Anthropology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Anthropology - Essay Example ma’s speech during the Democratic National Convention coupled with specific examples that relate to respective discursive Strategies as seen in the speech. Indeed, in his speech, Obama clearly applies at least two of this Discursive Strategies. In his speech, Obama uses the â€Å"narratives of belonging† strategy to construct â€Å"existential coherence.† Duranti presents this strategy as part of personal experiences that the political speaker possesses. Duranti establishes the fact that these experiences connect the speaker emotionally and morally to the present place and audience. This strategy shows that the political speaker is an ordinary citizen and will thus represent the audience ideally once elected. In his speech, Obama used the â€Å"narratives of belonging† strategy in various occasions. ... I have shared the pain of families who've lost their homes, and the frustration of workers who have lost their jobs.† (Fox News Web). As such, the use of this strategy clearly helps Obama to identify with the Americans, denotes his experience in handling national issues, and thereby convinces the audience that he will ideally represent them once reelected as the US President. Duranti consequently defines â€Å"the [use of] the present as a ‘natural extension’ of the past† strategy to construct â€Å"existential coherence† as a relation between present decision and experience. In various occasions during his speech, Obama demonstrated the use of this strategy. Indeed, he quotes that, â€Å"You know, in a world of new threats and new challenges, you can choose leadership that has been tested and proven. Four years ago, I promised to end the war in Iraq. We did.† He equally reminds the audience that, â€Å"I promised to refocus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11. And we have.† This experience gives him an edge over his political competitor. It clearly proves that he can deliver and out of his past successes, he is convinced to vie for the second time. He notes that he was able to kill Osama Bin Laden and thus presently focusses on defeating Al Qaeda and ending the Afghanistan war by 2014 once reelected (Fox News Web). As such, his experience drives his present decision to seek reelection with a goal of completing his mission. This generates a lot of conviction from the audience as it applauds Obama’s experience. In addition, he quotes that, â€Å"Now, I've cut taxes for those who need it, middle-class families, small businesses.† It

Small Business Management Master Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Small Business Management Master - Case Study Example A brief reference to the theories stated in the literature regarding the above sectors has been considered as necessary in order to understand the operational structure of the firm and to estimate its prospects for the future. Scruffy Dog Media is based in Cumbria. The firm, in accordance with its official website is characterized as 'a family-owned video production company formed in 2007 to produce high quality video material for companies and organisations in and around the Cumbria area' (firm's website). As noticed above two particular sectors of the firm will be examined: the leadership and the HR management. In accordance with the firm's website the firm operates under the guidance of John Gilluley and Lorna Hardy. Both of them have worked in the area for many years before deciding to form their own firm. It seems that the leadership in the firm has been 'distributed' between these two persons who have equal obligations and rights regarding the firm's administration and profits. No other staff is clearly mentioned in the firm's website and it can be assumed that these two persons do the work themselves or they possible hire staff whenever the needs of a particular project require additional staff. Un der these terms, the analysis of the firm's leadership and its HR policies would be based on the role of these two persons in the firm's administration and the appropriateness of their decisions regarding the distribution of tasks in the firm. 3. Leadership and HRM - critical analysis 3.1 Leadership The importance of leadership for the development of any firm around the world cannot be denied. In accordance with Day et al. (1988, 453) 'when several methodological concerns are addressed, it is evident that executive leadership can explain as much as 45% of an organization's performance'. In other words, leadership is considered to have an important role in the firm's performance but it should be rather interpreted as part of the corporate activity, in combination with other characteristics of a firm's operational activities (HR management, operations management, financial management and so on). On the other hand, Hart et al. (1993) highlights the significance of the role of the CEO for the success of any corporate initiatives. More specifically, the above researcher supports that 'CEOs with high "behavioral complexity" - the ability to play multiple, competing roles - produce the best firm performance, particularly with respect to business performance (growth and innovation) and organizational (stakeholder) effectiveness; executive leadership role had little to do with firms' financial performance' (Hart et al., 1993, 543). In the case of small firms, where there is no CEO the above assumptions can be used only in order to evaluate the role of the firms' director(s), i.e. of the persons that have the responsibility for the design and the completion of any firm's activity. In this context, although there is no CEO having the supervision of all plans and initiatives, the responsibility of the directors is not limited but it is equally distributed among them. In the particular firm there is no reference to the firm's staff - apart from its directors. For this reason, only assumptions can be made regarding the HR policies applied by the firm. At a first level, it could be assumed that in any case that a project is too complex, the firm's

Anti-Bribery Convention and OECD

Anti-Bribery Convention and OECD The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)Â  And the Anti-Bribery Convention The International Initiative The Anti-Bribery Convention was originally conceived in 1989, it has under gone many changes since its conception, to begin with the group was designed to enable the review in to national legislations and the bribery of officials, in 1994 the review was turned into recommendations for actions and this was eventually replaced by a treaty agreement in 1997. The Anti-Bribery conventions main aim is to decrease the amount of corruption in underdeveloped countries, in doing this they can create a fair and level playing field, therefore encouraging sanctions against any form of bribery in International business transactions. Things That Are Right The Anti-Bribery Convention has developed a set of legally binding standards to criminalize bribery. The Anti-Bribery Convention works with all countries to improve the standards of international business transactions. The Anti-bribery convention welcomes all countries to join the convention; no one is singled out or excluded as long as they follow the guidelines and legislation recommendations. Things That Are Wrong The Anti-Bribery convention has no governing authority; the OECD only over sees it. The countries involved in the Anti-Bribery convention have the sole responsibility to implement the legislations so that bribery can be criminalized. According to the Transparency International report (Hardoon, Heinrich, 2013), at least half the countries that are signed to the Anti-Bribery convention have had only a few and in some cases no prosecutions. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Founded in 1961, The OECD’s main headquarters are in Paris, France, To date there are currently 34 member countries, although the OECD do work closely with Russia, China, Brazil, India, Indonesia and South Africa, but they are yet to agree to join the organization. Whilst the OECD’s main aim is to help improve the social, economic, safety and welfare of people across the globe, they do also maintain relations and work closely with other international organizations like the IMF, World Bank, International Atomic Energy Agency, International Labor Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization in an effort to promote and improve other aspects of peoples well-being globally. The Good Things The OECD uses peer reviews to evaluate its work and implement new changes and ideas, giving a wider perspective on the organization. The OECD has established a unilateral forum to allow governments to share their issues and experiences and work together to resolve the problems. The OECD defies conventional wisdom and works towards a resolution that is beneficial to all. Things That Need To Be Changed OECD has no authority over the Anti-Bribery convention, it purely over sees it. The OECD is not self-executing; it requires the governing country to enforce the legislations and uphold the laws Companies using the OECD guidelines arent bound by them as they arent compulsory. How anti-bribery convention and the OECD affect global politics Example 1 The OECD has established a unilateral forum to allow governments to share their issues and experiences and work together to resolve the problems. This is a great step for achieving success in global policies because it is an airing point for ideas and resolutions, governments can get together and discuss issue past and present and provide information on how they were able to resolve or work around certain common issues. The forum is based on facts and real life experiences and enables governments to proactively take part in the forming of global policies that are beneficial to all. They have the ability to collect data from governments and analyze this for possible trends that could potentially help other countries from avoiding situations like, austerity and unemployment during economic downturns. The Anti-bribery convention has established a set of legally binding standards to criminalize bribery; this implementation will boost the transparency of global politics for the member states that are included in the convention. In creating transparency and ensuring everyone is implementing the recommended standards there will be more cohesive trade agreements that will propagate healthy globalization. The creating and implementation of these legally binding standards has failed to force member states to follow the implementations, this will have an overall effect on globally policies because other member states will see that this type of implementation can be ignored with no real repercussions. The implementations will only work successfully if the Anti-bribery convention attains the legal jurisdiction to implement these standards. Currently they don’t have this and there seems to be no way of getting the jurisdiction so the implementation of legally binding standards is just that, An implementation, There is no law so the member states don’t have to implement the standards. The anti-bribery convention has placed the responsibility for implementing the legislations solely on the governments, this will have a massive impact on global policies because will still be left up to that country to implement the legislations, a majority of corrupt officials are in the government sectors and will not implement such measures if they feel it could impact on their corrupt enterprises. Such implications could unravel the social and economic standings of that country, they could undermine trade agreements and have a devastating effect on all policies globally, there is always going to be an issue of trust and if the governments of the countries don’t implement the legislations that will undermine this trust element globally. The Anti-Bribery Convention has failed to close a massive loophole in the system and is in part facilitating the continuation of bribery amongst public officials. The convention will only truly be successful if they find a way to close this loophole and prevent the continuation of bribery globally. Where it went wrong! The emergence of globalization and the vast complexities of international law and relations have grown hugely, member states have now become globally connected, global threats are now ever increasing and cannot be dealt with without the implementation of the international laws, they help develop and force structure into international relations where the law doesn’t currently apply. The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention has decided that member state countries should be responsible for implementing the laws and regulations as set by the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. I believe this has left a loop hole in their quest and goals for supporting member states both socially and economically, it leaves rise to member states dictating what rules, laws and legislations they feel are appropriate, there is no set standard when implementation is decided according to the specific member state, violations will occur and laws and regulations will become confusing across the globe. What I would do! I feel that a resolution to this loophole would be for the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention to secure legal jurisdiction under the existing title of International Legal Personality to enforce member states to adopt their standards as currently the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention only monitors if the implementations have been made. On December 3rd, 1949 the International Court of Justice set a precedent where it agree that International Organizations (IO‘s) could be included under the banner of International legal personalities and therefore be party to the rights and obligations under international law. It was decreed that the case subject (The United Nations) should be seen as an International Legal Personality and was therefore capable of having international rights and duties and it should be able to uphold these rights and make a legal claim against any international member state that violates its policies. How I would do it! If I was involved in the corporate aspects of The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention I would apply for International Legal Personality status , we would be deemed eligible for it because we a permanent association with our member states, we hold legal powers and have the power to act on these in the form of the legally binding standards that we currently implicate, we are able to effectively operate on an international scale and fulfill at the required criteria for International Legal Personality status. If the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention were to be granted International Legal Personality status, then our convention would have the power to enact an international claim for reparation against that member state for violating the standards set, and for negating on its statutory international obligations as set out by the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. Citations Hardoon. D, Heinrich. F. (2013). Global corruption barometer 2013. Retrieved from Transparency International website: http://issuu.com/transparencyinternational/docs/2013_globalcorruptionbarometer_en Lunfengzhe (n.d.). National flag ball of OECD members. Retrieved from http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-national-flag-ball-oecd-members-image28867394

Hamlets Grief :: essays research papers

The Grieving of Hamlet Although many different positions could be taken on writing an essay for this Shakespearian play, the author took it upon himself to write about Hamlet’s grief. His grief is obvious from the beginning of the play and he continues to grieve althroughout the play. Within his twenty-one-page essay, I chose this line to represent that I agree with his outlook on the play. â€Å"†¦his focus is on his grief and the profound impact in which the ghost has upon it. (Hamlet pg.18 paragraph 3)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I strongly agree with this statement because Hamlet is continually showing huge amounts of grief throughout the play. Even in his opening words in the play he shows some amount of grief to his uncle, the new king, and his mother. His mother basically says that his father is dead, and that there is no bringing him back. So what good does it do for him to weep and mourn? Hamlet replies to this by saying: Seems madam nay it is! I know not seems ‘Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, Not customary suit of solemn black. Not windy suspiration of forc’d breath, No, nor the fruitful rover pf the eye, Nor the dejected haviour of the visage, Together with all forms, moods, shapes, of grief, That can denote me truly. These, indeed seems, For they are actions that a man might play; But I have that with in which passes show--- These but the trappings and the suits of woe. (1,2,76-78) Clearly this shows Hamlet grieving his father’s death while showing hostility to the king and queen for being so deathly cold about the previous king’s death. Also the readers can also see in Hamlet’s opening dialogue, it shows that he still has not come to terms with his father’s death and is still in the state of shock when we first see him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  All throughout the play Hamlet mourns the loss of his father, especially since his father is appearing to him as a ghostly figure telling him to avenge his death, and throughout the play it sets the stage and shows us how he is plotting to get back at the assassinator. Such an instance where the ghost appears to Hamlet is when Hamlet and his mother are in her bedchamber where the ghost will make his last appearance. Hamlet tells his mother to look where the ghost appears but she cannot see it because he is the only one who that has the ability to see him.

Canada: The Defining Moments of a Nation

A defining moment is the point at which, a situation is clearly seen to undergo a change. Canada, as a growing nation, has encountered many defining moments throughout it's history. During the twentieth century women of Canada have undergone numerous moments that brought about significant changes for themselves. The most prominent moments, which brought about the most change and significance are: the persons case of 1928, the women's liberation movement throughout the 1960's and 70s and the ratification of the Treaty for Rights of Women (CEDAW) in 1981. These three events in Canada's history brought about many crucial changes for the woman of Canada. After woman won the persons case in 1929, Canada finally considered women to be legal persons. Awareness of women's equality came to the fore front during the woman's liberation movement in the 1960s and 1970s. Finally in 1981 Canada enforced stricter laws for crimes against woman, when it ratified the Treaty for Rights of Women. It became socially and politically unacceptable for women to be the scapegoats of society. These moments changed they way women where treated in society, politics, and in the workforce. The infamous persons case of 1928 gained national recognition when five Alberta women, known today as the famous five took on the Supreme Court of Canada, asking if the word â€Å"persons† in section 24 of the British North American Act included women. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the word â€Å"persons† did not include women. This meant women were not considered legal persons, eligible to run or hold office, or be a part of any political stance. After their great loss to the Supreme Court, they continued the fight, and brought their case to the British Privy Council, where they where victorious. The British Privy council announced that women were indeed persons, and as Lord Chancellor of the Privy Council put it â€Å"The exclusion of woman from all public offices is a relic of days more barbarous than ours. † The persistence of these five Alberta women led all Canadian women to victory in 1929. It was no surprise these women are known today as the â€Å"famous five. † Prior to this defining moment, women were not considered legal persons in the matters of rights and privileges. However, when they won their case women were considered legal persons and now had the same rights and privileges of any man. Before this time in history, women were not eligible to run or hold public office. It was simply not allowed under the British North American Act. The word â€Å"persons† excluded woman and â€Å"all nouns, pronouns and adjectives in the British North American act where masculine, and that was who was meant to govern Canada. † The triumph of the persons case allowed women to become appointed senators of Canada and members of federal bodies. In 1930 the first female senator, Carnie Wilson, was appointed by Prime Minister Mackenzie King. Today 229 members of parliament are women. The persons case also gave women hope. The persons case brought about numerous significant changes for women, and can be considered a defining moment for the women of Canada. By 1960 women's rights groups were showing up all over Canada. The women's movement had begun. In 1966 thirty-two different women's groups from across Canada came together to for the Committee for the Equality of Women in Canada. Within a year the committee forced the government to launch a Royal Commission on the Status of Women. The journalist Florence Bird who covered the story, submitted a report a few years later, known today as the Bird Report. It consisted over 160 recommendations addressing the decreasing equality of women. While Ottawa tried to avoid these issues the women's organizations where growing. By 1972, three-hundred women's rights groups came together to form The National Action Committee for the Equality of Women (NAC). This committee saw it their duty to see that the Bird Report's recommendations were put into practice. At the end of the movement, women had greater equality within the workforce. In a recent public-opinion poll, three out of four Canadian citizens agreed that the women's movement had a positive effect on Canadian society. This time in history was a huge breakthrough for all woman, it brought about immense significant changes for the working women of Canada. The United Nations convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW) is a treaty to eliminate violence and discrimination towards women. Canada ratified this treaty in 1981. It was a defining moment for all women of Canada because it was not only socially unacceptable for women to play the role of scapegoats, but new enforced laws wouldn't allow it. Ratifying countries, such as Canada where to condemn discrimination in all forms and ensure that legal framework, including all laws, policies and practices would provide protection against discrimination and embody the principle of equality. The treaty also commits ratifying nations to overcome barriers to discrimination against women in the areas of egal rights, education, employment, healthcare, politics and finance. In order to overcome these barriers Canada set up numerous new programs and institutions to help distressed women, or women seeking advice or help. In 1980, the year before Canada ratified the treaty, 90% of women reported receiving unwanted sexual attention on the job. After 1981, this statistic dropped dramatically. In addition, ratifying countries must submit a progress report to the United Nations for review. This progress report Canada must write ensures that discrimination and violence against women is minimal. Canada does not want to end up in the United Nations international court of justice. This moment in Canadian history truly helped all women overcome existing barriers towards the end of the 20th century. Over the 20th century women in Canada have struggled for equality. The persons case of 1928 began an atmospheric change for women. In the early 1960s the women's liberation movement carried the fight for equal rights for women, and the ratification of the treaty for rights of women in 1981 was a milestone in the fight for equality. These defining moments gave women the same political rights with the persons case, equality with the women's liberation movement, and reassurance these rights would be enforced when Canada ratified the treaty for rights of women. All throughout Canada's history women's rights have been a touchy issue. The battle for equality is still driven today by the new generation. It appears as if the battle will never be quite over, but Canadian women have been blessed that these event occurred in our history, or the women of Canada would not be anywhere close the equality we have today

Which Is Better, True Belief and Knowledge?

In Meno, Socrates and Meno have a discussion on virtue and they encounter a problem. If virtue is teachable, it must be knowledge. However, since there are no teachers and students of virtue, virtue must not be taught. So they think that virtue is not knowledge. And then they start the discussion on what is true belief and knowledge. In this essay, I would evaluate Socrates’s explanation on why knowledge is better than mere true belief and the reasons that I agree with Socrates’s proposition. Socrates’s explanation To begin with, Socrates first questions whether true belief is something no less useful than knowledge.Socrates notes that true belief and knowledge guide to the true action. He illustrates the idea by an example. To clarify Socrates’s example, I will apply his example on our campus. Suppose I need to guide a friend to Chong Yuet Ming Physics Building. I have no idea where it locate and I haven’t been to there. Now, I can visit the buildi ng if someone with the knowledge of the path guides me there or I have the knowledge of the path. But a true belief, which may be the intuition, perception, will also be equally effective in reaching the destination.If my belief is that the destination is northwest of the main building, and I convince my friend to the destination. From an outside observer, he cannot distinguish whether I have the knowledge of the path or I just luckily arrive there according to my true belief. Socrates states that â€Å"correct opinion (true belief) is no less useful than knowledge† because no matter which proposition, either true belief or knowledge, someone’s action still can be guided correctly. Although I do not agree this statement, I will discuss it in later paragraph. So, what makes the different between true belief and knowledge?Socrates thinks that the difference between them is the justification, which is the reasoning or the rationale for your belief. The person with knowled ge has the ability to account of the why behind the truth whereas the person with mere true belief knows only the truth. If someone has knowledge, then he has the ability to account for the action and his mind retains knowledge. It will be secured for future use. However, although true belief guide you to a right action, the belief will go away from you mind easily. Socrates proposes that if one does not tie the true beliefs down, they will run away and escape.If tied, true beliefs stay where they are put. Moreover, once they are tied down, they become knowledge. True beliefs are grasped by the mind only fleeting before they are corrupted or lost. But we can tether them by working out the reason. If we has the reason for the believe, then the true belief is justified and become knowledge. Evaluation for Socrates explanation Firstly, I would like to discuss about Socrates’s proposition that knowledge and true belief always guide to the right action. I shall argue that it would be better that true belief guides to the right action in a better way than knowledge guides.I believe that knowledge does not always guide to the destination. For example, I have knowledge of only one path to Chong Yuet Ming Physics Building. According to the knowledge, I walk along the path. It is not guaranteed I can arrive the building. Maybe murdered happened and police has blocked the road for investigation. Maybe the path that in your mind is not up-to-date and that particular path now leads you to another building, say Ming Wah Building. In this case, even you have knowledge of going to the building, you cannot go there. True beliefs, however, always guide you to the right action.As long as we have true beliefs, we always can be guided correctly. For example, as long as I am lucky enough, I can visit Chong Yuet Ming Building even there is only one path to the building. Through, I still agree that knowledge is better the mere true belief. People cannot lucky all the life in r eality. That means we cannot solve all problem by our belief. We need knowledge to live. For ideal case, an ignorant housewife can invest her money by merely her belief and win the market all time. However, does it happen in the reality? Even it happens, there are just very little cases.Without knowledge, it is difficult to live in the world. Comparing a ignorant housewife and a professional experienced investor investing the stock market, they may both lose money. For the investor, he may be wrong in some decision and lose money. But if he could have a lesson from that, he may gain and revise his knowledge of the stock market. Next time, he may keep doing this in a row. Finally, the probability to earn money increases. For the ignorant housewife, if she do not learn from the fault, or tie down the true belief, the probability of earning money would not increase.Therefore, if someone learn from the fault and form a better knowledge on that field, it will be better to him because the probability of doing the right action increases. In addition, we should not focus too much on the result too much. If we just focus on whether one finally achieve destination only, it may suggest that result is the ONLY thing we should take consideration. If that is the case, then we may agree that people can earn money by kidnapping, stealing or robbering. But we shall agree that earning money by such process is not accepted.Then, I think that achieving the goal by some process may not be good even the goal can be achieved. Hence, we should also consider the process which guides to the destination or result, but not just merely the result. I think that why knowledge is better than true belief is that the process of the right action who is guided by knowledge is better than that who is guided by true belief. Looking back to the example, what is the difference between someone guided knowledge and guided by true belief if they both arrive the destination is the experience and the var iation of the path.Consider a person with merely true belief, he may make decision by something like I should go this way and I hope the way is not dead-ended. Why I have been walking so long time and haven’t arrived yet? Did I made some wrong decision? When can I arrive? I have no idea how to go there, and etc. Although he finally arrive the building, he had hard feeling at all. He may feel depressed, anxious, doubtful, and uncertain. Also, there is lots of variation for the paths. He may walk a very long path to the destination. For example, someone take a bus to somewhere.He believes that he need to get off the bus at the 3rd stop and walk along the road. However, the best way is to get off the bus at the 7th stop. He leaves the bus 2 stops earlier. Although he has true belief and arrive the destination, it may not good to him because he has been walked a very long and unnecessary way. Knowledge, on the other hand, guides someone with appropriate process. If someone with k nowledge, says he know the map of campus in the example, can effectively arrive the destination without anxious, doubtful feelings.Someone may argue that having knowledge may not arrive the destination effectively because you may only have knowledge of a circuitous path. I shall say that it may be the case, just similar as true belief. People having true belief may or may not arrive destination effectively, so as people having knowledge. But at least the person may not have hard feelings, which already make knowledge better than true belief. Though there is some argument which I think is not correct in Socrates’s explanation, there are still lots of evidence to show that knowledge is better than mere true belief.