In the era after the Cold War, liberalism has replaced realism as the dominant explanation for the international system” Do you agree with this assertion?

Introduction This essay examines the proposition that, in the era after the Cold War, liberalism has replaced realism as the dominant explanation for the international system, arguing that such is not the case; that realism continues to be relevant and, indeed, perhaps offers better explanations for current global politics that liberalism. In particular, this essay focuses on the Waltzian notion of global anarchy and asymmetrical global power distributions as being primary driving agencies in international affairs. Hence this essay espouses the precepts of neorealism, emphasising the importance of power, dominance, and interest as underlying political behaviour. While this essay acknowledges the ideological primacy of liberalism, and the likelihood that this will increase, it draws a distinction between avowed intellectual affinities and observable political realities. That is, the central idealism of the liberal ethos is dissected and found to be unsatisfactory in accounting the for post-Cold Wa r global order. While the importance of liberalism is not refuted, the current study sees its ascendency as resulting more from a lack of viable alternatives than its fundamental superiority as a political system or as a set of ideas. Realism, Liberalism, and the Centrality of Power and Interest in International Relations In the wake of the Cold War, certain critical voices within the field of International Relations assert the demise of realism as the dominant explanation for the international system. Certainly, scholars suggest that liberalism is â€Å"main alternative to realism in the public discourse, as it has been for two centuries, albeit challenged by socialism for a time† (Richardson, 2001: 71). This supposition is founded on the belief that the primary tenets of realism – like global anarchy, the centrality of the state, and corollary importance of power and self-interest – while previously useful in explaining global politics, have been superseded by alternate theories. Hence scholars hold that â€Å"although realism’s concepts of anarchy, self-help, and power balancing may have been appropriate to a bygone era, they have been displaced by changed conditions and eclipsed by better ideas† (Little & Smith, 2006: 90). The realist paradigm as formulated by Ma chiavelli and codified by Hobbes, it could be argued, was grounded in paranoiac conceptualisations of the human condition; it reflected an â€Å"anti-teleological principle†, where the Aristotelian idea of ultimate â€Å"good† as humanity’s guiding light is rejected in favour of a motive formed in the philosophical negative (Strauss, 1988: 52): where humans ultimately acted to avoid certain ends rather than precipitate them. For Hobbes, one of the intellectual fathers of the modern nation state, man’s endeavour was consequently geared, in sum, against what he called the â€Å"summum malum†, that is, death (Sreedhar, 2010: 33). Modern political science tends to ascribe somewhat less pessimistic intentions and driving agencies to international relations. While this has somewhat to do with the inevitable critical realignment that obtained as a result of global political rearrangement after the fall of the Soviet bloc, the irrelevance of realism is by no means a given. As the neorealist Kenneth Waltz avers: â€Å"Changes in the structure of the system are distinct from changes at the unit level† (2000: 5). After all, it would entail a radical change in world politics to negate entirely a prevalent mode of critical analysis; for realism all of a sudden to become irrelevant. This would, it seems clear, be to say that the events of the past were so vastly different in character from those of the present as to bear negligible if any consequence for (or insights on) events of the future. But what manner of change in the international system could utterly alter the critical apparatuses by which s uch systems are scrutinisedWhat we are concerned with in this instance, after all, is a wholly new type of system; in effect, a new type of politics: wherein the posited spread of liberalism, increasing globalisation, interdependence, the rise of democracy and the consolidation of diplomatic relations is such as to redefine the very nature of state-to-state interaction – a very dramatic alteration indeed. In sum, is the new face of global order really reflective of an equally new modus operandi at work beneathIs liberalism the new residing paradigm? Since the end of the Cold War, scholars have proposed that a â€Å"new world† is upon us, one which requires new approaches to political analysis. As a consequence, the field of political studies has witnessed a wealth of competing so-called â€Å"new world† theories: Francis Fukuyama’s proposed End of History and Samuel P. Huntington’s Clash of Civilisations theory being foremost among them. A common thread in said theories relates to the potent ideological significance of communism being abjured by a huge portion of the globe and the consequent spread of liberal democracy and its bedfellow capitalism. In either instance, the charge of Western triumphalism could be brought to bear and, indeed, raises some pertinent questions: is it that Western liberalism is a superior system or is it that Eastern style communism was integrally flawedSome scholars certainly contend the latter: communist political systems â€Å"collapsed in Central and Eastern Europe at t he end of the 1980s primarily because of long-standing internal weaknesses that denied them the popular legitimacy needed for long term survival† (Goldman, 1997: 3). From a liberal perspective, this can be understood as reflective of the supposed fundamental human desire for freedom: a desire which proponents are keen to imply that liberalism provides. That is, there is for some liberal critics a belief that â€Å"the desire for liberal democracy† is â€Å"universal† because it denotes the innate human desire for freedom (Hughes, 2012: 109). However, the categorical and reductive overtones of such thinking are perhaps too flattering to the Occidental political position (from which liberal critics tend to hail). At any rate, it is clear that liberal politics have become increasingly preponderate in the wake of the Cold War. Whether this is down to the universality of liberal principles is highly debatable. More convincing are arguments that stress the lack of viable alternatives to communism since the fall of the Soviet bloc. Hence one critic observes that following the Cold War, liberal democracy found itself â€Å"without enemies or viable alternatives† (Haynes et al., 2013: 36). Concurrently, the United States (certainly the most prevalent liberal polity on the world stage), increasingly pursued policies that were indicative of â€Å"ideological universalism in values and practices† (MacGinty & Richmond, 2013: 22). Such universalism works somewhat to blur the lines between liberal principles and US principles: simply put, the one comes metonymically to do duty for the other. As a result, scholars posit that â€Å"American power has become the executor of the liberal idea an d, invisibly, the liberal ideal has become the occasion for asserting American might† (MacDonald, 2014: 161). In other words, the diminishment in viable alternatives to communism, in addition to the rise of US proclamations in the service of liberalism, both amount to a powerful catalyst for political liberalism overall. What is clear, then, is that there has been a substantial paradigm shift in the global order; and, indeed, the proclamations of a supposed new word do seem justified, at least in terms of the overt ideological dynamic at play in international relations. What liberal scholars trumpet as the ascendency of liberalism must be understood as an ideological victory before anything else. Deeper rooted structural and socio-cultural influences may yet obtain. As a result, while classical realism may be unsuited to account for the ideological makeup of contemporary politics, neorealism and structural realism can perhaps offer an adapted understanding of fundamental driving agencies behind ideological ambitions. Such critical perspectives relate to the underlying mechanics of global politics. Kenneth Waltz for instance maintains the validity of realism inasmuch as it serves to explain states of relative peace and conflict as being the result of asymmetrical power distribution among states and th e prevalence of global anarchy. For Waltz, this mode of anarchy is connected with permissiveness: where the lack of any top-down international ruling body or sovereign effectively removes deterring agencies (for states to wage war). Hence Waltz identifies what he calls â€Å"permissive† causes of conflict: that allow wars to occur â€Å"because there is nothing to prevent them† (1959: 232). Of course, there has been a significant decline in interstate war since the fall of communism, but this does not mean that global anarchy in no longer relevant. Rather, the realist paradigm may still be said to hold true: the only difference is the vastly changed power structures at work. The world order is, for the present, unipolar, with the United States representing the global hegemon. During the Cold War, international relations were bipolar, because the Soviet bloc represented a significant balance to the capitalist West. This led to a situation where, although individual factions often sought â€Å"to dominate, superiority [was] almost impossible to achieve† because states countered â€Å"each other’s attempts to dominate† (D’Anieri, 2011: 69). In lieu of this bipolar balance, no single state commands the resources or capability to challenge the US, thus what is known as hegemonic stability obtains. While this hegemonic stability maintains a peacefu l status quo under the banner of liberal democracy, there are nonetheless indications that other factors are at work beneath the overt appearance. Indeed, the unipolar world has allowed for a degree of unilateralism that seems distinctly at odds with the dictates of freedom and equality so associated with the liberal ideal. One commentator notes, for example, that â€Å"the excessive unilateralist behaviour of the Bush administration† in addition to the frequent â€Å"disregard for international law† which â€Å"previous administrations had helped to create† ended up being â€Å"corrosive† on the credibility of Washington (Heinbecker, 2011: 171). The point is that the US is simultaneously putting itself forward as the vocal exemplar of liberalism yet repeatedly acting in its own self-interest and flexing its muscle in order to do so. Thus while on the one hand the US explicitly champions liberal ideology, its political behaviour is more readily explicable with reference to realist ideas. There is an evident paradox at work here, and it is evocative of Mark twain’s famed aphorism: â€Å"If you have a reputation as an early riser, you can sleep ‘til noon† (Rumsey, 2012: 137). Hence we come to a crucial distinction in the current debate. Liberalism is at base an idealistic mould for political action, thus difficult to achieve. Realism, contrarily, assumes a degree of pragmatism, partiality, and, indeed, disparity in political action that is far more readily obtained. This central paradox echoes one of the primary problems with the liberal ethos as a practicable set of ideas: it tends not to work very well. He nce scholars like Michael Howard go so far as to equate liberalism with the â€Å"story of the efforts of good men to abolish war but only succeeding thereby in making it more terrible† (Howard, 1978: 130). Taking this point of view, it becomes less convincing that liberalism has rendered realism obsolete. Indeed, the actions of the US after the Cold War have, it can be argued, been highly self-interested. Moreover, after the tragedy of September 11th, Washington’s neoconservative quest to spread democracy was anything but peaceful. In either instance, self-preservation and national interest seem more reasonable explanations for Washington’s actions than any supposed idealistic liberalising agenda (except where such an agenda consolidated US power). Thus we can once more defer to realist thinking. In this respect scholars point to â€Å"the central role† of â€Å"power† in â€Å"politics and the dominance of the nation-state in the contemporary international system† – a realist conception if ever there was one (Keohane, 1984: 9). Even though the power divisions that prevailed during the Cold War are now gone, this does not mean the fundamental concepts of power and dominance no longer play an important role. Here we come to a very important poi nt: the ideas of realism relate to fundamental driving agencies, which effectively transcend the cosmetic prescriptions of particular ideological systems. This is why, critics argue, realism offers a good explanation for political activity: because it tries to locate root causes. This latter point is realism’s overriding strength. Because realism is concerned with human nature and fundamental agency, it potentially represents a more universal system of thought than does liberalism. For this reason, realism cannot be said to have been rendered obsolete by the rise of liberalism; this is because, in a certain sense, the realist view is ahistorical and thus cannot be made obsolete. Realism after all is focused on the â€Å"constraints on politics imposed by human nature† (Donnelly, 2000: 9). Human nature has no time limit. Accordingly this is to suppose that power, dominance and self-interest are integral elements of the human condition; that political events thus reflect human nature writ large. While it may be upheld that the human condition is not as bleak as Hobbes contended – â€Å"solitary, poor, brutish, nasty and short† – it can certainly be argued humanity continuously acts in selfish and illiberal ways (cited in Graham, 2002: 9). Furthermore, it seems idealism in the extreme to propose that humanity is remotely close to a state in which the pejorative dimensions of human nature will be extinguished. Rather, it is far more plausible that human nature will perpetually pose restraints on political ideals. Liberalism as an idealistic perspective therefore remains subject to the restrictions posited by realism. Further, this does not look set to end any time soon. Conclusion While it is clear that a new world has emerged from the ideological rubble of the Cold War, a world defined by the liberal ideal, it is certainly not proven that realism has no more use to political science. On the contrary, realism is a pervasive system for explaining international relations: prior to and succeeding the end of the Cold War. Realism may relate to some very old political ideas; but this does not mean such ideas are ipso facto out of date. Fundamental elements of human nature, on the contrary, must be understood as timeless. In consequence, we may posit that the basic motivations that dictate human political activity today are of a similar nature to those during the Cold War or even those which obtained in centuries prior. That is to say, assuming the truth of the basic tents of realism about human nature, such insights must be taken to be as valid today as they were in the past. Following this logic, realist ideas will likely persist in relevance through the years to come. The conflict-based character of international relations will therefore continue to be a pressing concern for political science, even if liberalism continues its likely trend of preponderance. But this must be understood as an ideological manifestation, a cosmetic facet of political ideals; and such ideals are wont to change dramatically over time. Even a cursory review of the previous century demonstrates dramatic changes in political ideas. The overall political sensibility of contemporary polities is starkly different from that which obtained at the dawn of the twentieth century. Based on this observation, it seems reasonable to suppose a similar level of difference between now and one hundred years hence; yet, even so, the underlying characteristics of human nature will be continuous. For this reason, realism remains and will continue to be relevant. References D’Anieri, P., 2005. International Politics: Power and Purpose in Global Affairs. Boston, MA: Wadsworth. Donnelly, J., 2000. Realism and International Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Goldman, M. F. (1997) Revolution and Change in Eastern Europe. New York: M. E. Sharpe. Graham, G., 2002. The Case Against the Democratic State: An Essay in Cultural Criticism. Thorverton: Imprint Academic. Haynes, J., Hough, P., Malik, S., & Pettiford, L., 2013. World Politics: International Relations and Globalisation in the 21st Century. Oxon: Routledge. Howard, M., 1978. War and the Liberal Conscience 2nd ed. London: Hurst. Hughes, C., 2012. Liberal Democracy as the End of History: Fukuyama and Postmodern Challenges. Oxon: Routledge. Keohane, R. O., 1989. After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy. Princeton: Princeton University Press Little, R. & Smith, M., 2006. Perspectives on World Politics. London: Routledge. MacDonald, M., 2014. Overreach: Delusions of Regime Change in Iraq. Harvard: Harvard University Press. MacGinty, R. & Richmond, O., 2013. The Liberal Peace and Post-War Reco: Myth or RealityOxon: Routledge. Richardson, J. L., 2001. Contending Liberalisms in World Politics: Ideology and Power. Boulder: Rienner Publishers. Rumsey, M. G., 2012. The Oxford Handbook of Leadership. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sreedhar, S., 2010. Hobbes on Resistance: Defying the Leviathan. New York: Cambridge University Press. Waltz, K., 2000. â€Å"Structural Realism after the Cold War†. International Security, 25.1, pp. 5-41. Waltz, K., 1959. Man, the State, and War. New York: Columbia University Press.

Lifestyle and Sustainability Essay

Lifestyle and Sustainability are two different concepts combined together to describe how people should live nowadays. With the matters like the advancement of modern technology, environmental degradation, and pollution, we now consider the best ways to live our lives without jeopardizing our environment and the future generations. Now, we’re concerned not only about living in comfort and ease, but also about the sustainability of the world we live in, of our environment and our resources. Lifestyle is defined as a way of life, the manner by which a person lives. It involves various behaviors and practices regarding one’s social relations, consumption, entertainment, and fashion. These behaviors and practices are composed of various habits, conventional modes of action, and reasoned actions. Simply put, lifestyle is one’s style of living: it is very personal and depends on the person who lives it. In relation to lifestyle, we come across the concept of sustainability, which literally means to sustain or the ability to maintain certain processes or state. Nowadays, sustainability is often connected to how we human beings live. Concerns about the environment, pollution, and shortage of resources have driven us to apply sustainability in every aspect of our lives (Sustainability Reporting Program, 2004). We think of sustainable ways to build our homes, use our natural resources, dress up, and grow our food. Somehow, we have connected sustainability with how we live, and it is now considered as a lifestyle. One important aspect of a sustainable lifestyle is food consumption, and in relation to that, we come across the concern of sustainable means of growing our foods. An important issue is brought up when we talk about sustainable means of growing food, and that is the use of pesticides. We are all familiar about pesticides, because it is the conventional means of eradicating the pests in our homes, properties, plants and crops. However, the use of certain pesticides is deemed as un-sustainable because of the health risks they carry with them (EurActiv, 2008). It can also affect other organisms in the environment aside from the pests that they kill. To better understand pesticides, we need to know more about them, including the history, benefits, types, and other aspects as well. Pesticides have been used several thousand years ago, being utilized by humans to protect their crops and plants from pests (Medline Plus, 2009). One of the first known pesticides used was sulfur dusting in Sumeria. In later centuries, mad used toxic chemicals like arsenic, mercury and lead to kill pests. Natural pesticides were also used, like nicotine sulfate extracts from tobacco leaves, pyrethrum from chrysanthemums, and rotenone from the roots of tropical vegetables. These pesticides benefited man in several ways. The first, and possibly the most common reason for pesticide use are for the protection of crops. Pesticides contain potent chemical ingredients which kill or deter insects and other pests that consume and destroy man’s crops. Another application of pesticides is disease control, regulating or controlling the organisms which are considered harmful to health. A good example is the use of pesticides to kill mosquitoes which are known carriers of deadly diseases like dengue fever, west Nile virus, and malaria. Insecticides are also used in killing parasites like fleas and ticks in bigger animals like horses and cattle. It is also used to kill termites that can cause structural damage to our homes and dwellings. Overall, pesticides are used in variety of ways, all for the benefit of humans. We can classify pesticides into two major types, chemical or synthetically prepared pesticide, and biological or biochemical pesticide. We are more familiar with chemical pesticides because they’re the conventional pesticides. These are made from various chemical components, like the ones mentioned earlier. This type of pesticide is easier to produce because of the abundance of their chemical components, and is more potent and is more effective when it comes to killing the pests. The downside of this type however, is that it has harmful implications to the environment and to human health. The other type of pesticide is the biological or biochemical pesticide. This type is produced from plant extracts which can deter or kill insects. The biological pesticides use the natural enemies of certain plant pests. Other insects and spiders are used because they prey on these pests, regulating their population naturally. References: EurActiv. (2008). Pesticides: Tough negotiations ahead as MEPs back bans Retrieved April 14, 2009, from http://www. euractiv. com/en/sustainability/pesticides-tough-negotiations-ahead-meps-back-bans/article-176936 Medline Plus. (2009). Pesticides Retrieved April 4, 2009, from http://www. nlm. nih. gov/medlineplus/pesticides. html Sustainability Reporting Program. (2004). Pollutants, Sustainability, Health, and Environment. Retrieved April 14, 2009, from http://www. sustreport. org/issues/health_env_pollut. html

Delta Force- Organizational behavior Movie Review

Delta Force- Organizational behavior - Movie Review Example Overall, however, Delta Force does not operate as a team; individual members or groups are often doing different, unrelated things from each other and not all pulling in the same direction the way a team would. When on missions, however, small components of Delta Force operate as a team ranging in size from two people to more than a dozen. In these circumstances, they function as a team, planning missions together, relying on each other to accomplished individual goals to support the overall mission and so on. Delta Force’s composition is the cornerstone for most of what the group accomplishes. It is formed of an elite cadre of experience, intelligent people recruited from all across the armed services (Arsdale). This composition leads to its other qualities: everyone selected for Delta Force has leadership qualities and can fill leadership roles, facilitating a bottom-up approach to leadership. Furthermore, everyone’s knowledge of the composition of Delta Force helps c reate trust; anyone going on a mission with another member of Delta Force knows they are elite simply because of their belonging to the group, making it easier to trust them in extreme situations. Furthermore, the groups small size allows personal relationships to flourish, increasing trust. Works Cited Arsdale, L. V. Delta Force [video file].

Platos Aristocracy and Tyranny Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Platos Aristocracy and Tyranny - Term Paper Example Aristocracy generally refers to a form of government that belongs to combined nobility, hereditary ruling, landed gentry, and a superior group which often thought to be ruled by the best. 1 In the context of The Republic, the ideal state itself Plato called is "aristocracy" (aristos, "best," and krateà ®n, "to rule"), ruled by the best and the guiding principle of this state is the reason of the philosophers (Ross, 2005). It embodies the wisdom of philosopher-kings [Aristocracy†¦] Plato’s affinity for aristocracy may be initially traced from Plato’s family background.   Plato is known to be a son of a wealthy influential Athenian couple who were highly prominent in the aristocratic circle. His articulation on the details of his ideal Aristocracy is definitely influenced not only by the status of his parents but also of himself who was raised and grew in the aristocratic environment. Another factor that may have contributed to Plato’s affinity towards aris tocracy is following the execution of Socrates which took place while a democratic form of government was in place at Athens.   Kreis cited that:Socrates was charged for impiety. Although Socrates was neither a heretic nor an agnostic, there was prejudice against him. Socrates managed to provoke hostility among Athenians and eventually, they executed him.   Socrates execution has devastated Plato, his prime student. Further added, Socrates wrote nothing himself. It was through the writings of his closest friends, Xenophon and Plato that people learned about him.

Public Health and the Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Public Health and the Law - Assignment Example Any person who tests positive to alcoholic or drug influence or intoxication and driving at the same time, such a person is incapable of driving safely is guilty of an offence which is liable for a sentence as well as a fine. Such offences may be converted to serious criminal charges that may attract long sentences such as life imprisonment. Furthermore, the laws also concern observance and respect for traffic signs. This includes traffic signs concerning turning, stopping, starting, changing of lanes, speed limits, among others. The federal and local states ensure that there are requisite gadgets to ensure that there is surveillance to enable law enforcers to effectively monitor road use. In Illinois, for example, the court may order suspension of driver’s license in the event the user does not follow traffic signs. Federal and local states furthermore ensure that all vehicles in use are adequately insured. This will ensure that passengers and other road users are protected. Furthermore, the insurance also covers maintenance of vehicles in case of damage. Besides, the rules cover the speed limits allowable in given areas, and the use of safety belts. Finally, the laws too cover the action or procedure to be followed in the event of an accident. For example, from 1st January 2013, the Illinois laws allow victims of an accident to remove vehicles from the main way if the accident did not result to an injury. This serves to reduce further accidents that may result from road blockage (Olson & Dewar, 2002). Road safety rules are administrative laws. This is because they involve formulation, enforcement and regulation. Furthermore, there is an agency or agencies, at local or federal levels that ensure that the laws are adhered to. In addition traffic laws are a branch of public laws whose concern is to ensure public road safety. These laws are closely related to public health services since they concern the wellbeing of the whole public while

Instruction and target andience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Instruction and target andience - Essay Example e the existing instructions and borrow a few ideas from that or aim to make more improvements in order to make the new instructions effective and more likely to be understood by the target audience. If the instructions are for the children for example, they have to be written in larger font size and made very legible, the language used must be very simple to understand, the steps in the instructions very few like five at most to avoid them forgetting as well as use different colors to write the instructions in order to keep them interested. The instructions can even contain graphics in order to be remembered easily. Still targeting the children as the audience, it must be remembered that headings of the instructions are very important and should be written in bold letters as â€Å"Headings not only help chunk information into easily digestible parts but also guide readers through a page and signal the relative importance of topics (Terryberry

Environmental Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Environmental Law - Essay Example The term ‘takings’ has significant role in the environmental law as the term elucidates that those species who are catalogued endangered under the provision of ESA are protected and it does not allow individuals to harm them or take them along. The ‘taking’ terminology suggests that taking those species away. The harming issue has been remained under the great debate that either under the ESA acts harming is allowed or not. Several law cases have been filed and culprits got away from them as they came under the harming category. This process carried till 1999, when finally ESA came with the clear cut definition of harming and declared it as an essential part of the act too. According to the new provision of ESA 1999, any individual found harming the species would have to face the law (Steven 58). There are serious punishments regulated in case of ESA violations. Great amount of $50,000 and a year in prison are the highest amount of penalty to the culprit. Th e renowned takings law case of Great Oregon v. Babbitt 1994 is one of the major examples of the cases that were resolved by the Supreme Court. The case arose on the issue of harming species and invalidation of ESA takings. The appeal was done by Sweet Home regarding this matter. The case went through prior consideration of the court and collected all the relevant evidence in this regard. Upon inspection and examination of circumstances rampant, the court concluded that actually killings and injuries of rare species took place which is a violation of ESA. At that time specific definition of ‘harm’ was not given by ESA and ambiguity on this matter remained, but U.S Supreme Court made things crystal clear by giving this important historic ruling (Steven 74-85). Success and Failure of NEPA The National Environmental Policy Act NEPA is one of the most important established environmental laws of the United States. The main agenda of NEPA is to safe, preserve and conserve spec ies prevailing everywhere in the country. The protection of environment is foremost important task of NEPA. The inauguration of NEPA has been criticized significantly all over the United States as its implications and application is not considered resourceful and powerful in the country. There are numerous success and failure stories of NEPA. The involvement of people in NEPA programs is tremendous. The awareness element has been established among the people and people have started to take it very seriously. By the help of volunteers, awareness measures among regions have been started too. The outcomes achieved till date present a promising picture (Vallero 67). The Forest Service funded Vegetation Management Project was launched successfully by NEPA so that issues regarding the forest health would be eradicated. The vegetation concerns were also present in Crooked River which was addressed by the implementation of this project. The Rural Development Community Facilities Program pro posed that building of hostel for students would be beneficiary for individuals and college too. NEPA took over this proposal and built the apartments in order to facilitate students. NEPA has been providing services to the defence sector of the United States too. Their services are highly regarded as they made precise plans for the successful inauguration of defence endeavours. The Energy Conservation

Case 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Case 3 - Essay Example The fact that they are stressed means that they cannot perform as required. Stress comes from various factors, and may affect employees directly or indirectly. In this case, the organization has put its employees under a lot of unnecessary pressure to perform by ignoring their plight (Robbins and Judge 558). This is evident in the number of employees complaining about the conditions in the company and airing their opinions about the best way to deal with the situation. Considering the industry the organization is involved – healthcare – the organization needs to pay more attention to employees’ needs because the industry is very sensitive. Deaths or serious complications could result from poor performances from employees if they are under stress. However, the company has done well to stem these concerns by developing a new approach to dealing with the situation at hand. In terms of fear, signs of change may spark feelings of uncertainty with regards to the ability to contribute to the change process and the security of their jobs. Pessimism, anxiety and different personal and professional ambitions are also a major factor in the spread of change-resistant fear. For example, an employee may feel afraid to take part in the change process because it will affect his professional development or inhibit personal growth. Employees may feel that they are capable of working with the organization to make proposed changes. Once employees start feeling that they their jobs are insecure and are threatened by proposed changes, they will withdraw their support to try and make the proposed changes fail (Robbins and Judge 561). However much employees feel afraid of changes, Parkway can mitigate these fears by managing them. Managing fear involves assuring employees of the security of their jobs and approaching them directly. Parkway can also provide employees with clear plans for proposed changes so that they can understand proposed changes and cooperate with

How journalists influenced US war efforts in Vietnam Research Paper

How journalists influenced US war efforts in Vietnam - Research Paper Example The differences that led to war involved the Northerners favoring communist form of rule and the Southerners favoring non-communist form of rule. The stand by Southerners tended to cohere with the desire of USA, which hated communist rule. Coupled with the fear of about the possible spread of communist rule across the entire East Asia in case any country managed to secure an opportunity, USA resolved to help South Vietnam intensify war against North to defeat the idea of communism. The perceived support given to the South prompted the North to fire directly on US ships1. This act aggrieved US authorities thus resolving to direct involvement and participation in the war. This is how US entered into the Vietnam affair, where it emerged unsuccessful due to various factors. One of the main factors was the involvement of American journalists in an era when televisions were widespread across many households in US. 2The digital technology of television and newspapers facilitated the process of journalists transmitting real videos and pictures as happened in the battle ground. Influence of Journalists on US efforts in Vietnam War Prior to the arrival of the US journalists in the war field, US government tended to deliver deceptive reports concerning the progress of the war. At first, the government denied claims that US troops took part in the war, while they did. This came clear after the arrival of the journalists in the war field, who captured and aired the real events. The reports send by the journalists showed how US participated in aerial bombings that killed many people. Some of the news showed children running helplessly in Trang Bang after being hit by and injured by bombs fell by US military. 3These pictures frightened and aggrieved most of the Americans who started blaming the government for mismanaging American resources by fighting innocent children. In fact, television news and newspapers covered a terror-stricken girl running along the street naked after her cloths burnt in bomb triggered fires. In bid to quell citizens, American government responded by claiming that the attacks on children were due to misdirected bomb thrown by South Vietnamese soldiers4. This claim was in total contradiction to the pictures and videos transmitted by journalists, which showed US airplanes dropping the bombs. 5Journalist reported and transmitted videos of massacres of US soldiers during the Tet offense of 1968, alongside flying of dead bodies of soldiers back to US. Furthermore, journalists investigating the Vietnam at some moments focused on the sad atrocities caused by US soldiers who massacred people across Vietnam. This news increasingly aggrieved US citizens who continued to declare strong opposition of the government in the Vietnam War. 6In spite of the media transmitting clear pictures and information as happening in the battleground, US government persisted on denial and even quoting small number of deaths of soldier contrary to the visual records transmitted by media. It this continued denial of the government and closure of truth that aggravated public anger to an extent of engaging public protests demanding for withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam. 7The media through the respective investigative journalists stationed in Saigon did at one time transmit images about Buddhist crisis of 1963. The images showed people committing serious suicide away of protesting restriction to religious rights by Diem

Native American Medicine Essay Example for Free

Native American Medicine Essay The medical cures and healing traditions used by the Native Americans are rather interesting and different compared to modern day Anglo Saxon cures. Native Americans, using their basis of ideas and beliefs, have developed a general idea of naturalistic cures and healing processes. Although the cures and healing processes are much different than Anglo Saxon ideas of curing and healing, the Native American processes tend to work well and even better than many Anglo Saxon cures. Native American medical and healing beliefs and processes are generally based on a more natural curing or purification process than the processes of modern day Anglo Saxons. Many Native American healing processes have been practiced for around 40,000 years. Different Native American healing traditions have appeared to share roots with different cultures, such as ancient Chinese traditions. Although many of the Native American healing traditions appear to share roots with ancient Chinese traditions, the greatest influence on Native American healing is the environment in which they have lived. The different plants and animals around them influenced their healing practices to be all natural. Another influence on their healing practices was other tribes. The migration of tribes around them allowed the tribes to share their knowledge of natural cures. Trade was also very helpful in Native American healing practices because many of the natural remedies required herbs from surrounding environments or long distances, and being able to trade with traveling tribes saved much travel time and risk. Although Native American healing practices have proven to be successful, a lot of their traditions have been lost. Many of the practices were driven underground and lost because they became banned or illegal in many parts of the United States. After 1978, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act was passed, and the Native Americans were once again allowed to practice their healing traditions. The long gap without practicing certain healing processes resulted in the loss of many of their practices, however. Even today, there are still difficulties with Native Americans being allowed to perform different ceremonies and rituals because the land serves other purposes. (www. cancer. org). Native Americans have successfully lived for many years by using their own idea of natural cures and purification. Native American healing is a broad term that includes different healing beliefs and practices of hundreds of indigenous tribes or North America. It combines religion, spirituality, herbal medicine uses, and purification rituals that are used to treat the indigenous people either medically, emotionally, or behaviorally. According to Lakota Sioux, the basis of natural beliefs and connections comes from the story of the white buffalo. The story begins with a woman appearing during the time of famine. She was wearing a white buffalo skin and carrying a sacred pipe. After appearing to the tribe, she explained to them that the wooden stem was for the trees and everything growing on earth. Her red bowl was to symbolize the flesh and blood of all people and the smoke was the breath of their prayers going to Wakan Tanka, the creator. The woman then presented the pipe ceremony to the tribe, which included offerings made to the four directions while drums were played and sacred songs were sung. The people then began to understand the connection between sky and earth and the unity of all life. Before leaving, the woman said she would return when the time was right and turned into a buffalo, changing colors several times. Finally, she became a white buffalo calf and disappeared. The people followed her teachings and were no longer hungry. Years later, a white buffalo calf, very rare, appeared and changed colors throughout its life. The calf is believed to be the woman. (www. native-americans-online. com). Through this story, many indigenous tribes have believed nature to be the cures and purifications needed for the soul to become whole. There are many types of Native American healing practices, and they are promoted to help with a variety of ills. Some of the most common aspects of Native American healing include the use of herbal remedies, purifying rituals, shamanism, and symbolic healing rituals to treat illnesses of both the body and spirit. Herbal remedies are used to treat many physical conditions. Practitioners use purifying rituals to cleanse the body and prepare the person for healing. Shamanism is based on the idea that spirits cause illness, and a Native American healer called a shaman focuses on using spiritual healing powers to treat people. Symbolic healing rituals, which can involve family and friends of the sick person, are used to invoke the spirits to help heal the sick person. (www. cancer. org). The Native American belief in spirituality caused the Native Americans to believe that diseases are caused by an object piercing the soul through sorcery. A disease can also be believed to be the complete absence of a free soul. Their naturalistic beliefs allowed them to believe that even diseases are considered natural occurrences, and because they occur naturally, they can be cured naturally as well. By using natural remedies, â€Å"medicine men† attempted to cure diseases that have invaded tribal villages. Natural remedies used by the medicine men included different concoctions of plants, fungi, or animals that could be eaten or rubbed on a certain area of the body to cure the illness. Before Europeans invaded Native American land, Native Americans had not had an extreme amount of experience in the treatment of disease. However, after the Europeans invaded their land, they (the Europeans) brought many diseases with them. Some of the deadly diseases included smallpox, measles, scarlet fever, typhoid, influenza, and pertussis or whooping cough. At the first sign of the diseases, the indigenous people continued trying their natural remedies, but after many failed attempts at curing the diseases, the people would often avoid the sick and leave them to die because they believed that evil spirits had taken over their soul. With the Europeans bringing many diseases to the indigenous land, the indigenous people believed the Europeans to be evil spirited and deadly. The many diseases brought by the Europeans caused a major Native American depopulation. In order to try to cure these diseases or other illnesses, Native Americans relied on the use of what they referred to as the â€Å"medicine man† or â€Å"healer†. The medicine man was very well educated on the surrounding nature and knew what natural remedy would cure the illness. Often times, the medicine man would have to travel to other lands in order to find a certain plant or a fungus that was needed in the remedy. Medicine men were very effective at curing illnesses because of the knowledge they had of nature. Not only did the Native Americans use natural remedies to cure illness, but they also used natural purification processes in order to purify or cleanse their soul in an emotional healing process. The purifying ritual is a ceremony known as a sweat lodge, where the indigenous people would sit in extreme temperatures and sweat out the evil in them which allowed them to be cleansed. To begin the sweat lodge process, one must offer a pouch of tobacco to the medicine man. The tobacco is used to represent the spirit of the person presenting it. By offering the tobacco to the medicine man, one is asking him to work on their behalf in the spiritual world. When presenting the tobacco, one would also bring forth their specific desire such as an alcohol or drug problem. The sweat lodge process begins with the passing of what are known as tobacco ties. Many tobacco ties are hung around inside the sweat lodge and each tobacco tie represents a prayer. The four sacred herbs, sage, sweet grass, cedar, and tobacco, are used in order to help purify the room and allow the spirits to work. Then rocks, primarily lava stones from volcanoes, are heated using a fire until they are white hot. Once the rocks are white hot, they are brought into the lodge in order to begin the sweating process. To keep the rocks hot, water is poured onto them making an immense amount of steam and heating the lodge. Now that the purification process has finally begun, everyone sits in a circle and goes around, one person at a time, offering prayers. After all prayers have been given, the medicine man blends them all together in a mystical process altering the state of mind to something beyond the physical form. This is where the real healing takes place. As the purification process comes to a conclusion, a new ceremony known as wopela begins. Wopela is simply giving thanks. All participants bring in gifts for the medicine man in order to thank him for leading them through the purification process. The medicine man begins a prayerful state and takes the prayer ties and sets them up in the north end of the center. This allows the prayers to be carried to the Great Spirit in a good way. The medicine man then blows out the candles the lodge becomes pitch dark. Another emotional healing strategy is the use of the medicine wheel. The medicine wheel was an important transformation in the process of Native American tribes realizing that they are much different from each other. Basically, the medicine wheel was a sheet decorated in special symbols, colors, or stones that allowed others know about the inhabitants of the tribe. One was placed in front of every tepee or hut to notify others of that individual’s strengths and weaknesses. By doing so, each individual had their own guidelines to follow for personal growth by realizing what one needed to learn and what one needed to teach. After many generations, the people began to lose the concept of blame and anger upon others. One tribe member from Arizona states â€Å"If I said to you, ‘Does anyone ever make you angry? ’ you would say yes. But in reality, this is totally impossible. You choose to be angry by the way you process the event. This is something you were taught to do as a child. If you could imagine not one person in all of New York City having the concept of anger, that’s what it was like during that time period of no wars before the white man came. †(www. native-americans-online. com). By placing a simple wheel outside their homes, the Native Americans began to learn to cope with their anger and not place blame upon others. This shows a strong cultural emotional healing process because it rid the tribes of anger and blame on others. Indigenous people also believed in psychiatric healing beliefs by altering their state of mind. They were able to alter their state of mind through events such as drumming and chanting rituals, Salish spirit dancing, and visual stimuli. All processes were used in order to calm down an individual. The drumming or chanting of rituals acted as a concentration device to its listeners. A constant beat or pattern would reduce the tendency of the mind to wander. It would also enter the brain wave patterns and sometimes the subjects’ brainwaves would change to match the frequency of the drumming or beating. As for the altered states produced in the Salish Spirit Dance, the sensory stimulation would release neuro-endocrine opiod agents that would produce a peak experience during that dance performance. It is quite obvious that the healing processes of the indigenous people vary greatly from the healing processes of modern day Anglo Saxons. For example, in seeking a cure, Anglo Saxons search for a man made discovery to lead to a cure where as the indigenous people rely on nature for their cures. Although the Anglo Saxon solutions are very effective, the natural remedies also work and are less harmful. All Anglo Saxon cures provide quick solutions but at the risk of side effects which are not present in natural remedies. One belief of the indigenous people was that the illness was caused by nature, so nature can cure the illness. Another difference in Anglo Saxon healing processes is emotional or psychiatric healing. Anglo Saxon traditions in emotional healing include the use of a therapist or other person to talk to in order to solve the problem. The indigenous people use a similar cure, except they seek a higher cure such as the sweat lodge in order to be in contact with the spirit world. Anglo Saxons also place blame and problems on others in an attempt to relieve themselves of the pressure or danger of events. The indigenous people however, do not like to place blame on others, but on themselves. The indigenous people begin looking for a cure inside oneself in order to fix the problem. Although many rituals and healing processes of the indigenous people are much different than the processes of the modern day Anglo Saxons, the processes of the indigenous people have proven to work effectively in curing the illness. Their belief in having a pure soul contributes to the rituals they perform in order to heal. Both Anglo Saxon and Native American healing processes have been proven effective, with the difference being the focus of the solution. Native American medical and healing beliefs and processes are generally based on a more natural curing or purification process than the processes of modern day Anglo Saxons. Sources Used http://muwww-new. marshall. edu/jrcp/VE13%20N1/jrcp%2013%201%20thomason. pdf http://www. native-americans-online. com/index. html http://www. cancer. org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/mindbodyandspirit/native-american-healing.

Leadership In The Construction Industry Management Essay

Leadership In The Construction Industry Management Essay Among the many variables that have an effect on an organization such as economic condition and competition, leadership is considered to be one of the most important factors that directly impacts the level of success an organization may experience (Goleman, 2000). The construction industry is no exception to these popular beliefs as described in the research reviewed for this paper. Within the construction industry, leaders are exposed to fast-pace, complex, and constantly evolving environments (Riley, Horman Messner, 2008). The styles and skills of a leader are directly related to generating a positive working environment which is crucial to positive performance. The purpose of this paper is to: (1) discuss the classifications of leadership and associated styles; (2) identify the skills that are associated with construction leadership including the aspect of emotional intelligence; and (3) analyze leadership factors that impact the working environment. It is the authors intention th at this literature review and its findings may be used to assist individuals and organizations in their efforts to evaluate past, present, and future leaders. Leadership in the Construction Industry Throughout the construction and engineering industry, there is a growing recognition of the importance and need for improved leadership skills within organizations (Skipper Bell, 2006). Developments such as the growing volume of activity, advancement in technology, intense global competition, increasing number of active stakeholders, and the demand for fast track completion, have generated many distinct challenges for the construction industry (Toor Ofori, 2008). According to Giritli and Oraz (2004), the construction industry demonstrates distinct characteristics that separate it from all other industries. Some of the unique characteristics that have an impact on leadership styles include: project characteristics, contractual arrangements, project life-cycle, and environmental factors. Giritli and Oraz (2004) explain how construction projects are composed of a multitude of organizations or contractors, and typically all of these entities contribute to the project in different ways. These organizations are drawn together for a short time to work on a specific project and then disbanded upon the completion of the project. The temporary or short-term nature of projects in the construction industry, combined with its multi-organizational framework, will almost certainly have an impact on the style of leadership construction professionals choose to follow (Giritli Oraz, 2004). The fact is construction professionals in leadership roles are faced with constant change throughout the different phases of a projects lifecycle. This combined with the responsibility of leading or directing a multitude of different sub-contractors and personnel for short periods of time creates many challenges and gives leadership in construction its distinction (Giritli Oraz, 2004). The necessary tools to be an effective leader in the construction industry include both technical and soft skills. Technical and Soft Leadership Skills Construction leaders often assume the role of design managers, construction managers, procurement managers, contract managers, or project managers (Toor Ofori, 2008). Regardless of the title, leaders in the construction industry are considered facilitators and the focal point of communication (Riley et al., 2008). Approximately 88% of project managers spend more than half of their working time interacting with others (Sunundijo, Hadikusumo Ogunlana, 2007). This leadership requires a set of competencies and traits such as vision, communication, honesty, integrity, continuous learning, courage, tolerance for ambiguity, and creativity. These competencies and traits are considered to be soft skills (Riley et al., 2008). Toor and Ofori (2008) label these traits as general management and leadership skills similarly described in many industries. Technical or hard skills are considered to be more complex and describe traits related to a specific industry. In the construction industry, tech nical skills may include intimate knowledge of the scheduling, installation processes, day to day operation of specific job related activities, and overall knowledge of all sub-contractors/tradesman operating on the project. In short, a leader who possesses technical skills in the construction industry understands the terminology and has extensive knowledge regarding all construction related activities. Process Development and Emotional Intelligence Both technical and soft leadership skills are learned and developed over time. Maxwells (2007) law of process explains how leaders, either natural born with greater natural gifts, or those who become leaders through a collection of skills, have the ability to improve. These skills are not developed overnight, because leadership is complicated and has many facets including: respect, experience, emotional strength, people skills, discipline, vision, momentum, timing, etc. Butler and Chinowsky (2006), report that the level of emotional intelligence of a leader is as important as classical traits of intelligence and experience in developing the leaders of tomorrows construction organizations. According to Goleman (1998), emotional intelligence is the capacity to recognize our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in us and in our relationships. (Sunindijo et al., 2007, p.166). Leaders with higher emotional intelligence tend to display the traits of transformational leadership found in open communication and proactive leadership styles. Emotional intelligence has been found to assist in generating delegation, opening lines of communication, and improvement of proactive behavior, which can bring positive outcomes to organizations (Sunindijo et al., 2007). Butler and Chinowsky (2006), list fifteen multi-factors which fall within five specific components of emotional intelligence that are related to transformational leadership behavior at a convincing level of statistical significance. The factors are: Interpersonal Skills Self-regard, Emotional self-awareness, Assertiveness, Independence, Self-Actualization Intrapersonal Skills Empathy, Social Responsibility, Interpersonal Relationship Adaptability Reality Testing, Flexibility, Problem Solving Stress Management Stress Tolerance, Impulse Control General Moods Optimism, Happiness The research by Butler and Chinowsky (2006) proves that the relationship between emotional intelligence and the factors listed above have a significant potential impact on construction organizations and the success of its leaders. Leadership Classification and Styles Leadership styles, behaviors, and techniques are typical topics of discussion in the search for what or who constitutes a true and effective leader. Countless research articles examine the preferred methods of developing or identifying the traits of a quality leader. Among the many articles reviewed for this paper, there has been no evidence that clearly shows a particular style of leadership as optimal; hence, it may be concluded that no single leadership style is best for all managerial situations (Giritli Oraz, 2004). Research indicates that most successful leaders in any industry are those who possess the skills to employ a range of styles based on the situation, flexibility is key (Giritli Oraz, 2004). Goleman (2000) reports research performed by the consulting firm Hay/Mcber, draws a random sample of 3,871 executives selected from a database of more than 20,000 executives worldwide. This research reveals six distinct leadership styles, each derived from different aspects of emotional intelligence, and possibly more important, the research indicates that leaders who produced the best results do not rely on only one style of leadership (Goleman, 2000). Giritli and Oraz (2004) explain how different approaches to this subject have led to various classifications of leadership styles. Despite similar labeling of leadership categories, two types of leadership are commonly discussed, accompanied by the six styles that assist in explaining the traits of the two classifications (Giritli Oraz, 2004). Giritli and Oraz (2004), list the classifications and styles which include: Classification 1: Transactional leadership This classification of leadership is defined as an exchange of rewards with subordinates for services rendered. Transactional leaders typically seek to motivate followers through intrinsic rewards. Transactional leadership includes the following styles: Style # 1: Coercive (do what I tell you) Considered to be the least flexible and effective style because leaders manage by controlling subordinates tightly, and motivate by using discipline. Some may refer to this as micro-management. Style # 2: Authoritative (come with me) This style describes a leader who maximizes commitment to goals and strategy; defines standards and provides flexibility in completing tasks. This form of leadership provides a clear vision in the attempt to motivate subordinates to be creative. In the presence of experts and peers, this style of leadership can be received as overbearing. Classification 2: Transformational leadership This classification of leadership is defined as the process of influencing and empowering subordinates. Researchers commonly refer to transformational leadership as a feminine leadership style or approach. However, some view transformational leadership as a gender balanced style. Transformational leadership includes the following styles: Style # 3: Affiliative (people come first) This style is considered to be flexible, which creates emotional bonds and harmony between leaders and subordinates; improves communications; and increases the morale of subordinates. This style displays the importance of people and how they come first, as opposed to tasks which are ranked second. The success of this style typically depends on the level of development of the subordinates, if subordinates require a high level of direction, this style of leadership cannot be successful. Style # 4: Democratic (what do you think) This style generates ideas, builds consensus through participation, but requires highly developed and competent subordinates to generate ideas and take part in the decision making process. This style is typical of leaders who are looking to develop and build trust among subordinates and peers. Negative side effects include conflict, and endless meetings with no consensus. This style is not recommended during crisis mode when subordinates are in need of direction rather than support from a leader. Style # 5: Pacesetting (do as I do, now) A style which characterizes a leader as someone who expects excellence and self-direction, sets high standards, and demands more from poor performers. This style of leadership has little concern for interpersonal relationships, that is, they tend to concentrate on the achievement of tasks. Best suited for highly competent, self-motivated, professional employees, this style is recommended to be used in conjunction with other styles. Style # 6: Coaching (try this) This style of leadership develops people for the future, creates dialogue and flexibility, and establishes long-term goals and plans. Also, this style assists employees in identifying their strengths and weaknesses to help improve their performance. This style is least effective when employees are hesitant to learning or change. Leadership Adaptation and Intuition Goleman (2000) suggests that leaders who are capable of utilizing different styles seamlessly and in different measure, depending on the situation, are typically more successful. Goleman (2000) goes on to compare this type of flexible leader to a professional golfer. The pro golfer over the course of a round is required to pick and choose clubs based on the demands of the shot. Sometimes he may ponder his selection, but quite often, the decision is automatic. Ultimately, the pro assesses the challenge, chooses his tool of choice/makes a decision, and effortlessly goes to work. High impact and effective leaders operate in a similar fashion (Goleman, 2000). The ability of a leader to make quick and accurate decisions while effortlessly adapting to different styles to address continuously changing situations, can be attributed to his/her level of leadership intuition. Maxwell (2007) discusses the law of intuition and explains how intuition is based on facts, instinct, and other intangible factors, such as employee morale, organizational momentum, and relational dynamics. Maxwell (2007) goes on to say that intuition comes from two things: natural ability, which comes in a persons area of strength, coupled with their learned skills (2007). The principles of leadership are constant, but a leaders application must change and adapt to every situation. Without the intuition and ability to adapt, leaders are blindsided, which is one of the worst things that can happen to a leader who wishes to stay at the top (Maxwell, 2007). Giritli and Oraz (2004) explain how the style of leadership changes as the project progresses through its lifecycle. For example, during the design phase, styles may need to allow for more debates, fine-tuning, and deliberation. Conversely, during the complex construction phases, a leader may need to be more structured and dominant. In summary, a leader may need to switch styles to conform to particular situations throughout a project to create the right balance between concern for tasks and concern for people (Giritli Oraz, 2004). Impact of Leadership on Organizational Climate Research shows that committed employees are the most valuable assets of any organization (Rehman, Shareef, Mahmood Ishaque, 2012). However, leadership within an organization impacts the climate, perceptions, and effectiveness of the working environment (Otara, 2011). The leadership role provides the motivating force that may ultimately determine an organizations success or failure. For this reason, many organizations place great emphasis on choosing the ideal candidate to assume the leadership role. Part of this decision can be based on dominant traits demonstrated by a candidate. Goleman (2000) lists six key factors that influence an organizations working environment or climate. These factors can be useful in determining a leaders impact prior to hiring him/her. The six factors spring from different components of emotional intelligence and include: Flexibility: how free employees feel to innovate unencumbered by red tape Responsibility: to the organization Standards: set by the people Rewards: the sense of accuracy about performance feedback and aptness of rewards Clarity: the clarity people have about the mission and values Commitment: to a common purpose Goleman (2000) presents the following table to demonstrate how each leadership style affected the six drivers of climate or working environment: Coercive Authoritative Affiliative Democratic Pacesetting Coaching Flexibility -.28 .32 .27 .28 -.07 .17 Responsibility -.37 .21 .16 .23 .04 .08 Standards .02 .38 .31 .22 -.27 .39 Rewards -.18 .54 .48 .42 -.29 .43 Clarity -.11 .44 .37 .35 -.28 .38 Commitment -.13 .35 .34 .26 -.20 .27 Overall impact on climate -.26 .54 .46 .43 -.25 .42 (p.81) The Data provided by Goleman (2000) reveals the authoritative leadership style has the greatest positive impact on climate, with affiliative, democratic, and coaching styles following closely. This data also indicates that no style should be relied on exclusively, and all have potential, depending on the situation (Goleman, 2000). Of course very few leaders if any possess the ability to change roles and function in all categories. Fortunately, the remedy is quite simple. Good leaders will hire and surround themselves with team members who employ the skills or styles they lack (Goleman, 2000). Maxwells (2007) description of the inner circle confirms Golemans statement and informs his readers of the importance of a support system in regards to a leaders success: When we see an incredibly gifted person, its always tempting to believe that talent alone made him successful. To think that is to buy into a lie. Nobody does anything great alone. Leaders do not succeed alone. A leaders potential is determined by those closest to him. What makes the difference is the leaders inner circle. (p. #127) A true leader displays many traits, one of which is a high level of self-confidence. This individual is not afraid or threatened by the success of others and embraces the fact that the people/team he/she has assembled, possess skills that the particular leader lacks. A good leader will apply the skills of others to improve or progress an organizations performance. All of this is done without worry of his or her competencies. Recommendations After completing a review of literature addressing leadership in the construction industry, it is recommended that further research is needed to address the level of emotional intelligence that a potential leader should possess. The consensus of numerous researchers is that many universities fall short or dont address the multitude of important factors that help in developing potential leaders in the industry. Emphasis needs to be placed on real life situations faced in the construction industry and played out in the classroom environment. It is important to know if an individual has the right level of emotional intelligence to succeed as a leader in the complex industry of construction. Conclusion Although economic factors and competitive dynamics have a tremendous impact, leadership and the working environment created by a leader has been reported to account for one-third of an organizations performance (Goleman, 2000). The conclusions of this research suggest that the construction industry boast a number of factors that separate it from other industries. The construction industry is unique due to its short-term project life cycles, sub-contractor involvement, project characteristics, environmental factors, and contractual arrangements (Giritli Oraz, 2004). All of which affect the style of leadership and its impact on an organization. Due to these distinct characteristics, research has revealed that no one leadership style is optimal for every situation. Leaders who have the intuition and ability to demonstrate multiple styles and possess a high level of emotional intelligence will have greater influence and success.

john kemeny :: essays research papers

JOHN KEMENY: MATHEMATICIAN   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  John Kemeny was born on May 13, 1926, in Budapest Hungary. He attended primary school in Budapest. He came from a Jewish family and in 1940, due to the Holocaust, Kemeny’s father moved the family to the U.S. Kemeny’s family moved to New York, and John attended school in New York City. He attended Princeton University where he studied mathematics and philosophy. He took a year off during his undergraduate course to work on the Manhattan project in Los Alamos. John’s boss was Richard Feynman and he also worked with Von Neumann.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He returned to Princeton, and graduated with a B.A. in 1947. He then worked for his doctorate under the supervision of Alonzo Church. Kemeny received his doctorate in 1949 for a dissertation entitled Type-Theory vs. Set-Theory. He was appointed as Albert Einstein’s mathematical assistant while he was still a doctoral student. John continued to study both mathematics and philosophy, and became a professor of philosophy at Princeton in 1951. In 1953 he was appointed to the mathematics department at Dartmouth, and in two years he became chairman of the department. He held his position until 1967. He was president of Dartmouth between 1970, 1981, and 1982. He soon returned to be a full-time teacher.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kemeny co-invented the Basic(Beginners All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) computer code. It was in 1963 that John and Thomas Kurtz decided that they wanted to give students easy access to computing. They designed the first system so that many students could use a single computer at the same time. It was designed to allow students to write programs easily. The first Basic program was run at Dartmouth at 2am on May 4, 1964. Kemeny also introduced a new teaching innovation. He developed a Finite mathematics course including topics that we still use today. Some of the topics were logic, probability and matrix algebra.

Computer-Based Training :: Business Essays

Computer-Based Training Computer-based training can be found in almost all segments of business and education today. "Virtually every major corporation has turned to computer-based training for teaching employees everything from company regulations, to compliance, to factory operations (Rothfeder 1998) Candice Harp (1998) adds that "Corporate spending for training has risen to over $40 billion each year and a recent survey of Fortune 500 companies found that in some industries, companies dedicate as much as 5 percent of their information system budgets to training" (Harp, Taylor et al. 1998) For one thing, the economics make sense. "Employees can be trained at their desktops no matter where they're based, without incurring travel, hotel and meal costs, and there’s no lost productivity from the time spent traveling" (Rothfeder 1998) But exactly what is computer-based training and what are the various forms it takes? Background In general, computer-based training consists primarily of occupational training for adults, as opposed to computer-aided instruction used mainly in educational settings with younger populations. Training refers to any means of delivering information to people so they can do their jobs better. Computer-based training is delivered using computer tutorials in place of live instructors in a classroom format or video taped instruction. Computer-based training is usually interactive, self-paced, learner-directed, and offers immediate feedback to learners. The various forms of computer-based training currently available include interactive CD-ROM tutorials, multimedia simulations, and most recently, internet and intranet-based programs. Some of the numerous examples where computer-based training has been successfully implemented include instruction for bankers regarding corporate policies, Marine Corps fire teams, airline baggage handlers, MBA’s learning economics, and hostage rescue situations. One of the more sophisticated programs even simulates business war games where profits and losses vary based on management-trainee decisions. Advantages "Adult learning theory postulates that adult learners prefer a high degree of learner control. Computer-based training provides more learner control than other forms of training because it allows the learner to select the appropriate time to engage in learning and which topics will be covered" (Harp, Taylor et al. 1998) Another factor in adult learning theory suggests that adults are motivated by relevance of information to their current needs. With computer-based training, "on-demand training is possible for such instances as mechanics using animated, multimedia reference manuals to learn how to correctly install a new part in a car (Bowman, Grupe et al. 1995) Since most of computer-based training is aimed at adult populations, this advantage is a key factor to its popularity.

DMC Review Papers Essay

As Mr. Grant, CEO of DMC has realized, the current growth strategy of the company is insufficient. DMC needs to identify their primary business problems and prepare a new or revised strategy with alternative tactics to address it. Even though DMC had grown to become a multi-billion dollar company and consistently ranked in the top five in their industry, DMC’s returns between 2008 and 2012 showed great profits and loss swings unpredictably. These ranged from a net income loss of $1.5 billion in 2008, $1.9 billion in 2009, to a profit of $1.9 billion in 2010, $1.7 billion in 2011 then a loss of 1 billion in net income in 2012, the most recent year. (Table 1) Despite of the up-side-down net income and over $3 billion in long-term debt, DMC was able to make financial arrangements for a line of credit of from $500 million to nearly $2 billion to finance potential acquisitions of major competitors whose financial situations made them available. DMC’s top management team is well aware that a major change in strategy causes other changes. This also causes each manager concerned how his/her own area will change, even while they all know they have to help determine a direction that is the best overall choice for the company. They are well aware that the current growth strategy is insufficient. Top management team also need to consider whether or not a chosen target segment is profitable enough to pursue, and how these changes might influence manufacturing, supply chain, and personnel. Depending upon future direction, there will likely be an impact on information system as well. While IT is a progressive management team who is always willing to implement technical solutions to expedite product development and sales, their budget has been constrained along with all departments over the course of recent recession and the variability of returns to the company. Finance and accounting remain concerned about cash flow demands a nd financial activity for major company undertakings. HR knows from experience that major change can have a significant impact on staffing and morale. Besides company own business problems, DMC also faces industry’s issues as well. In the highly volatile electronics industry, international competition put pressure on the way DMC traditionally did business, including with whom, where, and at what price levels. Their ability to respond rapidly to market change is always difficult, based upon the nature of the product and the heavy investment required for future technologies. As a result, development costs continue to rise while sale margins have dropped steadily. In their industry, innovation is not an option, but an absolute necessity and maintaining a competitive advantage and building market share comes slowly and only to the best and smartest companies. DMC needs to consider the selling to wholesale distributor, particularly VAR. The VAR group always has irregular demand, as they react to the supply chain cycle of their small manufacturing customers and budget cycles for equipment upgrade customers. This segment is highly price sensitive, demanding attractive discounts and low delivery costs. Because of their reactions to the change in the market, DMC will be affected as numbers of demand increase or decrease irregularly, increasing unit cost of production. Now with DMC’s business problems, including within industry problems, have been issued they need a new or revised strategy, which, obviously, would lead to the best overall outcomes. With the problem of net income up and down dramatically and COGS as percentage of sales being a large number affecting net income, DMC needs to find a way to prove selling. They need a more effective way to sell product. Besides, new product development is always important to DMC. The founders believed that the experience of an entrepreneurial driver or team had to start from scratch and create success. They did not believe the future evolved from forecasting or planning in the technology world. The company identified outstanding managers coming up through the ranks, selected a few each year, and gave each $5 million to â€Å"make something happen.† With three or four new product efforts each year, they recognized most might fail, but hoped the winners would make up for the losers. With that in mind, DMC tries to create the own personal computer and touch screen products. It might fail  most of the time but it only needs one success to build up the brand and the future direc tion of the company. DMC really needs to take direct sales to the end user customer into consideration. Even though the Business-to-consumer (B2C) is not common in the electronic components industry, it is well worth the try. After an informal meeting with VP of IT, CEO Grant understands the possibility of moving into B2C without a large capital outlay if they could allocate some dedicated programming time to the project. There are still some concerns over the fact that the sales team would have to be heavily involved in any project like this and smaller orders would not be cost effective and would require too much support for product selection. However, the IT team’s view of sales on the web was that it could a relatively automated process, with a built-in digital configurator tool to help customers choose the right parts with minimal human intervention overall. With the B2C on the line, DMC can seriously consider cutting wholesale distributor like VAR. They not only can save the dollars-turn in every product but also avoid the irregular demand from VAR. With the B2C interface, DMC has the advantage knowing what customers need and the way they thinking. DMC can react quickly to market change and therefore save a lot of money in cost of unit production. B2C e-commerce has a lot of advantages in the business world nowadays. By using B2C, DMC can easily reach worldwide market with unlimited volume of customers. They also can display information, pictures, and prices of products or services without spending a fortune on colorful advertisements. By reducing the cost of advertisements, DMC can save a lot of money and use that to spend for new product development and make up the cost of changing strategies toward each functional division effectively. In some cases, B2C e-commerce makes order processing an easier task than before. With that, DMC als o can save up a lot of cost production and use that to make the selling more effective. One of the biggest advantages of B2C e-commerce is that DMC can operate on decreased, little, or even no overhead. Also, as VP of manufacturing Bret Hendricks expresses, DMC manufactured  division already do a great job of controlling costs and improving processes. He strongly feels his group cannot achieve any more efficiencies from the manufacturing lines unless they do a major overhaul and replace some of the manufacturing systems. With the strong competition from foreign suppliers who receiving funding from government, DMC really needs to find a way to make the manufacturing processes strongly effective. That should be done even it takes a great cost and time to do a major change. In the financial aspect, DMC has been good of negotiating deals with the company’s line credit to create resource and capital for the company major moves like acquisitions and mergers. However, the financial team needs to work on more areas to explore to lower general operating expenses that create problems for the bottom line. The idea of direct sales floating around is very promising. This can create pricing to wash any increased handling costs and significantly exceed the margin offered to their larger wholesale customers to make the new venture worthwhile. However, the difficulty lies on calculating ROI on any type of IT project. There were many variables and intangible benefits to consider. Lastly, if DMC is going to do a major change in strategy, they need to consider the large expenses of doing so. One of the major changes can be made is that DMC might consider insourcing. While outsourcing saves money in the short term, over the long run the company may suffer from not having a large enough employee pool to promote from in certain areas. The IT division of DMC has been doing well over the past. They need to continue to do so and try to explore in some new Business Intelligence tools. That includes the process of running the electronic commerce site. The IT team is a talented team, VP of IT division could try to create things that keep them motivated and create more ideas to help the company’s success. Overall, the main business problems of DMC is their ineffective selling led to dramatically up and down income and their COGS being a large number affecting sales; the functional division that requires lot of things in order to create a change in strategy, this includes cost, time and human resources; management problems of choosing a right market segment; DMC’s  problems within the industry such as international competition, the adaption of market changes response and the increase of development cost. However, DMC also has many opportunities and advantages such as the ability to deal with financial institution with credit card in order to have capital preparing for acquisitions or merger. They also have a good IT team, manufacturing process and talented human resources. DMC already established their reputation as one of the dominant computer component manufacturers in the world. Recommendation for DMC is that they should consider creating a major change in strategy and manufacturing process to make the company sales more effective. In order to do so, they would need to prepare a brief and careful plan because it requires much of cost and time involving all of the company divisions. DMC also needs to invent and explore more to create new products and choose the right market segment. They need to find a way to deal with international competition’s pressure and respond quickly to market change. COGS as percentage of sales needs to be adjusted so that the net income and sales of the company don’t be affected in a wrong way. Lastly, because DMC has problems with market changing and wholesale distributor’s irregular demands, they should seriously consider starting B2C e-commerce. The advantages of B2C e-commerce could really change the status of the company and make sales and manufacturing process more effective.

Past Year Question Essay

PART A Public Awareness is the Key to Fight Pollution Pollution in the most basic form – littering of rubbish or clogged drains – to that of higher level such as dumping of hazardous waste and illegal logging, is chiefly attributed to lack of public awareness, so contends Minister of Natural Resources and Environment. As Malaysia joins the ranks of industrialized nations, pollution is fast becoming a menace that the country has to cope with. ‘No amount of law can succeed in deterring people from polluting the environment so long as they are unaware about the adverse consequences of their action,’ he said. ‘Although we have come down hard on the culprits, we can never be satisfied as we keep on raising the bar by benchmarking against developed nations in the likes of Japan, Sweden and New Zealand where every citizen is fully aware of their role in environmental preservation,’ he adds. As for water pollution, once a source of drinking water, many rivers in Malaysia have become dumping grounds for various types of hazardous wastes. Of all natural resources, water is the most severely threatened by pollution in this country. In 2006, gypsum, oil and hydrocarbon, dross, heavy metal sludge, mineral sludge and e-waste were the main categories of waste produced in the country. Of the total wastes produced, 110,814 metric tonnes were treated and disposed at Kualiti Alam Sdn Bhd, 9,360 metric tonnes (0.8%) at Trinekens (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd and 11,364 metric tonnes were incinerated at licensed off-site facilities. Source: Malaysian Business 16/9/2007 QUESTION 1 a) â€Å"As Malaysia joins the ranks of industrialised nations, pollution is fast becoming a menace that the country has to cope with†. Based on your knowledge on the Materials Balance Model, explain this statement. (5 marks)  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 3 BM/OCT 2010/ECO656/646 b) Water pollution in Malaysia is caused by point and non-point sources. What is the difference between the two? Which classification does the group of water pollution sources mentioned in the last paragraph of the article belong to? (5 marks) What type of pollution control method can be implied from paragraphs 2 and 3 in the article? Describe the method and give an example. (5 marks) â€Å"Pollution †¦ is chiefly attributed to lack of public awareness†. Assuming you are an environmental economist, do you agree or disagree with the statement? Elaborate. (5 marks) c) d) e) What is the difference between positive and normative economics? Suggest one sentence in the article that reflects a positive statement. (5 marks)  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL PARTB 4 BM/OCT 2010/ECO656/646 QUESTION 1 a) What is sustainable development? Define and illustrate with an example. (5 marks) b) How is green gross domestic product (GDP) different from the traditional GDP? What are the arguments for the use of green GDP as growth indicator? (10 marks) With the help of relevant diagram, explain social welfare in the form of consumer surplus. (10 marks) c) QUESTION 2 a) What is meant by allocative efficiency? Explain. (5 marks) b) How does a deposit-refund system work in controlling domestic solid waste disposal? Explain with the assistance of a diagram. (10 marks) Define deforestation and its causes. Why is accelerated deforestation a concern in many countries? (10 marks) c) QUESTION 3 a) Describe the occurrence of global warming. (5 marks) b) What are the challenges faced by countries in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in their countries? Explain. (10 marks) Explain the efforts done at international level to reduce ozone depletion problem. (10 marks) c)  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL QUESTION 4 5 BM/OCT 2010/ECO656/646 a) Market failure can be associated with externalities. Define market failure and externalities. (5 marks) Explain how free-ridership leads to market failure of a public good such as clean air. (10 marks) b) c) Palm oil refineries generate social cost to society in the form of smoke and particles. Explain and model in a diagram the efficient equilibrium for palm oil in the presence of these atmospheric emissions. (10 marks) QUESTION 5 Briefly explain the following: a) b) c) d) e) Explicit and implicit environmental costs (5 marks) Coase theorem (5 marks) Environmental Kuznets curve (5 marks) Polluter-Pay-Principle (5 marks) Acid deposition (5 marks) END OF QUESTION PAPER  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL

Extracts from ‘Great Expectations Essay

The extracts I will be analysing are from the novel Great Expectations written by Charles Dickens. I am going to be describing how Dickens has succeeded in making the reader feel sorry for Pip. Dickens used his own experiences as a boy to help him write sympathetically of being a young child, his family had no money and got transferred from city to city until he was ten years old, his father was also sent to prison for six months over debt. He based the character Pip in remembrance of himself as a child, writing about his own thoughts and feelings to help himself create more sympathy for Pip. Pips given name was Philip Pirrip, as he was so young he couldnt pronounce his complicated name correctly, so he shortened it and named himself Pip. Pip was very imaginative as a young boy, he lived nearby to a graveyard and there wasnt many other people about, so Pip was alone and lonely a lot because he couldnt make friends with anyone. During the first extract we get to see that Pip is an orphan after he says: As I never saw my father or my mother.. (for their days were long before the days of photographs), we recognise that he unfortunately lost both his mother and father along with five brothers he once had, who passed away whilst they were still infants. The only family Pip had, was his older sister Mrs Joe Gargery and her husband who was a Blacksmith. He had lived with them both for most of his life, his sister treats him dreadfully as all she sees Pip as is a waste of space in her household. Whilst her husband – Joe Gargery, treats Pip like he was his own flesh and blood. We now get the chance to begin to see the hard and upsetting life Pip leads and what he has gone through in the past. We start to feel sympathy for Pip, as not many children would have to go through the same experience as he once did. Where he lived was neither such a nice place to be around, nor one of the friendliest places to live either. Pip describes the village he lived in as a marsh country down by the river, also remarking how the churchyard nearby to his home is full of over grown nettles and also bleak. The small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all, and beginning to cry was Pip, from what we are told of the surroundings and atmosphere where he lives, it all seems  like a gloomy, upsetting place to be around. Also, it sounds as if it were to be constantly dim and discoloured, somewhere were no soul would choose to be, whilst the marsh country is similarly being described with the colours black and red included symbolising things such as death. Dickens used a technique called imagery making us think about how unfortunate Pip is to have to live there, and that it would make you feel depressed and slightly unwanted as you would have no friends, if you were to live there too. Pip sneaks out of his house in the early hours of the morning to visit his mother and fathers grave when he comes across Magwitch who approaches him fiercely. We begin to get the impression of how scared Pip may have been, as he starts to gently cry after he pleaded to Magwitch:Oh! Dont cut my throat sir. Whilst Magwitch was threatening to do so, dressed in:All coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied around his headAfter Pip had seen this man who turns out to be and escaped prisoner he knows nothing of, dressing in such clothes, I am sure just the view of him would have scared him, even before Magwitch chose to threaten him once again, asking him to; fetch him some wittle and a file. Wittle was a word used as colloquial which the people of those days would have said, which simply meant; food. Magwitch wanted a file to help him file off the chains left around his ankle. If Pip didnt fetch Magwitch what he had requested, he furiously and vigorously told Pip:If you fail or go by my words in any partickler, no matter how small it is, your heart and live shall be tore out, roasted and ate. Magwitch tried to kid Pip into believing that if he didnt do as he pleaded, a different man he had not seen, would come and find him a nd no matter were he hid, he would be able to get to him. Although this man he speaks of did not exist, Pip was only young so he didnt know any better than to believe the words that came form Magwitchs mouth. Yet, the thoughts Pip must have had running through his head at this moment in time must have been horrific, seeing as Pip was so much more than just imaginative and always thought of the worse scenario possible, making things even harder for himself of what would have happened if he didnt do as he were told. At this moment in time we begin to feel enormously sorry for Pip,  after we get to see what Magwitch put him through just to get his own way. As Magwitch would have known, the younger he was the easier he was to fool over this imaginary man he had told him of. As a result he was proved right, when Pip then brought himself back to the churchyard the following morning with the goods Magwitch insisted he brought. After this extract the reader is affected with thoughts of what Pip went through after meeting the prisoner and after being viscously threatened by him. Dickens wrote this effectively for the reader to feel sympathy for Pip affectionately, also to create an image of what was going on in more detail, than if Dickens didnt put so much effort into making it much more intense. Dickens uses descriptive language to add life to the characters and tell us more about them. For example Magwitchs character uses a lot of dialect such as: Who dyou live with – supposing youre kindly let to live, which I hant made up my mind about? this suggests that Magwitch is a scruffy, common character. Dickens has wrote Magwitchs character to be phonetic, this also gives a comic edge to the convicts character. Whilst Miss Havisham doesnt have a personal dialect although her speech is very prosperous and well spoken: You are not afraid of a woman who has not seen the light since you were born?. This also brings the point across of how she hasnt left the chair she is sitting in since her wedding day, which never went forward. In the second extract Pip is asked to visit Miss Havisham, after she remarked how she would like Estella to play with Pip. Pip was worried at what she would think of him as he had never met this woman before. When we see Pips facial expressions after his first glimpse of Miss Havisham, we start to feel sympathy for him as she was dressed in a wedding dress still from the day she was supposed to get married. Pips description of her at this moment is: She was dressed in rich materials — satins, and lace, and silks — all of white. Her shoes were white. And she has a long white veil dependent from her hair Decayed objects. She was sat in a dim room, which she hadnt moved from since her wedding day. You could see from Pips body language and facial expressions that he was  horrified at the sight of her: I regret to state that I was not afraid. Miss Havisham asked if he were somehow frightened of her and he blatantly told the lie that he wasnt, although he regretted it sometime afterwards he was very afraid to admit that he was nervous and scared of her at the time. Estella was Miss Havishams adopted daughter, who was asked to play with Pip and break his heart. After Estella says to Pip: What coarse hands he has!. Pip then changes his mind and wants to become a gentleman instead of a Blacksmith, as she keeps on insulting Pip and denounced him for a labouring boy, we start to feel sorry for him. Whilst Pip thought Estella was a very pretty and proud young lady, she was just in need of breaking his heart as she had been asked to do so. Miss Havisham had power over Pip because she was rich, so he did his best to do as he was told, in dread of what she could have done if he disobeyed her. Towards the end of the second extract, Pip begins to wish he had lead a different life and blames Joe Gargery for his upbringing: I wished Joe had been rather more genteelly brought up, and then I should have been so too. This is a turning point for Pip whilst he also blames Joe for teaching him to call the picture-cards jacks, instead of knaves in a pack of cards, because Estella had laughed at him for calling them jacks. Again we begin to feel sympathy for Pip for the way Estella treats him, because he is a: Common labouring-boy! as she describes him. We especially feel sorry for him when Miss Havisham tells Pip he may not say anything of Estella. She also repeats her words: She says many hard things of you, but you say nothing of her. This shows the reader how harsh Miss Havisham is towards Pip, further on in the extract we see that Miss Havisham treats Pip even more harsh, just to hurt his feelings and make him wish he was a different boy. Overall I think Dickens was successful, as my response being the reader I thought that it was very touching and I easily felt sympathy for Pip throughout both of the extracts. I personally think that it is important to be able to feel sympathy for Pip in the first extract, as it then helps us feel sympathy whilst he visits Miss Havisham later on in the novel in the second extract. After we see that Pip doesnt have much of a family and that  he is horrified of doing anything wrong, just because of the circumstances which would have occurred by his sister or even Magwitch it makes us feel more sympathy towards the end while Miss Havisham and Estella try and mess up his mind and upset him.