Themes of Modern Terrorism Bakunin’s God and the State

Mohit Mulani Prof. James Gilligan 22/12/12 â€Å"God and the State† The idea of malevolent terrorism is fundamentally rooted in an extremist interpretation of religion enabled and to a great extent encouraged by priests and political figures. To examine this closely with reference to historical situations and ideas, we can apply the notions bought forward by the Russian 19th century philosopher and nihilist Bakunin in his seminal book, â€Å"God and State. †In the book, doctinaires are critiqued quite heavily for their relentless imposition of impractical ideals upon the world. With regards to the, Bakunin states, â€Å"They are so jealous of the glory of their God and of the triumph of their idea that they have no heart left for the liberty or the dignity or even the sufferings of living men, of real men. Divine zeal, preoccupation with the idea, finally dry up the tenderest souls, the most compassionate hearts, the sources of human love. God & the State, 65)† C omparing these 19th century doctinaires with modern day terrorists we see a group of people so completely enthralled by the superiority of their belief systems that they are more than willing to compromise the lives of non-believers to ‘persuade' others. This follows in the line of a traditional process that requires the destruction and absolute overhaul of a current system and its institutions in order for a new one to establish itself and thrive.Referred to in the line, â€Å"Every development necessarily implies a negation,† the idea is the basis of aggressive and violent terrorism globally (God & the State, 9). The September 11th attacks for instance were planned to include bombings of the Pentagon and White House, both symbolic locations representing the centers of Western imperialism and sources of resentment for the jihadis. This is particularly important given how modern day authors, journalists and thinkers have emphasized the peaceful nature of Islam when inte rpreted by its scriptures. Looking at the sheer organization and potency of terrorist rganizations, it seems as though the hyper-violent aspect of this otherwise ‘peaceful' religion must have arisen from an understanding of this dogma. There must prevail the idea that without the destruction of certain reviled Western ideals, their preferred value systems cannot be secured across the world. Another aspect bought up in Bakunin's statement about doctrinaires was the erasure of love and sympathy towards the victims of terrorist acts. The perpetrators here have been blinded by the aggressive, nationalistic rivalry between ideologies towards the pain and suffering of others.In some cases, the real or imagined suffering of their own people, often at the hands of the West is used as a tool to harden their emotional facilities towards demonized groups of people. Several recruitment communications and propaganda display in explicit detail the torture practices, prison camp conditions a nd drone attacks the Western nations have inflicted upon suspected terrorists. This intensifies the unbridled hatred that ultimately fuels the metaphorical terror machine-churning out thousands of graduates armed with suicide vests and destructive ideals that they wish to impose upon the world.An important point here is that the origin of such behaviour isn't singularly caused by hate or resentment; it is rather the amalgamation of several factors including socio-political ones that in their totality create this belligerent section of the world. Bakunin speaks of, â€Å"the whole history of humanity, intellectual and moral, political and social, [being] but a reflection of its economic history (God & the State, 9). † The fiscal nature of countries and their people often have direct consequences on the views and positions adopted by them.The effect of poverty on the terrorist world-view most directly can be two fold. In the first case, people join jihadist factions for direct monetary recompense to themselves or their family; a significant factor in desperately poor nations and villages. An instance of this was seen after the Mumbai train bombings of 2008 in which the prime suspect Ajmal Kassab confessed to expecting approximately US$3,352 after succeeding in his mission. According to police sources, he was unaware of any Islamic tenets or verses from the Quran but had a virulent message to send nonetheless.The other effect of a poor economic state is an increased susceptibility to false priests and their version of religion. Lower socio-economic groups when faced with inconsequential lives resort to belief systems that give them comfort, solace and often a sense of superiority with respect to ideology held. This often translates to more suicide bombers by means of greater anticipation for the afterlife. A fair amount of terrorists that go onto perform suicide missions do so after comparing their current lives with the ones they expect to lead in heaven or jannah.They see poverty, distress, debt and suffering as something they can leave behind to reach a land of fountains, gardens, angels and virgins if they do the right thing. Here is where opportunistic priests and politicians swoop in employing, â€Å"base and criminal means †¦ to keep the nations in perpetual slavery. (God & the State, 11)† These self-proclaimed, â€Å"guardians and the fathers of the people,† clearly do not have their best interests at heart and see them rather as tools by which they can achieve their respective political and religious agendas.A preacher who sermonizes on the value of taking lives, leveling cities and particularly in Iran- the use of nuclear weapons, cannot possibly be representing to the people any interpretation of religious texts. Instead of performing his duties as the spiritual head of a community, he uses incendiary rhetoric to stir people who are repeatedly manipulated by their governments into believing serious propa ganda against Western nations. Bakunin expresses particular outrage at such figures referring to their acts as, â€Å" this crime of treason against humanity committed daily, in broad day, over the whole surface of the civilized world. This is interesting mostly because it alters our perspective on ideas of terrorism and makes us look intensely at what goes into the formation of one. As a global community, we express daily outrage when acts of terror be they car bombings, hijackings, kidnappings and murders occur. Caught up in these, it gets difficult to see the simultaneous crime being carried out throughout large tracts of the Middle East where the populace is systematically denied a real education in lieu of religious madrasas and indoctrination.Though vastly different, we can examine Bakunin's analysis of 19th century education and modern day madrasas. â€Å"Such are the absurd tales that are told and the monstrous doctrines that are taught, in the full light of the nineteenth century, in all the public schools of Europe, at the express command of the government. They call this civilizing the people! Is it not plain that all these governments are systematic poisoners, interested stupefies of the masses? † ( God ; the State, 11) There is quite certainly a reason for the establishment of such schools.We can posit that due to a certain moral vacuum, created by the influx of Western/European morality which itself was a consequence of the Scientific Revolution, there exists a motive to enforce conservative and restrictive moral systems. These motives when taken to their extreme engender resentment towards other forms of thinking and see them as counterproductive or directly hostile to their own. In the case of Islamic theology, the teachings have been co-opted by a small, but active militant and extremist sector.This group opposes in principle all people who do not share their belief systems calling them indicatively; non-believers, infidels and heretic s. Much like how in post war Europe this very moral vacuum was filled with branches of Totalitarianism and Fascism, the radical Middle East has adopted a similarly authoritarian system. This system is firstly authoritarian in the literal sense as most nations like Saudi Arabia have no free press, democratic governments or political parties. Secondly on a more abstract level, its religious tenets when exercised by extremists or the Mutaween are highly prohibitory and insular.An example of this sprung to international attention when in March of 2002, a girl's school in Mecca caught on fire. Members of the Mutaween or the religious police were on hand to prevent improperly dressed girls from leaving the burning building. As school was in session with an entirely female population, for the sake of comfort most girls had seen fit to take of their confining abayas and headdresses. When attempting to escape, According to a civil defense officer, the girls were forced to return by use of fo rce.This is one of many examples of religious confinement and how it is inherently parochial and inhibitory. The masses must indeed be stupefied, as Bakunin says if they consider it God's will that girls burn to death for not being dressed appropriately. Though applicable to a wide range of scenarios, this example gives us insight into the aggressions of terrorist groups. It is clearly not enough that they follow the rigid principles set in the scriptures and interpreted by their mullahs, virtually everyone must do so as well.Some priests go so far as to imply that forcing or â€Å"converting† non-believers to the jihad proffers to them a place in heaven. With this tendency to make the world follow the teachings of Allah, it seems natural that they would resort to the means made popular by tradition and used quite frequently in history for such purposes; violence. Bakunin reprimands this agenda harshly in a letter to S. Nechayev: â€Å"You said that all men should be such, t hat a complete renunciation of self, of all personal wishes, pleasures, feelings affections and ties, should be a normal, natural, everyday condition to everybody without exception.You wished and still with to make your own selfless cruelty, your own truly extreme fanaticism, into a rule of common life. You wish for an absurdity, an impossibility, a total negation of nature, man and society†¦ no society however perfect its discipline and however powerful its organization can conquer nature(On Violence, 9). † This is precisely what the terrorists seem intent on doing, enforcing by means of violence their way of life upon the world. The term ‘nature' is used here to reference the progress and advancement of society, morals and behaviour.The Scientific revolution occurred some 300 years ago and since then we have evolved, developing new systems of morality and using the social sciences to fill in the gaps left by religious dogma. These â€Å"science[s] of the futureâ €  like psychology and sociology are tools we use to fashion a new way of thinking and living(God ; the State, 61). Though they exist popular and normative definitions of good and evil, we have to a great extent outgrown them as new, more ethically complex situations arise and we approach them differently.Observing moral gray areas that we face everyday like bioethics in legislation for instance gives us an idea as to how we have been forced to evolve our moral ideas to keep up with out lifestyles. Though significant, bioethics is representative of a much larger and more pervasive phenomenon due to which we approach virtually all situations differently. For one, we refrain from moralizing a lot of issues that we would have historically used an ethical framework to describe. Our collective moral psychology as a whole has become more imaginative and we have a much larger scope to use morality in out lives.This broad, nonconservative approach has been interpreted as an empty, decade nt and immoral (rather ironically) philosophy that is engendered by liberal Western culture and extends through its rather large sphere of influence. This perceived emptiness or moral vacuum is then filled by priests, zealots and a restrictive culture that is almost reactionary in its principles, formed so diametrically opposed to the ones it aims to eliminate. Bakunin explains to Nechayev that regardless of a particular society's moral system, it is impossible to â€Å"conquer nature† or stop progress.This evolving of moral systems is the progress we've made in a past few centuries and various terrorist movements are largely the backlash experienced as a result of it. The abandonment of traditional value systems is understandably frightening and this very fear has been molded into a consequential, aggressive and parochial movement that uses undiscerning violence to erase centuries of moral advancement and replace it with a very specific, scripture-based morality that is reas suring in its decisiveness.Of note is the attempt made thereafter to brutally enforce this morality upon to world, to ensure that every woman, man and child follows the distinctive set of rules that govern radical Islamic morality. To see how truly regressive such a system is, we can examine the treatment of women in particular. The advance of feminism, especially at the turn of the century, led a revolution of ideas and social norms. The roles previously dictated by a predominantly patriarchal tradition changed and the restrictions placed on women were more or less eliminated.All terrorist groups share a contempt for women's rights and this can be explained by their aversion to change and the reversal of traditional roles. Though this discomfort with feminism also involves an element of insecurity as male roles in these societies are so dependent and inverse to female roles, it cannot possibly by itself cause men to go around in trucks shooting schoolgirls; that requires priestly o r political influence. What the terrorists fail to account is the nature of advancement and how it cannot be prevented from happening by beating people into submission. Everyday there is resistance in the ranks.Malala Yousafzai, an activist from Pakistan was shot on the 9th of October, 2012 while on a school-bus. This sort of advancement is likely to perpetuate itself amidst a large portion of the world and even killing everyone who noticeably advocates it will not prevent its growth. In Somalia, at the age of five, Ayaan Hirsi Ali underwent the torturous procedure of female circumcision (of genital mutilation as it is commonly and aptly called). This was one amongst several regressive traditions of her tribe and yet she emerged from the harshest of circumstances as an adamant feminist and atheist thinker. Man has emancipated himself; he has separated himself from animality and constituted himself a man; he has begun his distinctively human history and development by an act of disob edience and science-that is, by rebellion and by thought. (God & the State, 12)† Herein lies the key to our humanity, the very feature that is being suppressed by terrorists in favour of a more convenient, straightforward and primitive form of thinking. It is inherent in out nature to seek change, to ask questions and to doubt the dogmas we have been handed down.The fact that this leads to a complete social overhaul and the creation of multiple cognitive vacuums does not deter us from repeatedly being skeptical and thinking. The quote mentioned above refers to the Creation story of Genesis which showcases the act of disobedience, questioning of rules and the disastrous results that follow. At the end of it however, as humans we wouldn't have it any other way. Doubting the doctrines we were brought up with reduces the strangle-hold religion has upon out society and the amount of influence clergymen can exert.This is an important motivation for the priests of the Middle East to carry on with their rabble-rousing diatribes. Doing so can maintain the last vestiges of power they have over people who no longer believe in their divine capacity anymore. By diverting attention from the actual tenets of Islam and bringing to the forefront firebrand phrases from other scriptures to spur people on, they engage in self-preservation rather than the progress of the human race. The key to our development has always been in thought and rebellion, by preventing it combatively, the terrorists hold back the world nd regress us to an age before we challenged conventions. In another section of the letter to S. Nechayev, Bakunin refers to what he observes as, â€Å"an enormous lack of critical sense without which it is impossible to evaluate people and situations, and to reconcile means with ends. (On Violence, 9)† These shortcomings of Russian nihilistic revolutionaries are now echoed by Islamic terrorists. Despite their explicable beliefs, what is truly terrifying abo ut them is the raw violence and destruction jihadis seek to force upon the world.Their defensiveness towards tradition and resentment over past wars has been channeled into a form of nondiscriminatory havoc ceases to differentiate between military personnel and innocent citizens. This method is what is somewhat irreconcilable with the, â€Å"ends† it seeks to achieve. Though a destruction of the current system is required for any meaningful change to occur, it does not have to be gruesome and violent. It is however much harder for priests and politicians to spur their populace on towards peaceful goals than it is to make them favour blind violence.Speaking then about how to deal with an opposing civilization, Bakunin stats, â€Å"Societies which are inimical or positively harmful must be dissolved, and finally the government must be destroyed. All this cannot be achieved only by propagating the truth; cunning, diplomacy and deceit are necessary. (On Violence, 34)† Nowh ere in the aforementioned advise does he mention violence as a useful way to achieve success. This is particularly important as there hasn't as of yet been a noticeable conversion to the Islamic cause.Efficacy is a factor that the terrorists seem not to have consider seeking only to assuage their manufactured rage. â€Å"Hate, the negative side alone, does not create anything, does not even create the power necessary for destruction and thus destroys nothing. (On Violence, 29)† When four homegrown terrorists from London attacked the underground system, their primary motive was to avenge their fellow Muslims who had previously suffered as a result of actions undertaken by the Western governments.A large amount of bombings are becoming more about revenge and hatred than actually changing the status quo. This achieves nothing while a great deal is simultaneously sacrificed. Distinct from revenge, another cause for hatred is how the terrorists perceive the world. Bakunin refers t o the source of our progress as, â€Å"Satan, the eternal rebel, the first freethinker and the emancipator of worlds. He makes man ashamed of his bestial ignorance and obedience; he emancipates him, stamps upon his brow the seal of liberty and humanity, in urging him to disobey and eat of the fruit of knowledge. God & the State, 10)† It is fair to assume that they see the West and people such as Malala as Satanic and a corruptive influence. Both of these try to upend traditional thought and how we think about morality. By objecting to blind deference to a book or set of purportedly divine rules, democracies seek to alter people's moral psychology. This procedure has seen a backlash even in Western countries themselves in the form of radical Christianity. Ironically though this branch of religion despises Islam and the jihadis, it seeks to achieve incredibly similar goals.Every time a pastor in some midwestern state pushes for the inscription of the Hebrew commandments in fron t of court-houses, as a species, we take a collective step backwards into the Middle Ages where people believed in a fixed set of dogmas that seemed more interested in who they worshipped than in how they behaved. Similarly with the feminist movements, with the objectives of terrorism being so inherently misogynistic, we risk living in a world where women don't have the civil liberties we spent a good couple of centuries achieving.Though things in the past were straightforward and idealistic, they were also horrendously underdeveloped in modern concepts of liberty, freedom, thought, science and society. Reverting back to those circumstances involves necessarily having to deal with all its downfalls as well as the clarity of ethics it provides. We do not get to cherry-pick which part of the Middle Ages we'd like to being with us into this century as the terrorists have made amply clear.We will need to accept the oppression of women, religious minorities, homosexuals, transgenders and scientific thought as though we were actually living in the 16th century. This regression must be avoided at all costs. â€Å"Thus we come back to the essence of all religion–in other words, to the disparagement of humanity for the greater glory of divinity. (God & the State, 37)† With this statement Bakunin sums up the thrust of the religious terrorist movements around the world. They seek to avenge a perceived disrespect of a divine being and are willing to kill for it.Though they wouldn't do so spontaneously, this hatred ad murderous instinct has to be carefully cultivated from childhood by mullahs and other authoritative sources. These children then become people who are capable of leveling entire buildings for the glory of God whose existence they cannot be sure of and an afterlife they might never get to experience. Such is the power of, â€Å"collective insanity,† that drives a movement like this. (God & the State, 68) Since the 200,000 years we've exist ed, we've spent quite a lot of it questioning, developing and doubting.Attempts to prevent this are shameful in that they send us hurtling back hundreds of years to less enlightened times of dogma and religious persecution. We've outgrown the juvenile need for extremely strict religious guidance and have as a society agreed upon a set of common sense laws that don't vary significantly across national borders. We've developed social sciences to deal with the moral vacuum left after the removal of dogmas and are can deal with them without resorting to driving airplanes into skyscrapers.The existence of terrorism proves that for every collective step forward we take, there are elements that will be rendered irrelevant and have thus felt the need to make the loudest clamor possible. Though we cannot obviously devise a straightforward solution to a complex and varying problem, we can however seek to understand it. Bibliography Bakunin, Mikhail, â€Å"God and the State. † Dover Pub lications, Inc. , New York. 1970 Bakunin, Mikhail, â€Å"On Violence-letter to S Nechayev. † New York: Unity Press, [19–]

The Real Mary King’s Close: Principles of Human Resources

The Real Mary King's Close Is 5* visitor attraction in Edinburgh and It is located In the heard of Edinburgh Old Town. The tours are running underground, beneath buildings of Royal Mile. There is an alley of the streets and spaces right there. The close was very busy and most vibrant street in asses. 2) Planning the staff team Staff planning Is concerned with optimizing the use of the organization's human resources, now and in the future. To predict workload in the ARMS, it should be considered the number of visitors from previous years.The ARMS was planning initially 60,000 visitors per year. Since that time the visitor number has increased to 190,000 visitors per year due to new marketing campaigns and promotion of the visitor attraction itself. When planning the staff team the following should be considered: a) Manpower requirements The entertainment Is an essential component of tours provided In the ARMS. Most of the tour guides working for this visitor attraction are actors. The y can easily identify with characters of person presented while on the tour.The members of staff working in the ARMS are: Manager under Manager Marketing Manager Supervisor Tour Guides Retail Staff Cleaners Many roles are carried out at head office of the Continuum Group. B) Budget availability Whatever the objectives of the visitor attraction, its main financial management framework will be its budget. When planning the staff team, the type of contract and number of employees hired has to be within the allocated budget for the payroll. The current allocated budget for payroll within ARMS is over IEEE,OHO per year. This may Increase due to the Increase in visitor number to the attraction and the demand. Mime basis in the ARMS. The rest are employed part-time or on zero hours contracts due to the economic recession and to cut costs. ARMS increases temporary and part- time contracts for a high season in the summer and during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (August-September). C) Essenti al skills and qualifications, experience required To gain a Job in visitor attraction is essential to have experience in customer facing environment and excellent verbal communication skills in English. To have a degree is desirable but it depends on the position applied.A manager does need some degree whereas the tour guide should have at least interest or understanding of Edinburgh history. The other skills required for the Job in the ARMS are: Positive Attitude Good interpersonal skills Ability to work within a team Ability to use own initiative Ability to work under pressure Able to remember and recall facts Foreign language skills but it is only the advantage ) Use of person specification criteria and Job description in the recruiting process The personnel specification is a description of the human characteristics required by the Job holder and is derived from the demands of the Job description.Many organizations use a framework to prepare personnel specifications and two wide ly used are Aleck Rodgers 7 point plan and John Munroe Framer's 5 fold framework. 3) The function of a Job description Once the Job has been designed a Job description can be produced. This is essential, not only as part of the recruitment process but also to help with training, reward systems and staff appraisals. The Job description provides the employee with a clear outline of their duties, responsibilities and most important contributions needed from a position.The example of Job description for a tour guide is attached in an Appendix 1. 4) The function of a person specification The person specification focuses on the type of person who might be the ideal Job holder. It may include the personal attributes and qualities, training and skills, experience in similar post would be also beneficial. The requirements for person specifications are likely listed in order to their priority and classified as ‘essential' or ‘desirable' for the specific Job. The example of personn el specification is attached in an Appendix 2.The Continuum Group is unique in operating a group of cultural attractions commercially. Their main objective is to maintain the high quality of their customer service to achieve a growth of visitor number and to make a profit for them and their partners. Continuum Group owns and operates a number of leading visitor attractions in the UK and welcomes about 1 million visitors per year. (Scion, 2014) The ARMS is one of the tourist attractions that belong to the Continuum Group. The ARMS is an award-winning heritage attraction which provides underground tours to ore than 150,000 visitors a year.In the ARMS, the manager duties include leading and developing team of staff who influences every aspect of the customer experience to bring the stories of the hidden street to life, helping ensure that this truly special place continues to run smoothly and focus on managing all the on-site visitor attraction activities. (Guardian News, 2014) The tou r guides working in ARMS are talented actors and interpreters. They have to be knowledgeable of the site attraction, to provide customer service in a high level of standard, be able to interpret he customers, and be working under the Health & Safety conditions while on the tour. ) The Individual's Contribution Individual's roles As mentioned above, the management approach adopted at the visitor attraction is really important. The approach taken will influence the staff attitudes and Job satisfaction, and therefore will have a direct impact on the visitor experience at the attraction. Successful attractions tend to be those which are effectively managed. It is significant that the attraction has experienced professional managers across all aspects of the operation.Attractions without such management are often weak in nee or more areas, including marketing, financial control, management of people and strategic planning (Swarthmore, 2002). The role of guiding is an important part of AR MS. Tour guides are employed to lead a group of visitors and provide them with an informative, entertaining and historic insight into a specific tour. The guides' performance influences the visitor experience and their demand on the attraction. Individual employees can play a very important role in helping a business achieve teamwork and operations success.The business needs to realism that any person who works for the organization has their own motives and needs and that the individual will fulfill the business needs if it also meets their individual needs. Teamwork There are several advantages of teamwork within an organization. Some of them are listed below: Reduction of risk of failure while working in a team, the burden is not falling on an individual's shoulder Division of work – each person, who works in a team, execute any task of assigned work with the best possible aptitude. The division of work also assure the work is done on time. Team. The individual put the maxi mum efficiency on the work they are the best in or have knowledge and skills to do it. Team building Very often organizations use team building activities or events to build motivation and support at the workplace, improve communication, increase morale, improve productivity or Just break the ice to help get to know each other better within a team. In the ARMS, the management team uses social functions and occasions as a source of team building for employees – Halloween party or Christmas night out.Retaining staff loyalty It is important to retain staff loyalty within organization. It helps to motivate employees to work for the benefit of the team and the business itself. It also helps to educe recruitment costs and training which has to be provided to new staff. Some of the methods include investing into the employees: To give the opportunity to employees to enhance their professional skills by training and development To help them improve their skills and allow them to rota te between different roles within the workplace to avoid stereotype forcing them to leave the organization. Entrepreneur, 2014) 7) The Recruitment and selection process Many personnel practitioners of organization spend a great deal of their time engaged in the activities associated with the recruitment and selection of staff. The response practitioner has to be knowledgeable about the wider issues involving recruitment and selection decisions, such as legislation and good practice, and the range of recruitment sources and selection methods, as well as being skilled in interviewing and assessing potential employees.Examples of poor practice in recruitment and selection decisions which result in unnecessary costs to the organization are: Making mistakes – failure in redesigning by making changes in new vacancy 0 will have cost implications because the Job has not been designed to suit current needs and possibility of potential savings has been ignored. Recruiting the wrong per son may result in their leaving or being dismissed in the short term or requiring more training than was assuming in the long term.A hurried attempt to meet an advertising deadline in local paper 0 it may result in incorrect copy which misleads potential applicants or discourage them from applying. (Malcolm,2005) The steps from recruitment, selection to final induction are listed below: Produce Application Packs Design the Job descriptions Design the personnel specifications Assist in short-listing Arrange the interviews/tests Correspond with candidates Check their references Maintain recordsDevise induction programmed 8) Investing in Human Resources Human resources are a long term asset of any business, especially when it comes to strategy. The amount of money spent on employees and their learning can be seen as helping the employees to learn better skills that will help the business achieve its goals with more efficiency. The goal of human resources should be to bring the employee s skills out and use them to the business best advantage. Human resource management is concerned with obtaining organizing, training, motivating and rewarding the people needed by the organization. Malcolm, 2005) The organization can gain a competitive advantage over less progressive competitors by developing its human resources to improve employee skills and increase their loyalty to the organization. (Yahoo, 2014) Human resources should be about the development of both fundamentals of management as well as corporate values. This means that any investment in human resource management should achieve both of these goals. A) Customer care training The ARMS is an attraction owned by the Continuum Group which has had a set customer care strategy.The Continuum Group uses the same customer care policy for all owned attractions around the I-J. Staff at the ARMS adopted the basic and clear set of standards outlined by this policy. It is used well every day at the visitor attraction to achie ve a high level of customer care and maintain customer satisfaction. Every aspect of the customer care policy is vital to the success of the Real Mary Kings Close which is outlined in this report. The ARMS participates in the following two customer service training programmed: One Hundred Thousand Welcomes It is a customer service training programmer in Scotland.It gives the staff the ability to deliver excellent customer service, benefiting the staff, visitors and the company. There are two types of programmer provided – one for the management staff and one for front of house staff. Welcome Host Customer Care Training It is a customer service training programmer which helps staff to obtain new customer service and improve communication skills as well as the knowledge of local services. Expectation. They receive a recognized certificate in the end of the training. Both of these training programmed are significant to the success of the ARMS operation.The members of staff are g iven the best knowledge of visitor needs and requirements and how the staff themselves can exceed the expectations of every suitor within the ARMS. B) Investors in People It is a specialist in leading and managing people and its mission is to help to achieve objectives through the staff of the business. In 2008 there were almost 40,000 organizations currently working with Investors in People. It is supported by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (IBIS). The ARMS received a bronze award from Investors in People and was also a finalist in the Scottish Thistle Awards in 2010.The awards from the service training programmed are very important for the ARMS to show they do the right things, provide the excellent customer service and now what their customers need and want. 9) Training Induction training Before new employee becomes a tour guide, the special induction training program is provided by ARMS. Each new employee must be accompanied by an employee during the tour. Ne w tour guides are provided with detailed scripts to learn in addition to a booklet which contains historical information needed for the tours.They shadow five tours with general public and then are assigned a buddy. All training provided for new staff is given on site. The new tour guides are then expected to expand their tour in their own way and input their own extra information to make the our as interesting as possible. Product knowledge Product knowledge is a key to the success of the attraction at ARMS. The tour guides should be able to give an in-depth description on the close and how life was when it was used, as well as being able to answer many questions by visitors.Health & Safety training As part of the Health & Safety regulations, all staff has to go through special training program before they start to work at the visitor attraction. This training is provided only once, however all employees should repeat the training while working at the attraction to keep the highest level of the customer service. The first aid training is provided only to the management team and they get certificate in the end of the training. This training is not provided for tour guides and it should be changed.The tour guides are responsible for the visitors during the tours taken underground therefore the fast first aid would be necessary. 10) Training programmed and their benefits Benefits to the organization visitors, to know their expectation and needs By providing relevant training to the employees, it increases the customer satisfaction. Visitors would willing to visit attraction where know they do not waste a time and money. Enhance the reputation, people will speak about the attraction and recommend to friends and family. The image of the attraction will improve too.Investing into employees means their loyalty to the organization Benefits to the employees The training programmer can motivate the staff to learn new things, to improve and to develop their skills Train ing makes the employee that they are part of organization â€Å"family' With training provided, the tour guide can provide excellent customer service to the visitors while on the tour. They can be consequently rewarded by weekly award called â€Å"The Magic Award† by their colleagues or by customers' feedback revived as â€Å"Service Excellence Nomination†. 1) Implications to the organization of poor training Low staff aptitude, skills and product knowledge No staff motivation Lack of improvement over time The staff leaving the company 0 poor quality of service 0 bad reputation – the customers' negative feedbacks for tours, tour guides and attraction itself, by mouth 0 less number of visitors to the attraction 0 losing the customers now and in the future 12) The function of Staff Appraisals The organization is able to assess how each member of staff is working by conducting he staff appraisal.The staff appraisal is an opportunity to evaluate the performance of employees at least once per year. It is managed through a discussion between staff members and management. These discussions provide agreements about objectives and the achievement of targets. The aim of the appraisal is to evaluate the work and priorities the individual employee's future duties and development needs. The organization can identify its underachieving employees and either give them special attention to improve their performance, or begin the process of replacing them (eh, 2014)The staff Rota is a list of employees who are working on any given day, week or month. Planning the amount of staff needed to be able to handle the daily and weekly workload of any business is essential. This can be achieved by using a planning Rota to make sure enough staff are available to cover the necessary work, but the business needs to be careful to make sure enough staff are included on the Rota as not enough employees on hand could have bad financial impacts on the business. The purpose to make staff Rota in advance is important for full time employees to give them statutory hours as stated in their contract and to cover holidays.It is also important in high seasons (Summer, during the Fringe Festival) when the number of visitors increases, so the organization hires a seasonal staff and make staff Rota in advance, firstly to expand the tours and secondly can see the flowing visitors number by number of staff on a day. 14) Ineffective roster If the staff roster is not planned and made in advance it could have impact to the employees but mainly to the customers. While less staff is working during the shift it is more stressful, the employees can provide less effort on the customer service and customers are dissatisfied.It is bad reputation for the attraction and it loses the customers now and in the future. The planning of staff Rota also helps to minimize the harmful effects of long shifts and reduce proceeding mistakes. 1 5) Conclusion As said in the beginning of the report the human resources are important in the business as they affect the operation of the attraction, the staff and the customers. The organization should put more effort on recruitment process and consecutive selection of staff to avoid unnecessary cost and mistakes. In the ARMS, the Health & Safety and First Aid training should be considered before new employees start their bob.

Breaking with the Continuum

In this paper I’m going to discuss how both Modernism and Postmodernism represented a paradigm shift in the traditional art and thinking. I’m going to list the characteristic features of these eras, providing relevant evidence, where necessary. In the closing part f my paper, I’m going to investigate the effects Modernism and Postmodernism had on the creative process in the wider context. Following the chronology of events, I’ll discus Modernism first. The revolutionary nature of this artistic movement is noted for all the scholars researching the History of Art.If we discuss the definition of Modernism, we’ll see that it reflects the innovative and experimental nature if it: â€Å"The term Modernism applied retrospectively to the wide range of experimental and avant-garde trends in the arts that emerged from the middle of the 19th century, as artists rebelled against traditional Historicism, and later through 20th century as the necessity of an in dividual rejecting previous tradition, and by creating individual, original techniques. † (HuntFor. com, n/d, para. 1) Indeed, the first and foremost characteristic feature of Modernism is the rejected tradition.While the majority of previous artistic developments tried to find a place within the general context of the artistic realm, Modernism rejected all the previous principles and practices. The very term â€Å"Modernism† implies the dichotomy and struggle between tradition and modernity. In a limited number of cases, â€Å"Modernism was not merely defined by its avant garde but also by a reforming trend within previous artistic norms. † (HuntFor. com, n/d, para. 2) In a word, Modernism aimed at rejecting, transforming, or reforming previous artistic experience – but nothing can be left untouched.But what tradition Modernism rejected? â€Å"The second half of the 19th century has been called the Positivist age. In the visual arts this modernistic or p ositivistic spirit is most obvious in the widespread rejection of Romantic subjectivism and imagination in favor of the faith in the positive consequences of the close observation and the accurate and apparently objective description of the ordinary, observable world. † (HuntFor. com, n/d, para. 3) Another characteristic feature of Modernism is experiment.From my personal point of view, in the majority of cases Modernism represented experiment for the sake of experiment: Modernists wanted â€Å"to create forms for no other purpose than novelty. † (Keep, McLaughlin & Parmar, n/d, â€Å"Defining Postmodernism,† â€Å"What is postmodernism? †, para. 1) The tension between dispositio and eloqutio was often decided in favour of form. It’s much easier to produce a revolution in form than in meaning. As for other revolutionary innovations, â€Å"Modernism's cutting edges, to this point had been the exploration of subjective experience and the clarificatio n and simplification of structure.† (HuntFor. com, n/d, para. 6) By way of all these changes and modifications, art was ascribed a new function. Modernism â€Å"introduced the increasing number of works which either radically simplified or rejected previous practice. Underlying strand of that thinking can be called the shift from idealistic to critical. This tendency mirrors that art is to communicate clearly. † (HuntFor. com, n/d, para. 9) Modernism pioneered new forms of artistic expression, offered by rapidly developing technology. â€Å"This feature would in future unite both Modernism and Postmodernism.The rise of cinema and ‘moving pictures’ in the first decade of the 20th century gave the modern movement an artform which was uniquely its own. The use of photography, which had rendered much of the representational function of visual art obsolete, also strongly affected Modernism. † (HuntFor. com, n/d, para. 7) Indeed, Modernism, especially in s pecific forms, offered an up-to-date response to the changing reality. â€Å"The pressures of communication, transportation and more rapid scientific development began placing a premium on search for simplification of diction in the work of various art forms.One example was the movement towards clarity, and the embracing of new technology, found in Futurism. † (HuntFor. com, n/d, para. 12) So we can conclude that there were objective preconditions for the rejection of tradition advocated by the representatives of Modernism. When I thought of bringing a relevant example to illustrate how Modernists rejected the tradition, I found out that each movement – from De Stijl to Art Deco – offered their own response. This again proves the innovative nature of Modernism: while the tradition is singular, the deviations from it are multiple.The situation with Postmodernism isn’t that crystal clear. The very term â€Å"Postmodernism† suggests the continuation o f modernists’ tradition. The concept of Postmodern was first used with regard to architecture at the middle of the last century: â€Å"Firstly, postmodernism was a movement in architecture that rejected the modernist, avant garde, passion for the new. † (Keep, McLaughlin & Parmar, n/d, â€Å"Defining Postmodernism,† â€Å"What is postmodernism? †, para. 1) Generally, the movement was born as a rejection of the previous tradition of the adoeation of novelty. The definition of Postmodernism is as follows:â€Å"[Postmodernism is a] rejection of the sovereign autonomous individual with an emphasis upon anarchic collective, anonymous experience. Collage, diversity, the mystically unrepresentable, Dionysian passion are the foci of attention. Most importantly we see the dissolution of distinctions, the merging of subject and object, self and other. This is a sarcastic playful parody of western modernity and the ‘John Wayne’ individual and a radical , anarchist rejection of all attempts to define, reify or re-present the human subject. † (Keep, McLaughlin & Parmar, n/d, â€Å"Defining Postmodernism,† â€Å"What is postmodernism? †, para. 5)We see that Postmodernism rejects not only the previous tradition of Modernism, but also all the previous artistic tradition. It focuses on a different meaning and method of creation. Assuming that no new knowledge can have been produced at the end of the 20th century, Postmodernism concentrated on synthesizing the available element of art and thought. Postmodernism is a paradigm shift that can’t yet be defined by comparison with the artistic method that will chronologically follow it. As for the meaning of these two innovative trends, Modernism opened a new era in the Western art at the beginning of the 20th century.It opened way for constant experimentation and search for new forms of artistic expression. Postmodernism with its stress on collective and anonymous e xperience changed the nature of relations between the author and artistic product. Both trends offered a highly needed response to the rapidly changing world. References Modernism. HuntFor. com. June 11, 2005. www. huntfor. com/arthistory/c19th/modernism. htm Keep, C. , McLaughlin, T. and Parmar, R. Defining Postmodernism. The Electronic Labyrinth. June 11, 2005. http://www. iath. virginia. edu/elab/hfl0242. html

Yorktown-American Revolutionary War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Yorktown-American Revolutionary War - Essay Example The actual war was is said to have begun on September 28 when American forces under the leadership of General George Washington together with its French-allied forces led by Comte de Rochambeau hatched a plan to attack the British forces together with its allies that had camped at Yorktown in Virginia. Washington and Rochambeau moved with their troops (about 3,000-armed soldiers in total) and joined others who had already settled in Yorktown making about 17,000 soldiersi. On arrival, the soldiers carried out lethal bombardments on the British soldiers who were immediately overpowered by the American and French soldiers led by Washington and Rochambeau. Washington made life difficult for the British troops by shelling them for a period of three weeksii. After succeeding in this phase of the battle, Washington together with Rochambeau began to work on the second phase of the war which began on October 11iii. The aim of this second phase was to extend the siege line. However, the Americ an troops were repulsed by the British troops that mounted a strong resistance. However, the American and French troops managed to capture quite a number of British redoubts and pushing some British rebouts further away. Fighting continued until October 17, 1781 when the American forces backed by French forces managed to surround the British forces in Yorktown.... The American troops under the leadership of Washington and the French troops led by Rochambeau are said to have been more tactical in their approach to the war than the British troops, which gave them an advantage of the British soldiersvi. In addition, the America troops and its allies, the French soldiers, had the advantage of numbers over their enemies at the time the war broke out in Yorktown. In this regard, the American troops outnumbered the British troops in a ratio of two to one. This is because there were a total of 17,000 American and French soldiers against only 7,600 British soldiers. Basically, this made it difficult for the British soldiers to continue with the war, particularly after a few minutes of the war led to the loss of about 500 British soldiers against only 80 American and 200 French soldiersvii. As a result, the British soldiers had no option but to surrender leading to their loss of victory in the revolutionary war. In the event that the British won the rev olutionary battle, probably America’s independence would not have come so soonviii. The attainment of America’s independence just a few years after the war clearly points to the fact that Americans actually won the revolution. After the British forces had lost the Yorktown battle, the British parliament decided that the country discontinue the battle against America and its allies for fear that it could lose the war which would put the country in a bad positionix. As a result, the king was compelled to accept the loss of the Yorktown revolution to America, its thirteenth colony. In fact, after losing the revolutionary war against America, Britain retreated

Leadership Exhibition (Mahatma Ghandi Coursework

Leadership Exhibition (Mahatma Ghandi - Coursework Example Gandhi left for London in 1888 to pursue law. He graduated three years later and went to South Africa to work as a lawyer. After staying in South Africa for twenty-one years, Gandhi went back to India. No one knows who killed him or why he was killed but he was eventually shot or assassinated one evening while going for evening prayers. Mahatma Gandhi the lawyer Accesed 6 March 2013, from http://binscorner.com/pages/l/life-in-pictures-mahatma-gandhi.html The life of Mahatma was an extraordinary life. He poked at the ancient Hindu religion, culture, and modern revolutionary ideas about politics and society (Kumar, 2008:65). An unusual combination of perceptions and values. Gandhi’s life was full of contradictions. He was portrayed as a gentleman and people saw him as a god and a mystical person. Additionally Gandhi was a man of great determination. This report therefore seeks to demonstrate that good leadership can be assembled not only through the usual cunning game of politic al maneuvers but through the cogent example of a morally superior conduct of life Charismatic leadership style of Mahatma Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi preaches to a group of people. Accesed 6 March 2013, from http://binscorner.com/pages/l/life-in-pictures-mahatma-gandhi.html Gandhi is generally considered as one of the most influential world leaders, and today’s leaders should follow Mahatma Gandhi’s footsteps. As such, scholars have considered his leadership style as charismatic. First, Gandhi was a very wise man and so should every leader be. Through his wisdom, he managed to gather followers and caused changed without use of any external power. This utilization of wisdom is evident when Gandhi realized that India had an inferior army compared to that of the British army (Vanderhook, 2011:10). With so much passion to liberate India, Gandhi opted for a non-violent resistance method by leading a massive non riot campaign to boycott British products (Rivera, 2007:23). Unlike o ther leaders who would have asked for military help from neighboring countries, which would have definitely led to war. Second, Gandhi had a set mind or determination and he targeted India’s independence as his main goal. He strategically and humbly challenged the British colony until he finally achieved his goal by freeing India from British colonial rule. It took a long time but Gandhi’s wish came to pass. Contrary to other leaders who do not have progressive plans for their people or country, leading to lack of economic growth and prosperity in general. Third, Gandhi taught people about their basic and constitutional rights (Rivera, 2007:31). This was when he went to South Africa to work as a lawyer and realized that Indians living in the country were very oppressed and discriminated. Gandhi, being a courageous leader performed his role of teaching the Indian migrants about their rights as foreigners. Not all leaders’ posses this kind of boldness because most leaders restrain themselves from such matters for fear of persecution. Mahatma Gandhi gives a speech. Accesed 6 March 2013, from http://binscorner.com/pages/l/life-in-pictures-mahatma-gandhi.html The other note is that a leader should be honest not only to his people, but also to himself or herself. Gandhi demonstrated this modesty when he did not talk to his wife

Jesus and Mohammed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Jesus and Mohammed - Essay Example The lives and deaths of these two individuals had a tremendous impact on their respective religions. On the one hand, Jesus' death was essential to the central doctrine of Christianity whereby Christ is believed to have died in order to save God's children from their sins. On the other hand, Mohammed's life was more important than his death in terms of spreading Islam, as he became the leader of an effort to spread the doctrine of the new religion based upon God's revelations that were believed to have been communicated to him through the Angel Gabriel. Jesus did not purport to espouse a new religion, but rather sought to teach a new covenant of Judaism whereby God's will would become clearer to his fellow Jews. It was Jesus' followers after his death that spread the teachings and the story of his life, death and resurrection as a distinct religion from Judaism in its own right. By contrast, Mohammed, with knowledge of the new Christian religion and its Jewish precursor, affirmatively sought to establish and aggressively spread Islam as a new religion during his own life. Thus, the lives of Jesus and Mohammed had a wholly different kind of influence on the religions each spawned. The lives of JThe Lives and Teachings of Jesus and Mohammed The lives of Jesus and Mohammed were marked by some very key and fundamental differences. The choices both individuals made regarding their lifestyles and their teachings evidenced dramatically different attitudes and values pertaining to violence, sin and repentance, the place of women, and their overall views regarding the will of God. Their teachings and example are so profoundly different that it may be difficult to understand how they can both purport to convey the word and will of the same God. Even their dying words illustrate a quite different attitude toward nonbelievers, with Jesus praying that they be forgiven "for they know not what they do," while Mohammed cursed and blamed the Jews and Christians upon his death for building "the places of worship at the graves of the prophets" (http://answering-islam.org.uk/Silas/founders.htm). Essentially, the attitude both men had toward those whom they perceived as misguided nonbelievers were exactly the opposite in tone. "Christ asks God to forgive His enemies, while Muhammad utters a bitter curse against those who rejected his assertion of prophethood." Their views on slavery were also fundamentally different. Jesus did not own slaves, and the New Testament specifically lists the trading of slaves as being criminal in nature. 1 Timothy 1:8-10 states, "law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers..." The so-called "Golden Rule" of the Gospel of Luke (6:31), whereby Jesus teaches to "do to others as you would have them do to you," could also be construed as a directive against enslaving people. By contrast, Mohammed owned many slaves and specifically condoned their less than dignified treatment. The Koran is replete with examples of Mohammed's practice of enslaving many different types of people, and condoning the mistreatment of them. For example:

Compensation Comparisons Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Compensation Comparisons - Assignment Example Look at the 25th percentile for both base pay and total cash compensation for Bookkeeper. Both of these amounts are the same. This means that bonuses are influenced by several factors including responsibilities, performance, and longevity. I would be able to use the above information in negotiation my salary for a job right after graduation. First, I would assess my level of skills for the job I am applying. Second, I would compare this level with that of others in the field. Say, if my level of skills is deemed above average, then I can demand a salary near the 75th percentile base pay of the job I am applying in. To support the asking price, I would present letters of references from my professors in relevant subjects detailing my performance in the class. However, the asking price of other applicants can significantly impact whether I get what I am asking for. For these jobs, the relevant labour market includes all industries as all firms in whatever field maintain an accounting department. Moreover, there is no significant differences between salaries in different locations. These salary data were developed based on the review of available and applicable market data as gathered by Monster.ca and Salary.com’s team of compensation consultants. I believe that there is enough information to support the conclusion made by the team. This is so because given the speed with which people share information now data collection on sensitive issues is much easier. Nevertheless, the use of inaccurate salary data is a large financial impact. For example, if an erroneous salary data is used in negotiating one’s salary, then it is highly likely that the negotiated salary would also be incorrect. Given that this information is available for free, I wouldn’t bother with consultants surveys. However, if the job I am applying for is high level, say Chief Executive Officer, then this would be a time where I will use

Project on Recent Developments in Marketing Management Essay

Project on Recent Developments in Marketing Management - Essay Example Some advanced features have been added to the marketing management techniques by the companies which helped them to bring their business in front of global people. Some recent developments in marketing management offer various opportunities in business which contributed a lot for future. The recent economic crisis has been faced by almost all the companies who are involved in global businesses and that is the main reason why the companies are trying to bring some developments in their marketing management techniques (Lee, 2001). Most of the companies were dependent on manual marketing techniques like newspaper, Television advertising, radio etc but it was found that the companies were only able to attract their local customers through these marketing techniques and they were able to promote their products in local people. It was quite difficult for them to reach the potential customers of other countries and they were facing trouble in their business. The modern marketing techniques are mostly based on internet. Internet is a great source to reach global people at a very low cost. The modern inventions of search engines have changed the way to find information related to every business a lot. People can make their decision in a very short time and quite easily with the help of these search engines. The search engines can provide the detailed information on every business by entering a suitable search term which is often called as keywords. The most popular search engine â€Å"Google† can find all related results to the search term entered (Chaffey, 2001). People can visit the websites of the businesses which is searched by Google and they can make their decision. Website is a great way for the business owners to reach global people as the websites are not confined within a city or country. People from any country can visit the websites from any other country. There are some other developments in marketing management too. Today, people of a particular cou ntry can watch the television channels of another country which is quite a good way for marketing. People can watch the advertisements of the products of foreign countries and they can order for them. The online shopping method is quite popular now-a-day and people can buy everything sitting in their home by ordering through internet or telephone. It helped people a lot to buy products from foreign companies. The best thing about internet marketing is it is quite cheap. If we look at the earlier days we can see that the companies used to spend a lot of money in order to promote their business. The earlier sources of marketing like television, newspaper, radio etc charged a huge amount of money to place the advertisements of the companies and their products and it was not possible for the small and medium level companies to afford the amount of money but today, the companies can post their advertisements, details of their products in numerous social bookmarking websites for free and a major portion of modern people visit these websites in a daily basis. So, this technique seems to be very useful for small and medium level companies who do not have enough money to promote their businesses through television, newspaper and other sources. People are quite tech savvy today and they like to spend hours sitting in front of computer and surfing internet. There are lots of social networking

The Law of the UK and the US on Assisted Death Essay

The Law of the UK and the US on Assisted Death - Essay Example In the present day there have been attempts to legalize assisted suicide. This attempt has met strong opposition from human rights activists citing issues of right to life. However some states in the United States have legalized assisted dying while it remains illegal in other states. In the United Kingdom assisted death is still illegal despite the many efforts by the parliament to pass a bill in its support. Legal Concerns Three American states namely Washington, Montana and Oregon have legalized assisted suicide. Oregon has enacted the Oregon Death with Dignity Act which has legalized assisted death. Washington too has enacted its own law namely the Washington Death with Dignity Act which too has legalized assisted suicide. In Montana assisted death was legalized via a ruling in the case of Baxter v Montana 20091. However, there are many barriers to use of these provisions considering the fact that the right to life which is a constitutional right guaranteed by the constitution of the United States. An instance where the use of the provisions of the enactments has been limited is in Oregon where a physician may prescribe a medication which however must be self-administered. The person is required to be a resident of Oregon. To escape criminal liability two oral requests from the patient and a written request for prescription are a requirement. The doctor must also give a written confirmation that the act by the patient was informed and voluntary. All these limitations to these provisions check the balance between the constitutional rights to life. In some states there are enacted laws which specifically prohibit assisted suicide. For example in Alaska, Statute 11.41.120(a) (2) specifically prohibits assisted dying2. The supreme court of Alaska declared unanimously in the case of Sampson V. Alaska, that the right to assisted suicide was unconstitutional and upheld the Alaska law that prohibits the assisted suicide3. Florida State’s Statute 782.08 and e uthanasia law specifically prohibit assisted dying. In Krischer v Mclver, the supreme court of Florida ruled that under the constitution of Florida the right to assisted suicide was prohibited4. The Oregon state legalized assisted dying after November the year 1994 when Oregon citizens voted for a physician assisted suicide by their vote of 51% to 49%. Later in the year 1997, the citizens rejected an attempt to overturn this law by a majority of 60%5. The Michigan law expressly prohibits assisted suicide. The law provides that a person is guilty of criminal offence if he or she knows that another person intends to commits suicide and with the intention to assist that person himself or herself provides a means or means through which that individuals kills himself or herself6. The person is also guilty where he or she directly participates in the act of killing the person committing suicide. Thus it’s still an offence in instance of attempted suicide. In most of the States of U nited States, it is a criminal offence to assist someone to commit suicide. Alpers and Benard affirm that churches and human rights activist have strongly fought against any attempt to enact laws that allow assisted dying7. This has been a bone of contention for a long period. Humanitarian groups now feel that the law is oppressive to the extent that it deprives an individual their right of being autonomous beings. Thus there have been debates that the law allowing attempted suicide is incompatible with the

WTS Migration Plan To Develop E-Business Capability Essay

WTS Migration Plan To Develop E-Business Capability - Essay Example Many commentators refer to e-commerce as all electronically mediated transaction between an organization and any third party it deals with. By this definition, non-financial transaction such as customers’ requests for further information would also be considered to be part of e-commerce. E-business or e-commerce refer to the technology/ system integrate with commerce i.e. purchase of goods and services over world wide web via secure servers with shopping carts and with electronic pay services like credit cards payment authorization. Impact of e-business on organizations is happening right before our eyes a vast and rapid reconfiguration of business on an unprecedented scale. Impact of e-business on almost every part of the organisation is evident. Choosing the important infrastructure i.e. appropriate technology and service provider is of utmost importance. Service providers and IT groups directly affect the value of the enterprises. E-business needs whole lot of infrastructur al change. The technical infrastructure element of e-business consists of Internet and server technologies, hardware and software. Apart from the infrastructure needed for any business i.e. man, money and machine, e-business needs some specific infrastructure to succeed which are known as business application infrastructure which supports e-business design by providing the software functionality required for the business design to work. E-business infrastructure, which has been needed by WTS, could be classified

Marketing Principles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing Principles - Essay Example They also tend to be the high volume, low cost items. The top FMCG companies are characterised by their ability to produce the items that are in highest demand by consumers and, at the same time, develop loyalty and trust towards their brands. Danone is an FMCG company with over 90,000 employees and operates in 125 countries World-wide. Danone’s brands include Evian ,Actimel, Volvic and Activia. Officialy created in 1990 as a branch of Danone Belgium, and hit UK with the yogurt drink Actimel in 1999. Worldwide Group Danone has two subsidiaries in the UK - Danone UK Ltd and Danone Waters UK & Ireland. Danone UK Ltd is the fresh dairy business behind Britain’s fastest growing yogurt brands, Activia and Shape, as well as Britain’s best-loved yogurt drink, Actimel and new luxury Greek-style yoghurt, Oykos and one more new range of super thick, super tasty strained yogurt with a hidden layer of fruit compote, Danio. Danone Waters UK & Ireland represents Evian, the worlds most popular mineral water. Its portfolio of bottled waters also include Volvic, Volvic Touch of Fruit and Badoit. Danone mission is â€Å"to bring health through food and beverages, to as many people in the UK as possible†. Danone funds nearly  £180 million in research and development each year. This essay about Danone UK Ltd., has been divided into four parts. The first part deals with explaining marketing process and marketing orientation to the newly developed product in organization. The second – is analysing the macro and micro environmental factors, examining the concept of segmentation and identifying the factors that will influence buyer behaviour and propose a new positioning strategy on newly developed product. The third, explaining how the new product was developed, evaluating a range of distribution methods, discussing and critically evaluating pricing methods,

Russian Cuisine Essay Example for Free

Russian Cuisine Essay Food traditions are vary around the globe. Some people start the day with a heavy breakfast, some eat a light breakfast, well for me I dont even eat breakfast sometimes. Others have a heavy lunch or heavy supper. Russians have a long cultural history that stretches back centuries. Their food traditions are not that different from many other European cultures, but they do have their differences. Breakfast Generally, a traditional Russian breakfast is warm and healthy. Most Russians start the day with fine, rich and diverse foods. Porridge is one of the more popular traditional Russian breakfasts. Its quick and easy to make, and can be blended with fruits. Porridge goes well with other breakfast foods such as eggs. Eggs are served scrambled or fried and often are used in sandwiches with meat. Pancakes with butter, sour cream or jam are popular. For drinks, fairly strong coffee or tea is served. Lunch Lunch is similar to many European cultures that call for a heavy lunch during the busiest time of the day to keep energy levels high. A three-course lunch is traditional in Russia. Soup usually begins the meal. Traditional Russian soups include borscht, solvanka, rassolnik, okroshka, and mushroom soup. After soup, a meat dish is served. Popular meat dishes include beef goulash, stroganoff, pork chops, goose with apples, and stuffed cabbage rolls. The meat dish is served with salads and a large side dish. A traditional Russian side dish may include potatoes, pasta or porridge. Potatoes are fried and heavy, and the porridge usually is made of buckwheat. Dessert is light; it often is a glass of tea or a piece of fruit. Midday Snack A midday snack (or poldnik) is an important part of Russian tradition. Its typically eaten after or at the end of work to hold one over until supper time. A traditional poldnik consists of a collection of fruit, or fruit salad, combined with cake, crackers or toast. Its typically something light and healthy. However, more modern poldniks consist of variety of foods, such as coffee and a sandwich or a light salad. Supper In Russia, supper time is when the family sits down, relaxes and talks about the day. The structure of supper is similar to the structure of dinner, but there usually is no soup. Similar meat dishes are eaten at supper, and the side dish is similar. However, supper is the time when Russians pay more attention to dessert. Traditional Russian desserts range from various pancakes, rasstegai and kulebiakato ice cream, fruits and tarts. Night Snack After supper but several hours before bed, Russians enjoy a light evening snack. Most of the food and calories for the day have been eaten in earlier meals. A light night snack keeps people going until bedtime. A night snack is something such as yogurt or kefir. Fruit also is a common night snake. Thankyou (bo ga de lu)

Democratic and Transformational styles of leadership

Democratic and Transformational styles of leadership In times of tough economic situation businesses face today, it is essential to stay as effective as one can be. In order to be an effective leader, besides other things, one must know or learn how to manage stress not only in the work place, but also outside work. Our generation is set in a very challenging and vivid environment. People are being thrown at with various demands everywhere. Stress can be defined as the unconscious preparation to fight or flee a person experiences when faced with any demand (Nelson Quick, 2006). Stress is an inevitable part of our everyday life. We cannot get rid of it for sure, but we can reduce stress to acceptable levels, or to the amount it can be helpful. If not managed successfully, stress can cause health problems, both physical and emotional. To create a stress reducing program, I have chosen the democratic leadership style and the autocratic style. Democratic leader initiates collaboration, delegates power, interacts with its employees and cares about their decisions. This style is the best when the outcome is not known, and the emphasis is on the quality of the job. Manager likes to communicate with its employees, takes into consideration employees opinions, and invites them to share ideas, allowing employees to take part in leading. Feed back in this style is highly recommended and expected, the manger builds on feedback (Oates, (n.d.). Autocratic or commanding leader is the opposite of the previous one. Such a leader does not ask for opinions of its employees, but sets strict rules and regulations that ought to be followed. This style is used when the direction and the outcome are clear, and the team must follow certain rules or steps. Most decisions here are made by the manager himself, without discussing with his employees, so the communication is often only one- way. There is hardly any power delegating to the followers and the leader maintains the authority. Feedback to the leader is uncommon and not tolerated, can be perceived as an unacceptable criticism (Oates, (n.d.). Democratic style stress reducing program: There are more traits in this style that help reduce stress compared to the other one. Democratic style creates a positive work environment, where employees are given responsibilities, and are empowered to do certain tasks on their own, offering challenge which is the type of stress that is good. If the employees feel good in the company, enjoy the job and experiencing healthy stress. Another stress reducing trait of this style is that it provides room for communication and feedback, which is very important. If a leader communicates with his employees, he knows their needs and their problems, and can help them sort these out. Giving positive feedback to an employee is a great motivator and can also increase productivity, since positive appraisals to employees are very valued, and also boost confidence, which helps to reduce stress. Democratic style provides plenty possibilities for creative thinking. The shared decision making process invites for ideas of all members, therefore if the employees have a great idea, they are free to share it and even if it is not such a great idea, they know they will not be punished. Employees will be under lower stress if they are free to use their initiative, and they are being supported with their initiatives and even given credit for it. The use of the two-way communication creates no room for grapevine, therefore there is less tension in the work place, consequently leading to less stressful situations. Employees led by democratic leader are less likely to switch jobs, because they feel more appreciated, feel more involved and by giving more responsibilities, they dedicate themselves to the company for a longer period of time, because they are not experiencing distress, but rather eustress. Some of the stressful situations that may arise under democratic leadership are the lengthy and boring decision making. For some employees, the long and shared decision making can be stressful. Therefore in order to reduce stress in such situation, more involvement from the leader would be required, to move from one point to another. There are leaders that pretend to be democratic leaders, who just want their employees to think they care about them, but such actions can cause a lot of stress and dissatisfaction among employees. Leaders should not just pretend to listen to their employees, but really listen to them and try to implement their ideas. Democratic style may create stress in a type of employees that want to have rules, that want to be directed and that do not want to participate in the decision making process. In such a situation, the worker should be either explained the importance of this style, and how important his ideas could be. If the employee cannot put up with such an approach, maybe it will be best to transfer him to a department with more direct rules (Oates, (n.d.). In a democratic environment, in order to create a good stress, eustress, the leader may assign somebody with a role of devils advocate, who will question every decision, making it even more inspiring for others to participate. Democratic Program: Democratic leader agrees on a meeting with his employees, where they will be discussing stress issues inside and outside the workplace. The meeting will not be held by the leader, but the leader will inspire his employees to freely share their ideas. He can encourage them by sharing his concerns or problems first. Democratic leader does not force employees to participate. If there are individuals that want to share their personal problems confidentially, he will have them come to his office and have a private talk. The important step during these meetings is to identify the causes of stress at the workplace. Some of the common causes can be the fear of layoffs, increased demands, and pressure from manager to meet expectations. On the next meeting, team can come up with some team building activities, that will reduce the potential tension among the employees, and they will learn the roles they have in teams. Members can suggest some sport activities that the team can do together after work, because it reduces stress, and builds good relationships. Next task for the team to discuss would be the time management, and how could they improve. If people are running out of time, the pressure is on and the stress increases rapidly. Even democratic manager should create a balanced schedule. The team should plan regular breaks during work time. If the members experience lack of time, they could agree to come to work a little bit earlier to get ahead of time. Task management is very important in teams with democratic leader, since the decision making process takes longer. The tasks should be prioritized; some activities must get a high priority and others low. If the team seems to be lost in a project, manager should split it up not to lose focus on the objectives (Stress at work, 2010). 1st email message to general staff: Subject: Launch of the new stress reduction program Message: Dear members of the team, Due to fact we have all experienced the increased level of stress throughout past weeks, I would like to meet with you to discuss specific problems. I would like to kindly ask every one of you to think about the major issue that bothers you the most, and come up with suggestions for improvement. The program of the first meeting will mostly consist of the brainstorming the ideas, and solutions to them. Looking forward to meeting you, Your democratic leader. 2nd email to the general staff, after the rirst meeting: Subject: First meeting reactions Message: Thank you all for your active participation, I am delighted with the number of the solutions we came up with. If there is anything else you would like to add, or consult with me, do not hesitate to contact me. Looking forward to our next meeting. Autocratic style stress reducing program: Working with this commanding type of leader may create more stressful situations, compared to the democratic style, however, there are situations where this type can be less stressful. In some cases, it can be less stressful for an autocratic leader, since he is in charge of all the decisions, and knows he controls his own fate. On the other side, if there is too much for the leader to bear, he can be over stressed with too many decisions for him to make, so delegating power could take away some stress. If the employees prefer to be supervised and are poorly motivated, or have low interest in improving quality, autocratic style would be more productive than the team that is not commanded. Commanding style may reduce stress by improved logistics or time management. One leader can better keep deadlines and spot problems on projects that require certain schedule and complicated operations. In such cases long decision making would not be appropriate. Since there is only one to make decisions, snap decisions can be made immediately, which can on side reduce stress in the team, but may certainly put more stress on the leader, because the success or the failure of the project depends purely on his decision. If employees are not being listened to and are only supposed to follow the directions of the leader, there is room for stress to be created. Therefore, even autocratic leaders should be more open to the two-way communication, and providing also positive feedback to their employees. Autocratic leaders should lessen the pressure that is put on their employees, and appraise them for their work. Autocratic style seems to be unpopular among employees, sometimes being compared to as having no leadership skills, just commanding people. Therefore such leaders should provide some of their soft skills and try to listen to their employees more. By only giving orders, the confidence of employees will not be increased, so the productivity will be lower, and people will be under more stress. By delegating power to the employees, the manager reduces stress that is put on them, and shares the stress load with his team members. In some companies, autocratic leaders may experience huge loads of stress, while being responsible for everything. Empowering employees also improves the productivity, because employees can work on something they are responsible for, and if managed well, experience appraisal, which reduces stress. For the generation Y people that are naturally motivated by work, and work because they like the job, theycan be discouraged by the autocratic leader, therefore should be given more flexibility in order to reduce their stress. For such people being ordered is the worst thing, because they lose motivation and the productivity as well. If the team is mainly consisting of such people, the leader should not imply strict rules, but rather involve employees in the decision making and leave room for them to be challenged, because that is what motivates then the most. In case employees get used to such commanding style, they can become dependent on their leader, and without him, not being able to work. In such teams, productivity decreases rapidly and individual contribution is not present (Oates, (n.d.). While commanding style may work on short term projects, in long term ones it can cause substantial stress among the employees. Autocratic program: Autocratic leader would probably call the meeting himself and have the topics already prepared. Commanding leader needs to improve his communication. Employees do not like to be ordered at all times, they prefer being informed to reduce their uncertainty. The two- way communication is essential in a stress reducing environment, meaning the exchange of thoughts and feelings. Autocratic manager should learn how to consult their employees, and involve them in decision making, which will go hand in hand with higher motivation. The workload should also be consulted, whether they are able to perform all the tasks assigned. Autocratic leader needs to work on his emotional intelligence. This includes self- awareness, as the ability to show emotions, self- management, controlling yourself under all circumstances. Be socially aware, trying to understand his employees. Autocratic leaders need to build good relationships at work, because without it, the employees will either work under stress, or will be leaving the team very often. Next step could be to provide rewards and incentives for employees. Everybody needs to feel appraised for good work. Employees should not only be punished and criticized for bad work, but most importantly to be rewarded for good results. Even though task management in most cases of commanding leadership is done well, some leaders put too much on their shoulders, putting themselves under stress. Instead, they should delegate more power to their employees, which will be happy they are included in the task, and the manger will experience less stress. Relationship management is something autocratic leaders dont do, but is essential for the working environment. Manager should be able to inspire their employees not only by direct orders, but also by other means. Relationship building can be improved by many teambuilding activities: playing sports, going out together, find common interest with members of the team and interact more. Autocratic manager can reduce stress by breaking some of his bad habits. Commanding types tend to be perfectionist, which in reality cannot work. Nothing can ever be perfect; therefore managers should try to resist perfectionism. Setting up unrealistic goals that are unattainable can be very stressful, for everyone concerned. Humour is a great way how to release tension at work. Manager should not take all things seriously, sometimes looking at the problem from the other side is the best we can do (Stress at work, 2010). 1st email message to general staff: Subject: Launch of the new stress reduction program Message: Dear employees, I would like to inform you that there will be a meeting concerning the latest issues regarding stress. I have come up with some suggestions that might improve current situation. I expect all of you to be present on the meeting. Best regards, Your Autocratic boss. 2nd email to the general staff, after the rirst meeting: Subject: Update on the first meeting Message: I would like to thank you for coming to the meeting, I think the suggested solutions will work, and I strongly encourage you to start applying those. We will be meeting shortly to push the changes further. Talk to you soon. Conclusion: Every single leadership style has its drawbacks and positive sides. If manager can identify the benefits and reduce the negatives of his leadership style, everyone involved will benefit. Positive working environment, improved motivation along with the balanced work/life can reduce the impacts of stress employees and leaders are put through. In times of economic crises, where the demands are higher than ever, learning how to cope with stress is a necessity. Leaders should learn to listen to the needs of their subordinates, communicate effectively and lead efficiently.

Life Cycles Of Paper And Plastic Bags Environmental Sciences Essay

Life Cycles Of Paper And Plastic Bags Environmental Sciences Essay This research performs life-cycle assessments on two products-plastic bags and paper bags. The two products are considered to be substitutes for one another, and the end objective of the life-cycle assessments performed on the two products is to compare the life-cycle costs of the two products for the purpose of recommending a production strategy for a company that produces bags. A life-cycle assessment for paper bags is presented in the following section, and this presentation is followed by a presentation of a life-cycle assessment for plastic bags in the succeeding section. Following the presentations of the two life-cycle assessments, the two substitute products are compared with the emphasis being placed on the full costs of the products for the manufacturing company. Recommendations and conclusions based on this comparison are then presented. Life cycle assessment attempts to measure the total environmental effects of a product from cradle to grave. Proponents contend that life-cycle assessment can provide the information to assess tradeoffs throughout the life of every product. Life-cycle assessment permits producing organizations to determine the environmental impact of both their products and the manufacturing processes used in the production of those goods. As manufacturing companies have experienced increasing pressures to minimize adverse environmental effects of all types, therefore, life-cycle assessment has assumed greater importance in manufacturing management. The initial step in a life-cycle assessment involves the establishment of the purpose of the study and defining the objectives of the study. This step for this current examination was established in the initial paragraph of this Introduction. The second step of a life-cycle assessment is the life-cycle inventory. In the life-cycle inventory, energy and raw material requirements and environmental emissions of the product and its manufacturing process are quantified. Precise and extensive calculations are involved in this step. Totals for all material requirements and environmental emissions are presented for all stages of production, from raw materials acquisition to waste management. The third step is an impact assessment, which attempts to translate the life-cycle inventory data into effects on human health, ecological health, and resource depletion, which are the impacts of the product and its manufacturing process on the environment. The impact assessment is accomplished by classifying the inventory items into condition groups that may lead to an environmental impact. The final step in a life-cycle assessment is an improvement analysis. The improvement analysis develops recommendations based on the results of the life-cycle inventory and the life-cycle impact assessment. Such recommendations may include the modification of a production process, the use of different raw materials, or choosing one product over another, as is the case in this current study. The steps of the life-cycle assessment process from life-cycle inventory through life-cycle improvement analysis are addressed in this current study in the following two sections. In these two sections, these steps of the life-cycle assessment process are developed for both plastic bags and paper bags. Life-Cycle Assessment: Plastic Bags The life-cycle assessment of plastic bags is presented in relation to life-cycle inventory, life-cycle impact assessment, and life-cycle improvement analysis. Life-Cycle Inventory The life-cycle inventory analysis is a technical, data-based process of quantifying energy and raw material requirements, atmospheric emissions, waterborne emissions, solid wastes, and other releases for the entire life cycle of a product, package, process, material, or activity. In this section, the life-cycle inventory is developed for plastic bags. In the broadest sense, a life-cycle inventory analysis begins with raw material extraction and continues through final product consumption and disposal. The scope of the life-cycle inventory refers to the setting of boundaries for the life-cycle inventory of a specific product. A flow chart of the life cycle of plastic bags is presented in Exhibit 1. The exhibit may be found on the following page. The flow of the life cycle of plastic bags is illustrated in Exhibit 1. This flow begins (PE) petroleum extraction, and progresses through (PR) petroleum refining, (Pl-E) plastic extrusion, (Pl-F) plastic fabrication, (PB-M) plastic bag manufacture, (Tr) transportation of plastic bags to initial users, (IU) initial use, (SU) secondary use, (UD) user disposal, and thence to either (Rcy) recycling or (LFD) landfill disposal. The life-cycle inventory of environmental factors for plastic bags is presented in Table 1. The table may be found on the following page. Table 1: Life-Cycle Inventory Plastic Bags Environmental Factor Emissions [metric tons] SO2 0.07037 CO 0.01655 NO2 0.04692 VOC 0.27504 Lead 0.00001 PM10 0.00241 MTCO2E 58.76522 Non-Point Air 0.02432 Point Air 0.03892 Air Releases 0.04723 Water Releases 0.00225 Land Releases 0.00106 Underground Releases 0.01568 The life-cycle inventory of plastic bags indicates that several environmental factors are involved in the production and use of the product. These factors come into play at every stage of the life cycle of plastic bags. Life-Cycle Impact Assessment Qualitative aspects of the life-cycle are addressed through the life-cycle impact assessment. The life-cycle impact assessment, however, also includes technical and quantitative data to assess the effects of the resource requirements and environmental factors (atmospheric emissions, waterborne emissions, and solid wastes) identified in the life-cycle inventory. The life-cycle impact assessment for plastic bags developed in this section considers ecological and human health impacts, and resource depletion. Other effects, such as habitat modification and heat and noise pollution, also are included in the life-cycle impact assessment. The key concept in the life-cycle impact assessment is the environmental stressor. The environmental stressor concept links the life-cycle inventory and the life-cycle impact assessment through identified conditions that tie resource consumption and environmental factors. Thus, a stressor is a set of conditions that may lead to an impact. The life-cycle impact analysis does not attempt to quantify any specific actual impacts associated with a product or process. Rather, the life-cycle impact assessment seeks to establish a linkage between the product or process life cycle and potential impacts. The substance releases associated with the manufacture, distribution, use, and disposal of plastic bags create a number of stressors. These stressors, in turn, have an impact on the ecology, human and other animal welfare, and resource conservation. The magnitude of releases into the air, water, and land are not enormous; however, the are nevertheless substantial. Life-Cycle Improvement Analysis The life-cycle improvement analysis is an evaluation of the needs and opportunities to reduce the environmental burden associated with energy and raw material use and waste emissions throughout the life cycle of a product or process, which in this section is a product-plastic bags. This analysis includes both quantitative and qualitative measures of improvements. The economic costs associated with the use of plastic bags approximate $0.58710 per metric ton of environmental discharge. Electricity consumption in the production of plastic bags approximates 0.19 million kilowatt-hours per $1 million production of plastic bags. Life-Cycle Assessment: Paper Bags The life-cycle assessment of paper bags is presented in relation to life-cycle inventory, life-cycle impact assessment, and life-cycle improvement analysis. Life-Cycle Inventory As noted in the preceding life-cycle assessment of plastic bags, the life-cycle inventory analysis is a technical, data-based process of quantifying energy and raw material requirements, atmospheric emissions, waterborne emissions, solid wastes, and other releases for the entire life cycle of a product, package, process, material, or activity. In this section, the life-cycle inventory is developed for paper bags. In the broadest sense, as stated in the life-cycle assessment of plastic bags, a life-cycle inventory analysis begins with raw material extraction and continues through final product consumption and disposal. The scope of the life-cycle inventory refers to the setting of boundaries for the life-cycle inventory of a specific product. A flow chart of the life cycle of plastic bags is presented in Exhibit 2. The exhibit may be found on the following page. The flow of the life cycle of paper bags is illustrated in Exhibit 2. This flow begins (TH) tree harvesting, and progresses through (LT) log transport, (Pm-O) pulp mill operations, (Pa-F) paper fabrication, (PB-M) paper bag manufacture, (Tr) transportation of paper bags to initial users, (IU) initial use, (SU) secondary use, (UD) user disposal, and thence to either (Rcy) recycling or (LFD) landfill disposal. The life-cycle inventory of environmental factors for plastic bags is presented in Table 2. The table may be found on the following page. Table 2: Life-Cycle Inventory Paper Bags Environmental Factor Emissions [metric tons] SO2 0.80988 CO 0.51794 NO2 0.35931 VOC 0.30502 Lead 0.00010 PM10 0.03281 MTCO2E 91.28522 Non-Point Air 0.00471 Point Air 0.07472 Air Releases 0.07824 Water Releases 0.00362 Land Releases 0.00144 Underground Releases 0.00000 The life-cycle inventory of paper bags indicates that several environmental factors are involved in the production and use of the product. These factors come into play at every stage of the life cycle of paper bags. Life-Cycle Impact Assessment Qualitative aspects of the life cycle are addressed through the life-cycle impact assessment, a fact noted in the life-cycle assessment of plastic bags. The life-cycle impact assessment, however, also includes technical and quantitative data to assess the effects of the resource requirements and environmental factors (atmospheric emissions, waterborne emissions, and solid wastes) identified in the life-cycle inventory. The life-cycle impact assessment for paper bags developed in this section considers ecological and human health impacts, and resource depletion. Other effects, such as habitat modification and heat and noise pollution, also are included in the life-cycle impact assessment. The key concept in the life-cycle impact assessment, a previously noted in the life-cycle assessment of plastic bags, is the environmental stressor. The environmental stressor concept links the life-cycle inventory and the life-cycle impact assessment through identified conditions that tie resource consumption and environmental factors. Thus, a stressor is a set of conditions that may lead to an impact. The life-cycle impact analysis, as stated in the life-cycle assessment of plastic bags, does not attempt to quantify any specific actual impacts associated with a product or process. Rather, the life-cycle impact assessment seeks to establish a linkage between the product or process life cycle and potential impacts. The substance releases associated with the manufacture, distribution, use, and disposal of paper bags create a number of stressors. These stressors, in turn, have an impact on the ecology, human and other animal welfare, and resource conservation. The magnitude of releases into the air, water, and land are not enormous; however, the are nevertheless substantial. Life-Cycle Improvement Analysis The life-cycle improvement analysis is an evaluation of the needs and opportunities to reduce the environmental burden associated with energy and raw material use and waste emissions throughout the life cycle of a product or process, which in this section is a product-plastic bags. This analysis includes both quantitative and qualitative measures of improvements. The economic costs associated with the use of paper bags approximate $0.57299 per metric ton of environmental discharge. Electricity consumption in the production of plastic bags approximates 0.27 million kilowatt-hours per $1 million production of plastic bags. Comparative Assessment of Plastic Bags Paper Bags Comparing the life-cycle assessment of plastic bags with the life-cycle assessment of paper bags reveals that, from an environmental risk perspective, plastic bags are a lower risk product than are paper bags. With respect to life-cycle inventory comparisons, paper bags are superior to plastic bags only within the context of non-point air releases. Comparing the life-cycle assessment of plastic bags with the life-cycle assessment of paper bags within a total cost context reveals that plastic bags consume less resources in production and distribution. Further, the total cost of production is lower for plastic bags than for paper bags. Recommendations For the company manufacturing bags, the recommendation is that plastic bags continue to be produced. Although the company does not now produce paper bags, the recommendations is that such production not be commenced. Conclusions One conclusion drawn from the findings of this study is that plastic bags are a more economic product for the manufacturer than are paper bags. A second conclusion is that plastic bags are less harmful to the ecology than are paper bags.