Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule - Essay Example Gandhi bases his arguments on several themes; he argues that it is not favorable for the Englishmen to leave India, only for the Indians to adopt their British culture, arguing that, Indians would prefer an English rule in the absence of Englishmen. On Indian independence, Gandhi argues that Indian independence was successful due to passive resistance. He also argues that self reliance is a vital tool, which can be utilized by the Indians, in that, the British must adhere to the Indians demands if they desire any kind of deal. In addition, Gandhi argues that India must reject the western civilization if it yearns for freedom. What is Gandhi’s main objective? Gandhi, in his own words says, â€Å"It is my duty patiently to try to remove your prejudice† (Gandhi p7, ch1). Gandhi’s main objective was to free India from the domination of the British Empire. The title of Gandhi book, Swaraj means self governance; here, Gandhi’s focus was on empowering Indians to discard the British economic, political, legal, and social way of life. Gandhi believed in a world of peace and harmony, free from any colonialism; but one is self sustained and capable of managing its affairs. What are Gandhi’s political and social positions? According to Hind Swaraj (p5 ch1), as the editor, Gandhi explains to the reader on the desire for home rule by arguing that, home rule is similar to self rule, claiming that the British should not only leave the country, but they should also not leave behind their British style, only to be adopted by the Indians. He further explains to the reader that the British desired home rule for India, claiming that, the Englishmen were not ill and the Indians had to cooperate with them in order to achieve home rule sooner, hence becoming free. Secondly, Gandhi argues on Indian’s independence, which would only be achieved through passive resistance, insisting that the magnitude of love and pity is higher that that of firear ms. He explains that the use of brutality is harmful, but not in the use of pity. According to Gandhi (p10 CH2), swadeshi or self-reliance, can be exercised by the Indians with an aim of declining all trade dealings with the British, if the British do not meet their demands. He further describes partition as an awakening call, which sends a message to the British that the Indian’s have the will from unrests, meaning that they are discontented. Gandhi continues to argue that, India has to reject the western civilization in order to be free, claiming that western civilization is not only unfit for India, but it is unhealthy as well. Gandhi (p14 ch4) criticizes the British parliament as a sterile woman or a prostitute, one whose members are concerned about their powers than the welfare of the public. Gandhi bases his arguments on truth and non violence. Importantly, his political views also pointed at the prevention of concentration of political power in the hands of few individ uals; he preferred that political power be distributed to many, therefore adopting a democratic nature. Economic power should also be in the hands of many compared to few in order to ensure that competition and exploitation are minimized. When production is based on need rather than greed, poverty can be eradicated; Indians would also realize the dignity of labor, which improves productivity. Gandhi also insists on self-reliance by Indians in their villages, religion and the nation at large. The

Environmental Ethics Review of Literature

Environmental Ethics Review of Literature This chapter provides the review of literatures that forms the framework of this study. Reviews of the concepts that underpin this research will help elucidate and justify the major elements under which this study is based on. Environmental ethics is the discipline that studies the moral relationship of human beings to, and also the value and moral status of, the environment and its nonhuman contents. It also can be defined as the field of inquiry that addresses the ethical responsibilities of human beings for the natural environment. This field took its name from the 1979 creation of the journal Environmental Ethics. (Botzler Armstrong, 1998) Environmental ethics is the part of environmental philosophy which considers the ethical relationship between human beings and the natural environment. It is the field of inquiry that addresses the ethical responsibilities of human beings for the natural environment. It also exerts influence on a large range of disciplines including law, sociology, theology, economics, ecology and geography. Environmental ethics is that part of applied ethics which examines the moral basis of our responsibility toward the environment. The fundamental questions are the following (Naess, 1973): What are the obligations of the whole of the mankind toward the natural world? How to allocate the benefits and charges deriving from the respect of these obligations? What policies and institutional structures should be established to implement them? The academic field of environmental ethics grew up in response to the work of scientists such as Rachel Carson and events such as the first Earth Day in 1970, when environmentalists started urging philosophers to consider the philosophical aspects of environmental problems. Two papers published in Science had a crucial impact: Lynn Whites The Historical Roots of our Ecologic Crisis (March 1967) and Garrett Hardins The Tragedy of the Commons (December 1968). Also influential was Garrett Hardins later essay called Exploring New Ethics for Survival, as well as an essay by Aldo Leopold in his A Sand County Almanac, called The Land Ethic, in which Leopold explicitly claimed that the roots of the ecological crisis were philosophical (1949). 2.2 Man-nature relationship Nature can be seen as beautiful and harmonious but it also inspires fear in man who has had to fight it in order to survive. Nowadays, nature is threatened by man who has become detached from it. Technology has endowed humans with the power of a major geological agency, which may act on a continental or even planetary scale (e.g. acid rain, photochemical smog, radioactive contamination, stratospheric ozone depletion, climate change). These man-made environmental problems cannot all be solved by technology alone. Changes in human behaviour are necessary, hence the need for codes of conduct based on the ethics of the environment. The relationship between man and nature must be reconsidered. (Bourdeau, 2003) As human population growth, technology, pollution and demands on finite resources begin to tax the earths capacity. A fundamental change in mans attitude toward the environment and most important of all, an ethical basis for the necessary legal and incentives is required for the man to avoid self-destruction in the environment. According to Blackstone (1974), the main cause of environmental crisis is mistaken values and attitudes, which are the attitudes that we can exploit the environment without restrictions, that the production of goods is more important than the people who use them, that nature will provide unlimited resources, that we have no obligation to future generations to conserve resources, that continued increases in human population is desirable and that the right to have as many children as one wants is an inviolate right, that the answer to the problems of technology is more technology, and that gross differences and inequities in the distribution of goods and service s are quite acceptable. The environmental awareness movement which begin in the late 1960s is evidence that peoples attitudes are changing rapidly, and so it would seem that the development of an environmental ethics is but a logical extension of general ethics. 2.3 Environmental Philosophical Perspective There are typically four types of philosophical perspective in environmental ethics, which are technocentrism, anthropocentrism, biocentrism and ecocentrism. Technocentrism and anthropocentrism based on the values centred on technology and human while biocentrism and ecocentrism based on the values centred on ecology. 2.3.1 Technocentrism Technocentrism is the philosophical perspective that meaning values centred on technology. Technocentrics, including imperialists, have absolute faith in technology and industry and firmly believe that humans have control over nature. Although technocentrics may accept that environmental problems do exist, they do not see them as problems to be solved by a reduction in industry. Rather, environmental problems are seen as problems to be solved using science. Indeed, technocentrics see that the way forward for developed and developing countries and the solutions to our environmental problems today lie in scientific and technological advancement. 2.3.2 Anthropocentrism Anthropocentrism is the philosophical perspective asserting that ethical principles apply to humans only, and that human needs and interests are of highest, and even exclusive, value and importance. Thus, concern for nonhuman entities is limited to those entities having values to humans. There are typically two major types of anthropocentrism, which is strong anthropocentrism and weak anthropocentrism. Strong anthropocentrism is characterized by the notion that nonhuman species and natural objects have value only to the extent that they satisfy a felt preference, which is any fulfil able human desire, whether or not it is based on thought and reflection. For weak anthropocentrism, it was distinguished by the affirmation that nonhumans and nature objects can satisfy considered preferable than as well as felt preferences. A considered preference is a human desire or need that is based on careful deliberation and is compatible with a rationality adopted world view, incorporating sound metaphysics, scientific theories, aesthetic values and moral ideals. Thus, weak anthropocentrism value nonhuman entities for more than their use in meeting unreflective human needs. They value them for enriching the human experience. 2.3.3 Biocentrism Biocentrism defined as the belief that all forms of life are equally valuable and humanity is not the centre of existence. In Respect for Nature, Taylor (1986) described the fundamental points of biocentrism. First, Taylor equates the status of human beings with that of animals. He argues that humans and animals share the earth, and should live equally and harmoniously. Second, Taylor says that human and other animal species are interdependent. This rejects the view that humans need animals, or that animals depend upon humans. Third, every living creature is unique, and lives in its own way for its own good, says Taylor. This implies that one species cannot know more about what is good for another species than that species itself. Fourth, Taylor rejects the argument that human beings are inherently superior to animals. But, there is a key problem in biocentrism. This philosophical perspective still pre-ecological, which mean that not really focused on ecosystems, but on individual life forms. 2.3.4 Ecocentrism Ecocentrism is based on the philosophical premise that the natural world has inherent or intrinsic value. There are typically two types of ecocentrism which is the land ethic and deep ecology. Land ethic was first clearly articulated by Aldo Leopold in the late 1940s. The proponents of the land ethic advocate the human responsibility towards the natural world. Proponents of the land ethic advocate a true environmental ethic, valuing nature in and of itself rather than only in relation to its significance for the survival and well-being of humans or other select species. The land ethic implies human responsibility for natural communities. Deep ecology is a more recent ecocentric philosophy. This term was coined in 1974 by Arne Naess, a Norwegian philosopher, as a contrast with the notion of shallow ecology; the latter includes all superficial, short-term reform approaches to solving such environmental problems as pollution and resource depletion. Deep ecology involves an intensive questioning of the values and lifestyles that have led to serious environmental problems. 2.4 Related research with environmental philosophical perspective There are many studies have been conducted all around the world on environmental philosophical perspectives. Bjerke, T and Kaltenborn, B.P., (1999) had been conducted a study entitled The relationship of ecocentric and anthropocentric motives to attitudes toward large carnivores in Norway. The target populations in this study consist of three different groups which is sheep farmer, research biologist and wildlife manager. The results showed positive associations between anthropocentrism and negative attitudes toward carnivores, and between ecocentrism and positive attitudes toward carnivores for all three groups. Farmers, relative to the other groups, scored lowest on the concentric and highest on the anthropocentric subscales. Kortenkamp., K.V. and Moore., C.F., (2001), had conducted a study entitle Ecocentrism and anthropocentrism: moral reasoning about ecological common dilemmas to examine some issues in how people extend ethics to the natural environment. The result showed that the presence of information about the impact of ecological damage on the environment, especially a more wild environment, elicited more ecocentric reasoning, while the presence of a social commitment elicited more non environmental moral reasoning. Another study related with environmental philosophical perspective was a study conducted by Casey., P.J. and Scott., K., (2006), entitled Environmental concern and behaviour in an Australian sample within an ecocentric-anthropocentric framework. The result of this study showed that female gender, better education, and being older were associated with higher levels of ecocentric concern for the environment and reporting more ecological behaviours. References Bjerke, T., Kaltenborn, B. P. (1999). The relationship of ecocentric and anthropocentric motives to attitudes toward large carnivores. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 19, 415-421. Blackstone, T. W. (1974). Philosophy and Environmental Crisis: University of the Georgia Press. Botzler, R. G., Armstrong, S. J. (1998). Environmental Ethics: Divergence and Convergence (2nd ed.): McGraw-Hill. Bourdeau, P. (2003). The man nature relationship and environmental ethics. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 72, 9-15. Casey, P. J., Scott, K. (2006). Environmental Concern and Behaviour in an Australian Sample Within an Ecocentric-Anthropocentric Framework. Australian Journal of Psychology, 58(2), 57-67. Kortenkamp, K. V., Moore, C. F. (2001). Ecocentrism and Anthropocentrism: Moral Reasoning About Ecological Commons Dilemmas. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 21, 261-272. Naess, A. (1973). The shallow and the deep, long-range ecology movement. Inquiry, 16(1-4), 95-100. Taylor, P. (1986). Respect For Nature: Princeton University Press.

goblin market Essay -- essays research papers

It is difficult to cull a satisfying thematic interpretation from Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market." Obvious themes might be "that one should be careful of temptation," or "that little girls should not talk to strange men." One might even go on to the end of the poem and decide the theme is "that sisters should love one another." These are rather trite ideas, however, and while the poem definitely supports them (and they are easily defended with quotations from the text), a more careful look at "Goblin Market" reveals that the poem is fairly complex, and able to support a more revolutionary reading than the ones put forth above. Rather than saying that "Goblin Market" has a particular theme, I would put forth the notion that it attempts to deal with certain problems Rossetti recognized within the canon of English literature, and specifically with the problem of how to construct a female hero. There are no signifecant female heros in English literature up to the time of Rossetti. Female protagonists exist, of course, like Elizabeth in Austen's Pride and Prejudice, but they have no outlet for heroic action. They are constrained by the gender-roles into which a male-dominated society has placed them. Elizabeth must spend a good deal of her energy waiting for Darcy to take action; she herself is hobbled by the cords of decorum. In "Goblin Market," Rossetti creates a rudimentary framework of behavior in wh...

Manage Own Performance in a Business Environment Essay

1: Understand how to plan and be accountable to others.1.1 There are a number of guidelines and procedures in place to enable me to do my job not only to the best of my ability but in a professional manner. In administration, there are procedures that need to be followed relating to various aspects of the job including correct procedures to, answer the telephone, confirming tickets, dealing with outgoing mail, rooms as well as other procedures. All of the administrators procedures are kept in a file at the office area where any member of admin staff can revise them as and when necessary. In my work place, these general procedures cover a wide range of skills used within any administration such as how to deal with a telephone call and how to used the office printer. They are available on the system for any staff member to review. 1.2 As a employee I am accountable to my employer. They have a right to see that my work is up to standard. Having a plan allows for my manager to see a quick overview of my daily tasks and allows them to check that I understand what needs to be done through out the day. It also helps to agree timescales and goals, and helps with performance managing.Planning skills allows me to be efficient and to successfull in my job.I have to be able to set and achieve targets and help others to do the same.1.3 The purpose for agreeing realistic targets for work is to keep everyone on task and focused, there is no point setting a target that is impossible to complete in the time scale given. Things will always get rushed and missed if the target is unrealistic. Work will not be done to the highest standard. However you should always push yourself at work. There should be a balance between the time it takes, how much work you have to do and making sure your work is to the highest standard. This wa y, everyone can contribute effectively and reach targets efficiently instead of struggling to achieve the impossible. 1.4 I need to make sure that the deadline is fair and be honest about how much work I can handle. When speaking to my manager I will gain respect by being straight about how much I can do. If I set too easy a target for myself I won’t be pushed to improve myself and it will be clear to my manager. If I make it impossible to reach my manager will be unimpressed by my inability to work out how long I need and missing the deadline. Setting targets is part of planning so the more accurately you can stick a plan usually the more likely you are to succeed. 1.5 The first thing I do in the morning is to prioritize my work. That is, place the most important job at the top; the least, at the bottom. When judging priorities, I need to do several things: I need to determine what is required. This is the number of jobs that need to be done. I need to figure out what is required. I need to ask myself â€Å"What must I do that nobody can or should do for me?† I have a list on which I write every target I need to Achieve and then I plan this around my day. If I’m stuck or behind on an important job I can ask my office manager Jack or other employees to help me. I don’t put everything into a ‘pending’ or ‘jobs to do’ file. I Classify my targets into those that are: both urgent and important (class 1) urgent (class 2) important (class 3) neither (class 4).1.6 So other people can help me when I am stuck and it doesn’t waste time. We can work as a team together to get the task finished.They can give me tips and say how I could improve my work.If someone is relying on a piece of work from me to complete their own tasks then it is important to keep them informed of where I am. By doing this I can also gain information on timescales, when this work needs to be completed. If I am unable to complete something by the time requested then other people will have to re-prioritise their own workloads to fit around me and by keeping them informed of my progress I can show where I am with my work.1.7 It respects people’s time and allows people to be better prepared for work, mentally, physically and tools-wise. It is respectful of the other person’s time to give him or her a good idea of what and how you want them to do something and when they need to start. If these plans change, respect demands that you infor m others involved of the changes to these plans. 1.8/1.9Computer crashingWork not getting savedPower cutsPhotocopier runs out of tonerPhotocopier runs out paper. All of these issues can be resolved very simply.Any technical fault that involves my computer I would report this to my manager or director. Things like photocopier running out of paper would be common sense I would fill the paper tray myself with the correct size and type of paper. If there is a jam I would try and resolve this myself without creating danger or ask somebody I would ask my manager who knows how to fix this. 1.10 The importance of learning from mistakes is so that you will not make the same mistakes (or similar mistakes) in the future, and you will thereby make more right decisions and fewer wrong decisions, and therefore will enjoy more success and less failure. Outcome 2: Understand how to behave in a way that supports effective working.2.1 The purpose of agreeing and setting high standards for work assures that each person tries their hardest and achieves there goals. By setting high standards you are showing a good example to the hole work team. Your building trust with your employer, it can give you benefits such as a pay raise or promotion and It gives you a great sense of satisfaction. You must always make sure you have the right amount of work for your time scale. This allows you to make sure your work is to the highest standard and isn’t rushed. I have learnt from working at h2o the its better to take a little bit longer doing something than doing it to quickly and having to go back and correct your mistakes. 2.2/2.3 I can set high standards of work by putting 100% into every task I do. By being the best I possibly can be. If I challenge myself in areas I will improve at my work, impress my employer and set a high example to all of the staff. By not challenging myself I am not learning anything. I should always take on new challenges if given them. This means I will earn new skills and will allow me to become experienced at my job. 2.4 If there are changes, its best to find out the purpose and make a plan, gather as much information as you can. Discuss the changes with your manager as understanding the situation helps you plan an appropriate course of action. Find out if the changes will affect your salary or benefits. There are always changes made in our workplace such a new office equipment, new staff, change in role. It gives me new challenges and experience. 2.5 The purpose of treating others with respect, honesty, and consideration is to treat others how you would like to be treated. To help people when you can. Never judge anyone and understand people as individuals. This gives people self confidence and positive a work environment. In my workplace we always listen and respect one another. 2.6 Behaviour is vital to the workplace because it can affect everyone. A person’s negative outlook can spend to those around that person. The workplace can immediately become a hostile environment due to the action or attitude of a single person. 2.7 Types of behaviour that display honesty, respect, and consideration are listening to others’ ideas and providing thoughtful feedback, being sensitive to the needs of others, seeking a solution that will benefit all, cooperating with everybody, treating others fairly and with dignity. Some negative behaviours are not listening to people, ignoring the opinions of others, having a selfish attitude, disregarding the efforts of others, and spreading false or hurtful information about others like spending rumours.

How Does Walker’s Use of Imagery and Symbolism?

In â€Å"The Colour Purple,† Alice Walker uses symbolism, and imagery to affect the reader’s interpretation of the novel through very complex themes of religious influence, oppression and emotion developed from these literary devices. This has a profound influence on the reader’s interpretation of the novel as it suggests certain opinions and points of view to them as well as giving them deeper insight to the emotions of the protagonist In â€Å"The Colour Purple† a strong theme of religious influence and interpretation is developed through use of symbolism and imagery.The fact that the letters are initially addressed to God, an entity in whom the protagonist strongly believes, has a significant symbolic impact on the novel. When Celie’s mother asks where her child came from she says â€Å"Its God’s† when clearly, it is her father’s child. The elliptical choice of â€Å"God† as the father of the baby is symbolic, and show s that the power her Pa wields over her makes him a God-like figure to her. This is ironic the semantic field of the word â€Å"God† holds connotations of an all-powerful and infinitely benevolent entity.The irony of this is that whilst the true father of the baby, her â€Å"Pa†, holds a great deal of power over her, he is portrayed as anything but benevolent. If anything, he is more like Satan as he is seemingly the source of all the deplorable aspects of her life. This evokes a great deal of pathos from the reader and also antipathy towards her father. This clearly Illustrates for the reader who the protagonist and antagonists of the novel are Later in the novel, this symbolism is continued as the protagonist’s perception of God is explored through her dialogue with Shug Avery.Soon after discovering that her sister is still alive, she becomes frustrated and against the idea of praising God, exclaiming â€Å"What God do for me? † This is a typical reacti on of people who have suffered in life to the concept of God. This anger she feels towards God for letting her suffer so much is a manifestation of all the anger she feels towards all the people who have wronged her in life. This further manifests itself when she decides, â€Å"She don’t write God no more† as she blames him for giving her a hard life.She also decides that God is a man, something that is of extreme significance as Celie attributes all of her life’s troubles and problems to men, and their mistreatment of her. She confesses to Shug Avery that she sees God as â€Å"Big and old and tall and greybearded and white† This perception of God is a fairly common one, along with the â€Å"white robed† and â€Å"barefooted† idea. Then Shug outlines her perceptions of God, and church, ideas that are not so common. Her ideas are extremely interesting; she says she never found God in church, and any God she found she â€Å"brought in† with her.The effect this has on the reader forms very strong empathy with the protagonist, as the thoughts she is having are very relatable. It also makes the reader question their own perceptions of God, thus making this novel seem to be a very philosophical one. With Shug’s help, Celie comes to see that God isn’t a bearded white man, he is â€Å"Everything†, he is in nature, people, the sky and all that is good. This is most strongly illustrated in the final letter of the book which she addresses â€Å"Dear God. Dear stars, dear trees, dear sky, sear peoples.Dear everything. † The syntax of those sentences as a list illustrates further that she sees God in everything that is good and beautiful. This shows that she has come back to God and her perceptions have changed dramatically. This symbolises the end of a journey as Celie comes to accept God once more and it also symbolises that fact that she has moved on with her life and is finally happy. She†™s also This creates more empathy from the reader who feels joy for the protagonist as well as showing that she has overcome her hardships.Overall this idea of a journey creates a sense of this being a very biographical novel. The fact that it is in epistolary form makes the novel much more personal and relatable for the reader. When Celie leaves Mr. __ she finds her inner self and gains a lot more personality. At the beginning of the novel, she never mentions her emotions, just physical feelings. This is symbolic of the fact that in her oppression, she was just surviving rather than living. She was very much a shell, her body existed but her inner spirit was suppressed greatly.The first time emotions are brought in are when Celie discovers that her sister is still alive. Her break from oppression to become her own person is symbolised by the pants. The making of pants is theraputic for her, she claims she â€Å"aint been able to stop† after she started. This is the first t hing shes ever chosen to do herself so they are symbolic of her newfound independence. Also in that society, pants were considered to be a men’s item of clothing, so the wearing of pants by Celie and Shug is symbolic of their fight against sexism and the patriarchal society.The fact that she starts to make money from the pants furthers the idea of independence. The effect on the reader of this is it gives an idea of this being a very political novel and being about a struggle for freedom. The colour purple is a regal colour representative of affluence and the good things in life created by God for the people to enjoy. At the beginning of the beginning of the book, Celie has no sense of the colour purple, she has a terrible life in which she is just surviving rather than really living. The lack of emotion at the beginning clearly shows this.As a result, she doesn’t have the capacity to sense the colour purple, she cant appreciate the simple beauty of life and nature as her conditions are so oppressive that she cant see any good. Shug helps her to see the good in life when she shows Celie that God is in everything and telling her to â€Å"relax, go with everything that’s going and praise God by liking what you like. † This overall analysis of God and the form In which he exists prompts the reader to question their own view on God, especially the way in which society depicts him and his laws.

buy custom The Really Smart Phone essay

buy custom The Really Smart Phone essay Smart phone is a mobile phone that has the characteristics which are more in advanced in the connectivity and on computing ability than the normal cell phone. Smart phone are sometimes thought as handheld integrated computers with a mobile telephone in them. A smartphone enables the user to run and proactively do the multitasking of applications that are in built to the principal hardware. A complete operating system is installed in smartphones and this software enables the provision of a platform for provision of application by developers and users. Thus they have the combination of the camera phone and personal digital assistant in them (PDA). According to a research conducted in the early 2011, smartphones are having rates that are very accelerating when it comes to the rate at which mobile phone users are adopting them for work and for contact purposes. The research result according to Olswang report showed that 22% of mobile phone uses have switched to the smart phone and most o f these being in the age bracket of 25- 35 years (Mobile reference 56). The growing demand for the more advanced mobile services which have high and powerful processors, larger LCD screens, large memories and an operating system that is open has overtaken the rest of the phones with the low processing sped and have the absence of the operating system. These phones include this smart phone. According to the study conducted by the Comscore, over 45.5 million mobile phone users in the United States had the access and owner ship of smart phones by the year 2010. This percentage was out of the 234 million registered subscribers hat are present in that country (Mobile reference 46). The first smart phone was designed and shown as a product concept in the year 1992 by the IBM Simon. The smart phone was released out to the market in 1993 and was sold by the user. Despite being a mobile phone device, this first ever designed smart phone had he features of a calendar, address book, the world clock, the calculator, email services, games, the note pad and the sending and receiving of fax options. The smart phone had no physical keypads to operate and instead it had the touch screen option that was used for operations purposes. Many users have this question in mind, what makes a smart phone? And why is it smart? Below is the answer. A smart phone has much difference from the normal cell phone, as said in the first paragraph, a smart phone is a device for making and receiving calls and at the same time have a lot of added features that makes it more than a phone. These features include the ability to receive and send emails and the options of editing office documents for instance. Smart phones were developed as a result of the renovation of the cellphone and the personal digital assistants. The key smart phone that makes it a smart phone includes the ability the following features in details; Operating system- a smart phone must have the feature of being installed with an operating system that allows its applications to run productively. The blackberry smart phones for instance use the blackberry operating systems whereas most of them use the common windows mobile operating system(Mobile reference 14). Software- other than the basic software that is common even in the normal cell phone, smart phones has the ability to do m ore software tasks such as use of the Microsoft word, viewing and downloading of applications and personal and business finance manager soft wares (Mobile reference 15). QWERTY Keyboard- this is a definition of the key arrangements that are present in a computes keyboard, the smart phone has the same feature in the arrangement of its keypad as that of the computers keyboard. This keyboard in the smart phone is found in the physical form whereby one can type on or in the touchscreen format (Mobile reference 14). Messaging services- despite the feature of receiving and sending messages being common in most of the cell phones, the smart phone has the added feature that enables it to handle the e- mails in multiples and access of the yahoo messenger option among other options. Web Access- The website access is a property that allows the computer systems to access the internet services at a higher speed as a result of the development and the growth of the 3G network system and the Wi-Fi support among the smart phones (obile reference 14). The legal issue of the smart phones The legal sue of the use of smart phones for personal use ad business use has brought forward many issues. However, much issue has been put across in the use of these devices for business purposes among individuals and organizations. If the company owns or uses a smartphone, then it also owns all the phone number that are assigned to that device, in case an employee leaves the company, the phone number is usually given to anther employee and for that reason if that employee owns the smartphone and leave the company, all the contacts belonging to customers and other employees that were in that number are no longer used for contact purposes with the company. Due to the varying laws in different states, the employers might have rights in one location but no rights another location. The most important legal issue about the use of the smart phones at business is the question of who has the access and ownership to data. When these phones are issued to employees in a business organization, then he or she is the one with aces to the information stored on these smartphones. Their complex features that are almost similar to those of computers make them to store a lot of data. This data can be relevant to the business or irrelevant. For instance, in an organization that offers healthcare service or financial services, most of the information about these customers is stored in these smart phones and can therefore be traced back by any one who has access to the smartphone. Due to the sensitivity of this information, it is the mandate of the user to protect the private data that is private and confidential (Mobile reference 44). Despite the positive outcomes that are present in the use of the smart phones, they also happen to have several issues that are of disadvantage both to the customer and the employer or the user. For instance, these smart phones due to their feature that enables them to have the GPRS settings, this is an implication that someone can monitor the moves of the individual with the phone either knowingly or unknowingly. This is made possible by installation of special programs that enable one to tread the call logs, the email messages, the texts, and listen to made conversations. This aspect might be of both value and disadvantage depending on the purpose of the tracking. These are the issues associated with the employee and customers monitoring (Mobile reference 48). The other issue that raises eyebrow on their legality is the liability factors. This happens when an employee uses the smart phone a basement to launch an attack or to hack into a network or a website that is out of restriction for him or her, harassing a worker or a customer or the act of any other cyber crime. As a result, one wonders where it is possible for an individual to sue to the company or the employee via claims that by the use of the companys devices, the employers action were in representation of the entire company. Smart phone laws Fast case- is a mobile law for smart phones and in precise the iPhone that allows the user to have the option of searching all the cases and statutes from all the states inclusive of the federal government. The smart phone technology search enables the puling of the cases tat are most relevant to the search query on top of the feature that customizable and help in the search process in the iPhone. Thus application is free in smart phone but it needs an application of the account in order to make sure that one gains access to features such as the document saving of the search of historical facts. This is a law that has very many lawyers being in registration with it due to its effectiveness (George 129). Droid Law- just like the fast case law, the droid law in smart phone is a form of a legal reference for smart phone and other mobile users application that ensures the following bases in its application, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, the Federal Rules of Evidence, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. Additional reference materials include, such as the code of the United States or U.S. Constitution add-on are mush available for user but unlike the fast case law, the Droid law gooes at a fee (George 128). Blacks Law Dictionary, 9th Edition- this is the most applied law book in the world, this is an application in the blackberry smartphone that enables the user to access over 55,000 different terms of language with spelling pronunciations and over 3000 quotations at your smart phone. This smart phone application has much legality for todays students due to its dictionary feature plus other features such as the progressive and the look up search features. The above named different mobile laws have different impact depending on the user. The career of the user has much to do with the law that the user decides to purchase. On my own point of view smart phones should have the above laws this is due to the fact that most of their use is for business purposes. The business that they are used for operate at different features, for that reason, a user who works in a security organization such as the police departments is likely to purchase a different law from his/her smart phone from a user whose smart for is for business that involve lawyers, the same case applies to student, they are likely to purchase a law that has much relevance to their education and in this case they are likely to purchase the Blacks Law Dictionary, 9th Edition law (Alexander 34). However, mobile laws are likely to cause or be responsible for negative outcomes, as a result some of the federal houses have come up with a proposal that have been implemented in some states in the united states of banning the smartphones as a results of fears that lead to beliefs that they could be used as bombs. This was in a report that was released on March, 23 the year 2011 by the administrative office of the courts. The main reason for this ban was claims that some smart phones could and can be used as bombs due to the fact hat these devices commonly present the issue of security among their users, as a result of their features that support most of the programs, they can be converted to bombs and explosive via the remote control through the installation of special programs. This issue has raised issue in the security sector. In most countries that have large number of smart phone users, their non- metallic feature and their small size also makes it very impossible for them to be scanned in order for hem to be detected for test of explosives and harmful devices that might be tracked on them. Other negative issue related to the use of smart phones includes the secret recording and transmission in court proceedings whereby it enables the assessors to use their smart phones and their internet capabilities to conduct the research and come up with solutions. As a result of this, Federal courtrooms across the country have varying policies concerning mobile devices. Some of the courthouses have been known to require individuals to check in their mobile devices at the security entry. Other courthouses necessitate users to humbly turn their devices such as mobile phones and PDAs off. In San Francisco, the state where live blogging throughout court proceedings is a usual practice, several federal courtrooms actually have Wi-Fi networks available to allow wireless access for mobile and other devices. In another instance where the smart phones have been use to conduct illegal offences, in the past three years, the Chicago Police Department has supplied powerful new tools to officers who are in the fieldBlackBerry smart phones. But the BlackBerry smart phone may have miscarried on the police department, which is now being charged by an officer in the gang investigations unit for the overtime that he claims he earned while using his smart phone off the clock. The police department has deliberately violated the FLSA [Fair Labor Standards Act] by purposely declining to pay the complainant and other similarly situated employees in the department all compensation outstanding them under the FLSA for their after-hours Blackberry use A judge had to certify the case in a court of for a final decision to be made. The situation is one of a margin worldwide in which employees have claimed overtime compensation for smart-phone useand in precise it is the first that was involving public employee s. However, different lawyers said that such cases are a perfect warning to employers to put a smart-phone usage strategy and policy in place before they end up in the same situation. Buy custom The Really Smart Phone essay

Tombstone Fashion essays

Tombstone Fashion essays In 1879, with the discovery of silver in Arizona, Tombstone becomes queen of the boom towns where the latest Paris fashions are sold from the backs of wagons. Attracted to this atmosphere of greed over one hundred exiled Texas outlaws band together to form the ruthless gang recognized by the red sashes they wear. They emerge as the earliest example of organized crimes in America. They call themselves, The Cowboys. Tombstone. Simply put, The Cowboys, also known as The Notorious Clanton Gang, were the bad guys who infested the developing town of Tombstone; they were fugitives who brought crime and murder with them wherever they went. They were mischief makers hated and feared by the dominant culture of prospectors, gamblers, and businessmen because of their defiant attitude and by the way they dressed. The Notorious Clanton Gang was in fact comprised of actual cowboys who herded and raised livestock, mainly cattle, for a living. Accordingly, they traveled by horse so they wore spurs on their pointy leather boots to control their transportation. They would also wear chaps over their slacks to protect their legs from insects and brush they encountered on their journeys. They wore dust covered cowboy hats to keep the blazing sun out of their eyes and sun faded bandanas around their necks and mouths to ward off sun and dust. However, this simple and honest lifestyle was seemingly not of enough income or interest to the Cowboys. As a more sophisticated and elegant fashion of clothing began to manifest from Paris to the Southwest, the Cowboys remained loyal to their display of ruggedness and dirtiness. The Cowboys arduous way of life tended to develop rough-and-ready attitudes; instead of tailor-made suits and fancy neckties, they dressed in long, dusty, and tattered slacks as they trekked across the desert from town to town getting money by any means possible. This ...

Proper Language and Sentence Structure for Academic Writing by Lauren Gartner

Proper Language and Sentence Structure for Academic Writing Proper Language and Sentence Structure for Academic Writing Academic writing is the form of writing that students and others in the world of academia use to communicate their knowledge and informed opinions on a variety of subjects. Academic writing is by definition objective, evidence based, accurate, and written from an impersonal point of view. Notes about the Academic Writing Style The style that you will use to write academic papers is much different than the style that you would use for personal or business communication. For example, when writing in an academic setting, you would never use contractions. You would also never use slang, jargon, or colloquialisms. The rules of academic writing also require that you avoid filler words, vague words (thing, a lot, more), and phrases that can be replaced with one word. Sexist language should also be avoided. Use police officer instead of police man. Avoid using first person pronouns or gender based pronouns. Use they or their instead of he or she. Writing in the second person (you) is also expressly forbidden. Avoid using filler words. Having a good vocabulary will be beneficial to you, but big words will not impress simply because they are big words. Understanding The Conventions of Academic Writing Here are a few rules that may help you to understand what is expected of you when you write a research paper or essay: Your writing should be based on solid research Your goal when writing a research paper should be expressing what the evidence proves, not manipulating evidence to support your opinion Shorter words are often the better choice than longer words Paragraphs must always have a main idea sentence Your thesis should be clear Being concise is extremely important Your papers should have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion Help With Academic Writing Now that you better understand the characteristics of academic writing, let us discuss where you can get writing help both on and off campus. If your campus has a writing center, this is a great place to go and get help with academic writing assignments. The writing center will usually be staffed with assistant instructors or upperclassmen who are willing to volunteer their time to assist you. In some cases, your school's writing center will be internet based. In this case, you can log in to get information on various types of academic papers, rules of citation formats, and to see examples of various papers. If you need additional help, you may be able to find a tutor who can work with you one on one. A final option that many students use at least once are academic writing services. These are services that will write, edit, or proofread your academic papers for you. This is a very good option for students who are truly stuck on an assignment, and who are counting on getting a good gr ade. You can also use these services to help you to learn more about the proper structure and format of academic papers.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Research Paper Example It was saved from destruction and restored to its marvelous state by a famous French architect known as Eugene Viollet -le- Duc1. Many Francophone countries use the name Notre Dame in Catholic churches as it means Our Lady. Understanding the structure and significance of the building requires proper movement through the building. The Notre Dame de Paris was believed to among the first cathedrals constructed in Gothic design with its construction period spanning around the Gothic era. Its stained glass and sculptures show the powerful influence of naturalism which was different from the Romanesque architecture. The building was among the first buildings to use the arched exterior supports also known as the flying buttress. The original design was not made to include the implementation of flying buttress around the nave and choir. During construction, the thinner walls made in Gothic style began growing higher thus causing stress fractures to occur due to outward movement of the walls. To counter the move the architects of the cathedral built supports around the outer walls, later on, more additions were added to the pattern. In the 1790s the cathedral underwent desecration throughout the radical phase of the revolutionary French revolution when most of the religious imagery was destroyed or damaged. The 19th century was marked as a period of conducting a restoration project on the cathedral to return it to its marvelous state2. The cathedral was opened by a bishop of Paris known as Maurice de Sully in 1160 who had the idea of converting the two ruin basilicas into a single building for the large-scale purpose. In 1163 Pope Alexander III laid the foundation stone and consecration of the high altar began in 1189.By 1250 the nave, western facade, and choir had been completed and the next 100 years saw the addition of chapels, porches and other embellishments.

Cruse Ship Managment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cruse Ship Managment - Assignment Example A good cruise itinerary must outline the effects of all internal factors at play. These factors are within the control of the management and can be tactfully addressed. Some of these factors as pointed out by Kaulbars (2008) include relations to the prospective host communities and authorities, budget estimations, and overall basics of a journey. Logistics is another internal factor that ought to be taken care of. Here, aspects such as exchange of crew and supply arrangements are looked into. Another factor is the characteristic of the vessel, with key concern to vessels’ capability, amenities, and adaptability to diverse port destinations. Some of these external factors as espoused by Kaulbars include infrastructure and superstructure of the port of call, with finer details to evaluate being the facilities available, bunker services and costs, as well as accommodation facilities (Sun, Gauri & Webster, 2011). Other factors include customer preferences, sea conditions such as winds and tides, as well as weather conditions both at sea and at inland destinations that may have adverse effects on the comfort of passengers. Cruise ships have also been made more comfortable by offering services that are similar to those offered in inland holiday inns. Amenities such as swimming pool, a shopping place where the customers can make light purchases, etc. have been included to make the voyages more exciting. Certainly, these amenities help create a pleasurable environment that provide greater experience to the tourists. A good cruise ship itinerary must also take into concern factors that motivate the customers. These factors can be evaluated based on costs, facilities available within the ship, duration of stay at particular ports during stopovers, among others. Greenwood and Barron observe that most passengers prefer the preservation of individuality, a factor that has been successfully overcome by offering sightseeing tours to

Polyurethane heart valves - current development and technical Essay

Polyurethane heart valves - current development and technical challenges - Essay Example Recently, a polyurethane tri-leaflet valve has been developed. This valve has three, thin polyurethane leaflets of approximately 100 µm thickness, which are suspended from the inside of a flexible polyurethane frame. In the closed position, the valve is elliptical in the radial direction and hyperbolic in the circumferential direction. Hydrodynamic tests have shown that the polyurethane valve exhibits pressure gradients similar to those for a bioprosthetic valve, and lesser regurgitation and leakage than a bileaflet mechanical valve or the bioprosthetic valve. Accelerated fatigue tests have shown six consecutively manufactured polyurethane valves to have exceeded the equivalent of 10 years function without failure, and three valves have reached 527 million cycles (approximately 13 years equivalent). The only failure occurred after the equivalent of approximately 12 years cycling (Gonzà ¡lez, et al., 2003). A new family of polymers, called the segmented polyurethane elastomers display high flexure endurance, strength, and inherent non-thrombogenic characteristics (Gonzà ¡lez, et al., 2003). polyurethanes, EV3.34 and EV3.35, to manufacture a flexible trileaflet heart valve. This valve was implanted in 12 young adult (18 month) sheep in the mitral position. At 6 months, six valves were electively explanted while the remaining six valves were explanted at 9 months follow-up. Surface Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (ATR/FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to examine the leaflet material. The leaflet was also put through cyclic mechanical testing and was compared with non-implanted control material, to see if there was any change in mechanical properties during implantation. There was no degradation of functional groups. The study also observed that EV3.35 might have superior long-term fatigue properties. It has a two-phase microstructure of hard

Child Poverty in the United Stated Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Child Poverty in the United Stated - Essay Example We have read several articles that address the question of child poverty in the United States. In order to begin to try and gain a critical perspective on this big issue, I will be discussing some of the issues these articles failed to address, in what ways the recommendations they make are unrealistic, and what obstacles exist in the implementation of those recommendations. I will also consider opposing points of view by anticipating the most common objections to the solutions these writers propose. As you will see, even after a brief survey of current thinking on such an important matter, it will be obvious that the issue is both complicated and so interwoven with almost every aspect of society, that while the answer is definitely yes, there is much that could be done to alleviate the vicious cycle of child poverty, there are no solutions that could be successfully pursued without a deep and long-lasting commitment from a very large segment of society because the fact of the matter is: Many have benefited from the very policies and decisions that have created this problem. In Jonathan Marshall’s article, â€Å"Child Poverty Is Abundant†, he asserts that â€Å"economists don’t fully understand the causes of the great inequality [of income] in the U.S,† but it seems to me that the long-term effects of economic decisions in the past 50 years can give us a pretty good idea of the causes, such as freezing the federal minimum wage off and on for years at a time or giving corporations tax incentives for adding jobs overseas or just across the border. Apparently the long-term effect of these decisions on the working poor was not the main priority when they were being made. We need to know why other considerations were thought to be more important, because someone benefited from them, and values different than a commitment

Fracking oil prices in USarticles literature review

Fracking oil prices in USarticles - Literature review Example senior representative at the Energy Department, the CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources, a task force member, the GM of the Midland BMW franchise, and the owner of Rusty’s Oilfield Service Company reveal more information about this change in America’s energy sector (Krauss and Lipton, 2012, p. 4). Dow and Jones writer Daniel Yergin sheds light on the same issue by asserting that today’s â€Å"unconventional-natural-gas revolution† converted a shortfall into a huge surplus and changed the natural gas enterprise (Yergin, 2011, p. 2). Yergin’s article cites an independent shale gas producer from Houston David Wessel as proof of this revolutionary change. Since Wessel began extracting in the early 1980s, he has witnessed an immense change in production and market growth over the past decade in contrast to the 1980s and 1990s (Yergin, 2011, p. 5). Jeffrey Folks, from American thinker, agrees with Krauss, Lipton, and Yergin about the decreasing oil costs across the world caused by fracking in the United States. Like Krauss and Lipton, Folks cites statistics from Bloomberg, CBC, the Wall Street Journal, Trading Economics, Forbes, and EIA (Folks, 2014). These figures point the rise in the production of barrels daily to fracking in the United States. Folks compares this effect to the hypothetical absence of fracking in the United States and Canada. This comparison leads the article to contend further that this fracking revolution may carry on for decades as the United States’ economy revels in growth (Folks, 2014). H. Sterling Burnett of the National Center for Policy Analysis echoes Folks’ insights about the effect of fracking today in contrast to traditional oil production over the past ten years (Burnett, 2013). With the help of graphs representing recoverable natural gas and daily oil output, the article proves how even electricity providers are shifting to natural gas as a key source of power. This role could not have been possible today without an immense

Sustainable Energy Applications Discuss Solar Energy Essay

Sustainable Energy Applications Discuss Solar Energy - Essay Example growth in the field of solar energy is remarkable due to the improvement of technologies and by the support provided by the policies implemented by the government in the field of development of solar energy and its use (Timilsina, Kurdgelashvili, and Narbel). There are mainly 2 types of technologies to generate solar energy, and they are: solar thermal and solar photovoltaic (PV). The former deals with the conversion of solar radiation to heat, or also called as thermal energy, and the latter is the technique which deals with converting sunlight directly into electricity (â€Å"Chapter 10: Solar Energy† 263). The solar thermal technology is again divided into two such as solar thermal non-electric and solar thermal electric (4). Solar thermal non-electric technology is used in solar cookers, solar water heaters, solar air heaters, solar coolers, agricultural drying, etc. On the other hand, solar thermal electric technology is the method of directly using solar heat for the production of steam for generating electricity, which is otherwise known as concentrated solar power (4). Currently 2 types of PV technologies are present in the market, namely thin film technology made up of different types of semi-conductor materials such as cadmium telluride, copper indium gallium diselenide, amorphous silicon, etc., and the second technology is called crystalline silicon-based PV cells (4). The history of solar energy begins between 1860 and the First World War, when a wide range of techniques were established to generate steam by obtaining sun’s heat so as to run the irrigation pumps and engines (4). In 1954, at Bell Labs in the United States, Solar PV cells were used for generating electricity in space satell ites (Timilsina et al. 4). The energy provided by the sun can be directly collected and used to make high temperature steam, i.e. more than 1000 C, and low temperature steam, i.e. less than 1000 C (Energy Technology Fact Sheet). These methods are implemented in

Fracking oil prices in USarticles literature review

Fracking oil prices in USarticles - Literature review Example senior representative at the Energy Department, the CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources, a task force member, the GM of the Midland BMW franchise, and the owner of Rusty’s Oilfield Service Company reveal more information about this change in America’s energy sector (Krauss and Lipton, 2012, p. 4). Dow and Jones writer Daniel Yergin sheds light on the same issue by asserting that today’s â€Å"unconventional-natural-gas revolution† converted a shortfall into a huge surplus and changed the natural gas enterprise (Yergin, 2011, p. 2). Yergin’s article cites an independent shale gas producer from Houston David Wessel as proof of this revolutionary change. Since Wessel began extracting in the early 1980s, he has witnessed an immense change in production and market growth over the past decade in contrast to the 1980s and 1990s (Yergin, 2011, p. 5). Jeffrey Folks, from American thinker, agrees with Krauss, Lipton, and Yergin about the decreasing oil costs across the world caused by fracking in the United States. Like Krauss and Lipton, Folks cites statistics from Bloomberg, CBC, the Wall Street Journal, Trading Economics, Forbes, and EIA (Folks, 2014). These figures point the rise in the production of barrels daily to fracking in the United States. Folks compares this effect to the hypothetical absence of fracking in the United States and Canada. This comparison leads the article to contend further that this fracking revolution may carry on for decades as the United States’ economy revels in growth (Folks, 2014). H. Sterling Burnett of the National Center for Policy Analysis echoes Folks’ insights about the effect of fracking today in contrast to traditional oil production over the past ten years (Burnett, 2013). With the help of graphs representing recoverable natural gas and daily oil output, the article proves how even electricity providers are shifting to natural gas as a key source of power. This role could not have been possible today without an immense

Effectiveness of United Nations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Effectiveness of United Nations - Essay Example The effectiveness of United Nations in the War against Terror was pivotal as far the out breaking of a wider conflict is concerned, but its role as a free global organization was widely questioned because of American influence on the Security Council’s resolutions. Apart from the diplomatic pressures exercised on the member states to achieve unanimity of stance against an enemy quite vague and unknown until nine-eleven, the war against terror and al Qaeda was instigated at quite large scale. The Afghanistan was declared as the chief suspect of the al Qaeda and its leadership hideout and safe heaven. However, today after about ten years of all-out efforts to eliminate al Qaeda and terrorism, which are more often than not taken as synonyms, the war against terror could not meet a successful end. Thus, has raised several questions on the effectiveness of Security Council’s resolutions for the use of power in the region. This is what official US reports suggests, â€Å"By early 2011, senior leaders, including the Commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), General David Petraeus, were pointing to discrete progress on the ground, though noting that such progress was still â€Å"fragile and reversible†.The war against terror despite its enormous support from member states in the Security Council has challenged the effectiveness of UN to avoid such a prolonged war. The worst side of this crisis is the absence of a declared result and measureable success in terms of international peace, security and stability.  ... United Nations has tackled raging and roaring national sentiments and channelized them to achieve the objectives of global peace and security to some extend if not to a desirable level. The effectiveness of United Nations in the War against Terror was pivotal as far the out breaking of a wider conflict is concerned, but its role as a free global organization was widely questioned because of American influence on the Security Council’s resolutions. Apart from the diplomatic pressures exercised on the member states to achieve unanimity of stance against an enemy quite vague and unknown until nine-eleven, the war against terror and al Qaeda was instigated at quite large scale. The Afghanistan was declared as the chief suspect of the al Qaeda and its leadership hideout and safe heaven. However, today after about ten years of all-out efforts to eliminate al Qaeda and terrorism, which are more often than not taken as synonyms, the war against terror could not meet a successful end. Thus, has raised several questions on the effectiveness of Security Council’s resolutions for the use of power in the region. This is what official US reports suggests, â€Å"By early 2011, senior leaders, including the Commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), General David Petraeus, were pointing to discrete progress on the ground, though noting that such progress was still â€Å"fragile and reversible†.† (Dale, 2011). The war against terror despite its enormous support from member states in the Security Council has challenged the effectiveness of UN to avoid such a prolonged war. The worst side of this crisis is the absence of a declared result and measureable success in terms of international peace, security and stability. The proclaimed

river island

river island Biography River Island was introduced by Bernard Lewis in 1948, a family business and it started out as a small shop in Londonwith the trading name of Lewis Separates. There have been many changes to the brand name such as Chelsea girl and Concept Man and not until 1989 its officially became known as RiverIsland today. Between the period of twenty years, from the 1960s to 1980s, Chelsea Girl was a well known high street store and was famous for its long haired girl logo. A group of approximately 45 students from Uxbridge and Middlesex has teamed together with the store to regain its reputation in the name of Chelsea Girl. River Island could considered to be one of the UKs biggest and most successful privately owned high street companies with over 250 stores operating all over the world and is still growing. Moreover, to ensure theirs customer a great, unique and fashionable look, unlike New Look and others high street stores which buy others brand design then altered it, River Island has their own in-house designer. River Island always focus on providing their customer the hottest look, hence, they also concentrate on providing their employees with a good working environment so that they can work efficiently and at their best. River Island stores across the country are always similar in both decoration and layout. In recent years, River Island has changed all of their stores to have a unique and similar layout. The general colour schemes are usually white walls with some emphasis of bright green to create a fresh feeling; the flooring is laid with creamy coffee coloured tiles with black paneling. Bri ght spot lights have also been used to create a posh look. In order to help the customer to feel comfortable and relaxed the stores have been designed to have an open air space which is simple but act as an effective background helping the clothes stand out and also enabling the customer to find their clothes. The layout of River Island is known to be like a walk-in boutique where you have trends that are divided into sections in the shop, which helps customers to know what theyre looking for, i.e. casual, smart or going out. Style River Island is a UKs leading high street brand, providing a big range of stylish clothes, but most importantly, their prices are affordable and the quality is great. River Island design clothes for both men and women at the age range from 16-30. With 250 stores and selling many different types of clothing like jeans, skirts, knit wear, jacket etc†¦ or even accessories such as jewelry or shoes. To â€Å"Get the most out of it† the company also provides online shopping so that it is more convenient for their customers. The design team represents the culture thats around them and thats the culture our customers understand, says Richard Bradbury, River Islands managing director. This year, the brand have reported mega profits, as mentioning this, River Island will have to thank their young team of designers, buyers and in-house stylists. The company‘s general theme for clothes line is usually smart looking, quite often the customer will see that there is a combination between smart-casual. Additional glitter, sequins, diamonds and jewels appear on all types of clothes to add a bit of bling and to meet with the young fashion trend. Moreover, these decorations also appear on purses or handbags so that they are all are matching. One of the company philosophies is focusing on finding new talent and bringing them up to contribute to the new high street trend, collection after collection is required to meet with demand of customers who searching for the new look everyday. In order to do that, every two weeks, Style Challenge is launched by one of our insiders. The themes will be different each time to make sure theres something for everyone. Youthful could consider being the inspiration for each design, but still could suit any age range as long as they are the person who is seeking a celebrity or catwalk style at a cheaper price. River Island always concentrated on the style and the quality. The company clothes are so trendy, chic, young, affordable and of a very high quality. Not only the clothes, but also the stores provide an exciting and fun environment to shop within. The average price of each garment is affordable: Ethical issue RiverIslandis committed to providing a fair deal between the company and their employees. The company has understood that to make an excellent business, it has to build strong relationship with its suppliers, consumers and employees. Corporate Social Responsibility has always been the companys strategy. Ethical Supply Chain At River Island, it works enthusiastically with its suppliers and official agencies around the world to provide a standard health and safety regulation to its employees. The company always ensures that their suppliers sign a contract which commit to World Wide Ethical standards and those who violate them will be prosecuted. To support this policy, the company have ordered the buying and technical teams to visit their factories throughout the year and actively engage in looking out for mistakes, hence, improve it. Today, River Island products are made across the world such as in the European Union, Turkey or India. Although there are many ethical and trading issues happening within fashion industry, River Island believes that through gradual changes, it will manage to solve the problem. According to source, â€Å"In June 2008 RiverIsland became a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). Established in 1998 the ETI is a trade union organization and non-governmental organisations committed to working together to identify and promote good practice in the implementation of codes of labour practice.† River Island committed to the adoption and integration of the ETI Base Code into our World Wide Ethical Policy through its supply chain. River Island believes that to be one a ETI member, the company will be able to gain more experience to tackle the related issues within the industry. Environment: Nowadays, being green is one of the main focuss of each individual company. In order to protect the environment, River Island is strictly committed to a number of main key points targeted such as : reducing problems the environment is having, this includes dropping levels of energy consumption (including the use of renewable energy sources) reducing the level of product packaging, increasing the levels of recycling and increasing the use of biodegradable materials. The retail environment of River Island is very edgy, lively and vivid. The staff are committed to provide the customer a high quality service. River Island also believes that making the customer feel happy is its first priority, as customer service is converted into sales in retail. Promotion In recent years, River Island has gained many important titles from its competitor. Top shop has been at the top for years but slowly losing its â€Å"style crown† losing its best shop on the high street title of three years to rival River Island. River Island also won in the best bags and best place to spend GBP50 categories in the Company Magazine. The winners were chosen by more than 6000 people trough the voting system on the â€Å"company.co.uk† website. River Island advertises itself in magazines for having garments, accessories or products that are copied from celebrities or the catwalk. In order to advertise and campaign, River Island has joined forces with Look in autumn 2007 the UKs first glossy high street fashion weekly magazine- to celebrate and introduce its autumn collection .The collection has been styled and photographed by the Look fashion team. More interestingly, River Islands store windows nationwide have also been specially designed by Look to make a connection between the company and the magazine to promote different aspects of the collection. Look publishing director Julie Lavington comments: We are extremely excited to be working with River Island on such a major project. The collaboration exemplifies our brand credentials, and its great that River Island are harnessing the power of Looks reputation as the authority on high street fashion. After all, were driving hundreds of thousands of women in-store every week !† .In order to expand its market sale, River Island has also launched an online marketing with NME.com (a music brand ). In addition, River Island have celebrities such as Pixie Lot and JLS to model its garments which brings fans to shop in River Island. Together with the advertising campaigns, River Island also sponsors Graduate Fashion Week which brings advertising all over the world, for designers and students who would love to start a career in the fashion industry. Fashion Weeks with new designs and colours, serve additionally to promote new concepts. These Fashion Weeks not only display an array of new products, but also serve to communicate with the audience visually. Dresses and accessories worn by models doing catwalks, are more lively and enthralling than the mere display on mannequins. Normally with a range of Fall, Spring, Summer and Winter collection, Fashion Weeks boost market demand and promote its associated businesses as well. In addition, presence in graduate fashion week is the opportunity for their company to have a review from other people who have visited the show. It gives peopl e an idea to what River Island has to offer as a fashion retail store and how they are incorporating designs from students into their clothing range. River Island was one of the retailers which has joined in High street fashion week to show its line up. The event was taking place on Londons Oxford Street from September 7 to September 11. This is a great opportunity to promote the company image. River Island satisfies its customers with trend, quality, design and durability. That is one reason that River Island is, day by day, getting support and demands by its customers. It provides a range of comfortable draper footwear to soothe aching feet of all day long. River Island won the Draper Footwear Award in 2008 while another proof of its excellence emerged when this brand bagged ‘LK Today Fashion High Street Fashion Award for Best Denim. Fashion is not only a phenomenon for luxurious life, but this concept deals with humanity as well. That is why, modern fashion companies are aware for the fact of supporting special people of society with special needs. River Island is responsive towards special people and that is why it supports BDF (Birth Defect Foundation), now known as New Life Foundation Other than the BDF, River Island also helps Heart and Design; an association that combines creativity of fashion communities with heart and lungs treatment. Fashion is not only for healthy people, but it also helps to make ailing people healthy, it supports them in fighting for health. River Island is a well know high street brand that has over 50 years experience on fashion retail, it provides a big range of stylish clothes but most importantly its price are affordable and its products are good quality. The company satisfies its customers with trend, quality, design, global, human, culture and society friendly. At one end it emphasises collective psychology and trends of a society, and at the other end, it deals with the individual needs of customer care. Healthy trends, balanced life, and busy lifestyle are, what the modern fashion companies have to consider deeply. It is no more a matter of looking good and attractive, true fashion and accessories join comfort and trend together.

Creationism - The Theory of Evolution is not Logical Essay -- Biblical

Creationism - The Theory of Evolution is not Logical Genesis 1:1â€Å"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.† This quote, taken from the Hebrew Bible describes the belief that religious Jews and Christians follow. These two religions think that man, the earth, and the rest of the universe were originally created instead of the theory of evolution. This view on the origin of the earth is unique, because it was the first religion to practice monotheism (belief in one God), and that God alone created the universe. Contrary to African and Hindu theories, Jews and Christians believe that the world was created by one higher power. As explained in the Bible, God worked for six days. During these six days God created the entire universe. On day one, the planet Earth was formed ...

The Evolution of the American Dream Essay -- Essays on the American Dr

Comparing the perspective of the American dream in the 1920’s to the American Dream in the 1940’s and present day seems to be a repeating cycle. The American dream is always evolving and changing. The American dream for present day is similar to the dream of the 1920’s. An Ideal of the American life is to conform to what our society has determined is success. Money, materialism and status had replaced the teachings of our founding fathers in the 1920’s. A return to family values and hard work found its way back into American’s lives in the 1940’s. The same pursuit of that indulgent lifestyle that was popular in the roaring twenty’s has returned today for most Americans, many Americans are living on credit and thinking that money and the accumulation of material items can solve all problems. Through film, literature, art and music, an idealized version of what it means to be an American has changed from money, materia lism, and status of the 1920s to hard work and family values of the forties. â€Å"Money is the root of all evil†(Levit). Man and his love of money has destroyed lives since the beginning of time. Men have fought in wars over money, given up family relationships for money and done things they would have never thought that they would be capable of doing because of money. In the movie, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the author demonstrates how the love and worship of money and all of the trappings that come with it can destroy lives. In the novel Jay Gatsby has lavish parties, wears expensive gaudy clothes, drives fancy cars and tries to show his former love how important and wealthy he has become. He believes a lie, that by achieving the status that most Americans, in th... ...the 1920’s hopefully in the next decade we will repeat the American dream of the 1940’s. Works Cited "Ain’t We Got Fun - Lyrics - International Lyrics Playground." International Lyrics Playground - Songs From Europe, North America and Around The World. Foreign Language Lyrics, Christmas and Holiday Lyrics! Web. 20 May 2010. . Applebee, Arthur N. The Language of Literature. Evanston, Ill.: McDougal Littell, 2006. Print. "New International Version." Bible Gateway. Web. 19 May 2010. Rockwall, Norman. Freedom From Want. About.com. Web. 19 May 2010. . The Great Gatsby. Dir. Jack Clayton. Perf. Robert Redford, Mia Farrow. Paramount Pictures, 1974. DVD.

Module 4 Website Review

The website enTarga.com is a website offering consultancy services for the strategic planning for the business of the future. This website is owned by ROSS A. WIRTH who is acclaimed professional and academician. This website offers consultancy services for the change management within any organization of any size. It works â€Å"to support the development of internal expertise to develop a culture that is conducive to organizational learning and change processes. (enTarga.com)† Website Review: This website is excellent in its content and very simple to use and maintain. The home page has clearly defined sections under name Organisational Change, Strategic Planning, HR Planning, Marketing Planning and organisational complexity. The mission of the website as appeared on the home page is as follows: â€Å"Helping organizations establish change processes that align with their unique culture and business needs – enabling the adaptive business of the future.   Harnessing the power of organizational learning and self-leadership for emergent organizational change with strategic visioning providing the collective purpose.   Turning theory into practice; working today to build the organization of the future.   This is our mission.† It offers white papers and other source materials for the users. These materials are well organized and written. The website offers interactivity through Yahoo Groups. There are different Yahoo Groups made for different topics and people can interact, discuss and solve there issues. These groups are active and involvement of Ross Writ makes it interesting and interactive. These groups have no national, academic or industrial boundaries. Anyone who is interested in the relevant topic can register himself and become member of the group. The process is simple and has better chances of attracting people of like minds. As defined on the website enTarga has its unique meaning. It is as follows: En- to make; cause to be made to resemble. Targa- A type of shield carried on the forearm for protection, related to target â€Å"Look and feel† and apparent target audience The look and feel of the website is very simple, rather below average, but the content of website makes it much better than any other website with excellent look and no content. However if more efforts are done towards improving the look of website, it will attract more audience. Search Engine optimization and similar strategies will also help in increasing popularity of the website. So far it seems to be attracting people on the word of mouth basis. This website provides me loads of information without any requirement of being member or paying anything. Apart from this the permission to use the material published on the website and acknowledging the author (Ross Writ) is another attractive feature. The site does not have any commercial feel in it; rather it looks as a pure academic website. On the Organisational Change page ChangeAgent yahoo group is available for the viewers to participate in the relevant discussions. This webpage introduces the viewer to the organisational change process. It provides information on the change agents, resistance to change, points of leverage and organisation culture with respect to change. It also offers another link to the resources of organisational change. The resources available are of free of cost. Strategic Planning webpage provides information on the Strategic planning process in any organisation. It gives information on benefits, pitfalls, implementation problems and key influencing factors as separate web links. It provides information on the Steps in the strategic planning process, business performance management and offers other planning resources on the website as different links. The yahoo group for this section is OrgComplexity. The third web link is HR Planning. Here viewer gets information on Human resource issues, employee engagement, and strategic readiness of the organisation, Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and resources for human resource planning. This also has a yahoo group named ChangeAgent as its discussion list. Marketing Planning provides information on customer analysis, marketing strategy questions, planning resources on the internet, associated marketing topics like Integrated marketing communications, relationship marketing, brand marketing topics on the internet, creating a brand strategy and development guidelines for internet marketing. The yahoo discussion group for the website is ChangeAgent. Organisational Complexity provides information on organisational complexity and related issues. The yahoo discussion group for the same is OrgComplexity. Apart from the above mentioned main categories of strategy information, it also has Knowledge Management & Organizational Learning as a separate webpage that provides information on knowledge management, barriers, Requirements for spreading a best practice across the organization, organisational learning and other resources. The yahoo groups are active and have different members fro across the world. The groups initiate different topics for discussions. Anytime any member joins a new group receives a welcome.doc which contains welcome message and the current topic of discussion and requests the new member to introduce himself to the group. Once the member posts his message the message is moderated in the prohibition period. This is done in order to control spamming and spammers. Once the new member proves his authenticity, he participates in the group discussion and information sharing without any restrictions. Conclusion It will not be appropriate to criticise this website with such comprehensive and well written content for the looks and feel. But it will be an excellent website if some efforts are done to improve its look. Being a management professional I find it really useful for my continuous education and improvement and helpful in getting support in the form of suggestions in the yahoo groups. For me the attractiveness of this website is the active yahoo groups. Any new article published on the website will be notified in the yahoo groups. This will keep the members informed. If interested, members can visit the website for reading the article free of cost. This makes the website interactive and keeps the users engage in the activities. There are various issues on the day to day problems of business world. Many a time individuals do not get any kind of platform or experienced people to guide them. The information available on the website deals with various issues that can help individuals to handle particular situations and take appropriate actions. This attractiveness is unique selling proposition for the website and this will attract me to go back to the website again and again. Reference: Lisa Hoecklin. (1995).Managing Cultural Differences: Strategies for Competitive Advantage. Wokingham:Addison-Wesley Publisher Ltd. Levitt, T. (1983), The Marketing imagination, New York, The Free Press Mà ¶ller, K. and Wilson, D. (1995), Business Marketing: An Interaction and Network Perspective. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell.   

NonProfit Management Case Study Essay

Introduction The civil society has taken a very active role in the quest for democracy that continues to spread across the continents till it reached the Middle East region only recently. This is clear given the successive revolts that have taken place in many of the Arab countries calling for real democracy. Therefore, especially in Egypt, efforts should be directed toward defending civil society organizations and activists who are being threatened by the coercive authoritarian government actions over the past decades (Naidoo, 2007). The civil society as identified by Khallaf (2010) comprises â€Å"non-governmental organizations (NGOs hereafter), community groups, professional associations, trade unions, media organizations, research institutes/ think tanks, and advocacy and human rights civil society organizations† (p. 2). However, the current paper aims at focusing mainly on the role of NGOs in strengthening democracy. This is due to the major role NGOs play in several areas in order to enhance democracy. Among these are their role in: (1) allowing a wider range of interest groups to have a ‘voice’, pluralizing institutions to act in a ‘watchdog’ role vis-a-vis the state, networking and creating alliances of civic actors to place pressure on the state, (2) working with grassroots organizations comprised of poor and marginalized groups, and (3) exerting some pressures on the state by pressing for change and developing alternative policies (Mercer, 2002). Previous Studies of civil society in Egypt, over the past twenty years, have been both superficial and confined to only limited areas, namely (issue based publications, academic publications, training materials/ manuals, directories, conference publications, empirical comparative studies, civil society organizations’ (CSOs) publications, donor guide books and publications, CSOs coalitions occasional papers, evaluation studies, and web based sources) (Khallaf, 2010). (Figure: 1). Figure : The diversity of civil society research in Egypt Therefore, more detailed studies should be directed toward deeply investigating the civil society organizations operating in Egypt. Khallaf (2010) has mentioned that more research has been directed recently to track the actual magnitude of civil society through donor efforts in Egypt. However, the literature has pointed to serious gaps in the study of NGOs in Egypt. These include; First: Updated statistical information on number of NGOs. Second: The systematic evaluation of NGOs activities. Third: periodic assessments such as the CIVICUS or Civil Society Index and the Philanthropy study. Forth: studying participatory governance and the involvement of civil society in decision making processes. Fifth: changing Laws and regulations governing NGOs in Egypt. Sixth: An impact assessment of all new NGOs working in charity or development. Seventh: an assessment of aid effectiveness to Egypt (Khallaf, 2010). Finally: a detailed diagnosis of the NGOs operating in Egypt is needed. This should focus on both internal and external analyses of the selected NGOs and provide policy recommendations for possible improvements in the sector. The current paper attempts to draw light on how the civil society operates in Egypt. A well recognized Egyptian NGO was selected in this ethnographic research. It is called the Future Protectors Association for Care and Development or â€Å"Homat Al-Mostakbal†. The reason behind selecting it is the higher credibility and the good reputation it is enjoying. This is quite well perceived by the researcher based on her personal experience with this association. The current research can add valuable insights both theoretically and practically. Theoretically, it attempts to cover few of the gaps mentioned about the civil society research in developing countries and Egypt in particular. Practically, proposed recommendations can serve as strategic agendas for improving the performance of the selected NGO in particular and the entire NGO sector in general. The current paper is organized as follows; the first section will provide detailed information about association’s background. This will be followed by the analysis section which would sum up the major facts collected about the association. The analysis is based on qualitative in-depth interviewing1 conducted with five key persons in the association including its founder. Finally, conclusions and recommendations are presented, to guide future research directions, at the conclusion part here later. Background Future protectors association for care and development (homat al mostakbal) is one of the well known non-governmental organizations in Egypt. It is located at 425 Avenue Road, Roushdy, Alexandria, Egypt. It is a group of young people who work in the field of developmental work and volunteerism in for a better future and a true renaissance to Egypt. It serves in the great Cairo area and some other governorates including; Alexandria, Dakahleya, Gharbeya, Menoufeya, and others. It was originally founded on the 2nd of Novermber, 2004 by Eng. El-Dreiny and his daughter engineer Marwa El-Dreiny. It was mainly founded seeking community development. The vision of the association is to be one of the largest civil society organizations working in the field and leading the areas of development, community care, and voluntary work in Egypt and the Arab world by year 2020. The mission of the association is the development and care of the community through several dimensions including; raising the general level of education and the development of production philosophy, increasing awareness of drug taking problems, providing health awareness, raising the cultural level of young people, and providing a variety of social services. These are to be achieved while taking into account the mastery of work and commitment to the principles of ethics and team work cooperation. The primary objectives to fulfill the pre-mentioned vision and mission include the following; Providing guidance and better utilizing the power of potential volunteers in various activities of the association and developing their skills while strengthening their moral values. Increasing the awareness of community members about the dangers of drugs and training of cadres for different age groups. In addition to providing technical support to partners and trainers in the field of awareness against the dangers of addiction and drug. Training community members by spreading the production thinking and helping youth and poor families in establishing small craft projects to supply industries with high quality products at competitive prices. Providing social services (in kind – physical – technical) and the work projects for poor families, orphans, deaf and dumb cases. Developing different segments of the society, especially children and young people both culturally and scientifically. This would entitle them to acquire new skills, open their horizons to different lives, and raise the level of education among the educated classes with aim of bringing progress and prosperity to the society in large. The major values of the association comprise the following; Intentions precede action Our basic principles are our main priority. Understanding the priorities and giving a high commitment to them. Mastering our work. Best employing our resources. Our clients are our core interest. Team work spirit. Commitment to a safe environment. The association is registered under the old NGO law. This entitles the association to be under the scrutiny and supervision of the Directorate of Social Affairs. Here is the copy of the registration certificate. Figure : Formal Registration Certificate The association tries as much to manage its institutional memory. This can be manifested in the form of reports including information about what happened in the past. Other reports are prepared for each activity and collected annually to be archived and documented for each committee. Also, there are few attempts to record religious seminars and cultural meetings either video or audio. Sometimes the association registers the campaigns to serve the new members by providing them with information about the work flavor. These tentative mechanisms are aimed at saving association heritage of knowledge and transfer it to the future generations who would complete the mission. The organization chart of the association was revised recently. There are intentions to modify it also however some limitations hinder this at the current period. The chart is decomposed into the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors, the Executive Director, the Chairmen of the various Committees – the Vice Chairmen of the various Committees -who are appointed by the administration according to experience and seniority- the executive management including Secretary, the financial management. There were areas for development and the last updated organization chart was reproduced recently in 2011. The association was built on the basis of predominantly volunteerism however; there are 17 formal employees who are getting paid monthly. There are mainly three managers; executive, financial, and legal affairs. Staff members do not perform overlapping roles, instead there is a clearly specified job description for each single role. This would allow the upper management to apply a strict accountability procedures based on assigned responsibilities. The association is able to deal smoothly with the threat of losing any/all staff member(s). Sometimes, the operations of a highly specialized department, which loses a key staff member, can be postponed until the appointment of a new person. However, in the key roles like secretarial work, work cannot be stopped and duties can be referred to any interested volunteer. The collectivity and shared team working spirit that characterize the association enable it to face sudden problems of this sort. The association is having a board of directors. It is composed of 9 members, 1/3 of them are dropped during each nomination period. The nomination is made for 6 upcoming years. It is preferred to nominate persons with strong public relations to offer some facilities and those who have the expertise and strong knowledge about association’s policies. The association is membership based. There are different types of members including volunteers, affiliated, and working member. The membership status is documented only for continuing members who are then entitled to receive a formal membership card. Members pay a symbolic annual fee of about 20 pounds which represents one of the financial resources received by the association. The following chart represents the progress that has occurred in association’s membership from 2004 to 2008. In 2010, the number of volunteers has reached 4000. Figure : The number of volunteers The following chart represents the geographic allocation of volunteers across the different governorates. Figure : The geographic allocation of volunteers The social and economic background of the members is diverse. Majority of members are classified to be from the middle to upper middle social class. They are almost well educated having a clear intent toward the importance of charity and development societal roles in their country. They have strong religious understandings which enable them to volunteer their efforts for the sake of making others happy while earning credits (thawab) and pleasing the only god (ALLAH). The association has completed a huge number of successful projects2 and some of which are seasonal. The seasonal projects include distributing El Kheir bags and Ramadan lamps. It is planning to undertake some continuous projects not to be owned by the association but by encouraging the youth to execute them and the association can be a partner by 10%. Attached here below in the appendices is a list of the projects and activities the association is involved in. The primary beneficiaries of the association are; Volunteers, university students, school children, widowed women, poor families, knowledge seekers, patients, orphans, and the elderly at large. The association is not specifying a certain population to focus on serving. Activities are therefore not based on the coverage of a particular area, but they are tailored to achieve certain goals across the various geographic segments. 3 The association has unique policy for recruiting both members and staff. For the former, recruitment is based on the real intention to perform volunteer work. For the latter, recruitment is based on the exact mission to be completed within the functional department the potential candidate will join. The association views the current recruitment policy to be an effective one. Therefore, there are no plans to change its policy during the current period. The ratio of association’s founders to its members is roughly estimated to be 10%. Taking into considerations that the number of registered volunteers is roughly 4000, only 100-200 of them are active ones. The association depends on a self financing scheme. Majority of funds come from membership fees, donations (in cash or in kind), and revenues from profit-based committees. There is one company which operates in the field of quality and 75% of its income is transferred to the association. There are some funding projects such as the share the good, CSR, and Ijada company. Only 10% of the directed donations are taken to cover a proportion of administrative expenses but the money of Zakat is kept untouched. The association collects money from Egyptians. The money comes in forms of Zakat, sadakat, and in cash or in kind donations. It utilizes no foreign funding alternatives except for the single initiative with the United Nations. This partnership agreement was made under pressures from Dubai police and entitled the association to receive a fund of $ 10. 000 in order to execute some projects. The association has neither an initial endowment nor an emergency fund. It depended mainly on donations during the initial construction phase. There is a bank account for the association where the money collected from the various sources is being deposited to or withdrew from when necessary. The association does not always profit from most of its projects because they have low profit margins. Some seasonal projects might generate profit like the partnership with Toshiba Company to distribute Ramadan lamps. Donations are considered as part of the revenues. The association uses money coming from donations, sadakat, and the yield of some revenue-based activities. The general overhead costs of the association are estimated roughly to be from 30-40% of the budget. The ways to manage costs to the least possible level include, inducing members to rationalize consumption rates, closely monitoring monthly expenses, rationalizing staff recruitment process, and covering the costs of high telephone bills, hospitality and administrative outlays through collecting in kind donations. The association does not recognize any kind of support offered by the Egyptian government. The old government has provided only some facilities to make agreements with some concerned authorities such as ministries. This was mostly perceived prior to the revolution. However, the picture of the new potential government is still vague and there is no assurance that the new government would adopt a pro-civil society philosophy or not. There are tentative expectations about possible cooperation from the ministry of environment in the future. Analysis Based on the results of the in-depth personal interviews conducted with key persons in the association two types of analysis were made. The following section starts by presenting the first type of analysis which is the SWOT. This will be followed by the PEST analysis. 1. SWOT analysis The association enjoys a number of strength points. These strengths include, but not limited to, the following; a. Strong team spirit is a huge asset, good and efficient management system, good public relations, raising the skills of volunteers through gained experience, and very good reputation perceived by partners and the community at large. b. The presence of strong networks both locally and internationally. Locally with government institutions such as the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education, the Adult Education in Alexandria, the Ministry of Housing, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Environment (protocol of cooperation),partnership training with the engineering industries sector TV ITV’s affiliated to the Ministry of Industry, Alexandria Biblotecha library (Department of Public Relations and Information), Morkoseya Church, the Food Bank, and the Egyptian (permanent agreement). Internationally, networks with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Organized Crime in the United Nations, the Dubai Police (working as technical/training consultants to raise awareness of the damages of drug addiction. c. Good coordination with other local and international organizations. Examples include organizing joint training programs with renaissance makers club in Kuwait, the Ministry of Awqaf in Kuwait, the American University of Kuwait, Gulf University, CID in Kuwait and the Ministry of Defense, Union of Arab Doctors (donations to Libya), the office of Dr. Muhammad Salim Al-Awa, Toshiba Arab company and Ocean Express Company and Isam Abu-setta for heavy transport, New Horizons and Xeon, Arab Academy for Science and Technology, University of Pharos, Alexandria University, Cairo University, Helwan University, Ain Shams University, Menoufiya University, Western University , Mansoura University, Assuit University. Alshanek ya Balady Association, Alexandria west investors association, and set your goal association, the future hands Hospital. In addition to cultural partnership cooperation with the Egyptian-Turkish Friendship Association. d. The presence of a strong infrastructure in the main headquarters in Alexandria. It is located in a prestigious location, well furnished, and highly accessible. However it is not a private property and thus imposes the burden of paying high monthly rent. This location is equipped by personal computers, laptops, wireless network, and they have electronic marketing forces empowered by strong specialists in the field. e. The presence of an independent financial management and independent social affairs and legal affairs units whose staff are paid. The recycling project, the specialized teams used in field case studies, the illiteracy teachers, and volunteers. f. The lack of specific religious or political directions and the presence of strong relationships with respectable figures in Alexandria. The inclusion of small associations in the many events organized by the association. Dependence on respectable personalities in providing certain services. g. Partnering with the association provides the partner several privileges and huge returns. A list of those privileges and returns to partners and individuals can be found later in the appendices. The obvious weakness points observed in this association include the following; a. Funding problems (almost self-financing by 99% from members) and the presence of many projects in second row but (senior management has recently begun to train the middle class members to complete these projects and continue the transfer of expertise to their followers). b. There are no integration links between the projects. c. Some personal conflict problems might arise sporadically among members. d. Administrative problems, and lack of strictness and formalization procedures due to a conflict between the role of leader and manager, but they overcome this problem by appointing an executive director. e. Inadequate promotion for the association in the media compared to other competitors. The reasons are mainly to reduce expenses and due to the imposed security restrictions. f. The absence of headquarters in some governorates like Dakahleya and Gharbeya which constitutes a big problem because the teams there are highly specialized and they need the proper setting to grow on it. g. The lack of specialization between the work forces in undertaking the projects. h. Some communication problems were present however, the Human Resources Director has solved them. i. Lack of volunteers and problems with their continuity/tenure. In some cases the volunteer has a desire to see the immediate result of his voluntary work which makes them less patient to continue. Most of the projects carried out by the association have longer term impacts and feasibility. j. Shortage in financial resources and operational tools. The major opportunities, brought from the external environment, facing the association for the time being include the following; a. Activating some agreements with the Union of Arab doctors, the Ministry of Environment, various associations, political awareness teams, in addition to different charitable and awareness-raising teams seeking support from the association in terms of logistics and training. b. A strong deactivated relationship with Al-Jazeera training center which is currently under study. c. The existence of many public figures, associations, and young modest advocates who have neither political nor religious direction. The association can take advantage of their cooperation efforts. d. A number of donors from America, Canada and Morocco who have appeared after the revolution as service volunteers like doctors. e. Localities and the Council of the People elections. This can be achieved by nominating independent members. Any successful nominated member can offer some facilities and services to the association. Also, this will give the chance for the association to be presented as one of the active civil society organizations participating in crafting the new constitution. f. Offering many partnerships to join the association with large well known institutions such as New Horizons, the Arab Academy for Science and Technology, and other new companies through exhibitions. Their offered contributions come mainly in the form of donations. g. The existence of promising facilities to complete some strategic projects through governmental entities. h. Reducing some of the strict scrutiny procedures imposed previously by the old government and the security apparatus. i. The expansion and proliferation in the environment of charity work, the launch of various public events and the intense presence of the civil society activities. j. The potential for participation with other unknown may be small, associations to perform some other projects outside the scope of work of the association. This represents the potential for diversification and expansion of work coverage. k. People’s Openness and their new reconciliation with the community with the desire to join the civil society institutions to provide charity services. l. The presence of various finance institutions through which the association can expand its operations scale after getting approvals from concerned authorities. m. The neutrality of the association both politically and religiously is a major strength. It is manifested in attracting bodies of various ideologies either as beneficiaries or participants. These include for example, Morosely Church or El-Azhar in my life project. The major threats or challenges, brought from the external environment, facing the association include the following; a. The societal openness can produce many competitors; some of them are supported by huge funding schemes and are biased toward the fulfillment of certain political religious agendas. b. Security threats to volunteers and the possibility of exposure to risk in places where they provide services. The possibility of being abused by law breakers due to the lack of security in the Egyptian streets mainly after the recent events. c. Exploiting association’s activities for the beneficial interests of others. This is totally rejected. This might impose the threat of diluting the association’s public image. Examples include candidates’ coverage for elections or political support using association’s name and good reputation. d. The presence of some competitors with high media coverage, such as resala. e. The culture of voluntary work is still somehow tentative. The lack of awareness of others about the culture of volunteerism and societal responsibility. f. The necessity to invest in volunteers to improve their skills and derive maximum value out of their participation. g. The unstable economic situation of the Egyptian State. h. The role of the Ministry of Social Solidarity has been hindering the progress of the work of the civil society for long years ago. i. The emergence of the Muslim brotherhood and the ancestors (salaf) as major competitors. j. Lack of human rights and political awareness and the prevailing unjustified freedom leading to chaotic results. k. The culture of the conspiracy against Egypt and the presence of some many unnatural Egyptian T. V talk show moderators. l. The owners of certain rented headquarters are drug dealers. This represents a major threat calling for immediate actions in moving those headquarters. 2. The PEST analysis a. Political Factors The political environment in which the association operates appears to be unstable. This status has recently turned to be much intense following the revolution due to the emergence of new political groupings. There are some promising expectations that the new democratically elected government will set new policies that are pro the civil society. The new policies are expected to contain modified laws that regulate taxation and provide more support and facilities to NGOs’ operations. The old government economic policies seemed to be incredibly inefficient resulting into a deteriorated national economic performance. This government had also no hand on regulating the marketing ethics of operating NGOs. Its major concern was on prohibiting religiously oriented activities and banning NGOs participation in the political life. b. Economic Factors The slowdown in Egyptian national economy has impacted the role of the association. This was reflected into low interest rates on savings and high interest charges on borrowings. The inflation rate continued to grow reducing the purchasing value of the Egyptian pound. The long-term prospects for the economy Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and other economic indicators will depend on the policies and procedures adopted by the new elected government. c. Socio-cultural Factors The dominant religion in Egypt is Islam. The association is not discriminating against either religion or gender. The partnership with morkoseya church is an evidence to support this claim. The role of women continues to grow largely and rapidly in the Egyptian society. They are becoming well educated, highly paid, and having a self commitment toward volunteer work. The majority of people the association is targeting its services are illiterate. The general population lacks a solid awareness regarding green environmental issues. This is a very important role of the association in advocating for a green environment and promoting green activities. These include reducing consumption and disposal rates, saving energy, recycling disposed items†¦etc. d. Technological Factors Technological innovations make life easier for all. The association utilizes as many of the technological facilities like wireless connections, fax, and international calls to carry out daily activities. The emphasis should be directed toward strengthening association’s technological infrastructure to be able to do business through online communication channels. There are strong promises regarding what the future can bring to the civil society in general and to the association in particular. This is manifested in several key points. First: the majority of people are becoming motivated to volunteer work. Second: the increased public awareness of the importance of civic and collective actions in contrast to confining the role of the individual to achieve purely personal goals. Third: the strong promises and positive perception maintained by the majority of the poor toward the role of the civil society due to government failure to satisfy their needs. Forth: the diversity in working areas removes many of the restrictions imposed on the civilian work. Fifth: the potential for cooperation from the new elected democratic government. Sixth: the potential for receiving huge inflows of international donors’ funds. Finally, the presence of many initiatives aimed at community and society renaissance that could be built upon. Conclusion and Recommendations Based on the previous systematic analyses, the following conclusions are reached. The selected association is one of an above medium size. It has several branches covering a range of governorates in Egypt. In addition to that it has multiple international partnership agreements abroad with some countries like Kuwait and Dubai. It is innovative due to the creativity exercised by its members in proposing and launching new project initiatives given the limited financial and physical resources available to them. The diversity of its projects adds to its effectiveness by solving problems in multiple critical areas. Administratively, the association can be run more efficiently than its current status. The overhead costs can be controlled so that not to exceed 10% of the annual budget. This can be achieved through cutting back on hospitality, renting, and utilities expenses or finding a sponsor company to offer them for free. The remainder of the budget should be entirely devoted to implementing key projects and programs. Once those two objectives are met – keeping O. H costs to the minimum and maximizing the pool of resources available to projects – the association can enhance its reliability and credibility as perceived by the various stakeholder groups. It has to overcome one of its critical weaknesses which is the deficient public media coverage. Adopting innovative promotional campaigns, through media, flyers, and positive word of mouth, can bring in extra revenues, many volunteers individuals or corporations, government support, and a favorable public image. It has to integrate advanced sophisticated techniques to save institutional memory for the next generations. Applying digital archiving, video and audio recordings of important projects, seminars, and events, keeping records of association’s best practices are all effective methods to save memory beside the conventional paper-based archiving mechanism. Web presence is very critical to the association. It is not well developed because the current website is down and the main gate to potential members is through the social media like the face book. Thus, developing a full featured website can provide good communication channels for the association both locally and internationally. The association has to allow potential members to register online. The composition of the board of directors needs some adjustments. A combination of co-founders, highly prestigious figures, wealthy capitalists, experienced technocrats – given the fact that they are all politically and religiously unbiased – will allow the association to leverage each party’s privileges respectively. The reason is that co-founders are well informed about the association, its mission, vision, goals and have an intuitive inner commitment to achieve them. The highly prestigious, well known, famous, and rich members – who represent the status symbol – can bring in extra money through their special donations and strong contacts with bureaucrats. The wealthy capitalists can have a win-win situation. On the one hand, they can enjoy public credibility and commitment toward social responsibility and on the other hand they will cash in the association to derive this legitimacy. Experienced technocrats can propose better structural reforms, manage operational complexities, and implement strategies to improve performance by capitalizing on strengths and overcoming weaknesses. The association is membership-based and it serves multiple interests. It channels members’ annual fees to implement projects serving members of the poor communities. It also develops the skills and competencies of its members in return for their volunteer time, money, and efforts. The non-profit nature of the association should not hinder its attempts to implement profit-based projects. These projects are important to cover the high overhead cost, keep an emergency fund â€Å" to hedge against bad economic conditions,† invest surplus in revenue earning initiatives, finance new developmental projects, and finally keep work flow smoothly while enjoying the tax exemption privilege. Providing full fledged free support should be only restricted to severe cases. These include very poor, eldery, disable, and young sick children in highly marginalized areas. Otherwise, providing services should have something in return. For example, providing microfinance for poor families can be balanced against donating a certain percentage of periodical revenues to fund other projects. One more thing that should be emphasized specially after the revolution of January 25th is augmenting international funding options. The association has to devise an effective strategy to share a large portion of international donor money coming into Egypt to support democracy. Only with a clear schedule of valuable projects, the association can guarantee international donors’ support without facing the threat of policy conditionality i. e. , imposing a certain development agenda on fund recipient as a condition to be granted the money. This can secure association’s activities financially, allow it to cover O. H costs, implement expansion plans, and better serve society’s compelling needs. General recommendations to improve the civil society in Egypt; 1. The presence of a regulatory environment for transparency rather than for control. 2. Ensuring enough flexibility in law application and enforcement i. e. , the law versus the implementation issue. 3. Promoting an openness commitment to partnership between government and public institutions and the civil society. 4. Supporting a bottom-up approach to development from donors’ side. 5. Supporting the creation of institutions rather than only short or medium term programs to promote for sustainable development. 6. Mobilizing mechanisms to maximize the real value perceived by the beneficiaries from the donors’ dollars. Page (2011) mentioned that only 10 to 30 percent of this actual grant will go to the real beneficiaries. 7. Supporting the youth-led NGOs so that they can actually participate in leading the winds of change toward democracy in Egypt. P. S. for those interested in accessing the association for donations, or more research work, here are association’s contacts. Address