This is about a group project. I just I wanna rewrite by ur own word Essay

This is about a group project. I just I wanna rewrite by ur own word - Essay Example Due to cultural beliefs and traditional attributes, Chinese prefer to have large families. Married women go ahead to have more than five children. This paper will seek to provide China’s profile by discussing its political system, income distribution, and demographic features such as age, education, and gender. In China, the belief that children bring joy into a home is a major contributor towards the reason as to why Chinese have such large numbers of children within a single family. For a long time, China stayed unstable due to chaos mostly generated by wars in which it engaged in but after it stabilized, the country’s population grew with such a rapid speed that it moved from 250 million to 500 million within a short time (48). Surprisingly, due to seeable developments in healthcare and food availability, China’s population growth is astonishing. As of today, this country’s population is experiencing a boom burst, as it will rise from 1.3 billion to 1.6 billion in just 50 years (see Fig. 1). This indicates that years between 1700 and 2070 will be very substantial for government if it finds controlling the country’s population crucial. ... This implies that the country is unable to provide adequate land for farming for its population. Such, is an indication that if China continues to expect such population growth rate, the country will face an enormous calamity of hunger (57). Based on this aspect, the past two decades and half have seen China hold very strict family planning programs aimed at controlling population growth in this country. Fig.2.  Ratio of China's land and population in the world Fig.3.  Arable land and per capita cultivated land in China With reference to the current population control program, the policy consists of two specific guidelines. In the first one, the government sought to control the rapid population growth by reducing Children’s birth defects. In the second, the government sought to make people understand the vitality of marrying late and having children later. Additionally, in the rural areas, people should resolve to give birth to another child only when the first one is beyo nd four years. After the government enacted such policy late last year, research findings indicate that it has worked for the best as of now, the country’s population growth is somehow declining (63). Nevertheless, due to this policy, observations show that China has the largest gender gap with regard to many other Asian countries. Astonishingly, most Chinese parents prefer to have a male child instead of a girl. Under this spectrum, it is agreeable that in China boys are of more importance when compared to girls. According to a study carried out in year 2000, the ration of baby boys to that of baby girls was 120:100. Moreover, in some of the poorer regions in the country, the number of boys is twice that of girls. A critical analysis into this situation proves that

Envs 1000 research essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Envs 1000 research - Essay Example The field of agriculture accommodates many workers as compared with most other industries. In addition, agriculture helps in boosting international trade through imports and exports. Therefore, without productive agriculture, people and society as a whole would not be privileged to enjoy the same quality of life. This paper presents a discussion on the role of agriculture in Canada and its possible environmental implications, and it covers food, food production and loss of biodiversity. Agriculture plays a very significant role in society by improving life quality and in the production of marketable commodities for food, fuel, fiber among others (Holland, 2012). Agricultural activities facilitate the production of individuals’ basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing thereby improving the living standards and quality of life. Primarily, agriculture provides people with food from either crops or animals and agricultural food are full of nutrients and nourishes individuals ’ bodies. Agriculture provides the basis of subsistence by ensuring adequate production of food and safety (Holland, 2012). Food is very essential for individuals to survive; therefore, agricultural intervention is necessary to ensure that there is adequate food supply. Agriculture assures food security to the people and individuals work hard to increase agricultural productivity and secure enough food. Animal products such as milk, meat, or even eggs serve as a food source and are consumed by people. Similarly, plant products such as cabbages and other vegetable are also other food sources produced though agriculture. All food produced in Canada guaranteed high quality of production, environment as well as welfare standards. Secondly, agriculture provides us with fiber, cotton, flax among others and all these are necessary materials needed to manufacture natural cloth. Additionally, agriculture offers different job opportunities for many Canadians considering that some peopl e prefer working on the farms while others engage in agricultural based activities. According to studies, agriculture has been stated to be the main source of income to many people in Canada especially in the rural areas. More so, agricultural industries are one of the industries that employ many people; hence, agriculture is a major contributor of Canadian’s wealth (Britton, 1996). Mostly in rural areas, the main activity that people engage in is agriculture and they depend on various agricultural activities in order to earn a living. The increasing farm size and productivity have led to larger labor productivity gains in agriculture. Approximately 340,000 Canadians work on agricultural production sites (IICA-Canada, 2005); thus, agriculture is their occupation and so they dedicate their time to it and focus on how to increase agricultural products. In addition, one of the objectives of agriculture is to eradicate poverty in the society and this is possible through job creat ions especially working on the farms. However, working on the farms can sometimes be very demanding because it requires energy in that, those working on agricultural farms should be physically energetic and this leaves those who are physically weak disadvantaged. Moreover, agriculture plays a leading role in promoting both regional and international trade thereby boosting the country’

Help Fonterra Take Advantage Marketing Essay

Help Fonterra Take Advantage Marketing Essay The Report has been designed to identify the current organizational restructuring could be applied to help Fonterra take advantage of strategic opportunities in the global market. The first part deals with the consumers, suppliers and competitors operating environment and develop strategies that position the firm most favorably in relation to competition and influence industry structure in order to enhance industry attractiveness. (Robert M. Grant, 7th edition, p.64) The Second part covers Fonterras stated mission, vision, strategies, targets, goals and values, and structure and systems. The suitability of these strategies to the operating firm environment are then evaluated and the change of strategy development is recommended. (Robert et.al, p.12) The report also indulges with the macro and micro environmental scan, present evolution of Fonterra, key strategic issues. It also identifies some of the key risk and opportunities faced by Fonterra. Introduction Fonterra at glance Fonterra is a dairy company, which was formed in 2001, and since than it has excelled and enlarged the milk processing and became the fourth largest dairy company in the world. Fonterras annual turnover is NZ$19.9 billion. They have built powerful relation with other dairy companies globally and its partnerships extent the world. Fonterra believes in the interest of people so that they can increase their global market. (Fonterra Co-operative Group, 2010) Fonterra is the biggest diary exporter with 11,000 farmers and these farmers are only the shareholders of the company. All these members supply milk to the Fonterra Company for processing milk into the dairy products. 95% of dairy products made in New Zealand are exported to almost 140 countries in the globe. Principal hubs of Fonterra are located in Auckland, Melbourne, Chicago, Singapore, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Shangai and Sao Paulo. All the sales and marketing in controlled and managed by these principal hubs.14 billion litres of milk is collected every year. (Fonterra Co-operative group, 2011) Fonterras strategy is to lead in dairy. Following are product list which Fonterra produces: cheese, yoghurts, cultured foods, butter, liquid, powdered milks. Following are the brand list of Fonterra: ANCHOR, ANLENE, ANMUM, FRESH N FRUITY, MAINLAND, CAPITY, BROWNES, SOPROLE, WESTERN STAR, PERFECT ITALIANO, TIP TOP AND CHESDALE. (Fonterra Co-operative group, 2010) 1.2 Reports Structure and Objectives The report aimed at highlighting the main objectives, vision of the company and for developing a strategic plan. The Report has been designed to identify the current organizational restructuring could be applied to help Fonterra take advantage of strategic opportunities in the global market. Specifically, lowing the dependency on commodity markets and grasping knowledge as a means to pursue value added growth through Fonterras alliance and brands. The strategic foundation of the report is divided into two parts: a) The Industry Environment b) The Firm Environment The first part deals with the consumers, suppliers and competitors operating environment and develop strategies that position the firm most favorably in relation to competition and influence industry structure in order to enhance industry attractiveness. (Robert M. Grant, 7th edition, p.64) The Second part covers Fonterras stated mission, vision, strategies, targets, goals and values, and structure and systems. The suitability of these strategies to the operating firm environment are then evaluated and the change of strategy development is recommended.(Robert et.al,p.12) The report also indulges with the macro and micro environmental scan, present evolution of Fonterra, key strategic issues. It also identifies some of the key risk and opportunities faced by Fonterra. Strategic Foundations 2.1 The Industry Environment Dairy companies for years have been the important industry in New Zealand. In 1871 at Otago, the first dairy company was set up. By 1920, 85% of dairy factories were owned by co-operatives were as there were about 600 processing factories. By 1930s there were almost 500 co-operatives but it was after World War 2 there were improvements in these dairy factories such as transportation, technologies and working systems which led to a change of consolidation, where the dairy co-operatives started merging with the other factories or companies and since than became bigger and lesser in number. At the end of 1990s, there were four dairy companies: The Waikato (New Zealand Dairy Group) The Taranaki (Kiwi Co-operative Dairies) Westland Milk Products Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company With the merger of the two largest companies, New Zealand Dairy Group and Kiwi Co-operative Dairies, Fonterra was formed along with the New Zealand Dairy Board. Fonterra has the four sales channels which together sells around 2.3 million MT of product. Fonterra Global Trade It was the worlds first online trading centre and since then NZ$1 billion product was supplied. It indulged with lots of dairy commodities which include milk, powder, butter and cheese to reach the markets in the globe such as The Middle East and Africa, the Americas and Oceania and Asia. Fonterra Ingredients This channels sells specialized dairy ingredients for the manufacturers in the four countries such as US, Japan, Western Europe and Korea. Fonterra Brands Fonterra sells the branded products to the customers and consumers in more than 40 countries in the globe. The Anchor and the Tip Top brand is oldest brand of Fonterra. Fonterra Foodservices It provides dairy ingredients and dairy brands to the consumers or customers such as fast food chains, airline catering centers, hotels and restaurants. Strength: Access to efficiently produced, high quality milk. An integrated business model. Strong global reach. Established customer relationships. Strong consumer brand positions in selected markets. Strong, broad product portfolio. Efficient farms.( Fonterra Co-operative Group, 2012) Weakness: Leadership uncertainties affecting the moral of the organizations. Frequent changes among board members. Largest markets are under represented in strategic Association of Professionals (Apex) Business structure relating to redemption risk, farmer choice, and capital for growth. (Keith Woodford,2008) Opportunities: Global demand exceeds the supply. China and India will make up about 50% of growth in global demand for milk over the next 10 years so the share of the market opportunity will increase. Forecast global volume demand growth of atleast 100 billion litres by 2020. Value growth driven by customer and consumer needs in each geography. Investing in underdeveloped countries which are experiencing rapid growth globally.( Country wide and Fonterra co-operative Group,2012) Threats: Global demand exceeds the supply New Zealands market restrictions structure and relative low cost may attract the new entrants in the market. Threats from the increasing global competitors. Few organizations can rival the diverse skills found in the business.(Kate Askew, 2012) Global Reach, Local Touch Fonterra produces the products, they distribute and sell these ready to use products around the globe, the brands gives the consumers the combination of world strength and local knowledge. They aim to have a deep and close understanding of customers demand and there changes in lifestyles, taste, eating and needs which vary from one market to other market. For example what customers prefer in Asia may not be the choice of those living in East Africa. Hence to meet the customer needs there is a group of local teams knowing the local consumers preferences and habits. (Fonterra Co-operative Group, 2010) The suppliers of Fonterra (New or Existing): Growth Supply Contract Fonterra provides an offer of Growth Contract system to the suppliers. All milk from provided to the new entrants and additional surplus milk from existing Fonterra contract suppliers. Deposit for new supply The new suppliers need to give their 100% of shares purchased just before they start beginning the supply. Owning shares With a new initiative, the suppliers can also share the capital cost of growing supply with the sharemilker where they can hold their own share. Maximizing the earnings of the supplier Through specialty milks suppliers can achieve much more profit over the standard payment of milk. Conditions for new land For new dairy land the suppliers must contact area managers. 2.2 The Firm Environment Vision, Mission, Strategies, Goals and Structure: Fonterras vision is to be the natural source of dairy nutrition for everybody, everywhere, every day. Its strategy is to expand in large numbers globally, aim at high-value areas of dairy demand and make targets to achieve it quickly. Fonterra targets to build strong and long-term relationship with the partners and maintain the undertaking from the bottom level of the organization. (Fonterra cooperative Group, 2010) Its Group Strategy is to increase the volumes and create more and more value by focusing more on new markets, and new products that meet the consumer needs for dairy requirements. It should be firm and have a deep look at the strengths, social and economic changes for increasing demand or needs for the dairy products. Fonterra calls it as the three Vs: Volume Value Velocity. (Theo Spierings, 2012) The societies in which they are indulged are related to this vision and they aim to be a sustainable dairy business. They look into-depth to be socially responsible towards everyone which includes there employees, consumers and partners. They focus at accomplishing right means of employment to keep the customers safe and healthy, the minimizing the damage to the environment, by creating new and healthy products.(Fonterra Co-operative Group, 2010) The Fonterra currently have new strength to achieve its goals, where it deals over 100 separate and different projects many of them already have started making progress.   It includes: An extreme move on the rapidly growing well known markets of China, ASEAN and Latin America where Fonterra already has a strong influence. It believes the New Zealand milk business make better return on capital. Development by combining milk pools (secure, high-quality sources of milk integrated with Fonterras business) abroad to carry higher value returns back to New Zealand and protect New Zealand exports. Increasing volumes of higher value consumer branded and out-of-home nutrition. A firm focus on meeting the advanced nutrition wants of mothers and babies, as well as ageing populations supported by targeted innovation in these areas as well as out-of-home nutrition. (Fonterra Co-operative Group, 2010) Fonterras seven strategic paths: Optimize New Zealand milk Build and grow beyond our consumers position. Deliver on food service potentials. Grow our position in mobility. Develop selected leading positions in paediatrics and maternal. Selectively invest in milk pools Alignment of business and organization to enable strategy. ( Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd, 2012) Fonterras aim is to continue to do well in the globally traded market, while capturing the international growth opportunities in fresh dairy. Dairy demand through to 2019 is expected to be: India (highest) 45 million MT China 36 million MT rest of Asia 19 million MT Latin America 18 million MT Middle East/North Africa 13 million MT. With the exception of the trade-protected market of India, Fonterra has well-established positions in each of these markets. Fonterras strategy is to develop strong customer partnerships with leading companies in the food and nutrition industries to become their supplier of choice, and to continue to build its brands in growth markets within Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. With large international customers wanting the confidence of a year-round, global supply, Fonterra is increasingly complementing New Zealand-sourced milk with overseas supply, to provide and continue supporting the growth of fresh consumer dairy products. In 2010/11, Fonterra sourced 22 billion litres of milk globally, including 20 percent of Australias production and 24 percent of Chiles, both countries where Fonterra has well established consumer brand operations. In Latin America it sourced 2.6 billion litres of milk for its joint venture with Nestlà ©. New Zealand milk collection was 15.4 billion litres, representing around 89 percent of the countrys milk production. Growth in global sourcing will continue with Fonterra aiming to develop its own milk production capabilities within key growth markets. China is one example and there are feasibility studies currently underway involving opportunities in other markets such as India. Fonterra have always been extra ordinary at the simple nutrition of dairy. For years, its farmers work hard to give quality milk to number of people around the world. They have passed their farming expertise down through the generations, keeping alive the time-honoured traditions that have catapulted New Zealand to the forefront of the world dairy industry. (Fonterra Co-operative Group, 2010) 3 Environmental Scan 3.1 Macro environmental scan Globally the demand for the milk by the consumers will increase by more than 100 billion litres by 2020, as there is economic growth and increased population in markets which is pushing the growth demand, where as New Zealand is expected to contribute just 5 billion litres of additional milk supply by that time. With the overall increasing demand, Fonterra needs to increase their milk quantity to be on a safe position as a leading dairy exporter. At present, the demand for milk has increased especially among the young and the elderly which are getting more urgent and specific.(Theo Spierings, 2012) PESTEL Analysis: (Oxford University press,2007) Political: Trade protectionism and restrictions including trade marks, labeling, bio-diversity, free trade arrangements and quotas arguments, guide sustainable action in the dairy Economic: Fluctuations in foreign currency, increase in demand rather than supply globally, production of commodity and milk prices. Continued consolidation of suppliers and customers. Social: Rapid increase in needs of consumer markets, demand in healthy and nutritive dairy milk and products. Traditional differences with regards to the demand of milk. Growth in nutrition and bio markets. Technological: Increase manufacturing efficiency while bringing down operating costs is the challenge, technology for product streams which requires indirect heating and cooling by each other, to  continue in the same way developing innovative farm to factory practices, implementation of new innovative technology to achieve cost, time and waste savings across the whole business,need of technology for fewer trucks which are required to transport the same quantity of milk. Environmental factors: Frequent changes in New Zealand weather have a great impact on the environment, as the need for product changes from season to season, reducing impact of global greenhouse gases as it will improve the quality of New Zealands environment. They have effective and safe management of farm practices that protects the environment from the pollution. Legal: Legal challenges for the requirement of healthy and safe environment. Threats from new entrants coming into the markets, following the legal procedure and laws for the minimum wages and working hours. Fonterra must come up with education units for training and educating the farmers for teaching about how to manage farm effluent, how to improve the quality of water, how to reduce energy use and waste from site. Farmers should be provided by the time limit to ensure that they meet the deadlines according to the rules and regulations. Fonterra requires focusing at upcoming projects to expand its relation in terms of partnership so that they can give much better services such as can give more and higher-value products to the customers throughout the world. Fonterra has earned a lot in countries like Latin America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and Middle East but they should aim at profit buffer above the average return of the product, which is very important in times when there are commodity at lower price. There are two possible outcomes in the near future as the increase in demand can be divided into two parts, globally the overall demand for the dairy commodities in traded market is forecasted to increase by 1.2% where as the annual increase in dairy is forecasted to be 4%. Every year there is an increase in demand for dairy products by 2.7 %, where as in a decade time the demand is forecasted to be 147 billion litres. Level of competition has increased at very high level even though the Fonterra has maintained their global reach, this is Fonterras biggest strength as they know that lifestyles, taste and choices is different from place to place. To meet the particular demands of the customers the regional team is appointed to deal with requirement of the consumers as they will know the local demand. 3.2 Micro Environmental Scan Since the Fonterra was formed in 2001, it almost every year they had a market share in excess of 95% of all New Zealand milk product, but it had a fall at 90% in 2008- 2009, with further falls is still expected.(Keithwoodford,2008) The supply of milk by Fonterra has increased slightly, this is a big challenge for them as they aim at increasing the supply. In marketing sector the competition from the new entrants has increased rapidly this is one of the reason for Fonterra to redeem risk more than as it was in the past. It is a fact that at present they make it very easy for the new entrants to take interest in dairy farmer suppliers by keeping a high value share on the fair value share which is actually not related to the add value to the component of the milk price. (Keithwoodford,2008) As the redemption risk is high of their shares, Fonterra should have an optional business structure which will not only help in meeting their growth strategy, but also help in reducing their redemption risk of the shares as they can properly distribute returns to the suppliers or farmers. To meet the business strategies, objectives, goals and all legal procedures, Fonterra must emphasis on effective risk management. They should maintain the balance between the working of board and management and must have a healthy relation with the consumers, stakeholders, suppliers, shareholders, government and employees. Their should be a Formal strategy development which delivers substantial process and content dividends giving more strategic perspective, for setting priorities and making key decisions. Customers demand for the products keeps on changing, several customers demand much more better quality at same price. These changes in demand show that, the Fonterra can expect that in future their consumers will demand much better quality at same price. The new customers demand for those product or services which were never been created ever before, and old customers demand for the new services or product features. This creates a tensed situation as we need to focus on both current and new consumers. Whatever may be the choice, its difficult to manage this situation which can at arise at any time. (Bain Company, 2005) Fonterras deals with perishable products, so its very difficult to transport these fresh milk products economically at a long distance. Furthermore, it deals with very high trade barriers on dairy products. To deal with this trade barriers and transport issue they must establish strategic step to increase the efficiency in the working. (Gehlhar M.J,2009) Fonterra should use their research and development for establishing much more quality products, healthy products, those products which are naturally and ecologically are consistent. They must aim to establish their image in the minds of young customers as they are life-long customers. (Gehlhar, M.J,2009) Fonterra should convert on their capabilities as they can earn much more returns on the product rather than just being a branded manufacturer. Fonterra can maintain their leadership if they can differentiate their product features offerings from those of the competitors. To sustain as a leaders in the market it requires branding power and product innovation. (Gehlhar, M.J,2009) Fonterra should change its overhead expenses so that it can target on rapidly growing markets. Targets should be to exit unprofitable, uncompetitive and non-core categories and markets. Number of improve efficiency and effectiveness of corporate centers.(Fonterra Co-operative Group,2012) Fonterra supplies are secured through the co-operative structure but the threat exits if they can not make competitive milk payouts to the shareholders and suppliers. Competitors may respond to trade liberalization through increasingly global growth strategies. Evaluation Fonterra has changed their direction at higher value markets, they have greatly managed to maintain the same strategies of its firm which is at high volume and at low cost leadership. By an analysis macro and micro environment a number of issues have been highlighted. Fonterras ability to maintain the position is at risk and its structure limits its ability. Within the dairy industry there is a clear view that the current Fonterra capital restructuring proposals are not acceptable. They necessarily need 75 percent shareholder approval but at present it displays to be very low. The farmers at present are continuously rejecting the proposal but it does not mean that farmers are avoiding the change but they want to be sure with the dependency of the final outcome. (Allio, M.K,2005) Fonterra should have special capabilities inspite of being capable of differentiating their products. They should include physical input that should be used in food manufacturing so that the new products can be serve but can be differentiate from those of competitors. (Allio, M.K,2005) There is increase in healthy, convenient and environmentally friendly foods products in overall world food markets. There is a replacement of mass customization with mass production. So Fonterra should be practical for the changing present environment opportunities for branded food manufacturing by applying successful product differentiation strategies. To be at the same position, Fonterra should be capable in customer marketing, process innovation and product innovation. Differentiating a product may provide an organisation a competitive benefit as differentiated products have a unique or special attributes and there is a need for an organisation to develop unique capabilities which are not followed by competitors. Biology and science supports the dairy organisation not only in on-farm production but also in dairy product manufacturing. With the help of biotechnology, Fonterra can modify the workings along biological systems, either by using the natural resources or more advanced technological tools. (Datamonitor,2008) To develop some specific products, Fonterra must use a nutrition and health team that aims at specific health advantage. The team should be trained to target at world consumer health concerns such as: gastrointestinal health, immune health, dermatology, infant nutrition, sports health, bone health, therapeutics and animal health. Fonterras focus on the establishment of new products will definitely help to increase there demand in consumer products. (Datamonitor,2008) Fonterra should take a responsibility for educating the customers to promote some of the products. Guiding the market in their favour rather than allowing the market to guide the firm. They should use their particular capabilities to influence the new markets as to get hold on the new market. As said above they should provide consumer education as well and at the same time they must give more choices of products to their consumers. (Chris Bart, Nick Bontis,2003) At present there is rapid changes in the business environment, there are many so many unknowns and unpredictable situations arising in the business so there should always be an optional plan or strategy ready for these kind of situations. When industries can consolidate (or fragment) at breathtaking speed; when regulations can overnight either unleash or cripple marketplace participants; and when the price and availability of critical inputscan fluctuate wildly So the task of Fonterras strategy development must now be undertaken under conditions of extreme uncertainty.( David Calfee,2006) Winning strategies will therefore incorporate multiple scenarios for Fonterra to generate a range of feasible strategic solutions; they will also retain significant flexibility to allow rapid adjustments as industry or marketplace conditions change and alternative scenarios become more attractive. (Veit Etzold, Ted Buswick, 2008) Products come and products go in the business. Product life cycles that trace the rise and fall of a product. For example, the Walkman with the cassette enjoyed great popularity in the Eighties before it was displaced by the Discman. This was then displaced by the MP3 player, which in turn was displaced by the Apple iPod. And it is highly probable that the iPod will be displaced too one day by yet another product. So the firm should always have an altenative strategy . So demand can change with the time so Fonetrra must be flexible in meeting those demand within the time frame. (Veit Etzold, Ted Buswick,2008) However, if adequate changes are not made, or if made but its not sufficient to prevent the danger of financial risks, it should use the monetary policy as a secondary option for addressing those risks proceeding cautiously and always keeping in mind the inherent difficulties of that approach. (Tristan Nguyen,2011)

Essay on Whitman’s Bivouac on a Mountain Side -- Whitman Bivouac on a

Analysis of Whitman’s Bivouac on a Mountain Side  Ã‚      First published after the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865, Walt Whitman’s poem â€Å"Bivouac on a Mountain Side† portrays more than just the tangible picture of a transcendentalist’s vision. The mood of the poem reflects the author’s observations and visions of the Civil War while stationed in Washington and Virginia as well as his beliefs about the war by use of imagery and symbolism.    The use of imagery in â€Å"Bivouac on a Mountain Side† is one of the compelling factors that draws the reader into the poem so that he/she no longer reads what Whitman is writing, but rather sees what he is describing and understands Whitman’s place in the war. Different from other Whitman poems, â€Å"Bivouac on a Mountain Side† does not contain the title phrase anywhere in the body of the poem, but rather sets the stage for the described scene. Whitman’s use of imagery in â€Å"Bivouac on a Mountain Side† provides the basis for symbolic representation in the poem. In the first line of the poem, â€Å"I see before me now a traveling army halting†, begins the description of a troop that he is observing. Starting with the second line of the poem, Whitman attaches meaning to each of the elements in the poem. â€Å"A fertile valley spread, with barns and the orchards of summer† symbolizes the peaceful stillness of a country that has not been torn by war. In a sense, the second line is used to represent an unadulterated America. However, behind that lies â€Å"the terraced sides of a mountain, abrupt, in places rising high, broken with rocks, with clinging cedars, and with tall shapes dingily seen† (lines 3 and 4). The description of this grand and almost menacing mountain, in contrast to the val... ...ut first hand observations of the war taking place around him. Looking deeper into the poem enables the reader to gain Whitman’s insight about the soldiers during the war: their fear, excitement, and hope.          (1)  Ã‚   I see before me now a traveling army halting (2)  Ã‚   Below a fertile valley spread, with barns and the orchards of summer, (3)  Ã‚   Behind, the terraced sides of a mountain, abrupt, in places rising high, (4)  Ã‚   Broken, with rocks, with clinging cedars, with tall shapes dingily seen, (5)  Ã‚   The numerous camp-fires scatter’d near and far, some away up on the mountain, (6)  Ã‚   The shadowy forms of men and horses, looming, large-sized, flickering (7)  Ã‚   And over all the sky- the sky! Far, far out of reach, studded, breaking out, the eternal stars      

Mike McCurry

Mike McCurry is a partner at Public Strategies Washington Inc. where he provides strategic communications counsel. He is a co-chairman of Hands off the Internet, a coalition of telecommunication-related businesses. McCurry served as press secretary to President Bill Clinton from 1995 until 1998. His views and opinions on the 2006 elections are as follows: I think what we need is a new politics of the center that with the right kind of charismatic candidate could lead to the development of a third party. I think that may happen as we look ahead to 2008. So the big question in American politics now – is it [the American political party system] binary or is it tripartite? Presidential wannabe Mike Huckabee seems to have forgotten about how the Ds and the Rs worked together to give us the Patriot Act, the War and Iraq, and numerous other assaults on our freedom: You have parties that essentially don't work together to solve problems, and I think people in America are not so much looking for an ideological government, they're looking for a problem-solving government. White House correspondent Mike Allen more or less admits that he ignores candidates who don't have an R or a D attached to their name: One of the ways that you're able to sort of keep things down the middle is that you spend as much time talking to the opposition as you do talking to your candidate. So if I'm, for instance, covering President Bush in 2004 and I have the privilege to be on Air Force One covering his events, I'll also talk during the day to the Kerry campaign on my cell phone, read their e-mails as they come through to our Treos or Blackberrys or the other little devices that we carry. So at the end of the day, if you're covering a candidate, you know the best argument for what they're saying because you hear their events, talk to the staff members who love and appreciate them, and you know any holes there might be in that argument because you're doing the research yourself, often with the aid of the other side. So what we try to do is bring those together and give people the complete package. Political scientists will tell you that the almost natural result of that is two dominant parties running for the center, trying to offend as few people as possible, and that's what gives us situations where everybody avoids the issues when they're running for office, situations where you have groupthink to a certain extent in legislatures, such as the resounding vote in allowing President Bush to take us to war in Iraq. I am agreeing with views and opinions by Mr. Mike McCurry since from the opposite side of the political divide, Mike McCurry has strikingly similar views. He watched the Gingrich revolution from his perch as Clinton's press secretary from 1995 until 1998. Democratic and Republican strategists Mike McCurry and Jack Oliver and Shayne Moore, a stay-at-home mom queuing up to vote. It urges Americans to ask â€Å"what does your candidate think† about global poverty when casting a vote at the polls. In 2004, when congressional Democrats discussed how the party could connect with religious Americans, there was one man everyone wanted in the room: Mike McCurry. Not only was McCurry press secretary for President Bill Clinton — one of the last Democrats to earn amens from the choir — he is also a Methodist Sunday school teacher and a board member at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington. â€Å"Mike lives his faith in such a committed way and believes deeply that public service is a form of Christian vocation,† said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. McCurry, who turns 52 next week, is best known for facing down the media during the Clinton impeachment proceedings — a chore that won him the respect (and sympathy) of his peers. More recently, he advised Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign on religious outreach after the candidate began to take heat from Catholic conservatives. (for more details, see the   www.uselectionatlas.org official site)

Compair Voyages by Chinese Fleet in Early 1400s to Voyages of Lberians

Cody Gundick History Oct 8, 2012 History Essay For most of the last several thousand years, it would have seemed far likelier that Chinese or Indians, not Europeans, would dominate the world by the year 2000, and that America and Australia would be settled by Chinese rather than by the inhabitants of a backward island called Britain. (The Prequel, Kristof p552) The voyages by the Chinese fleet were very different but had some similarities to the voyages of the Liberians. The Portuguese and Spaniards had different goals, because of their heritage, in the voyages.Depending on what Spanish voyage it was the captain of the voyages were different but sometimes similar in some ways. The Chinese were far more advanced in technology that the Spaniards or the Portuguese were. Westerners often attribute their economic advantage today to the intelligence, democratic habits, or hard word of their forebears, but a more important reason may well have been the folly of fifteenth-century Chinese rul ers. (The Prequel, Kristof p. 553) Zheng He was a muslin from a rebel family and had seized by the Chinese army when he was a boy.The turning point in the 1400s was when Admiral Zheng He sailed from China to concur the world on several voyages. One captain similar to Zheng He was Vasco da Gama. In 1497 the Portuguese seaman led a fleet of for ships around the southern tip of Africa into the Indian Ocean. He kind of copied off of Bartolomeu Dias but Vasco da Gama didn’t return back to Portugal. Both of those men worked for their king while Zheng He did it all for himself. Not to be selfish, he didn’t keep all the knowledge he got for himself he just went on the expeditions and didn’t have to take orders from anyone.Vasco da Gama was trying to give riches to his king but he failed when none of his worthless gifts were successful. However, his voyages were all about trade routs. They were looking for another way to get to Europe instead of taking the treacherous wa y across the land. ZHeng He was not interested in trade routs nor with Europe at all. Another captain that has to take orders from a king is Christopher Columbus. He was an Italian sailor from Genoa. He tried to sail west to Asia but as many people know today that is impossible.Columbus reached the Caribbean islands thinking he was by China and Japan. Zheng He would probably laugh in Columbus’s face if Christopher came up to Zheng and asked him to fund his voyages. First Columbus named the islands after his king and queen then he wandered around looking for big cities. He was greatly interested in the people and wanted to learn their speech and ways. Zheng He would have showed up to the island, took one leader and some interesting items back home and try to learn about it from there.If Columbus had as much power, money, and technology as Zheng He there voyages wouldn’t have been much different. The goals of the Spaniards were far different from those of Zheng He. As I said before Zheng He was not concerned in spreading his religions, customs, or technologies. He just wanted to learn about the world in his own way. Yes he had a lot of soldiers but he didn’t capture and concur land with them. He just plundered the lands for knowledge and items. A far different captain from Zheng He was Hernan Cortes.Cortes, of minor noble descent, at the age of nineteen sailed to the Indies, where he established a big estate on the island of Hispaniola. When he heard stories of Montezuma’s gold he was determined to take it from him. (The Conquest of New Spain, Bernal Diaz p598) Unlike Columbus and Zheng He, Cortes geared up for war. He brought 500 soldiers, eleven ships, 16 horses, and several pieces of artillery. (The Conquest of New Spain, Bernal Diaz p598) Cortes still had to follow the rules of his leader but he later disobeyed him and became a wanted man back as his country.Cortes was not interested in trade or economic issues to better his home country. He was determined to have everything for him self and to try spread Christianity to please the king. That also comes with trying to in slave all of the Indians. That he did after he used his brilliant strategy to kill Montezuma and take over the city. The only thing that Zheng He did badly for himself was when he wanted to get items that he had nothing to give in return beside Peaceful power projection. It was that Zheng He promised to ally with the people that gave him what he wanted.The Spaniards did terrible things to the Indians. The took infants from their mothers breast, snatching hem by the legs and pitching them headfirst against the crags or snatched them by the arms and threw them into the rivers, roaring with laughter and saying as the babies fell into the water, Boil there you offspring of the devil. (The Devastation of the Indies, Bartolome De Las Casas p615) If Zheng He had that kind of attitude of capture and concur he could have easily done it. But thank god he didn’t.Zheng He, in my opinion, could do anything he wanted. China was the worlds powerhouse and I wish Zheng He went to the Indians before the Spaniards to give them Peaceful Power Projection because he could have allied with them and gave them protection from the evil blood thirsty Spaniards. Even though he was behind in time China was far more advanced than any other country. In Zheng He’s time, China and India together accounted for more than half of the world’s gross national produce. (The Prequel, Kristof p553) As they have for most of history.In 1820 China accounted for 29% of the global economy and India another 16%, according to the calculations of Angus Maddison, a leading British economic historian. Zheng He’s fleet was far bigger than any Spanish or Portugal fleet. Not until World War I did the west mount anything comparable to his fleet. His ships were filled with 28,000 sailors on 300 ships, (The Prequel, Kristof p552) and all he was con cerned about was learning. Zheng He could have easily continued around the Cape of Good Hope and established direct trade with Europe.But as they saw it Europe was a backward region and China had little interest in it. (The Prequel, Kristof p554) Because China was not driven by conquest or imperialistic domination I would have much rather be a soldier on his ship than any other ship sponsored by a king and queen. To conclude, the Spanish were concerned about spreading Christianity, Portugal wanted trade, that’s probably why they had one of the greatest ports, and China, well just the emperor wanted to learn about the world around him. Too bad that was not continued after his death.

Application of skills †Education Evaluation, Test Administration

Application of skills – Education Evaluation, Test Administration Introduction Educational evaluation is the methodical measurement of educational activities in order to determine the outcome. The starting point of evaluation is based on the instruction program adopted, the goals of education and the initiative of the school towards education. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Application of skills – Education Evaluation, Test Administration specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Educational evaluation aims at assessing the merits of educational programs as well as the impacts of the initiatives. One way through which evaluation of skills can be achieved is through test administration. There are various types of assessment both formal and informal which can be used by educators to gauge the outcome of educational activities such as reading. Formative Assessment This is a type of assessment where the results of evaluation are used for revision purposes with the aim of improving the performance of learners. This process of assessment is diagnostic in that it provides feedback to teachers as well as learners in the course of instruction. As a result, the skills tested in reading are improved with time (Center for Educational Research and Innovation, 2005, p. 251). Purpose of formative assessment in reading A teacher will often want to know the progress of the students during a reading session. Formative assessment offers grounds for identification of the learning outcome of the students in time. Therefore it is possible to determine their performance. When the teachers are aware of the students’ progress and the problems arising from comprehension, they can use this information in making essential instructional improvements such as remedial teaching, change of instructional methods or reviewing instructional objectives (Boston, 2002, p. 3). Formative assessment is also significant in identifying and helping students who are low achievers as well as those with learning disabilities. This is successful when the teacher adopts different methods which facilitate effective learning for such students. In administering formative assessment, teachers are interested in getting feedback of the learning activities. This feedback helps the learners to be aware of the existing loop holes in relation to the set goals and their current position in terms of skills, knowledge and comprehension. As a result, the student is motivated to take the necessary action directed towards achieving the set goal.Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In administering formative assessment, there are specific considerations to be observed. These include the level of students to be assessed, the content to be assessed and the resources available for assessment. All these determine the strategies to be used in an assessment (Boston, 2002, p. 4). In reading, the b asic skill measured is on the student’s understanding of the read text. A teacher can use brainstorming prior to reading a text for the students to have a picture in mind related to the text. After reading, well ordered questions can be asked concerning the text to gauge the understanding of learners. For instance, in Pollock’s story, ‘Betsy Brandon meets the president’, a brainstorm session would require learners to respond to questions regarding a meeting with a very important person and how they would feel if they were to meet the president. With regard to test 1, of Pollock’s story, the questions are well ordered testing from those which require simple recall of facts by the student such as question one and two. The teacher then goes to question three which tests the student’s vocabulary development and finally to question four, five and six which require the learner to go further by giving a simple critique to test their analysis of th e story. In a formative assessment test such as test 1, every response from the leaner is reinforced by verbal praise or other forms of rewards to encourage participation of learners. Conclusion Evaluation in education is an important aspect worth incorporating. Reading comprehension and formative assessment help both the students and the teachers to know their position in the academic endeavor. Educators should therefore make use of this type of assessment so as to improve learner’s comprehension skills in reading. Reference List Boston, C. (2002). The concept of formative assessment. Journal of Practical Assessment, Research Evaluation. 8(9): 1-5.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Application of skills – Education Evaluation, Test Administration specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Center for Educational Research and Innovation, (2005). Formative assessment. Improving learning in secondary schools. Par is, France: O.E.C.D.

Medieval cities essays

Medieval cities essays Medieval towns were much more advanced then the feudal world surrounding them. These medieval towns popped up all over medieval Europe in the sites of the old cities. Medieval towns had many more opportunities for the common people then feudal communities did. In the feudal world you could only be one of three things: those who worked the field, those who fought, and those who ruled. Merchants in the feudal world traded mostly locally in their community. These merchants did not trade with money. They used the bartering system, which means they exchanged things for things . They traded chickens for a certain amount of grain or made payments in land use. Local markets or fairs were held, where merchants exchanged the products of their farms. People of the feudal world were knit together by their village and had a dependency upon the lord. Money was what transformed Europe from feudal villages to cities. The traveling merchants helped the flow of money by traveling from place to place exchanging coins. Great fairs and markets were held in the cities where goods of the east were available as well as European goods such as salt, metals, food, and wool .Moneychangers were flourishing from the trade and flow of money in Europe. These moneychangers consisted mostly of Jews because it was against Christian belief to lend money at interest. The moneychangers were basically bankers who changed foreign currency into the local currency. In medieval towns there wasnt much of a class distinction. People either made things, bought things, or sold things. Many cities developed around the bishops house and the cathedral. Merchants from distant places would often come to trade and end up settling around the cathedral in a little merchant community. Many landowners moved to town and some peasants where able to escape serfdom to live in towns. The bishops town and the merchants town would eventually merge and bec...

Boldwoods Christmas party Essay Example for Free

Boldwood’s Christmas party Essay Bathsheba Everdene is the main character in a Thomas Hardy novel called â€Å"Far From the Madding Crowd†. Which is set in Wessex. Bathsheba’s character is along with many other things decisive, brisk, vain, businesslike, and independent. However you see her evolve throughout the book, mainly as a result of her marriage to Frank Troy. At the beginning of the story Hardy seems to focus on her bad qualities, though you still see people wishing to be married to her. Some good qualities are shown as well like her thoughtful response to save Gabriel’s life. This trait is mentioned in chapter one, almost everything else follows on from this. Vanity affects the way she behaves in a powerful way. Her vanity makes her annoyed and angry at not attracting Boldwood’s attention. When she meets Frank Troy he plays up to her vanity by paying her compliments and showing her flirtatious affection. By the end of the story she shows that she has grown out of or overcome her vanity. Instead of wanting to stand out and have everyone looking at her, at Boldwood’s Christmas party, she dresses down and wants to merge into the background. You can also see she is not vain because when Boldwood praises her beauty the comments have no effect. Her life experiences have caused this change in her. The main life experience is her marriage to Frank Troy which affected her the most. She transforms from a confident character to a submissive and introverted figure she becomes less and less like her usual self. The first sign you see of independence is fairly near the beginning in chapter three, when we see her riding the horse. Instead of doing it the conventional ladylike way we see her lie flat on her back on top of the horse’s back. This could be showing her independence and unconventional behaviour, this would tie in with an independent spirit â€Å"too wild†. She likes to have independence so later on in the story when this is taken away from her we see her rely on Gabriel Oak. She always had her own independence, but when she got married she lost that independence and we see her seek advice and help from Gabriel Oak. At one point in the story she rejects Gabriel’s advice, but later on in chapter fifty four she asks for it. This shows a big change in her personality. She once would have done her own thing and maybe even sacked Gabriel for his ‘advice’ whereas she now values both him and his opinion. Her independence continues to be shown throughout the rest if the story, even after her marriage to Frank Troy. Independence along with confidence is showed when she goes to the corn market and is the only woman there. Another characteristic shown is confidence with businesslike skills. An example of this would be when she takes it upon herself to sack her bailiff. â€Å"I have formed a resolution to have no bailiff at all†. Bathsheba’s confidence continues to be shown with her decision to pay the workers herself in chapter ten. Bathsheba has a lot of confidence in herself. â€Å"In short I shall astonish you all†. This is said shortly after her decision to have no bailiff when she is convincing the staff that she can manage. The speech shows her self-confidence shining and her belief in her own ability. Towards the end of the novel we see her find an even balance between the overconfidence which she showed through the beginning of the novel which made her appear full of herself, compared with when she had little or no confidence and relied on Frank Troy, to finally become a person who can cope on her own but realises she cannot do everything to the best of her ability without assistance. Before we see her lose her self confidence she shows she believes in herself by going to the Corn Market, making her the only woman present. One thing bothers Bathsheba; the fact that Boldwood is the only person who does not take notice of her. This lack of attention shows us how she craves to be the centre of attention; you could even go as far as calling her an attention seeker. She will do silly antics in an attempt to attract people’s attention. For example the Valentine’s Day card. Bathsheba tries to make herself popular with everyone especially men; this seems to be her biggest desire. In chapter thirteen she mischievously sends a Valentine card to Boldwood to attract his attention. This starts Bathsheba’s change. She wants people to notice her and does not sit around waiting she takes action for herself. The sending of the Valentines card shows her vain characteristic. A big characteristic she shows throughout is impulsiveness, she does things without thinking. The Valentine’s Day card is an example of this; another example of this earlier in the book is when she chases Gabriel Oak after he had been wrongly informed that many men wanted her hand in marriage; though she did not want to accept his proposal. She did not think that her actions would show this until after the conversation her and Gabriel had. Many of her actions are on impulse she doesn’t think things through first. Later on however she takes time to think about Fanny’s grave and she decides to clean it up and replant the bulbs on it. This also shows she can be selfless. When Gabriel gives her advice early in the novel she decides she doesn’t like what he has to say. She sacks him whilst she was angry and acting highly impulsively. This demonstrates how she doesn’t want to face the truth even though she values his opinion; later in the novel after the â€Å"drowning† of Frank Troy she relents asking him for his thoughts. Boldwood’s Christmas party. (2017, Oct 01). 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Some Abortions are Immoral and Some are Moral Essay

Some Abortions are Immoral and Some are Moral - Essay Example The debate on 'Why would a mother choose to end her own child's life' is never ending. There are various moral, ethical, health and legal issues involved. Abortion not only effects mother and her baby but also the rest of the family members: father, siblings of baby, grandparents, friends and everyone else involved in the process. 1. Measure of birth control: 98% of abortions result as a measure of birth control. It is the leading cause of death in America. Since no birth control method is 100% effective, women opt for a termination in case of an unplanned pregnancy ("Abortion 101,"n.d.). 2. Teenage Pregnancy: One of the major reasons of teenage pregnancy is unawareness. Most of these pregnancies are unintended resulting from unsafe sex. Teens choose abortion as they are not prepared to become parents at such an early age of life. In 1999, over 148,000 teenage pregnancies ended in abortion. Most of the abortions are performed without the consent and knowledge of parents. The best measure to prevent the teenage pregnancy is the education about safe sex and support of parents (Alford, 2003). 3. Rape and incest: Rape and incest victims account for 1% of the abortion cases ("Abortion 101,"n.d.).Abortion is often seen as a solution to the problem. But it can have serious long lasting effects on the mother such as depression, guilt, anger, loneliness. (Reardon, 1994). 4. Single parenting: In many cases, woman's partner may not support her in pregnancy and wants to go ahead with the abortion. This leaves mother in dilemma to choose birth or abortion. Understanding the problems faced by single mothers in the society, mother may opt for an abortion ("Why Do Women Have Abortions," 2006). 5. Financial issues: Some mothers consider that they are not financially sound to support their child after birth. This situation may lead to inadequacy of indispensable resources in upbringing of the child. The future and security of both the mother and the child are at risk. Most of the times this situation is due to single parenting ("Why Do Women Have Abortions," 2006). 6. Pregnancy due to a dishonest premarital or extramarital relationship: Pregnancy resulting from an illicit relation may ruin a women's family and social life. It may have serious impact on other family members such as her husband, other children, in laws and friends. 7. Pregnancy as a hurdle in education and career: College age women form the major abortion carrying group. Pregnancy is seen as hurdle in realizing their dreams. 8. Gender selection: It is also a major cause of abortions, especially in Asian countries like India and China. Families who do not have enough funds to raise and educate many children, opt for sons who will eventually earn for the family in future and abort girl child with the fear of raising her to be married into someone's else's home. 9. Domestic violence issues: Women subjected to domestic violence in their families do not want to give birth and raise their babies in such an environment and choose an abortion over birth. 10. Birth defects detected in the babies: If the medical tests detect birth defects in the babies, mothers can opt

Corporate Social Responsibility Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

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Analytical Tools - Case Study Example This makes the analysis important in that it supports the process of by which the events are reported, investigated and relevant actions taken to help avoid the incidence (Ferrer & Thurman, 2009).   The identified airline flight data in my case study is events data report. This is a data that has all the events that took place during the flight process. This type of data is useful since it provides the actual occurrence of the journey with other airlines that take the same route. These include the prior preparations of the journey. These prior preparations include carrying the safety materials and equipment for the assurance of getting to the destination. This reports that contain data are carefully filled and safeguarded by the operations personnel of a particular flight. They are then incorporated in the flight data monitoring or the flight operational quality assurance program (Ferrer & Thurman, 2009).   Occurrence reports are contained in most of the airlines and are managed by the ground personnel. Today the safety tools are both conducted and applied by the ground personnel as opposed to the few years ago whereby the tools were only used by the cabin crew and personnel (Ferrer & Thurman, 2009).   Some airlines have gone a mile further to supplement the safety tools with confidential human factors reporting systems. The tools attend more to human factors as opposed to the details that are found in the typical airline reports. The reports are particularly encouraged by the crew members of the flight by exchanging the relevant safety information. This is one particular way of coordinating the information by getting the right one (Ferrer & Thurman, 2009).   Digital flight data is electronic in nature and hence easily transferable for long distances. These are the data that are recorded by the radar and hence worked upon. This particular data can be kept on very many airlines at a particular

According to Darwin Essay Example for Free

According to Darwin Essay 1) Fossil fuels were formed a very long time ago from plants and animals that were buried and with time changes into oil, coal and natural gas. They are essentially not part of the carbon cycle. However when man burns fossil fuels, they upset the balance of CO2 concentration in the cycle as they released a lot of amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. With the abundance of CO2 in the atmosphere, all are not used for the photosynthesis and respiration sustained by the cycle. The excess CO2 contributes to the greenhouse effect, a condition where more heat is trap in the earth because of too many CO2 in the atmosphere. As a result, global warming occurs (Gautier, 2008, pp. 78-79). 2) All four species of lizards that are closely related can become separate species because of the process of active radiation. In an island, these four lizards may live and utilize in different microenvironments of different habitats. There is a rapid speciation of these lizards proceeding to the phenotypic adaptation to divergent environments. See more: Social process essay According to Darwin in 1842, phenotypes of species ‘fit’ the divergent environments that they inhabit, and hence that species have â€Å"been taken and modified for different ends† (qtd Schluter, 2000, pp. 10-12). 3). The DNA (chromatins) are not visible in the interphase because by then they are still uncoiled, diffused and disorganized in the nucleus. What happens at this time is that genetic information is transcribed to produce RNA. They appear as dots or grains or thin long strands. However to facilitate separation of DNA, chromosomes are duplicated in the S phase. To prepare for mitosis, the chromosomes condense; condensin (an elongated complex of several proteins) mediates then binds and circles DNA into a single chromatid at multiple spots, twisting the chromatin into a variety of shorter and thicker coils and loops. This made the DNA visible in the microscope (Hartl Jones, 2005, pp. 75-76). 4). The four daughter cells produced in meiosis are unique resulting from a variation of two processes known as independent segregation of the chromosomes and crossing-over. In the independent segregation at the end of Meiosis I, two very different intermediate cells are produced. Crossing-over then takes place in meiosis I which affords time and opportunity for the random exchange of information from homologous pairs of chromosomes resulting to the unique combination of alleles. These are the reasons why four daughter cells have completely different set of genetic information (Hartl Jones, 2005, p. 115).

Contemporary Issues in Leadership

Contemporary Issues in Leadership Leadership is the process of influencing the behavior of others to work willingly and enthusiastically for achieving predetermined goals. It may be seen in terms of relationship between a leader and his followers (individuals / groups) which arises out of their functioning for common goals. The followers work willingly to achieve goal, thus there is no coercive force which induces the followers to work. LEADERS AS Shapers of Meaning Framing Issues. Framing is a way to use language to manage meaning. Its a way for leaders to influence how events are seen and understood. Contemporary roles relating to lead team as managing the conflicts; coaching to improve team member performance; used to serve as troubleshooters. It seems to respond in a group in which they have to participate with the leader. It involves mentor who is a senior employee who sponsors and supports a less experienced employee. Leadership can be taught online as it builds trust in the working environment of the organization. Challenges facing to leadership can be on the basis of qualities attributed as leaders are intelligent, ongoing, have strong verbal skills, understanding, are aggressive and industrious. Actually they perceive or project the appearance of being a leader. Many people today are seeking to understand and many people are writing about the concept and practices of leadership.. The concept of leadership is relevant to any aspect of ensuring effectiveness in organizations and in managing change. There has been an explosion of literature about leadership lately. Leading is a very human activity were all human so there are many people who consider themselves experts on leadership. There are a great many reasons for the popularity of the topic, including that organizations are faced with changes like never before. Understanding the concept of leadership requires more than reading a few articles or fantasizing about what great leaders should be. Contemporary issues includes [1] out of the box thinking; [2]leading by example; [3]globalization;[ 4]changing group dynamics; [5]technology; [6]quick decision making; [7]dealing with change and uncertainty; [8]mentoring; [9]ethical behavior; [10] recruiting and retaining quality workers. Now, managerial and leadership effectiveness depends on the ability to gain the trust of the followers. A recent survey in U.S. employees found that only half trusted their senior manager. Also the bad practices of corporations in the U.S. like the leaders of ENRON, WORLDCOM, etc that were accused of engaging in activities like secret loans, insider trading, manipulating profit figures, evading taxes all these has lost the confidence and trust of employees and investors, supplier, customers in senior executives. Unfortunately, many people make strong assertions about leadership without ever really understanding a great deal about leadership. Leaders need basic intelligence and job related knowledge but this is not enough. They are necessary but not sufficient. It is emotional intelligence that makes him a star performer. These are: Self-awareness exhibited by self confidence, realistic self assessment and a sense of humor. Self management. Exhibited by trustworthiness, integrity, and comfort with ambiguity, openness to change. Self motivation: exhibited by strong drive to achieve, optimism, and high organizational commitment. Empathy cross cultural sensitivity, expertise in building talents. ABSTRACT: However, subsequent scientific studies find that leaders are not exceptionally brilliant, splendid speakers or highly energetic. Instead, leaders know how to forge relationships and accomplish tasks. In fact, analysts find that leaders ability to accomplish tasks is even more important than their interpersonal skills. Leadership Personalities Academic studies achieve varied results when they try to isolate the characteristics of effective leaders. In work done in 1948 that is still well-regarded, scholar Ralph Stogdill proposed that leaders have five clusters of characteristics that make them good at leading. The five are: capacity (intelligence, judgment); achievement (knowledge, scholarship); responsibility (dependability, aggressiveness, self control, and desire to excel); participation (activity, sociability, cooperation, adaptability) and status (position, popularity). In 1990, subsequent research identified five more factors that leaders have in common: they are reliable, agreeable, extroverted, and emotionally stable and open to new experiences. Current theory proposes that anyone can become a leader to some degree if he or she can: Be confident about taking action, and controlling his or her life. Use power in pro-social ways that extend beyond personal gain or narcissism. Develop personal vision by seeing the future impact of todays actions. Leaders must have vision, a future view of events. Good leaders have the ability to convey their visions and make the future unfold as they hope it will. This generally begins with writing a vision statement, a process that often goes badly. Commonly, vision statements are confusing. They tend to cite goals that are really associated with strategies and objectives, not vision. To craft an effective vision statement, write a brief, memorable declaration. Then share your vision; make it more tangible by telling stories and using metaphors. Good leaders consistently align their actions with their verbal messages. They see their followers in a positive light, and care about their well being. Strong leaders provide the proper support to help their followers accept new challenges. Leaders assist others in finding meaning in their work and in their lives. Emotional Intelligence Leaders forge relationships with groups or individuals. The individual relationships tend to be more intellectual but, in both cases, good leaders exhibit highly developed emotional or social intelligence. They are self-aware, socially skilled, disciplined and able to deal capably with other people. People with emotional intelligence think before they act, focus on their goals, understand other peoples emotions and have the skill to establish common grounds for discussion. In this instance, scholars concluded that even the most talented executive cannot succeed without emotional intelligence. Some major corporations that wanted to encourage future leaders in their ranks hired psychologists to sort out leadership characteristics. The psychologists found that leaders are smart and have solid, long-term vision, but that their emotional intelligence is twice as important as either intellect or vision. One study shows that companies where the employees have high emotional intelligence earn higher profits. The reverse is also demonstrably true. A workforce marked by a lack of emotional intelligence can mean lower profits. Leaders can learn emotional intelligence. People who know their limitations can plan to avoid stressful situations or to work around events that tug at their weaknesses. One-on-one training is the best way to learn how to improve your emotional intelligence. Such training focuses on correcting undesirable social habits, such as acting impulsively or being a bad listener. Because this process requires people to correct brain-based emotional drives, it is time-consuming. Theory of Leadership Leadership has been described as the process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task. Definitions more inclusive of followers have also emerged. Alan Keith of Genentech states that, Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen. According to Ken Ogbonnia effective leadership is the ability to successfully integrate and maximize available resources within the internal and external environment for the attainment of organizational or societal goals. Leadership remains one of the most relevant aspects of the organizational context. However, defining leadership has been challenging and definitions can vary depending on the situation. According to Ann Marie E. McSwain, Assistant Professor at Lincoln University, leadership is about capacity: the capacity of leaders to listen and observe, to use their expertise as a starting point to encourage dialogue between all levels of decision-making, to establish processes and transparency in decision-making, to articulate their own values and visions clearly but not impose them. Leadership is about setting and not just reacting to agendas, identifying problems, and initiating change that makes for substantive improvement rather than managing change. The following sections discuss several important aspects of leadership including a description of what leadership is and a description of several popular theories and styles of leadership. This article also discusses topics such as the role of emotions and vision, as well as leadership effectiveness and performance, leadership in different contexts, how it may differ from related concepts (i.e., management), and some critiques of leadership as generally conceived. Trait Theory Trait theory tries to describe the types of behavior and personality tendencies associated with effective leadership. In modern times, Thomas Carlyle (1841) can be considered one of the forerunners of trait theory, seeking to identify the talents, skills and physical characteristics of men who rose to power Although trait theory has an intuitive appeal, difficulties may arise in proving its tenets, and opponents frequently challenge this approach. The strongest versions of trait theory see these leadership characteristics as innate, and accordingly label some people as born leaders due to their psychological makeup. On this reading of the theory, leadership development involves identifying and measuring leadership qualities, screening potential leaders from non-leaders, then training those with potential. In response to criticisms of the trait approach, researchers have begun to assess leader attributes using the leadership attribute pattern approach. Behavioral and style Theories In response to the criticism of the trait approach, theorists began to research leadership as a set of behaviors, evaluating the behavior of successful leaders, determining behavior taxonomy and identifying broad leadership styles. David McClelland, for example, saw leadership skills, not so much as a set of traits, but as a pattern of motives. He claimed that successful leaders will tend to have a high need for power, a low need for affiliation, and a high level of what he called activity inhibition (one might call it self-control The researchers evaluated the performance of groups of eleven-year-old boys under different types of work climate. In each, the leader exercised his influence regarding the type of group decision making, praise and criticism (feedback), and the management of the group tasks (project management) Situational and contingency Theories Situational theory also appeared as a reaction to the trait theory of leadership. This theory assumes that different situations call for different characteristics; according to this group of theories, no single optimal psychographic profile of a leader exists. According to the theory, what an individual actually does when acting as a leader is in large part dependent upon characteristics of the situation in which he functions. Some theorists started to synthesize the trait and situational approaches. The descriptive models of leadership climates, defining three leadership styles and identifying in which situations each style works better. The authoritarian leadership style, for example, is approved in periods of crisis but fails to win the hearts and minds of their followers in the day-to-day management; the democratic leadership style is more adequate in situations that require consensus building; finally, the laissez faire leadership style is appreciated by the degree of freedom it provides, but as the leader does not take charge, he can be perceived as a failure in protracted or thorny organizational problems. Thus, theorists defined the style of leadership as contingent to the situation, which is sometimes classified as contingency theory. Four contingency leadership theories appear more prominently in the recent years: Fiedler contingency model, Vroom-Yetton decision model, the path-goal theory, and t he Hersey-Blanchard situational theory. Functional Theory Functional leadership theory is a particularly useful theory for addressing specific leader behaviors expected to contribute to organizational or unit effectiveness. This theory argues that the leaders main job is to see that whatever is necessary to group needs is taken care of; thus, a leader can be said to have done their job well when they have contributed to group effectiveness and cohesion (Fleishman et al., 1991; Hackman Wageman, 2005; Hackman Walton, 1986). While functional leadership theory has most often been applied to team leadership (Zaccaro, Rittman, Marks, 2001), it has also been effectively applied to broader organizational leadership as well (Zaccaro, 2001). In summarizing literature on functional leadership (see Kozlowski et al. (1996), Zaccaro et al. (2001), Hackman and Walton (1986), Hackman Wageman (2005), Morgeson (2005)), Klein, Zeigert, Knight, and Xiao (2006) observed five broad functions a leader performs when promoting organisations effectiveness. These functions include: (1) environmental monitoring, (2) organizing subordinate activities, (3) teaching and coaching subordinates, (4) motivating others, and (5) intervening actively in the groups work. Leader as a communicator the framing Framing is a way of communicating to shape meaning. Its a way for leaders to influence how others see and understand events. Selecting and highlighting one or more events while excluding others. It is the ability of the leader to influence others to act beyond their self interests Two contemporary theories of leadership with a common theme. Charismatic leadership Transformational leadership Charismatic Leadership The Charismatic Leader gathers followers through dint of personality and charm, rather than any form of external power or authority. The searchlight of attention It is interesting to watch a Charismatic Leader working the room as they move from person to person. They pay much attention to the person they are talking to at any one moment, making that person feel like they are, for that time, the most important person in the world. Charismatic Leaders pay a great deal of attention in scanning and reading their environment, and are good at picking up the moods and concerns of both individuals and larger audiences. They then will hone their actions and words to suit the situation. Pulling all of the strings Charismatic Leaders use a wide range of methods to manage their image and, if they are not naturally charismatic, may practice assiduously at developing their skills. They may engender trust through visible self-sacrifice and taking personal risks in the name of their beliefs. They will show great confidence in their followers. They are very persuasive and make very effective use of body language as well as verbal language. Deliberate charisma is played out in a theatrical sense, where the leader is playing to the house to create a desired effect. They also make effective use of storytelling, including the use of symbolism and metaphor. Many politicians use a charismatic style, as they need to gather a large number of followers. If you want to increase your charisma, studying videos of their speeches and the way they interact with others is a great source of learning. Religious leaders, too, may well use charisma, as do cult leaders. Leading the team Charismatic Leaders, who are building a group, whether it is a political party, a cult or a business team, will often focus strongly on making the group very clear and distinct, separating it from other groups. They will then build the image of the group, in particular in the minds of their followers, as being far superior to all others. The Charismatic Leader will typically attach themselves firmly to the identify of the group, such that to join the group is to become one with the leader. In doing so, they create an unchallengeable position for themselves. Key characteristics of charismatic leadership Vision and articulation; Sensitivity to the environment; Sensitivity to member needs; Personal risk taking; Performing unconventional behavior Vision and articulations Has a vision Expressed as an idealized goal The goal proposes a future better than the status quo Is able to clarify the importance of the vision in terms that are understandable to others. Personal risk Willing to take on high personal risk Incur high costs Engage in self sacrifice to achieve the vision Sensitivity to followers needs Perspective of others abilities Responsive to others needs and feelings. Unconventional behavior Engages in behaviors in behaviors that are novel and counter to norms. Personality of charismatic leaders Extraverted Self confident Achievement oriented Articulate an over arching goal Communicate high performance expectations Empathize the needs of their followers Project a powerful confident and dynamic presence Captivating and engaging voice tone Three step process of becoming a charismatic leader An individual needs to develop an aura of charisma by maintaining an optimistic view, using passion as a catalyst for generating enthusiasm and communicating with the whole body, not just with words. .An individual draws others in by creating a bond that inspires others to follows. . An individual brings out the potential in followers by tapping into their emotions. Charismatic Leadership Issues People following these leaders will be exerting extra effort, express greater satisfaction. Charismatic effectiveness and situation Charisma works best when: The followers task has an ideological component There is a lot of stress and uncertainty in the environment The leader is at the upper level of the organization Followers have low self-esteem and self-worth Dark Side of Charisma Ego-driven charismatic allow their self-interest and personal goals to override the organizations goals Very effective leaders who possess the four typical leadership traits: Individual competency Team skills Managerial competence Ability to stimulate others to high performance Plus one critical new trait A blend of personal humility and professional will Personal ego-needs are focused toward building a great company Take responsibility for failures and give credit to others for successes Prided them on developing strong leaders inside the firm who could direct the company to greater heights after they were gone. Transactional and transformational Theories The transactional leader (Burns, 1978) is given power to perform certain tasks and reward or punish for the teams performance. It gives the opportunity to the manager to lead the group and the group agrees to follow his lead to accomplish a predetermined goal in exchange for something else. Power is given to the leader to evaluate, correct and train subordinates when productivity is not up to the desired level and reward effectiveness when expected outcome is reached. The transformational leader (Burns, 1978) motivates its team to be effective and efficient. Communication is the base for goal achievement focusing the group on the final desired outcome or goal attainment. This leader is highly visible and uses chain of command to get the job done. Transformational leaders focus on the big picture, needing to be surrounded by people who take care of the details. The leader is always looking for ideas that move the organization to reach the companys vision. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Ten Lessons for Leaders and Leadership Developers In the early 1980s we set upon a quest to discover what it took to become a leader. We wanted to know the common practices of ordinary men and women when they were at their leadership bestwhen they were able to take people to places they had never been before. Strategies, tactics, skills, and practices are empty (or worse yet, manipulative and exploitative) unless we understand the fundamental human aspirations that connect leaders and constituents. Leadership is certainly not conveyed in a gene, and its most definitely not a secret code that cant be understood by ordinary folks. Our analysis of thousands of cases and surveys from over a dozen years of research has revealed a consistent pattern of exemplary leader- ship practices and fundamental constituent expectations. But knowing that the portrait emerging from the study of personal-best leadership experiences was only a partial picture, we also explored the expectations that the constituents have of people they would be willing to follow. What weve learned from studies specifically with college student leaders over the past five years has only strengthened our fundamental appreciation that Leadership is not a mysterious, mystical, or ethereal conceptone that is somehow beyond the scope and imagination of the vast majority of people. Our research has shown us that leadership is an observable, learnable set of practices. Indeed, the belief that leadership cant be learned is a far more powerful deterrent to development than is the nature of the leadership. Where Are Our Future Leaders? Who will lead us into the twenty-first century? It is time for us to decide. A generation ago the objective of African-American activists was to destroy racial segregation and integrate mainstream political and economic institutions. Instead we must recognize that one of the root causes of our divisions and social unrest is an absence of creative, dynamic leadership. Oppressed people need leaders to liberate them. Many of us accomplished these goals. But despite examples of individual success, there remains a simmering leadership crisis that can split our community apart. This common experience of racial oppression gave us a sense of solidarity and interdependence. Black physicians depended on Black patients; Black lawyers and accountants served Black clients. With desegregation, many affluent African-Americans moved from the ghetto into integrated suburbs. Graduates of Howard and Spelman now end their children to Harvard and Swarthmore. In the cities, our sense of community has gradually deteriorated. Millions of our young people are trapped in a destructive web of inferior schools, violence, drugs, and unemployment. Historically the social classes in the Black community were bound together by Jim Crow segregation laws. Blacks on welfare and Black Ph.D.s alike were ordered to the back of the bus or denied work because of their race. We cant depend on the political systemthe Democrats or Republicansor the corporate world to solve our problems; all too often their policies have contributed to them. These leaders must be women and men with vision who have the capacity to articulate the common grievances and goals of the community. How Women Can Find Mentors in a World with Few Role Models Do women have a tougher time finding mentors than men? Thats what women managers tell me, time and again. The rest must find their own mentors. Heres some advice. (Minorities and others who have trouble finding role models in upper management can learn about creative ways to build mentoring relationships, as well.) Few women hold positions of power, the story goes. Meanwhile, members of the predominant mentoring classwhite malesare too busy seeking clones of themselves. And this serves as an effective barrier to top-level jobs. So whats to be done? A number of local and even national programs are increasing mentoring opportunities for women, but they only reach a handful of those needing guidance. Wanted: Company Change Agents The most sought-after person in todays workplace is someone known as a change leader, a new breed of middle manager whos in short supply. Very different from your run-of-the-mill general managers, these mavericks get big results when you need them. They are focused, determined, willing to break rules, and great at motivating their troops. But how do you identify these people in your organization? How do you build a cadre of such quirky but essential agents of change? McKinsey Co. director Jon R. Katzenbach has some answers. For the past three years he and a team of six McKinsey partners have been studying middle-manager change agents at organizations from Compaq Computer to Mobil to the New York City Transit. The fruit of this research is the forthcoming book Real Change Leaders. Katzenbach recently sat down with Stratford Sherman, a member of Fortunes board of editors, to discuss what he learned. Why are midlevel change leaders so important to todays organizations? For some time now companies have wanted to change the behaviors and skills of large numbers of their employees. Theyre not, however, very good at that yet. I dont see many victories; I dont think even GE would claim complete victory. You can create a good program-like [former CEO] John Akerss plan in the early 1990s to transform IBMbut it doesnt work. Something goes wrong in the middle ranks of the company, and all the admonitions from the top dont get through. For large-scale transformations, you need a critical mass of change leaders in the middle of the organization. DATA TOOLS: Leadership and emotions Leadership can be perceived as a particularly emotion-laden process, with emotions entwined with the social influence process. In an organization, the leaders mood has some effects on his/her group. These effects can be described in following method: The mood of individual group members. The leaders transmit their moods to other group members through the mechanism of emotional contagion. Mood contagion may be one of the psychological mechanisms by which charismatic leaders influence followers. Group members with leaders in a positive mood experience more positive mood than do group members with leaders in a negative mood. The affective tone of the group. Group affective tone is an aggregate of the moods of the individual members of the group and refers to mood at the group level of analysis. Groups with leaders in a positive mood have a more positive affective tone than do groups with leaders in a negative mood. Group affective tone represents the consistent or homogeneous affective reactions within a group. Group processes like coordination, effort expenditure, and task strategy. Public expressions of mood impact how group members think and act. For example, expressions of positive moods by leaders signal that leaders deem progress toward goals to be good. The group members respond to those signals cognitively and behaviorally in ways that are reflected in the group processes. When people experience and express mood, they send signals to others. Leaders signal their goals, intentions, and attitudes through their expressions of moods. In research about client service, it was found that expressions of positive mood by the leader improve the performance of the group, although in other sectors there were other findings. Beyond the leaders mood, his behavior is a source for employee positive and negative emotions at work. Examples feedback giving, allocating tasks, resource distribution. Since employee behavior and productivity are directly affected by their emotional states, it is imperative to consider employee emotional responses to organizational leaders Emotional intelligence, the ability to understand and manage moods and emotions in the self and others, contributes to effective leadership in organizations. Leadership is about being responsible. The leader creates situations and events that lead to emotional response. Certain leader behaviors displayed during interactions with their employees are the sources of these affective events. Leaders shape workplace affective events. Leadership styles Leadership styles refer to a leaders behavior. It is the result of the philosophy, personality and experience of the leader. Dictator Autocratic Participative Laissez Fair Dictator Leaders A leader who uses fear and threats to get the jobs done. As similar with a leader who uses an autocratic style of leadership, this style of leader also makes all the decisions. Autocratic or Authoritarian Leaders Under the autocratic leadership styles, all decision-making powers are centralized in the leader as shown such leaders are dictators. They do not entertain any suggestions or initiative from subordinates. The autocratic management has been successful as it provides strong motivation to the manger. It permits quick decision-making as only one person decides for the whole group, and keeps it to them until they feel it is needed by the rest of the group. An autocratic leader does not trust anybody. Participative or Democratic Leaders The democratic leadership style favors decision-making by the group as shown, such as leader gives instruction after consulting the group. He can win the cooperation of his group and can motivate them effectively and positively. The decisions of the democratic leader are not unilateral as with the autocrat because they arise from consultation with the group members and participation by them. Laissez Faire or Free Rein Leaders A free rein leader does not lead, but leaves the group entirely to itself as shown; such a leader allows maximum freedom to subordinates. They are given a freehand in deciding their own policies and methods. Free rein leadership style is considered better than the authoritarian style. But it is not as effective as the democratic style. Transactional and Transformational Leadership Transactional Leaders Leaders who guide or motivate their followers in the direction of established goals by clarifying role and task requirements Transformational Leaders Inspire followers to transcend their own self-interests for the good of the organization; they can have a profound and extraordinary effect on followers Not opposing, but complementary, approaches to leadership Great transformational leaders must also be transactional; only one type is not enough for success Characteristics of the Two Types of Leaders Transactional Contingent Reward: Contracts exchange of rewards for effort, promises rewards for good performance, recognizes accomplishments Management by Exception: Active: Watches and searches for deviations from rules and standards, takes corrective action Passive: Intervenes only if standards are not met Laissez-Faire: Abdi