Using Case Study Examples Discuss the Rationale

Tourism is one of the biggest and fastest growing global industries. In the 20th Century, the tourism industry experienced universal expansion that has obvious economic, social and political benefits. The benefits of tourism have been enormous especially for developing poor countries that have limited sources of foreign currency; it has an important source of income and employment. On the other hand however, the growth of that sector has been accompanied by negative impacts as well. As tourism market is remarkably dynamic, there is an impact for local economies, environment and society.Examples of Malta and Gambia will help us to understand how tourism planning is developed in those countries through sustainability as well as the approaches of tourism planning for the better future of those countries. Firstly, it is important to understand the definition of sustainability. Brundtland as cited in C. Michael Hall defined sustainable development as ‘development that meets the need s of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.Trying to meet those needs is a primary political, economic and environmental issue as it puts demand on the new ways of thinking about the nature and purpose of development and growth. For instance, looking at Malta the centre of Mediterranean, that is seen as a sun-and- see travel destination. Tourism development in Malta begun in late 1950’s, attracting especially mass tourists during the summer time. However, after decent beginning and rapid growth the development went into stagnation.It is closely illustrated as the classic model of a tourism development cycle (Butler, 1980). Maltese Islands have a large number and wide variety of tourism attractions that give a strong potential for tourism development. To reach the goal of a successful sustainable tourism development, country needs to careful planning, systematic implementation of the plans and continuous and effectiv e management. Planning itself is not only a decision-making but as much important as policy-making. Friedmann(1973) as cited in C.Michael Hall identify two different types of planning ‘which lay at opposite ends of an autonomy-dependency continuum depending on where the planner or the planning agency lay within the planning system’; developmental and adaptive planning. With no expectations the planning is always related to policy making. Therefore, as stated by Cullingsworth(1997:5) ‘planning is the purposive process in which goals are set and policies elaborated to implement them’. Policy making is notably involved with government actions. Furthermore, governments are machinery of tourism which can help or not regarding to the tourism industry.For instance, Malta’s Tourism Authority (MTA) has a huge impact on the regional tourism development. In 1999 the MTA took over the charge of NTOM, the Hotel and Catering Establishments Board (HCEB) as well as become committed in human resources. The key changes in new tourism administration were stated as: ‘visibility of the Malta brand in source markets; product upgrading; development of core service skills; the establishments of standards and regulation of the industry; the provision of relevant information to enable critical decision-making by the MTA itself, by the government and by the industry ( MTA, 2000a)’.As a result, the new approach that was mainly directed not only to the main stakeholders in Malta but overseas operators and visitors as well. The strategic was directed into three principal areas; ’product development, re-imaging of the Islands and redefined marketing campaign. ’ In this perspective of those main areas Malta has started to develop their very fragmented product. Moreover, it was mostly concentrated on a dissimilar perception that was giving a wrong image of Maltese Islands.In addition, different overseas MTA representative offices hav e shown varied advertising campaigns that gave a mixed image of Malta. Malta is seen as a destination of different activities for tourists from different countries. For instance, Malta is seen as a beach destination and a destination for elderly people for English tourists. However for French and Italian visitors it is a place witch a cultural treasures. Therefore, MTA has designed brand new image and logo of the Islands to create a more understandable vision of Malta for international visitors.The new logo was trying to encourage the visitors to see more than they are aiming to experience. MTA has concentrated on the quality of product that was focused on the accommodation, activities and events as well as on beach development and country walks. The new way of marketing and promotion was a great economic approach. Therefore, the projects leading to upgrading the cultural heritage and the tourism infrastructure of Malta were funded; The Ministry for Tourism and Culture as well as MT A accessed founds that interference tourism.However, the new approach for the changing the images of the Maltese Islands do not concentrate on local people. Undertaken actions conceal the actual picture of Malta that is most populated place in Europe as well as most of the tourists are young couples. The new image can easily direct to extremely negative effects; visitors realise that Malta is heavily build up with very busy life of local people. On the other hand there are a lot of beneficial impacts of tourism development in Malta. Tourism is Malta is giving a lot of employment as well as development of the island is highly seen.Although there is a lot of aspects to improve; the real product as well as image has to be identified, more of the local stakeholders have to project instead of outside tour operators. The approach of governments has to be more affective in tourism development. It has to be identified that not only the rich culture, history and climate are the higher valued products of Malta but the most important and the more valuable are local people. Tourism in Gambia has an extremely important impact for country development and economy. Tourism is not only the source of income and government revenues but as well it gives opportunities of employment.Gambia, the smallest country on the African continent that was known as a travel destination since 1965 went from steady growth through boosted development to lack of further development over last years. Limited financial and human resources as much as poor infrastructure at local stage are restricting tourism development in country. Number of visitors arriving Gambia was increasing until 1994 when military coup was held. However, after 1995 the tourism sector started to collapse and in addition Gambia lost market share and reminded static. The country economy did not develop at any stage since that time.It could be necessary to note that problems Gambia is facing are strongly related to socio- economic and political issues inside the country. Important fact to point out is that agriculture is accounting approximately 75% of employment but merely 35% of GDP, where tourism accounts of 12% of employment with as much as 23% of GDP for the country( according to WTTC data). With regard to tourism planning and development there is a need to recognise two different phases of development. The first phase that happened between 1972- 1994 was significant in rapid increase of arrivals into the country.Moreover, Gambia became dependent on a tourist markets especially from UK and Scandinavia. On the other hand tourism became highly seasonal; known as a winter-sun destination where over 80% of arrivals occurred between November to April. In this situation, the number of accommodation supply has increased. Furthermore, the government took a huge part of the tourism development by providing a wide variety of incentives for and controls on hotel development. The government created specific bodies responsible for policy development and implementation.However public sector was very limited by lack of funding for tourism development and promotion therefore was mainly driven by the overseas private sector. Another example of critical changes in tourism development is second phase of the economy in Gambia. ‘Phase 2’ was held between 1995 and 2005. After the year of coup the tourism sector was still growing with record of 96,000 tourists in 1999. However, following the extremely growth in visitors the arrivals have tragically collapsed. Although it can be noticed that there was an increase of accommodation supply however most of the hotels remain under foreign ownerships.On the other side the infrastructural development funded by an African Development Bank loan have included a $10 million beach recovery project, a $150,000 street lightning system as well as a new road bypassing Serrekunda that improved the access to the tourist areas. Moreover, the new terminal build ing was launched in the international airport. Meanwhile, during the period of ‘Phase 2’ large number of international operators have decreased. On the other hand the lack of data is a continuing problem regarding to economic value of tourism to the country.Nowadays, few organizations (Responsible Tourism Partnership and Association of Small Scale Enterprises in Tourism) have been created to work ‘towards developing a more responsible approach to tourism development’. Their main goal is to help small- scale businesses in participation and benefiting from tourism industry. It can be said that the Gambia’s tourism policy for 1995-2000 have created ambitious targets such as increasing the arrivals numbers to 150,000, accommodation supply growth to 10,000bed spaces and the aim to change the direction from mass charter tourism to more individual and special interest groups tourism.Furthermore, the new ‘Master Plan’ from 2005 that has been con centrated on developing tourism industry sets out the new route for tourism development until 2020. Moreover, it is already recognising lack of progress and can be said that Gambia’s development project has already entered the ‘lost decade’. It is clear from the above that Gambia both as a country and a tourist destination has a limited market that is restricted by climate, lack of facilities as well as health requirements. Furthermore, Gambia is not rich either in natural or cultural attractions that could appeal to tourist’s interest.Also Gambia could be taken as an expensive destination where tourists are entitled to pay arrival taxes. On the other hand, it could not be said that many efforts have been taken to develop tourism in the Gambia. Consequently, GTA (Gambia Tourism Authority) provides motivation to prospective developers as tax breaks and ‘free’ land subjected to future development and a 50-year lease on that land. In conclusion, without expectation that approaches to tourism planning are extremely important aspects for tourism development in each country.It has been identified that five certain mechanism by which long-term approach to tourism development can be achieved; cooperative and integrated control systems, development of industry coordination mechanisms, raising customer awareness, raising producer awareness and strategic tourism planning to supersede conventional approaches (Dutton and Hall; 1989). Tourism requires certain approaches as well as appropriate managements to operate at higher levels to sustain tourism development process in both of the counties.Malta as well as Gambia need to look forward the future and ask themselves what do they want gain for the new tourism planning and future development. It is not an exception that it is going to be an easy task for both of those countries, especially for Gambia who is one of poorest countries in the world. Each of those countries has to find new strategies of tourism planning as well as new, better direction for tourism development where local people and local investors are involved in the complete project of gaining benefits from tourism planning. Bibliography Hall, C.Michael (2000) Tourism Planning: Policies, Processes and Relationships Gunn, Clare A. (3rd edition) Tourism Planning: Basics, Concepts, Cases Keyser, Heidi (2002) Tourism Development Hall, C. Michael and Page, Stephen J. (1999) 2nd edition; The Geography of Tourism and Recreation: Environment, Place and Space References Hall, D. , Smith, M. , Marciszewska, B. (2006) Tourism in the New Europe: Challenges and Opportunities of EU Enlargements; Chapter 17; Theuma, Nadia (2006) Malta: Re-imaging the Mediterranean Destination Sharpley, Richard; Developments in Tourism Research; Chapter 4; Tourism in The Gambia- Ten Years On

Mr. Jim Wormold, the Unlikely Optimist in “Our Man in Havana”

According to the online version of the Merriam-Webster dictionary, â€Å"faith is the allegiance to duty or a person: loyalty (1): fidelity to one's promises (2): sincerity of intentions. †# The concept of faith can cleverly be disguised as a purely religious byproduct; possessed primarily by the followers of a religious belief system or spiritual path. However, faith simply means a strong trust in something or someone. Faith is to commit oneself to act based on life experience to warrant rationalization, but without sufficient proof.To have a faith in someone or something also involves an act of will to persevere when the odds are at great length. Even though the protagonist, Jim Wormold doesn’t have religious faith and his actions motivated entirely by desperation to have the approval of an absent wife and spoiled daughter, he is the only character that doesn’t exhibit blind faith. Faith is closely related to loyalty, as evidenced by the ideal of †fidelit y to one’s promises† or an inherent â€Å"faithfulness†. Faith is not an uniquely religious principle, but it is a byproduct of entrusting loyalty.And both loyalty and faithfulness have connections to trustworthiness. Loyalty cannot exist without faith. Wormold’s faith is engrossed to the loyalty of his daughter. As stated in Chapter 2, â€Å"Unlike Wormold, who believed in nothing, Milly was a Catholic: he had been made to promise her mother, he supposed, was of no faith at all, but she had left a Catholic on his hands. It brought Milly closer to Cuba than he could come himself† (Greene, 15). When marrying, Wormold promised his wife they would raise their children as Catholics. Even when his wife leaves he continues to raise Milly as a Catholic.Although it appears that he himself is absent of a religious faith, his actions to ensure she is Catholic are very significant. Wormold failed in his marriage, but doesn’t want to fail in raising his daughter with the right upbringing. Wormold is wholly dedicated and governed by the main woman in his life, his daughter Milly. She is the entire reason for him becoming involved in the Secret Service. By all accounts he should have rejected Hawthorne's offer. He has no background or training of any kind that would qualify him to be a spy. However, he sees a chance to make some money and he exploits it.He not only takes the basic pay of $300 offered him, but goes out of his way to make as much money as possible by creating phantom agents and missions all requiring more money, which of course he uses on his daughter. The following quote presents the reasoning why Wormold accepts Hawthorne’s offer. Milly wants a horse and a country club membership for her seventeenth birthday although she knows Wormold cannot afford the extra expenses of such a gift. †¦,‘Oh, I knew you’d take it like this,’ Milly said. ‘I knew it in my heart of hearts. I said two novenas to make it right, but they haven’t worked.I was so careful too. I was in a state of grace all the time I said them. I’ll never believe in a novena again. Never. Never. ’ (†¦) He had no faith himself, but he never wanted by any action of his own to weaken hers. Now he felt a fearful responsibility; at any moment she would be denying the existence of God. Ancient promises he had made came up out of the past to weaken him. (18) In the given quote, Milly begins to doubt whether her prayers will be answered. It is obvious she takes advantage of her father and asks for anything even if she knows her father cannot afford it.In fear of Milly becoming skeptical of her Catholic faith, Wormold keeps the horse as he had made â€Å"ancient promises to his wife† to â€Å"raise a good Catholic†. Wormold’s fear of his daughter, or at least the fear of her disapproval is brought to realization. Wormold has a great love for his daughter and wants to give her everything she wants so that he can succeed as a single parent and remedy faults he committed to his wife. He sees direct parallels to his daughter with his wife. Wormold failed at his marriage, but he intends to succeed in rearing their child.Several times throughout the novel, Milly manipulates and controls her father with a similarity to her mother. He feels distant and detached from her world and often gives into her requests. â€Å"He was glad that she [Milly] could still accept fairy stories: a virgin who bore a child, pictures that wept or spoke words of love in the dark. Hawthorne and his kind were equally credulous, but what they swallowed were nightmares, grotesque stories out of science fiction† (75). Wormold compares the significance of Milly's Catholic faith to that of a childhood fairytale as it ensures she maintains her innocence and faith in something without skepticism.This critique of Catholicism is similar to the Santa Claus myth. Parents lie t o their children about the existence of an imaginary entity in hopes to instill principles of goodness and morality in their children. Wormolds’ lack of religious faith is a result of a moral discrepancy. His wife was apparently a devote Catholic but still managed to overlook her marriage and run off with another man. Religion for the protagonist, Wormold is irrelevant. On the other hand, to have a faith that things will continue being advantageous isn’t considered far-fetched.Our Man In Havana takes place against the background of the Cold War. The British Secret Service is operated by heresy and the fear of expansion of the Communist regime. The novel’s setting in Havana Cuba is important because the story is written and takes place just before the revolution led by Fidel Castro. At the time of the story, Cuba is a largely poor country. There are many European and American tourists and businesspeople on the island who have their personal agendas and respective loyalties. Wormold remarks about this in Part 5 of Chapter 4: â€Å"You are loyal. † â€Å"Who to? † â€Å"To Milly.I don't care a damn about men who are loyal to the people who pay them, to organizations†¦ I don't think even my country means all that much. There are many countries in our blood, aren't there, but only one person. Would the world be in the mess it is if we were loyal to love and not to countries? † (195) The paranoia surrounding the Cold War is what drives the Secret Service to recruit agents so quickly without giving them proper training. Loyalty is a recurring theme throughout Greene’s novel and questions the validity of the ability to have a loyalty to a country when residing in another.Espionage is rampant because the fear of a Communist threat appears imminent. Consequently, they are so desperate for any information that they are very excited when they get Wormold's fake reports. Their desire to outmaneuver the Communists oversh adows their common sense. The British Secret Service engages in a prime example of blind faith with enlisting Jim Wormold. Hawthorne, the British secret agent who recruits Wormold, is not revered as an outstanding agent and isn’t trusted by his superiors. This may be a result in his questionable judgment for selecting new recruits.Although the British secret Service prides itself to â€Å"employ agents who were men of good social standing,† Hawthorne lies about Wormold’s true occupation and social standing by embellishing it: â€Å" ‘Oh, he imports, you know, Machinery, that sort of thing. ’ It was always important to one’s own career to employ agents who were men of good social standing. The petty details on the secret file dealing with the store in Lamparilla Street would never, in ordinary circumstances, reach this basement-room† (52). Later, Hawthorne suspects Wormold's reports may be falsified, but does nothing about it.In Part 4 of Chapter 2 Dr. Hasselbacher states, â€Å"At first they promised me they were planning nothing. You have been very useful to them. They knew about you from the very beginning, Mr. Wormold, but they didn't take you seriously. They even thought you might be inventing your reports. But then you changed your codes and your staff increased. The British Secret Service would not be so easily deceived as all that, would it? † (146) Faith is a suspension of disbelief. This is vital for believing in things that can't be proven, and as such is a personal decision for the individual.The function of the British Secret Service is to rely heavily on sources that cannot be easily confirmed. They have to put much trust in people like Wormold. While it is likely that most of them are reliable and diligent intelligence gatherers, there are few checks and balances in place to confirm they are not. The information they provide is obviously secret and not easily verifiable. This is dangerous bec ause decision makers have to much of their faith on these sources when making serious decisions.When wrong information gets through the system, whether it is intentionally wrong or not, it resulted in disastrous consequences as several people do in fact die indirectly because of Wormold's fake reports. The Secret Service is supposed to be a highly competent organization, but in reality they are unwittingly relying on Wormold who is neither qualified nor a loyal patriot of the British Crown. â€Å"If you have abandoned one faith, do not abandon all faith. There is always an alternative to the faith we lose. Or is it the same faith under another mask? # The idea of faith being either religious or not is purely semantics. For Wormold it is not a matter if he has faith, but who or what he places his faith in. Throughout the novel, Wormold exhibits optimism that he will be able to preserve a decent livelihood for himself and his daughter through playing up the insecurities and paranoia of the British secret service. Through the depiction of Wormold, Greene's Our Man In Havana suggests that true faith is not blinded by fear of attack of an unknown enemy or mythology of an ominous being, but loyalty to one’s individual morals and loved ones.

African Americans and the Civil War Essay Example for Free (#2)

African Americans and the Civil War Essay African American (597) , African (466) , Civil War (178) , Martin Luther King (60) company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints ? In the world we live in many people take a lot for granted. Just the small simple things people don’t really appreciate, being ungrateful for the things that have been given to them. Many people and different situations have paved the way for our generation to become much easier to live in. African Americans during the civil rights movement had to face a lot of trills in order to make the world a better place. Many people don’t appreciate that because they are unaware of just how much grief African Americans had to go though to create a path for the upcoming generation. African Americans faced many hardships during the civil rights movement, some of those hardships were segregation, voting rights, and assassination of prominent African American leaders. Segregation was such a big obstacle for African Americans because not only were they not allowed to go certain places it became bigger than that. Everything in African Americans lives were split in half. There were white only signs places all over there towns. White only signs for bathrooms, restaurants, and water fountains. Everything was separated between the two races blacks and whites. One event that really stuck out like a sore thumb was The Montgomery Bus Boycott. During, the time of segregation blacks were allowed to ride the buses, but many rules had to apply. Blacks had a black’s only section on the bus that could be moved in any location of the bus. That means that the blacks’ only sign could be moved in front of two rows on the bus if that’s what the bus driver wanted. Black riders had to pay their bus far on the front of the bus and get off to walk to the back of the bus to ride. Some bus drivers would allow the blacks to pay and when the step off the bus the bus driver would drive away and leave them. When blacks did receive a chance to ride on the bus, if a white person did not have a seat to sit in a black person had to give up their seat. The blacks of Montgomery, Alabama, decided that they would boycott the city buses until they could sit anywhere they wanted, instead of being relegated to the back when a white boarded. On December 1, 1955, Mrs. Rosa Parks, an African American seamstress, was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for not standing and letting a white bus rider take her seat. The plan to stop the whites from making the blacks move was the boycott. Blacks would no longer ride the buses anymore. That means that the bus companies were losing a lot of money. Blacks would walk to work or school and even carpool, but would not step foot on the buses. The boycott continued for over a year. Eventually, the United States Supreme Court put an end to the boycott. On November 13, 1956 the Court declared that Alabama’s state and local laws requiring segregation on buses were illegal. On December 20th federal injunctions were served on city and bus company officials forcing them to follow the Supreme Court’s ruling. African Americans had to face a lot just so that they could be treated as an equal on the bus. Segregation played a huge role in the school system. In public schools more so than any. That’s what stated the big flare Brown vs. Board of Education. The 1954 United States Supreme Court decision in Oliver L. Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka (KS) is among the most significant judicial turning points in the development of our country. Originally led by Charles H. Houston, and later Thurgood Marshall and a formidable legal team, it dismantled the legal basis for racial segregation in schools and other public facilities. Brown vs. Board of Education was not simply about children and education. The laws and policies struck down by this court decision were products of the human tendencies to prejudge, discriminate against, and stereotype other people by their ethnic, religious, physical, or cultural characteristics. Ending this behavior as a legal practice caused far reaching social and ideological implications, which continue to be felt throughout our country. The Brown decision inspired and galvanized human rights struggles across the country and around the world. The U. S. Supreme Court decision in Brown began a critical chapter in the maturation of our democracy. It reaffirmed the sovereign power of the people of the United States in the protection of their natural rights from arbitrary limits and restrictions imposed by state and local governments. These rights are recognized in the Declaration of Independence and guaranteed by the U. S. Constitution. Brown was giving African Americans the opportunity to be accepted as an individual and not just as a race. Now, you would think that after the Brown vs. Board of Education whites would accept African Americans and treat them better. That was not the case and segregation did not stop there. Although, many people had hoped that it would it took the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to really make a change. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against blacks and women, and ended racial segregation in the United States. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public. Once the Act was implemented, its effects were far-reaching on the country as a whole and had an immediate impact on the South. It prohibited discrimination in public facilities, in government, and in employment, invalidating the Jim Crow laws in the southern U. S. It became illegal to compel segregation of the races in schools, housing, or hiring. After passage of the law, the NAACP was the only major civil rights organization to maintain a large membership in the South, where it concentrated on organizing the ongoing struggle for black civil rights. During 1965-75, the NAACP remained committed to using litigation to challenge racial injustice. African Americans had to fight hard to get what they deserved and it took a lot of patients and time to receive change but it finally happened. That is we segregation ended and Africans were free to sit, eat, talk, shop, and work anywhere they wanted. Being able to vote is a very important ordeal. Many people in this day and time take advantage of being able to voice their opinions. Not taking advantage of who we desire to have in office is a sign of being ungrateful. African Americans were not given that right years ago. African Americans had to fight just so that they could vote. That’s when the Voting Act of 1965 came in play. Before, this Act was enforced African Americans had to take a literacy tests and pay poll taxes. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 abolished literacy tests and poll taxes designed to disenfranchise African American voters, and gave the federal government the authority to take over voter registration in counties with a pattern of persistent discrimination. Echoing the language of the 15th Amendment, the Act prohibits states from imposing any â€Å"voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color. The Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, a Democrat, who had earlier signed the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. Being able to vote was an honor and so many people don’t even both to go vote during the elections today. African Americans fought for the right to vote without having to take tests or pay poll taxes and people still don’t go out to vote. That is taking voting rights for granted. Being an African American during the civil rights movement was a challenge, but being an African American woman was even difficult. That’s when the period of women’s suffrage played its role. Women’s Suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or marital status. Being a woman in this time period restricted of many rights. Women’s suffrage has been granted at various times in various countries throughout the world, and in many countries it was granted before universal suffrage. Without women’s suffrage women would still be restricted to make decisions and just be limited to being mothers and wives. The women’s suffrage broke that cycle. The best way to leave a positive mark on the world is being a leader. It takes a lot of heart, courage, and sacrifice, in becoming a great leader. Leaders are persons that people look up to. They depend on a leader to give them hope to carry on and a positive role model to look up to. There were not too many people that wanted to take the position of being a leader, but a few chose to step up to the plate. African Americans needed kind and encouraging words to help uplift them during the civil rights movement. Two great leaders Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Melcolm X took on a job to lead the world into a better place called freedom. The two leaders gave African Americans hope to continue on when they wanted to just give up. African Americans depended on these two prominent leaders to strengthen them. African Americans during the civil rights movement needed to relay on someone and those leaders were the perfect ones. No one would have ever been ready for what was expected to come. For years African American have been told what they could and couldn’t do. They have been talked about, abused, lied on, and have had everything taken from them. But, still they have stayed strong through it all. When all they had were two great prominent leaders and they were taken from them as well they still stayed strong. Two great prominent leaders were assonated. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Martin Luther King Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African American civil rights movement. He was best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. King was often presented as a heroic leader in the history of modern American liberalism. A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. King’s efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his â€Å"I Have a Dream† speech. There, he expanded American values to include the vision of a color blind society, and established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history. But, as people have said â€Å"all things must come to an end. † At 6:01 p. m. on April 4, 1968, a shot rang out. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , who had been standing on the balcony of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN, lay sprawled on the balcony’s floor. A gaping wound covered a large portion of his jaw and neck. A great man who had spent thirteen years of his life dedicating himself to nonviolent protest had been felled by a sniper’s bullet. African Americans and the Civil War. (2016, Dec 21).

Amanda Knox Court Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Amanda Knox Court Case - Essay Example Following four days and nights of interrogation, Amanda implicated herself and her employer at a bar in disputed circumstances. The police then arrested Amanda, Sollecito, and her employer Mr. Lumumba, although the later was released after Rudy Guede, an Ivorian raised in Perugia, was implicated by forensic evidence (Follain 12). Guede was convicted of the murder and sexual assault of Kercher and sent to prison. Sollecito and Amanda were found guilty during the first stage of the trial process and sentenced to 25 and 26 years in jail respectively. However, the second level of their trial saw them acquitted. The Background of Amanda Marie Knox Amanda Knox was born to Curt Knox and Edda Mellas in Seattle on July 9th, 1987. However, her parents divorced when she was still a baby. She grew up playing soccer in a bourgeois neighborhood where she earned the nickname Foxy Knoxy due to her athletic skills, a nickname that haunted her during the trial (Knox 25). Her relatives later described her as someone who did not have the full ability to pick up diverse social cues. While at school, Amanda took up an interest in the culture of the Italians and visited Italy as a fifteen-year-old together with her family. While on this trip, she decided that she would like to study there. She preferred a city such as Perugia that would allow her to meet real Italians, rather than Rome where she would mix with American expatriates (Knox 26). However, her stepfather discouraged her from moving there because he still considered her too naive. On graduating in 2005 from Seattle Preparatory High School, Amanda joined Washington University for a Linguistics Degree. As a college student, Amanda was named on the Dean’s list and was an ordinary college student with friends recalling that she was a gentle and kind individual. In the continuation of her â€Å"go-getter† attitude, Amanda decided to further her Linguistics Degree by heading for Perugia in Italy, where she was to sp end twelve months at the Foreigners University (27). On getting to Perugia, she met 21-year-old student Meredith Kercher from the UK, who also studied linguistics and roomed with her. Meredith had joined the University of Foreigners where she was to study Creative Writing, German, and Italian (27). According to media reports, while Amanda Knox was to most people a young and confident woman, her family and friends felt that she was a compulsive diarist, especially since she was averse to all types of conflict. These traits, which she showed during her time in high school and Washington University, including yoga practice at inappropriate times and her open and bubbly personality, were to have an effect on the trial. These traits made her more conservative, and reticent room and apartment mates viewed her critically while also causing the Italian police and prosecutor to be suspicious of her. The Murder of Meredith Susanna Cara Kercher Meredith Kercher was a UK citizen born in 1985 in South London’s area of Southwark. On joining the University of Foreigners, Kercher checked into a ground floor apartment with four bedrooms at Via della Pergola. This house was thought of as locals to be in a bad neighborhood, although most liked it for its panoramic view of Perugia. Her apartment mates included Amanda Knox and two other women. Meredith Kercher’

The Behavior of the Marketer Both Before and After the Purchase Research Paper

The Behavior of the Marketer Both Before and After the Purchase - Research Paper Example Purchasing was not a big task around two-three decades before. The only thing the consumers thought before purchasing a product earlier was about the necessity of the product and the financial abilities of the consumer. But at present, the consumer needs and the behaviours have changed a lot. The living,g standards and the levels are changed a lot and based on that the consumer behaviours also changed. Moreover, the competition is so stiff nowadays that even for a particular product, dozens of options are available for the consumers. Because of this increased availability of different brands of products, consumers are more selective nowadays. They compare the features of a product with competing products before taking their purchasing decisions. Marketers found it extremely difficult to convince the current consumers. Current Consumers consider so many factors before making a purchasing decision. Two of my neighbours recently purchased two cars from different suppliers. I have interv iewed them to learn more about the current trends in the consumer behaviours before the purchasing. I have asked the same questions to both of them their responses taken as the base for writing this paper. For convenience, I call them consumer A and consumer B in this paper. Consume,r A was richer and more educated than Consumer B. Moreover, consumer A was working in the city as a system analyst in a multinational company whereas consumer B was a teacher in a rural school. For convenience, I have used the responses of both the consumers to each question alternatively to get a good comparison about the different purchasing behaviours of people.

Accounting theory in Australia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Accounting theory in Australia - Essay Example One such standard that has been much debated is the fair value accounting measure. Fair value accounting has gained popularity in the recent years as the standard for measuring assets and liabilities by firms. Although, fair value accounting has been accepted and adopted by firms across the world, it is still considered to be inefficient in its utility. Perhaps it is because of the discrepancy in the financial systems and conceptual frameworks which have given rise to the chaos that is evident in todays corporate environment. In the following discussion the researcher shall discuss the impact of fair value accounting and disclosures based on current accounting standards, conceptual frameworks and theoretical assumptions with the view to enumerate on its viability, utility and efficiency. International accounting standards are broadly divided into the United States’ independent regulators’ approach and the European public ownership approach. The European approach had been based on the theoretical framework that since corporations are usually serve their own profit interest, it is up to the government to curb private monopolies and monitor their activities. On the other hand the US independent commissions for monitoring and enforcing regulation had been developed with the view to give the market economic independency on the premise of laissez faire. Ironically, as Gaffikin (2005) points out, both the systems fail to achieve its objective of regulation as a result of market inefficiency and economic regulation consideration. This led to the development of a regulation system based on interest theory - that is serving both the private and public interests (Gaffikin 2005). Today, accounting standards across the world is based on the US Financial Accounting Standard Board and the International Accounting Standard Board. Australia follows similar measurement

Facebook Investigation Scenario Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Facebook Investigation Scenario - Assignment Example Based on Ms Jones’ feelings, Peter Sampson posted the picture as a way of harassing and humiliating her. As a major in criminal justice, Ms Jones further presented her worries that the post by Mr Sampson may hurt her future career. On February 17th, 2014 at 9:30AM, I discovered that Ms Jones was a 20 year-old criminal justice major at the University of New Haven. At about 8:00AM that morning, one of Ms Jones friends texted to ask whether she has seen Peter Sampson’s Facebook post. It was at this point that I confirmed the post to be true. Ms Jones stated that she had â€Å"sexted† the picture MR. Sampson back in the fall of 2012 when they had just begun dating. Upon further investigation, Ms Jones explained her dating relationship with Mr Sampson and she had broken off their engagement with Mr Sampson. She said that it was after breaking off her engagement weeks earlier that she began dating Michael Davis who happened to be Mr Sampson’s roommate. Ms Jones therefor felt that it was due to these relationship issues that Mr Sampson decided to post the picture. On February 17th, 2014 at 2:45PM I also discovered that Peter Sampson was a 21 year-old criminal justice major in his junior in the same university. During an interview in Mr Sampson’s dorm room, Mr Sampson confirmed his relationship with Ms Jones as well as the breakup. However, he denied having anything to do with the posting and commenting of the picture on Facebook. Mr Sampson started that in his discovery of Ms Jones with Mr Davis, he deleted all digital photos as well as the correspondence between him and Ms Jones. Mr Jones further claimed to have used his Toshiba laptop which no one else had had access to over the past 24-hour period. I then asked him whether someone else had had used the computer in the past. His response was that in the fall of 2014 semester, he had loaned Michael Davis

The Effects of Depression and Antidepressants on Sexual Health and the Research Paper

The Effects of Depression and Antidepressants on Sexual Health and the Sexual Response Cycle - Research Paper Example Knowledge of the terminology commonly used in sexual and mental health studies is crucial for the study of the interrelationship between the two. The physiology of sexual functioning can be best described through the sexual response cycle which is divided into four phases i.e. desire, excitement, orgasm and resolution. The sexual response cycle is regulated by a multi-component system involving endocrine glands, autonomic nervous system, sex hormones and neurotransmitters which intimates the relationship between sexual health and mental health. Sexual dysfunction refers to problems experienced during any of the phases of the sexual response cycle hence preventing an individual from obtaining satisfaction from sexual activity. Statistics present on sexual dysfunction indicate that about 41% of women and 34% of men in the general population experienced various manifestations of sexual problems ranging from diminished libido, vaginal dryness, erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation and anorgasmia (Outhoff, 2009). Further breakdown of the epidemiology reveals that 35% of women and 16% of men experience inhibited sexual desire; 10-20% of men experience premature ejaculation while a further 35% experience erectile dysfunction. The prevalence of orgasm problems among women is 5-15% (Baldwin et al. 2003). Among the several causes of sexual disorders, discovery of a link with psychopathology stands out with sexual dysfunction being a common symptom among depressed individuals as indicated by the fact that sexual dysfunction occurs in only 26% of normal individuals while it stands at 45% of depression cases. Widespread use of antidepressant medications also led to the realization that such drugs had an adverse effect on sexual functioning with several experimental studies confirming this (Jespersen, 2006). The strong link between depression, antidepressants and sexual dysfunction alongside the grave statistics of sexual problems are the considerations that informed t his study. Undertaking this study is important as more knowledge on the link between the two needs to be generated through experimental, meta-analytical and review approaches and the research findings communicated to medical practitioners especially with the growing importance of evidence-based practice. Such research findings have the potential of influencing the prescription and treatment decisions for depression. This study will undertake to review literature from experimental studies into the effects of depression and antidepressant medications on the sexual response cycle after which the implications of the study findings on sexual health intervention research and policy will be discussed. The approach of the literature review will be through analyzing information from experimental research into the issue with focus given to work from the turn of the millennium so as to get up-to-date findings on the subject. Each study will be analyzed in terms of research topic theory, the me thod undertaken for the research and finally the research findings and conclusions arrived at by the researchers. Review of Literature Peng et al. (2006) undertook a study to find out the relationship between physiological and psychological factors with sexual dysfu

Organizational Culture Procter & Gamble Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Organizational Culture Procter & Gamble - Essay Example The recruitment process at the company deploys innovative elements that help candidates implement self-assessment during the testing process (Recruiting Blueprint). Further on, the company philosophy declares equal opportunities for open positions and supports promotion from within, through on-the-job, formal and on-line training programs. P&G's corporate values can be found on its international website (Careers Global). These are leadership, Ownership, Integrity, Passion for Winning, and Trust. To me the most appealing aspects of the corporate value system are leadership and passion. In my opinion strive for leadership and passion are values a person is born with, but need to be developed and guided and this requires a proper corporate culture. P&G promotes these principles through strategic focus on work, dedication to innovation, and by valuing "personal mastery". Further on, integrity and ownership mean that individual and company interests are one and the same, which makes P&G's employees and associates owners of the company successes. Most of the company's products are manufactured in company owne... 486), namely: Attention to detail Most of the company's products are manufactured in company owned facilities (Sustainability Report, 2004). Being a consumer products manufacturer, details are important, because they create value for P&G's customers. Innovation Central to P&G's strategy is the company's capability to develop and introduce new products within short time limits (Ball et al, 2005, p. 450). Annually the company spends nearly $2 billion on R&D in 150 science areas (Huston et al, 2006). People orientation The power of people at P&G is focused on the following statement by one of the company's former CEO's: "[] But if you take away our money, our buildings, and our brands, but leave us our people, we can rebuild the whole thing in a decade" (Recruiting Bluepring). Aggressiveness Aggressiveness and competitive spirit is promoted through the stated values of "leadership" and "passion for winning". 4. Does the organization you identified have a strong or weak culture Explain. Is this culture ethical, customer-responsive, or spiritual Being a global employer to 98,000 people in 80 countries (Company Profile) is not an easy task. It requires wise management of people and processes, and a strong organizational culture. In my opinion P&G's culture is strong, because it promotes the same core values and principles in all its subsidiaries. Strong sustainable culture is sustained through strong selection practices worldwide; strong P&G's brand name, universal English language for internal communication, a Worldwide Business Conduct Manual (Sustainability Report, 2004) and other tools. When analyzing the culture, I can define P&G as a customer-responsive culture. There are many aspects that

Who Rules America Corporate America, Weber & Marx Essay

Who Rules America Corporate America, Weber & Marx - Essay Example The natural rights theorists aim was to show that man was born in a state of nature, and given the right to do as he/she wished, but this was sacrificed to the governance of the land, i.e. that the rational man would give up the state of freedom, for the security and safety of law, governance and sovereignty, but retain the right to obtain and accrue whatever property they wish as long as it is within the rule of law. This is the basis of the US, with its promotion of life, liberty and freedom. A key concept of the American way is that it is the land of equal opportunity and one can reaps the benefits for what they work for. In the US Corporate America and the values of capitalism have the ultimate power, where the equalities in economics are validated with the notion of equal opportunity for all individuals1. This pretty much follows the protestant work ethic, which theorists such as Weber supported; however in response to huge inequalities theorists such as Marx arose who argued th at to have economic inequality is an abuse of the power that the capitalist oligarchy holds. The following section will examine the theories of Weber and Marx The theory of Weber condones the exploitation of the workforce and the inevitable inequalities of economic power. This treatment and mechanization of the workforce may in the short term seem the best way to increase productivity at the minimum price. This is very much the rational approach to human interaction and the increasing of productivity, management and governance of individuals. If there is no objectivity then there can be no maximization of work productivity at the minimum cost. This follows the view of management and governance of individuals, whether it be in the workplace or the governance of the country, where each of the workers need to be treated objectively and equally. Weber also stresses the importance of inequality within the social structure for the workers. Therefore Weber's theory is more than the interaction between the management and the working class. Weber's theory has four parts of society which are; traditional and cultural history and rules; affectual - emotional shaping influences of society; wertrational - value orientated rationality; zweckrational - goal orientated rationality. Therefore the focus of Weber's theory is that society and management can be determined by these four spheres of social classification. The key notion that Weber developed in order to balance out the inherent inequalities is that of the rationalizing of society and law; hence if the values of the society and the goal's of the individual can be rationalized and de-mystified then equality and justice can be instituted to achieve the best system for the society and the individual to obtain these goals. Weber sees it as an important factor that has shaped society and important to understanding the development of societal structure and management. Therefore to truly develop a system that is fair and just and can transcend the barriers of inequality a rational discussion of society needs to occur in order to determine justice and the rights of mankind; however the inequality in the power that Corporate America holds over the labor market is inevitable and just.2 The model of Marxism, on the other hand, states that it does not regard the individual as having any human rights, instead it is for the state to set the needs of the individuals, i.e., it is not the good of the individual that the state upholds but the good and the needs of the state. Marx considered law, justice, freedom and democracy as ideas and concepts that are determined by historical and

Native Americans vs. African Americans Essay Example for Free

Native Americans vs. African Americans Essay In today’s society there are many people living in poverty. All across America there are different projects and reservations where the less fortunate reside. Statistics show that mostly minorities live in these different locations. Native Americans and African Americans are two of the more popular races living in these places. The group suffering the most in these situations is the youth. Although both Native American and African American children living on a reservation or in the projects experience a terrible community, have little to no faith, and a broken family structure, African American youth living in the projects have it worse than Native American children living on a reservation. First, one of the most common living situations for less fortunate African Americans is in the projects. A project is a public living environment that is government owned. Although these buildings are government owned they are far from nice looking. Most of the buildings have no windows, are run down, dirty, and old. The government’s main goal is to maintain affordable housing not to make them the best looking homes in town. The projects aren’t a good environment for a child to be raised. Throughout these neighborhoods different gangs can be found. These gangs are built to defend the different areas in the projects. The gangs bring major violence to the area and are one of the main causes of death. At a young age children join these gangs and are raised to be violent. Many of them decorate the buildings they are living in with graffiti expressing their gang colors, symbols, or motto. In contrast, while Native American youth also live in poor housing, the environment is safer than the projects. A reservation is an area set aside for a specific type of land use or activity, or for use by a particular group of people, mostly Native Americans. Similar to the projects, houses on a reservation are old, beat down, and dirty. The houses on a reservation are government owned as well. Although these two locations are very similar they also differ. The reservation is a safer place then the projects. On the reservation there is a couple cases of mild violence but they aren’t as severe as the violence in the projects. Therefore, the reservations environment is a better environment than the projects. Secondly, many of the young people have no faith growing up in the projects. A lot of them believe their only way out of the projects is to become a basketball or football player or to become a top selling rap artist. At as young as sixteen years of age most African American males end up in jail, deceased, or selling drugs. A lot of them are also lead to believe that if they don’t do what every other man on the streets is doing, then they won’t make it anywhere in life. On the reservation the kids believe their only way out is to become NBA players or â€Å"powwowers†. Powwower’s are traditional Native American cheerleaders or dancers. Much like the African Americans growing up in the projects, the life expectancy rate for those living on a reservation is in the mid forties. Considering that both of these locations are in the United States mid forties is very young of age. Many of these people don’t live very long because they don’t have enough money to take care of themselves as well as their families. They also aren’t able to live a healthy lifestyle which shortens their days. Death is common in the two locations which leaves these two young groups wondering what’s beyond the age forty. Lastly, family structure is very important in a household. In the projects many of the homes lack a very strong family structure. Children growing up in the projects nine times out of ten don’t have both parents in the home. Most of them are drug dealers, alcoholics, prostitutes, or doing any and everything to try and provide for the child. Although these parents are trying to provide for their children a lot of the time they are also on welfare. Moreover, these children’s parents aren’t ever around, they sometimes go days without having anything to eat. Many of the young men follow after the footsteps of their father, older brother, or uncles which is why this cycle has continued for so long. Native Americans typically stick together as a unit. According to Sherman Alexie, an award winning author who grew up on a reservation, â€Å"Native American children are taught to be suspicious of Caucasian people. † Native Americans teach this to their children because there are many people in America that are against minorities and believe that just because they are the majority they’re better. A lot of the parents on a reservation go from job to job not being able to keep one job for a long period of time. Many of these parents are also alcoholics. On the other hand, some of these families on these reservations are very family oriented unlike the African American families in the projects. These Native American families have up to seventeen family members living in one house. They keep their families very close and are very supportive of one another rather then being against each other like African Americans. The parents watch over their children to make sure they don’t go down the wrong path in life. Although these families are experiencing hard times they cheer each other up and manage to smile every once in a while. Therefore, the Native Americans family structure is stronger then African Americans. In conclusion, Native American youth living on a reservation have it better then African American youth living in the projects. Both of these minorities are going through some hardships. From alcoholic parents to not having anything to eat they both are suffering as young children. Native American families provide a safer living environment, work harder, and look after one another, where as African Americans are against one another, on the streets all day, and are strongly associated with violence. As the years go on these families are hoping that the government will separate people in the projects and those living on reservations and provide them both with a better living situation. If these environments are separated the United States will be one step closer to eliminating violence in America.

HR Strategic aspects of the labour market and Managing organisational performance Essay Example for Free

HR Strategic aspects of the labour market and Managing organisational performance Essay The economic events occurring during the last two decades provide indications and evidences that the area of human resourcing has significantly changed in response to the emerging complexities of the discipline. Perhaps, among the primary components of corporate organization, the dynamics of human resourcing appear to be the most challenging as well as complex. Experts in the area of Human Resource Management (HRM) invariably agree that the surging demand for a new organizational role for the human capital. Even the usually common terminologies used to describe the HRM processes, such as labor contracting, training and development, performance evaluation, have been recycled to outsourcing, learning and growth or performance management systems. Many even replaced, such as personnel to human resource to human capital, to describe in more sophisticated way, the new character of human resourcing. Still, HRM practitioners are of the opinion that changes will continue to pervade the HR area and may soon take or evolve into new competencies again. Torrington’s Views: The HRM discipline and the Labour market Torrington presents the burgeoning labour issues confronting many organizations as propounded by theorists and practitioners. Indeed, the complexities of human resourcing are invariably revealed in the documented HR practices compiled by the author, who has been keenly observing that the area of human resource management is beginning to undergo a form of transformative process where the task s, positions and the organization virtually mutates into its more sophisticated form. Based on data provided by the author and taken from a report, there is a general shortage of workers especially the young sector. In the area of healthcare, the National Health Service (NHS) is spending ? 1bn annually on temporary, agency and locum staff. According to Laing and Buisson, well known heathcare analysts, the demand for agency staff is expected to increase across public and private healthcare sector in response to the long-standing manpower shortages in practically every healthcare occupation. The author adds that the size of the market for manpower has risen by more than four times during the two decades commencing from 1992. Even the NHS had to triple their budget expenditures during the same period. Torrington estimates this sector is worth ? 2. 4bn in the market. However, the core of the problem has shifted to the quality of care that many temporary staff provide, thus the decision to reduce manpower outsourcing, Here, the need to get better deals from agencies is becoming paramount as new alternatives of human resourcing in this sector is being addressed. The author concludes by proposing an appropriate response system through flexible staffing solutions. Torrington highlights the strategic aspects of resourcing to respond effectively to the critical messages demanded and manifested by the labor market trends. Here, he analyzes the need to adopt certain flexible resourcing choices that will focus attention either to the ready-made or home grown human capital. The labor market trends bespeak of the dilemma faced by the human resourcing industry in general. A number of recommendations are provided to address this set of HR issues – the retention strategy. The retention indicators point to a disturbing trend at the charts. The issue of retention and its corresponding techniques and strategies has been brought into the open as a result of the need to assuage the cost of transfers, job and even career shifts. The author brings the issue of turnover rates and trends as indicative of HR instability in many sectors while exacting some forms of costs on the organization as a result of new rounds of resourcing and the need to adopt staff retention strategies. Torrington insists that organization strategies versus HR strategy issues not only should be HR-driven but primarily must mutually provide a perfect fit. The author discloses the strategic aspects of performance how these are driven by HR policies and processes as practiced. This is implied to mean that a change in perspective be made in the human resourcing function: from taking control of the employment processes to a more significant HR function of managing performance. True enough, this shift in focus may have been long wanted to smoothen human capital transitions to work excellence. This further suggests that efforts are better spent on ensuring that performance management becomes the primary driver of the HR function. A number of firms have found better insights into this form of HR shift considering that the new HR performance processes adds relevance and more meaningful roles for HR theorists and practitioners rather than just the documentary and aspect legalese of human resourcing. The author proposes the adoption of a performance management system that translates into organizational performance anchored on the knowledge and learning processes as HR initiatives. Here, the proactive roles expected of the HR practitioners are deemed directed towards gradually converting the company into a learning organization where the human capital competencies are planned, managed and nurtured. Performance management system indeed is a critical need as with the 360 degree feedback system. Conclusion Torrington proposes a two-dimensional performance appraisal system based on individual and team perspectives. He emphasizes management of employee performance guided towards organizational and personal goals and objectives and an objective appraisal system to measure extent of accomplishment based on target setting. A sequential and step-by-step approach is propounded with a component critique system based on an overarching 260 degree feedback system. A comparison and contrasting view of performance management system (PMS) and its environment of procedures indicate that the PMS has and is being widely used in organizations out to harness the potentials of its people. The degree of effectiveness indicates the variability of conceptualization and implementation, but nonetheless removes the major irritants in people management that ultimately affect the relationship as well as the performance dimensions of each of the component of the human capital sponsored primarily by senior management. Thus, the proactive nature of the PMS approach entitles it to wider adoption and desirability among organizations aiming to address many of its human resourcing issues. Subject 2 Performance Management System: Linking Organizational Goals Torrington outlines the essential factors in managing organisational performance showing how a Performance Management System (PMS)links to organisational goals. Concrete and abstract benefits and disincentives are identified and benchmarked with industry practices guided by the universal principles and theories of performance management. As practiced, performance management systems commence from the goal and target setting based on the requirements of the job. Here, employees and workers are clarified in the objectives of their positions, the requisite competence, and the learning and growth perspectives if the job as well as the compensation based on how the organization assesses the relative important of the task. The use of the PMS has been tested widely and has proven to be more effective than the traditional evaluation system. This is because of the inclusion of a compendium of measures that ensures that organizational goals are aligned with the specific tasks assigned to the employee. From the targets, agreements on the degree and how these targets are achieved under quality processes are laid down and the PMS target setting contract is accomplished. Thus, the use of the PMS allows the following benefits to accrued to both the worker and the organization: among others, expectations are clear and scope and limitations of the jobs are understood by both sectors; employees can clearly predict and manage their own levels of performance based on targets as well as the needed support to accomplish the tasks; there is an objective system of evaluation and appraisal that removes subjectivity and abstract judgments; when provided with an incentive and reward systems, PMS becomes effective as a tool and basis of rewards and incentives; and, there is a better working relationship between the worker and his superior based on earlier agreements and covenants. Likewise, PMS considers possible constraints and limitations on both sides, thus alternative measures are agreed for the degree of performance resulting from the occurrences of such constraints and impediments. For the organization, the benefits are clear in terms of stronger motivation on the worker; budgeting can be integrated into the system through measurable and appropriate inventive and rewards system; the subsequent appraisal and evaluation system allows for an ideal atmosphere for the discussion of the evaluation and appraisal results to encourage future performance based on areas that additionally needed reinforcement and support. In addition, PMS encourages both individuals and teams to be evaluated based on targets that are aligned with the organizational goals. On the other hand, the disadvantages of adopting a Performance Management System (PMS) includes the requirement for a more detailed procedures and measurement system that may prove to be too elaborate and complex for the worker to understand and appreciate. Likewise, the process of documentation in support of the performance is considered difficult and tedious. Further there is no assurance that performance can indeed by achieved as there may be unforeseen circumstances not considered during the target setting completed before the start of the performance period. (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, Wright, 2008) Nonetheless, there is a need to study the organizational culture on whether the latter would help the system or otherwise. Conclusion Taking into account the benefits and disadvantages of Performance Management Systems (PMS), the absence of a more measurable, objective and comprehensive system of measuring and evaluating performance is non-existence despite the presence and utilization of good measuring tools and instruments. This is the complexity of the new HResourcing strategy that allows greater flexibility and uniqueness in the approach to managing performance. On the overall, the rationale for adopting PMS far outweighs the need to ignore the benefits provided by this new system. Often, the major constraint in adopting PMS is whether the organizational culture would allow such a change in the system. Thus, the efforts may indeed be tedious, but nonetheless, there is strong desirability in the system that will be more advantageous to every stakeholder in the PMS environment system.

Business Plan of an International Dance Academy

Business Plan of an International Dance Academy EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Our business idea is to set up an international dance academy called IDA (S.a;r.l) founded by Ms Ikrame Jabre. As it will be established on the 1st January2011, in Moulay Driss 1er with an area of 1000 meter squares, and it is considered as one of the best strategic locations in Casablanca, Morocco which has been one of the most politically stable countries in North Africa. This business will embody 28 rooms including both administration and dance rooms, 6 WCs and viewable garden for relaxation. Our academy will deliver dance courses (13hrs/week) in a period of three years starting from October to June for the academic dance classes, by teaching them 3 types of dances each semester. Apart from this, we will also offer leisure classes by working 11 months a year in (2hrs/week). IDA will target two types of customers based on its market research, who are: beginners and talented people for the academic classes as well as children and adults for the leisure classes. Our mission is to deliver a valuable dancing courses to our customers by providing inspirational quality of services in order to inspire, motivate and enrich everyone in the art of dance. Our prospective business idea is to set up an international dance academy called IDA in Morocco specifically in Casablanca in Mly Driss 1er with an area of 1000 meter square. As the founder of IDA (International dance academy) is Miss Ikrame Jabre who has a wide experience in different types of dances such as Rock in Roll, Cha-Cha, waltz, tango and so many others. Ikrame has a great passion for dancing since her childhood, She was keen on dancing, this is why she benefited from her traveling to different countries to discover the dancing cultures, For instance, when she went to Egypt she was fascinated by the belly dance whose popularity has spread globally. The idea of setting up IDA was inspired from her getting acquainted with different schools of dancing. But her bottleneck was how to finance the business as shes got only 51% of the capital and wants to be a chairman of IDA, for this reason she looked for partners that will support the business. So far, She has found four partners who are: Sophia Amzay with 29% of the capital as a manager of a financial department. Fatima Zahra souiri with 10% of the capital as a manager of the marketing department. Manal el koumani with 5% of the capital as a manager of an Human Resources department. Youssef El Mellouki with 5% of the capital as a silent partner. With respect of a total capital is : 43.025.400 DIRHAMS In this international dance academy we will give classes to both academic and leisure ones. So for the academic classes, we will target talented people and beginners either male or female, as we will deliver 3 different kinds of dances each semester, in a period of 2 years and for the 3rd year we will give the opportunity to our students to specialize in one kind of dance of their choices. These classes will be given in 13 hours per week by 15 professional teachers and coaches both local and foreigners that are successfully ready to give classes in French ; 12 of them for teaching dance classes because each type of dance needs its own teacher as they will also teach the dance culture; and one teacher for visual arts, physical attitude another coach for wellness, and the last one for teaching dramatic arts. In 2011 we will suffice only by hiring 6 dance teachers and 3 ones for the other subjects That Go With The dance classes, which are physical attitude, wellness, dramatic arts. Because we will set a Program of Teaching 6 dances in 2 semesters, so for the first term We Will give courses of Ballet , Chaabi, Salsa and in the second term We Will teach tap dance, belly dance and tango. But for the first term in 2012 we will deliver other types of dances which are: Latino, musical theatre and rock in roll, and for the following term , hip hop, waltz and Cha-cha; so in here we will add 6 other teachers. By 2013 we will classify teachers depending on the students numbers and their selection of the dance specialties. In the fourth year which is 2014 we will add 6 kinds of dances and 6 other professional teachers to give to our students a broad choice for planning the types of dances that will be given each semester and let them to plan in their own ways by keeping the same academic strategies and rules. Moreover, on the fifth year 2015 we will expand our business to other cities in morocco starting by Marrakech, and for the following years we will keep going locally and then we will start globally. Whereas for the leisure side we categorize it upon two kinds of customers: adults and children. Which concerns the adults, we will deliver to them 2 types of dances in their choices depending on the kind of dances that we will begin with, and that are the same as the academic ones excluding the other subjects which are wellness, visual arts and so on the classes will be given twice a week, one hour per session starting from 7 pm. And for children it remains the same, as it differs just in terms of time, because they will have 1 hour dance class On Wednesday afternoon and the other one hour on Saturday morning. In our international dance academy we will also organize competitions to our students internationally once a year starting by morocco in the first two years from 2011 to 2013 and for the coming years well do it abroad. In addition, IDA provides an international diploma that allows their students to have an easy access to work in all over the world. USP of IDA: you can learn a variety of dances academically, that makes you professional dancer internationally. IDAs Vision: IDA will provide a positive and educational dance experience for all community. IDAS MARKETS AND COMPETITORS Our ambition through this first step of setting up this project properly is to Define the situation of dance in the Moroccan market. Based on our research on the secondary data we didnt find any statistics or exact numbers that show the percentage of people who go for dance in the Moroccan market, but we went through our primary data which is a questionnaire that is as follow to find out information that may be helpful to our business. QUESTIONNAIRE: 1-In which sort of dance classes are you interested in? Academic   Leisure Both 2-  Ã‚  Ã‚   What level of dancer do you consider yourself? Beginner Intermediate High level 3. How often do you take classes or go for dancing?   1 2 a week   Ã‚      3 4 a week   Ã‚  Ã‚   Over 4 a week 4. Do you have a friend or family member who you would like to see participate   in the dance classes?  Ã‚      Yes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   No 5. What are the kinds of dance classes would you like to take? cha3bi   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   cha cha   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Latino  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Oriental  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tap Dance  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Classical dance  Ã‚  Ã‚   Modern jazz  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Musical   theatre   Ã‚  Ã‚   Cha Cha   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Salsa   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Samba   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Rock in Roll  Ã‚   waltz   Ã‚  Ã‚   Street Dance  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   International Style   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tango   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bolero    Salsa Aerobics 6. What age group are you? -18-  -24-     -36- -49- -60-  -Above-   7. Would you recommend the Academy to others? Yes, definitely Probably Probably Not Definitely Not RESULTS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE: 1) In which sort of dance classes are you interested in? Academic 54% Leisure 42% Both 61% According to the results, 61% of Academic and leisure are interesting in dance classes. 2-  Ã‚  Ã‚   What level of dancer do you consider yourself? beginner 57% intermediate 39% high level 28% The graph shows that 57% of beginner has highest level of practicing dance. 3. How often do you take classes a week for dancing? 12 47% 23 26% over 4 15% The majority of people prefer to attend dance classes from 1_2 weeks 4. Do you have a friend or family member who you would like to see participate   in the dance classes?  Ã‚   Yes 21% No 37% The result shows that 37% of people are motivated in dances. 5. What are the kinds of dance classes would you like to take? hip hop 10% valse 8% musical theatre 12% tap dance 14% cha3bi 56% belly dance 54% classical dance 31% salsa 61% latino 34% cha cha 37% Tango 26% rock in roll 41% Based on this result we found out that salsa has high demand than the other types of dances. 6. What age group are you? 18 34% 24 42% 36 22% 49 13% 60 9% The graph shows that the people who got 24 years old are more attracted than the other.   7. Would you recommend the Academy to others? probably 34% maybe 41% probably not 12% definitely not 8% We notice from this graph that 41% of people are interesting to recommend other about the academy. our purpose is to enable young dancers male and female to meet, share and present their talents to new market starting from Casablanca to affirm or confirm their talents, which will guarantee the future of dance in Morocco. Competitors: International dance academy is distinguished from its competitors. As it delivers both academic and leisure dance classes that the others dont. And also it provides different kinds of dances for different levels with a consistent quality of services in a purpose of satisfying the customers needs and encourage them to implement and show their talents. Most of our competitors are giving leisure sessions rather than the academic ones, for instance, Locations and training centers which are Municipal : In Casablanca: Conservatory of Dance, 21, street Najib Mahfouz avenue Gautier, Tel.: 27.59.52, fax: 29.76.86, Zinoun Lahcen, choreographer, ballet and modern In Meknes: Conservatory, 2 street Abou El Hassan, El Marini Apt 5, New Town, Tel.: (05) 52.39.44, Amal Kit, ballet Locations and training centers which are Private Schools Casablanca Dance Workshop Latifa, 1 street Theophile Gautier, Tel.: (02) 27.91.43, Latifa Hajjaj, choreographer, ballet and modern Private School Street Ibn Mounir Maà ¢rif No. 103, Tel.: (02) 25.12.21, Khalid Boulehia, modern dance, jazzÉcouterLire phonà ©tiquement In Rabat Russian Cultural Centre: Eugà ¨nie Nikita, ballet, Russian Cultural Centre, Tel.: 70.73.07 Private school at the top of Hyper market Agdal, Najia El Attaoui, ballet, Tel.: 77.33.14 Private School, 9 Tower Street El Alaouine Hasan Raselli Delcamby, ballet, choreographer, Tel.: 72.76.43 These schools consist only of teaching dances without having neither wellness nor visual art classes and other courses that go with each type of dance. And that leads to a lack of acquiring the real basis and cultures of dances to students. We can say that we are unique in the market, because we teach a variety of international dances academically that makes our students a professional dancers . in addition, we are characterized from others in terms of staff, because we bring professional teachers and coaches from different countries all over the world fitting the dances origins. So depending on the five competitive forces of porter: MARKETING AND SALES SWOT ANALYSIS OF IDA: Strenghts  : Monopoly Offering an academic dance degree offering a scholarship offering a unique programs hiring professional coaches making professional dancers Opportunities  : Dance schools (for leisure) Public relations Awareness about international dance among people Weaknesses  : Not a weakness till now Infant company Threats  : -emerging competition PESTEL ANALYSIS OF IDA: Political  : stable political state. Social  : people are always interested in dance academy, we are offering it for them. Moroccan are open minded and love entertainment. The famous dance in Morocco is Chaabi and we are teaching it in our school. Economical: capability to invest savings Cost of providing resources Teaching staff and support Shortages of materials international and national markets Legal: we took the authorization from the Moroccan ministry to give the Moroccan diploma also we are offering another diploma in collaboration with foreign schools. Environmental: We did a survey and we found out that Moroccan are very open and enthusiastic for this project. It will be located in Mly Driss 1er far from traffic. And its going to have a green space to help students relax Changes to standards/ equipment required. Technological: updating control systems. SALES AND PROMOTION: Strategies to attract new customers: In order to attract customers to our IDA international dance academy we are going to follow some strategies, such as: -Keeping our customers informed about our services that will be provided and published on the website as well as on the social network. -Making conventions with universities and schools to gain customers for leisure dance classes. -Making facilities of payment, for instance every person who brings hisher friend can have discount. -Fill out forms regarding to services and classes that enable as to know the customers wants and improve our services to satisfy them. Customers for academic dance classes: Year Number of customers % growth per Year Price/Year Total current sales in 10 months 2011 100 ____ 35,000Dhs 3,500,000Dhs 2012 150+ 100 150% 35,000Dhs 8,750,000Dhs 2013 215+100+150 86% 35,000Dhs 16,275,000Dhs 2014 270+215+150 36,55% 40,000Dhs 25,400,000Dhs 2015 300+150+215+270 32% 45,00Dhs 42,075,000Dhs 100 represents the first year customers for academic dance classes in 2011, but for 2012, there are two kinds of customers who are: 150 of new customers, 100 people of existing customers and for the following year 215 customers will be added by keeping the same existing ones because, IDA provides 3 years study of dance academic classes Numbers in black colour represents the new customers. Numbers in red colour represents the existing customers. Customers for leisure classes: Year Number of customers Price per month Total monthly sales 2011 25 350Dhs 8750Dhs 2012 42 350Dhs 14,700Dhs 2013 48 350Dhs 16,800Dhs 2014 62 400Dhs 24,800Dhs 2015 75 450Dhs 33,750Dhs Estimation of customers numbers for leisure dance classes: Months Number of customers September 13 October 13 November 16 December 20 January 20 February 25 March 25 May April 25 17 June 25 July 25 as we are new in the market, in the first two months we will begin by 13 customers in leisure classes, Afterward the number of customers will increase to 16 and then to 20 as it will be fixed in December and January after that, new 5 customers will come to register in February and march, whereas, in April and may the number of customers will decrease because of the exams period, and for the following two months that are in summer (June, July) the number of customers will become normal (25 customers in the first year). Offers and discounts: We will Give scholarship for talented people The students who get 98% in the exam will have a discount of 20% in the second year fees. The student who will win in the competitions that are going to be organized in yearly basis he/she z will travel to the original country of a such dance to explore the actual of that dance. Sales persons: We will hire experienced sales persons who take their passions for the challenges and mobility. And are ready to show clearly the charisma and enthusiasm to attract attention, create sympathy, inspire confidence and make memorable business relationships as well as that have a sense of curiosity and confidentiality. These people will work on presenting our services and offers, negotiate with customers and agencies that recruit professional dancers, and they will be involved in every sales activities in Casablanca and among other cities in Morocco as well as outside Morocco. year number of places salary per experiences salesperson person 2011 2 In different areas of 5000 DHS -should have 3 years experience Casablanca. 2012 3 In Casablanca and its 5500 DHS surroundings 2013 3 -In Casablanca and 5500 DHS must have a great ability Its surroundings to persuade 2014 4 -Different cities in 6000 DHS Morocco 2015 6 -In morocco and other From 7000 to 10  .000 DHS 7000 to 10.000 Dhs And some Foreign countries _In the first year 2011 we will have 2 sales persons: The first sales person will be responsible for the conventions with other agencies such as recruiting agencies. Second person: will bring customers from schools and different clubs. _In the Second year 2012we will increase the number of sales persons from 2 to 3 people: 2 people will be a responsible for making conventions with other agencies and the third one bring customers from different areas in Casablanca. _Third year 2013 we will keep the same number of sales people doing the same activities. _ For the Fourth year 2014 we will need four people because of upcoming new dances to our academy as we will need customers from different cities in Morocco. _In the Fifth year 2015, we will hire six sales people as a total, 4 of them are for the local market and 2 others for outside morocco, because we will look for a foreigner customers after setting up franchise in Marrakech. . MARKET STRATEGIES Strategies of promotion and sale services: One of strategies that (IDA) uses is advertisement which is designed to give introduction to people about the different classes and dances that the academy offer by using 4 types of advertising: InternetÆ’Â   advertising through the internet such as: website of IDA, and on the social network websites. MagazineÆ’Â   will be provided by supplement that contains the description of the academy with bright colors and pictures of the academy. NewspapersÆ’Â   the academy will be advertised on the newspapers in a sort of ads. RadioÆ’Â   we go through different radio stations: hit radio, Chada Fm, Radio Sawa and Casa Fm. Marketing mix of (IDA): product: our product is a service, we deliver both leisure and academic dance classes in a period of 3 years. (IDA) is the only academy in Moroccan market that will offer different dance classes academically of different types of dances with diplomas . price: (IDA) charge a reasonable prices, for the customers who want to dance for leisure they will pay 350 Dirhams per month, and for the students who will take the academic classes will pay in a yearly basis with an amount of 35,000 Dirhams as we will afford a payment facilities and give scholarship to talented people. Moreover, we ensure the stability of prices for the first three years then we will work on increasing the price because of upcoming new dances and the diversity of the schools among different cities and countries. PLACE: From 2011 to 2014 the service will be provided in Casablanca after that, we will expand our business in 2015 in Marrakech , and for the following years we ll keep going local and well start going global by opening branches in other countries starting by Tunisia and others . PROMOTION: The main ways of Promotion for (IDA) are internet(social network), media, magazinesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Advertising cost: The cost of advertising for (IDA) is: 2.029.500 dhs: 60% of the advertising costs is for TV and bill boards : 1,217,700 Dhs   20% For newspapers and magazines: 40,590,000 Dhs 20% For radio stations: 40,590;000 Dhs. A Comparison between (IDA) and its competitor casa dance that spent 3.313,200 dhs for advertising: advertising types of (IDA) advertising type of casa dance -media TV internet -bill boards posters -magazine Newspapers magazines Improvement of sales and profit margin for IDAs services: An efficient management skills toward salespeople will participate in the improvement of sales, so in order to make our salespeople having a valuable contribution in our dance academy we will work on providing incentives to them such as, cash bonuses, travel experiences or merchandise rewards. so as to attract a large number of customers and maintaining the existing ones. More than that, we will provide them with the right tools such as cell phones, cars, to ensure a proper work. OUR TEAM SKILLS IN IDA CHAIRMAN Ikrame Jabre is the chairman of IDA; she is a student at university of Sunderland in morocco, majoring in business management as she had dance experience, she wants to combine her studies which concerns management skills with her passion, dancing. MARKETING MANAGER Souiri Fatima Zahra as an associate in IDA Company; she is a student at university of Sunderland in business management branch as she has marketing skills such as communication skills and working in enthusiastic atmosphere to get more relationship in courteous and friendly manner. SILENT PARTNER Youssef Mellouki as a silent partner in IDA company, he is a student at Sunderland university in business management branch. HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER Manal khoumani is a bedfellow in IDA, she is a student at university of Sunderland in business management branch as he has human resources skills such as dealing and negotiating with people in order to get more information. FINANCE MANAGER Sophia Amzay is one of the IDA partners, she is a student at university of Sunderland majoring in business management branch as he has financing and accounting skills, she likes dealing with number since she was child. HUMAN RESOURCES ASSISTANT MANAGER: supports the responsibilities in some areas such as recruitment and employment, training and development, and so on. FINANCE ASSISTANT: is dependable on collecting information through overseeing financial regulation and legislation and manages also on supervising income statement, profit and loss, cash flow coming in and coming out of organization of IDA. Dance teachers: highly qualified with a good performances and capabilities to deliver dance lessons in the appropriate manner in order to have good strategies. Maids : 2 women, working for the cleanliness of IDA. Security : strong and energetic man that has experiences in this domain. Sales people: we start up only by 2 people on the first year, that have the ability of communication and marketing skills in order to attract customers for the dance . IDAs OPERATIONS FINANCIAL FORECASTS Numbers Staffs Employees Salaries per person in Dirhams 1 HR manager 10.000 1 HR assisstant manager 3.000 1 Marketing manager 10.000 1 Marketing assisstant manager 3.000 1 Finance manager 10.000 1 Finance Assisstant 3.000 2 Salespeople 5.000 9 Teachers 10.000 2 Maids 2.000 1 Doorkeeper 2.000 1 Secretary 3.000 TOTAL  : 21 148000 Names of partners Partnership in (%) Total per DHS Ikrame jabre 51% 21942954 Sophia amzay 29% 12477366 Fatimazahra souiri 10% 4302540 Manal el koumani 5% 2151270 Youssef el mellouki 5% 2151270 Explanation of the personal funding for all partners: Names of partners Internal funding% I.F in DHS Total  / person in DHS CAPITAL Ikrame jabre 30% 6582886,2 21942954 43025400 Sophia amzay 30% 3743209,8 12477366 43025400 Fatimazahra souiri 30% 1290762 4302540 43025400 Manal el koumani 30% 645381 2151270 43025400 Youssef el mellouki 30% 645381 2151270 43025400 Names of partners External fund(from bank)% E.F/ person in DHS Total in DHS CAPITAL Ikrame jabre 70% 15360067,8 21942954 43025400 Sophia amzay 70% 8734156,2 12477366 43025400 Fatimazahra souiri 70% 3011778 4302540 43025400 Manal el koumani 70% 1505889 2151270 43025400 Youssef el mellouki 70% 1505889 2151270 43025400 Names of partners Amount in DHS Fixed Interest rate(%) years number of months Monthly payment(DHS) Ikrame jabre 15360067,8 6% 10 120 7680,0339 Sophia amzay 8734156,2 6% 7 84 6238,683 Fatimazahra souiri 3011778 6% 5 60 3011,778 Manal el koumani 1505889 6% 3 36 2509,815 Youssef el mellouki 1505889 6% 4 48 1882,36125 The loans will be paid by the proper money of the partners depending on their funding amounts, IDA doesnt have any relationship to the borrowed money. Ikrame jabre needs 10 Years to pay her loan to the bank because its a huge amount of money borrowed, as she is a chairman, she gets a higher salary than others which is 20.000 DHS per month and can pay her loan comfortably with an amount of 7680,0339 DHS  /month. Sophia amzay needs to spend 4087,413 DHS / month out of 10.000 Dhs of her salary for the external funding interests in a period of 7 years. Fatimazahra souiri needs 5 years to pay her loan, with a monthly payment of 3011,778 DHS For Manal el koumani will pay her loan in a period of 3 years. Youssef el mellouki is a silent partner, so he will take only dividends thats why he needs 4 years to pay his loan, even there is an equal percentage of partnership between him and Manal el koumani. INTERNATIONAL DANCE ACADEMY CASH FLOW PROJECTIONS FOR THE FIRST YEAR 2011 IN (DHS): We will take 80% from the profit as dividends and for the rest which is 20% of the profit we keep it as retained earnings. M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9 M10 M11 Cash received: 3.504.450 4450 5600 7000 7000 8750 8750 8750 5950 8750 8750 Cash sales: 3.504.450 4450 5600 7000 7000 8750 8750 8750 5950 8750 8750 Additional cash: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tax, VTA received: ________________________________________________________________ NC borrowing: : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 New other abilities: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Other current asset: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 New investment: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Subtotal cash Received: 3.504.450 4450 5600 7000 7000 8750 8750 8750 5950 8750 8750 Expenditure M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9 M10 M11 Expenditure from Operations: Cash spending: 195.080 175.080 175080 175080 175080 175080 175080 175080 175080 175080 175080 Additional cash Spent: 0 0 0 0 0

The Effects of Violent Computer Games on Children :: Essays Papers

The Effects of Violent Computer Games on Children Children are spending an increasing amount of time playing games. Research shows that as much as 92% of children between 4 and 17 years of age play video games (Zvezdan, 1). Most of these video games are violent and cause physical and mental problems in children. Computer games that are played excessively can damage a person’s health. They can cause epilepsy, damage to a child’s posture, and damage to joints, skin irritation and sight deterioration. Flashing of lights and the radiant energy of the images from the screen can trigger seizures (Randall, 1). Seizures can lead an individual to develop epilepsy. Epilepsy causes a kind of electrical storm in the brain. The most common type of epilepsy is called grand mal (â€Å"Epilepsy,† 194). It causes a sudden loss of consciousness and wild jerking of arms, legs and other parts of the body. Another adverse effect of playing computer games is crooked posture. Crooked posture is one of the most common medical problems connected to playing video games. In fact there is a huge number of children in junior high and high schools that have a crooked posture as a result of playing computer games (Zvezdan, 1). Having a crooked posture can lead to permanent spinal damage. D amage to joints or tendonitis is just another factor that comes with playing computer games excessively. The constant repetition of the same movements to hands induces damage to joints and skin irritation (Zvezdan, 1). Another effect of playing computer games is deterioration of eyesight. Hours staring at the screen, which displays rapidly flashing pictures, can impair sight. Some other physical problems caused by computer games are lack of exercise and psychomotor disorders (Setzer, 3). With lack of exercise, the buildup of fat increases causing a person to become obese. Recent news articles claim, â€Å"some children addicted to electronic games spoke too fast with limited sense, feeling or contents in their speech.†(Setzer, 3) Unable to speak properly would hold children back from excelling in their studies. The mental effects of playing violent games are just as numerous as the physical effects. Excessively playing violent computer games over along period of time can contribute to â€Å"obsessive, addictive behavior,† the player will be dehumanized, and feelings will be desensitized (Setzer, 1). The Effects of Violent Computer Games on Children :: Essays Papers The Effects of Violent Computer Games on Children Children are spending an increasing amount of time playing games. Research shows that as much as 92% of children between 4 and 17 years of age play video games (Zvezdan, 1). Most of these video games are violent and cause physical and mental problems in children. Computer games that are played excessively can damage a person’s health. They can cause epilepsy, damage to a child’s posture, and damage to joints, skin irritation and sight deterioration. Flashing of lights and the radiant energy of the images from the screen can trigger seizures (Randall, 1). Seizures can lead an individual to develop epilepsy. Epilepsy causes a kind of electrical storm in the brain. The most common type of epilepsy is called grand mal (â€Å"Epilepsy,† 194). It causes a sudden loss of consciousness and wild jerking of arms, legs and other parts of the body. Another adverse effect of playing computer games is crooked posture. Crooked posture is one of the most common medical problems connected to playing video games. In fact there is a huge number of children in junior high and high schools that have a crooked posture as a result of playing computer games (Zvezdan, 1). Having a crooked posture can lead to permanent spinal damage. D amage to joints or tendonitis is just another factor that comes with playing computer games excessively. The constant repetition of the same movements to hands induces damage to joints and skin irritation (Zvezdan, 1). Another effect of playing computer games is deterioration of eyesight. Hours staring at the screen, which displays rapidly flashing pictures, can impair sight. Some other physical problems caused by computer games are lack of exercise and psychomotor disorders (Setzer, 3). With lack of exercise, the buildup of fat increases causing a person to become obese. Recent news articles claim, â€Å"some children addicted to electronic games spoke too fast with limited sense, feeling or contents in their speech.†(Setzer, 3) Unable to speak properly would hold children back from excelling in their studies. The mental effects of playing violent games are just as numerous as the physical effects. Excessively playing violent computer games over along period of time can contribute to â€Å"obsessive, addictive behavior,† the player will be dehumanized, and feelings will be desensitized (Setzer, 1).