others. Beyond these more explicit examples, there are more subtle instances of non-verbal communication. For example, clothing: just as the male peacock uses a vibrant display of his colorful feathers to signal to a potential mate that he is a desirable choice, people use clothing in order to send messages about themselves (whether they are true or not). In this vein, a man going to a job interview will usually wear a suit and tie in order to convey the idea that he is a very professional person. Unlike facial expressions, this kind of non-verbal communication is more like verbal communication because it is arbitrary – there is no intrinsic reason why a suit and tie should convey the idea of professionalism any more than a Japanese kimono would. It is simply that it has become a cultural norm that a suit and tie is what a professional person wears, and as such it becomes a symbol and a means of non-verbal communication. Formal communication is more strongly associated with large and small group speaking. It is more rule bound, and is more centered on the speaker getting some kind of result. For example, speaking to a board room full of business executives in order to convince them to accept a marketing strategy is an example of formal communication: what is said and how it is said is rule-bound to what is considered appropriate for the setting, and it is directed toward the specific end of getting the executives to accept the ad campaign. Furthermore, their are instances of symbolic non-verbal communication, such as the wearing of business attire in order to appear professional. Informal communication is associated with interpersonal communication. While it is still rule bound by the social norms of the those communicating, there is much more room for the speaker to be free in what he or she says. Informal communication is also much less tied to specific ends: in many cases, it takes place simply for the speaker to express what they think and feel about anything in particular, and the speaking is undertaken as an end it itself. It is a much more emotionally involved form of communication, in large part because there is less emphasis on symbolic non-verbal communication and more emphasis on saying what one really feels. Although these various types of communication are very different, they are all indispensable tools for communicating with and understanding others. In order to be able to look at others and truly appreciate what they are trying to convey and whether what they are saying has any value, one needs to have a thorough understanding of all types. Informal Communication If formal communication is viewed like dressing for a black tie affair, informal communication is like dressing casually and wearing slippers around the house. Much informal communication occurs on a person-to-person basis, in a face-to-face manner, without ceremony or fanfare. Other ways to communicate in an informal manner may include texting, post-it notes, an informal drop in visit to another person, or a quick and spontaneous meeting. Informal communication includes all the various methods of relaying information or messages between people. It often is called â€Å"the grapevine† as messages weave back and forth and around people. There are none of the trappings of formal messages, such as company letterhead, planned meetings or specific introductions of guests. Everyone is relaxed and casual, eager to chat about many things, as there is no specific agenda to follow. This type of communication frequently is oral, and works easily for small groups. The scope of the conversation may be broader than a formal presentation, and include topics that are diverse in nature, free flowing and loose rather than scripted carefully. Unfortunately, informal communication is subject to creating rumors and misinformation due to its loose nature and lack of substantiating evidence. This is the type of interaction that occurs in the workplace as banter between employees, or idle chatting. It is seen as blog entries on the Internet. At colleges, students are encouraged to drop by their professors’ offices as needed, informally. Other informal web communication is seen in diaries, personal email letters, instant messaging, emoticons, online chat rooms and cyberspace bulletin boards. Informal communication also may take a non-verbal form as facial expressions, sign language, or manner of dress. In spoken language, the informal communicative style incorporates the use of the second and first voices. This is in contrast to the use of the third person voice in formal communications. One of the visible signs of informal communication is its natural and easy style, as opposed to being formally regimented. There may be the use of colloquialisms and local slang in the course of speech. It is unconventional and without rules, which is just the opposite of formal. Informal communication is used to help put people at ease. This can be seen in an interview situation where an interviewer such as a paralegal needs to make a little small talk to help get clients to relax, feel welcome and open up verbally. The use of informal language is far more prevalent in society than the use of formal language. Formal Communication Formal communication can be considered as communication efforts that are â€Å"dressed up† to fit customary rules and ceremony For example, in a written letter, the formal communication style will demand that the layout of the piece of written communication follow a specific format that includes the date, header, salutation, body of the letter, close, signature lines and any indicators of enclosures all placed neatly upon company letterhead or personal stationery. By contrast, an informal piece of written communication can be as simple as a jotted note to a friend on a torn slip of paper Formal communications are mostly written, although they may now also include formal presentations that are on computer disk, video tape or DVDs, MP3 presentations and other similar electronic reproductions of written communications. Other forms of formal communications include newsletters, legal advisories, invitations, awards, and letters of congratulations. Non-written formal communication devices are in-person communications in the forms of departmental meetings, telephone calls, conferences and special interviews. Some publications that are devoted to a special purpose, such as a company’s annual report, are formal communications. There is a non-verbal component to formal communication as well. The style and manners of the presenter dictate the formalness of a meeting, and this can be immediately seen at the time of introduction of a speaker. Some elements of non-verbal formal communication include maintaining a certain distance from others, standing above the crowd, speaking in formal tones and using formal means of address to others, such as â€Å"Mister† or â€Å"Doctor† when calling upon others. Colloquialisms, which are freely used in informal communication, are not present in formal communications. Proper English or another language is spoken. Formal communications will follow a chain of command in the flow of the communication, either upwards to or down from managers. The use of formal communication is more prevalent in highly technical areas where a message must be exact and specific, leaving no room for misinterpretation. The written communication is carefully thought out, and planned for a certain effect or result. It often is written in a third person non-personal voice of â€Å"he, she, it, and they† rather than â€Å"I† or â€Å"you† voices. Grammar, spelling and layout are important for written communications, and for spoken communications there is an emphasis placed on the quality of the speech voice and pronunciation. Some formal communications are congratulatory, others can be advisory or informational. Legal papers follow a tightly formatted layout that is customary within the professional and widely used by others. Likewise, scientific research papers have a customary format to follow. Any written communication that is expected to adhere to particular rules can be considered to be formal communication, and the actual tone of the piece may range from friendly to threatening. It can be more demanding and imply expectations to the receiver that should create desired results. Communication through Body Language Communication is how human beings interact with the world that surrounds them. There are many forms of communication, some being more effective at conveying the intent or feelings of the individual expressing than others. Many people have a hard time with communication, and can find it difficult to tell others what they think or to give them bad news. Sometimes, they can’t find the right words to express the things they want to say. There are also those people who are not to be believed due to a history of dishonesty or embellishing the truth. One form of communication, however, is always honest and can always be counted on. Body language is a form of communication that is performed subconsciously. It occurs almost constantly, and will almost always give the correct impression that a person has of someone else, the environment, or the situation at hand. Body language makes it easy to know if someone is nervous, scared, interested, or focused, among many other feelings that could be happening. Learning to read body language can be as simple as paying attention to your own body when feeling specific emotions. For example, if you are able to notice the unconscious things that your body does when you are nervous, then it should be simple for you to be able to see when another person is nervous in a certain situation. Often, reading the body language of another person will tell you more than having an actual conversation would, especially if the conversation has the potential to be uncomfortable or is something that no one wants to acknowledge. On the lighter side of body language communication, it can be a very helpful tool in determining how interested another person is in you. When single people meet for the first time, reading the signs of body language can help you to determine if this person has any interest in you beyond friendship. If on a date, the person leans towards you when you are speaking or has their arms at their sides with the front of their body facing towards you, that is a sign that signifies a true interest in the things you are saying. If, on the other hand, they have their arms crossed, are leaning back in their chair with their back turned towards you, and are avoiding contact, they probably are not interested. These are some good physical indicators that you could be wasting your time. Nonverbal Communication Nonverbal communication is any kind of communication not involving words. When the term is used, most people think of facial expressions and gestures, but while these are important elements of nonverbal communication, they are not the only ones. Nonverbal communication can include vocal sounds that are not words such as grunts, sighs, and whimpers. Even when actual words are being used, there are nonverbal sound elements such as voice tone, pacing of speech and so forth. Nonverbal communication can be incorporated in a person’s dress. In our society, a person wearing a police uniform is already communicating an important message before they say a word. Another example is a man’s business suit, which is perceived by some as communicating an air of efficiency and professionalism. While each of these cues conveys a message, so does its absence. In some settings, failing to express a nonverbal cue also communicates meaning. A policeman out of uniform is called â€Å"plainclothes† and is seen as deliberately trying to conceal his role. To some, this may make him seem smart or efficient, while others may consider him sneaky or untrustworthy. In the same way, a businessman who does not wear a suit is conveying an air of casualness which some would consider slightly less professional. In the modern world, â€Å"dressing down† implies a relaxation of professional standards that is much more than just a change of clothes. Many cues are based on learned cultural standards, but there are some elements of nonverbal communication that are universal. Paul Eckman’s landmark research on facial expressions in the 1960? s found that the expressions for emotions such as anger, fear, sadness and surprise are the same across all cultural barriers. The setting where communication takes place also lends a meaning to words apart from their literal definition, and constitutes nonverbal communication. For instance, the word â€Å"tradition† means one thing when it is spoken in City Hall, and quite another when it is spoken in a church. The sign of a cross takes on great cultural meaning when used in a religious context, but on a road sign it just means that an intersection is coming up. Some nonverbal communication accompanies words and modifies their meanings. For instance, our speed of speaking and the pauses we place between our words form a nonverbal element to our speech. A slight pause before a word can imply uncertainty or be interpreted as a request for confirmation from the listener, whereas a lack of pauses can be taken as a sign of confidence or the encouragement of a fast reply from the listener. If someone asks you a question in a hurried manner, you will probably get the feeling that they want a similarly quick reply. The use of personal space constitutes a form of nonverbal communication. If someone leans toward their listener as they speak, it implies that they are communicating something personal or secret. Depending on the social nuances of the situation, this may be taken as a sign of friendship or an unwanted invasion of space. The use of touching as an element of communication is called haptic communication, and its meanings are very culture-dependent. In American society, a handshake, a pat on the shoulder or a â€Å"high five† have certain definite meanings understood by practically everybody. In other societies, these might be enigmatic acts or an embarrassing invasion of personal space. The use of the eyes as an element of nonverbal communication is an area of study in itself, and is called â€Å"oculesics. † Researchers have divided eye movements into separate elements such as the number and length of eye contacts, blink rate, dilation of the pupils and so forth. Here again, the interpretation of these cues is highly dependent on the culture of the participants. A prolonged stare may establish a bond of trust, or destroy it. It may elicit a reply from the person being stared at, or it may make them become uncommunicative from embarrassment. This is how most of our communication takes place. When we consider the amount of nonverbal communication that passes between us and compare it with the mere words we say, it is obvious that the nonverbal part is by far the largest.