Educational Psychology study Essay

The study was done by Penny Clunies-Ross, Emma Little and Mandy Kienhuis, (2008). It is titled ‘Self-reported and actual use of proactive and reactive classroom management strategies and their relationship with teacher stress and student behavior’. The study was done with primary school teachers in Australia and examined the teachers’ self-report on the behavior management strategies that they use in the classroom and how these affect their stress level and the students’ behavior. The literature reviewed for this study discussed research done in four areas which were used as the theoretical base for the study. One is the level of disruptive behavior in schools. The second is the teacher stress and its causes. Third is the relationship between the two. And fourth is the type of classroom strategies that teachers use which are categorized as proactive and reactive. The proactive strategies have been described as a more positive approach that is preventive. The reactive strategies are more negative and remedial. The proactive strategies have been found to be more effective. This study therefore aims to â€Å"investigate the relationship between primary school teachers’ self-reported and actual use of management strategies, and to identify how the use of proactive and reactive strategies is related to teacher stress and student behavior†. The hypothesis was that using reactive strategies would result in higher levels of teacher stress and lower on-task behavior of the students. Also that using proactive strategies would result in lower levels of teacher stress and higher on-task behavior of the students. The sample was obtained by contacting principals of the schools. First convenience sampling was used, and then random phone calls to ensure that five schools from each district in Melbourne were included in the study. Data was collected by questionnaires to all teachers and observations of those who volunteered to participate. The data was collected and analyzed by SPSS. In general the results showed that hypothesis one was supported while hypothesis two was not supported. The study was generally well done. The literature review was comprehensive and discussed a wide range of studies from as early as 1986 to 2003, showing the range of research on the topic over the period of time. It was also well organized into sections. The sampling technique was straightforward. Persisting until each district was represented by five schools was good. However the final sample was ninety seven participants from twenty one schools. This means an average of less than five teachers from each school. It may have been better to have surveyed fewer schools but more teachers from each school. The culture of the school often affects teacher stress so that the small number of teachers from a large number of schools may not be reflective of the levels and causes of stress in any one of the schools. The effect of the classroom management strategies used in one school may not completely relate to the teacher stress at that school. The results were analyzed as one sample, rather than analysis by school. Therefore there is no examination of whether the difference in school culture, (if in fact any differences exist) affected the study. However, the study did an analysis of the multivariate effects of gender, level of qualifications and years of teaching experience and found that they were not predictors of teacher stress. These are important variables to include as possible effectors of teacher stress. The study presented a lot of detail on the sample and the materials. However there should have been more detail on the procedure- how exactly were the observations set up and carried out. The report only says â€Å"After the 30-minute observation had been conducted in the teacher’s classroom, observation and questionnaire data were matched using the four-digit code†. The analysis of data was another section that was well presented. This section was again well organized into sub- sections which made reading and following the results much easier. All the data were represented by well-laid out and well- labeled tables which were easy to read. This structure was repeated even in the discussion so that the reader was able to follow the analysis of the results and the discussion for each research question or issue. That was in fact one of the key aspects that made this study encouraging to read- that the subsections were repeated in each part of the study- literature review, data analysis and discussion. An important aspect of this study was the use of both questionnaires (self-report) for teacher behavior and observations. It was significant to educational research on the whole to examine the relationship between the two, since generally self-reports alone cannot be relied upon for accurate measures of behavior. The significant positive correlation between the teachers’ reported use of strategies, both proactive and reactive, and what the researchers observed helps to make self-reports a more reliable tool in educational research. The study ends with two important sections- methodological limitations and suggestions for further research. Discussions in these two sections show the researchers’ awareness of the limitations of the study despite the fact that it is a good piece of research and it helps the reader to understand why certain things were not done in a particular way. One example is this study is the mention that the sampling though it seemed random in fact was not completely random as the teachers who volunteered for the study may be teachers who are not particularly stressed, or that the stressed teachers may not have been so willing to participate. Secondly the number of teachers volunteering to be observed was quite small. The study does not mention the actual number. A section that I would have liked to see included in this study was one on ethical considerations. In general the study was a useful one, well conducted and reported. It investigated the effect of proactive and reactive strategies as classroom management techniques on teachers’ stress levels. The study did in fact find that the use of proactive strategies had less effect on teachers’ stress. This would be the most important benefit to teachers to help them to keep the stress of teaching to a minimum. They could be encouraged by these results to focus on implementing activities in the classroom that would prevent classroom disruptions, rather than having to use their attention and energy intervening in classroom disruptions and losing teaching time. The study also looked at the effect of these strategies on students’ on-task behavior, and again found that the proactive strategies fostered more on-task behavior. This is also useful to the teachers to keep students focused on their work and lessen the disruptions in the classroom. Reference Clunies-Ross, P. , Little, E. and Kienhuis, M. (2008) Self-reported and actual use of proactive and reactive classroom management strategies and their relationship with teacher stress and student behavior, Educational Psychology, 28:6,693 — 710

Exploring the geological history Essay

Firstly we will explore the importance of the site of the town. Because St. Aubins has a town on the sea, it grew up on sites close to a natural harbour, which afforded shelter to the vessels that carried the seaborne trade, upon which the existence of the town depended. St. Aubin is a town of this last class; a glance at a map of Jersey will show that it and Gorey are the only accessible natural harbours which are completely sheltered from the strong westerly winds. St. Aubins is sheltered from the sea on all sides except from the South-East to South. It is widely believed that St. Aubins was once the capital of Jersey; but this can not be true because from the earliest times the Royal Court and the States have met in St. Helier. Also St. Aubin had no church until the 18th Century, and it would be very weird if the capital was left churchless.  Small vessels of the time, securely moored†¦could lie safely in all weathers. The want of depth of water, so detrimental to our town in these days, mattered then, when vessels where very small, and when men where not in such a hurry as they are now, and did not mind waiting patiently for a high tide. This naturally sheltered harbour must have been a resort for fisherman from the earliest time when our island was cut off from the continent. There can be no doubt that St. Aubins is the best natural port in the Island.  The salt and dried cod they brought home found a market in the Roman Catholic countries, where there was an especially large demand during Lent. The ships that carried the fish to these countries brought back cargoes of foreign produce, which in turn was distributed in Northern Europe in exchange for timber for ship-building, hemp for cordage, canvas for sales, pitch and other goods. So a lucrative trade grew up, and the town increased in wealth and importance. St. Helier too, though it had little trade or shiping, seems to have been slightly more populous than St. Aubins, even in it’s great days.  The two towns in fact lived on quite dissimilar lines, the townsmen of St. Helier lived upon the Court, with its lawyers and functionaries, and upon the country people who came into market and to do there business, while the inhabitants of St. Aubins lived upon there overseas trade, and especially upon the Newfoundland fishery. After this time the state of St. Aubin increased slowly but steadily for about one hundred years. Then the ship owners found it very profitable on account of the long wars with France, to fit out and arm vessels as privateers, and the profits earned where so high that this kind of trade grew rapidly until St. Aubins became the chief privateering port in the kingdom. The privateers were fast vessels, heavily armed with guns, and manned with large crews, needed both to work the ships and guns. The captains each carried a Royal Commission called a â€Å"letter of marque† authorising the capture of the ships and goods of the French. The letter of marque was an important document, as it was all that stood between the whole crew hanged as pirates if taken by an enemy man-of-war. No wages were paid to any of the hands but each received his share of the prizes taken.  In the early years of the last century, St. Aubins reached its high point of importance, but then began to fall off owing to the competition of the new port of St. Helier, which was rapidly increasing its harbour accommodation. Of the two largest St. Aubins merchants, the house of Robin moved to St. Helier, while the Janvrins ceased business. This was a serious blow to St. Aubins, so that by about 1850 its shipping had dwindled to small figures, while St. Heliers had increased until it was the sixth port of the whole British Empire. The peace after the Battle of Waterloo helped this result, as privateers became useless and the large St. Aubins capital sunk in them was so great extent lost.  An attempt to make this port for granite export failed, though for a time, the export of gravel brought many ships back to the port. The coming of the railway was a great event. A company formed in 1846 accomplished nothing. A new company in 1861 met with many difficulties; but at last the track was laid. In 1870, the first train was greeted with salvo cannon, and the dean read an eloquent prayer. Two hundred guests lunched in a marquee in the Noirmont grounds. And trains ran continually to bring the while Island to the fete and the fireworks. In 1899, this line was extended to Corbiere. But the advent of the motor bus eventually killed the trains, and in1935 they ceased running. Later, the four-mile track from St. Aubin to La Corbiere was transformed into one of the pleasantest walks on the Island. The Germans relayed the line when making their fortifications; but they have now been removed. The Chief legacy the Germans left to St. Aubin is the immense tunnel which they blasted into the side of the hill to hold their reserve ammunition.  On the 20th October 1941 Hitler declared that the Channel Islands would become an impregnable fortress. Thousands of foreign workers, mostly Spanish, French, Polish and Russian were being poured into the Island to assist in the building of bunkers, gun emplacements, tunnels and sea walls. They needed sand, granite chippings, cement, water and, of course, reinforcing metal. Transport of the first two presented a considerable problem and was largely responsible for the building of the railways. The metre gauge line from St. Helier to St. Aubin and Corbiere can be said to have started opposite commercial buildings, within a stone’s throw of the former J.R. & T Weighbridge terminus. From West Park to St. Aubins tunnel, the roadbed of the former J.R. & T was more or less followed. The line was single throughout except for an occasional crossing loop. A blast wall had already been built at the eastern end of the old J.R. & T tunnel at St. Aubin as a protection from the extensive galleries which were being excavated. The bore of the tunnel itself had been greatly increased and the galleries driven through solid rock, the area being second only to that of the much better known underground hospital, to which rather surprisingly no connecting railway was laid.

Camping

Hey, be careful and dont do anything stupid, my dad said to me right before I hopped into Chase Millers dark blue Chevy S-IO with a camper shell on the back. I looked at Chase and Tyler Becker and said, Lets go camping. As Chase pushed down the gas pedal, a big cloud of black smoke shot out of the back of the truck and the smell of burning motor oil filled the cab. It was in July, and we wanted to go camping. I asked my dad if we could go up to our familys cabin in Elk Springs, which is near Montrose. He agreed, so Chase, Tyler and I, all sixteen years old, packed our stuff and were ready to go camping. With excitement, we Jumped into Chases truck, and took off to the woods. It takes a good hour and forty-five minutes drive to get there from my house, and the drive gets a little boring. Chases truck was full of Junk. I found a roll of fishing line, and we got this bright idea to tie a piece of plastic to the end of the fishing line. I rolled down the window and threw out the plastic piece while holding on to the roll of fishing line. I let out more and more line, until the end was way out there. People would drive up to it and be confused, because they wouldnt see the fishing line, Just the plastic piece. Before I knew it, we were pulling up to the cabin. When we stopped, the first thing I did when I got out was take a deep breath. Then I said, What do you guys want to do? Chase Just shrugged his shoulder. Tyler suggested, Lets take a hike. We all agreed to that, because it sounded fun. As we were walking away from the cabin, I remembered that I brought a slingshot. I thought it would be fun to shoot rocks at stuff, so I suddenly said, Wait for me. I have o get something. I ran to my bag, which was still in Chases truck, and grabbed the slingshot. We took off into the woods. Every now and then we would stop, and Tyler and Chase would carve pointed sticks, and we would try to shoot birds, trees and other animals with rocks. We all sucked shooting the slingshot; we couldnt hit anything. As we were walking through the forest, we saw a clearing in the forest. We went to go see what it was. The clearing was a spot where people were logging. The logging company had all their equipment laying out everywhere. We slowly peeked our heads ut to see if the loggers were working. None were to be found. So, we walked up to the equipment to check it out. There was a big truck loaded logs on to the logging trucks. They had about four chainsaws laying there and another big truck that cut the trees down. Since it was private land that they were logging on, they didnt have to lock up. All the doors were open. Of course, we all had to get in them and play around with the controls. Tyler started to honk the horn in the semi-trucks. The horn hear us. About an hour passed, and we got bored of messing around with all their stuff, so we ecided to keep hiking. Tyler grabbed the slingshot and I made sure everything was put back how it was. As we were walking away Tyler was shooting rocks at the logging truck. We were about fifty yards out, and he couldnt hit it. Chase and I were standing there watching him, laughing and telling him that he sucked, because he couldnt hit a huge target. After about fifty shots and not one hit from him, Tyler said, Here, you try. I have to take a piss. I grabbed the sling shot from him and picked up a round pebble, about the size of a small marble, off the ground. I loaded the pebble in the eather pouch and drew both my hands up. With a firm grip of the handle of the slingshot in my left hand and squeezing the pebble in leather pouch with my right hand, I slowly pulled back. When the rubber band was fully stretched out, I closed one eye and took aim right towards the truck. Before I even thought about what I was doing I let go of the sling. The sling snapped forward launching the marble size rock towards the truck. A split second later, the rock crashed threw the window, and the sound of breaking glass filled the air. I remember yelling, OH SH#@! LETS GET OUT OF HERE! Tyler couldnt even finish what he was doing. We all hauled butt out of there as fast as were could. After we were a good distance away, we stopped, let Tyler finish what he was doing, and let my nerves calm down. I took a couple of deep breaths and something horrible popped into mind: my dad saying, Dont do anything stupid. I felt so bad. We decided to go back to look at the damage. As we were going back I was trying to figure ways out of this. When we got there, there was glass all over the place. The whole window was blown out into tiny pieces of safety glass. Tyler got an idea to make it ook like an accident. His idea was to lean a tree up against the truck to make it look like it fell and broke the window, but there was only one problem, there were no trees around. They had logged them all. Then I got an idea, which wasnt much better. My idea was to find a dead bird and put in on the seat by the broken window, making it look like the bird flew through window. We walked around looking for a dead bird. We had no luck. Then we all took turns shooting rocks at birds to try to kill one. No luck there either. By this time it was getting late and we were getting hungry, so we tarted to head back to the cabin. All night I couldnt get Dont do anything stupid out of my head. My conscience was getting to me. I tried to think of ways to tell my dad, and how harsh of a punishment he would give me. I woke up about 10:00 a. m. , and I heard the loggers working. We decided to go see. As we got closer, we made sure that they couldnt see us. While hiding behind trees, Tyler started to make a howling noise. The man with the chainsaw heard the noise, shut off his chainsaw, looked around, and then he went back to work. Tyler did it a second time, even louder than the first. This time the man shut off the chainsaw, set so we took off running through the woods, laughing all the way back to the cabin. When we got back, we started to pack to get home early. We Just got done packing up, and this gut ache came to me. I was getting nervous to go home. I kept thinking what my dad said to me. We Jumped into the truck, and took off to go home. On the way home, I decided to tell my dad when I got back. We pulled into my driveway and I got really nervous. I hopped out of the truck and grabbed my stuff. I could hear my dad say, Dont do anything stupid in my head ver and over. As I walk up to the front door he was there to greet me. He asked, Did you have fun? With a sorrowful look on my face, I replied, Yeah. I broke a window. Before I realized what I was saying, I had told him. I thought he was going to go off on me and give me a harsh punishment, but he didnt. He Just told me to do what I think is best. I ended up talking to the owner of the logging company and paying $104. 31 out of my pocket for the broken window. I should have listened to my dad a little better when he told me, Dont do anything stupid.

Organisational Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Organisational Behaviour - Essay Example Thus, workers are bonded through cooperation and communication. To illustrate, when an inexperienced person joins a team, there is enough communication to make the new member aware about his or her role in the team. Moreover, in case of doubts, the new members do not hesitate to ask the more experienced and creative ones and the experienced ones share their knowledge with the new ones. Thus, new workers easily and effectively adapt to the work environment. The second point is that teamwork improves the self esteem of the team members. This happens so because in a team, each team member feels important and needed. This sense of importance is created because each member realises that he or she has a valuable role to play in the team. When this sense of belonging grows, each member feels that he or she has the chance to explore and exhibit potential and talent. Thus, teamwork has an important role in fostering creativity of individual. Another important aspect is that teamwork enhances personal responsibility. In other words, in a team, each member has a very clearly defined role to play. Thus, each member realises the fact that their own failure in playing their role will have an impact on achieving the team’s goal. ... However, there are certain disadvantages as well. To illustrate, not all people love teamwork. There are some go-getters who are happy working alone. For them, the work in a team is like a hindrance as they are not capable of performing to their fullest as they feel hindered by the less capable ones. For these people, working independently is more productive. In addition, there is the problem of conflict among members. For example, though some teams function harmoniously, some teams are prone to conflicts. As it is difficult to identify when conflicts will develop, it is difficult to avoid their development. When conflicts and power struggles arise, the employees suffer from stress, and as a result, their productivity goes down. 5. The belief that individual personality has nothing to do with behavior at work is baseless. In fact, personality will seriously affect the way people deal with various situations at work. In order to understand the role of personality, it is useful to use the Big Five Model or the five factor model. According to the model, there are five major trait categories. The first among them is openness to experience. In this category, one extreme is highly interested in, and optimistic about, new experiences and changes. Admittedly, such people will welcome taking up responsibilities and roles. When there are issues like organisational change, such people are less likely to suffer from stress. On the other hand, the other extreme is totally hostile to new experiences and they remain closed minded and rigid towards new experiences. Such people are highly likely to oppose any changes in the organisation and are less motivated to take up challenging roles. Another category is conscientiousness. It is claimed that high degree of

Project management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Project management - Case Study Example The company is seeking to recruit a new project manager to lead the project. This paper has set the recommendations necessary and recommends the vice president to use the score model to come up with the best solution. ABS has in recent years acquired two companies, which are General Maritime Protection and the Western general insurance in Calgary. These two acquisitions positioned it as a major insurer in Canada. These companies function autonomously up to this date even after the merging of the three companies under a single legal entity. That is why an IT strategic plan was necessary which provided an IMSP, which could be shared by the HRM, financial management and sales and marketing management. The IMSP could lead the ABS Canada to solve these underlying problems. Vice president Jean Roberge felt that he needed a project manager to help him with the IMSP project. This project was an important one for the organization since it could enable the three companies solves their underlying problems. That is why an ideal project manager is important. Jean Roberge should come up with a checklist and then use the scoring model to select the ideal project manager (Kloppenborg, 2011). The first step involves him coming up with a list analyzing and indicating the purposes of the project and decides which ability is more important to realize the purpose of the project. He should consider IT technical ability and the negotiation abilities between the three companies should be considered. The next stage is for Jean Roberge to consider the most important aspects of each criterion with considerations of the project’s blueprint. He then finds all the candidates and scores them according to their scores. He is then supposed to use the scoring model to get the rightful candidate. He obtains this by multiplying the scores of the criterion with their corresponding weight. It is important that

Review of Selected Journal Papers and Online Material Essay

Review of Selected Journal Papers and Online Material - Essay Example Statisctics across the globe indicate an increase in emissions in the European Union between the years 1990-2006. The authors argue that though efforts have been made in increasing fuel efficiency, the emissions from the transport sector still pose a challenge. The article presents literature evidence on the positive impact of compact cities in mitigating emissions. The main argument of the article is that compact cities reduce the overall commuting length. The authors raise an argument concerning suitable policies that would make the positive effect last. They argue that though compacting cities reduce environmental pollution from the transport sector perspective, it may have a counter effect. People and firms may need to relocate due to the effect on wages and household rents. The authors of the article seek to establish the best policy tradeoff that would arrive at an appropriate population density that allows the environmental impact skew to the beneficial side (Gaigne, Riou, Thi sse, 2012, p. 1425). Stone, Hess and Frumkin (2010, p. 1425) do not support the opinion presented by Gaigne et al. In their article, they argue that the city form has a profound effect on the climate. Compact cities can encourage climate related fatalities. They raise the issue of Extreme Heat Events, a phenomenon that involves the rise of temperatures in the cities by a magnitude of up to 100C compared to surrounding countryside. Compact cities call for building configurations that aid in absorbing and trapping heat. Low-density land use and sprawling over expansive areas have a spillover effect due to the increasing distance. This is in agreement with Gaigne et al. Walters and Ewing (2009, p. 196) observed that vehicle and fuel technology were not sufficient in cutting the carbon dioxide emissions. Becky and Chow (2011, p. 552) also observed that reducing the vehicle miles could have a positive impact on reducing emissions. The two articles support the role compact cities would ha ve on reducing use of vehicles. Congestion in compact cities discourages people from using their own means of transport, thus cutting on the emissions. Congestion in the compact cities is a limiting factor. In addition to traffic congestion and air pollution, urban transport affects the climate (Creutzig & He, 2009, p. 120). Williams, Joynt and Hopkins (2010, p. 105) raise a concern that urban areas under consideration of compacting are not well adapted to deal with anticipated changes. Boussauw, Neutens and Witlox (2012, p. 687) argue that compact cities are beneficial in reducing commuter distance for employees and residents. This has a corresponding positive effect on reducing emissions. This view corresponds to Hamin and Gurran (2009, p. 238). They, however, recognize loopholes for possible policy conflicts arising from local contributions of such mitigation to climate change. Jensen, Christensen, & Gram-Hanssen, (2011, p.1) argue that the benefits that can be accrued from a com pact city setting are ambiguous. This is in agreement with Gaigne et al who view the benefits as a tradeoff. In another article, Nygard, Cao, Csordas, Larssen, Liu, Strand and Zhang (2012, p. 438) argue that Chinese cities have succeeded in bringing down emissions. This accrues from the congestion that discourages people from driving. Such a model can be replicated to other cities of the world. Mueller and Steiner (2011, p. 94) emphasize the need to exercise equity in formulation of policies for compact cities. They argue that

Human Resources Dilema Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Human Resources Dilema - Assignment Example Failure to comply with Steven’s plea might lead to poor service delivery by the employee. The company should assess the consequences of such an adjustment to ensure that all the parties meet their objectives. 3) Didi is compliant with the provisions of the FLSA since; veronica is entitled to keep all her tips. Furthermore, the tips of veronica exceed the minimum tip of 30$ per month required by the FLSA so that an employee can be given less than the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. FLSA is a federal statute act in the department of labor of the United States. The act introduced; a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, 44 hours 7 days work week, prohibited child employment, and guaranteed pay for overtime. In 2007, the act was amended to provide for a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. This minimum wage had exemptions to workers who are tipped, and allowed to keep all the tips. 4) The head teacher should not be worried since the school management is not violating any law set by OSHA. According to the provisions of the act, certain places of work are exempted from OSHA inspections because they lie outside the act. Most of these work places are regulated by the government. These include; mining workers, public sector, and some domestic workers or people whose work place is domestic. The school is regulated by the government department and hence it is exempt from inspections by OSHA

Research Paper Rough Draft Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Rough Draft - Research Paper Example f the supernatural powers existed, manifestation of such beliefs in the form of witch hunts and witch trials became much more frequent during the Renaissance and culminated in the 16th and 18th centuries in the Germanic speaking areas. The practice of witchcraft and witch hunt subsided in the late 17th century, and by 18th century the last trials and executions took place in some parts of the medieval Europe. The causes for the decline of witchcraft and witch hunt are many and fairly complex.1 A general examination of the factors that led to the decline of the practice of witchcraft, witch hunt and witch trials include; introductions of new Legislations in the society, new socio-political phenomena and the new way of thinking by people in the growing scientific age. Western minds are fully confronted by the problem of what the term sorcery or witchcraft means in their culture, they shall assume most of the comfortable attitudes and categories of the informal and formal cultures exhibit. When women and men find themselves in a fearful and helpless state before the awesome forces of the invisible world and cannot explain; they traditionally seek to reach the inaccessible forces beyond the world. Naturally, it is in order to increase their human powers and their abilities to control their esteemed destinies. It is understandable with varying degree why the holders of such magical powers are the most feared people in the society, and why people’s behaviour towards them must take some specific and peculiar behaviours forms. The ordering and explanation of magic may appear to be so insufficient or inchoate, but at the overall end human preserve the sense of the final clarity and comprehensibility of such phenomena in the society. The witchcraft in the early medieval Europe period was essentially common folk magic or sorcery, developed over a period in the ancient period of 15th to 18th century2. The decline of witch hunt and witchcraft in Europe was a gradual

Managerial Economics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Managerial Economics - Research Paper Example Designers split their focus in making the current designs for their clients while having time to produce designs for the upcoming promotional activities for the new packages. It was found out that the current plan of making new design packages may push the company to many opportunity costs. Alternatives may be needed, such as getting talented workers from developing countries through freelance sites to finish the project while continuing the planned release of new packages. Application of Managerial Economics Executive Summary The company named Graphic Design Works specializes in graphic design as a product for other companies like small businesses and startup companies. The management comes to a point where it needs to decide to add new packages that may increase the profits of the company. In addition, the decision-making body plans to expand the ventures of the company towards software development, networking and business process outsourcing. It means the company may hire new work ers when it expands its business operations. For the company to expand, it requires huge amount of capital; the profits from the new packages may help in this if ever the launching and sales will be successful. The expansion may commence once the target profit is hit through the campaigns and promotions to popularize the new design packages for the clients to enjoy. The packages include various custom designs for merchandise, emails, webpage, logo and stationery with corresponding number of designs. Campaigns will be implemented through postings in the official website of Graphic Design Works, massive email advertising, article postings on web magazines, free ad postings, producing television commercials and radio announcements, post mail advertising, visiting corporate offices and phoning the potential customers. The company thinks of continuing the new packages to be offered to their past and present clients and even expand their market via promotions using traditional media with some touch of online advertising. Traditional media like newspapers, radio and television have already solid set of viewers that the company may tap to produce sales for their new packages. On the other hand, the internet allows any business to save while reaching global audience but with less developed tactics and strategies as of the moment. The potential of the internet shows that more people can start their business with low capital and target a wider market. In addition, companies can hire employees from overseas entirely online which saves them from spending too much on manpower. Graphic Design Works looks at the conditions as opportunities since more startup businesses mean more potential clients to convince which may lead to more sales and profit for the company. Other than that, the company also plans to target ordinary people without businesses by offering them design packages for parties or personal messages. Traditional media also become big opportunities for the company as more people are acquainted to view them since they are already part of the culture unlike the internet which still experiences many developments to cope up with the traditional media. When it comes to production decision, Graphic Design Works does not worry about the needed materials and equipment to create the packages. Computers, software and professional graphic designers are the ones needed for the job. Since computers become cheaper

War on Terrorism Essay Example for Free

War on Terrorism Essay During the year 1998, a group of American ‘neoconservatives’ openly wrote to President Clinton to attack Iraq. This group was known as the Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf. They were in real sense calling for the Americans to form part of a proxy army of attack for Israel. The signatories included Paul Wolforitz, Richard Perle and Eliot Abrams among others. Of course Clinton resisted these ventures and instead indicated support for the Iraq Liberation Act providing $ 97 million for training and equipping Iraqi exile groups. Come 2000, this particular group went ahead to organize the think tank the Project for the New American Century con cofounded by the likes of Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Lewis Libby and Paul Wolforwitz (Flum, 2008). A Break with Previous United States Foreign and Defense Policy During this time, three think tanks which were pro-Israel were championing similar ideas: The Jewish Institute for national Security Affairs (JINSA), The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), as well as the Center for Security Policy (CSP). These neoconservatives formed an integral part of the Bush 2000 presidential campaign as foreign-policy advisors (Flum, 2008). At this point in time, these powerful personalities easily influenced Bush with the ideological obsessions they had. What can be said here is that the Operation Iraqi Freedom, a description given to the invasion and occupation of Iraq by the U. S and affiliates represents a new dimension with regards to post-conflict humanitarian action. This new approach integrates security, humanitarian response, reconstruction as well as governance under the umbrella of the Department of Defense. The war on terrorism represents a break with previous United States foreign and defense policy to the extent that the UN agencies and non governmental organizations which conventionally had coordinated and implemented humanitarian assistance as well as post conflict reconstruction activities, are now relegated only to playing supportive roles within efforts supervised from the Pentagon (Charny, 2003). Again the war on terrorism represents a break with previous United States foreign and defense policy to the extent that the Iraq war is perceived as an expression of a new national security policy of pre-emptive self defense by the Bush administration (Charny, 2003). In spite of this new perception, it has there seems to be no public discussion of the long-term implications of the new approach to humanitarian assistance and post-conflict reconstruction the administration has embraced. Still, this break with the previous U. S foreign and defense policy is evident in the way humanitarian assistance has been militarized, the military given political, diplomatic and humanitarian responsibilities as well as the fact that donor government and independent agency contributions have been minimized. It has been argued that it is unclear the extent to which these new approaches can be considered new U. S doctrines more so regarding humanitarian emergencies. A discussion concerning NGO’s with Joseph Collins, the assistant secretary of Defense and the person charged with running the pentagon’s Stability Office clearly suggests that at least in the meantime, the Department of Defense will lead humanitarian operations in emergencies surrounding the military. According to Dr. Collins, the taking over of the humanitarian and reconstruction activities in the post-conflict Iraq by the Pentagon is a reflection of the assessment of lessons learned from post-conflict reconstruction efforts (Charny, 2003). In the opinion of Dr Collins, there lacked a clear overall authority who could coordinate the diverse players like the government leaders, UN agencies and personnel, as well as the peacekeeping forces among others, thereby plaguing the efforts in Kosovo and Afghanistan. Following those events, the conclusion of the Pentagon was that there was a need for a single unit to command all the aspects of the post-conflict response, thus placing these activities in the hands of the Department of Defense (Charny, 2003). This is a further illustration of the way the war on terrorism represents a break with previous United States foreign and defense policy. Conclusion In the final analysis, all these attempts represent a radical shift in the multicultural character of post-conflict endeavors over the past years in areas like Cambodia, East Timor, Afghanistan and the Balkans. It therefore means that the war on terrorism represents a break with previous United States foreign and defense policy. It should be noted however that this approach has not yielded positive results in Iraq. The Pentagon’s Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) did not include the UN and the NGO’s during its pre-war planning. The overall implication for this has been the ORHA’s slowness in restoring basic services as well as its failure to establish a legitimate Iraqi authority to locally run the state (Charny, 2003). References Charny, J. R. (2003). The United States in Iraq: An Experiment With Unilateral Humanitarianism. Institute for Policy Studies, (IPS); Foreign Policy in Focus, Washington DC. Retrieved December 29, 2008 from http://www. fpif. org/commentary/2003/0306dodreconst_body. html Flum, P. (2008). The Origins of the Iraqi War: The ‘Neoconservative’ Agenda for Middle East Conflict. Linpage Place, St. Louis. Retrieved December 29, 2008 from http://www. goalsforamericans. org/2004/07/07/the-origins-of-the-iraq-war-the-neoconservative-agenda-for-middle-east-conflict/

Car Service Business Plan Marketing Essay

Car Service Business Plan Marketing Essay The Business Plan is a professional study that analyzes a prospective project, also highlighting the benefits that may get from establishing such project. In addition to bring the necessary warnings of the considered risks might be occurred. This is besides giving a full analytic view in order to minimize the establishing and operational costs in the beginning stage of the project. Moreover the plan will release its own conclusion to the owners advising whether to begin the project or cancelled. The propose of this business plan is studying the possibility to establish and operate a new Car Service Center in Abu Dhabi, the Capital of United Arab Emirates. We will concentrate on the financial aspect, proving the profitability of the project. With reviewing the relative business aspects such like Marketing and Management. The Car Service center will serve small and medium range of private saloon cars of providing them the basic routine auto services for maintaining their cars and keep them running. The project will be within Abu Dhabi City, but not at the Industrial town Mussafah, a suburb of Abu Dhabi City. II. Business Description: Private cars Saloon become as the main transportation mean in the end of the twenty-century. It is integrated with the human privacy nature for everybody in this time. Moreover, the high income per capita in UAE (Which is estimated to be around UAE Dhs. 65,000 per capita) is driving people to fulfill their personal needs. However, transportation is one of the main essential things of these needs. That gives the enforcement to every family to have their own private car. By the end of the seventies, Abu Dhabi municipality ordered the entire car service workshops to move from Abu Dhabi Island. Therefore the Municipality established a new industrial suburb at the West Side of Abu Dhabi Island. The new Industrial area called Mussafah and it had been accommodated with all required infrastructure that might be needed for a modern industrial area. However, the distance Abu Dhabi city center to the new industrial area Mussafah is about (30) kilometer. That is considering a far distance to the routine car servicing to the people living in Abu Dhabi. Therefore, we are suggesting having our new car service center at a new unique location located beyond Al-Maqta Bridge on the right side of the main Alain Abu Dhabi Road. However, it is required to have a necessary license approval from the concern local authorities at Abu Dhabi Municipality. That is expected to be not easy to get from the first attempt, however it is not impossible. III. Product and Service The car service center will offer two major things as products and services to its variable customers: Servicing Automobiles: These automobiles are in the range from small to medium size of mainly Japanese and Korean cars in addition to other running cars in the town such like European and American cars. This service will include changing all the automobile fluids (Motor oil, Transmission fluid, Brake oil etc), replacing consumable items which is keeping the car running safely (Brake pads, sparks, plugs, Fuses, lamps), fixing the flat tires. In addition to fixing the minor problems that might occur to the automobiles. Spare Parts: The car service center will have compact sales counter for the consumable spare parts. These spare parts which are using in performing the routine daily jobs for the most common Japanese and Korean cars. Besides that, the sale counter will have some of the decorative accessories items. Refreshments: The customer lounge will be furnished with some self-service refreshment machines. These machines might include coffee, tea and hot chocolate machines, soft drinks and cold water machines, in addition to biscuits and chocolate candies machines. IV. Service Operation Establishing a state of art place to offer a remarkable service for saloon automobiles at Abu Dhabi City is the chief objective of this plan. The car service center is suggested to be at a unique place where it is easy to get, and not far from the city, as it should be within the metropolitan area of Abu Dhabi city. Therefore, the ideal place can be immediately after Al-Maqta Bridge on the right side of the main Alain Abu Dhabi Road. That area already contains several car agents like BMW Motors in addition to agents and distributors of major automobile spare parts and car accessories. The area of the suggested place will not be less than (500) square meters. That should contain the following: Workshop: Its area will be around (200) square meter. It will be furnished with the necessary heavy and light equipment to perform the required mechanical jobs. Moreover, it will include a small tool store with area of (9) square meter. Administration Section: Its area will be around (55) square meter. Which will contain a manager office with area of (12) square meters, accountant office with area of (9) square meter. Along with that the reception area will be with an area of (20) Square meters a compact kitchen with an area (4) square meters and a small store with an area of (6) square meters. Customer waiting lounge: Its area will be estimated at (20) square meters. It will be furnished with nice compact sofas. Along with that, some self-service refreshment machines will be distributed there. These machines might include coffee and hot chocolate machines, soft drinks machines, biscuits and chocolate candies machines, beside a small bathroom to be with an area of (4) square meters. In front of the customers waiting lounge will be a sales counter for the major spare parts, which is required to perform the project job. Along with the spare parts some auto decoration accessories can be offered. Back of this counter a spare parts store will be located with an area of (6) square meters. Staff Accommodation: The upper side of the customers waiting lounge and the administration section can be utilized as a staff accommodation place. It might contain three bedrooms, small living room, kitchen and two bathrooms. V. Market Analysis The target market is broadly based and is defined as the middle class person who owns a saloon car (mainly Japanese or Korean). Since the customer of this social class of the society is wildly known that he is taking care of his car to keeps it running in safely manner with minimum cost. However, the customers from high class who usually having European and American cars are servicing their car with the main cars agents. V.I Market Segmentation: The market for the car service center is not particularly segmented as a potential customer base. However the customers categories can be included with the following according to its importance: Employed staff with national oil and gas companies. Employed staff with official firms such like: Governments ministries, departments and authorities. Professional staffs such like: Engineers, Doctors, Lawyers, Accountants, etc. 4) Employed staff with semi government authorities such as national banks, governments own companies (i.e. ETISALAT), insurance companies, etc. These market segments are widely known that they do not want to lose their time for going to the far place of the Industrial area Mussafah. In addition that they are willing to deal with a professional reputable firm that can take care of their automobiles. Besides they are worries to keeping their car running smoothly and safely. V.II Market Needs: There is an important underlying need for the car service center at a particular location with offering basic car servicing facilities at a very reasonable price with a professional modernize firm. There is a real need for a highly professional car-servicing provider. That is having valuable high techniques service might be offered to the assigned target market. There is also a particular need for care service, which is relatively close to the customers. V.III Industry Analysis: Having an automobile and maintaining it in a satisfactory level has become more expensive than ever. We find people we can conclude that people are still willing to buy cars. As the standard of living in UAE has become very high comparing to the past. The family requirements are pressing to have a car in front of each house. Those requirements include taking the children to their schools, going for shopping with the family at afternoon. In addition to the living places are become little far from working places as the new modernize suburbs of Abu Dhabi city are spread in all directions out of the city (Al-Maqta, Um-Alnar, Shahama, Rahba, Bani Yas, Al-Wathbah and Jurn Yafour, etc.). Moreover, the new announced long weekends for most of the employed staff to UAE add its own remarkable value. This new weekend is forcing the families to go out of town during it. Specially, when the new attraction tourist facility have been spread in other UAE cities such like Dubai, Sharjah, Al-Ain, etc. V.IV Competitors: Our car service center will face direct competition from several service providers, which can be concluded as per the following: 1) Gasoline Service stations: These stations are belonged to Abu Dhabi Oil Company for Distribution (ADNOC FOD). Some Aà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ½DNOC FOD Gasoline stations are providing the basic automobile servicing facilities, like changing the consumable fluids. In addition to that, some of them are having the automatic car washing facilities. a) Strengths: These stations are distributed all over Abu Dhabi City. They are enjoying the prestige and reputation of a respectful oil service national company. b) Weakness: These stations are providing the service of changing the motor and brake oil only. They are not having the facility to change other fluids such like transmission fluids. They are also can not replacing any of the consumable items such like brake pads. Their staffs are not well-trained and professional technicians. They are classified as helpers more than technicians are. In addition to that their space which is available for the service is very limit. It can only accommodate two cars at a time. 2) Fixing Tires Shops in the Town: It is by Abu Dhabi Municipality local laws, that all the workshops, which are being classified as industrial category, have to be located out of Abu Dhabi City. They have to be in the assigned Industrial area Mussafah, however small shops (One door shop only) are allowed to perform their jobs in the town. These shops can only provide the service of fixing flat tires and changing motor oil. a) Strengths: These shops are very close to customers as they are distributed all over town. However, they are offering very competitive prices, as their overheads are very low. b) Weakness: Their offered services are too limited (Changing motor oil and fixing flat tires). The workers in these shops are not professionals at all. Moreover, they are suffering from space limitations outside their shops. 3) The Industrial Area Workshops: These workshops are located at the Industrial Area, which is called Mussafah. These workshops are ranged from small shops with one door shop (fixing tires and changing motor oil) to very big workshops that are having more than (15) staff. a) Strengths: The bargaining in selling prices be highlighted the reputation of these workshops, besides the availability of all integrated automobile maintenance facilities in these workshops from light and minor problems too complicated and major problems. b) Weakness: They are suffering from the far distance between Mussafah and Abu Dhabi City. Besides, the nonprofessionally and not well-trained staff is the image of their reputation in the market. This leads that customers are losing the performance satisfactions of their jobs. VI. Marketing Strategy Car service center will develop the project by beginning with few employees to reduce costs. All employees will be very motivated, resulting in a positive and strong firm culture. This culture will carry over to all new staff, which is a prime objective for the expansion of Car service center. The first year of service may be possible the mainly significant, as Car service center plans to establish strong relations with customers. These relationships will help as Car service center to grow and evolve in this industry. Car service center will focus on three local geographical markets, the Um Alnar residential complexes, Al-Maqta residential suburb and North side of Abu Dhabi Island. Offering special coupon prices for the proposed customers will also integrate a particular marketing plan. Car service center will build up a character in favor of quality as well as customer service. VI.I Pricing Strategy: Our customers are especially sensitive to value of the work you are doing it for them. The car service center should guarantee that prices as well as service are alleged to be good assessment to the customer. Our Car services center is a firm that is positioned for impulse servicing; Price may be to meet up the demand curve. On the other hand, Car service center is not scared of best pricing a best product. VI.II Promotion Strategy: The car service center will put into practice a well-built sales promotion strategy. Moreover, advertising might be as secondary option, as the Sales promotions along with public relation strategies to encourage an image of community involvement for car service center, moreover to limit environmental impact. Advertising budgets is a continuing progression of management geared to endorse the center brand name moreover maintains the car service center at the forefront of each local marketing area. VII. Management Organization The management in the Car service center accepts as true very powerfully that relationships ought to be forthright, effort must be structured through sufficient room for creativeness, and also pay might be adequate via the amount as well as quality of work finished. VII.I Organization Chart: Workshop Manager Accountant Public Relation Officer Sales Supervisor Technician Supervisor Technician/Assistants/Helpers (4) VII.II Operation Team: Workshop Manager: He will be responsible for the workshop affairs and control the technical side of the whole firm. He should be very well oriented and experienced in the auto industry and his education not less than Technical Secondary School Certificate. Being an Arab nationality will be added advantage. However, he should possess good English spoken/reading and writing. He has to have valid UAE driving license. Accountant: He will be responsible for the bookkeeping daily routine procedures, preparing the banking statements, conducting the cash flows and stock controlling. He should have a degree in accounts with adequate experience in a similar position for the same industry and familiar with the computer accounts and having typing skills. He will follow up the official duties towards the different government departments. Having UAE driving license will be added advantage. Technician (2): They should have excellent experiences in the Auto Industry, and preferred to be Arabs nationalities. That will make them communicate easily with Arab customers. However English language will be extra benefit. In accumulation they might have UAE driving license. Salesman/Storekeeper: He will be responsible for the spare parts counter and sales activities besides coordinating between customers and the workshop. He will keep control of spare parts in the store. His education has to be minimum secondary school and have a university degree is an advantage. He should be an Arab and speaking English very well. In addition he might have a UAE driving license. Assistant/Helper (4): They should have good experience in the auto industry. IX. Failure Factors: There are some factors that will affect severely on the growing of any Business Project when the management will neglect them. Therefore, it is highly advised to study them very carefully. However these factors can be included by the following: 1- Inefficient controls over costs and quality of product. 2- Under-pricing of goods sold. 3- Bad relations with customers or suppliers. 4- Failure to promote and maintain a favorable public image. 5- Inability of management to reach decisions and acts on them or failure to keep pace with management system. 6- Reluctance to seek professional assistance. 7- Inadequate insurance. 8- Loss of impetus in selling. 9- Lack of staff training and knowledge of merchandise. 10- Bad personal relation. 11- Inability to cope adequately with competition. 12- Failure to anticipate market trends. 13- Loose control of liquid assets. 14- Insufficient working capital or incorrect gearing of capital borrowing. 15- Growth without adequate capitalization. 16- Bad budgeting. 17- Ignoring data on the company financial position. 18- Inadequate financial records. 19- Over-borrowing or using too much credit. X. CONCLUSION: As we have mentioned in the beginning that the auto service markets in Abu Dhabi City is a very prosperous market and has its noticeable advantages. As the project is having a good opportunity to successes, but the use of a high degree of leverage increases financial risk of not being able to meet debt service payments as they come due. Because of the key role played by the debt financing in most development projects, the financial risks are often substantial. The financial costs become the major carrying cost for any investment project. However this business plan is encouraging to enter this market with taking in consideration the marketing and finance remarks that have been explained in detail.

democracy :: essays research papers

"I'm with the Bush-Cheney team, and I'm here to stop the count." Those were the words John Bolton yelled as he burst into a Tallahassee library on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2000, where local election workers were recounting ballots cast in Florida's disputed presidential race between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Bolton was one of the pack of lawyers for the Republican presidential ticket who repeatedly sought to shut down recounts of the ballots from Florida counties before those counts revealed that Gore had actually won the state's electoral votes and the presidency. The Dec. 9 intervention was Bolton's last and most significant blow against the democratic process. The Florida Supreme Court had ordered a broad recount of ballots in order to finally resolve the question of who won the state. But Bolton and the Bush-Cheney team got their Republican allies on the U.S. Supreme Court to block the review. Fearing that each minute of additional counting would reveal the reality of voter sentiments in Florida, Bolton personally rushed into the library to stop the count. Bolton was in South Korea when it became clear that the Nov. 7, 2000, election would be decided in Florida. At the behest of former Secretary of State James Baker, who fronted the Bush-Cheney team during the Florida fight, Bolton winged his way to Palm Beach, where he took the lead in challenging ballots during that county's recount. Then, when the ballots from around the state were transported to Tallahassee for the recount ordered by the state Supreme Court, Bolton followed them. It was there that he personally shut down the review of ballots from Miami-Dade County, a populous and particularly contested county where independent reviews would later reveal that hundreds of ballots that could reasonably have been counted for Gore were instead discarded. Miami-Dade County Elections Supervisor David Leahy argued at the time that 2,257 voters had apparently attempted to mark ballot cards for Gore or Bush but had not had them recorded because they had been improperly inserted into the voting machines. A hand count of those ballots revealed that 302 more of them would have gone for Gore than Bush. That shift in the numbers from just one of Florida's 67 counties would have erased more than half of Bush's 537-vote lead in the state. But attempts to conduct a hand count were repeatedly blocked by the Bush-Cheney team, culminating with Bolton's Dec. 9 announcement, "I'm here to stop the count.

Penelope, Clytaemestra, Athena, and Helen of Homer’s Odyssey Essay exam

The Ideal Women of Homer’s Odyssey      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ancient Greek society treated women as secondary citizens. Restrictions were placed on the social and domestic actions of many aristocratic women in ancient Athens.   The women depicted in Homer's Odyssey, on the other hand, are the ideal.   Penelope, Clytaemestra, Athena, and Helen are all women with exceptional liberty and power.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Before comparing the women of the Odyssey to those of Athens, it is beneficial to take a look into the lives of the latter.   A respected woman was to have characteristics including obedience, virtue, refinement, productivity, honor, beauty, talent and intelligence (social consciousness).   Sarah B. Pomeroy has studied this aspect of ancient life and discusses it in her book, Families in Classical and Hellenistic Greece.   She states that women from this Athenian polis (city-state) are part of their husbands' oikos.   Though, these women have some power within the oikos, their primary responsibility was the procreation of sons.   They held very little and most likely no political power.   They lived by guidelines set by society which were fairly restrictive.   They must not do tasks out of doors, for then they would become "the potential prey of rapists and seducers" (Pomeroy 21).   The wife must be kept chaste and pure, an d so there was a need for a slave-woman. Not only were the women not allowed outdoors, but they were not to come into contact with strangers, particularly men.   For, men would vie "to win honour for themselves at the expense of other men's honour, and wives were often mere adolescents" (Pomeroy 21). These "mere adolescent" wives were not only confined in their roles as women, they were also physically confined within the walls of ... ...ncient times.   Perhaps the men were in fear that the women, were they in the position of power, would be as repressive as men.   For whatever the many reasons for the situation in which the women lived, the truth holds that they are invaluable to society.   There may not be a female president for some years to come, but without women in modern society, there would be no male presidents either. Works Cited Aeschylus.   "Agamemnon."   Greek Tragedies. Ed. David Grene and Richmond Lattimore.   Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1953.   1-61. Homer.   The Odyssey.   Trans.   Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1996. Pomeroy:   Pomeroy, Sarah B.   Families in Classical and Hellenistic Greece: Representations and Realities.   New York: Oxford UP, 1997. Pomeroy2:   Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity.   New York: Oxford UP. Penelope, Clytaemestra, Athena, and Helen of Homer’s Odyssey Essay exam The Ideal Women of Homer’s Odyssey      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ancient Greek society treated women as secondary citizens. Restrictions were placed on the social and domestic actions of many aristocratic women in ancient Athens.   The women depicted in Homer's Odyssey, on the other hand, are the ideal.   Penelope, Clytaemestra, Athena, and Helen are all women with exceptional liberty and power.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Before comparing the women of the Odyssey to those of Athens, it is beneficial to take a look into the lives of the latter.   A respected woman was to have characteristics including obedience, virtue, refinement, productivity, honor, beauty, talent and intelligence (social consciousness).   Sarah B. Pomeroy has studied this aspect of ancient life and discusses it in her book, Families in Classical and Hellenistic Greece.   She states that women from this Athenian polis (city-state) are part of their husbands' oikos.   Though, these women have some power within the oikos, their primary responsibility was the procreation of sons.   They held very little and most likely no political power.   They lived by guidelines set by society which were fairly restrictive.   They must not do tasks out of doors, for then they would become "the potential prey of rapists and seducers" (Pomeroy 21).   The wife must be kept chaste and pure, an d so there was a need for a slave-woman. Not only were the women not allowed outdoors, but they were not to come into contact with strangers, particularly men.   For, men would vie "to win honour for themselves at the expense of other men's honour, and wives were often mere adolescents" (Pomeroy 21). These "mere adolescent" wives were not only confined in their roles as women, they were also physically confined within the walls of ... ...ncient times.   Perhaps the men were in fear that the women, were they in the position of power, would be as repressive as men.   For whatever the many reasons for the situation in which the women lived, the truth holds that they are invaluable to society.   There may not be a female president for some years to come, but without women in modern society, there would be no male presidents either. Works Cited Aeschylus.   "Agamemnon."   Greek Tragedies. Ed. David Grene and Richmond Lattimore.   Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1953.   1-61. Homer.   The Odyssey.   Trans.   Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1996. Pomeroy:   Pomeroy, Sarah B.   Families in Classical and Hellenistic Greece: Representations and Realities.   New York: Oxford UP, 1997. Pomeroy2:   Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity.   New York: Oxford UP.

Internet Advertising †A World Wide Waste of Time Essay -- Argumentati

Internet Advertising – A World Wide Waste of Time As I approach the Philadelphia bus shelter, I'm struck by the gaze of a familiar, yet ominous strongman. His aging muscles are backlit by a powerful fluorescent light. Intrigued, I approach the advertisement and begin to look at the copy. As my eyes scan below the title of the film, an irritating, unavoidable, and inevitably cryptic message glows: http://www.warnerbros.com/eraser. Here is another website for the fearless compujunkies to surf at three in the morning and another piece of litter along the information superhighway. While computer users like myself have the choice to turn off their computers or stop their net searches, it is more and more difficult to remove the strands of the net from our personal lives. When we return home from a long day of work, television now flashes an endless barrage of corporate web addresses at us. When we pick up our newspapers to browse the comics, it is difficult to flip past a handful of pages without spotting a '...dot- com' along the way. The web's marketing frenzy is no longer limited to literature, entertainment, and computer browsing. Within the past few months I have noticed the web's subtle migration from the virtual into the physical. Products ranging from children's cereal to artificial sweeteners all boast web addresses printed on them. Open up your pantry and you may be surprised to see how many munchies you own with web support. Children can check out the 'You Rule School' page for cereal kingpins General Mills, Inc. where you can play with food and view the trix rabbit, the honey bee, the leprechaun, and the cocoa pebbles creature. If that drives you coocoo you can turn to the history of Snicker's bars or Mars' conc... ...s it may seem, works. It is unlikely that the trend of releasing the virtual upon the real will end because of corporate guilt. In the meantime, enjoy the simplicity of having only a hundred channels to watch, reading electronic magazines before your web connection backs up for hours, and take a walk after work to relieve stress. If you need to find a recipe, call a friend or ask a colleague, and avoid the Ragu woman. Work on the development of a V-chip (that would be Vidiot) to block out sites of no value for your children. If you happen to run into Arnold Schwarzenegger, tell him to stick to the cinema; he loses his zest on a 13 inch monitor. References 'Web ads mark 7nd birthday with decisive issues ahead' by Debra Aho Williamson Advertising Age August 2003 'Outlook ‘04: Will Web ads go mainstream?' by Debra Aho Williamson Advertising Age October 2003

Diverse Workforce Essay

The term labor force is a general way to refer to all the people willing and able to work. For an organization, the internal labor force consists of the organization’s workers – its employees and the people who have contracts to work at the organization. This internal labor force has been drawn from the organization’s external labor market, that is, individuals who are actively seeking employment. With the development of the world, the labor force also changes. There are three major trends today in the change in labor force: 1. An aging working, 2. Diverse working, 3. Skills deficiencies of workforce. This report will talk about one of the three major trends in the change of labor force — Diverse Workforce. Diversity workforce refers to the variety differences between people in an organization. That sounds simple, but a diverse workforce consists of so many things, like gender, age, ethnic group, immigrants, physically and mentally disabled people, veteran status, sexual orientation, lifestyle, skill level, function or position within the company and so on. This paper is designed for advantages of a diverse workforce, problems of workforce diversity and strategies can be implemented to overcome the problems. 2.0 Advantages of a diverse workforce For an organization, a diverse workforce is good for it. Diversity is not only beneficial to both associates, but also to employers. Although associates are interdependent in the workplace, respecting individual differences can increase productivity. Diversity in the workplace can reduce lawsuits and increase marketing opportunities, recruitment, creativity, and business image (Esty, et al., 1995). In an era when flexibility and creativity are keys to competitiveness, diversity is critical for an organization’s success. Also, the consequences (loss of time and money) should not be overlooked. An organization’s success and competitiveness depends upon its ability to embrace diversity and realize the benefits. There are two advantages of why the diverse workforce important to an organization. 2.1More creative When employees come from diverse background, but bring individual talents and experience with them. This invariably contributes to an organization’s overall growth. Embracing employees with different skills and cultural viewpoints helps in understanding the needs and requirements of the customers, on a global scale. Diversity in workplace leads to a wide of viewpoints and business ideas. This helps an organization formulate the best business strategy, with its lager pool of different ideas and solutions. It can be more creative. Absolutely, with the world developing, a company need more creative to follow the world, and a diverse workforce can bring different employers, they have different background and experiences. So a diverse workforce is important to organizations. 2.2Increasing sales and earnings For organizations, the most important gold is profit. No one wants them lose money. Workforce diversity can increase sales and earnings. â€Å"Valuing diversity is part of Safeway’s approach to competing with specialty grocers and big-box stores such as Walmart and Target. Safeway invested in programs to attract, develop, and retain its best talent and to position the company as an employer of choice. Although 70 percent of Safeway’s customers are women, male leaders had been the norm in the retail grocery industry. Safeway took initiatives to help women, including women of color, advance into management. The CEO speaks regularly with employees about diversity issue, and employees have access to DVDs featuring interviews with successful employees who are women and people of color. The company ensures that all employees who qualify for its Retail Leadership Program, including those who work part-time and have flexible schedules to juggle work and family responsibilities, have the same opportunities for coaching, development, and advancement. A women’s leadership network sponsors development meetings between promising women and executives who suggest new job opportunities that can help the women advance to next level. With these and other efforts, the number of female store managers has risen a dramatic 42 percent, and financial analysts have concluded that the advancement of women and minorities has increased Safeway’s sales and earnings.† (Noe, el al. p.67) 3.0 Two problems of workforce diversity Although employing a diverse workforce has many advantages, it comes with some problems as well. 3.1 Communication Communication barriers lead to problems in a company attempting to create a diverse workplace. When a U.S. company hires employees of other cultures whose first language is not English, employees and managers may experience difficulties communicating with one another. This can lead to misunderstandings and a decrease in productivity. For example, if a manager gives instructions about completing a certain task to an employee who fails to fully comprehend the instructions, the employee may make mistakes if he tries to complete the task without receiving clarity. Sometimes it helps for companies to hire bilingual employees who can mediate and reduce language and communication barriers. To achieve the advantages of diversity, you must often provide diversity training, which includes cultural awareness and sensitivity training. Communication barriers become a major challenge in a diverse workforce. Employees that come from different cultures sometimes speak different languages, and encouraging communication can be a challenge. This can negatively affect both formal and informal communication and cohesion. It can also cause more errors and conflicts than you would likely find in a less diverse company. 3.2 Discrimination A company may encounter is reverse discrimination. This is a feeling that is associated with affirmative action policies. It is a major argument against such policies. Reverse discrimination is a claim by white males that they have been unfairly discriminated against. They claim they are equally or more qualified for the position, yet were passed over for a minority to receive the job. This can cause lawsuits in some cases, but mostly a sense of rejection by other workers in the company toward the minority who received the position. Although companies often train to avoid discrimination, the more diverse a workplace, the more potential for discrimination. This can create a hostile work environment where employees may fell oppressed if their emotional security is not protected. The company may face possible legal issues if prejudice and discrimination enter the mix and impact the decisions company leaders make. If managers make decisions about employees based on their personal traits, the company and the managers face potential lawsuits for discrimination. 4.0 strategies can be implemented to overcome the problems 4.1 Recognition As a manager or business owner, you must recognize that people have differences, be they physical, generational or cultural, and you cannot pretend that these barriers have been broken down. Instead, celebrate the differences among your employees, and encourage them to let their individualities show. For example, don’t hesitate to ask someone from another culture about their culture’s etiquette practices — their knowledge could prove useful to your business. Do not pigeonhole your employees. An employee’s worth comes from more than his ethnicity or age. 4.2 Fairness Acting fairly and acting uniformly are different, and only one enables you to successfully deal with diversity in your workplace. Don’t be fooled into thinking that by treating everyone exactly the same, you are demonstrating a fair attitude and respecting diversity. Instead, treat people fairly and respect the differences that make them who they are. For example, don’t schedule a mandatory meeting that falls on a religious holiday — it demonstrates a insensitivity and may breed resentment and foster feelings of being left out in any employees that are unable to attend. As a manager, you must fairness, whatever he or she is white or black, do not discriminate them. When the top managers treat the employees fair, the employees and employees can be respect themselves. 4.3 Patience Although employees that come from different cultures sometimes speak different languages, sometimes they cannot know what you say, as a manager or owner, you must have patience to listen to your employees’ suggestions so that it can help you improve yourself. 5.0 Conclusion A diverse workforce is a reflection of a changing world and marketplace. Diverse work teams bring high value to organizations. Respecting individual differences will benefit the workplace by creating a competitive edge and increasing work productivity. Diversity management benefits associates by creating a fair and safe environment where everyone has access to opportunities and challenges. Management tools in a diverse workforce should be used to educate everyone about diversity and its issues, including laws and regulations. Most workplaces are made up of diverse cultures, so organizations need to learn how to adapt to be successful. 6.0 References Esty, Katharine, Richard Griffin, and Marcie Schorr-Hirsh (1995). Workplace diversity. A managers guide to solving problems and turning diversity into a competitive advantage. Avon, MA: Adams Media Corporation. Lynne, M. D. Advantages & Disadvantages of Diverse Workforce in an Organization, [Online] Available at: http:smallbusiness.chron.com. [Accessed 3 November 2012]. Noe, R. A, et al (2011): Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 4th edition, New York: McGraw-Hill Josh, G. Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges and Solutions [Online] Available at: http:www.multiculturaladvantage.com/recruit/diversity [ Accessed 7 November 2012] Tom, R. 5 Strategies for Dealing with Diversity in the Workplace [Online] Available at: http:smallbusiness.chron.com. [ Accessed 10 November 2012]

Peapod: Online Grocery Shopping

Pea Pod Behaviors and Comparison What behaviors are involved in online grocery shopping? How does online grocery shopping compare with traditional shopping in terms of behavioral effort? The behaviors involved in online grocery shopping are information contact, funds access, and transaction. The information contact â€Å"†¦occurs when consumers come into contact with information, either intentionally or accidentally, about products, stores, or brands†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (J. Paul Peter, 2010, p. 95) Funds access or money â€Å"†¦is the primary medium of consumer exchange. The consumer must access this medium in one form or another before an exchange can occur†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (J. Paul Peter, 2010, p. 198) I do not believe that the store contact or the product contact is applicable here since the purchases are being made online and not in a brick and mortar store which would allow the customer to see, touch, and feel the items they wish to purchase. The behavioral efforts found in a n online grocery shopping can be described as in an emergency case only.Online shopping is used when the customer does not have enough time to get into the supermarket to shop. Yet the success of Pea Pod relies on these types of customers for the success of their continued business. The behaviors of traditional shopping are information contact, funds access, store contact, product contact, and transaction. What both the online and traditional shopper has in common are the consumption and disposition, and the communication. Consumers What types of consumers are likely to value online grocery shopping from Peapod?The type of consumers that are likely to value online grocery shopping from Peapod are the busy consumers, women, older people, people without cars (if the stores are not walking distance) and the â€Å"dual-income families (that) are strapped for time†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (J. Paul Peter, 2010, p. 209) to name a few. These customers may feel as if they have no time to get into a br ick and mortar store. Their careers and quick paced life may make it inconvenient to take time from their day to get this task of grocery shopping done.Yet, with Peapod, they can order whatever they need online and they know that it will get delivered at their specified time. They did not have to drive to a store, park their car, walk into the store, find a cart or a basket, walk the aisles to pick their products, get on line to pay, put the items on the belt, pay for their items, bag their items, walk back to the car, load the car, drive home, unload the car, and put their groceries away. Peapod saves them all of the steps except for going online and picking the items, paying, and putting the items away once delivered.Opinion and Comparison Overall, what do you think about the idea of online grocery shopping? How does it compare with simply eating in restaurants and avoiding grocery shopping and cooking altogether? I will answer this question from a personal standpoint and not from data or information found in the specified reading. The idea of online shopping definitely intrigues me but I cannot find myself doing it. I can understand the need for this type of service based on the convenience but it is not for me.As a 46 year old career woman who is very rarely home, because of my required travels, I am the perfect customer for an online shopping program. Peapod is created and geared towards making my shopping experience easy and effortless but my better judgment goes against it. I am of the old fashioned belief that I need to see, touch, smell, and feel everything I purchase. I cannot find myself allowing someone else to pick the same pack of steak I would. How would the person picking my order know which stalk of broccoli I would pick had I done it myself?Although, I am usually limited for time, a trip to the grocery store, for me, is a fun and relaxing way to get the items I need to prepare the meals while I am at home. Interestingly enough, my grocery sto re of preference is Stop n’Shop which is the owner of Peapod. (J. Paul Peter, 2010, p. 209) Stop n’Shop has a system in their stores to allow the customer on the run to save a few steps and helps them get out the door quicker. They have scanning guns at the entrance of the store that a customer can use to scan their items and allow them to then put them directly into their shopping bag.Once all the shopping is done, you take the scanner to a register where the items you have scanned will download onto a screen which then allows you to pay for your purchase. It saves the time by not having to take all of your items out, put them on the belt, wait for a cashier to scan and charge the items, and then put them into bags. I have found this process to be wonderful and time saving for me. While, as I mentioned above, I am not a fan of online shopping and when compared to eating out; it is safe to say that buying nline will be cost effective as compared to a restaurant. Eating out all of the time instead of buying groceries and cooking at home will become very expensive. Also, the time spent getting to the restaurant, placing the order, waiting for the preparation, eating (if you are staying in), paying the bill, then getting back home will be a much longer process in time as compared to shopping and cooking at home. References J. Paul Peter, J. C. (2010). Consumer Behavior & Marketing Strategy (9th Edition ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

The United States Became an Industrial Power

The United States became an industrial power by tapping North America’s vast natural resources, including minerals, lumber and coal, particularly in the newly developed west. Industries that had once depended on waterpower began to use prodigious amounts of coal. Steam engines replaced human and animal labor, and kerosene replaced whale oil and wood. By 1900, America’s factories and urban homes were converting to electric power. Dependence on fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural gas), which powered machines of unprecedented speed and strength, transformed both the economy and the country’s natural and built environments.What is vertical integration? Vertical integration is a business model in which one company controlled all aspects of production from raw materials to finished goods. Once his engineers designed a cooling system, swift invested in a fleet of refrigerator cars and constructed a packing plant near Chicago’s stockyards. What is horizontal integrat ion? Horizontal integration is a strategy pioneered by Rockefeller. Like swift he pressured competitors through predatory pricing, but when he had driven them to failure, he invited rivals to merge their companies into his conglomerate.The roles the government played in this story were in an effort to attract corporate headquarters to its state, New Jersey broke ranks in 1889, by passing a law that permitted the creation of holding companies and other corporate combinations. Despite reformers’ efforts, a huge wave of mergers in the 1890s further concentrated corporate power. By 1900, America’s largest one hundred companies controlled a third of the nation’s productive capacity.Such familiar firms as DuPont, Eastman Kodak, and singer had assumed dominant places in their respective industries. The immense power of these corporations would henceforth be a recurring political concern. Roles that the government could have played but didn’t was that distressed by the development of near monopolies, reformers began to denounce â€Å"the trusts† and that some states outlawed trusts as a legal form. The nineteenth century's industrial philosophy dates, actually, from Adam Smith's â€Å"The Wealth of Nations†, published in 1776.This is really the â€Å"capitalist bible† in which the notion that greed has a socially useful role is first popularly put forward. It also puts forward the notion of the â€Å"invisible hand† that guides the market to improve the standard of living of everyone, without regard to the actual intentions of its participants. This is the â€Å"magic of the marketplace† many capitalists are so fond of referring to. But, by the late nineteenth century, these concepts of Adam Smith had been distorted and fused, to some extent, with the ideas of Charles Darwin about evolution.This led to the extremely pernicious and largely discredited concept of â€Å"Social Darwinism†, related to Na zism, in the twentieth century. Social Darwinists believe that only those who are socially successful and powerful should have the right to survive, and that providing assistance and support to the â€Å"weak† is, actually, antisocial. According to this view, society can only progress if the â€Å"strong† exploit, suppress and, eventually, destroy the â€Å"weak†. The factors that I don’t really agree with are the Ideas of social Darwinism.I don’t think that the strong should not help the weak because what if were the strongest person in the world with the most money and were at the top and we refuse to help someone who is at the bottom like the very bottom were in there’s no more down only way is up at that point say we become the weak party and them the strong party what if we need the help they need and the refuse us that help because we believe in social Darwinism as an whole and we didn’t help them reach the top when we were up t here so why should they help us.Industrialism changed the nature of work and in many respects caused an uneven distribution of power Among interest groups in American society. Industrial workers were employees rather than producers, And repeating specialized tasks made them feel like appendages to machines. The emphasis on quantity Rather than quality further dehumanized the workplace. These factors, in addition to the increased Power of the employer, reduced the independence and self-respect of workers, but worker resistance only led employers to tighten restrictions. Industrialism also brought more women and children into the labor force.Although job opportunities Opened for women, most women went into low-paying clerical jobs, and sex discrimination continued in the workplace. Employers also attempted to cut wage costs by hiring more children. Although a few States passed child-labor laws, such laws were difficult to enforce and employers generally opposed State interference in t heir hiring practices. Effective child-labor legislation would not come until the Twentieth century. As the nature of work changed, workers began to protest low wages, the attitude of employers, the hazards of the workplace, and the absence of disability insurance and pensions.The effectiveness of Legislation designed to redress these grievances was usually limited by conservative Supreme Court Rulings Out of frustration, some workers began to participate in unions and in organized resistance. Unionization efforts took various directions. The Knights of Labor tried to ally all workers by creating Producer and consumer cooperatives; the American Federation of Labor strove to organize skilled Workers to achieve pragmatic objectives; and the Industrial Workers of the World attempted to Overthrow capitalist society.The railroad strikes of 1877, the Haymarket riot, and the Homestead and Pullman strikes were all marked by violence, and they exemplified labor’s frustration as well a s its active and organized resistance. Government intervention against the strikers convinced many workers Of the imbalance of interest groups in American society, whereas the middle class began to connect organized working-class resistance with radicalism. Although this perception was by and large Mistaken, middle-class fear of social upheaval became an additional force against organized labor.Not only did industrialization affect the nature of work, it also produced a myriad of products that affected the everyday lives of Americans. As America became a consumer-oriented society, most of its Citizens faced living costs that rose faster than wages. Consequently, many people could not take advantage of the new goods and services being offered. But, as noted above, more women and children Became part of the paid labor force. Although many did so out of necessity, others hoped that the Additional income would allow the family to participate in the consumer society.The Nativists didnâ⠂¬â„¢t take too kind to the wave of new immigrants. The reason most industrial workers put up with the difficult conditions of their work because factory owners, especially those involved in the steel industry and in the coal mine industry, often would build company towns. Workers were given cheap rent in these towns to go along with their low wages. In essence the worker was trapped. The company town afforded him a place to live and without the job he couldn't live there.

Careers in law are open to all and the legal profession is sufficiently diverse. Discuss.

Introduction As a minority group, women have traditionally remained underrepresented within the legal profession. Whilst careers in law may, theoretically, be open to all, the reality is that due to the physiological make-up, maternalistic nature and historical suppression of women in society they have struggled to break entry into the traditionally male-dominated and elitist profession. This essay will argue that although efforts have and are continuing to be made to make a career in the law accessible for women, one could argue that the profession cannot yet be deemed sufficiently diverse as challenges continue to face women who elect to work with this profession. This essay will begin by summarising the history of the position of women in society, move to look to the challenges that face women and employers and finally, summarise steps that can be taken in an effort to eliminate such restraints. Women have fought a long battle against subordination. As late as the twentieth century, in England and Wales, women remained legally subordinate to men. In other cultures, this position remains in practice today. In England and Wales, coverture referred to the rights of women being subsumed by those of her husband through common law marriage. This legal doctrine left women without an identity and gave her husband control of her, her property and the custody of her children. Marital rape was not outlawed until R v R came before the House of Lords in 1992. Society saw women merely as objects of their husbands. It was not acceptable for women to study medicine or law or to engage in politics. Liberal ideals were quashed by the belief that women were irrational, temperamentally unfit to deal with such subjects and their place was in the home being a subservient wife and maternal parent. During the war effort, in particular, women proved that they were capable of holding down important r oles within the workforce and society more generally, and were seen as rational and intelligent in their thinking as their male counterparts. Women were granted suffrage in 1928 through the Equal Franchise Act and have since broken down the barriers into almost all professions. Despite, in theory, women having the ability to do everything a man can do, challenges remain that make it difficult to suggest that men and women are truly equal. Both society and the legal profession now support women embarking on careers within the industry. By 2008-9, 60% of all new admissions to the Roll were women and 52% of those called to the Bar in the same year were women. The Bar society indicated that in 2009, 34% of barristers were women. These figures demonstrate that women now make up over a third of all barristers, however, barristers are usually well educated and often from high socioeconomic standing, so this figure does not fully represent whether the legal profession is diverse for the average woman. Statistical evidence also proves that women still struggle to be appointed to the highest positions within the legal profession. Few women are promoted to Queen’s Counsel and the first woman to sit within the House of Lords was only appointed to this position in 2003. Women are traditionally paid lower than men. The Equal Pay Act 1970 has attempted to solve the disparity between the male and female pay gap, however, it is not uncommon for a case of this nature to arise. Recently, an employee sued her employer, Lewis Silkin, on the grounds that she was being paid lower than a male counterpart. Arguments suggest that due to the more emotional, sensitive and maternalistic nature of women in comparison to men, often women opt to specialise in different areas of law, such as family or personal injury law rather than male dominated specialisms, such as corporate or banking law. Family and personal injury law are also often less high-profile and do not hinge on lucrative deals so the specialisms are often not as well paid. To dismiss a woman for falling pregnant and wanting maternity leave is unfair dismissal. Pregnancy does, however, play an important role in this debate. Most employers would assume that a young woman will take a break to have a baby in the future and the fact that having a child is traditionally less disruptive to the work life of a man, it makes the male counterpart a cheaper and safer option in the long-term. A break in work is seen as disruptive and employers need to fill that position during the maternity leave, effectively causing the employer to pay twice for the same job to be completed. In a time when employers are facing tough economic times, having reliable staff that do not have to be replaced for extended durations appears, on face value, to be commercially viable option. Furthermore, there is a concern for the employer that childcare issues may cause disruption and lost working hours when the employee does return. Legal professionals who are self-employed, such as barris ters, can find the transition far more difficult in terms of covering their living costs and retaining clients during maternity leave and the stress of a new baby when they later return to work. In 2004, the Bar Council published policies that cover the issues of maternity, paternity and flexible working hours in an attempt to balance family life and legal practice. To actively reflect this aim, the policy has increased the time a barrister’s seat may be open rent free with Chamber’s expenses from three months to one year. In Heard and another v Sinclair Roche and Temperley (a firm) and others, it was ruled that the firm had unlawfully discriminated on the grounds of family status and combined with unlawful sex discrimination, constituted unfair treatment. This claim arose when the firm failed to promote or progress the individual. The firm had a total of 36 partners and only 6 were women. This case suggested that women are also less likely to be appointed to managerial positions, particularly if the dominating power is male. Other arguments suggest that women are more emotional than men and office politics are more present. Webley suggests that women struggle to progress in the profession for a variety of reasons including masculine office culture, the pressure of working long hours and high billing targets and dissatisfaction with commodification’s effect on work quality. In terms of the legal profession, lawyers represent the legal position of their client and to do so, must relate well and truly understand the situation of their client. If all lawyers were men, one could question whether women in society could ever be adequately represented by the legal profession. There is an argument to say that there is as much a place for women in the profession as men, as women solve problems in a different way, can be more compassionate and can balance an all-male work environment. Parliament has made attempts to allow greater access to the legal profession to minority groups by enacting legislation such as the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990. The main purpose of this enactment was to reform the legal profession after the findings of the Benson Commission in the 1970s. To the judiciary, in particular, important changes were made to appointments and pensions and significant changes were implemented towards the organisation and regulation of the legal profession. The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 later recommended that an independent body should be created to deal with the appointment of judges, which came after criticism from the Law Society regarding the old system. Such legislative and societal support towards the accessibility and diversity of the legal profession should instil a hopefulness into affected women that the profession is moving in the right direction. There have been several attempts by the profession itself to promote and encourage accessibi lity and diversity. The PRIME initiative saw 23 UK and Irish law firms come together to form a ground-breaking initiative to increase social mobility through a wide ranging work experience scheme. Whilst this initiative focused more on socioeconomic status rather than gender, the results suggest that real opportunities within the legal profession have been offered to those who are otherwise unlikely to have been given the opportunity. In conclusion, the legal profession is not yet sufficiently diverse. Both historical and contemporary statistics prove a bias towards men due to the maternalistic nature of women. Statistics demonstrate a trend that the profession is moving in the right direction in terms of equality, diversity and accessibility for women, however, the battle for truly equal treatment, rights and pay for both genders is an ongoing issue within the legal profession, as it is in society generally. Historically, women were refrained from having an identity and practicing within the legal profession because they were considered irrational and incapable. Whilst that perception has clearly disappeared, which is a positive shift, women still face challenges due to the physiological differences between men and women. These differences will never change and unless there is a shift in the mentality of employers’, these are likely to be challenges that remain for the duration. One could argue that the ba ttle between equality and diversity within the legal profession and commercial viability for business owners will never truly resolve. 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Roach Anleu, S. ‘Law and Social Change’ (City Road, London: Sage Publication Limited, 2000) Sargeant, M. ‘Discrimination Law’ (Essex, England: Pearson Education Limited, 2004) Sommerland, H., Webley, D., Duff, L., Muzio, D., Tomlinson, J. ‘Diversity in the Legal Profession in England and Wales: A Qualitative Study of Barriers and Individual Choices’ Suddards, H. ‘Sex and Race Discrimination’ (Camp Road, London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2nd edn., 2002) Webley, L., Duff, L. ‘Women Solicitors as a Barometer for Problems within the Legal Profession: Time to Put Values before Profits?’ (2007) 34 Journal of Law and Society 374 Wilkins, D. ‘Rollin’ on the River: Race, Elite Schools, and the Equality Paradox’ (2000) 25 Law and Social Inquiry 527 Cases Heard and another v Sinclair Roche and Temperley (a firm) and others [2004] All ER (D) 432 (Jul) R v R [1992] 1 A.C. 599 Legislation Constitutional Reform Act 2005 Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 Equal Franchise Act 1928 Equal Pay Act 1970