Thursday, October 31, 2019

Management of Change and Organisational Development Essay

Management of Change and Organisational Development - Essay Example In our discussions, we realized that change means a variation or the altering of the established way of life or how we live and which people in an organization or an entity are accustomed to normally. We also concluded that the change that we required for organizational development could be affected by the internal or external environment in which we functioned and the change occurring in that environment. Change is usually premeditated, natural or imposed upon the persons it is likely to affect. Every person in a particular group is often required to participate in change by waiting till the change occurs naturally or may take necessary steps that are preventive that can strengthen the group. Change may be external whereby it affects the development of a group and may include educational or cultural forces, social and economic forces while internal forces may include composition and policy of those involved, changes in the personnel, attitudes and feelings of those involved and the work involved amongst other factors. McLean 2006 (p25) argues that change theorists such as Lewin argue that if you want to understand properly a system, it is important that the person first seek to change it in one way or the other. Therefore, a person must be part of the system that he is seeking to change in order to attain the best results. In the research by Lewin about management change and organizational development, he has found that every action research initiative is distinct from the other and that in finding the solution to each, each player must be taken to be unique and understanding the culture of the system. Due to changes in organizations either through different phenomena such as technology and globalization, there has been a necessity for change management plans and strategies for their implementation. Therefore, as a group we were forced to effect change management and organizational development in order to keep in line with the need for improvements in the grou p environment and to remain aligned to the external influences of the organization. Organizational Development in the Group Organizational development is an effort aimed at improving the ability of a group or an entity to solve problems and renew itself through an effective management of the culture of the organization while emphasizing the culture of formal work force from the whole team as involved (McKinney and Howard 1998, p.167). It is always in a planned manner, identifies the problems in the group or organization, and develops strategies for solving the problems and improving on them, and seeks to change the system of particular entities as a whole for example the development of teams and strategy for management. In order to achieve organizational development, there must be a strong desire in change from both the change initiator or the change agent and the person whom the change focuses on, which we tried our best to foster in the group by employing different strategies. Due to the changing face or dynamism of the environment in which an entity exists there are efforts made as a response known as organizational development. The factors that caused the need for organizational development in our group included rapid and unexpected changes and the sustained growth of organizations. The other changes that necessitated the need for organizational development are increased diversity and change in managerial behaviour

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Optimism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Optimism - Essay Example Furthermore, the study concludes that irrespective of its nature, components, and roots, optimism has remarkably positive impact on human life and conditions. Defining Optimism Anthropologist, Lionel Tiger defines optimism as â€Å"a mood or attitude associated with an expectation about the social or material future-one which the evaluator regards as socially desirable, to his [or her] advantage, or for his [or her] pleasure† (18 qtd. in Peterson 44).On the other hand, optimism is attributed to be a sense of personal control, and ability to identify meaning in one’s own life experiences. Optimism is a valuable psychological resource which is long believed to be associated with mental health (Frankle, 1963; Seligman, 1998; Taylor, 1989 qtd. in Taylor et al. 99).Such psychological resources become extremely important when individuals are exposed to challenging or threatening occurrences (Taylor 1164).These resources work as reserves which enables people to cope with diffi cult situations in an efficient manner (Taylor et al. 99).Theorists Scheier and Carver(1985) referred optimism as a generalized anticipation that good as compared to bad will happen an individual confronts problem in crucial domains of life(qtd. in Franken 476). In general, the idea of optimism refers to an individual’s overall positive approach towards life and what it has to offer. Biological Component of Optimism Lionel Tiger (1979) puts forth the biological explanation of optimism. He maintains that in early days, when human left forests, being hunters they had to face death and injuries continuously. Because human mind is inclined towards learning from experiences, he abandoned the tasks associated with negative results. Therefore, it is biological adaption for humans to develop a basic sense of optimism. Furthermore, Tiger argues that when human body is injured, it releases endorphins. Generally, endorphins have two attributes; analgesic attributes which decreases the f eeling of pain, and feelings of euphoria. Humans are biologically adaptive to positive emotions when injured in order to keep the process going (hunting) due to our ancestors’ experiences, therefore, optimism is a trait which is induced biologically (Franken 1994, qtd. in Dunavold 4). Several theorists believe that optimism is a personality trait rather than an emotion. They regard optimism as an inborn temperament which means that people are inherently optimistic or pessimistic ( Dunavold 4). Learned Component of Optimism Many researchers believed that optimism is a way of thinking which can be learned. As Martin Seligman’s idea of learned optimism, in addition to Daniel Goleman confirm that the concept that both hope and optimism can be learned. He identifies that self-efficacy leads to hope and optimistic view in life. Self-efficacy refers to the belief that one has control over life events and his ability to meet the challenges as they appear in life (qtd. in Dunav old 4). However, Dunavold disagrees with the theory and states that, â€Å"... optimism can (not) be learned. Dr. Seligman’s method of teaching optimism relies heavily on active thought processes which I believe is more of a cognitive activity...Optimism can (not) be reinforced or stifled. Additionally†¦

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Management Of Strategic Policy In Education Education Essay

Management Of Strategic Policy In Education Education Essay What is sport. According to the Concise Oxford Online Dictionary, sport is being described as an activity which involves the physical exertion and skill in which a person or team competes against one another. Sports should be included as part of a whole in a students life. Sports can actually benefits in health and also train one to develop skills like teamwork as they can be the leaders among the students in the sport team. As such, Berry Berry Easy blog claimed that their readers have actually benefitted from their participation in various sports which they most voluntarily participated in the sports of their choice. But in the current era, students are not being active in sports and they need to be forced in order to get them into sports. They prefer playing online games where there is no much physical exertion involves. As so, taking this matter into the consideration, our Ministry of Education in Malaysia have come up with a policy. We would like to highlight the latest 1Student 1Sport policy which is being introduced by the Ministry of Education in Malaysia. This policy is being introduced in the hope that we can produce more students who are well balanced in both academic and sports. Policy implementation, Dye (2002) indicates that implementation involves all of the activities designed to carry out the policies enacted by the legislative branch. These activities include the creation of new organizations like departments, agencies, bureaus, and so on, or the assignment of new responsibilities to existing organizations. These organizations must translate laws into operational rules and regulations. They must hire personnel, draw up contracts, spend money, and perform tasks. All of these activities involve decisions by bureaucrats decisions that determine policy. Definition According the 1M1S Guidebook, it states that One Student One Sport Policy (1M1S) requires all the students to participate in at least one sport activity in schools. This policys main aim is to support the implementation and in line with the National Education Philosophy that focuses to produce individuals who are physically, spiritually, intellectually and emotionally balanced. This policy is in line with the National Sport Policy, which emphasized on the Sports for All and Sports for Excellence. 1M1S policy program requires every student from Standard 4 in primary schools up to Form 6 in secondary school to complete at least one sporting activity conducted in a planned and systematic way. 1S 1M policy is based on the basic principles of physical development of pupils. Hence, 1S 1M policy is created to provide access for all pupils to benefit from participation in sports in particular to those who were less active or not; develop a school sport towards increasing the participation rate of students in at least one sport in schools; and to provide opportunities for all students who are talented and have the potential to be polished to a higher level. (1M1S Guidebook, 2011) According the 1M1S Guidebook, a sport is very important in building up the physical ability of pupils to support and in line with the phrase Minda yang Cerdas terletak pada Tubuh yang Sihat which means an intelligent mind lies within a healthy body. In this circumstance, sports play an important role in nurturing an active, productive and healthy human in order to be able to contribute to the economic development as well as to the social welfare. Thus, a variety of sports were introduced in order to attract the students practicing an active and healthy lifestyle. Ministry of Education (MoE) implemented 1S1M policy so that every student benefits and gets to enjoy the sports in hope of forming the next generation of sports culture in line with the academic requirements (1M1S Guidebook, 2011). Theory and Concept In short, the elite theory is viewed as the preferences and values of governing elite. As said by Dye (2002), public officials and administrators merely carry out the policies decided on by the elite. Policies flow downward from elites to masses; the policy does not arise from mass demands. This elite theory instigates the top-down approach in the policy implementation process. Educational development and policy in Malaysia have always been characterized by governments effort to adapt education to address to social, economic and political development needs of the country. The Malaysian education system is a highly centralized and bureaucratic system where most of the important policy decision making occurs outside the schools. The MoE decides on the allocation of funds to schools, prescribes and standardizes what should be taught in schools, transfers teachers in and out of schools and formulates top-down school reforms (Zabidi, 2012). Approaches and Models According to PÃ ¼lzl and Treib (2006), there are three generations of implementation research that can be categorized into three distinct theoretical approaches in order to study the implementation. The first model described by PÃ ¼lzl and Treib (2006) will be the top-down models in which their emphasis rely on the ability of the decision makers to produce unambiguous policy objectives and on controlling the implementing stage. The second will be the bottom-up models in which it critiques and view the local bureaucrats as the main actors in the policy delivery and conceive of implementation as negotiation processes within networks among the implementers. And lastly the synthesizer theories in which it tries to overcome the divide between the two approaches by incorporating elements of top-down and bottom-up theoretical models. In this case study, we are considering the Top-down theory as we believe that all policies implemented in Malaysia are based on the Top-down theory. It is always been that the policy makers who are the government will annouce the policy that they have planned and let the implementers who are the teachers to implement the policy accordingly. In an article taken from TheStar online dated 18th March 2010, The Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, said that sports will be introduced to school timetables in year 2011 as a new subject. He also mentioned that under the 1Student, 1Sport policy, secondary school students would get 90 minutes a week to play a game of their choice, while primary pupils would spend 60 minutes weekly. He emphasized that the Physical Education subject would still be taught as it had a specific syllabus. This shows that the Minister is giving the suggestion and also assurance of what the students will get out of the 1M1S policy when it is being implemented. In an article taken from TheStar online dated 14th July 2010, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin mentioned We have informed our officers on the appropriate ways to implement this at both primary and secondary school levels, as students of different ages have a different approach to sports, at a press conference after opening the Second Asean Schools Games at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium. This shows that the Malaysia uses the Top-down theory in implementing the 1M1S policy. This excerpt defines that the Ministers cabinet was told on how to implement this policy in schools to cater the needs of different levels of students. Above mentioned articles shows the scenario happening in Malaysia where the Deputy Prime Minister also the Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announces the 1M1S policy in public behalf of the Education Ministry board. This claim can be supported by the top-down theories started from the assumption that policy implementation starts with a decision made by central government as said by PÃ ¼lzl and Treib (2006). As PÃ ¼lzl and Treib (2006) mentioned, the top downers essentially followed a prescriptive approach that interpreted policy as input and implementation as output factors. The author also mentioned due to their emphasis on decisions of central policy makers, deLeon (2001) describes top-down approaches as a governing elite phenomenon. PÃ ¼lzl and Treib (2006) also claimed that Press and Wildavsky started from the assumption that policy objectives are set out by central policy makers in which it refers to the the Ministry of Education. The authors also underlined the linear relationship between agreed policy goals and their implementation. Implementation therefore implied the establishment of adequate bureaucratic procedures to ensure that policies are executed as accurately as possible. To this end, implementing agencies should have sufficient resources at their disposal, and there needs to be a system of clear responsibilities and hierarchical control to supervise the actions of implementers (PÃ ¼lzl and Treib, 2006). This can be seen that the Malaysia Education Ministry assumes the 1M1S policy formation and execution as disticnt activities in which the 1M1S policy is set at the higher levels and then sent out the order of implementation to their lower level bureaucrats who are the implementing agencies; the ed ucation officers in all levels (state,district and school) which are then charged with the managerial, administrative and technical tasks of putting the 1M1S policy into practice. The MoE also gives the time to accomplish the implementation without considering the sufficient resources that needed to ensure the implementation to succeed. Some selected models of policymaking are taken into consideration before implementing the 1M1S policy via top-down approach. The first model that is taken into consideration is the institutionalism model where the model treats the policy as institutional output. According to Dye (2002), the relationship between the public policy and government institutions is very close in which the policy is authoritatively determined, implemented and enforced by government institutions, namely Parliament, Prime Minister, bureaucracies and so on. In accordance to this model, 1M1S policy is being authoritatively determined and enforced by the MoE. The second model that counts is the rationalism model which treats the policy as maximum social gain. Dye (2002), stated that no policy should be adopted if its costs exceed its benefits. The policy is considered rational when the difference between the values it achieves and the values it sacrifices is positive and is greater than any other policy alternatives. Reflecting from this models point of view in this 1M1S policy, the outcome in future will be beneficial to the country as this policy will produce more talented sports people in various sports activities, get participated in many international games and making our country proud by winning more medals in various games. Implementation Techniques Utilized In the case of 1 Student 1 Sport (1M1S) policy, information provision technique is highly utilized. The provision of information is an essential element of the functioning of any community. Providing information in a timely and targeted manner can be a huge benefit. Without a means to provide facts and data, policy implementers would not be able to make well-considered decisions about how the policy should be operated. The 1M1S Policy Implementation Handbook was published in order to help policy implementers with the dispersion of the policy. Through the handbook, the states education office, the districts education office, the schools sport development committee, the teachers, as well as the Parents Teachers Associations, are given guidelines on how to employ the policy. School sports program implementation under 1M1S policy is to be conducted throughout the year. However, schools are encouraged to plan the implementation of sports programs in accordance with the availability, affordability and creativity and innovation the schools. There are a total of 42 different sports/games intended for the implementation of the 1M1S. The policy makers also proposed some sports activities to be carried out throughout the year. For example general sports programs which includes cross-country, and track and field. In the handbook, 15 strategies in carrying out the 1M1S policy were also presented. Every school is recommended to follow the strategies presented depending on the facility and the existing infrastructure in schools. Schools are given the flexibility to choose, determine or modify the method of execution as appropriate, means and needs of the school. Schools may also plan other methods if deemed appropriate. Some examples of those strategies would be to undertake survey to identify student interest in certain sports, survey of sports facilities in and outside the school that can be used by students, and scheduling school sports program activities in accordance with the appropriate time based on the background and school facilities. The Ministry of Education also provided sports training modules for school sports club advisory teachers. Currently there are 20 training modules for 10 different sports are made available for both primary and secondary schools through the MoEs website. These modules are helpful as guidelines for sports club advisory teachers and trainers, and are also useful as visual aids for students in the course of their training. The management guideline for track and field (athletics) championships in school is also made available in the MoEs website. This is useful as it will aid teachers especially novice teachers in managing athletics championships in school, as it provides proper guidance. Professional circulars, and sports and co-curriculum press letters are also given out by the MoE from time to time, in order to steer policy implementers towards achieving the goal of the policy. Thus it is evident that, in the implementation of 1M1S, the policy makers rely heavily on information provision as an instrument of policy implementation. Implementers Involved There are many implementers involved in the diffusion of 1 Student 1 Sport. As the students are the target group for the policy, the school itself is the main implementer of the policy. The school must hold competitions between levels, classes, sports houses, dorms, and sports clubs of schools. The students participation in the District School Sports Council (Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Daerah [MSSD]) or State School Sports Council (MSSM) competitions as well as on international level are counted as 1Student 1Sport activities. But who is the school? Who is responsible for all those competition? Every school has a School Sports Development Committee. Teachers are a big part of the implementers involved. Teachers are appointed as heads of smaller managing committees, sports/club advisors, and also trainers. This is indeed a great challenge for teachers, as they are already laden with other school tasks. The Co-curricular Senior Assistant Teacher is also an important implementer figure. The Co-curricular Senior Assistant Teacher is responsible for the smooth administration of the co-curricular activities, enhancing student performance as well as the involvement and participation of teachers in extra-curricular activities. Moreover, they are also responsible to work with the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) of the schools regarding co-curriculum matters, who are the implementers involved as well. Parents Teachers Associations are also integral to the implementation of the policy. With support and provisions by the PTA, it can provide insights and lessen the burden of the teachers in the diffusion of the policy. The Chairman of the School Sports Development Committee is the principal/headmaster of the schools. The District Education Office acts as the advisor, while the State Education Office is the Patron of the School Sports Development Committee. The Principal monitors the operation of the policy at the school level. They then report to the District Education Office, and then the District Education Office reports to the State Education Office. These policy implementers face the reality of promoting the learning of sports to groups of students, with all their diversity and complexity. Moreover each context creates a set of variable with which policy implementers must contend, and policy initiators are often unaware or unimpressed. Policy makers and policy implementers want the same things the best possible educational sports experience for students. These implementers are important in assuring the success of the 1M1S policy diffusion. Monitoring Monitoring helps to access degrees of compliance, discover unintended consequences of policies and programs, identify implementational obstacles and constraints, and locate sources of responsibility for departures from policy. (Dunn, 1994). According to Dunn, there are 2 levels of monitoring: Macroimplementation Monitoring and Microimplementation Monitoring. Macroimplementation monitoring consists of tracing the process by which a policy progresses from legislation to action in order to determine: (i) what is being implemented, (ii) why is it taking a particular form, and (iii) what actions can be taken to influence implementation. Microimplementation monitoring consists of collecting information to describe the a policy has taken in various implementing jurisdictions in order to determine: (i) the extent of compliance, (ii) the adaptation a policy has undergone, (iii) reasons for noncompliance and adaptation, and (iv) manipulatable aspects of implementation. Monitoring of the implementation of the management of 1M1S by the school management is part of the strategy to evaluate and ensure the success and effectiveness of sporting activities undertaken. This aims to examine aspects of management and use of equipment, regulatory compliance, health, safety and welfare and student participation in school sports program. The monitoring process shall be conducted by the school management throughout the year. Improvements are to be carried out by the school from time to time to ensure the implementation of the 1M1S. Policy Problems Policy problems are unrealized needs, values, or opportunities for improvement that may be pursued through public action, as defined by David Dery. According to Russell A. Ackoff, policy problems are products of thought acting on environments; they are elements of problems situation. William N. Dunn also stated that policy problems are the products of subjective human judgment. There are three questions to be considered about the nature of policy problems, as suggested by William N. Dunn. How well do we understand the problem? Have we identified the right objectives? Are we solving the wrong formulation of problem when we should be solving the right one? Problems Encountered in One Student One Sport The availability of school infrastructure School infrastructure is the prior fundamental requirement for the success implementation of the policy One Student One Sport. Schools should have provided adequate sports facilities and equipment to maximize the opportunities of physical activities. Lacking of space, playing fields, sports equipment will cause the deficiency of the policy. Moreover, the variation of sports and its equipment is much limited in schools. Schools in Malaysia which have already established for years inevitably needed an upgrading. The readiness of teachers as sports trainers Teachers are undoubtedly the implementers of the policy, which is to be the sports trainers in schools. Their readiness in terms of physically, mentally or technically is dubious indeed. Most teachers who are involved are assigned by the management of schools. They do not have relevant qualification in sports coaching or physical education. It is a setback for them to coach students instructionally appropriate. The implementation of this policy should not be just letting students to play any sport they wish as usual. The choices of sports in schools The choices of sports in schools are limited as the sports facilities and equipment are not adequate. For those existing sports facilities and equipment in schools, some of them are not well maintained too. As the policy One Student One Sport focuses on students, it is crucial to take in students personal interest of the particular sports into consideration. Hence, the choices of sports in schools are most probably in short supply to cater for students need in their selected physical activities. The different abilities of students Students physical ability is one essential factor to be reflected in the policy of One Student One Sport. Students with strong physical ability or competence will be motivated to participate actively in sports and thus bringing this policy a success. Nevertheless, students who have low physical competence will be marginalized as they are not able to enjoy the sports activities in schools. As a result, they lose interest in sports and this policy becomes an extra burden in their schooling days. The ratio between the number of students and teachers The ratio between students and teachers is an influence factor towards the policy attainment. In most schools, the number of teachers is far more exceeding the number of students. The number of students as participants is not meeting the expected amount. Students tend to defend their absence or nonparticipation by giving all sorts of excuses. The lack of support from parents Parents support directly impacts on the policy of One Student One Sport; either it is a bane or boon. Parents support helps students in developing their interest in sports. However, parents nowadays place a strong emphasis on academic excellence of their children. Students who are examination oriented failed to be beneficial from the policy. Solutions of the policy problems Solution of the policy problems produce information about the likelihood that future courses of action will result in consequences that are valuable to some individual, group or society as a whole, as stated by William N. Dunn. He added that this process engages between the transformations of information about policy futures to action which will then come in valued results. Any solution to the policy problems must be actionable, that is going beyond the fact and involving actions that aim to satisfy need, values and opportunities for improvement, (Alexander George, 1980). Solutions to the Problems Encountered in One Student One Sport Increase the allocation of sports fund in schools Allocation of sports funds in schools should be increased in order to improve on the schools infrastructure. Sports facilities and equipment have to be expanded in terms of quantity, whereas the existing facilities and equipment should be upgraded, especially in their quality. Variation of sports activities should be added in as well as introduced in schools for students. By having a variety of choices, students can have better chance to develop their interest in sports. As a result, the number of students who participate in sports will be raised. Select the right teachers as sports trainers Teachers have to be equipped with high quality coaching skills for the particular sports that they are in charged with. Students need to master the basic skills in their chosen sports as a kick start for their development of interest in sports through teachers coaching. Therefore, teachers as sports trainers have to be instructionally skilled in certain sports. Expertise and technical skills of sports trainers make a difference in students life. Schools management can provide sufficient supports to teachers as a mean to enhance their enthusiasm of being sports trainers in schools. Incorporate sports as part of academic Sports can be incorporated as part of academic as a way to encourage students to be more actively engaged in it. Sports can be integrated in schooling hours, but not to be in the extension of schooling hours. This is hopefully to re-gather the support of parents to encourage their childrens participation. It is intended to minimize the inconvenience of sending their children back to school after schooling hours. Furthermore, sports activities can be accountable for higher percentage in students academic as to counter the problem of examination oriented mindset, either of the students or the parents. Conclusion Every policy started off with a noble purpose. However, the process of implementing it in reality is what it really matters after all. It is not to say that the noble purposes are there to defend any deficiency of the outcomes. Hence, policy in action is what to be the main focus. Undeniably, the evaluation of policy comes after the implementation over a period of time. Problems are identified and then followed by recommended solution. It is a process, a cycle which keeps going on. Sport is an integral part in ones life. One Student One Sport is a policy with the vision of creating a balance and healthy lifestyle among students. It is indeed a well plan policy which seen to be a complete one for the society, schools, teachers and students. Nevertheless, to implement any policy in Malaysia, it has to be confronted with all aspects considering the fact of every school where it will be the setting of the policy implementation. One policy is not to be able to fulfil every ones need.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Smoking Risks Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the most popular habits in today’s society is smoking. Yet each year, cigarette smoking kills more Americans than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, homicides, suicides, illegal drugs and fires combined. Smoking is an extremely bad pastime, practiced for centuries, for an individual’s health and those surrounding him/her. People start for many different reasons and get addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes. Smoking cause many fatal diseases, but help is available to those who seek it. Cigarette smoking is a disgusting and unhealthy habit. History of Smoking   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Smoking is defined as the action of inhaling tobacco from a pipe, cigar or cigarette. It has been practiced for 100’s of years, including by early North-American natives. Europeans had introduced it into the Old World by the early 16th century (Petrakis). It was continually practiced since then throughout the world, with tobacco companies arising and packaged cigarettes soon available. Smokers would praise it for medicinal reasons and also claimed smoking to be pleasurable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Smokers had no knowledge of cigarette smoke’s harm to their health until 1964, when the surgeon general of the U.S Public Health Service concluded that smoking was hazardous to an individual’s health, and soon after it was discovered that second-hand smoke was also hazardous to the health of surrounding non-smokers inhaling it. Reasons Why People Smoke   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many reasons why people begin smoking. One of which is insecurity. In an uncertain situation in which a person is not comfortable with their individuality and not confident with themselves, if there are smokers around then that person may be tempted to take up smoking. It might be because they would like to â€Å"fit in† with an unknown group of people, or someone may take it up based on a new friend’s or girl/boyfriend’s influences. Another reason why people take up smoking is because of peer pressure leading to a quick physical addiction. One ingredient in cigarettes is nicotine, and it is extremely addictive. And yet nicotine is not the only physical reason people smoke, they are also get hooked on the taste, smell and the feel of cigarettes. Health Risks of Smoking   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to the American Heart Association there are an est... ... would distract someone from smoking.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The government also encourages people to quit smoking. Cigarette smokers are warned each time they smoke a cigarette of the deadly diseases that could effect their health. By law a warning label must appear on each pack and carton of cigarettes warning buyers of the hazards. There is also a ban on television and radio ads for cigarettes in the United States, and in Canada there is a ban on all advertisements for tobacco companies. It is also illegal to smoke in most public places now, including some restaurants, elevators, the workplace, schools, airlines, public transportation machines and most stores. Also, the Canadian and American governments prohibit the selling of cigarettes to anyone younger than 19 years of age.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although there are still many individuals who smoke worldwide, one can hope that sometime in the future there will only be non-smokers. Smoking only proves to lead to an early grave for smokers and non-smokers alike. With medicines, support groups and will power, the world could easily become a cleaner, non-smoking place, because a smoker’s death is an unneeded death.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Is Money the Most Important Thing

Money, fame, a successful career; these are among the things many people would consider to be the most important things in life. What do you think; do you consider the factors above to be the chief things in life? First though, let us agree that regardless of the route we take, our goal in all our pursuits remain essentially the same: Happiness. The problem with most people is that in their pursuit of this state of mind, they often sacrifice too much, sometimes sacrificing even happiness itself along the way! As a result, just when they think they have finally captured the cage that should hold joy and satisfaction, such as by getting to the peak of one's career, they soon discover that the cage is empty. How tragic! Take money or financial success for example. The extent to which money contributes to happiness is probably the most misunderstood phenomenon on earth. Now please do not take me wrong. Money is very important to have in our society. In fact the Late Jim Rohn Says it ranks right up there with oxygen. But as a result, it is highly overrated by most people. Meanwhile various researches have repeatedly proven that slightly above the poverty line, subsequent financial success contributes less and less to a person's state of happiness. This has to be true; otherwise, why are suicide rates among wealthy people and lottery winners among the highest? Likewise those who see fame as the ultimate in life; they soon get disillusioned. Drug overdose and, yes, suicide are particularly high among very famous people. Why? Surely fame has brought them real happiness. So then what? Yes, what things are truly the most important in life? I would propose that the most important things in life are those that bring the greatest happiness to ourselves and those around us. Top on this list would be genuine love and rich relationships, such as is shared among true friends and family members. Next on my list would be a measure of good health and a good relationship with the creator, God. It goes without saying that love is the chief thing in life. What would life amount to if nobody, not even God, shows us affection? Newborn babies soon die when they are denied affection. And adults do not fare much better. We can as well say the same thing about relationships. Developing a healthy relationship with others creates interdependence, which is vital to both personal and your business growth. This is not to say that money and financial success are of no use. No. It is just that they should not be your major focus in life. And that leads us to another item on the most important things in life: wisdom. I will define wisdom as the correct application of knowledge. Wisdom is hugely important in our lives. For example, it takes wisdom to balance your personal MLM business pursuits without sacrificing vital family and other relationships. In deed, it is when we go about our pursuits in this way that we stand the chance of being happy at their attainment. On the other hand, a failure to get these factors in proper order leads so many persons to frustrations. This is because every person has a set of beliefs, or mindset which guides them as they make decisions. This mindset is often shaped by such variables as our individual experiences in life, our education and the environment where a person grew up. This mindset may either be working in our favor or against us. The difference lies in the cumulative outcome of all our decisions. Good results mean that our mindset is working, and vice versa. Bearing in mind that your decisions today will have a significant effect on how the rest of your life turns out. Would it not be better to pay greater attention to the most important things in life as you also go after your MLM success? Interestingly, most wealthy people find that once they get things in proper order, other things naturally fall into place. So enrich your life, approach things in this way.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Children learn Essay

The Guidance for the Foundation Stage Curriculum (2001) suggests that an appropriate curriculum for young children is a play-based curriculum, offering children a choice of play based activities and experiences. Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke (2000) agree that play has been well documented as a means by which young children learn.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Play is highly valued in the Early Years for its ability to stimulate and integrate a wide range of children’s intellectual, physical, cultural, social and creative abilities.† (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke 2000, p.76) However, unstructured play, in its’ purest sense, may cause a number of problems when providing suitable provision for children demonstrating hyperactive, impulsive or inattentive behaviour due to lack of structure and continual distraction. Kewley (1999,p.151) would agree when stating,  Ã¢â‚¬  Unstructured situations such as playtime often cause problems for children with ADHD†¦because of the over-reaction to the stimulus and their impulsive behaviour.† Ballard (1997) defines an inclusive setting as one where â€Å"differentness† is an ordinary part of human experience. Indeed, differentiation is the key to effective teaching and learning. However, problems arise when the whole structure of the curriculum is inappropriate for the needs of a particular child. Cooper (1999) would agree that it is invaluable for the practitioner to be aware of the specific circumstances in which individual children perform best in order to plan for the learning needs of these children and suggests that some aspects of an Early Years curriculum may aggravate symptoms of ADHD when stating, â€Å"Children with ADHD can become overwhelmed by the massive over stimulation they experience in a group situation and through free-play activity.† (Cooper 1999, p.144)  In addition,  Barrow (in: Merton 1998) and Toothhill and Spalding (in: Sefton 2000) also found that children with ADHD responded better in highly structured lessons than less organised ones.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Children with ADHD are often hypersensitive to distraction. It is important, therefore, to ensure that they are seated in a place that is relatively free from distraction.† (Cooper 1999, p.146) Thus, making the task of suitable inclusive provision difficult for practitioners in Early Years settings. However, many opportunities for structured, adult-directed play do exist within the Early Years. (Siraj-Blatchford and Clarke 2000) Games such as those with rules, card games, matching games, and outdoor games with balls all provide opportunities for adult-directed play and provide the child with instructions and guidance for playing the game, rules of turn taking and developing new information. In addition a play-based curriculum offers opportunities for high levels of adult support and encouragement and a kinaesthetic based approach to learning, which is a preferred style of learning for many children with ADHD. Kewley (1999,p.146) concurs, stating, â€Å"Children with ADHD tend to be intuitive and need a practical approach to learning rather than a highly theoretical approach.†Ã‚  Research suggests however, that a high number of children with ADHD are not acknowledged as having SEN and instead their inappropriate behaviour highlighted as unsuitable candidates for mainstream settings. Hayden (1997) suggests that this attitude does not improve as the children enter formal education. Hayden researched children who had been excluded from primary school and found that children with ADHD are more likely that most to be excluded from school for behavioural reasons. This does appear at first glance to be surprising, when considering the evidence to suggest that a structured environment is more appropriate for a child with ADHD. Cooper (2005) offers an explanation for this however, and suggests that when considering the constructions of ADHD that, it is influenced by both biology and the social environment. Cooper infers that â€Å"school† plays a major part in the process of social constructions and indicates that children with ADHD are expected to conform to an unsuitable and ridged social framework and inappropriate curriculum when stating, â€Å"Pupils from an early age are expected to internalise and behave in accordance with a set of rules that derive from constraints imposed by a teacher-centred, curriculum-focused method of teaching pupils in age related groups.† (Cooper 2005,p.128)  Cooper also suggests that inappropriate teacher/child ratios may create social disorder problems that are met by a set of lineal rules, designed to regulate peer interaction and movement around school. Concluding that the majority of problems arise from an externally imposed age determined curricula as apposed to a negotiated curriculum. These findings are alarming when considering recent developments, legislation and guidance relating to children with SEN and may indicate that the behaviour aspect of children with ADHD is being used as a scapegoat strategy for settings who are not meeting the needs of these children.  When examining the issues surrounding ADHD it is clear that successful inclusion both in the Early Years and Primary school settings is problematic. On the one hand a play-based curriculum is the most suitable form of learning for the majority of young children and is endorsed in Early Years Settings, whilst on the other the symptoms that children with ADHD display suggest that such a curriculum would exasperate these symptoms. However, as previously discussed, some aspects of a play-based curriculum are preferable to the more formal approach of primary school. The PLA (2001) suggest once children have been admitted to the setting, an environment that is created should be one that encourages all children to flourish. Furthermore, Kewley (2001, p6) states the inclusion of children with ADHD is a â€Å"moral imperative†, however, Farrell and Polat (2003) argue that the inclusion of children with EBD has the potential to cause barriers to the government implementation of their policy of social inclusion. This would suggest that although differing levels of ability can be quiet easily catered for, behavioural and emotional differences are not as easily accommodated in educational settings. Visser and Stokes (2003) found that many people agreed with the inclusion of children with SEN, however when it came to children with EBD they were often denied inclusion due to their SEN. This supports the research undertaken by Hayden (mentioned previously) that children with ADHD are excluded from primary school due to behavioural reasons. The DfES (2006, p.1) suggest that children with ADHD can have an overwhelming affect in the setting when stating, â€Å"pupils with ADHD present challenges for teachers, both in effective behaviour management and in keeping them focused on the task in hand.† [online]  Teachers may feel threatened by having to deal with a child with ADHD, particularly if they have no training in the area and lack confidence, in addition to having to give instruction to a further 30 children or more. The parents of other children may feel that the attention has been drawn away from their children as more time needs to be spent dealing with disruptive outbursts and one to one tuition. All these factors effect the successful inclusion of children with ADHD. Swinson, Wolf and Meling however, disagree that these children’s needs would be addressed more effectively in special schools and conclude that there is much evidence of mainstream schools successfully including children with EBD and there was no evidence to suggest children with EBD benefit from special school. Rose (2002) found that teachers felt they could successfully include children with EBD, but only with additional classroom support. This may suggest a lack of confidence in their ability to meet the needs of children with ADHD in their care. Swinson, Wolf and Meling (2002) suggest that this view is not uncommon, they found that many teachers felt they were not sufficiently trained to meet the needs of inclusion. Another reason that teachers insist on additional classroom support may be due to the time and attention children with ADHD need. Newelle (2001) agree that children with EBD take up a lot of time and resources. All of the barriers above are not isolated to ADHD or indeed EBD they are general inclusion issues that have been successfully addressed throughout a majority of mainstream settings, particularly Early years settings. Albeit ADHD may manifest itself in differing ways and appear to centre around continuous, disruptive behaviour, for some leading to exclusion, however, all children with SEN should have their needs met and advice given by the DfES (2000) should apply to all children when stating,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Children with special educational needs all have learning difficulties that make it harder for them to learn than most children at the same age. These children may need extra or different help from that given to children of the same age† [online] According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) [online], ADHD can have long term effects on the child’s ability to make friends and over time these children may develop emotional problems such as poor self-esteem and depression if the child’s needs are not met. McEwan (1998) identifies emotional reactivity and conduct problems, which include symptoms such as a shot fuse due to getting easily frustrated, overreacting to things that happen, defiant behaviour, verbal hostility and angry outbursts. Fletcher-Campbell (2001) looks at the problems of children with EBD and suggests that these children alienate themselves from their peers, due to their behaviour. Thus, â€Å"Some manifestations of the disorder tend to isolate children with ADHD from their peers, who will sometimes react with hostility to impulsive and hyperactive behaviour. This can result in long term difficulties in relation to other individuals and developing and sustaining relationships – and the emotional problems that follow often exacerbate the struggle to learn.† (Question Publishing 2003) [online] Effects of inattention and impulsivity causes children problems with turn taking and this suggests they often interrupt when others are talking or playing. (Cooper and O’Regan (2001) In addition McEwan (1998) argues that children with ADHD can often be selfish and self-centred, which means they are likely to find it hard to make friends and build relationships. They are often unaware of social cues and do not worry about the consequences of their behaviour.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Amazon Marketing Services 20 Creative Unique Ways to Use AMS Ads

Amazon Marketing Services 20 Creative Unique Ways to Use AMS Ads Amazon Marketing Services: 20 Creative Unique Ways to Use AMS Ads â€Å"AMS Ads are dead, said the not-so-savvy self-published author.Don’t believe this lie. AMS Ads, or Amazon Marketing Services ads, are stronger than ever, and whether we like it or not they are here to stay. As a matter of fact, Amazon just rolled out a brand-new, improved UI for AMS; they have added new features, and are constantly creating training material to help authors better understand the platform.Would they do that if AMS were on the way out? Not likely.Sure, not every book is a good fit for Amazon ads: that’s why many Amazon published authors grow bitter and blame the platform for not being able to sell a book that would not be marketable anyways.Don’t be discouraged. Now is the time to jump onto the AMS wagon if you want to actually get paid to write. Those who don’t read the Self-Publishing School Blog and believe that Amazon advertising is dying will gradually move away from it, making the space less crowded and much more profitable for all of us. Here are our tips for using Amazon marketing services effectively:Target famous authors with Amazon marketing servicesTarget Amazon published booksTarget books featured on BookBubTarget books that are recent moviesTarget paperback booksTarget audiobooks with Amazon Marketing ServicesThink about Amazon ads for your book seriesGrow your email listAdvertise your backlistUse The Greatest Hits methodThe Amazon Ad puzzleThe Ad stackerPre-populate with pre-ordersUse AMS for reviewsUse Amazons Bid+ systemUse negative keywordsTarget your own bookStay put, don’t give up. When others zig, just zag 🙂What is Amazon Marketing Services?Amazon marketing services (AMS), now called Advertising Console is a collection of effective tools to help vendors drive traffic to their products and sell more.For authors, this means AMS is a hub for increasing low book sales and maintaining a steady income with their books.NOTE: We cover everything in this blog post and much more about how to build a platform and maintain consistent book sales in our Sell More Books Program. Learn more about it hereAmazon Marketing Services for Authors Made EasyI get it, click bids have gotten more expensive, finding profitable keywords is more difficult and winning is harder than ever. But this is only a byproduct of the space getting more crowded. However, let me assure you: those CPC prices are nowhere near what our friends in the physical product markets are paying. Strange as it may seem, AMS is still a happy place for authors. The key is to get more creative, thinking out of the box. Find new ways of using AMS, test and tweak, and you’ll be way ahead of the (still relatively small) competition. How? Here are 20 ways in which you can use Amazon Marketing Services Ads for your book marketing ventures. Each tactic is coupled with a brief explanation of how to implement it in a practical way. Enjoy the list and remember: now is the time for Amazon advertising!#1 Targe t a famous author in your genreYoull do this in order to try to get into his or her also-boughts. You know, the little section in this screenshot that shows you what other people who bought an item havealso bought↓It’s no secret that ‘also-boughts’ are the main source Amazon uses when they recommend new books to readers. And if your book is in one of your competitor’s ‘also-boughts’, then there’s a good chance it will get shown, recommended and ‘pushed’ to the exact audience you’re after. Happy days. Try bidding heavily on one of your competitors as a target so that your book shows up everywhere on their book’s page and ‘steals the show’ in your reader’s eyes.#2 Target books published by AmazonAmazon has various imprints through which it publishes books, the most famous being Thomas Mercer. Targeting authors and books by these subsidiary companies is a great idea. Amazon (and their algorithm) love when people buy their stuff, which they continuously promote left and right. Try to get your book next to one of Amazon’s own babies, and you’ll be a happy writer indeed. #3 Target books that are featured on BookBubOnce a book is featured in BookBub’s daily email (aka their ‘Featured Deals’), it’s likely to get thousands of downloads and a load of traffic on all the retailers. Which of course means more eyeballs on the said book. By keeping an eye on the books that appear daily on BookBub’s email blast and targeting them with your Amazon ads, you’ll be the first to place your book next to the day’s hottest title, thus piggybacking on its visibility and hopefully sales.#4 Target books that have recently been turned into moviesA hot new release (just as explained in point 3) is always going to garner bigger attention, at least for a few days. Keep an eye on new movie releases in your genre, especially b ig blockbuster films that have been inspired by bestselling books. Again, the trick here is to target those hot new titles so that your book shows next to them, thus collecting some love from all those hungry readers.#5 Use Product Display Ads to target paperbacksAmazons Product Display ads give you a unique chance to specifically target paperback versions of your competitor’s titles (unlike Sponsored Product ads). The first benefit of doing thisis that you’ll undoubtedly broaden the reach of your ads. But most important perk is that you’ll also likely increase the sales of your own paperback copies.As it were, ‘physical book lovers’ have a preference for physical books, which are more expensive and thus will likely result in higher royalties for you to pocket!#6 Use Product Display Amazon Ads to target audiobooksSee point 5 above, but this time use PD ads to target audiobooks! Don’t have an audiobook version of your title? You’re de finitely missing out on one of the hottest and fastest-growing trends in the indie publishing industry. You can find a step-by-step guide on creating an audiobook right here.#7 Lose money on the first book in your seriesYour first in series is likely to be free on Amazon(or at least it should be). But don’t fret, pure ROI seekers! Sure, by going a bit ‘heavier’ on Amazon ads pointing to that book, you’ll likely lose money. But you’ll make it back when readers go on to purchase book 2, 3, 4, etc. in your series. Make sure you have a good idea of how to calculate your audience’s ‘read-through rates’, and adjust your CPC bid and daily budget accordingly.#8 Lose money (again) to grow your email listBe sure to display an opt-in form in the free book you’re running ads on (pro tip: also place it in the first pages of the book, so that readers don’t have to ‘wait’ until they’ve read the whole thing be fore parting with their email address). This will inevitably result in more signups to your email list. Again, this isn’t stellar for pure ROI, and you might be losing money now, but in the long term, this will be super-beneficial.#9 Advertise Your BacklistDon’t put all your eggs in one basket (aka, don’t point all your ads and spend all your budget on one book). Running Amazon ads for other titles in your backlist is always beneficial in keeping the books ‘sticky’ in the rankings, often also providing a load of read-throughs to the other titles in the same series (see point 7).#10 The Greatest Hits methodStart your ads by bidding low-ish on keywords and competing authors/book-titles. Once you have a good idea of what is actually performing well, take those successful phrases and compile them in a ‘Greatest Hits’ ad, with higher CPC bids and daily budget.#11 The Amazon Ad PuzzleTry using your own book as a target keyword, but this ti me to advertise your higher-priced titles or box sets. The ‘Sponsored’ results on the latter’s book page will likely populate with all your other titles, just like the pieces of a puzzle. If a reader lands on your one book and sees your other stuff in the Amazon ads, they might buy a higher-priced title in your collection (and go on to become an aficionado fan of yours)!#12 The Ad StackerDon’t limit yourself to Amazon Marketing Services ads. Ad ‘stacking’ is often the best way to get a gazillion eyeballs on a new release (especially if you’re aiming at hitting bestsellers’ lists when running a hard launch). Try your hands at BookBub ads, Facebook Ads, and others. You don’t need to spend thousands on them: a small budget will be more than enough to Discover where your readers are hanging out, so that you can place your books right under their eyes.#13 Pre-populate with pre-orders!Start running AMS ads well in advance, eve n when your book is still in the pre-order phase. If you get your targeting right, this will help add your book to the ‘also-boughts’ of other books in your genre, thus igniting the sacred ‘recommendation loop’ from Amazon.You can do this one week to a few months in advance. The bigger your author platform is, the longer you can get away with putting your book up for pre-order before the actual publication date.Plus, people will be exposed to your book, will pre-order it, and when the book is live, the instant truckload of downloads will shoot it into the stratosphere!#14 Use AMS for reviewsSpend a bit more on AMS during a free promo you have scheduled. This might sound counterintuitive when it comes to pure ROI, but you’ll be amazed at the number of downloads you’ll get. Be sure to add a ‘call for reviews’ to the end of your book. Some readers won’t, but many will actually leave an honest (and verified) review.#15 Bid+Wi th their recent ‘upgrade’ of the Amazon Marketing Services platform, Amazon has given authors the chance to use their ‘Bid+’ system (an old acquaintance of those using Vendor’s Accounts). This new feature basically lets Amazon know you’re willing to spend up to 50% more on CPC for the terms that are performing well.Its really simple to use, as you can see in the example below so dont be afraid to use this! Think about it: if Amazon has given us this new tool, why not take advantage of it? You definitely won’t go broke (the daily budget still being the highest cap on spend): rather, you’ll likely outbid all of your competitors on your most prized keywords and phrases!#16 Use negative keywordsAs you surely know by now, hyper-relevant laser-focused targeting is the name of the game with AMS, but sometimes, this is much easier said than done. Have an epic fantasy novel that appeals to teens, but that YA readers would absolutely hate ? Don’t risk getting one-star reviews by unsatisfied vampire-hungry audiences. Another new feature that Amazon has just implemented into their new AMS platform is the ‘negative keywords’ field. Use it wisely to list all of the keywords you absolutely DO NOT want to associate your ads to through Amazon Marketing Services. The sniper approach has never been easier.#17 Target your own bookWhy on earth would you want to spend money targeting your own book? After all, it already shows up ‘organically’ in the search results for your key terms, no? Well, not exactly. Amazon is putting a lot of emphasis on advertising (another reason why you should use AMS ads), so it sometimes favors paid results over organic something other platforms (e.g. Facebook) have been doing for a while now. Crazy, right? Try punching one of your keywords in the search box and see if your book appears. It doesn’t?Then you might want to give it a nice little push with a coup le super-targeted ads. Bonus: 3 more advanced Amazon Marketing Services tacticsIf yourereally ready to make some money, you can try to tackle some of these more advanced Amazon Marketing Services methods to increase your book sales.These might be tricky for you at first, butwith enough practice, theyll prove to be more than effective.#18 Use a Vendors Account (part 1)An Amazon Vendor’s Express account will let you advertise your ebooks, but also audiobooks or paperbacks. Use this incredibly powerful tool to advertise your physical or audio copies on relevant pages by your target authors. As seen above (point 5), this will often result in sales of your own audios and paperbacks, yielding a lot more royalties!#19 Use a Vendor’s Account (part 2)A Vendor’s Express account through Amazon Marketing Services will also let you advertise titles that you didn’t publish yourself. Why would you want to do that, you say? For multi-author box sets you’re a par t of, for example! This will bring more eyeballs to your stuff and†¦ don’t forget to include an email-optin in your portion of the text!#20 Use a Vendor’s Account (part 3)As seen above, why not use a Vendor’s Account to also promote a traditionally-published book you wrote before going indie? Your publisher will likely not be using AMS, so show them who the savvy author is and get some sales rolling!Hope you enjoyed some of these tactics for Amazon Marketing Services ads. As I mentioned in the introduction to this post, don’t listen to those who want to attract you to the ‘next best thing’.Think out of the box, test, test, and test again. And you will succeed!Ready to Sell More Books?Your books sales can mean the difference between helping a few and helping the many.We have exactly what you need to sell more books- and change more lives.

Monday, October 21, 2019

WTO and the Environment

WTO and the Environment Free Online Research Papers The World Trade Organization is an international organization designed to manage and liberalize international trade. The WTO regulates the rules of trade between nations at a global level. While the WTO has been successful in promoting globalization, it has failed to recognize environmental concerns. The WTO needs to enforce pro-environment regulations at a global level. Without full participation from each nation laws will have a disproportionate impact on trade. If we continue operating without acknowledging the environment, the long term effects on the environment will be severe. The issue of environmental protection cannot continue to be ignored. In the absence of proper environmental regulation and resource management, increased trade might cause so much adverse damage that the gains from trade would be less than the environmental costs. How is the WTO harming the environment? While it can be argued that most trade causes little adverse impact on the environment, the fact is that when trade does cause harm, the WTO does nothing about it. The turtle-safe shrimp case provides evidence that the World Trade Agreement is interpreted narrowly in an effort to bar any policy that has negative affects on trade. In 1989 the United States put forth an effort to protect seven species of endangered sea turtles from the ‘shrimping’ industry. They required domestic shrimpers to use protective technology called Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs), which allowed turtles to escape from the shrimp nets. Congress banned the importation of shrimp caught by foreign shrimpers who refused to use TEDs. This action did not sit well with non-conforming countries. In 1996 Thailand, Malaysia, India, and Pakistan filed a complaint against the United States claiming that â€Å"the U.S. Turtle Shrimp Law violated international trade law by barring the importation of their shrimp and shrimp products.† The WTO ruled in 1998 against the United States asserting trade discrimination. This is a situation where the WTO could have stepped in and backed the United States, enforcing the use of TEDs, rather than finding them at fault for trying to save an endangered species. What is/has been done to address this problem? The WTO has had a long history of attempting to accommodate environmental concerns. In 1971, the WTO (who at this time was known as the GATT) created a division on Environmental Measures and International Trade (EMIT). This party failed miserably, which is not surprising considering their first meeting was held in 1991, 20 years after the group was created. After the failure of EMIT, the Commission on Trade and the Environment (CTE) was formed in 1994. The committee’s mandate is broad, promising to â€Å"identify the relationship between trade measures and environmental measures in order to promote sustainable development† as well as â€Å"make appropriate recommendations on whether any modifications of the provisions of the multilateral trading system are required, compatible with the open, equitable and non-discriminatory nature of the system † (WTO). The WTO has only recently started to look at the effects of trade and the environment. These organizations are virtually useless as long as the WTO continues to prioritize trade over the environment. Who should be held responsible? In order for divisions like the EMIT and the CTE to be effective, the WTO needs to enforce specific rules in the interest of the environment. I agree with Alison Sadvari, if this issue is not handled, it will have a negative impact on the world’s natural resources, which in turn will have a negative impact on trade. Individual governments will continue to be ineffective in their attempts to combat this problem because policies must be implemented without discrimination. For this reason, the WTO needs to determine what the major issues surrounding this topic are and enforce laws at a global level. The WTO has the power to enforce trade laws as they are â€Å"responsible for negotiating and implementing new trade agreements, and is in charge of policing member countries adherence to all the WTO agreements† . However, the WTO is more concerned with the negative effect environmental action will have on trade than they are with the effect trade has on the environment. A crit ic of the WTO wrote: â€Å"†¦the rules that the WTO is there to enforce are remarkably few – and they have almost nothing to do with looking after the long term interests of stakeholders, the natural environment or those who will inherit the planet in future generations† . Conclusion The first step in creating a national environmental law needs to begin with the WTO’s recognition of the problem. They have been going through the motions for years without taking affirmative action. By dealing forthrightly with these issues, the WTO can improve public support for freer trade and enhance its own status as a coherent and trustworthy instrument for global economic governance. Because the WTO holds the power to enforce change, the continuous pressure from activists will eventually force them into enacting environmental protection laws, regardless of the impact it has on trade. Work Cited 1. World Trade Organization. Wikipedia. 20 Apr 2007 . 2. Charnovitz, Steve. Addressing Environmental and Labor Issues in the World Trade Organization. Trade Global Markets. 1 Nov 1999. Progressive Policy Institute. 20 Apr 2007 . 3. The WTO, the Environment and Sustainable Development. The Citizens Guide to Trade, Environment and Sustainability. 24 Jan 2001. Friends of the Earth. 20 Apr 2007 . 4. Items on the CTE’s Work Programme. WTO. 20 Apr 2007 . 5. Impacts of WTO on the Environment, Cultures and Indigenous Peoples. 29 Nov 1999. 20 Apr 2007 . Research Papers on WTO and the EnvironmentDefinition of Export QuotasPETSTEL analysis of IndiaGenetic EngineeringThe Project Managment Office SystemRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfQuebec and CanadaAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaStandardized TestingOpen Architechture a white paper

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Cause Effect of European Exploration

All of Europe had the excitement and hesitation of finding new places. There were many reasons for Europe to grow and expand, some of the causes for Europe’s expansion were; a search for new trade routes, religion, new technology, the desire for new products and gold. Europe wanted to find a new trade route to Asia because they wanted the silk, spices, jewels, and riches from China and India that were very valuable. One of the problems that were faced was that when they arrived in Western Europe, the products had been taxed so many times along the way that they were extremely expensive. They wanted to find a route around so that they could get the goods first. They wanted to find a northwest passage. Christian rulers in Europe wanted to spread their religion of Christianity throughout the overseas exploration, they felt they had a duty to keep fighting for Muslims but also to convert non- Christians throughout the world. Bartolomeu Dias (Portuguese explorer) said that his motive was â€Å"to serve God and His Majesty, to give light to those who were in darkness and to grow rich as all men desire to do. † European explores had better navigation skills and equipment to help them find their way. They had a compass and moveable rudder which allowed the explorers to sail even further than before. They also used an astrolabe which used the stars to determine how far north or south they were from the equator. European explorers were on a mission to find these new lands and new technologies, those causes stimulated effects for the aftermath of the exploration. One of the effects on European exploration was the Columbian Exchange. This exchange consisted of trading between the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. The Americas sent over squash, pumpkins, turkey, peanuts, potatoes, tomatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, peppers, tobacco, pineapple, cacao, beans and vanilla. Europe, Africa and Asia sent over citrus fruits, bananas, grapes, sugar cane, honeybees, onions, olives, turnips, peaches, pears, and coffee beans. They also sent over items other then food such as grains, wheat, rice, barley and oats. They sent many types of live stock and a huge thing they sent over was disease. The Triangle Trade was another trading system between New England the West Indies and West Africa. New England sent West Africa rum, guns/ gunpowder, cloth and tools. West Africa sent sugar and molasses to New England and New England sent back livestock, lumber, flour and fish. As the trading increased during the sixteenth and throughout the eighteenth century, millions of people were taken out of their home and deported to plantations in the New World. Europeans risked their lives to explore new lands, the expansion abroad come with hopes for land, riches and social advancement. Cause Effect of European Exploration All of Europe had the excitement and hesitation of finding new places. There were many reasons for Europe to grow and expand, some of the causes for Europe’s expansion were; a search for new trade routes, religion, new technology, the desire for new products and gold. Europe wanted to find a new trade route to Asia because they wanted the silk, spices, jewels, and riches from China and India that were very valuable. One of the problems that were faced was that when they arrived in Western Europe, the products had been taxed so many times along the way that they were extremely expensive. They wanted to find a route around so that they could get the goods first. They wanted to find a northwest passage. Christian rulers in Europe wanted to spread their religion of Christianity throughout the overseas exploration, they felt they had a duty to keep fighting for Muslims but also to convert non- Christians throughout the world. Bartolomeu Dias (Portuguese explorer) said that his motive was â€Å"to serve God and His Majesty, to give light to those who were in darkness and to grow rich as all men desire to do. † European explores had better navigation skills and equipment to help them find their way. They had a compass and moveable rudder which allowed the explorers to sail even further than before. They also used an astrolabe which used the stars to determine how far north or south they were from the equator. European explorers were on a mission to find these new lands and new technologies, those causes stimulated effects for the aftermath of the exploration. One of the effects on European exploration was the Columbian Exchange. This exchange consisted of trading between the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. The Americas sent over squash, pumpkins, turkey, peanuts, potatoes, tomatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, peppers, tobacco, pineapple, cacao, beans and vanilla. Europe, Africa and Asia sent over citrus fruits, bananas, grapes, sugar cane, honeybees, onions, olives, turnips, peaches, pears, and coffee beans. They also sent over items other then food such as grains, wheat, rice, barley and oats. They sent many types of live stock and a huge thing they sent over was disease. The Triangle Trade was another trading system between New England the West Indies and West Africa. New England sent West Africa rum, guns/ gunpowder, cloth and tools. West Africa sent sugar and molasses to New England and New England sent back livestock, lumber, flour and fish. As the trading increased during the sixteenth and throughout the eighteenth century, millions of people were taken out of their home and deported to plantations in the New World. Europeans risked their lives to explore new lands, the expansion abroad come with hopes for land, riches and social advancement.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Describe at least 5 scenes of the movie Rossie the Riveter Review - 2

Describe at least 5 scenes of the Rossie the Riveter - Movie Review Example It was explained that Lewis worked with a strong white woman from Arkansas who would smooth down the other side of the rivet once it went through. Also, bucking required more strength and Riveting required more skill. What is interesting is that we have a black woman and a white woman working side by side, completing two different but equally important roles. This is interesting because much of the country still employed segregation policies and having blacks work alongside whites seems significant. The next important scene was the analysis of Rockwell’s painting of Rosie the Riveter. What is important to note is that the character has both strong masculine and feminine features. The feminine features are that she is wearing lipstick, nail poish, penny loafers, rouge, she keeps a compact and handkerchief in her pocket, her visor looks like a halo and she is depicted as eating which is considered a domestic practice. Rosie’s masculine features are that she has a leather arm band, she has big arms, dirty overalls (women didn’t typically wear pants), and Rosie is carrying a large and heavy riveting gun. This is significant because it really portrays that women can complete the tasks necessary to get the job done but also hold onto their feminine identity. The next scene is the discussion of the US Office of War Information publishing the magazine of war guide which was aimed at giving ideas to the publishers of magazine for how to attract female workers. This was described as a government lead effort to recruit women workers. Ultimately this is significant because it represents that the government officially recognized that women were important not only for domestic roles but also for industrial and other commercial roles. The next scene follows the same trend as the last scene in which the War guide in September 1943 recommended that all magazines write about women in the workplace with the goal of emphasizing that all jobs that women completed

Critical Thinking Questions Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Critical Thinking Questions - Coursework Example a teacher leader, the principles which one should use include leading with values, people centered, achievement oriented and managing tensions and dilemmas (Day and Harris, 2012). Changes are of different categories, and they all depend with the teacher leader who wants to implement them. In this circumstance, implementing a permanent change to the institutions will be more beneficial in making the institutions realize their visions. It will involve making necessary adjustment, which matches the need of the institutions. In order to ensure that this becomes successful, it will need evaluation of the areas which needs to be improved (Reeves, 2008). It will also need assessment at ensuring that the critical areas are taken into consideration. Implementation of change begins with assessment of the areas which needs to be changed. As an educational leader, you need to involve all parties including students and other fellows in ensuring that all goes well. This will entail working on programs which will bring change to all stakeholders (Danielson, 2007). However, implementation of change is different from managing change since implementation deals with introducing changes whereas management of change involve making necessary adjustment in the process of already existing

Prospective Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Prospective Analysis - Assignment Example The random walk model outlines that the stock price or earnings change have same distributions and are independent of each other thus past movements of stock price or earnings cannot be used to predict the future stock price movement. I disagree with John’s forecast strategy since the assumption of unchanging mean and variance is debatable. b. A merger or acquisition is will increase the future net income due to higher sales growth and more revenue generation from the acquisition. The merger or acquisition will reduce competition thus enhance the future net income. The best model that describes a better pattern of the earnings per share is the mean-reversion model since competition in the market will drive abnormal levels of profits to mean while reinvestment of the earnings will likely earn more levels of earnings. According to many analysts, the Earnings Factory is a ‘darling’ of the ASX. Its current market price $ 15 per share and its book value is $ 5 per share. Analysts forecast that the organisation’s book value will grow by 10 per cent per year indefinitely and the cost of equity is 15 per cent. The market’s expectation of the organisation’s long-term average ROE is calculated as follows; Companies with a high ROE can have a low PE ratio when the investors expect the firm will continue generate positive abnormal ROEs. The PE ratio is the market price per share divided by the earnings per

Thursday, October 17, 2019

System in organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

System in organization - Essay Example This has been a prerogative to the development of information systems (IS) to facilitate a vivid perception and interpretation of the realistic world and the ever changing regulations to be adhered to. The process does not endeavor to alter existing social laws against the laws of natural sciences. But it champion findings the social reality from the reference of IS development. Implicitly this becomes crucial conduit through which human agents holistically make sense of the world they conceptualize. However these perceptions are relative in their variance from persons to persons. Caren. (2000) During this process every participant air ones own personal conviction. The convergence implies that all participants have a voice on the final decision. The divergence period is where participants grumble, while airing their opinions to confirm that their beliefs are well resounding in a group setting. In this stage person hangs behind other persons opinions to rediscover their reasons, assumptions and mental models. This zone sparks innovation which results from heated arguments that enhance exchange sharing and resolution of ideas and rhyming opinions. Services are therefore arrived at that are centered on the mission profile. The PBL paradigm for collaboration expose participants to the collaboration with their projects task, Problem Based Learning engages participants divided in groups in opportunities for knowledge seeking for problem solving. Fisher, M (2001). Students are required to get familiarized with each other in establishing the ground work that enriches a conducive climate for amalgamated learning. Students are then require to meet in small groups for orientation purposes to envision and moot concrete expertise across the group. The establishment of an open forum is vital since it enhances the promulgation and articulation of what is comprehensible and where trouble lies. Fisher, M (2001). The PBL starts by

Secondary Research Assignment Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Secondary Assignment - Research Paper Example Secondary Research Assignment Change is inevitable for growth and development of an organization. This article outlines the aspects of change, the logistics of initiating and implementing the change. Lines (2004) outlines the benefits that accrue to people when they take part in a number of activities pertaining to change in organizational operations. These benefits include the enhancement in decision making with regard to the change variables. It also highlights timely responses required when change takes effect. In addition, the article highlights the effect of change processes in aspects of life like social environment. The claims of Lines in this article have been supported by renowned scholars; hence, they are reliable in practical application. Critical Evaluation The article failed to exhaust all variables of the change process. For instance, communication factor was not discussed, yet it is a critical variable in order for communication to take effect. The strategies of managing change were not highlighted ; hence, the article did not give full information concerning aspect of change. The reason for choosing the three articles is because they contain information on the influence of participation on strategic management. The authors have written their ideas in a logical manner that makes a reader able to comprehend the concept easily. The reason for starting with article â€Å"Strategic change: The effects of founding and history† is because it analyzes the concept of participation on strategic management than the others article. ... â€Å"Public participation in corporate planning—strategic management in a Kibitzer's world† comes last because the author has failed to elaborate the major concepts necessary for a reader to understand the concept. Boeker, W. - Strategic change: The effects of founding and history Thesis: Analyze the initiation and implementation of strategic change within an organization. Hypothesis: Change is inevitable within an organization; hence, participation of all stakeholders in its implementation is crucial. How the hypothesis was tested: Testing theories were used to affirm the hypothesis. Summary: The participation of all stakeholders in initiation of change is relevant in the modern change scenario. This gives the readers appropriate information regarding importance of change, the effects and shortcomings of change. For instance, managers from different organizations were included; hence, the management got insight into many management issues concerning change. The partic ipation in change processes is related to the organizational development and overall organizational goal achievements (Boeker, 2009). On the other hand, the participation in change is not related to the lack of co-operation from subjects of change. Positive effects of change occur as a result of the synchronization of planned change and the culture of the organization. Moreover, the personal goals of the people affected by change determine the success of any change initiative. The article also highlights that the incorporation of members of an organization in the general change processes leads to the achievement of the organizational objectives. This is because the effects of change are understood; hence, organizational change is supported by the very people whom

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Learning Environment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Learning Environment - Research Paper Example Environment is listed as one of the major contributors to the learning process. It has a very high impact on the knowledge that is inflicted on us. While comparing the environment to student learning, environment means external factors that affect the classroom or the learning process. These include classmates, bullies, timetables, lecturers among others. From an organization's point of view, the learning process comprises both the organization and the staff members. The environment of an organization involves the company mission and vision, core values as well as the overall strategic plans. The company resources and the annual goals and implementation processes constitute the organizational environment (Ormond, 2004). One of the major contributors to the theories of learning is Jean Piaget, who came up with the 'theory of cognitive development'. According to Piaget's theory there are four development stages of a child's development from the inherent impulses to complex activities. The four stages include; Sensorimotor Stage (Age 0-2) - In the sensorimotor stage, the rational compositions are mainly involved with the mastery of material objects. Pre-operational Stage (Age 2-7) - This stage involves the mastery of signs and symbols. Concrete Operational (Age 7-11) - In the concrete stage, children learn mastery of modules, associations and figures and how to rationale. Formal Operational (early teens after 11) - The last stage deals with the mastery of ideas and contemplation. In Piaget's theory the environment contributes since children exposed to different environments tend to master objects, signs and symbols differently, and tend to rationalize things in different means. Therefore according to Piaget the environment serves as a catalyst to learning and overall development. (Ormond, 2004.) In organizations, aspects such as technology also serve as the environment and they promote the extent of learning. Over time many changes have taken place in organizations because technology has been consistently advancing. Just a decade or so ago the postal system and the fax machine were the fastest ways to get things done. In today's environment we use emails and scans for the majority of written correspondences (Edelman, 2006). In the days gone by, in-person conferences were a daily ritual but in our fast pace world of cell phones and conference call the slow means have been replaced and it is now possible for people across the United States to purchase, finance and close deals without ever leaving their homes. Individuals today cannot live without a blackberry and a computer. Individuals and companies have to work daily with all the available advances in Technology. They are constantly in different computer programs to help with daily activities of the office (Frank, 2003). Companies are also using all types of office equipment to actively stay in touch with their clients. Without the new world of cell phones, email, multi line phone systems and faxes it would take weeks to do what is done today in just a matter of hours. Firms rely heavily on the latest advancements in the coffee world to stay

Secondary Research Assignment Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Secondary Assignment - Research Paper Example Secondary Research Assignment Change is inevitable for growth and development of an organization. This article outlines the aspects of change, the logistics of initiating and implementing the change. Lines (2004) outlines the benefits that accrue to people when they take part in a number of activities pertaining to change in organizational operations. These benefits include the enhancement in decision making with regard to the change variables. It also highlights timely responses required when change takes effect. In addition, the article highlights the effect of change processes in aspects of life like social environment. The claims of Lines in this article have been supported by renowned scholars; hence, they are reliable in practical application. Critical Evaluation The article failed to exhaust all variables of the change process. For instance, communication factor was not discussed, yet it is a critical variable in order for communication to take effect. The strategies of managing change were not highlighted ; hence, the article did not give full information concerning aspect of change. The reason for choosing the three articles is because they contain information on the influence of participation on strategic management. The authors have written their ideas in a logical manner that makes a reader able to comprehend the concept easily. The reason for starting with article â€Å"Strategic change: The effects of founding and history† is because it analyzes the concept of participation on strategic management than the others article. ... â€Å"Public participation in corporate planning—strategic management in a Kibitzer's world† comes last because the author has failed to elaborate the major concepts necessary for a reader to understand the concept. Boeker, W. - Strategic change: The effects of founding and history Thesis: Analyze the initiation and implementation of strategic change within an organization. Hypothesis: Change is inevitable within an organization; hence, participation of all stakeholders in its implementation is crucial. How the hypothesis was tested: Testing theories were used to affirm the hypothesis. Summary: The participation of all stakeholders in initiation of change is relevant in the modern change scenario. This gives the readers appropriate information regarding importance of change, the effects and shortcomings of change. For instance, managers from different organizations were included; hence, the management got insight into many management issues concerning change. The partic ipation in change processes is related to the organizational development and overall organizational goal achievements (Boeker, 2009). On the other hand, the participation in change is not related to the lack of co-operation from subjects of change. Positive effects of change occur as a result of the synchronization of planned change and the culture of the organization. Moreover, the personal goals of the people affected by change determine the success of any change initiative. The article also highlights that the incorporation of members of an organization in the general change processes leads to the achievement of the organizational objectives. This is because the effects of change are understood; hence, organizational change is supported by the very people whom

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Black People and Civil War Essay Example for Free

Black People and Civil War Essay ?Introduction: In this essay I am going to compose a piece of text which will involve the tension of Segregation. In the 1930s, although 50% of the population of Southern towns were black, they had no vote and could not marry whites. Also in the 1930’s, many black people lived in the southern states. During that time, racism reached its highest point. For instance, the whites treated the blacks very poorly because they thought that the blacks were lower than them. Therefore, the blacks had to fight for the right to be treated equally. As a result, black people had to face the Jim Crow Laws and the Ku Klux Klan. In my own opinion I think that the 1930 was a turbulent time for race relations in America. Paragraph 1: The first racism incident that I have spotted out and chosen to write about in my essay is when the Wallace’s’ poured kerosene over Mr Berry and his nephews and lit them on fire. One of the nephews died, the other one is alive but has the same condition as Mr Berry. The reason why the Wallace’s poured kerosene over the Berry’s was because they caught them flirting with a white woman which wasn’t allowed back then. In fact, it was not even true! The Berry’s didn’t even flirt with her. They lied about it. The quote that goes with this event was when mama (Cassies’ mum) said to her kids, â€Å"The Wallaces did that, children. They poured kerosene over Mr Berry and his nephews and lit them afire. † â€Å"Everyone knows they did it, and the Wallaces even laugh about it, but nothing was ever done. † At this right moment I feel disgusted and baffled that people could actually do this in the 1930s. The sympathy for the Wallace’s has decreased because setting fire to someone is arson and that makes Mr Wallace and his clique an arsonist. Also it makes us feel that the Wallaces are black-hearted and atrocious people, because who would want to set a person on fire? Then laugh about it. The sympathy for the Berrys has definitely increased because of what happened to both Mr Berry and his two nephews is utterly excruciating and the fact that there is no reason behind why the Wallaces did it, makes the reader feel more sorrowful for them. On the other hand in the book it says, â€Å"Disfigured man lying in the darkness† In that quote you can see how dreadful his injuries were. He was even camouflaging with the darkness; see that is real bad? Paragraph 2: The second racism incident that I found very crucial was when Cassie bumped into Lillian Jean Simms by accident but Lillian Jean still DEMANDED for a sorry and for Cassie to get on her knees instantly. As well as this was racism, it was also bullying in some kind of way because Cassie didn’t want to get on her Knees but she still got forced. â€Å"Kicking at the sidewalk, my head bowed. It was then that I bumped into Lillian Jean Simms. † Cassie really didn’t mean to bump into Lillian Jean at all but she took it over the top reacted to the bump by saying, â€Å"why don’t you watch were you’re going? † â€Å"Well apologize† â€Å"That ain’t enough. Get down in the road† This right here is what you call racism. Cassie didn’t intend to bump into Lillian Jean, it was just an accident but because Cassie is black they didn’t care at all. Cassie even got pushed around by Mr Simms. Mr Simms was even sticking up for his daughter even though she was in the wrong. Lillian Jeans’ father was saying to Cassie that when Lillian tells you that you should get off the sidewalk, you get off it. The sympathy towards Lillian Jean Simms has totally decreased because what she did was just too dramatic and it was just a ‘bump’. In my opinion Cassie did not have to go on her knees because she didn’t deliberately bump into her; all that should have been done was an apology to Lillian. My sympathy towards Cassie has increased more. The reason why I said this was because she was intimidated and forced to get on her knees even though she had already shed a tear; they didn’t care, they just wanted an apology from her. Conclusion: To sum up I think that Racism is totally unacceptable and utterly inglorious. In this novel I think that Taylor was trying to put across the fact of what the black people had to go through in the 1930s every day of their lives, and how their wouldn’t even be an us our even a peaceful world if racism was still occurring. I also think that Taylor is trying to compare today’s life to the 1930s and too see how much the black people suffered.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Humanism and Marxist Theory in Geography

Humanism and Marxist Theory in Geography Humanism and Marxist Theory in Geography; how it differs from Positivism. Philosophical ways of knowing cannot be avoided when research is being conducted in geography. Philosophy is used as a way communication between what we know and how we know it. It helps put into context and justify answers regarding research questions; therefore it is used widely throughout geography (Aitken and Valentine, 2006). Up until the 1950s, geography was in actual fact detailed in nature, as it examined patterns and processes, usually on a regional bias, when trying to understand specific places (Aitken and valentine, 2006). However after the 1950s, numerous geographers such as Schaefer started â€Å"to argue that geographical research needed to become more scientific in nature† (Schaefer, 1953). It was then that Comte (1798-1857) formed the theory of positivism (Kitchin and Tate, 2013). Unwin (1992) noted that Comte used the â€Å"term ‘positive’ to refer to the actual, the certain, the exact, the useful and the relative rather than the imaginary, the undecided, the imprecise, the vain and the absolute† (Unwin, 1992). In Comte’s positivism he stated that the formulation of theories should be experimented by and proven using certain methods that provide â€Å"society with knowledge so that speculation could be avoided† (Kitchin and Tate, 2013). In Geography, positivism was implemented so that the principles of science could be applied to geographic understanding (Aitken and Valentine, 2006). â€Å"The positivist approach requires experience to be verified rather than just simply presented as fact† (Johnston, 1986a) and there are various versions of positivism. Positivism can be separated into two methods of thought: logical positivism regarding verification and critical rationalism which regards falsification (Kitchin and Tate, 2013). â€Å"Logical positivism was first developed by the Vienna Circle in the 1920s and 1930s† (Holt-Jensen, 1988) but Schaefer supported the development of a logical positivist approach within geography. Critical rationalism was developed by Karl Popper as a different method than logical positivism. Popper disputed that the validity of a law did not relay upon how many times it was examined or proven, but instead relies on whether it can be falsified (Kitchin and Tate, 2013). Popperà ¢â‚¬â„¢s approach of critical rationalism was highly criticised (Sayer, 1992) and therefore many human geographers have not adopted his theory (Gregory, 1986b). Within geography positivism is closely connected with quantitative methodologies which came about in the late 1950s after geography was involved in a quantitative uprising; as geographers wanted to â€Å"replace description with explanation, individual understanding with general laws, and interpretation with prediction† (Unwin, 1992). Consequently, in the 1970s the implementation of positivism came under attack with new modes of explanation being established as a reaction to positivisms growing use in geography. However, quantitative methodologies are not just used by positivists and the use of these methods does not ensure a piece of research positivistic in nature. It is in fact the implementation of the hidden fundamentals of impartiality and explicit logic (Kitchin and Tate, 2013). Humanistic geography was one of two key 1970s rational developments that formed out of a discontent with positivism (Aitken and Valentine, 2006). â€Å"The second was regarding social purpose and politics that took its most coherent form in Marxism† (Harvey, 1973). Humanistic geography illustrates the significance of individuals’ experiences, beliefs and attitudes when constructing opinions that we make and in our engagement with the world. The importance within humanistic geography has regarded â€Å"exposing meaning, values and interpretations in order to incorporate a more complex understanding of human reality into geography† (Aitken and Valentine, 2006). Humanism believes that humanity acquires a common excellence, and that this excellence is evident in human individuals, human interests, and human works. â€Å"Humanism elaborates this dogma of human dignity in four important ways: metaphysical humanism, topical humanism, methodological humanism, and philanthropic humanism† (Smith, 2009). The particular focal point in humanistic geography is the topic of conflict between other methods that require â€Å"emphasizing how individuals’ choices are forced by social structures such as Marx’s capitalism, and with this have attempted to tease out the complex relationship between agencies and structure† (Aitken and Valentine, 2006). Humanists presuppose that humans are intricate beings that do not essentially act in ways that are easy to represent. Therefore in relation to geographical research, humanistic geographers â€Å"proposed the adoption of geographical enquiry that was sensitive to capturing the complex lives of people through in-depth, qualitative studies† (Aitken and Valentine, 2006). Though methodological humanist is typically antipositivist, coincidentally in this sense the word humanist may very often be strongly linked to positivism and science when conducting geographical research (Smith, 2009). This is because many humanists state to be unbiased and impartial, with their research having no social position, a lot like positivists (Kitchin and Tate, 2013). Therefore positivism and scientific views were seen as the logical part of humanistic evaluations that purely provide qualitative data in which quantitative classification can be built (Aitken and Valentine, 2006). Humanists stated that the experimental scientist may be able to explain the objective world, and even human consciousness (Smith, 2009). On the other hand the positivist tries to â€Å"objectively study conditions using empirical measures; whereas humanists place more emphasis on subjective experiences, values and opinions and this is where conflict began (Kitchin and Tate, 2013)† therefore humanists believe that it is only them, using the humanistic tools of understanding, explanation and critical analysis, can expect to ‘understand’ the impartial world and human consciousness as they appear (Smith, 2009). Also according to the new humanistic geographers, positivist geographers dehumanized individuals by stating that they were passive agents of social, psychological, and economic forces. These forces, according to positivists, caused individuals to act in expected ways, and a growing and logical society seeks to control individual manners indirectly, through modulation of these forces. â€Å"As well as this it was argued that positivism not acknowledge people’s beliefs, values, opinions, feelings and so on, in shaping everyday geographies† (Aitken and Valentine, 2006).Therefore, against this view a different image was raised by humanistic geographers, which involved individuals deliberately acting on the base of reason that they considered where in the â€Å"light of their own intentions, interests, and values† (Smith, 2009). All in all, humanistic geographers insist that humans are free, decision-making beings, â€Å"in part because this fit more closely to the first-person perspective of the humanities, but also because it gave them reason to hope that people could choose to change† (Smith, 2009) and in this sense humanism is very much linked to Marxism in geography. Marxists approaches within geography arose at roughly the same time as humanistic approaches, and likewise was a reaction in opposition to the growth of positivism within geography. â€Å"Humanistic approaches criticized positivism because of its disregard of human agency, whereas Marxists argued that it failed to recognise the effects of social, economic and political structures in creating spatial patterns† (Cloke et al., 1991; Kitchin and Tate, 2013). Further, Marxism suggested that positivism limited examination to how things really seemed to be, rather than allowing for how they might be under different social circumstances and how it did not take into account of processes of originality and independence among individuals (Cloke et al., 1991). The Marxist geographers’ purpose was to bring some of the opinions and examination of Marxism into geographical thought. Marxism itself existed as theory since its development by Karl Marx in the 19th century (Johnston et al., 2000) but until the 1970s it had not been significant in geography (Cloke et al., 1991). Marxist geography talks in terms of ‘modes of production’ such as feudalism, capitalism and socialism. Marxism largely targets the capitalist mode of production and recognizes the need for a constant flow of capital with profit as its main purpose. â€Å"In order to do this Marxists suggest that we need to consider how conditions might be under difficult social conditions to highlight how society operates (Kitchin and Tate, 2013)† and also that there must be a constant growth of the value of products produced in order for this flow of capital to be maintained and thus lead to ‘economic growth’. Marxist geography was also interested in how under different social circumstances geographies alter and wanted to have an involvement towards these changes and thus did not just suggest the cause of geographical patterns that lay within capitalist socio-economic systems. â€Å"Marxist geography was therefore not just about understanding the world but also about changing it† (Harvey, 1985b). Undeniably change is significant to the Marxist theory and Marxist geography now assumes that conditions continuously change rather than assuming economic conditions remain constant when decisions are made (Holloway et al., 2003). As seen throughout this essay, positivism has been widely criticized for a number of reasons, and therefore led to the development of humanism and Marxism. However these two have also had certain criticisms. For instance, Marxism was criticized for the ethnocentric nature, for the passive role administered to its individuals, for its obsession with class and industry and its abandonment of environmental issues. Whereas critics found humanism to be a â€Å"diffuse target, that emphasized the relatively neglected tie of geography to the humanities and the ideals of liberal education† (Entrikin, 2001). Even with these criticisms for some geographers the only way to tackle issues in positivism is to turn to radical theories such as Marxism and due to the fact that this generation seems to be more interested in â€Å"esthetics, human values, and ‘lifestyle’ than with social ‘laws’ that a humanistic approach may prove more congenial to the coming generatio n† (Smith, 2009). Despite the criticism towards the positivist reasoning, implicit positivism is still used strongly within human geography (Aitken and Valentine, 2006).