Importance of English in today’s world Essay

So what is English? It is nothing but a means of communication via reading/writing or speaking something. It has become so popular these days that it has left behind its counterparts like French and Chinese very much behind. It might not be the most spoken â€Å"native language† in the world, but it is the most spoken second language in the entire world. it acts as a lingua franca or what we call a language bridge across nations. People from two different communities, countries, religion or category which might not share the same language always have access to English to converse their views, thoughts, ideas and can come over the burden of different languages. So why speak English? Well†¦ its a self answered question. If you don’t speak English in today’s competitive world you’ll be left behind in the jobs’ sector and in almost every other scenario of life. You won’t be able to put forth your thoughts anywhere which’ll result in you losing your job as well as your life. Yes English is the link to survival these days. Even if you want to converse with anyone in any part of the world, English is the answer. If you can’t talk, read, write or type in English how’d you be able to put forth your ideas in front of the other person sitting next to you or in other part of world. How’d you be able to build your confidence without conversing your ideas properly. Read more: Essay on importance of English So now I’ve learnt Engliash, what should I do now? Gain vocabulary and practice to make your English fluent. The more you practice, the better it’ll get. As it is already said, â€Å"Hard Work has no substitutes, no shortcuts and no giveups!† For starters stand in front of a mirror and converse something to yourself as if you’re giving a speech on a stage in front of an audience. You’ll be able to invigilate yourself where you stand and what else needs to be done to make it even better. If you want to do something in life, stop reading these kind of articles, get outside and have some fresh air and start writing your own views just like this one. Then only you can be a successful person in life. If you continuously depend on others points how would you able to define yours personality? How would you ever be a successful person in life? Whats my point of writing all these things? I not only want to share my views on such an important topic but I want the readers to be encouraged after reading this. I’d be glad if i can strike anyone’s mind even for a briefest moment. So I’d like to conclude by saying that it is never too late to get up and start doing something new. it’ll make you better only and it’ll help to make friends and get along with life

The Creation of Heavy Metal and Its Effect on Society

â€Å"Heavy Metal music's influence on society is really profound. Most people don't realize this, but Heavy Metal has spawned an entire subculture, with millions worldwide who can call themselves Heavy Metal fans. It is more than just aggressive music; it is an obsession and a way of life for a staggering amount of people† (Dunn 2008). Anthropologist, Sam Dunn documented how Heavy Metal has changed lives and societies across the globe. Heavy Metal music is a way of art, and how humans show what they see in society and translate it through a very artistic and creative way, which is the music itself†(Dunn 2008). â€Å"Human nature would argue for this scenario. Humans are influenced by conditions in their environment and react, whether physically, emotionally, or in this case, creatively† says sociologist of DePaul University (Deena Weinstein). This does not rule out the fact that artistic output created by humans can go back and in turn be an influence on society. By looking at some examples both historic and current, you can observe this process and how it has affected our world. (Weinstein 2005) Metal Music affects the world and Teen society in many diverse ways, whether it be by fashion, politics, religion, lyrical aspirations, and simply bringing people together. John Lennon was one of those people to bring peace by music, he went on a hunger strike for a week to promote piece all around the world with music, and he was not just recognized for doing this but many other inspirational acts with music. Through music, artists, bands and so on, speak of things going on in the society around you. Origin of Heavy Metal In the gritty streets of Birmingham, UK 1970, where Black Sabbath, took music too a more darker and sinister place, there was a man named Tony Iommi, who together with the well known Ozzy Ozbourne, formed a band and started the era of Heavy Metal. The first album they produced was self titled – Black Sabbath. Research shows that the Tri-Tone (Blue scale) is the devils note, which was used in the also self titled track â€Å"Black Sabbath†, claimed by Cannibal Corpse guitarist Alex Webster in â€Å"Metal, A Headbangers Journey (2008) â€Å"This note, in the Middle Ages, was forbidden because if its thought up relationship with the devil, towns folk believed that this â€Å"Tri-Tone† summoned the devil, thus explaining why it was forbidden†(Ezrin 2008). In the middle Ages, sorcerers used this Tri-Tone to summon the beast and cause havoc amongst the villagers who were ignorant and scared of heavy sounds. As Black Sabbath’s music spread through out the U. K, people from all over the world started to react to this new heavier style of music and became influenced, such as Led Zepplin, Deep Purple, Rainbow, and many more bands all over the world became interested and incorporated Heavy Metal to their personas and musical ways. Anthropologist Sam Dunn: Metal, A Headbangers Journey (2008) and also past Heavy Metal band member says that â€Å"There’s an on going battle in heavy metal to be more heavier and evil than the band that came before you, this has kept me into metal all these years† Competition plays a great part in Heavy Metal, which is also a great factor that spread Heavy Metal world wide and turned it into many now known Heavy Metal sub genres per say. As Heavy Metal started to grow in the 70’s, band after band tried to sound heavier than the last band which is how these â€Å"sub genres† of metal, like I stated earlier, came to be. The teens in that era, noticed this, â€Å"competition† and many teens started and incorporated, Heavy Metal to their own bands and were so influenced by this music, that it made teens in this society more hardworking and also up for a challenge. Musical Roots The classical roots of heavy metal were fairly obvious (Ezrin 2008), most of the really good practitioners were fans of dark powerful music, and for example Beethoven was one of them. Beethoven had created great classical music that incorporated heavy bass music and powerful orchestral sound waves, which are great assets to Heavy Metal that traced Classical music to Heavy Metal roots. Heavy Metal has another musical ancestor which is The Blues. (Morton, Blythe, from Lamb of God 2001), stated that the guitar is an African instrument, and the Guitar was used in slave music, and influenced the Blues and Heavy Metal now in today’s music. In the movie: Metal, A Headbangers Journey, The director and producer/ anthropologist Sam Dunn, interviews many Heavy Metal Pioneers such as Toni Iommi, Ozzy Ozborne, Ronnie James Dio, Rob Zombie, and they all claim to say that The Blues and Jazz classical type music were influential in their music. Environment and the Effect Towards Teen Society â€Å"It comes down to growing up in a rundown place, full of poverty, hopelessness, scumbags and assholes, that make your life hell and get you bottled up inside, then that’s when the music comes in and sets you free. † states (Taylor, of Slipknot2005). Music takes a maximum effect in everyone’s lives, Heavy Metal for many, claims that this musical genre sets them free and sets them in a straight forward positive mind set due to the message that some Heavy Metal artists send. James â€Å"Munky† Shaffer bassist for the band â€Å"Korn† says in an interview, that as a teenager, the environment he grew up in was based on drug abuse, violence, problems at home and death. â€Å"I found salvation through Heavy Metal, it influenced me to stay positive, grab an instrument and just jam out and let all the negativity out and let the positive and creative stuff flow in you know? Ha-ha, look at me now, I am in my mid 20’s and part of a great well known band selling out everywhere and loving it, all thanks to Metal! †(Shaffer2008). Rob Zombie, (White Zombie, Movie Director), – Revolver magazine, June 2009 said that â€Å"Metal is a life style, it’s your life style, people listen to what they listen too but in the end, what you listen too defines who you are. † Heavy Metal is like mine and any other metal heads own world. The music tells you to stick to your guns and stay strong and positive, (Dickinson 2008). Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden was one of the worlds most influential Heavy Metal band of the late 70’s- 80’s that helped pioneer this musical genre. Heavy Metal Archive (2001-20011) stated that â€Å"It gives them an alternate universe, it gives them a life of imagination through which they can view music and be influenced by many things the world and their society has to offer them. † Metal does impact children nowadays in this young society, and makes them aware of what’s going on in the world such as, wars, politics, corruption and genocide and inequality. The Message through Different Methods & Styles Politically Impacting the Media/Society Dee Snider of the Heavy Metal band Twisted Sister- was attacked by many parental groups and the (P. M. R. C) also known as the Parents Music Resource Center (1984) about censorship in Heavy Metal bands (Music in general). Sam Dunn, stated in his Documentary; Metal: A Headbangers Journey, that in 1984, Heavy Metal met its first organized attack and many bands were put in â€Å"The Filthy Fifteen†. Twisted Sister were not the only band censored and put on â€Å"The Filthy Fifteen† but Many Heavy Metal bands such as W. A. S. P, Judas Preist, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, AC/DC, Venom, and Heavy Metal Pioneers Black Sabbath were amongst those â€Å"Filthy Fifteen† These bands were put in â€Å"The Filthy Fifteen† by the â€Å"Parents Music Resource Center (1984)† because their music was deemed offensive and violent. The P. M. R. C rated songs according to the following: 1. X= Profane or sexually explicit, 2. O= Occult, 3. D/A= Drugs or Alcohol, 4. V= Violence and 5. Sac= Sacrilegious. Although the lyrics in Twisted Sister’s song â€Å"Were Not Gonna Take It† talked about standing up for your rights and never giving up, the video was censored as violent which led them into â€Å"The Filthy Fifteen† by the P. M. R. C. It must have been upsetting to the band members that their music is being prohibited to teens that in society look for he lp and sanctuary in music. Music that is inspirational should not be banned to teens because it can affect their social mental lives. Due to the fact that the P. M. R. C censored Twisted Sister’s enthusiastic, stand up for your self, keep going on music, children were unable to buy their music and listen to what they wanted to hear. Music is a way of life, as I always say and everyone needs it in their daily personal lives to get by, whether they are down, lonely, happy, and or just out of mind and ready to loose it. You can not help to imagine how many youths rebelled against parents because of this cause and made them unable to listen to music that appealed their ears, and helped them get by in life’s daily struggles and challenges. Religion and Satanism Many Metal artists used religious symbolism in their music. For example when up and rising band Venom (1983) came out on stage with satanic pentagrams, gory live performances, and brutal satanic lyrics, many people were scared. In that era, Satanism was well known but only in secluded parts of Norway. As venom and many other bands such as Slayer(1983-present) went on stage and vulgarly scared the non-metal community, people and many other religious groups as well, started to ban there shows, and music all over the world. The media started to engage in a non stop attack of releasing ideas that these bands were satanic, insane, and inappropriate content for teens, and that they should be socially declined to the public. (Dunn2008) This however did not stop the bands from releasing their music, being less graphic, and selling out shows. Nor did it stop teens from tuning in to their music and impacting their religious views and life’s. Slayer, created masterpiece after masterpiece of brutal Satanic, Anti-Christian, war related, lyrics and album covers that there were literally protests at their shows by religious groups because teens were so xcited and appealed at this new style of musical art, and parents thought their children were being manipulated and brainwashed to do bad and in the end hurt and destroy their life’s and their social backgrounds. They also manifested an idea that Slayer (1983) were Satanists, when in fact they were just trying to shock the audience and gain more fans. H aving the mindset of Slayer being Satanists, they also thought up the idea that Metal Music was the doing of the devil. And that those teens were heading towards a path of destruction and anti- religious acts in their society, like burning churches down. Slayer, to defend themselves stated, â€Å"We consider what we do art, and art can be a reflection of society, and we are simply just picking up the dark reflections, and manifesting them to the world† (Araya2008) Norwegian Black Metal bands certainly do live up to Satanism, (Dunn2008). Norway is an isolated country in northern Europe in which 87% of Norway’s population belongs to The Lutheran State Church, and yet strangely their most cultural export is Satanic Black Metal (Rasmussen 2008). Because many Satanists in Norway have a grudge against the Christian religion, due to conflicts and clashes between Vikings thousands of years ago (Rasmussen2008), there was a series of arsons. A man by the name of Varg Vekernes, and along side of him to help was a man named Jorn Tunsberg, set out a quite discrete plan to burn down some of the oldest churches in Oslo, Norway. They were convicted of arson on multiple counts and both were sentenced to prison. Because of these satanic acts in Norway due to Black Metal and what it symbolized for these men, people of all over the world started to react in an eruptive way towards the Metal community. The parents now have reason to believe that children’s musical interests could indeed affect the society in which their kids lived in and cause harmful behavior for generations to come. Death and Violence Death has played a major role in Metal Music. Since Metal Music spawned from dark imagery and horrific violence and brutal lyrics, a sub genre emerged known as Death Metal. Death Metal was built up on Thrash Metal and Black Metal, which consisted of machine gun guitars and fast passed drumming, with guttural vocals, also with a little twist of bloody gore and violence, Death Metal was created. Cannibal Corpse, along with Death, were the first bands among many Death Metal bands to use gory imagery. Cannibal Corpse was known for producing horrific album art. Cannibal corpse(1985) 3 first albums are banned in Germany, New Zealand, and Korea due to very gory and graphic album art also horrific lyrics related to murder. (Slagel2008). Rose Dyson(2008) states that there is evidence to state that the average person these days sees more violence through popular culture that would occur in real life, and this also has been marketed in many essences, particularly in teenage society and disrupts the teenage mind into murder, suicide, corruption and drug abuse as a conflict resolution. Manny bands have been set for trial over the past 20 years, such as Judas Preist, Slayer, Slipknot, Cannibal Corpse and Marilyn Manson, due to suicides and murders all because Metal Music has been stereotyped as devil music and everything else you have read thus far in this research paper. A main reason, as to why Metal Music and these bands have been blamed as the cause to many teen deaths, is because of their lyrics. Most Metal bands have an image they portray whether it is evil, Blasphemy related, or just simply vulgar. It is crazy to argue that there is a relationship between the imagery in Metal and some teen suicides and acts of violence. (Klosterman2008). The most powerful predictor of whether someone will commit suicide is the feeling of helplessness (Kahn2008). No one listens to Heavy Metal in order to feel helpless, they listen to Heavy Metal in order to feel empowered and connected with other people, and that may be empowered through a song that’s about suicide that makes you realize your not alone. And your not helpless and other people are going through the same thing; you don’t need to kill yourself! Human society should realize this because blaming such horrific incidents other people cause to themselves should not be blamed on people who are merely making art in their own personal ways, such as these bands. As the media and such sources uproar and release these serious issues about teen suicide and their causes, all over the world, parents should focus on Teen Society and how teens learning and hearing these issues of teen suicide may affect them personally. Teen youth does get affected by seeing this media provided information because it somewhat brainwashes them into thinking that music of such sorts leads them into suicide and disruptive mayhem. When they grow older they judge other teenagers amongst their societies and start labeling them.

Micro Economics

We stand in the beginning of the twenty first century with new groups in positions of great power within our economic. One would think that, with this peak strength, American man would be secure, ready to move forward. An uncertainty, however, seems to be besetting us. We are unsure of ourselves. Internally, we are ill at ease and suspect one another – so much so that sometimes we seem can forget our fundamental belief in the dignity of mankind. People enjoy a standard of living, but often we do not enjoy life. People are mobile in their cars and can see the whole world in television. Yet people are not sure where they want to go or what they want to see. Modern world baffles people, and we do not know how to turn our knowledge into creative expression both as a nation and as individual citizens. Such a situation, if to continue, is in danger of in the end to sap our viability. Unless people try to understand the fundamental nature of our society as interrelated systems of power – economic, business, political, and moral – we can misunderstand our mission in this world. I believe that the mission of every person is to establish a great civilization on this continent and to create peace and security for mankind. Therefore, the fulfilment of my aspirations for effective and moral living is, and must be forever, a never ending business. My life must be a business. It is the most important business I will ever be responsible forever. I will face challenges and risks with little or no planning. Economics is a kaleidoscope that touches all aspects of the business of living. According to several reports issued by the Small Business Administration (SBA), the single most dominant reason businesses fail is directly attributable to a lack of planning. This paper is intended to build my life’s economic plan. It will consider issues of wants and needs, supply and demand, long term employment probability, unexpected economic challenges, and what I believe the economic future to be and how I will adapt to it. Planning I can use the terms â€Å"plans† and â€Å"planning† to many different aspects of my everyday life. One use of the term â€Å"plan† I will use to describe a procedure for achieving a particular goal or desired outcome. For example, when somebody asks me â€Å"So, what's the plan?† I think of a set of directions to guide my thoughts and actions. That is, I create the directions on what to do and when to do it, and this in turn might tell me those things that are most important and those things to consider. Ideally, my plan should be complete. That is, the contents and ordering satisfactorily accomplishes the goal. The plan should be efficient and foolproof. The instructions of the plan should be easy to memorize, monitor and execute, with little chance of things going wrong (Morris 99). However, in my daily life, plans may still be useful without offering explicit guidance or instructions. A map of the new city or an architect's diagram detailing the layout of a house may also be correctly referred to as plans. However, these plans provide a representation or overview of a project or problem, rather than a set of directions. A clear understanding of the current state and what should to be done, together with awareness of the different means and methods at my disposal may greatly facilitate the efficacy of achieving my goals. Through using planning and strategies, a chosen subset of new alternatives may be found more quickly and more efficiently than would be the case if I used only pure trial or error, or if I regularly investigated each and every possibility in turn. Many theories of planning propose that the first stage is to form a suitable mental representation of the goals. The representation may include the initial state and the goal state as well as a range of possible actions that could be taken (Morris 123). Planning tips, strategies and tactics are known as heuristics and algorithms. My planning involves intended actions to be taken in the future, motivational control may be needed in order to carry them out appropriately. My planning is subdivided into four sections: first, a number of key goals are introduced; second, SWOT analysis is introduced; third, short summary descriptions are provided outlining the main themes and issues to emerge from the savings planning; fourth,   a view on the nature of man as consumer is presented. Goals I have specific goals that consistently pursue. There are a mixture of goals and success factors which are important to the achievement of my goals. True goals are probably confined to the first three categories. Long term employment Profitability Growth Of these three the one of primary importance to me is profitability. From my perspective this could be more specifically defined as Return. Growth and Long term employment are pursued to the extent that they yield a long term benefit in terms of Return. After graduating I am going to be a manager employed by a company. How do I as a manager make my decisions? Perhaps these decisions can be better appreciated by setting up a scenario and observing the behavior patterns of a manager of a factory. Let us suppose that the factory is part of a corporate empire in which top management is ensconced in a big city office and middle management runs the factories located somewhere in the hinterlands, far from the lights, fun, and frolic of the big city. Suppose that I am a middle-level manager of a factory that makes widgets along with an assortment of other products. I have both production and marketing responsibilities and report to a president who is held accountable for the overall operation of the factory by those in the corporate headquarters. In the game of Musical Chairs, the winner lasts as long as it takes to set up the chairs, turn the record over, and play a new round. And in the game of King of the Hill, one remains king for as long as he can fend off new attacks. There is a transient aspect to positions of power that is true in children's games of fun and in adults' games of life. Nevertheless, whether a king is attempting to maximize the profits of his company or trying to maximize his longevity in power, somewhere in the king's organization, there are middle-level managers. These aspirants to power have not yet risen in position to dream of toppling the king. They are still in the Musical Chairs stage of development. While biding their time until they are in a high enough position to try and topple the king, which may never come about for some, they have to think about something else to justify their jobs. And there is no better justification for a job than thinking about the profitability of the company. What this means is that, while top management and the members of the board may be taking a more tangential view of profitability, there is someone in the organization looking at the price of goods in the marketplace, the cost of making goods on the factory floor, and the inventory of finished goods in the warehouse. That person is making, or recommending, some important decisions: 1. Expanding or contracting production 2. Raising or lowering prices 3. Building a new plant or closing an existing one These are certainly important decisions if one is a worker employed by this company. The development and implementation of good system for a business will be a task for a manager. This involves a mixture of techniques and technologies. Related to this development and implementation process is the proper planning and leadership needed to identify and organize modern technology. Also, there is the cultural aspect. This aspect promotes an atmosphere of community and intelligence sharing among company employees. In its intention to get the required resources for its future success, the manager creates and then implements management practices that encourage new technology. In order to better understand the mixture of techniques and technologies used in the development and implementation of business system, the following four basic elements are recapped below (Hoctor 78): 1. upgrading current information systems to tie in with smart business system 2. employing data storage to its fullest extent for optimization. The focus is on using appropriate aged data and real-time data 3. utilizing smart business software for optimizing a company’s operations today as well as in the future 4. making great use of computer networking in particular on E-commerce In modern world, the creation of good system for business is leading the way to optimizing a company’s operations in quality control for changing times. Not only is computer technological innovations are changing more quickly each day, but also are business demands. Managers are being pressed to respond to customer needs. They also face competitive threats in days and weeks instead of months or years. Products and services that could wait for 6 to 12 months just a few years ago today need to get out the door in a much shorter period of time. And it is not just multinational companies or global organizations that are being pressed with shortening time frames. Almost any business, from a small firm up to the world’s largest corporation, is at risk of being replaced by a more quick-witted, E-business-enabled rival. The success of businesses will be estimated by how well managers have developed E-business applications to distinguish themselves from the competition. Therefore, how well the managers can respond to changing times is important factor for its success. Systems for a business can be the means to meet these fast changing times for a modern company. SWOT analysis SWOT is a widely used thinking framework for identifying Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It enables key factors to be visibly recorded as a high level summary of personal (or a business) situation. It is a summary that is simple but powerful. The technique can be used to document the key factors arising from the review of a particular project or business, through looking at the Opportunities and Threats it faces in the wider world. The SWOT summary may be used to consolidate key issues identified through other forms of analysis (Elkin 90). The uncertain world of the consumer Not all the money may be spent. Some may be saved. Savings will be important to me because we live in a world of uncertainty. The uncertainty aspect that worries me most might be death, but a close second is unemployment. Unemployment is a consequence of a free market environment in which employers not only are free to dismiss, lay off, or in other ways terminate employees but also are forced to do so by the workings of the free market itself. If a factory makes a product, and if for any number of diverse reasons that product cannot be sold, at some point the factory owner must reduce the factory's output. If he does not dismiss any workers, the factory owner is paying for workers who are producing goods that are not being sold. This is a cash outflow at the same time when he is not selling his product. Consequently, there is no revenue from sales to generate a cash inflow to counterbalance the cash outflow. What is his choice with regard to laying off his workers? Does he even have a choice? The answer is no. Thus, savings are necessary to provide some sort of cushion, a security blanket, a nest egg for the bad times. Savings are my safety net to protect myself when things turn against me. Savings have little to do with the running of a communist society. The economic philosophy behind communism is that the state will take on all the burdens of an individual such that he is never exposed to risk of any kind (Dunning 56). Housing, food, medical care, education, you-name-it -these are all the responsibility of the state. The communist system does not expect that an individual has to save, as he would in the free market system, because all aspects of personal security are guaranteed by the state. However, it must be noted that individuals in communist nations do save. Sometimes it is to accumulate the funds necessary to make a major purchase, such as an automobile. Sometimes the act of saving is a default condition in that there is nothing on the shelves that a consumer wants to buy. Saving then reflects the inability to spend. Perhaps this best illustrates the fundamental difference between the two economic systems. In one, a consumer saves because of the inability to guarantee a secure income. In the other, a person saves because of the inability to be a consumer. The philosophic underpinnings of the free market system assume that man is basically an unhappy and dissatisfied individual who abhors work (Dunning 90). People work for one basic reason: if they don't, the alternative is to starve to death in a dark, cold room. Relatively few people find satisfaction in work. Most work is tedious, repetitious, and boring. The primary incentive to man a machine is to earn some money to feed one's family, keep clothes on their backs, provide a roof over their heads, and keep the rooms lighted and warm. Because the very nature of the free market system hardly inspires confidence in the future, man as consumer saves a portion of his pay for a rainy day. The amount that he saves varies from individual to individual and depends on a number of issues. Among these are the extent of his present savings, his possession of material things, the general direction of prices, the relationship between the interest he receives on his savings and the effect of inflation on the price of goods, and his confidence in holding onto his job. While these are the more important considerations one takes into account in determining how much to save, one consideration overrides all others. That consideration is confidence. Possession of material things The desire to possess material things influences spending habits. If a person feels that he is behind, so to speak, on the possession of material things with respect to his peers, he will have a general tendency to. When people see the unemployment lines getting shorter and the want ads for jobs becoming more common, their attitude toward spending becomes more positive. Good times begin as soon as unemployment rates start decreasing. Even with continued high unemployment, the fact that things are getting better permeates the thinking of consumers. If unemployment rates are decreasing, and if one has a job, then the chances of being laid off are nil. The worst is over, and it is time to forget the bad times. Declining unemployment means that the security associated with a job is going to be much greater than during times of increasing unemployment. One can afford to be a bit more profligate than during less auspicious times. As the economy falters because sales are collapsing, fear of losing one's own job makes one more cautious in his spending habits. This is in the best interests of me – spend less, save more, and add to the nest egg in case things get even worse. References Dunning, John H. (2001). Global Capitalism at Bay? Rutledge: London. Elkin, Paul. (1998). Mastering Business Planning and Strategy: The Power of Strategic Thinking. Thorogood: London. Hoctor, James J. (2003). Smart Business Systems for the Optimized Organization. Praeger: Westport, CT. Morris, Robin. (2004). The Cognitive Psychology of Planning. Psychology Press: Hove, England.

Dependency in a Capitalist System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Dependency in a Capitalist System - Essay Example The means of producing more goods are controlled by a power within the society that offers the opportunity for development to the struggling person in acquiring their developmental status. Capitalist system does not acknowledge development of those that are considered low in the economic system, because it wants to develop its own resources in achieving maximum returns. Marxism advocates that poverty gain development in a capitalist system that offers minimal progress to the hard worker. This question is answered to address the meaning of achieving dependency in a capitalist system and the measures it provides. Dependency would mean being able to satisfy the economical constrains individually without oppression or interference from an external power. The affairs of the government, in a capitalist system, are mostly decided by a central power that offers its restrictions to the majority. A dependent entity is one whose action is based solely on the decision made by the creator. An exa mple in a company may be presented in the employer and employees of a shoe manufacturing company in Indonesia. The capitalist system offers the employment opportunity and gives the rules for work. However, the employee lacks independence because the society forces them to accept minimal wages in handling massive tasks with few opportunities for development. Being dependent would mean gaining access to the desired resources that could be applied to advance the individual in the measure that they dictate. To achieve dependency imply that power is evenly distributed among the less fortunate with consideration issued to the less favored. There would be a comfort achieved that defies the standards set by the capitalists breaking from the bonds that warrants oppression from the unjust system. Dependency deprives the capitalist the power to dictate terms in a closed relationship that offers minimal opportunity. The capitalist system issues power to the private property handlers with merit issued on their ability to control production. Dependent individuals are capable of practicing their rights freely and explore the, developmental societal, presentations that are found in the industry. The boundaries that limit the development of personal ambitions are broken, and less legislation to limit expression of ideas issued. To be dependent on a capitalist system would mean realizing the benefits of the free society as economic presentations are advanced. Fewer constraints and dictatorship from the capitalist are presented and decisions are based on the majority that constitutes the market and economy. Conclusion In a capitalist society, there is an individual selected to dictate policy formation and economic progress. However, a free society would break these bonds and allow for personal expression. The society is presented with the ability to make decisions based on their interest. Dependency promotes equal development from the grassroots to the higher-ranking individuals . These factors have been found to lead to democracy achievement, and eventually, liberalization. 2. Hegemony Introduction Hegemony is a term used to describe the dominance forms that are expressed in the international market. Hegemony highlights the dominance of one group as compared to the rest that may be defied to be below their rule. The form of dominance may be partially expressed or fully depending on the

Global business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Global business - Essay Example But the issue is: Is it good strategic planning to use the per capita income and consumption data vis-a-vis population size as a basis of forecasting the size of a countrys market? This paper attempts to explore this proposition and to determine whether indeed it is or whether there are other better approaches that can help the international marketer make better decisions in entering a foreign market. Per capita income is derived from the concept of gross domestic product, which is the standard measure of an economys total output (Baumol and Blinder 2001). But such output only make sense if producers can sell them; therefore the concept of aggregate demand is relevant. Aggregate demand is the total amount that all consumers, business firms, government agencies, and foreigners wish to spend on all of a countrys goods and services. It also depends on consumer incomes, government decisions, and events or developments abroad. Aggregate demand can be broken down into the following: b. Investment spending. This is the total amount that firms expend on physical assets such as land, factories, machinery and equipment, and inventories. . These assets add to productive capacity, leading to additional demand for goods and services. By adding up all these components, we are able to obtain the aggregate demand and we can summarize it as the sum of all consumption, investment, government purchases, and net balance of exports and imports. Sommers (1993) and other economists take the view that the total output of an economic system is exactly equal to the total demand in the system, and that the GDP can also be referred to as gross domestic expenditure. From this aggregate is derived the concept of national income - which is the total income of all individuals in the economy. It is defined as the sum of the incomes that individuals in the economy earn in the form of wages, interest, rents, and profits. It

Surprise ending Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Surprise ending - Essay Example The reader anticipates that Swift will come up with a realistic solution by which these poor children can â€Å"contribute to the feeding, and partly to the cloathing of many thousand† (para.4). The reader’s suspicion is aroused when Swift begins to talk about children being â€Å"saleable commodities† (Swift, 1729, p.7) and calculates a cost-effective selling price. At this point, the reader realizes that there is a catch in the argument and that Swift’s suggestion will be out of the ordinary. Then comes the â€Å"surprise ending†: Swift suggests that that â€Å"a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled† (Swift, 1729, p. 9). He continues to devise plans for the sale of children and various ways to convert their flesh into delicacies. The reader is now aware that Swift’s suggestion is pure irony. By giving the reader a jolt with his â€Å"surprise ending,† Swift greatly strengthens the validity of his real suggestion to improve the social and economic condition of Ireland under British rule in the eighteenth century: the taxation of absentee landlords, the promotion of locally manufactured goods, banning foreign luxury goods, practicing thrift and temperance and encouraging nationalism, brotherhood and virtue. He urges â€Å"landlords to have at least one degree of mercy towards their tenants† and shop-keepers to adopt â€Å"a spirit of honesty, industry, and skill† (Swift, 1729, para. 29). This is Swift’s real proposal. Swift skilfully uses his â€Å"surprise ending† to stimulate interest, rouse the reader’s conscience and make the reader more receptive to his concrete suggestions to rectify the ills of the suffering Irish

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

MMP - Essay Example 40% of the whole study sample will be composed of students who do not drink alcohol. Data will be collected through the survey techniques including face-to-face interviews, observation, and questionnaires. The study will focus on the drinking lifestyles or trends and its effects in the institutions of higher learning including. Through regression analysis, the data collected is analyzed to ascertain the effect of over indulgence in alcoholic beverages on students’ life, health, social life, and academic performance. The results from the drinking group are analyzed and compared with the control results of non-drinking students. The study should confirm that there is a great deal of dangers and effects of students consuming alcohol in campus. It affects their health since some of them are extremely addicted and cannot do without it. This makes them chronically ill with the conditions such as liver cirrhosis. Alcohol also leads to poor performance of students since some of them attend lectures when drunk; hence, they can barely understand anything at all. It is a cause of poor study life since one rarely has the time to sit down and read. Alcohol consumption lowers concentration to an extremely critical level. Alcohol has a great deal of dangers and effects in the institutions of higher learning. It not only affects the consumer but also the people around him or her. It makes daily learning difficult to those who are addicted to drinking. It can also affect the general learning process of an institution. This is a research project that was held to find out the relationship between the consumption of alcohol and the illnesses reported by the university students. It was found that those who drink heavily experience a wide range of chronic health problems; those who drink acutely suffer from less serious health conditions, such as mild

Grand Inquisitor and Jesus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Grand Inquisitor and Jesus - Essay Example The temptations were turning stones into bread, casting himself from the temple and the angels of God would come and save him before getting to the ground and being given the authority and power to rule all the kingdoms of the earth (Fyodor 29). The inquisitor says that Jesus rejected all this in favor of freedom. He believes that the majority of humans cannot handle this freedom given to them and that giving human’s freedom to choose prevents them from redemption, hence living them to suffer. The inquisitor feels that Christ was wrong to reject each temptation. He feels that he should have turned stones into bread since men will always fallow those who fill their stomachs. Casting himself from the temple would have proved his goodness in the people’s minds following him forever and governing all the kingdoms would guarantee their salvation. Jesus then kisses the inquisitor on his bloodless aged lips instead of responding to his accusations. The inquisitor releases him and tells him never to return (Amy 16). This finally shows the inquisitor’s sympathetic

Final Assignment Questions Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Final Questions - Assignment Example IP is quite an important asset to the people of America for it is of very high economic value as well as an important element of the health and safety of the general American public (NIPRCC, 2011). The counterfeit merchandise therefore does not only pose a threat to the safety and health of the American public but also largely pause a threat to the general economy of the American nation since such products deprive the nation of hundreds of billions and trillions of dollars in terms of lost profits, tax revenue losses, job loss as well as additional product enforcement costs in the different supply chains (NIPRCC, 2011). Counterfeit products such as the pharmaceuticals, automobile parts pauses a great threat to the health and safety of the entire American public. This is because the counterfeit products fail to match the desired quality standards. Increase in counterfeit products has resulted from increased theft of IP which has further threatened the general security of the American nation. Increased theft of the US trade secrets and more so regarding the US war fighter poses a huge threat to the American national security (NIPRCC, 2011). In the year 1999, the president of America William J. Clinton issued an executive order 13133 that was purposely meant to address the issue of unlawful conduct and especially through the use of the internet. The reasoning behind the issue of this order was that if the use of the internet can be properly controlled, crimes such as sale of illegal firearms and explosives via the internet, sale of drugs, child pornography as well as fraud could adequately be controlled by the American government. The unlawful conduct in the internet was to be addressed through a working group selected by the president to resolve the particular issue. As stipulated by the executive order 13133, the working group goals included analyzing the already existing federal laws and assessing the extent to which these laws

Cultural Diversity in Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Cultural Diversity in Organizations - Essay Example He states that the goal of managing diversity is "maximizing the ability of all employees to contribute to organization goals and to achieve their full potential unhindered by group identities, such as gender, race, nationality, age and departmental affiliation" (p 11). Cox also believes that diverse work teams are more creative and innovative and they consider more and better alternatives in decision making. Although Thomas believes that organizations should move beyond race and gender issues when considering diversity, racial/ethnic diversity is an important element of building a diverse organization. Globalization -- through the increased mobility of people, economic liberalization, new communication technologies, and industry consolidation -- is highlighting the importance of cultural diversity within and between states. In 1999, in addition to its ongoing work and building on the foundation of its "Our Creative Diversity" (1995) and Stockholm Action Plan (1998), UNESCO held a number of events to further explore key cultural diversity issues: a symposium on pluralism (January 1999), a conference on cultural diversity and trade (June, 1999), and a Round Table of Ministers of Culture "Culture and Creativity in a Globalised World" in November 2000. The G-7, in their summit declaration on Principles for an Information Society in Brussels in 1995, recognized the importance of preserving linguistic and cultural diversity in new and emerging technologies. Since its inception in 1949, the Council of Europe has developed its cultural activities around defending and extending a plurality of cultural identities. In 1998, the OAS approved the Inter-American Program of Culture, designed to support the efforts being undertaken by member states and foster cooperation between them in the areas of cultural diversity, dissemination and protection of cultural heritage, human resource training, creativity incentives, and promotion of cultural tourism. The U.S. government recognizes that culture and cultural difference have a major impact on foreign policy - from issues ranging from trade to ethnicity to gender. Recent discussions about cultural diversity in the Administration reveal a recognition that the U.S.'s status as an international cultural powerhouse gives it the potential to overpower other national cultures. One of the few exceptions to the generalization of cultural diversity involves the proscription of turbans in a workforce that uses helmets as part of their normal work (Sherwood v. Brown, 1980) unwarranted. In 1992 and 1994 the CEO of the oldest French multinational, Saint-Gobain, emphasized that the strategy of a multinational is deeply influenced by the nationality of its main shareholders. For him, in their relationship to their customers and to their workforce, multinationals can learn from national differences but also can try to transcend them, and the trend is towards more convergence. A good example of this promising path is given by the changes achieved in the early 1990s by Renault's automobile plant in Slovenia, whose workers dramatically increased both productivity and quality. One must judge between those corporations that deliberately tried to build a genuine language and culture (e.g., IBM) and of those that take cultural diversit

Legal and Ethical Issues in Management Paper Essay

Legal and Ethical Issues in Management Paper - Essay Example The doctrine stipulates that the manufacturers of drugs prescribed by doctors and other necessary medical devices will perform their duties of caring for their patients through the provision of warnings to the physicians charged with the duty of administering the drugs. The manufacturer is therefore responsible for issuing warnings to the physicians concerning the usage of their drugs by patients. This is mainly because the patients are not able to purchase the products directly from the manufacturers and must go through the physicians to obtain them (Strom, Kimmel & Hennessy, 2012). The majority of the people believe that the rule on learned intermediaries should not apply to adverts that make the patients to become more informed and healthier. They also perceive adverts that include brief summaries which stipulate the risks involved in consuming different types of drugs (Mullner, 2005). However, the inclusion of brief summaries on the risks involved in consuming the drugs has been difficult for the manufacturers since this action would require more time along with spaces in the media. The high costs of attaining the above two factors in the media has made it very expensive for them to comply with the stipulations laid out by the rule (Strom, Kimmel & Hennessy, 2012). For instance, in the case of Perez v. Wyeth Laboratories Inc., in New Jersey, the courts decided that the doctrine on the learned intermediaries since the Norplant implants in the case had been advertised directly to the women consumers instead of the doctors. Since the drugs had been directly mar keted to their customers, the defendants were absolved from any charges that had been brought against them (Mullner, 2005). The dissenters on the issue claim that physicians should convey the relevant information concerning the risks in the drugs to their consumers. They additionally state that physicians are normally at the best position

Book Reporter of Swim the Fly Essay Example for Free

Book Reporter of Swim the Fly Essay Their plan failed because Matt almost got recognized by Kelly in the girl’s changing room. However, Kelly and her best friends Valerie started to pay attention to Matt because his brave move of volunteering in the 100-m butterfly (or his appearance in the girl’s changing room? ). Ms. Luntz (their swimming couch) put Matt, a poor guy who can’t even manage a single lap, in the butterfly medley relay without even asking Matt. Sean and Coop came up with an idea to pretend having a stomachache in order to avoid the embarrassment. Matt’s grandpa sent a kitten to Mrs. Hoogenboom in order to get her attention which turned out Mrs. Hoogenboom almost found out he is the one who tried to suffocate the cat. Relate: T-S connection: I also have friends like Sean and Coop in my life that can not only have fun with but also share sadness with. T-T connection: Matt volunteered for the 100-m butterfly stroke championships so Ms. Luntz figured he wouldn’t mind doing another butterfly medley relay. However, Matt couldn’t even do one stroke and weren’t capable of swimming the fly. T-W connection: I saw a movie called American Pie which described similar situation in this book, a few guys fall in love with the hottest girls in their school and manage to date them out. Reflect: There are always some friends in your life who always make fun of you yet you never get angry with them. It is normal in the western culture for an old man to impress a widow who has just lost her husband? It is kind of unacceptable for me. This part of the book is the rising action because they hadn’t achieved their goal yet. The narrator is 1st person which is Matt himself. How does Matt’s grandpa’s relationship with Mrs. Hoogenboom relate to the story? Why did the author even mention it? Always be prepared, so when the opportunity comes you will be the one grabs it. ( If Matt can do butterfly stoke well enough, he will be able to join not only the medley relay but also the championships in order to impress the girl he likes. )

Competition among airlines: Air Mauritius

Competition among airlines: Air Mauritius CHAPTER 1 1.0 Introduction The Air Mauritius was created in the year 1967 which helped connecting our small island to the rest of the world. The company now has direct flights throughout Africa, Australia, Asia and Europe which sums up to around 20 regional and international destinations (Air Mauritius, 2013). Voted best Airline in the Indian Ocean (according to the World Travel Awards, 2013), the company represents Mauritius and is the only airline company of the country till date, hence its flag carrier. The latter boasts to give unique, high quality services and a special attention to its customers (Air Mauritius, 2013). According to its Annual Report 2012/2013, the company currently has 2,340 employees, 12 aircrafts in their fleet serving 19 destinations. Having had a turnover of EUR 450 Million, Air Mauritius offered 1.8 Million seats but carried only 1.3 Million passengers and had only 10,080 number of flights during the 2012-2013 period (Air Mauritius Annual Report 2012-2013). These statistics show that 500,000 seats remained unsold which might be due to the recession affecting our main tourist market; Europe. However, Air Mauritius has slowly recovered from major losses in the previous years. In the 2011-2012 period, the company accounted for a net loss of EUR 29.4 Million but for the current period of 2012-2013, there was only a net loss of EUR 2.5 Million (Air Mauritius Annual Report 2012-2013). Making losses is always bad for business but the recovery was amazing and we hope to see more of it in the upcoming years. Even though Air Mauritius recovered from losses, the company was not able to match the sales and revenue of previous years which proves the fact that the company is losing some of its customers. The company is partly owned by the government with 51% shares and 41% going to the shareholders. They all have a major role to play in order to protect the national flag carrier from stiff competition and the current economic crisis. It is very crucial for Air Mauritius to preserve its customers and attract new markets because the tourism industry heavily depends on it. The tourism industry is the main revenue generating industry in Mauritius and by being the only flag carrier; Air Mauritius plays an important role in the success of this economic pillar. Most of the tourists come to the island by air and we all want them to use Air Mauritius instead of coming through our fierce competitors like Air France, British Airways and Emirates. Air Mauritius is currently negotiating with Air France for a strategic partnership since the negotiations have failed with Emirates (BusinessMega.mu, 2013). Now that the company is focusing more on the Asian market, Air Mauritius is developing new strategies to increase the capacity of passengers to and from China, Singapore and Kuala Lampur (CAPA, 2013). The company also increased the frequency of flights mainly to China and India in order to attract tourists from the current profitable target market of the tourism industry. In February 2013, the government of Mauritius and the Republic of Maldives have both signed a bilateral agreement which aims to target the Chinese market, especially with destinations like Beijing and Hong Kong where both the Air Mauritius and Mega Maldives Airlines will offer direct services (Gov.mu, 2013). In mid-2012, Air Mauritius has formed a codeshare partnership with Air Austral which has had some financial difficulties just likes our own flag carrier. Th e codeshare partnership helped to restoring the Mauritius-Perth route several times per week (CAPA, 2013). Both Air Mauritius and Air Austral agree that Australia is a great potential destination for growth. A flag carrier is very important for countries that have it. It represents the image of the country but most importantly, it provides preferential rights, privileges and facilitates certain agreements with other countries. The government of Mauritius has recently decided to go towards an open sky policy for its flag carrier instead of sticking with the old limited sky policy. They are trying to imitate Emirates which has its success thanks to the open sky policy (Hough, 2013). This will prove to be successful for Mauritius only when sales at Air Mauritius are boosted again and there are more tourist arrivals. The local government has a forecast of 1 million tourist arrivals for the current year of 2013, which represents an increase of about 2.5% compared to last year (BusinessMega.mu, 2013). However this will not be possible without the help of Air Mauritius since most of these tourists will rely on air travel to come here and they may opt for other rival airline companies because of flight prices. Air Mauritius plays a major role in the economy of Mauritius and helped the tourism industry grow throughout its operational years and this is still an on-going process despite the company is suffering an economic turmoil (Prayag, 2007). The company’s fleet consists only of Airbus aircraft fitted with modern equipment and is it approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency. On-board the Air Mauritius, there are many services like the inflight entertainment, meals, duty free sales and magazines. The on-board menu consists mainly of the Mauritian cuisine but draws its inspiration from all around the world offering Asian, Indian and European flavours. The company also has certain strict no-pork and no-beef policies and even have special meals for needy people, like the diabetic meal for example (Air Mauritius, 2013). On its official website, the company describes the various types of meals that it can offer to its passengers. Some of these are the vegan meals, vegetarian meals, kosher meals, low-fat meals, child meals, baby meals and much more. This is quite an interesting strategy to satisfy customers and make them feel that they are well taken care of at Air Mauritius. Furthermore, the on-board entertainment includes popular Hollywood and Bollywood movies and documentaries to watch. There are various types of music to listen to and there are also some games for avid gamers or children. There exist two classes of travel with Air Mauritius; the Economy class and the Business class. In the economy class, the company boasts to have large passenger space with a 79cm pitch which provides a comfortable and relaxing flight experience (Air Mauritius, 2013). It is not an important factor which customers are concerned about but it is good to know that the economy class has a seating configuration of 2-4-2 layout with two final rows of 2-3-2 for a total of 265 economy seats (The Sydney Morning Herald, 2010). This setting is mainly for the Airbus A340E and of course there are certain various depending on the model of the aircraft. Seating arrangements in the business class have recently been upgraded with new lie-flat seats on the Airbus A340 and A330 (Air Mauritius, 2013). These seats provide the passengers with some privacy and better comfort than the previous ones. They are large enough to accommodate any type of person. Its functions are well in grasp of the passenger thank s to a remote control. The lie-flat seats also come with a massage option. Air Mauritius offers different flight check-in options for its customers. One may check in online on their official website and at the Sir Seewosagur International Airport or at various other airports like the Paris Charles de Gaulle, London Heathrow, Beijing Capital International Airport and much more. They also have a premium check-in reserved for business class passengers available at every airport. On its website, the company offers adequate accurate information about the check-in process and offers even FAQs to help out lost customers. These customers will also get help from Air Mauritius staff either at the head office found in Port Louis or at the SSR International Airport whenever they feel the need to. The Amà ©dà ©e Maingard Lounge is the principal lounge of Air Mauritius at the airport terminal. The lounge offers assistance from staff, books magazines, TV, business centre with computers, WIFI, children’s play area, and a bar buffet area offering a wide array of food and beverages. Surely, all these come at a price. Business class passengers and Kestrelflyer Elite members have free access to the lounge. However an economic class passenger may get access as well depending on availability and at some prices. Normally an adult will pay MUR 2000, MUR 1000 for a child and free access for an infant (Air Mauritius, 2013). But these tariffs are subject to change anytime. Recently, the SSR International Airport underwent major upgrades and introduced its new terminal which came into operation on 12 September 2013. The new terminal consists of three levels where the ground level where domestic arrivals and departures are taken care of. Then, level 1, where the Air Mauritius Lounge is situation alongside check-in counters and finally level 2, where international arrivals are taken care of. The Air Mauritius has been waiting for this upgrade eagerly and expects to increase customer satisfaction through a newer servicescape (Air Mauritius, 2013). With all these said, Air Mauritius expects to increase its number of customers while retaining the current ones and start making more profit again, in the years to come. One of the biggest advantages of travelling with Air Mauritius is that the company holds a perfect flight safety record and is the safest company to fly with in the Indian Ocean (World Travel Awards, 2013). This perfect record contributed into our flag carrier winning the Indian Ocean’s Leading Airline Award for 9 consecutive years. The record suggests that an Air Mauritius plane never crashed or killed anyone on-board due to safety issues. However, some planes experienced some technical faults whether in flight or on ground which also lead to delays in departure or arrivals. Just recently, in October 2013, the MK 034 flight had some major technical issues when leaving Plaisance for Paris. Only ten minutes after taking off, one of the engines blew out and caught fire mid-air causing the plane to lose speed and altitude. The pilot informed the passengers about the incident and decided to drop fuel at sea in order to be able to land back at the SSR International Airport. The pro cess took hours but MK 034 landed safely with panicked passengers. The plane was then grounded for repairs and replaced by another one to get the passengers to destination, Paris. It all occurred between 22h50 and 02h22 which caused a huge delay and a series of other flight delays the coming days because of a grounded aircraft (L’express.mu, 2013). These technical issues occur with almost every airline company in the world. The positive point for Air Mauritius here is that the pilot was able to get the passengers back on land safely. 1.1 Problem Statement Air Mauritius holds a strong leading position in Africa among the competition, however many airlines have surpassed the company, globally speaking (Prayag, 2007). Nowadays, we have companies like the Emirates, Air France, British Airways, Etihad Airways, Air Seychelles, Condor, Thomas Cook and Lufthansa who have become great examples of successful airlines which are currently in direct competition with Air Mauritius (Business Excellence, 2013). They started small-time somewhere, just like the Air Mauritius but are now leaders of the skies ahead of our flag carrier. However, the company is going to show that it is still a competitor to look out for among its competitors since Air Mauritius is planning to increase flight frequencies of certain destinations like Johannesburg and Beijing which will help reinforcing their connectivity across the globe. Since Europe has been affected by the economic crisis lately, the numbers of tourist’s arrivals have largely decreased. This is why the government of Mauritius has decided to re-orient the tourism industry towards a new market in order to increase demand. That new market is no other than Asia, targeting most precisely India and China. Thanks to this change, we can now clearly see why the Air Mauritius has increased flight frequencies towards these destinations and is constantly bombarding the general population with promotional packages to Beijing, Hong Kong or Mumbai. The â€Å"limited sky policy† and â€Å"no charter flights† helped boosting sales of the company in the past but recently in order to increase tourist arrivals and due to stiff competition, the local government is considering an â€Å"open sky policy† for a better future of the economy of the island (Prayag, 2007). This is being implemented because the government aims to boost touristâ€℠¢s arrivals and expects millions of tourist arrivals every year. If this proves to be a successful step, the main economic pillar of the island; the tourism industry, will prosper and eventually increase the revenue of the country. Having an excellent customer satisfaction is a great asset for an airline company as it will help with customer retention and the company will keep on achieving its primary goal; that is, making profit. But it seems that the Air Mauritius has not been able to satisfy all the customers lately. According to a reliable website that provides real customer reviews and much more information about airlines, Skytrax.com 2013, the service at Air Mauritius has worsened. Customers are complaining about poor food quality, rude on-board staff, uncomfortable seats, boring entertainment and the fact that the company is still using old aircraft with old technology while every other airline are investing on newer planes. These comments affect service quality and perception of customers in a negative way. Word of mouth may worsen the case and people will tend to think twice before buying a ticket at the Air Mauritius in the near future. Of course, whether they are true or not, these are just statement s and it is my duty to carry out this research in order to find out what is really happening about the service given to customers at the Air Mauritius. In today’s competitive airline environment, the on-board services of an airline are one of the aspects that customers lookout for before purchasing an airline ticket (Namukasa, 2013). Having poor inflight services will push these customers away from the airline company and they will tend to opt for another rival company. This is why the level of service quality must stay high at all times for an airline company or else it will not survive the stiff competition (Archana and Subha, 2012). There have been so many studies which examine the influence of airline service quality on passenger satisfaction and loyalty, for example, Archana and Subha (2012) in India, Huang (2009) in Taiwan and Munusamy et al. (2011) Malaysia but none for Mauritius, this is why this study is important. Aims and Objectives of the study The principal aim of this case study is to analyse how service quality has a major influence on passenger satisfaction and loyalty specifically at the Air Mauritius. This will be done by carrying out several in-depth data analysis and the collection of customer feedback as well. The study will help to identify areas where customer expectations are not being met at Air Mauritius and find recommendations to tackle these flaws. The specific objectives are: To understand the importance of Air Mauritius for the Mauritian economy. To examine the relationship between pre-flight service quality and passenger satisfaction together with passenger loyalty. To analyse the relationship between in-flight service quality and passenger satisfaction together with passenger loyalty. To assess the relationship between post-flight service quality and passenger satisfaction alongside passenger loyalty. To assess whether airline service quality has an impact on passenger satisfaction and loyalty and what are the positive and negative impacts, if any. To make recommendations, based on the results of the study. Outline of study Chapter 1 introduces the subject matter including the tourism industry, the airline industry and the airline company involved in this research. It also describes the economy of Mauritius and how dependant the island is on its flag carrier for the survival of the tourism industry which is the main source of income for the country. The aims and objectives of this researched are also given in this introductory chapter. Chapter 2 is the bulkiest of all and lays the foundations of this research with definitions, empirical studies and examples from other studies. It covers service quality in the tourism industry and in airline companies and describes the instrument used for this study. This chapter also defines the service quality in pre-flight, in-flight and post-flight services related to customer loyalty and satisfaction. Chapter 3 gives enough detail about the methodology used for this research and how the sample size, the questionnaire and the whole research was designed. Chapter 4 lays emphasis on the results of the survey carried out, together with appropriate discussions to interpret these results. This chapter makes good use of charts and tables to interpret the results of the study. Chapter 5 is the final chapter of this research and is all about the conclusions and recommendations of the study. It proposes different approaches that Air Mauritius might take in order to improve its services and attract more customers. This chapter also includes the recommendations made by the survey participants and also depicts the survey limitations and what can be done in future researches in order to tackle these limitations.

Benefits for consumers in an oligopoly market

Benefits for consumers in an oligopoly market This essay wills analysis the both advantages and disadvantages for consumers in this oligopoly market structure. Non-price competition and rigidity price are two main advantages for consumer, however, collusion make the loss of interests of consumer. An oligopolistic market can be defined as one market structure which has a few firms connected with each other to control the price and supply of market (Anderton, 2008). Compare with the characteristic of oligopoly, the UK supermarket industry are oligopolistic market. The most important factor is that the supermarket in UK have been dominated by four firms, which are Morrisons, Asda, Sainsburys and Tesco (SKYNEWS, 2009), they controlled approximately 75% grocery sales in UK ( natural choices, 2008). Therefore, the price of market is also controlled by them. In addition, these four firms brought more land in order to raise the barriers to entry (Daily Mail, 2007). Furthermore, firms would like to use the marketing mix to sell their pro duct at right place, using a reasonable price and useful promotion. For instance, these four supermarkets will spend more money on advertising every year (telegraph, 2009). Finally, collusion is a common situation in oligopolistic markets, such as, price collusion in supermarkets in UK (Mail online, 2008). Non-price competition is a marketing strategy of supplier to earning more profit. As market will make a decision depend on marketing mix, which include product, place, price, and promotion, consumer will get profit from this strategy (Anderton, 2008). Product is the main factor should be considered, it is homogenous in general. Businesses should determine the people who use their product firstly (Hall, 2009). For instance, if they sell toys, they will use bright colors or cartoon characters to attract childrens attention. In addition, owing to the improving technology, product innovation will increase in order to meet peoples needs. Therefore, market research will avoid businesses make mistake. At the same time, they also can know what kind of product consumers will buys. Another benefit for consumer is the pricing strategy, price has been made depending on the quality of product (Marketing teacher, 2008). Therefore, consumer do not have to worry about the value of product over the quality, they will buy product in a fair market. According to news from mail online, Aldi and Lidl beat the big four due to the cheaper price. As a consequence, these two stores win the consumers trust, 61 per sent much higher than Tesco and Asda which just less than 50 per sent (Mail Online, 2010). From this research, it is easy to see that price is a extremely import factor to businesses and consumers. In spite of these two factors, place is also the important item. As we can see from the table on the below, with the increasing number of stores have opened, peoples life has become more convenient (Solar navigator, 2005). If consumers are used to buy a brand, they will not change their mind arbitrarily. Therefore, consumer will go to the same store at different place. It will make them assured. Furthermore, online shopping is also become a hot topic for people, they can shop at home, it not only left their time, but also saving traffic expenses. Moreover, 24 hours store also provide convenience for consumers. Format Number Area (ft ²) Area (m ²) Percentage of space Tesco Extra 100 6.6 million 613,000 27.2% Tesco 446 13.9 million 1,290,000 57.4% Tesco Metro 160 1.9 million 180,000 7.8% Tesco Express 546 1.1 million 102,000 4.5% One Stop 527 0.7 million 65,000 3.1% Total 1,779 24.2 million 2,250,000 100% Finally, promotion is the way businesses show their product to consumer. During this process, businesses will combine the features of product to choose a suitable promotional method. Businesses can use advertising slogan or show their products feature in order to draw peoples attention. Consequently, consumer can choose a brand of product which they prefer. Meanwhile, consumer will know more information about the product. Moreover, consumer also can earn profit due to the rigidity price. Based on the kinked demand cure on the below, assume A is the market price, if one firm rise their price, other firms will not follow (S-cool, 2000). Therefore, consumers would like to buy cheaper one of same product. Above the point A is the price elastic, which means businesses will loss profit if they improve their price. On the other hand, if one firm decreases the price, others will relatively drop down at the same time. However, cutting price when demand is inelastic, which also make the revenue falling. As a result, businesses will not change their price random; they will try to keep a stable price in the market. Consequently, consumers have become the most beneficiary. Nevertheless, collusion cause consumer lost much profit. It defined as a few number of rival firms make decision together for earning more profit. For instance, four supermarkets can control the supply of product; meanwhile, they will increase their price to get more abnormal profit. In addition, experienced businessman will have tacit, tacit collusion will occur that time. Formal collusion also destroys consumers benefit, because businesses always put their profit on the first place. As a consequence, consumer should face an unfair situation, because they have no ability to change the price (Anderton, 2009). In conclusion, although collusion creates significant disadvantages for consumer ¼Ã…’they can be benefited more from the marketing mix and rigidity price,. In specific, instead of price competition solely, consumers needs be satisfied by marketing mix. Business will use suitable promotion and price in different place, which depending on the type of their product. Furthermore, stable price let consumer use reasonable price to buy product they wanted. On the other hand, collusion has created disadvantages for consumers by control supply and price. However, government has already prepared to stop this phenomenon (Mail Online, 2009), which is a good news for consumers. Overall, these four supermarkets played a significant role in peoples normal life in UK; increasing number of requirement can be fulfilled. However, these four supermarkets take too much market share, it make high barrier for new firms. Government should consider reduce the barriers to entry, therefore, consumers will have more choice for buying product.

Whistleblowers: Are They Heroes or Traitors? Essay -- Pro Whistleblowe

Imagine a world without leadership, without risk-takers. The buildup for security would create a facade of a dystopian society with false freedom. The need for people to speak up is vital for a diverse, functioning environment. Whistle blowers are just the people who will expose the flaws, give the knowledge, empower the people, and count on them to make collective decisions on how to deal with these issues. Whistleblowers are intriguing. They grip the crowd’s attention through the risky and dangerous oddities they perform. They make sure people understand the real situation in which they are in. Ordinary citizens are drawn to whistleblowers because they are willing to put their life on the line for the â€Å"common good†, like people are enchanted by superheroes. This relationship between superheroes and reality displays the commonality of the general population thinking bold; risk-taking people are larger than life. This idea is profound within societies that have low expectations for the people and high government powers. The people are expected by the government to stay in line, never making their own decisions, without society’s approval. The government is expected to keep them in that order with federal, national, and state laws and regulations. But whistleblowers make a curve, defying societal norms, creating tension between government and people. With the ma ss media of today’s world, whistleblowers popularity inflates within seconds, causing a plethora of opinions. Eventually these opinions are put into movies, TV shows, and books. Some bring comparisons between our nation and what it could be and others bring realization of what it is, but it’s all though perception. There are only two perceptions toward... ....p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. . Watson, Tom. "'Traitor Or Hero?' Asking The Wrong Questions About Manning And Snowden." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 31 July 2013. Web. 07 Apr. 2014. . "Whistleblower behind Exposing NSA Surveillance Programs Reveals His Identity, Motivations and More." End the Lie. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2014. . "Whistle-Blowers in Limbo, Neither Hero Nor Traitor." The New York Times. The New York Times, 31 July 2013. Web. 07 Apr. 2014. .

Humorous Wedding Speech for a Groom Who has Moved Frequently :: Wedding Toasts Roasts Speeches

Humorous Wedding Speech for a Groom Who has Moved Frequently Firstly, on behalf of the bride and groom, let me thank you all for attending this wedding celebration which I'm sure you will agree has been organised magnificently well - and I bet the wedding album has better coverage than the (insert latest tablod scandal here)! Laughter Yesterday evening I was advised of my official wedding day duties and responsibilities. I was advised that, when greeting guests, to pay special attention to unaccompanied women. I'm way ahead on that one, Joseph's already given me a list of names with photos. On the subject of guests, in the run-up to today, Joseph and Barbara had a bit of an issue with the seating plan, because they really couldn't decide who to put where. So I offered to step in and help work something out. What we finally decided was to use the wedding gift list, and put those who bought the biggest items nearest the front, and work it back from there. So if they can hear me at the back there, thank you to Tony and Sue for the oven glove. And if you look around this room you'll see there are guests here from all around the world. Joseph has made a lot of international friends, and presumably they are all now part of his pyramid scheme. Nobody travels as widely as this man, Paris, New York, Moscow. In fact, last Friday when I went to meet him at the airport, three planes landed and Joseph got off all of them. In the twelve years we've been friends he has lived in so many places, and moved more times than everyone I know - put together. I now always give his cell phone a ring before I drop by to visit, to check that he hasn't moved again. In fact, it started to get so complicated, at one point I considered studying for a University Geography degree to keep up with him. But they say that every busy man should have a wife. Then he won't have to waste time in making up his own mind. Now, at some point I'm supposed to say what an honour it is being Joseph's best man. And when I say best man, I really mean best man. Just have a look at table four over there and you'll see there really was very little competition - that just looks like the bar scene from Star Wars.

The Sixties Scoop in Canada

Critical Social Work School of Social Work University of Windsor 401 Sunset Avenue Windsor, Ont. Canada N9B 3P4 Email: [email  protected] ca Website: http://www. uwindsor. ca/criticalsocialwork/ Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information can be found at: http://uwindsor. ca/criticalsocialwork The online version of this article can be found at at: http://uwindsor. ca/criticalsocialwork/the http://uwindsor. ca/criticalsocialwork/the-sixties-scoop-implications-for-social-workers workers-andsocial-work-educationCritical Social Work, 2010 Vol. 11 o. 1 11, Online publication date: May 2010 53 Alston-O’Connor The Sixties Scoop: Implications for Social Workers and Social Work Education Critical Social Work 11(1) Emily Alston-O’Connor, BSW Abstract This paper examines issues concerning First Nations peoples and the child welfare system, and their implications for social work today. It explores the Sixties Scoop to illustrate the devast ating impact such policies and practices had on Aboriginal children, families and communities. Cultural genocide is part of this legacy.To deliver more culturally appropriate services, awareness about and acknowledgement of these mistakes can assist social workers to incorporate a social justice perspective into their practice with Aboriginal clients. As well, implications for social work education regarding professional training, curriculum content and course delivery by Aboriginal faculty members are highlighted The Sixties Scoop: Implications for Social Workers and Social Work Education Religious leaders and the government of Canada have apologized to First Nations peoples for the abusive experiences they endured in the residential school ystem. However, the closure of the residential schools did not end the attempt to assimilate Aboriginal children into mainstream Anglo-Canadian society through separation from their families. A sudden acceleration in child welfare workers removi ng Native children from their Aboriginal communities coincided with the dismantling of the church run education system. As the next painful chapter in the history of the colonization of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples, the Sixties Scoop quickly evolved into an aggressive tool for assimilation and cultural genocide.Its legacy has implications for social work practice today. Origins of the Sixties Scoop Governments in the mid 20th century viewed Aboriginal people as â€Å"child-like creatures in constant need of the paternal care of the government. With guidance, they would gradually abandon their superstitious beliefs and barbaric behaviour and adopt civilization† (Titley, 1992, p. 36). Segregated day and residential schools had failed to meet the goals of assimilation: most former students did not embrace the Euro-Canadian identity.The Parliamentary committee examining the Indian Act between 1946 and 1948 rejected the existing policy and proposed Critical Social Work, 2010 Vol. 11, No. 1 54 Alston-O’Connor instead the integration of young Indians into public schools (Titley, 1992). Concurrently, the Department of Indian Affairs created agreements with the provinces to take primary responsibility for children’s general welfare within their own provincial agencies (Armitage, 1995). As residential schools became discredited, the child welfare system became the new agent of assimilation and colonization (Johnson, 1983).Returning to their reserves and bands, many residential school students felt alienated and overwhelmed. Growing up in the residential school system, Aboriginal children were not given role models to look up to. They were not shown affection nor taught how to love or care for others. They had few traditional child-rearing skills from their own parents and relatives to rely on (Armitage, 1995). This had detrimental effects on the families of survivors of the residential schools for the generations of children who followed (Four nier and Crey, 1997).During the era of the Sixties Scoop, Kulusic (2005) suggests that â€Å"power, privilege and poverty are complexly related to the disproportionate number of Aboriginal children who were removed from their own communities† (p. 26). Unfamiliar with extended family child-rearing practices and communal values, government social service workers attempted to ‘rescue’ children from their Aboriginal families and communities, devastating children’s lives and furthering the destitution of many families.Culture and ethnicity were not taken into consideration as it was assumed that the child, being pliable, would take on the heritage and culture of the foster/adoptive parents (Armitage, 1995). The forced removal of children and youth from their Native communities has been linked with social problems such as â€Å"high suicide rate, sexual exploitation, substance use and abuse, poverty, low educational achievement and chronic unemployment† ( Lavell-Harvard and Lavell, 2006, p. 144).Newly designated funds from the federal to the provincial governments were â€Å"the primary catalysts for state involvement in the well-being of Aboriginal children†¦as Ottawa guaranteed payment for each child apprehended† (Lavell-Harvard and Lavell, 2006, p. 145). Exporting Aboriginal children to the United States was common practice. Private American adoption agencies paid Canadian child welfare services $5,000 to $10,000 per child (LavellHarvard and Lavell, 2006). These agencies rarely went beyond confirming the applicant’s ability to pay, resulting in minimal screening and monitoring of foster or adoptive parents (Fournier and Crey, 1997).In 1959, only one percent of all children in care were of Native ancestry. By the late 1960s, â€Å"30 to 40 percent of all legal wards of the state in Canada were Aboriginal children, even though they formed less than 4 percent of the national population† (Fournier and Crey, 1 997, p. 83). At the height of the Scoop, one in four status Indian children were separated from his or her parents for all or part of their childhood; for non-status and Metis children, one in three spent part of their childhood as a legal ward of the state (Fournier and Crey, 1997).Social welfare policies allowed government agencies to â€Å"continue to remove Aboriginal children from their homes and communities and damage Aboriginal culture and traditions all the while claiming to act in the best interest of the child† (Johnson, 1983, p. 24). The permanent removal of thousands of Aboriginal children during the Sixties Scoop laid the foundation for more complex, destructive effects on First Nations communities and culture with repercussions extending beyond their lifetimes. Critical Social Work, 2010 Vol. 1, No. 1 55 Alston-O’Connor Cultural Genocide and Loss of Identity The loss of their children caused irrevocable mental, emotional and spiritual harm to individuals, families and communities. â€Å"Indian children were taken away like souvenirs by professionals who were supposed to be helping the whole family† (Fournier and Crey, 1997, p. 91). The actions of child welfare workers destabilized traditional First Nations culture, quickly stereotyping Aboriginal women as unfit mothers and living off the land as uncivilized.Welfare agencies played a very important role in â€Å"defining, transmitting and shaping what were seen as legitimate or normal cultural expectations and practices† (Ward, 1984, p. 22). The acceptable home criteria reflected a nuclear, middle class lifestyle. Once an Aboriginal child was placed, social agencies did not offer support to the newly formed families even though research has shown that transracial adoption is more problematic because children lose their cultural heritage and their true identity (Kulusic, 2005).Permanent estrangement from one’s roots was inherent in the Sixties Scoop adoption struc ture. Aboriginal names, like postal codes, signify which First Nations their family belongs to (Cuthand, 2007). With legal adoptions, children’s birth family names disappeared as the adoptive surname was issued on all records. Sealing their case files erased any past family history and made repatriation nearly impossible for the adopted child and their grieving families. Some reserves lost almost an entire generation of their children to the welfare system (Johnson, 1983).Many children were placed in distant communities, exported to other provinces or across the US border to the homes of middle class white families (Kulusic, 2005). Scattering children across the continent undermined identification with the close-knit traditional Aboriginal culture and destroyed its kinship network. The legal rights of Aboriginal children were forgotten. With the erasure of their ancestry, the knowledge of being a treaty Indian child was suppressed. Special privileges available as a result of their Native status were lost through the apprehension and adoption process (Kimmelman, 1985).In accordance with treaty rights, one might expect that child welfare agencies would place the child in a culturally appropriate environment, focused on healthy development as an Aboriginal child. Such considerations were routinely ignored (Kimmelman, 1985). This large-scale removal of Aboriginal children to non-native families throughout the 1960s and 1970s damaged the cultural legacy of all First Nations peoples. The long-term implementation and destructive intergenerational impacts of Canadian government policies during the Sixties Scoop are consistent with the United Nations definition for cultural genocide.Article 2 of the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines genocide as, â€Å"any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing mem bers of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group† (Office of the High Commissioner). Critical Social Work, 2010 Vol. 11, No. 1 56 Alston-O’Connor Under the misguided goal of assimilation, Aboriginal children were forcibly relocated to non-Aboriginal communities. Placements with families who could not offer socialization within an Aboriginal framework of traditional knowledge and pride of heritage destroyed one of the most important intergenerational processes for cultural knowledge and continuity. Individual Suffering and the Plight of the Family Many of the legal adoptions throughout the 1960s and 1970s were unsuccessful.Alienated children became runaways, turned to street life for s upport and experienced an overwhelming sense of lost identity, â€Å"a sense of social isolation greater than that which they had experienced in the church-run schools† (York, 1990, p. 205). Anxiety and culture shock were common after moving from remote, rural areas into suburban settings to live with strangers. Many children had difficulties developing attachments to their new parents, had an inability to connect and were distrustful (York, 1990). Some adults, adopted as children, reported physical, sexual and emotional abuses. Others were even treated as domestic servants (Fournier and Crey, 1997). Children are so highly valued in Aboriginal culture that those without children are considered disadvantaged (Johnson, 1983).Research confirms that Native families who â€Å"approached child care agencies in search of help for funds to supply food and shelter ended up losing their children †¦ Often times they were only offered one option: to relinquish custody of the childà ¢â‚¬  (Kimmelman, 1985, p. 196). Problems of alcoholism, emotional stress and low selfesteem were compounded with the increased formal scrutiny and likelihood that other children would be removed from the family (Johnson, 1983). The actions of the social welfare agencies â€Å"weakened the traditional family structure, and in doing so, weakened Aboriginal society as a whole† (Johnson, 1983, p. 61). Implications for Social Work Practice Today Client Contexts The impact of the Sixties Scoop is multi-layered.Understanding the specific nature of this colonial oppression of Aboriginal peoples requires current social workers to incorporate a social justice perspective when addressing specific issues with Aboriginal clients. It provides insight into how the colonizing process has pressured people to â€Å"detach from who they are but left them with no means to alleviate the pressure† (Hart, 2007, p. 27). In our role as counselors, this framework gives us the ability to rejec t assessment tools that merely label, personalize and pathologize individual expression and relate these problems to the larger socio-political reality (Hart, 2007). We are better prepared to identify how media stereotypes and social prejudices translate into everyday life for thousands of First Nations people.As Fournier and Crey (1997) note, the current generation is suffering the effects of hundreds of years of colonialist public policies. By situating the client’s presenting problem in a societal context, we set the stage to identify strategies to offset the impoverishing effects of these social justice issues. As social workers, it is our ethical duty to look beyond individual risk factors and to change society’s foundational inequalities and constraints (CASW, 2005). One of the ways to address the power imbalance between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal culture is to incorporate Critical Social Work, 2010 Vol. 11, No. 1 57 Alston-O’Connor Indigenous knowledge .Battiste (2002) argues it can only be fully learned and understood when learned in context, taught through Indigenous teaching methods, including sharing circles, experiential learning, meditation, prayer, ceremonies and story-telling. Thus social workers must become familiar with and support traditional healing processes. Hart (2007) believes â€Å"†¦ if the helping professions respected Aboriginal perspectives, they would incorporate methodologies which directly address the effects of genocide, colonization and oppression. † (p. 31). Native Elders have been speaking about relationships between individuals, families, communities and the world around them for generations. They can serve as role models for positive growth and well being (Hart, 2007).Their wisdom and knowledge can contribute support, direction and spiritual resources to aid both individual and collective problem solving and healing. Social workers must take an active role in encouraging direct participati on in rituals and ceremonies with First Nations clients. The blessing of an event, attending a sweat lodge or going to a sharing circle establish oneness within the group and have symbolic importance. Spirituality and connecting with one’s roots play a powerful role in building a strong sense of Aboriginal identity and hope. These practices are not part of a theoretical approach designed by academics to help Indigenous Peoples.They are meaningful expressions of Aboriginal culture and need to be recognized as valid approaches within the helping process. Effective social work practice must support the self-determination of clients to choose traditional approaches and must not be limited by textbook theory or policy driven programs to resolve issues (Hart, 2007). Culturally Appropriate Practice Analysing the impacts of the Sixties Scoop is essential to changing the social realities for Aboriginal peoples today. Practicing from an anti-oppressive philosophy, our mandate includes identifying stereotyping and over generalizing. Misperceiving traditional practices can have a negative effect on the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal working relationship.To counteract the colonial mentality of our Anglo-Canadian society, social workers must become knowledgeable about Aboriginal perspectives and how they are reflected in traditional and urban Aboriginal culture. Past personal and generational experiences are important as well as present events that will affect future generations (Hart, 2007). Social workers who work with Aboriginal clients must respect and appreciate their worldview. Openness and sensitivity to nuances related to culture, education, and ways of communicating are essential skills. Individuals must be self aware and alert to the possibility that the social workers’ own life experiences will affect the way they view this population (Levin and Herbert, 2004).Positive cultural attributes such as intergenerational strength of spirit and collective re silience are qualities to celebrate and build upon when social workers partner in the journey toward Aboriginal healing and community renewal. The cultural view of the collective is a core Aboriginal belief that affects social work practice. First Nations culture and communities place an honourable emphasis on kin and its strengths and meaning. Immediate family often includes extended family members and distant relatives. The community is seen as another extension of the family and needs to be included in any healing process. It is crucial to be aware of this collective belief and its manifestations within the community as it affects the language, the terminology and the focus used by the social Critical Social Work, 2010 Vol. 11, No. 1 58 Alston-O’Connor orker with the client and their relatives when discussing issues and communicating about programs and options. Trust issues may be a concern when working with First Nations peoples. Research findings by Levin and Herbert (20 04) identified fear and a lack of trust in health care settings due to discrimination and stigmatizing actions. They also reported that Aboriginal women, in particular, lacked trust in health care workers, be it doctors or social workers, due to the inexperience of workers, lack of communication with patients, cultural insensitivity, and absence of knowledge or understanding of Native healing practices (Levin and Herbert, 2004).Often service providers have inadequate information about the experiences of living in poverty or the needs, perspectives, cultures and traditions of First Nations clients. Mistrust has grown out of lived experiences such as the Sixties Scoop. Lack of understanding of this influencing factor creates substantial barriers to the establishment of a trust-based relationship between service providers and clients. This lack of trust has implications when trying to develop or implement community based initiatives as trust is vital to its success (Levin and Herbert, 2004). Legacy Lessons The destructive effects of the Sixties Scoop have important lessons for social workers today.Past mistakes in terms of the cultural context of First Nations children in care must not be repeated. Social workers uphold the fundamental child welfare principle that children should not be removed from their families solely on the basis of poverty. However, this core principle has not been equitably applied in provincial child welfare practices towards First Nations parents and children. The overrepresentation of First Nations children in care continues to be placed in nonAboriginal families (MacDonald and MacDonald, 2007). Caucasian families without cultural supports for Aboriginal children in their care may be unaware of how to address issues such as racism, prejudice and loss.As noted by Sinclair (2007) â€Å"†¦several studies found that a positive parental attitude towards the child’s ethnic group, as well as some form of social involvement with tha t ethnic group in the family’s life is significantly correlated with a child’s positive adjustment and positive sense of identity† (p. 70). While pride in the child’s Aboriginal heritage can be encouraged when specific cultural involvement plans are in place, many agencies and communities do not have the personnel to share these traditions and values. In some regions, cultural identity considerations have led to the development of policies that prioritize placement with extended family members or with foster care providers within the same community when children are removed from their parental home (McKenzie and Morrissette, 2003).The ongoing development of culturally appropriate child welfare services needs to include provisions for personal involvement with Aboriginal heritage languages, cultural traditions and values if apprehended children are to avoid the alienation and identity loss experienced by Aboriginal children from the Sixties Scoop. Professio nal Training It is clear that the social work profession and the Schools of Social Work have not been ‘neutral’ in the education and training that produced past social workers (MacDonald and MacDonald, 2007). Social workers’ Euro-centric assumptions sanctioned the destructive role of child welfare agencies in relationship to Aboriginal culture. The government’s assimilation goals Critical Social Work, 2010 Vol. 11, No. 1 59 Alston-O’Connor for First Nations peoples were congruent with the professional criteria for â€Å"the best interests of the child† during the Sixties Scoop.MacDonald and MacDonald (2007) note that social work education programs today play a key role within the colonizing mentality of child welfare agencies. â€Å"Through a social justice lens, the Schools of Social Work need to examine their role in the colonial processes that continue to impact on First Nations people in this country† (MacDonald and MacDonald, 2007 , p 43). Social workers can be pro-active in calling for changes in their professional faculties. It is important to consider the method in which social work students are receiving their education. Tensions and stereotypes must be discussed openly. While the Sixties Scoop may be a potential factor in many of our clients’ lives, it is also one in many of our social work students’ lives. There is a need for supports to reflect on the needs of all Aboriginal students including those who know their culture, and those who are new to their culture, as well as those who practice tradition and those who were raised within the church† (Clark, Drolet, Arnouse, Walton, Rene’ Tamburro, & Mathews, 2009, p. 305). Culturally relevant education, training and curriculum development are critical to help inform empowering approaches. The inclusion of Elders in the field education programs, incorporation of spirituality and ceremony into all classrooms and an emphasis on Abor iginal leaders facilitating these practices can provide deeper insight into the Aboriginal culture and its rich history. In addition to First Nations child welfare agencies and National First Nations organizations, the schools of Social Work need to play an active role in the development of culturally appropriate social work education (MacDonald and MacDonald, 2007).They need to ensure that Aboriginal faculty teach decolonizing practices to all social work students. Recommendations on how to make the curriculum and the Schools of Social Work more reflective of and relevant to First Nations students’ needs must be implemented. As well, social worker associations need to advocate for future social work graduates to be equipped to partner with the Aboriginal community in their work toward social justice. During the Sixties Scoop, the basic principles of intrinsic human value and the right to self-determination were erased by a government intent on cultural genocide. By forcibly reassigning First Nations children to non-Aboriginal families, kinship affiliations were obliterated.Its multi-generational legacy of grief and loss in relation to family, identity, culture, heritage and community profoundly is still being felt today. As agents of child apprehension, social workers must examine their role in this tragedy and in the colonization of Aboriginal peoples. A commitment to implementing culturally relevant social work practice with First Nations clients is essential for the profession. We have the opportunity to critically evaluate current issues and to partner with members of the Aboriginal community in identifying best practices to challenge the myriad of social, political and personal issues that resulted from the Sixties Scoop.As progressive agents for social justice, it is one of our responsibilities to create changes to ensure that Aboriginal peoples and their communities have the appropriate resources to flourish and grow. Critical Social Work, 2010 Vol. 11, No. 1 60 Alston-O’Connor References Armitage, A. (1995). Comparing the Policy of Aboriginal Assimilation: Australia, Canada and ew Zealand. Vancouver: UBC Press. Battiste, M. (2002). Indigenous knowledge and pedagogy in First ations education: A literature review with recommendations. Prepared for the National working group on education and the Minister of Indian Affairs, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC). Ottawa, ON. Retrieved March 9, 2010, from: http://www. ainc-inac. gc. ca/pr/pub/krw/ikp_e. html. CASW (2005). Social work code of ethics. Ottawa: Canadian Association of Social Workers.Clark, N. , Drolet, J. , Arnouse, M. , Rene’ Tamburro, P. , Walton, P. , & Mathews, N. (2009). â€Å"â€Å"Melq’ilwiye† Coming Together in An Intersectional Research Team – Using Narratives and Cultural Safety to Transform Aboriginal Social Work and Human Service Field Education. † Pimatisiwin: A Journal of Aboriginal and Indigenous Communit y Health 7. 2, 291-315. Retrieved March 10, 2010 from: http://www. pimatisiwin. com/online/wp-content/ uploads/2010/jan/08ClarkeDroletArnouseMathews. pdf. Cuthand, D. (2007). Askiwina: A Cree World. Regina: Couteau Books. Fournier, S. & Crey, E. (1997). Stolen From Our Embrace. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntrye. Hart, M. (2007).Seeking Mino-Pimatisiwin: An Aboriginal Approach to Helping. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing. Johnson, P. (1983). ative Children and the Child Welfare System. Toronto: Lorimer. Kimmelman, E. (1985). o Quiet Place: Final Report to the Honourable Muriel Smith, Minister of Community Services/Review Committee on Indian and Metis Adoptions/Placements. Winnipeg: Manitoba Community Services. Kulusic, T. (2005). â€Å"The Ultimate Betrayal: Claiming and Reclaiming Cultural Identity†. Atlantis, 29. 2, 23-28. Lavell-Harvard, D. M. & Lavell, J. C. (Eds. ). (2006). Until Our Hearts Are On The Ground: Aboriginal Mothering, Oppression, Resistance and Rebirth. Toronto: Deme ter Press. Levin, R. & Herbert, M. (2004). The Experience of Urban Aboriginals with Healt Care Services in Canada: Implications for Social Work Practice†. Social Work in Health Care, 39. 1, 165-179. MacDonald, N. & MacDonald, J. (2007) â€Å"Reflections of a Mi’kmaq social worker on a quarter of a century work in First Nations Child Welfare†. First Peoples Child & Family Review, 3. 1, 34-45. Critical Social Work, 2010 Vol. 11, No. 1 61 Alston-O’Connor McKenzie, B. & Morrissette, V. (2003). Social Work Practice with Canadians of Aboriginal Background: Guidelines for Respectful Social Work. Envision: The Manitoba Journal of Child Welfare, 2, 13-39. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Retrieved May 13, 2009. http://www. unhchr. ch/html/menu3/b/p_genoci. htm Sinclair, R. (2007). â€Å"Identity Lost and Found: Lessons from the Sixties Scoop†. First Peoples Child & Family R eview. 3. 1, 65-82. Titley, E. B. (1992). A arrow Vision: Duncan Campbell Scott and the Administration of Indian Affairs in Canada. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. Ward, M. (1984). The Adoption of ative Canadian Children. Cobalt: Highway Book Shop. York, G. (1990). The Dispossessed: Life and Death in ative Canada. Toronto: Little Brown. Critical Social Work, 2010 Vol. 11, No. 1