Coca-Cola Versus Pepsi-Cola Essay

Summary In the late 1800s, American pharmacists started mixing fruit syrups and carbonated soda water, causing a new kind of beverages known as soda drinks. The most famous brands that started in the business are Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, and Dr. Pepper; but the big long-lasting rivalry is until today between Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola. In 1886, a pharmacist named Dr. John Pemberton made the formula of Coca-Cola and the drink was sold in at the counter of Jacob’s Pharmacy as a refreshing drink. Pemberton was a part owner of the pharmacy after he left, eventually, Asa Candler became the sole owner and had the rights to the drink. Candler sold the Coca-Cola syrup to pharmacies and started a big advertising campaign which gave Candler a strong sales force. In 1899 Candler granted the first bottling franchise, which eventually grew rapidly. Ernest Woodruff bought Coca-Cola in 1919 for 25$ million, Woodruff and his son worked on making Coke a convenient product that’s available everywhere. Woodruff made a great decision at the time of the beginning of World War II; he stated that every man wearing a uniform should get a Coca-Cola bottle for only 5 cents whatever it costs. This decision made Coke have a strong market-share in Asian and European countries; in the late 1950’s, Coca-Cola advertised as â €Å"Americans Preferred Taste†. Woodruff was influential in Coke’s strategic decisions until 1982. A pharmacist named Caleb Bradham invented the formula of Pepsi-Cola in 1893 in New Bern, South Carolina in 1893. Pepsi followed a similar path as Coke in the expansion, using franchisers to spread their beverage. The company faced bankruptcy many times due to the strong advantage that Coke had over Pepsi-Cola and the weak competition between the two companies at that time. In the period following WWII, Coke outsold Pepsi by a 10 to 1 ratio per unit; in that period many soft-drink producers started entering the market with a big variety of flavors other than cola flavor. Alfred Steele became Pepsi’s CEO in 1950, he believed that his company will take over Coke one day, Steele was a former Coca-Cola marketing executive, and he helped Pepsi a lot due to his wide knowledge about the rival which is Coca-Cola. In an effort to raise the company’s sales, Pepsi introduced new bottle sizes such as the 24-oz family bottle. 1955 Steele married an actress named Joan Crawford and sta rted a big advertising campaign; Alfred Steel’s motto was â€Å"beat coke† which led to increasing Pepsi revenues to over 300% between years 1950 and 1959. Through the years many soft drink companies joined the industry, but the difference is that these companies focused on tastes other than colas, such as 7UP which is a mix of citric flavors and soda, 7UP was first introduced in 1929; the introduction of 7UP led to an increase in the national market share. Coca-Cola continued to expand in the 1960s making Coke available internationally and in the United States. Coca-Cola started diversifying when it bought Minute Maid Juice Company; Cola-Cola also produced new products such as Sprite. Coca-Cola offered its soft drinks either in cans or glass bottles in 1961. Throughout the years in the 1960s and 1970s, Coca-Cola introduced different new products such as Sprite, Tab, Mr.Pibb, Fresca, and Mellow Yellow. Coca-Cola concentrated on international markets to spread the drinks, this strategy of spreading Coca-Cola internationally had matured the company and made the brand image much stronger than Pepsi. Donald Kendall, a former sales manager became Pepsi CEO in 1963, under Kendall Pepsi was renamed PepsiCo and started an unrelated diversification by opening restaurants such as Pizza Hut and producing snacks. Pepsi extended its line of products in 1964 by introducing Diet Pepsi and Mountain Dew; Mountain Dew has a similar taste to Sprite with was introduced by Coca-Cola. Pepsi tried to keep track with Coke in order to keep the competition even though Coca-Cola was more powerful than PepsiCo at that time. Pepsi became more aggressive and competition hungry in 1970 and 1971 when they employed experienced marketing executives. In the 1950s and 1960s the price of Pepsi was 20% less than the price of Coke, but still wasn’t able to reach Coke’s strength; with the strong advertising campaigns thanks to the experienced executives that Pepsi recruited, Pepsi was able to gain a stronger market-share for the first time in 1975. In 1974, Pepsi was the third largest-selling soft drink after Coke and Dr. Pepper. Researchers from Pepsi have shown that in a blind test the majority of consumers preferred Pepsi over Coke. This successful experiment which was called â€Å"The Pepsi Challenge† increased Pepsi’s market share and made it the number-two brand. After the great success that this challenge brought to Pepsi, Victor Bonomo, president of Pepsi USA in 1974, decided that the Pepsi challenge should be deployed I all market where Pepsi is weak. The spread of the Pepsi challenge led to an increase in Pepsi sales by 20% in the biggest cities of America. Pepsi launched the Challenge all over the nation in 1977, and after 3 years Pepsi brand was widely recognized in the U.S. and gave Pepsi an additional 1.3% market share lead over the rival Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola responded to the challenge by giving big discounts in certain markets where Coke has a competitive advantage over Pepsi and by stating that Coke’s bottlers are owned by Coca-Cola, but Pepsi bottlers are franchisees. Knowing that Coke and Pepsi is a standardized product, Coca-Cola used price as a market weapon to target Pepsi consumers. Coke tried to regain money lost that was a result of the huge discounts that the company kept on introducing, by selling franchisees the concentrate rather than the syrup they use in manufacturing the drinks. Roberto Goizueta became CEO of Coca-Cola in 1980, he introduced a 1200-word strategy statement, and the main aim of this statement is price discounting in order to regain Coke’s position in the market. Coca-Cola began to influence the ownership and management of the of their franchised bottlers, despite being committed to independent bottlers, they replaced bottlers in key markets that were not deemed sufficiently aggressive in selling their product. The CEO of Coca-Cola USA stated that the company had some role to play in the reasons the buyers purchase the product by offering in several instances to increase the numbers of their investments with the potential buyers. 2) Contribution The â€Å"Coca-Cola Versus Pepsi-Cola† case study was written to give the maximum amount of information to business-oriented individuals, it gave so much information about two of the most competitive companies throughout history; the paper illustrated the history of the two main soft drink companies and also talked about other companies that entered the industry. The irony is Pepsi and Coca-Cola were invented by pharmacists who are supposed to prescribe drugs to people and not give them beverages with high amounts of sugar and artificial tastes, the case explained how Pepsi and Coke changed people’s views of a beverage when the companies invented carbonated soda beverages. The paper explained in details the huge cola advertising war that started in the 1980s between the rival Coca-Cola and PepsiCo that caused a big revolution in the beverage industry and incentivized new companies to enter the industry and produce beverages with different flavors. The case explained the positioning of the two companies and showed the difference in the brand value of the companies. The case was great also in giving the comparative analysis between the two companies, giving the different products other than the main product that was first manufactured by the companies. The case also showed us how the companies implemented different strategies to increase revenues and to increase market share and gain the most competitive advantage. Pepsi vs. Coca-Cola SWOT analysis Strength: *Pepsi: Very Innovative, the broad portfolio of products, more flexible franchise network, aggressive marketing strategy. *Coca-Cola: One of the most valuable brands in the world, largest market share in the soft drink industry, and great customer loyalty Weakness: *Pepsi: Competition with Coke, higher prices than Coke, and lower net profit margin than Coca-Cola *Coca-Cola: Competition with Pepsi, relies on soft drinks, and lacks diversification Opportunities: *Pepsi: International expansion and growth in the bottled water industry *Coca-Cola: Reduce costs and increased demand for bottled water Threats: *Pepsi: Increased marketing campaigns by Coke and restrictions to sell in certain countries because Coke has control on them *Coca-Cola: Strong local brands in some countries and negative publicity Michael Porter’s 5 Forces on Pepsi and Coca-Cola Knowing that Pepsi and Coca-Cola have standardized products, I won’t need to talk about every company alone. The intensity of Rivalry between Competitors: Pepsi and Coke are historical competitors, in the 1980s; the rivalry between them was very ferocious, and the cola war occurred at that period of time to show which companies’ products taste better. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Suppliers have no power over Pepsi or Coca-Cola, it is very easy and cheap to buy all the ingredients to manufacture soft drinks, in fact, the competition between Pepsi and Coca-Cola’s suppliers is really strong because of the great and presence of all the material. In my opinion, Pepsi and Coca-Cola have power over their suppliers; this helps them in decreasing their costs a lot. Bargaining Power of Buyers: The power of buyers in the case of Coca-Cola and Pepsi is high, because the switching cost is low or even the same depending on the geographical segment; both companies try their best to gain customer loyalty, but Coke does it better by playing on its customers’ emotions in its advertisements. The threat of New Entrants: This force is low, the soft drink industry is very competitive if a possible new product enters the market, and it would be really expensive and hard to position in the very strong industry. Threat of Substitutes: This force is high, especially because of health trends that hit the community from time to time, bottled water and juice companies are working hard in order to gain a competitive advantage over Pepsi and Coke by showing consumers the bad effects and obesity that this soda beverage can cause to our health, this is causing a change Pepsi and Coca-Cola’s strategies and making them introduce diet beverages as mentioned in the case, or even causing the Pepsi and Coca-Cola to buy big companies that produce healthy beverages; as an example, Pepsi bought Aquafina in order to have an advantage over the competitor.

Literary History and the Concept of Literature Essay

Literary history and the concept of literature I From the 1970s onwards, much has been said about the writing of history and literary history that has cast doubt on its intellectual credibility. For example, Hayden White’s Metahistory (1973) included an influential analysis of the metaphorical foundations of 19th century history writing. In 1979, Jean-Francois Lyotard criticized grand narratives in La Condition postmoderne (The Postmodern Condition), and in 1992 David Perkins presented a whole array of sceptical epistemological and methodological arguments directed against literary history in Is Literary History Possible?. The questioning of literary history has not however resulted in the abandonment of large-scale literary-historical projects, rather it has inspired attempts to base such ventures on better designs and better foundations. Not least, many new ideas about the field have been put forward in connection with the preparation of two major works of literary history sponsored by the ICLA. It is also natural to point to two theoretical publications from 2002: the collection of essays, Rethinking Literary History, edited by Linda Hutcheon and Mario J. Valdes, and Marcel Cornis-Pope and John Neubauer’s brief presentation of the ideas behind a history of literary cultures in East-Central Europe. [ii] The Swedish project â€Å"Literature and Literary History in Global Contexts†, which was started in 1998 and will terminate in 2004, focuses specifically on some theoretical problems associated with the writing of literary history. We who participate come, mostly, from various fields within oriental studies or from comparative literature. Since the project is sponsored by the Swedish Research Council we all work, or once worked, at various Swedish universities. One of the special features of the project is the interest devoted to world histories of literature, a genre where the general problems of literary history become especially visible and acute. (I shall return to this perhaps unfamiliar genre in a moment. ) Three important cruces in connection with world histories of literature have been singled out for special discussion within the project: (i) the understanding of the notion of literature, (ii) the understanding of genres, and (iii) the understanding of interactions between literary cultures. These three sets of issues will be made the subject of four volumes of literary-historical studies and theoretical reflections, and these volumes will represent the main concrete outcome of the project. In this paper, I shall concentrate on the first of the questions, about the notion of literature. I shall say a few words about the concept of literature itself, point out some of the difficulties that it occasions in a world history of literature, and conclude with a brief discussion of how such problems may be approached and dealt with. II In a sense, of course, there are very many concepts of literature: if every nuance is taken into account, it may well be the case that each person has their own. Yet if, conversely, one looks at the situation very broadly, one can say that there is an everyday concept of literature in Western culture which is widely shared. That concept came into being in the course of the 18th century. Before that, no exact counterpart to our present concept of literature existed either in Western culture or elsewhere, and the distinction between imaginative literature and non-fiction was not of primary importance in the classification of texts. Wilt Idema and Lloyd Haft have given a concise and clarifying account of how earlier cultures thought about texts and their basic divisions. As long as no more than a few written works are in circulation in a given society, all texts are more or less equally important and valuable. If there is a dramatic increase in the number of writings, with a corresponding differentiation in their content and character, the texts are likely to be subdivided into the categories of â€Å"high† literature, professional literature, and popular literature. â€Å"Literature† (or high literature) is then the term for texts which are felt to be of general educational value and which are, accordingly, regarded as part of the necessary intellectual baggage of every cultured person†¦. Works which contain useful knowledge but remain limited to one specific area, such as medicine or military science, are classified as professional literature. Works intended only to amuse, and which have (or are considered to have) no educational value, fall outside the scope of â€Å"literature†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. We may call these more or less despised writings â€Å"trivial literature†. In the kind of intellectual culture described in this quotation, the fundamental distinction among texts is the one between culturally important texts and culturally less significant ones. In most such cultures – classical antiquity, classical Chinese culture, classical Sanskrit culture, and so forth – the class of culturally important texts would comprise most of what we call poetry, history writing, and philosophy, and normally also other kinds of texts – some administrative texts, some texts concerning magic, some letters, et cetera. Oral vernacular texts, or relatively unadorned fictional narratives, what we call fictional prose, would normally form part of popular or trivial literature. For complex social, economic, and cultural reasons, this way of classifying texts came to undergo great though gradual transformations in Western Europe from the late 17th to the early 19th centuries. One of the very many crucial factors behind the process must have been the growing importance of a new, more rigorous conception of empirical truth, associated with the natural sciences. High literature, in the special sense described by Idema and Haft, had always aspired to truth in the sense of great human significance. As the distinction between empirical truth and empirical non-truth became more rigid and more significant – and as many other, more or less related developments were taking place – new groupings began to emerge in the textual universe. Poetry became dissociated from scientific writings, and successively also from history, philosophy, oratory, and letters. On the other hand, fictional prose, especially in the guise of the increasingly appreciated novel, came to be regarded as one of the genres of poetry. With this, our modern notion of literature had effectively taken shape, and the term â€Å"literature† (whose main meaning in the 17th and 18th centuries had been something like â€Å"education† or â€Å"culture†) successively developed into today’s normal designation of the concept. [v] III The late 18th and early 19th centuries saw the beginning of the writing of literary history – of the history of national European literatures, of the history of European literature as a whole and, at least from the 1830s onwards, of the world history of literature. World histories of literature thus comprise a genre which has existed for around 170 years. Among its modern instances are such impressive works as the German twenty-five volume Neues Handbuch der Literaturwissenschaft (New Handbook of Literary Studies), published between 1972 and 2002, and the Russian Istorija vsemirnoj literatury v devjati tomach (History of World Literature in Nine Volumes) from 1983-94. [vii] However in the English-speaking world the genre is more or less extinct, and its very existence appears to be overlooked in the contemporary international discussion about the globalization of literary studies. These debates are primarily inspired by the widespread interest in colonial and postcolonial studies and place the last few centuries at the centre of attention, while the traditional world histories of literature are, in principle, universal in scope, and are meant to cover all times and cultures. In many respects, it seems a good idea to have a world history of literature to fall back on. Such works can relate the various literary cultures of the world to one another and put them into perspective. Thus they may create a much needed overview, much as a map of the world helps us to comprehend certain fundamental geographical realities. To some extent, works like the Neues Handbuch der Literaturwissenschaft and the Istorija vsemirnoj literatury do just that, and of course they also contain a wealth of information and intelligent discussion. Yet, despite their often remarkable qualities, world histories of literature are typically profoundly problematic for a number of reasons. Two major problems have their roots in the very concept of literature. First, the concept is, in itself, an everyday notion. If employed without additional explications or stipulations, it is too imprecise and inconsistent to form the basis of a reasonable classification. Second, the concept of literature is a relatively recent Western invention. Its application to other times and cultures will easily lead to anachronistic and ethnocentric distortions. On the whole, world histories of literature are content to sweep such problems under the carpet. They typically prefer to rely on the everyday notion of literature and to include the resulting contradictions in the bargain. For instance, the concept of literature is traditionally used in such a manner that the criteria for a work to be classified as literature vary depending on the time and the culture one is speaking of. Modern literature is most often seen as consisting of just fictional prose, poetry, and drama. When there is talk of older periods, the concept of literature is however used very inclusively. [ix] For example, ancient Roman philosophy, history, and oratory are not excluded as being non-fiction; instead, such writers as Lucrece, Caesar, and Cicero are considered part of the European literary heritage. The same duality appears in the treatment of other literary cultures. Thus, for instance, the sacred Vedic texts (circa 1200 – circa 500 B. C.).

My extraordinary leadership lessons from an ordinary experience

When I was at grade school, I placed special reverence to teachers. I specially admire their power over their students: the way they make them seated properly in their designated seating arrangements, the way they let them enter and leave the room in a file and the simple way of making each student to greet them even outside the school campus. There were times when I also dreamed of being a teacher when I finished school for one good reason: I wanted to lead. As I grew older, I have learned that teaching profession is not as easy as what I thought it was. As a joined school and community activities, I have learned that holding positions in organizations makes a lot of sense in terms of leadership training. I also learned that leading does not always take intelligence, energy and time and that being a leader does not in anyway make anyone greater than the ones being led. Leadership rather takes the whole personality of a person, including his heart, his mind and his soul. Leadership is not all about power; it’s about love and concern. With this ordinary experience, I will prove that the leader and the follower in its sense are ordinary participants in the game of life where everyone is regarded equal. My experience will prove that by being a protà ©gà ©, one will be able to prepare himself to be a good leader someday. I was raised in a conservative family; conservative in a sense that my family has countless rules and regulations set for us children. When it’s a rule, conformity has to be no more, no less. At home, the power lies in the hands of my strict father. House rule says no one has to be outside the house when it’s already dark. House rules say everyone has to around the table when it’s dinner time, no talking, and most of all, eat whatever food is prepared. When my father says â€Å"you’re wrong†, don’t dare to question his judgment and don’t ever dare to speak a word to explain and to defend yourself. Until I entered high school, there’s nothing I know about leadership but power. I studied really hard because father wants me to have good grades. So no one can blame me if I see leadership as having the power to make others fear you. Not until I was asked to join a stage play and have the courage to try, that these views on leadership have all changed. The organizers were meticulously picking the players. Actors and actresses were selected from different levels and when the final list came out, I was really glad to find my name there. But no, I was not one of the stage actresses. I will be part of the play as the narrator, and yes, I chose to play that part. It may sound really weird for some because people often desire to be at the lime light. It is but common for anyone to grab the opportunity of having his or her abilities and talents be shown to many. If there be exemption to this common life scene, I am an exemption. I chose to stay behind the stage because I am afraid to ruin the presentation in the event that I forget my lines. My family training developed me into a well-behaved individual, but it also deprived me of learning how it is to be outside my own home. I was locked in the house all my childhood life so I was not able to develop my social skills. I was raised to be a loner, and so I lived that kind of life until I entered high school. My family training deprived me of the opportunity to gain self-confidence. That is maybe the reason why I chose to be behind the scenes of the stage play. What made me choose to play as a narrator is my stage fright. I lack the confidence of bringing myself in front of many people. I hate being in a place where I am noticeable. I am weird, they say. Yes, I am. I am afraid to make a mistake, so I chose to just narrate since I have something in my hand to read. During rehearsals, I often got insulted by the trainor for my poor diction. There were many times when I was threatened to be replaced by someone who could do better than I do. Few days have passed and yet the trainor still told me I have not yet improved. I felt like I am the least performer in group. I have the least coaching time while I had the most naggings and silly words swallowed during the practice. I was then planning to quit but I was halted by the thought that my father would not surely like the idea of his daughter giving up. I have to continue, I have to strive more. I have to make sure my trainer will not replace me when he got fed up of nagging at me. One rehearsal session made all things in my mind changed. The trainer gathered all the stage play participants, including the support group. He has to make some announcements on some little changes on the script and on the planned stage set-up. We were all gathered in the gym, with the trainer’s microphone as loud and clear so that anyone will surely hear what he has to say. He asked the group to make the best of every session as the play is as important as the name of the school. We have to make sure that everything will turn out fine and excellent in the night of the performance. He told the main characters that they are the one who will face the audience and should therefore have the assurance of performing very well. He told the support group that even if they only play as backgrounders, they are great contributors to the success of the presentation. He said the play will not be as beautiful as it is supposed to be when the facilities, especially the sounds and the lights are not properly set-up. He then called me up and said that I am holding an important role in the play. He said that as the narrator, I am the one who will bring life to the scenes that are not to be played on stage but are important in bringing out the essence of the story. He told me that I am not in anyway the least of the group because I have in my hands the responsibility of connecting every scene in the play. I am, in its essence the light of the dark spots in the story. WHAT I HAVE DISCOVERED ABOUT MYSELF My energy from that day seemed to have been refueled. I strived really hard by reading my lines over and over again, day and night. I realized that I am not in anyway the least of the group, nor I am to let myself be the least performer. My life has never been this busy and meaningful until I started gaining my self-confidence. To believe in yourself in not what others call pride but it is a thing that I believe a personal need. I have learned that everyone has his own talent, ability and skill that is innate in him. That precious thing in a person just needs to be discovered and be used to meaningful activities. HOW THE EXPERIENCE STRENGTHENED MY SELF-LEADERSHIP SKILLS I have learned that every person has a unique way of discovering his abilities. Some just naturally show up. There are some that need to be tapped, some need digging up, and there are those which require pain and suffering before their talents are squeezed up. Having these facts, I have learned that mentors, teachers, trainers and anyone who manage people have their own style of handling things. If they choose to be generous and considerate, they have all good reasons of doing so. If mentors choose to be strict and display their strong personalities, they all the valid reasons to do so. What I have most importantly learned in my experience is that teachers, mentors and even parents all wanted their students, their subordinated and their children to learn the vital lessons of life: that is, to bring out the best out of them. I have realized that my trainer chose to be too strict to me because he wanted me to strive harder. He did not mean to frighten me, not he did want to make me feel that he did not like me. Since that day, my trainer eventually noticed and commended the improvements on my performance. He told me that I have already gained the confidence that he long been wanting me to bring out. He told me that loners like me are not at all hard to handle. Like him, loners need encouragement like what he did. HOW THE EXPERIENCE IMPROVED MY INTERPERSONAL SKILLS Since the school play, I have not yet had the guts of joining activities which require a lot of public exposure. I did join more activities and have chosen the same roles. I did so not because I was not able to learn and apply what my trainer have taught us. It is because I have learned that leadership need not to be as publicly done as many think it is. I have learned fro, that experience that leadership is not all about taking a post, having an official designation and handling people. I have learned that leadership begins when one was able to conquer his fears in life. Leadership begins by leading your own life and let others see the difference when you come out of your own shell. I have learned that extraordinary lessons in life are learned by paying attention to little things in ordinary life experiences. When one has to learn, he has to experience pain and sufferings before glory comes in his hands. My journey in life did not go that smooth and easy. It took me to endure insults and discouragements. But all of these are part of training and I believe, every tear shed and every sweat that comes out of my body is worth the lessons of leadership. AN EVALUATION OF MY PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS After the activity, I have never been a loner. I still did not have the guts of doing public appearances but I did improve on handling people who work as supports. It was not because this is all I can do but because I chose to do it, and this is what makes me happy. I feel that by doing so, I am able to give my best and that in this area where my talents and skills are best utilized. HOW THE EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN A VALUABLE EXPERIENCE TO ME Now I understand why my father has to lock us up in the house all day long during weekends. Now I understand why we have to behave well during dinner. Now I understand why I have to bring out my books and notes even after school and at night after meal. Now I understand why father deprived us of reasoning out at him. Like all parents, father wants us his children to be raised as well-behaved individuals. He just wants us to learn that childhood life is not all about eating and playing matters. He has been this strict because he wanted to show us the realities of life. Sometimes, it really takes to deprive someone of common and ordinary things in order to gain the extraordinary lessons of life. By my father’s way of training us, I have learned that leadership is not all about fear, but obedience. Leadership is not all about power, but respect. If they have not handled me this way, I am afraid that I was not able to reach my status in life now. The experience has been a valuable event in my life that whatever life takes me, I will surely look back to the time when I was in that time of my life, trying to grasp the valuable lessons of life.                  

The root of poor and segregate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The root of poor and segregate - Essay Example However, despite the perceived tolerance and acceptance of White Americans towards the Blacks, as well as the immigrant and minority groups, there were still some issues which counteract the implementation of anti-discriminatory laws, and even let racism remain subtly within the society. Factors such as maintenance of stereotypes not just by law enforcers but also by policy-makers and the mass media caused many problems such as the failure of the minority groups to become fully integrated and accepted into the society, which further separates them from others, causing increased intolerance to them and even creating the wrong impressions, as well as lesser work and development opportunities. These are known to be risk factors in creating impoverished, violent, and crime-laden neighborhoods among communities which are majorly composed of ethnic minorities (Haller 755). Thus, the roots of prevailing poverty, lack of complete racial integration and high rates of unfinished education in r acially-segregated communities are not just due to the loopholes of the anti-racial discrimination policies and laws, but are also due to deeply-seated racial discrimination against immigrants and blacks by the whites, as well as the inaccurate representation of the correlation between the violence and poverty rates among the segregated and majorly ethnic communities. Factors in the Prevalence of Poverty and Large Numbers of Uneducated Youth After doing community surveys in different areas in the state, researchers found out that lesser work opportunities are given to members of the black Americans and Hispanic immigrants due to perceived negative stereotypes, as compared to members of the white communities. Prevailing stereotypes were incorrectly attributed to the concentration of immigrants and influx of foreigners due to many people assuming that these minority groups chose to live in impoverished and disorganized communities, and subsequently committing crimes in these areas (Sa mpson 30). There is also the increase of areas with low employment rates because of the preference of employers of highly-skilled laborers over unskilled labor, which greatly affected many minority groups, especially those that have high numbers of people that were not able to finish high school (Niemonen 21). The high percentages of minority groups that drop out of high school are said to have been attributed to the problem of covert segregation between communities that prevent the integration of multicultural students, as well as the limited number of such children to enter the institution. Also, letting the parents of the students decide how the schools must operate (e.g. Anglo-Saxon parents have greater power in deciding whether to let their children stay in culturally-diverse schools or not, and taking their children out if no actions in favor of their choice are taken), the lack of the federal or state government to address the needs of these children such as the lack of bilin gual teachers for the children of immigrants, decrease in the appropriation of funds due to the perceived state of the community where the schools are located (e.g. poverty-stricken and high incidences of crime), and the creation of

Psychotherapy for Immigrants and Refugees Term Paper

Psychotherapy for Immigrants and Refugees - Term Paper Example Social workers and psychotherapists have a duty to respond to the needs of each of these immigrants and refugees in order to lessen their burden. Social training skills and psychotherapy support go a long way in ensuring that this group of people have an easy transition from the lives that they are used to their adopted lives (Pumariega, Rothe and Pumariega, 2005). One of the major challenges that face psychotherapy for the immigrants and psychotherapists is communication problems. In the US, many of the refugees who come to the country hardly ever know English, making communication a daunting task (Balgopal, 2000). This lack of clear communication between the psychotherapists and the immigrants makes it hard for the professional counselors to help the immigrants cope with their new life. Without proper communication channels, it becomes hard to understand the needs, fears and expectations of the immigrants. However in some instances, there are some immigrants who and understand mult iple languages, including the language spoken in the host country. This makes it possible for the psychotherapists to have them as translators. Although this is better than not communicating at all, it has its limitations. The translator may not put the message across as it is supposed to be, hence meaning might be lost between the psychotherapist and the immigrant that he is supposed to be helping (Fong, 2004). Another challenge that immigrants, refugees and psychotherapists normally face is the problem of cultural differences. Concepts of psychotherapy for immigrants and refugees emphasizes on the importance of understanding the various cultures involved (Ryan, 1992). However, doing so is not very easy as most people are inclined to think in terms of their own cultures and in total disregard of the other person’s culture. In many cases psychotherapists do not have any idea of how to deal with all the different cultures that they face in their line of work. The immigrants th emselves are also mostly adamant to let go of their worldview in support of another new one. The ensuing conflict that results form cultural misunderstandings may impact negatively on the work of social psychotherapists (Corey, 2009). The psychotherapy process for the immigrant might seem like a very long and time consuming activity, and this impacts negatively on what the psychotherapists are trying to achieve. Many immigrants and refugees normally flee from their own countries of origin to new ones in search of a better life (Chang-Muy and Congress, 2009). If anything comes between them and the attainment of their new status, they are bound to consider it a waste of time. Acculturation and integration are hardly some the things that come top on the immigrants’ priority lists. Getting them to understand the importance of psychotherapy to help them fit in may be difficult and some of them might even resist any attempt to help them adopt smoothly into their new lives (Pumarieg a, Rothe and Pumariega, 2005). Psychotherapists need to be given enough training before dealing with immigrants and refugees. They should be trained on cross-cultural communication and acceptance as it plays a big role in how successful any psychotherapy process is. There is need for the development of psychotherapy and counseling techniques that should focus on skills that are influential to the integration, assimilation and acculturation of immigrants and refugees (Pumariega, Rothe and Pumariega, 2005). Training programs for counselors should include skill development for the incorporation of the family and/or the

Individual report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Individual report - Essay Example ram should find ways to make it possible for individuals using all kinds of phones to be able to access Instagram since it is restricted to individuals with Smart phones only. Pattarada (2013) defined Instagram as an online video and photo sharing service that makes it possible for users to enjoy the pleasure of taking videos and pictures and then sharing them on the various social network services such as Twitter, Flickr, Whatssap, Tumblr, and Facebook. The cloud based video and photo-sharing services for Instagram are delivered via mobile and desktop devices, and the whole process relies on technology. Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom founded Instagram and on October 2010, their services were launched. This paper is going to analyze how Instagram is using information systems to support its business strategy and how the company is using technology to build a sustainable competitive advantage. This model was named after Michael Porter and it provides five forces competitive forces that determine how the organizations can use them to shape their industries and provides guidelines on how to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the business (Cohan, 2012). These forces affect the ability of an organization to provide service to their customers and to make profits. The five competitive forces include: Instagram has competition from existing companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and Whatssap among others. These competitors make it difficult for Instagram to develop successfully since they all offer almost the same services. Instagram therefore have to devise powerful competitive strategies to be the best in the market and sustain competitive advantages through innovation (Pattarada, 2013). The growth rate for industries related to Instagram is high and different new products are introduced in the market at a high level. The existence of other applications such as Facebook, Twitter, and Whatssap that can share photos and videos increase the probability of customers

Halford Mackinder Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Halford Mackinder - Essay Example As the discussion stresses the ability of European powers to exert their influence was sorely tested through the manner in which they competed among themselves. This was especially the case considering that most of the actions that they undertook to ensure their greatness tended to go against the interests of other powers. In this way, such countries as Germany had a hard time because they could not exert their influence in any direction within Europe in such a way that it was surrounded by European powers such as Britain to the west, Russia to the east, and Austria-Hungary to the south. The result was that this country could not take any action that risked antagonising any of its neighbours, hence creating a situation where there was likely to be war on the European continent.This paper discusses that  the rise of new powers such as the United States and Japan posed a challenge to the European dominance of the world especially when one considers that these were relatively young in dustrialised countries, which could also exert their influence over their immediate regions. It is through the rise of these powers that it became possible to notice that European powers were on the decline. The ability of European powers, especially Britain, to bring its influence to bear over the rest of the world came to be sorely tested through the coming of these two powers on the scene.  The closing of the global political system meant regional powers were rising which were essentially challenging the status quo.

Managing employee performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Managing employee performance - Essay Example The paper critically analyses three strategies including policy framework, monitoring and coordinating attendance, and reward system in order to curtail absenteeism. Contrary to common belief, compromising working conditions, low job satisfaction, and ill-treatment are identified to be the main reasons of absenteeism. If left unaddressed, absenteeism leads to loss of money, productivity, stress amongst co-workers and organization as a whole. The paper analyses the way a detailed, updated, and consistent policy framework prevent absenteeism before it develops. However, written policy is the first step which must be preceded with proper communication and consistent policy implementation. Policy framework is further enhanced by monitoring and coordinating attendance. Attendance tracking is identified to be more effective when linked with payroll and HRIS. Keeping and maintaining records is sufficient to keep the employees alert and absenteeism under controlled. Third strategy of reward and incentive is proactive in nature. Offering attractive reward for regular employees and incentive for potential employees who can be regular attendee seems a practical solution. However, some experts are apprehensive of its negative consequences, such as, unproductive attendance. The research and analysis of these strategies and reasons of absenteeism leads to a balanced approach. The paper suggests adopting the combination of different strategies designed in accordance to the specific needs of an organization’s absenteeism problem. 2. Causes of Absenteeism Generally perceived reasons for absenteeism include: sickness, workloads, low compensation, and family issues. However, research shows a different side of the picture. While studying employee opinion about absenteeism issue, several anonymous studies identified that neither low pay, high workloads, less compensation, and poor benefits, nor actual sickness are the causes of absenteeism. In fact, absenteeism is identified to be a symptom of bad working conditions, low job satisfaction, and ill-treatment of supervisors. An effective method to determine the reasons of employees’ absence is to inquire the supervisor for the reasons of absenteeism and the ways to curtail it. Suggestions for possible solutions will be provided by only those supervisors who have actually put some efforts in dealing with the issue (cited in Levine, 1999). It is critical to understand that reasons for absenteeism vary in different organizations. In order to implement any strategy to curtail absenteeism, employers’ must identify the underlying reasons which are leading to absenteeism in their organization. 3. Consequences of Absenteeism Absenteeism at workplace is a troublesome and costly issue, the most perturbing is the fact that approximately 50 percent of absenteeism stems from unacceptable reasons (Gwaltney, 1994, p.24).Major consequences of absenteeism are lost productivity, unreasonable overtime pay, and paid sick leave (Tyler, 1997, p.57).In addition, absenteeism at workplace leads to: lower productivity, compromising work quality, loss of team work, and increased payroll cost in the form of overtime (Miller et al. cited in   Lockhart,2001,p.8). Absenteeism frequently cause last-minute struggle for supervisor to look for replacements (Markowich et

Price Elasticity of Demand Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Price Elasticity of Demand - Essay Example With changes in market dynamics, burgeoning population, increasing competition in job markets, and rapid technological changes that out phase odd manual jobs, demand for formal education has skyrocketed over the last decade. This happens as people strive to better their competitiveness in securing formal employment. Placing the  high value on academic certificates as an essential aspect in securing any employment has led to an increased demand for further education across  the  board, which in turn creates high demand for colleges and universities, giving way to the proliferation of many institutions offering bachelor degrees and masters as well. A study on income levels among employees with different academic qualifications reveals that there are wide disparities in salaries of diploma, the  degree, and masters degree holders. Salaries increase with  the  increase in academic qualifications with master’s degree holders earning twice as much as degree holders who i n turn earn twice what high school diploma holders earn on average. Those with no formal education form the bulk of unemployed population across the country, often performing poorly paid manual jobs in homesteads, municipal councils and mining zones among other similar places. Office jobs are a preserve for the highly qualified in  the formal education, especially those with bachelor degrees and above. Management jobs are common with master’s degree holders and those with many certificates in support courses.... Other factors that affect the elasticity of demand include changes in income levels, persistence of price changes, and product demand patterns among others. With changes in market dynamics, burgeoning population, increasing competition in job markets, and rapid technological changes that out phase odd manual jobs, demand for formal education has skyrocketed over the last decade. This happens as people strive to better their competitiveness in securing formal employment. Placing high value on academic certificates as an essential aspect in securing any employment has led to an increased demand for further education across board, which in turn creates high demand for colleges and universities, giving way to the proliferation of many institutions offering bachelor degrees and masters as well. A study on income levels among employees with different academic qualifications reveals that there are wide disparities in salaries of diploma, degree and masters degree holders. Salaries increase with increase in academic qualifications with master’s degree holders earning twice as much as degree holders who in turn earn twice what high school diploma holders earn on average. Those with no formal education form the bulk of unemployed population across the country, often performing poorly paid manual jobs in homesteads, municipal councils and mining zones among other similar places. Office jobs are a preserve for the highly qualified in formal education, especially those with bachelor degrees and above. Management jobs are common with master’s degree holders and those with many certificates in support courses relevant to their field of occupation. This state of affairs places high value

Promoting the Culture of Peace in the World Essay Example for Free

Promoting the Culture of Peace in the World Essay Introduction: No doubt, the world is a vast battle-field where almost every nation fights each other. Every nation has its own military equipments. What are these for? They are only for fighting other nations whenever a war breaks out. This only shows that the world is in a very dangerous situation now a day. Every day, every second, there is a possibility of outbreak of war, nuclear war as well as cold war. It means that there is a big threat in our every day life. Not only this, terrorists also make every corner of the globe insecure. It is disheartening that the old aged, innocent children and women are in this situation that they do not feel secured and safe. Who is responsible for this, is it the politicians, or the armies, or the bureaucrats? All of them including the selfish industrialists and rich people are responsible. Who would then step out to deal with this restlessness? We, the Youth would surely be the answer. Basic Elements: The basic important step to be taken by the youth is to protect and promote human rights. Human rights include our rights for living; in order to live, we need food, and in order to have food, we need to work to earn our daily living. Peaceful and happy life is the dream of everybody. If any one is lacking of peaceful life, he is automatically lacking of happiness, so that he may become desperate, depressed or disappointed in life. The desperate or disappointed persons are the most dangerous persons in the world. In the context of North East India where various terrorist groups are in active, one Minister in the region once said, The main cause of insurgency in the North East region is that the Centre neglected this remote area. This would be true to some extent that almost all the insurgent activities in North East India are demanding independence. Some of them are seeking for secure life which would be free from the threat of assimilation by other communities. The immediate cause of insurgency in the Lushai Hills (now Mizoram) was also Mautam Famine that Laldenga and friends felt that the Central Government of India was not taking a satisfactory action to relieve the victims of that famine, and then they rebelled against the Government of India and declared Independence in the year 1966. All these are related to Human Rights, since the people felt that the Government was not taking any step for the well being of its people, almost all of them supported the rebellious activities. From the above viewpoint, we may perceive that the main cause of insurgency and terrorism is human rights violation where the victims became conscious of their rights and then claimed the same consequently. In the context of the Middle East Crisis, one thing very clear is that almost all the terrorists in that area fight for freedom, not only for political freedom but also for religious freedom. Some Islamic terrorists fight for the supremacy of Islamism that would be free from Christian domination. In all the activities of the insurgents and the terrorists, the most important instruments are the youth of those respective communities. Supposed, all these youth who are in active in terrorism and insurgency had quitted their efforts for the same, obviously the activities of insurgency and terrorism would have been null and void and there would not be a big threat in our every day life. Nevertheless, these youth had firmly committed to fight for their community and to sacrifice their lives for the same. So, in order to promote peace culture, the youth are most concern. What to do: Since the important hand and leg of terrorists are youth among themselves, the responsibility of the youth today is very high that we need to step out to deal with this. Walt Disney said that the way to get started is to stop talking and to begin working, so that it is not enough to discuss and debate upon Promotion of Culture of Peace in the World, we have to step out. It is the duty of every intellectual and educated youth to win the heart of our brothers and sisters who are in active in terrorism. We need to negotiate them, whether or not they welcome, we need to approach them, we may fail at once, but we should not quit. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the former President of India on the occasion of his visit to Mizoram University on 24th September 2005 said, â€Å"Where there is righteousness in the heart, there is Peace in the World†. This statement is truly acceptable because the righteous person would never harm the others, he would never hamper development of the world Peace and Prosperity. So that we, the youth have to keep this in mind, and let it remind us of our duty to counsel our fellow youth, whether they are terrorists or civilians. For promoting the culture of peace in the world, it is an urgent need to take the suggested steps mentioned below: †¢As mentioned above, the first important step would be creating awareness among the youth, common people. We should make our fellow youth aware of the urgent need to make an effort for promoting the culture of Peace in the world. We can organize awareness campaign and other various programmes related to it. We can make them aware of the same by writing articles and essays in the newspapers and magazines. †¢We can produce Television Programme and documentary films related to terrorism and the urgent need of stepping out in mission to stop terrorism. †¢We can have sincere conversation with our friends, families and so on. So that they can propagate this issue to various other persons. If we do so, it would be effective in promoting the culture of peace in the world. †¢To have peaceful life, one should have secure life. So, it is our duty to push the government of our respective country to provide for various schemes for the well being of its subjects. For instance, in the State of Mizoram, the common people are not satisfied enough by the developmental works carried out by the state government, so that the farmers are recently conscious of their rights, they revive and constitute an organization known as â€Å"Zoram Kuthnathawktu Pawl (ZKP)† that is strongly going on to drive the government to the right way. In the mean time, almost all the members felt frustrated and has become despair because of corruption, and then there is a big threat of bloody revolution. All these are the result of unsatisfactory governance, practice of corruption, negligence, so on and so forth. However, at the same time in Mizoram, the senior prominent citizens revived and recently constituted â€Å"Mizoram Democratic Movement (MDM)† which was also the outcome of famous television Talk Show entitled â€Å"Thalaite Hmathlir (Vision of the Youth) organized by the youth that inspire and motivate everybody who is willing to have good governance. These youth of Mizoram also recently constituted an organization called â€Å"Youth Movement for Mizoarm (YMM)† that brought about moral reformation and awareness on the urgent need of good governance. And it blows like a cyclone within the state of Mizoram. Many people supported this movement and it is now hoped that it would bring about peaceful revolution. This YMM has been taking active part in promoting peace and prosperity, and because of their movement, the threat for bloody revolution by the ZKP has also calmed down and these three organizations are planning to work in cooperation for peace and development. So, it is obvious from this instance that we, the youth would step out to create awareness, to motivate our fellow youth, to inspire our parents to stop practicing corruptions and any other unfair means for promoting the culture of peace in the world. †¢We should negotiate and counsel our fellow youth who are in Terrorist groups telling them that it is not the reason why God made us to terrorize the others. We should prevent instigation of the new generations by terrorism and insurgency. †¢We should also motivate religious leaders to feed their sheep spiritual and moral laws, to tell them the purpose of God in creating men, to propagate the essentiality of peace and harmony in living together, to love one another. †¢We should always remember Gandhiji’s â€Å"Ahimsa†. As mentioned in the beginning of this paper, Nissim Ezekiel, Indian poet urged the people of the world to follow Mahatma Gandhi and that is the right way to promote Peace and Non-Violence. Works cited: oRamdinmawia, James. Poet or Reader. Talk on All India Radio, Aizawl Station. oEzzekiel, Nissim. Very Indian Poem in Indian English. oLalrawnliana, Col. Mizoramin Zalenna a Sua Vol. 2. oKindyah, P.R. Mizo Freedom Fighters.

A Case Study on Amazon

A Case Study on Amazon The organization additionally plans to augment the estimation of its venture by likewise utilizing innovation to give more extensive and better vender stages, web administrations, computerized activities, and development of new and existing item classes. This demonstrates that engineering is at the center of the organizations business methodology, and will remain so for quite a while. The organization has received a long haul business method, which has seen it through troublesome times. Subsequently it must be said that the organization has been exceptionally viable at creating and executing business methods that rely on upon engineering The accomplishment of Amazon depends in the practical administration of its administrations and utilization of data innovation. The plan of action of Amazon is reflected by its brand and the chain of clients with a huge developing client database, its conveyance channels and easy to use web store front Amazon for this situation benchmarks the business-to-purchaser technique catching up the coordination idea and making a harmony in the middle of obtaining and offering. In straightforward words, the rent is to be sure the same as that in the physical world (retail locations, mail request, wholesalers). An alternate methodology made by Amazon is the client connection administration which is fundamentally a business technique to choose and deal with the association with clients in order to streamline the worth to an endeavor in long haul. This business system obliges a client situated business reasoning and society to help and encourage powerful advertising procedures over all immediate and circuitous client dispersion channels The business is recognized regarding business exercises, for example, business to business (B2b), business to clients (B2c) or customers to purchasers (C2c). Amazon catches up business to client show and puts stock in offering its clients the best administration Amazons B2b technique has two prongs – one to place contenders items close by its items through its affiliate stage, and two, to structure vital cooperations with different organizations to dispatch diverse brands client strengthening is a key gimmick of ecommerce. With a couple of clicks, clients can skip starting with one site then onto the next. The way to holding clients in this situation is to guarantee that the clients are furnished with all that they need in the site. Value examination destinations are the best of companion of todays sharp clients. Amazon has ripped in on this side of the business through its affiliate stage. By giving affiliates a space on its principle site, the organization is giving the little organizations a space on an exceptionally known site. This is an extremely alluring playing point to numerous organizations. Amazon likewise picks up by this game plan in two ways –it makes a benefit when the affiliate makes a deal, it additionally keeps hold of adroit clients by not giving them a chance to leave the site. Other huge contenders have really missed out on a significant open door for this situation Amazons second B2b procedure of making vital partnerships is however somewhat imperfect in that it is debilitating its fundamental brand name by making a lot of people more littler brand names. Generally as Wal-Mart has started to pine boxes, and Tesco broadband, Amazon ought to have the capacity to effortlessly extend its item go without losing its place in charge of Internet ecommerce. On the other hand, the organization has fail to do this. Its shoe store, Endless.com is a prime sample of a line of item that could have been incorporated under the Amazon.com pennant – if Amazon.com as of now offers clothing, why would it be able to not offer shoes? Endless.com has truth be told turned into a contender to Amazon.com, therefore debilitating the organization The business demonstrates fruitful with client based items like books, electronic utilities, basic need and so forth. Besides, the business permits spreading the business from national fringes to global limits. Thusly, the business examination demonstrates that the e-retailers deal worldwide was pretty nearly US $438 Billion in 2008 It was contended that there is a high rivalry in the business wherein the organizations that wish to enter the business sector needs monetary elements and the danger of high rivalry from existing entrenched firms. Notwithstanding, lower cost and item benefit conveyance has turned into a pattern of e-trade with a specific end goal to win piece of the pie The staggering accomplishment of Amazon is credited to Bezos who made keen utilization of innovation and comprehended the idea of online business. With far reaching statistical surveying, item examination, client needs and requests and so forth. Bezos discovered favorable element in offering books because of the way that it obliged low aggregate transaction and picking up colossal business section of generally safe purchasers who makes restless purchasing of items on the web. Through outsized piece of the overall industry in books, incorporated systems, client administrations, item conveyance and better business acquisitions Amazon harvested the soil grown foods of its diligent work in this way remaining as a brand symbol in industry The Blue Ocean made by Amazon is the consequence of its separated and advanced client administration conveyance for its book business. Firstly, it had made simple for clients to pursuit books online with a large number of titles of books furthermore gave a secured installment strategy. Esteem advancement of Blue Ocean was upheld by making quality to clients fulfillment by inventive thoughts, for example, knowing their clients practices and information mining as a data advantage. Moreover, it likewise upgrades correspondence with its clients as inputs when the clients shop web giving the criticism of their shopping background. As the accomplishment from the earliest starting point depends in client center, the system intimated by Bezos constantly considered putting all the more in foundation and making utilization of incorporated client frameworks and administration operations and obviously the safe technique for instalment By making utilization of Hamel Prahalads system of being recognized Amazon made the web administration and distributed computing where any representative can run its business. It has been dissected that the income created by the web administration is past the ecommerce business The presentation of Amazons Kindle digital book peruser in 2007 was a shrewd development. Amazon has a secured and built place in the online market because of its lower costs, client comfort, productive conveyance, solid advertising aptitudes, web administration and administration. A year ago, it was guaranteed by Amazon that they sold 500000 Kindle digital book perusers accepted that the related books downloads and periodical membership would yield countless dollars. At this spot, Amazon takes position as red sea technique by beating existing rivalry on the grounds that there were numerous digital book perusers accessible in the recent past So as to survive this rival, Amazon needs to make stride forward and receive a Blue Ocean method approach. This might be possible by separation in item and ease. Thus, item separation can be as far as client administration conveyance or utilizing admirably engineering to grow their base. Notwithstanding that, they need to consider client Buying Hierarchy, their propensities and conduct and capacity development. Before settling on choice to buy item clients experience different capacities, for example, unwavering quality, comfort, value and capacity Amazons client administration theory is based on three client experience columns low costs, unfathomable choice, and quick, advantageous conveyance (Amazon,2009a). The organization expects that these needs wont change in the long haul. The organizations business procedure is rotated around fortifying its capacity to convey these three things to clients. It expects that by creating a notoriety for offering everything at the least expensive cost and speediest conveyance it will have the capacity to collect rehash business. Thus it is ready to take a littler overall revenue with individual things with the expectation that the volume of offers will permit it to make sufficient benefit The organizations client administration methodology is a round, depending toward oneself one. An organization that needs to offer its products at low costs will need to depend on producing a substantial volume of offers. An organization that hopes to have an extensive volume of offers will bring to the table a boundless choice of things, as it cant anticipate that clients will purchase the same things again and again. Brynjolfsson et al (2006, pg. 68) clarifies that clients have a more prominent profundity of inclination that can be served by a physical storefront, and Amazon has exploited this The organization likewise plans to amplify the estimation of its speculation by additionally utilizing innovation to give more extensive and better vender stages, web administrations, advanced activities, and extension of new and existing item classes. This demonstrates that engineering is at the center of the organizations business technique, and will remain so for quite a while. The organization has embraced a long haul business methodology, which has seen it through troublesome times. Thus it must be said that the organization has been exceptionally successful at creating and actualizing business procedures that rely on upon innovation.

Causes of the Cuban Missile Crisis

Causes of the Cuban Missile Crisis Cuban Missile Crises Introduction Considered to be one of the most serious conflicts between the U.S and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, the Cuban missile crises brought the World a clash of democracy V.S communism with a deadly nuclear outcome. Known to the World as the Cuban Missile crises, to the Russians as the Caribbean Crises and to the Cubans and the October Crises it lasted sixteen days in October. The main characters involved were U.S President John F. Kennedy, Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev and Cuban President Fidel Castro. The sixteen days in October 1962 was the closest time that a full out nuclear war was about to take place Background America USSR Free election No elections or fixed elections Democratic Autocratic / Dictatorship Capitalist Communist ‘Survival of the fittest Everybody helps everybody Richest world power Poor economic base Personal freedom Society controlled by the NKVD (secret police) Freedom of the media Total censorship The Cuban missile crises origins began at the end of the World War 2. After the war about to end the United States and the USSR started to disagree on the main ideas of how a post war Europe should look like. The Americans main aim of the war was to spread democracy and to spread their companys economic opportunities into Europe. This was very different to what the USSR wanted, the USSR suffered a lot during the war, and they lost a lot of people and suffered a lot of economic and social problem directly resulting from the war, because of this the USSR main post war thoughts were to protect themselves from other wars that may happen and to spread communism across the globe.   These differences between the two countries were obviously great and were bound to cause tension and problems. Origins of Russian-American Tension Ideological: The United States and the Soviet Union represented two completely different forms of government. In the United States, the government is chosen by free elections. The people have the right to form political parties so that they can voice their political opinions. They also have the right of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. In the Soviet Union, the government is chosen by the Communist Party. The people do not have the right to form their own political parties; they do not enjoy the right freedom of speech and the freedom of the press. Since these two systems of government are completely different to one another, this is bound to cause friction between the United States and the Soviet Union. Economic: The United States wanted to encourage free trade throughout the world. The Soviet Union wanted to close off her itself from international trade. Russia was afraid that trade with the West would open up Russia to western influences which would have ruined the strength of the one-party communist regime. These differences led to much bad feeling between the United States and the Soviet Union. Power rivalry: After the Second World War, with the decline of Europe, power was shared between the Soviet Union and the United States. As one superpower wanted to dominate the other, conflicts were to be expected. Immediate Causes Leading to the Cold War Early conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States began at the peace-time conferences. Their conflict was intensified after President Truman declared the Truman Doctrine and launched the Marshall Plan in 1947. Extension of Russian influence in Europe: Even before the end of the war, the Soviet Union had gradually extended its influence in Europe. By the fall of 1944, the Red Army had liberated and controlled a large part of Eastern Europe. By 1945, at the Yalta Conference, the Soviet Union obtained the Curzon Line as its new boundary line with Poland and also the control of the eastern zone of Germany. As the war was ending in May 1945, the Soviet Union quickly consolidated its control of Eastern Europe. The Red Army began by influencing the post-war elections. They intimidated the voters and changed the voting lists as they desired. Although the non-communists could still manage to get some votes, most of the votes went to the communists. As a consequence the coalition governments formed immediately after the war were largely dominated by the communists. Two of the key ministries Defense and Military (Police) were always under communist control. Stalin was not satisfied with communist control of Eastern Europe. In the meantime, he encouraged the communists to take an active part in the immediate post-war elections in Western Europe. In late 1946, the French and Italian Communists were becoming the most powerful parties in France and Italy. The reactions of the United States: Despite the increasing Russian influence in eastern and central Europe, many politicians in the United States were optimistic about the chances of co-operation with the Soviet Union after the war and did not support strong resistance against the Russian expansion. But from May 1945 onwards, the situation was changed. The U.S. government preferred a policy of strong resistance against Russia. Poor relations between the United States and the Soviet Union: The growing problem and deteriorating relations between the Soviet Union and the United States were reflected in two minor incidents in the year. Land-Lease was abruptly terminated by the United States and the Russian request for American economic aid for the purposes of post-war reconstruction was ignored by the government of the United States. NATO vs. the Warsaw Pact April 4th 1949 NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was formed by the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, France and the United Kingdom. NATO was set up to counter the military power of the USSR. In direct response to this, the USSR set up the Warsaw Pact consisting of Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Germany, and the USSR. Dark Blue: Founding members of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) Light Blue: Countries that joined NATO after 1949 Dark Red: Founding members of the Warsaw Pact Light Red: Countries that joined the Warsaw Pact after 1955 Bay of Pigs The Bay of Pigs was an unsuccessful attempt by US-aided Cuban exiles to launch an attack on Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro. The invading forces were defeated in just two days. 2506 Cuban exile invaders were killed and most of the rest captured (later traded for 58millions dollars in food and medicine aid) and approximately 4000 Cuban military men and civilians died. This deepened Cuban and American tensions, which was made worse by the Cuban Missile Crises, whose aftermath is still seen to present day. Cuban Missile Crises By 1960 the United States had a considerable nuclear advantage over the USSR, both in terms of nuclear arsenal and proximity to the USSR. The United States had 27,297 nuclear missiles compared to 3,332 for the USSR. In 1961 the United States, as a means of deterrence, placed long range ballistic nuclear missiles in Turkey, meaning that Moscow was 16 minutes away from a strike. This deeply angered the Soviet regime and they responded by placing Missiles in Cuba who had recently become an ally under President Fidel Castro. The fear that Cuba had the America might try to invade again led to negotiations between Khrushchev and Castro. In April 1962 Castro agreed to the supply surface to air missiles and surface to surface missiles to Cuba for defensive purposes. By May 1962 under Soviet control and supervision nuclear missiles were beginning to be installed in Cuba. These were transported by more than 60 Soviet ships. As named by the Soviet Union, operation Anadyr was kept tightly guarded. The USSR sent bomber plans, troops to aid in the construction and to provide expertise in the installation and use of the weapons. In all were planned to deploy 60,000 troops, three R-12 missile regiments and two R-14 missile regiments. Troops were transferred by 86 ships, Between June 17 and October 22 there were transferred 24 launching pads, 42 R-12 rockets, including six training ones, some 45 nuclear warheads, 42 Il-28 bombers, a fighter aircraft regiment (40 Mig-21 aircraft), two Anti-Air Defense divisions, three mechanized infantry regiments, and other military units some 47,000 troops in total. During this period after various leaks of information, the Soviets denied any missiles being placed in Cuba and told the Americans that they did not want to enter into any confrontation and raise tensions. American distrust of the Russians was soon confirmed. In late August an American reconnaissance plane photographed a number of installations on Cuban soil. Even with the proof President Kennedy was still convinced that these were built for defensive purposes on the part of the Cubans fearing an invasion of Cuba again by the Americans. After meeting the Soviet Ambassador, President Kennedy voiced his concerns over the installations and was constantly told not to worry, that there was no offensive missiles in Cuba and that the military buildup was insignificant. After more reconnaissance flights, using U2 manned planes, the United States was able to confirm the location and amount of nuclear missiles, this lead to confusion in the United States Government. After President Kennedy saw the photographs he brought together most of his key advisors to come up with a plan on how to deal with the threat. America intelligence stood by its convictions that the USSR would not install nuclear missiles in Cuba. The advisors quickly came up with a five different courses of action to be taken as a response to the threat. Do nothing Use diplomatic pressure to get the Soviet Union to remove the missiles An air attack on the missiles A full military invasion Naval blockade of Cuba After much careful discussions and the fear of Russian revenge if Cuba was attacked, the decisions was made to blockage the Cuban sea and stop all shipments coming into the area. The main aim was to check all ships coming into Cuba to see their cargo and examine any missiles or offensive weapons that were coming into the country. Most South American countries assisted in this blockade. At 7 p.m. October 22, President Kennedy delivered a televised radio address announcing the discovery of the missiles. Premier Khrushchev sent a message to President Kennedy saying that he considered the blockade and ‘pirate action against the ships as a provocative move that would eventually lead to war, he ordered the ships to ignore the American blockade. To this President Kennedy responded by saying that the United States was forced into this action after being repeatedly assured that there was no offensive missiles which provided to be a lie The next morning, Kennedy informed the executive committee that he believed only an invasion would remove the missiles from Cuba. However, he was persuaded to give the matter time and continue with both military and diplomatic pressure. He agreed and ordered the low-level flights over the island to be increased from two per day to once every two hours. He also ordered a crash program to institute a new civil government in Cuba if an invasion went ahead. At this point the crisis was apparently at a stalemate. The USSR had shown no indication that they would back down and had made several comments to the contrary. The U.S. had no reason to believe otherwise and was in the early stages of preparing for an invasion, along with a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union in case they responded militarily, which is what they assumed. As the crises continued secret negotiations were taking place constantly between the United States and the Soviet Union, the Soviets wanted the United States to remove its Jupiter missiles from its bases in Turkey as it claimed they pose as much of a threat as their missiles in Cuba. On the other hand the Americans wanted to Russians to remove all missiles and installation that they had placed in Cuba and America would guarantee that it will not invade or offer assistance to anyone who wanted to invade Cuba; it would lift the sea blockage and consider removing the missiles from Turkey. On October 27th 1962, a Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance plane that was flown by Major Rudolf Anderson left Florida to Cuba to take surveillance pictures of the military buildup, and at approximately 12pm, Major Andersons plane was shot down by Russian anti-aircraft missiles, he was instantly killed and was the only casualty from enemy fire during the conflict. This infuriated the Americans, who demanded that the Russians cease all their operations in Cuba and halt any fire; they viewed this as a start of war and took the gesture as an escalation in the violence. Although the commander, who fired, did so by himself, the Soviets were afraid that the Americans would view this as an escalation of war. All Soviet troops were quickly ordered to cease firing on American plane. After the Americans saw no change in the Soviet stance, and the Americans started to prepare for war, they came up with targets to be attacked by air, troops were readied, and plans were made for Cuba including a post-war government, the plans also involved a nuclear strike on Russia in case it got involved. America informed its NATO allies to be ready for an American response and to ready themselves in case the USSR responds in Europe. Ending the Crisis After much consideration between the Soviet Union and Kennedys cabinet, Kennedy agreed to remove all missiles set in Turkey on the border of the Soviet Union in exchange for Khrushchev removing all missiles in Cuba. Premier Khrushchev announced that they were dismantling the missiles in Cuba, while the Americans declared that they would not support or invade Cuba, however they did not mention removal of their Jupiter missiles from Turkey. Because the withdrawals from Turkey were not made public at the time, Khrushchev appeared to have lost the conflict and become weakened. The view was that Kennedy had won the contest between the superpowers and Khrushchev had been humiliated. References http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/coldwar.htm http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/coldwar/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ColdWar.htm http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/coldwar/ http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761569374/cold_war.html http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/days/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis http://www.johndclare.net/cold_war16.htm http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/ http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/colc.html http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/cuba-62.htm

fetal alcohol syndrome :: essays research papers

Fetal alcohol Syndrome What is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  FAS is the leading cause of mental retardation in the U.S. today. FAS affects approximately 1 in every 500 born in North America. Motherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s drinking alcoholic beverages during pregnancy causes FAS. FAS is characterized by: à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Smaller heads à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Deformed facial features (small widely spaced eyes, underdeveloped jaw, thin upper lip, and short upturned nose). à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Abnormal joints and limbs- these include deformities of the small joints of the hands as well as an incomplete rotation at the elbow. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Poor coordination à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Problems with learning- difficulty sequencing, difficulty understanding cause and effect, and weak generalizing skills. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Short memories à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Medical problems- vision problems, hearing problems, epilepsy, renal failure, heart failure, and death. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Inappropriate behavior- poor impulse control and poor judgement. How FAS Affects Functioning In School:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Beginning with infancy, the children have problems at feeding and are highly irritable. They also exhibit unpredictable sleeping and eating patterns, which make it hard for the baby to be cared for and for maternal bonding to occur. During development, both physical and mental, FAS children have very fine and poor motor coordination skills and it becomes very apparent at the preschool age. They also are very affectionate but at the same time very hyperactive, which makes it a problem for the teachers who have them in class to deal with. This is why they are, during the first few years of school, given the diagnoses of having attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): this diagnoses is given because of there high activity level, short attention span, and poor short term memory. Many of these children require special education help regardless of the fact that their IQ falls between the normal range. Their hyperactivity calls for them to receive special attenti on that normal teachers cannot and at most times will not give them. As FAS children grow into FAS adults, their level of development and how they developed begins to show in everything they do. Since their social and mental health has been compromised as adults they exhibit inadequate communication skills, impulsivity, poor judgement, trouble with abstract thinking, and limited problem solving skills. With all these problems they often have difficulty holding down a job because of their unreliability, lack of social skills, and functional illiteracy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Without appropriate support services, these individuals have a high risk of developing secondary disabilities such as mental illness, getting into trouble with the law, abusing alcohol and other drugs, and unwanted pregnancies.

Gangs in America Essay -- Social Issues

Gangs are very dangerous to everyone in society. â€Å"Gangs are groups of people (mostly young males) who band together for protection and a sense of belonging. The U.S. Department of Justice officially defines a youth gang as a group of young people involved in criminal activity† (Gangs 1). There are about one million gang members in more than 20,00 criminally active gangs in the United States. Also, that group of about one million people, are accountable for up to eighty percent of our nation’s crimes. Since 2005, gangs have nationally added about 200,000 members (Targeting Gangs 1). This is why more action from the community needs to be taken to help with the growing gang-related crimes here in America. To start off, origins of gangs are unclear, but some researchers say that gangs came to America in the early 1800s. These first gangs were in New York and Philadelphia and members of these adult gangs were from the Irish, German, and Italian ethnic groups. Youth gangs did not start to form until after World War II (Opposing Viewpoints Gangs 109-110). Additionally, what kind of people are in gangs? Well first off, there are Latinos, which make up forty-nine percent of gang members'; African Americans, thirty-four percent; White, ten percent; Asian, six percent; and the other one percent is just the other category (â€Å"Facts About Gangs† 109). Also in 1996, according to the National Youth Gang Survey, the members of gangs were fifty percent under eighteen years old and fifty percent were eighteen or older. In that survey during 2006, the number of juveniles dropped to only being thirty-six and a half percent of member, on the other hand, the percentage of adult gang members consisted of sixty-three and a half percent of the gang pop... ...members have, we need to make it possible for them to get these personal benefits without feeling that it is necessary to join a gang. Of course, it's not possible for us to make them be able to get fast money like some of them want (or need) but other things like a sense of belonging or companionship are possible. Knowing about these benefits will make it easier for everyone to be able help out in the stop of gangs. As one can see, it may never be possible that gangs and gang violence will be stopped, but with our help from the community in every city and town it is possible to stop and decrease the large number of gang members and gang-related crimes. Remembering that there are many possibilities for decreasing the population size of gangs in America; such as better alternatives to being in a gang, educational programs, and arrest some hard-core gang members.

Capital punishment should be abolished Essay

There are almost 1,000 people sentenced to death because of committing heinous crime globally each year(Rogers,2012,para.10). However, some countries still insist on implementing the death penalty or capital punishment in order to reduce crime. In the twentieth century it is contended that value of life should be pursed, and everyone deserves the right to survive. For this reason, it can be argued that capital punishment should be abolished and whole life imprisonment should be implemented instead. Firstly, to define ‘heinous crime’ and ‘capital punishment’ is important. The definition of heinous crime differs depending on the country. Generally, it relates to crimes of ‘moral turpitude’, which are extremely violent acts including murder, rape, manslaughter and terrorism(Tooby,2012,para.1). In contrast, the definition of ‘capital punishment’ is more concrete. It is defined by the Oxford Dictionary(2012) as the legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime. This includes lethal injection, lethal gas, hanging, executed by firing sqard, stoning, beheading and electrocution. This essay will argue that capital punishment is against basic human rights, secondly will prove that criminals have been found to be innocent after they have been executed, thirdly it will verify the existence of unfair judgments. Finally, this essay will debunk counterarguments that support the death penalty, using cases from Saudi Arabia, China and America as its exemplar to argue that capital punishment is cruel and unnecessary. To begin with, according to The Universal Human Rights Declaration(2012,para.3) â€Å"Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person†, therefore, based on this premise implementing capital punishment is against basic human rights. Everyone has the right to survive, no one can deprive people of this right, not even the government. Since the right of individuals is protected by law, which cannot deprive anyone arbitrarily of life (Human Right Association, 2003,para.2). Capital punishment, nonetheless, is a practice that disregards human rights. Moreover, the justice system is set up to prevent crime and maintain a peaceful society (UNICEF,2003,para.7). The death penalty, however, inflicts harm upon another, which can potentially create terror inside society  (Jayashree,2010,para.7). Therefore, capital punishment seems to oppose the established justice system. Worse still, some governments execute criminals in a inhuman way. For example, in Saudi Arabia, criminals are executed by beheading by sword or stoning wherby the criminals are attacked by throwing stones until they die (Moni, 2010,para.6). Therefore, capital punishment is a heinous and inhuman act of violence that must be abolished in order to maintain a humane society with zero tolerance. Another reason of opposing capital punishment is that some criminals have been found to be innocent after they had been sentenced and executed, but they could never return. By using whole life imprisonment, the problem brought by misjudgment can be avoided. One example is Jiang Guoqing in Taiwan,China. He was executed in 1997 for the rape and murder of a 5-year-old girl. The body of the girl was found in toilet of welfare station staff of the Air Force Combat Command. The bureau of investigation conducted polygraph testing on all soldiers, however, only Jiang did not pass. Worse still, a toilet tissue was found in the toilet which contained combination of Jiang’s body fluid and blood of girl because Jiang used toilet before. Due to discovery of this evidence, Jiang was convicted of rape and murder. He was finally executed in 1997, but his father fought for appeal continuously due to insufficient investigation in this case. Finally, the authorities reexamined evidence left in the case in 2001, and they found that Jiang was innocent and the killer was Huang. Eventually, the actual killer was sentenced (Tian,2011). After Jiang was executed, the reputation of his whole family was destroyed. Can a government compensate for this? The case of Jiang is just the tip of the iceberg of miscarriage of justice that occurs around the world, there were countless cases where criminals were found innocent after execution. Unfortunately, the lives of these executed innocents cannot be returned, it is definitely a crime committed by the authorities. It is commonly believed that‘Everyone is equal and fair in front of law’, nevertheless, unfair judgment still exists in the legal system due to discrimination against different races and sexes in some countries. Nagin and pepper(2009) argued that â€Å"The Justice system in South  America is administered by same elite power structure. But justice for Blacks is vindictive and emotional, while for the whites is secular and rational.† The statistics also show that number of blacks being executed are far more than whites providing that almost same number of black and white criminals commit the crime in regards of inequality.â€Å"The capital punishment record indicates that 706 persons received the death sentence since 1910, while 362, or slightly more than half, were actually executed.† For the people being executed, there were 282 black males, seventy-three white males, five Indian males and two black females where the statistics was from the states that having majority of whites. (Laurence,2012,p.119)This evidence proves that Blacks have a higher chance of receiving the death penalty comparing to Whites. Also Jayashree(2010,para.6)states the poor may not have money to hire a lawyer to defend them. Thus, they have a relatively higher rate of imprisonment or even be executed. In addition, in Saudi Arabia, women face the death penalty by stoning for adultery. While it is normal for men to marry a few women, they do not suffer any legal consequence for affairs (Moni,2010, para.1).This reveals that unfair judgment exists for different sexes, different socio-economic status and different races. Many people think that implementing capital punishment can reduce the number of heinous crime in society due to fear of serious punishment. While, the effect of the death penalty in controlling crime is still doubtful. As support by Jayashree(2010,para.7) â€Å"The rate of crime is forty-three percent in the state that having dead penalty while only twenty-three percent in state that without death penalty in America.† This shows that the effect of capital punishment may not be effective in reducing crime rates. Also, there are many people casting doubt that money spent in supporting the lives of criminals is much more than cost of capital punishment. In fact, the cost of implementing the death penalty is not low at all, authorities need money to prepare documents such as DNA tests and a license of death for the criminal. Whole lives imprisonment is the most suitable way to punish the criminals that committing heinous crime. Jayashree,2010,para6 claim that â€Å"In jail, decades and decades of living in a cage, in an environment of rape and violence and being treated like animals  is worse than the death sentence. With the death sentence, the suffering is over quickly.† It can also comfort the victim family as the criminals suffer in jail for long period of time. Also, there is a good opportunity in jail to let them to revise themselves and give them a second chance to correct themselves. On the other hand, implementing capital punishment is implanting the concept of ‘an eye for an eye’ and ‘an ear for an ear’ into society. Thus, abolishing capital punishment is a only way not to let this evil concept pass to our next generation. More importantly, whole lives imprisonment do not let criminals suffer from miscarriages of justice. To conclude, since there are many disadvantages in carrying out capital punishment such as this is against human right, existence of unfair judgment and the effect of death penalty is still doubtful. To restate, capital punishment should be abolished and government should provide second chance for criminals to rectify themselves.

Concept of Beauty

When you hear or read that word, there is something that emerges from our mind. I find myself very much perplexed when I am asked â€Å"Kinas among panhandling as atone classmates? â€Å". I don't think there is no one that is â€Å"pià ±ata† among all the human beings but rather Omni beautiful when it comes to beauty . Everyone is beautiful. Everything is beautiful. But how do we call someone or something beautiful? What makes us think that they are really beautiful? How do people perceive beauty?How come we have different perception towards beauty? When we internalize this, we go back again to history to answer these confusing yet very interesting questions. Our concept of beauty is influenced by many things. The society is the very first foundation to where we discover, realize, understand, and come to know things. The society plasters in front of our faces these people with bodies that ripples and shines like the gods; faces with prominent nose, perfectly straight teeth , protruding lips;Hair that is straight, soft and shiny and presents it to everyone as the concept of what is beautiful. Eventually, everyone that has seen that idea has perceived it in his/ her mind of what beauty exactly is. Everyone with the looks that is similar to the model eventually commits the sin vanity while the others who don't eventually look down on their selves. We must be able to obliterate this mindset. We should keep in mind that beauty is not and never will be tangible.We should put to an end the doings of moments that determines which is the most beautiful woman, in short the beauty pageants. Because as what Vie written above, everyone and everything is beautiful. Every day, we see beauty in many forms and shapes. There is beauty in art. We see beauty in the display of human creativity and passion. There is beauty in nature. Imagine seeing the sunset in a slow-MO; A bee swaying with the wind; The trees that grow long Greene stems and roots through the years.There is palpable beauty that e see in human beings. No, not only those who are in the magazines and televisions are beautiful. For me, those who appreciate the beauty of others and not only herself is beautiful. Those who dream, who delights in helping other people, who never oppress others, and never gives up are beautiful because beauty are the qualities in a person or object that give pleasure to the senses or spirits ND being good in the inside is enough reason for a living being to be called beautiful.

Psychodynamic Theories and Interpersonal Relationships Essay

The Psychodynamic approach is concerned with how important man’s development experiences are in shaping his or her personality traits, such as conflicting feelings, interpersonal interactions, sources of motivation, and defense mechanism. It is founded on the premise that human behavior and relationships are defined by conscious and unconscious elements, a combination of external reality and internal drives (Averbuch, n. d. ). Psychodynamic Personality theorists attribute adult behavior, especially the way people relate to others, to unresolved childhood conflicts and tendencies. A person’s relationship with another is thus formed by one’s own personal choice to be with the other. Yet, the bond or attraction felt for the other and how he or she interacts in the relationship has already been determined by antecedent events. According to Freud, people are passive creatures (Averbuch, n. d. ). Instead of being drivers of their own lives, people are just driven by their need to express or repress their desires and fixations. Freud’s Oedipal Conflict explains why people unconsciously get on good terms and grow up to be very similar to their own parents. During childhood, boys and girls fall for their opposite-sex parent but are both unsuccessful and left unable to do anything about their desire. The solution ultimately ends up in their identification with their same sex parent. All the way to their adulthood, people carry on the traits their same-sex parents have and similarly look for their opposite-sex parent’s traits in the people they meet. At times, some people feel a strong dislike for certain kinds of people; they cannot explain it but they just fear or hate a particular person or the characteristics of this person. On the other hand, one may find a certain similarity among all his or her friends and lovers; one finds that he or she is easily enamoured by a certain group of people or characteristic. This is what both Freud’s theory on repressed memories and dreams and Carl Jung’s archetypes aim to explain. Freud theorized that a woman who is uncomfortable around men may be found to be repressing memories of sexual abuse when she was a child. According to Freud, repression is a way for people to block out emotionally painful events from their awareness so that they also do not have to experience the pain it brings (Richmond, 2008). Freud also interpreted dreams to make sense of how and why people interacted in such manners. He found a strong link between dreams and repressed emotions believing that dreams valid psychological activities that could be analyzed in depth. Dreams are disguised or repressed wishes lacking only in their visibility (Chiriac, 2008). In the case of the woman who was sexually abused as a child, she may have nightmares or dreams hinting on her repressed memory and her unconscious need for justice. Moreover, there are people that seem very familiar despite the fact that one has never met them before; they are the kind that are generally liked or disliked by everyone. One example would be an old, gentle-looking, male university professor. He just seems so smart and kind-hearted. The professor fits most people’s mental image of someone intelligent and trustworthy. Jung called this man an archetype for the wise old man – the better voice of heroes, the knowledgeable sage. Jung’s archetypes are products of the collective unconscious (Glassman, 2007); symbolic patterns or characters that people as if by instinct seem to know and understand. Jung described many kinds of archetypes such as the mother archetype – a caring person in one’s life; the child – giddy and innocent but with who people see great potentials; and the shadow, mysterious, dark and unknown parts of ourselves. People can knowingly make conscious decisions about interpersonal relationships that they have, they want to have, and they choose not to have with others. However, there are these relationship patterns that people unconsciously commit, patterns they can not break away from. Examples are somehow constantly falling for the jerk, avoiding befriending a certain type of person, looking for particular qualities in a partner, and preferring a small group of friends over a large one. People instinctually choose what is beneficial for him or her. He or she operates and forms new or continuous relationships with others by his or her own system of unspoken expectations and underlying beliefs. References Averbuch, R. (n. d. ). Psychodynamic Theories of Behavior [PDF Document]. Retrieved from http://72. 14. 235. 132/search? q=cache:GCw6cJQFkicJ:homepages. wmich. edu/~macdonal/SW%25206660. 05%2520Individuals/psychodynamics. ppt+psychodynamic+theories&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=ph Chiriac, J. (2008). Dream Interpretation and Psychoanalysis. Sigmund Freud – Life and Work. Retrieved November 20, 2008, from http://freudfile. org/psychoanalysis/dream_interpretation_and. html Glassman, W. (2007). The Psychodynamic Approach. Retrieved November 20, 2008, from http://www. ryerson. ca/~glassman/psychdyn. html#Jung Richmond, R. L. (2008). Repressed Memories. A Guide to Psychology and its Practice. Retrieved November 20, 2008, from http://www. guidetopsychology. com/repressn. htm