Thursday, October 31, 2019

Sports marketing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sports marketing - Research Paper Example They may also sponsor individual players or in some cases, teams. (Huguelet, 2010). Planning of the whole process of sports marketing commences with the objectives of the corporation and its mission statement. (Kriemadis and Terzoudis, 2007, p. 32). The process of marketing sports fundamentally involves use of 4 Ps, namely, product, pricing, promotion and place (Summers and Morgan, 2005, p. 6). Indeed, these are the 4 most critical factors that decide the success of a sports event. â€Å"The level of support for a football club is a key variable for matchday revenue and also determines most other club revenue streams† (Kase, 2007, p. 278). Sports and business have many traits in common. For example, â€Å"sport and business share values such as the magnitude of teamwork, line of attack and striving also toward a goal† (Hameed, n.d.). The professionals involved in sports marketing also work to address the concerns of an individual country by promoting its team. They may also work for organizers of some professional tournament. Either way, they promote the individual team or event. Sports marketing professionals cardinally make use of advertisements to achieve their objects. Radio, internet, newspapers and television are commonly chosen as the means to announce games coming in near future. Many times, the sports marketing professionals make use of unusual strategies to gather large number of visitors to see the match. They do so by offering to give away their products to the public via lottery or such other schemes. Also, many sports marketing professionals carry out market research to investigate the popularity of individual athletes among public. They require this information so that they may be able to launch a successful advertisement by making that athlete, part of the advertisement of their product. Entities like Fantasy Frontline remain on the forefronts of sports news reporting, and hence, play an

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Arlene Goldbard, “Making the World Safe for Hollywood” Essay Example for Free

Arlene Goldbard, â€Å"Making the World Safe for Hollywood† Essay The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has been in existence since 1945. Primarily founded to safeguard education even in poor countries, the organization now also looks after scientific and cultural areas as well. Recently, however, the United States refused to vote for the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. The Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, Dana Gioia, had a few words to say about this. Personally though, Arlene Goldbard’s reaction, aptly entitled â€Å"Making the World Safe for Hollywood† is more personally compelling. It is true that Gioia presented a number of facts and details, which manifests how much the country tries to respect its existing culture; yet it sounded quite snobbish to disregard the better benefits signing the convention would bring to the country. His statement somehow addresses only the elite, or those who are directly involved in culture and the arts. Arlene Goldbard’s reaction, however, was more directed to the masses, or in other words, more people who would benefit if the United States signed the convention in the first place. It is written in a manner that is both light yet accurate, precisely looking into the matter yet in a subtler, easier-to-understand manner. This style makes it easier to read through the entire article despite the less than lively topic it has. It also tackles the issue without being too condescending and patronizing. It also presented a few of the Convention’s statement of objectives, which would benefit a large number of people and the culture in general of only the United States signed the pact in the first place. Lastly, the analogies Arlene Goldbard used, specifically that of the oyster injected the right and appropriate amount of humor that would make readers think and laugh at the same time.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

The Changing Role Of The Teaching Assistant Education Essay

The Changing Role Of The Teaching Assistant Education Essay A brief history into the changing role of the teaching assistant. Due to the governments 2003 initiative to change the staffing structure within schools, the role of the Teaching Assistant has changed significantly in recent years (Pugh, J. 2007) and has, in turn, led to numerous publications and studies concerning the effectiveness of these changes on childrens learning. Historically, teaching assistants, or auxiliaries as they were sometimes formerly known, were non teaching adults who helped qualified teachers by carrying out day to day preparatory and administrative tasks and providing pastoral care to children. (Clayton. 1993) However, in 1998, the Local Government Chronicle published a summary of a Green Paper, (1998), in which they outlined proposals for employing a greater number of support staff 20,000 by the year 2002 in order to provide more support for teachers. The summary also announced the governments suggestions for a more effective use of, and better training for, teaching assistants and other school support staff which, along with a subsequent OfSTED review (2002a, p6) declared the need for training that would, match any proposed structure of qualifications and to facilitate career progression. Working as a teaching assistant thus became a career and so began the real debate about the role of the teaching assistant. During a UNISON conference on Building a World Class Education Service Estelle Morris stated that: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦teaching assistants have a vital role to play in our classrooms (Morris, 2002, cited in Unison, p.2) But what does that role entail? As with many job titles within the working environment, the title teaching assistant is often interpreted in a variety of ways but one common theme I have encountered, when questioning educational staff, is that all teaching assistants are facilitators of learning and therefore are essential elements in the promotion of learning for children. How the facilitation is carried out, however, is less clear and open to individual interpretation by both employers and employees. The ability of an individual to enhance a pupils learning experience depends on many factors and will often be decided by the environment in which they are employed. Through personal experiences I am convinced that a school which values the contributions of its support staff will provide professional development opportunities and will, therefore, create a valuable resource that will support children, teachers and the school itself. Supporting teaching and learning A teaching assistants role is to support the learning of all children. In order to do this they, like any educator, need to have a good understanding of how children learn. In the book, Teaching and Learning in the Early Years, Whitebread (2008, chapter 1) discusses Piagets ideas that children need to feel and hold control over their learning. Whitebread continues by exploring Vygotsys claims that it is the role of the adult to provide opportunities for social interaction and to support the child in moving out of their comfort zone or level of actual development and towards their potential via their zone of proximal development. To do this, a teaching assistant must understand how to promote curiosity amongst children while providing opportunities for discussion and exploration. With current class sizes in the region of up to 30 pupils, a class teacher will often be unable to engage in this vital aspect of developing childrens learning and so it is essential that supporting adults ar e equipped with the skills to scaffold learning and to provide opportunities for them to develop the language needed to be able to discuss and explain their ideas. (Bruner 1983, cited in Peabody Journal of Education, pp 64-66) Just recently I was fortunate to be part of an initiative to promote reading amongst a group of reluctant male readers who had, for unknown reasons, formulated an opinion that reading was a chore to be undertaken with animosity and only when instructed to do so. My role was that of the enabling adult as described by Chambers (1991). By providing them with an opportunity to share and discuss each others reading experiences I was able to, over the course of only a week, unleash in them a willingness and enjoyment of reading. The outcome of this quickly became apparent in their understanding of written text. The children also began writing with enthusiasm, using their own knowledge and experiences; as a result, they are in control of their own learning. The children feel empowered by the fact that they are directly responsible for the progress that they are making and continue to enjoy our weekly discussions about their reading and progress. The children mentioned do not have special educational needs, as is often the case for pupils being supported by a teaching assistant. Children with SEN require a higher level of support and this has, historically, been provided by teaching assistants. (Alborz et al, 2009a) This has previously been an area for debate with The Daily Telegraph (2009) publishing an article claiming that research shows that, Pupils make less progress in classrooms where schools employ more teaching assistants. This article states that teaching assistants often support lower attaining pupils, resulting in them being less supported by a qualified teacher and to them making limited progress. The article does not, however, take into account the training of the teaching assistants. While reviewing the impact of workforce remodeling, a report by OfSTED (2004) stated that when a teaching assistant is appointed to work with carefully chosen pupils and is provided with the training to do so effectively, the pupil s make significant progress. This is, of course, as well as the obvious benefits of providing the teacher with more time to focus on other pupils. Having worked alongside several teaching assistants employed to support children with SEN I have witnessed the immeasurable benefit to the pupil and the class as a whole. The teaching assistants enabled the pupils to be included in a mainstream classroom and access the curriculum, while allowing the class teacher to support the majority of the pupils. Their support involved the re-enforcing of the whole class teaching, giving the pupil the confidence to participate in class discussions, simplification of vocabulary, offering praise and encouragement and feedback on the completed task. Following the lesson, the teaching assistant also provided the teacher with assessment and monitoring feedback to enable assessment of and for learning. This assessment has become a vital aspect of the role of the teaching assistant and supports the teacher and pupil by enabling differentiation and personalised learning to become every day practice. (OfSTED, 2002b) Guidance published by the NFER (2002, cited in DfES, 2005, p.22) found that when teachers and teaching assistants work together the results are a more effective level of teaching and learning. An example of this is a scenario I have experienced recently where a teaching assistant supported the learning of the majority of the class while the class teacher focused on the children with SEN. As a result of the teacher and teaching assistant having spent time working together to plan the lesson, the teaching assistant was able to support the learning objectives and assist pupils in their achievement of them. Teaching assistants can also, when included in the planning of a lesson, actively participate in the delivery of the lesson providing an alternative viewpoint or by playing a character in role. One such example was provided by my colleague who, upon realising that many of the pupils within the class had misunderstood a key concept, pretended to be confused and raised a hand to ask for clarification. As a result, pupils developed a clearer understanding of the lesson and therefore, the teaching assistant had played an important role in developing their learning. By implementing a mixture of all of these approaches and with effective training and guidance, teaching assistants can provide invaluable support for all children within any lesson. Teaching assistants also support behaviour management within classes and can provide an alternative level of perception within the classroom. In daily Literacy lessons, I have observed a teaching assistant supporting a pupil with ADHD and have no doubt that without her presence, the class teacher would have to spend a large proportion of the lesson settling the child and addressing low level distractions. Personal experience has shown me that children with emotional and / or behavioural difficulties are often more responsive towards a teaching assistant with whom they can forge a positive adult / child relationship. This can contribute towards the social and emotional wellbeing of the child as outlined by Alborz et al. (2009b). Supporting the teacher and the school Besides the opportunity to support childrens learning during lesson time, teaching assistants continue to carry out a multitude of administrative tasks in order to support the class teacher and the school as a whole. The National Agreement, (ATL et al. 2003, p.2), implemented as part of the governments workforce remodelling initiative, states that teachers should not spend their time carrying out administrative responsibilities that do not make full use of their skills and expertise but that these tasks should be carried out by support staff. The agreement outlines twenty-one tasks that teaching staff should not be required to carry out including the preparation of classroom resources, photocopying, the collection of monies for educational visit and the preparation and setting up of displays. These tasks must also, therefore, be considered the responsibility of the teaching assistant. Each and every one of the administrative tasks has an impact on the educational environment and ther efore contributes towards supporting the development of childrens learning. In practice, however, the need for teaching assistants to be more involved in the delivery of lessons surely means that they too will have less time for carrying out administrative duties which in turn might relay these duties back into the hands of the teachers. In my experience, teaching assistants often offer unconditional support for the school in which they are employed. Many carry out duties beyond their working hours attending extracurricular events and regularly being at the forefront of fund raising activities. They frequently are able to provide a connection between local communities and their schools as they often live in close proximity to their workplace. This is a non essential yet valuable part of their role as it enables teaching staff to be aware of local issues and provides a link between parents and schools. (Lipsett, 2008) In summary, the role of the teaching assistant is a developing one, consisting of providing emotional support for pupils in their care and using knowledge and skills to assist in the development of childrens learning while maintaining an excellent level of support for both the teacher and the school community.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Magic Realism and Intertextual Examples of The Bible in Gabriel Garcia

Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude, is a novel often associated with magic realism. Throughout the novel, the idea of magic realism is promoted through intertext examples of The Bible. Magic realism is defined as an artistic style in which magical elements or irrational scenarios appear in an otherwise realistic or "normal" setting. The many intertextual examples throughout the work are alluded from outside sources such as the Bible and the tragedians of the Greeks and Romans. These allusions not only strengthen the novel, but further correlate them with the idea of magic realism. Magic realism, as defined by Wendy Faris, contains five key elements which must be present for this component to ring true in a piece of literature. The first key element is the novel contains â€Å"†¦something we cannot explain according to the laws of the universe as we know them† (Faris 167). Throughout the novel, several examples which make this constituent true are present. For example, when Jose Arcadia Buendia’s murder occurs and his blood runs through the streets to Ursula’s home, Marquez writes, â€Å"A trickle of blood came out under the door, crossed the living room, went out into the street, continued on in a straight line across the uneven terraces, went down steps and climbed up curbs†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Marquez 144). In reality, as readers, it is known that blood cannot travel long distances or climb objects. Remedios the Beauty’s accession to Heaven is another form in which a particular scene cannot be explained by particular laws as we kn ow them. Marquez writes â€Å"Amaranta felt a mysterious trembling in the lace on her petticoats and she tried to grasp the sheet so that she would not fall down at the instant in which Remedios the Beauty... ...magic realism is a common theme found throughout many fiction novels. According to Faris’ five key elements, this novel is indeed a tale of enchanting pragmatism. The novel’s intertextual examples developed by character similarities and actual events from the Bible and Greek mythology and tragedies are woven in the novel in such a way that the reader is oblivious to the fact that they truly exist. Magic realism will continue to flourish many novels to come in the coming years. Works Cited Access Bible, The. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Fitzgerald, Robert. Translator Homer. The Iliad. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press, 2007. Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. One Hundred Years of Solitude. New York: Harper Perennial, 1998. Zamora, Louis Parkinson and Wendy Faris. Magical Realism: Theory, History,Community. Durham: Duke University Press, 1995.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Persuasion, Manipulation, and Seduction

Persuasion, manipulation and seduction are best described as cousins in a family tree of a genealogy. Although each term is different in meaning the end result of each are the similar. Depending on the information and the intentions of the persuader, this is how we can tell the difference from persuasion, manipulation, and seduction; According to Codoban (2006), author of from persuasion to manipulation and seduction.PersuasionIt is almost impossible for people to avoid persuasion throughout the course of their day. If they listen to the radio or watch television, they encounter advertisements, news media and the opinions and values expressed by announcers, actors, show hosts and advertisers. If they go to work, they are likely to encounter persuasion from their boss, co-workers, or clients. If they share a home with other people, they are likely to engage is persuasion over what to eat, which television shows to watch or where to go for fun.Persuasion comes in many forms. Persuasion itself cannot be good or bad. By nature, it is neutral, until the intention of the persuader and the response of the persuadee are incorporated into the equation. It is only when put into practice and responded to that a particular persuasion can be considered positive or negative. For example, persuading a person to eat healthier foods is a good persuasion if you are genuinely concerned for their health, but doing so in order to evoke feelings of guilt or shame would be bad.Likewise, persuading someone to ride a roller coaster may seem harmless unless the persuadee is convinced to ignore medical complications or go against their will. There are some types of persuasion that, while they may not always be negative, usually carry a negative connotation. Two of these forms of persuasion are manipulation and seduction.ManipulationExample/Comparison A perfect example of the modern day persuasion, manipulation and seduction is when I politician is running for office. This is the most ful filling process to engage in. Your life becomes shared with thousands of people who want to see a different type of person. Someone whose qualities represent the values that society is supposed to represent. Someone that people aspire to become, or wish they were in life. In reality, the politician has no idea that they are going to possess the qualities of persuasion, manipulation and seduction.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Paradoxical Twins Acme and Omega Electronics

Case Study on Paradoxical Twins Acme And Omega Electronics By ABC Paradoxical Twins Acme And Omega Electronics Defining the issue After reading the case of the â€Å"Paradoxical Twins Acme and Omega Electronics†, I found Both Acme and Omega produce similar products and offer similar services. Acme president John Tyler is a very tough going individual and he is portrayed to be an autocratic individual because there is one way communication in Acme. The case provides an opportunity to evaluate both Acme and Omega’s organization structure of a business.Both companies used to have the same organizational structure but after they were sold to different investors, as a consequence of this, each company has its own procedures and company policies. Following are the same facts about both the company mentioned in the case after they became the separate business entity. Acme retained original management and promoted GM to the president. They have well defined organizational struc ture  and  decisions are often taken by top management without consulting manufacturing department.And they have  well defined job responsibilities and authority. Omega  hired a new president and upgraded several existing personnel within the plant. They don’t have the organizational structure and they believe that  Organizational chart seems like artificial barrier. They have a participative management style of leadership and they don’t have well defined job specification. Acme has shipped the 100 prototypes on 2 shifts, and 20% of  these units were found defective. While Omega has shipped the100 units on time, and no defective items were  detected.Despite of these facts, and although, as seen in the previous section,Omega was more effective than Acme, the photocopier manufacturer decided to split the final contract between  Acme and Omega, under the conditions of maintaining zero defects and lowering the final cost  Justifications of this decision c ould be: 1-Acme retained the original structure of Technological Products of Erie, and has been able to be an Omega in profitable contracts in the past. This has formed a good reputation for Acme that might have contributed in giving them a chance to have a ortion of this contract. 2- Acmes price was slightly lower than Omega’s, and since the photocopier manufacturer have conditioned high quality, I t might have been more profitable to choose  Acme as well as Omega. 3-Omega was not rejected because that would be unethical and may be illegal since they met the deadline and provided high quality inputs to photocopier manufacturer. At Acme: The high formality of coordination, and the  tall hierarchy of the organizational chart, has affected the way activities were being done.The most important effects can be summarized as follows: 1-Little information was communicated to the organization as a whole and between different departments. 2-Lack of motivation, as some manager†™s voiced. 3-Some inertia against trying new methods of work existed. 4-Coordination between divisions was not high enough that some important decisions were wrongly taken. At Omega: 1-Due to the highly informal fashion work was being done in,employees had an ambiguous view of their own roles. 2-Information sharing was high among all levels, with sometimes caused a waste of time. -Innovative thinking was encouraged. 4-The work was  highly collaborative Analyzing the case data The paradoxical twins describe two organizations, Acme and Omega  Electronics that  are competing for the same contract for manufacturing a memory unit to be used in a photocopier. Omega, having an organic structure, wins the race because they are able to produce the higher quality memory unit. On the other hand, Acme having mechanistic structure seems less competent and less reliable because of its low quality memory unit which they are unable to produce in time and some of its prototypes fail to work. Omega even corrects a design error in the original blueprint, which improves product quality. But, both the company is given half the order, and they were encouraged to find the way to reduce the cost  Ã‚  and Acme takes advantage of this opportunity to experiment to find ways to reduce its costs, whereas Omega does not. Finally Acme discovers the way to reduce the cost by 20% and they won the contract. Omega may have won the battle, but Acme has won the war because its mechanistic structure fosters a concern for technical efficiency and cost reduction in what is a routine manufacturing environment.In this particular case, Acme decides to run a â€Å"tight ship† (mechanistic structure) in order to increase productivity and efficiency, and to decrease costs. The advantage of this strategy is that they can undersell their competition (Omega) by selling at a lower cost. Omega, on the other hand, is nearly too opposite. They run a more organic structure, which relies heavily up on communication, delegation and teamwork. This strategy allows Omega to effectively compete with Acme by stressing reliability and by placing emphasis on quality.Omega’s decentralized, organic approach allowed for the building of prototypes 10 days faster than Acme, correction of errors, and a highly reliable prototype—much more reliable than Acme’s, which had a 10 percent failure rate. Omega was more effective when evaluated by these criteria, although Acme’s prices were lower than Omega’s because of that Acme won the competition and which was a fair result in my opinion. Its mechanistic structure provided it with the management system and incentives needed to improve and reduce its manufacturing process, so that Acme won the final race over Omega.Generating alternatives * Change in the organizational structure of both companies is needed. * Development and adaptation of new technology and techniques is required in both companies. * There should be a change in the workflow of the companies. * The merger of both companies is also an option open for both companies. Selecting decision criteria Selection criteria for the alternatives is performance and working style along with organization structure is adopted to find and recommend the alternatives. Analyzing and evaluating alternativesSome changes can be made at both plants that would increase efficiency of work and hence enhance their competitive advantage against each other. Selecting the preferred alternative Alternative-1Change in structure Omega is a decentralized organization, where managers and subordinates delegate important decisions to lower level about new organizational projects. Omega's management believes in mutual adjustment, which is the practice of using judgment on problem solving and also creates an informal way of communicating with each other rather than using standardization or written rules.There is not clear cut job analysis (job description and specifi cation). Sometime new employees don’t know what to do for a month and even longer. Omega's organic structure gives the employees more flexibility to innovative thinking, and creates a unity within the organization but it is not enough to be the effective organization. Omega should have mix organization structure; it means it would be better if there is a mix of mechanical and organic organization structure.There should be a formal communication channel to make sure that information is passed down or up whenever necessary. In my opinion, the company President Jim Rawls doesn’t have proper control over the employee’s functions and activities due to the lack of properly designed structure and communication network. They communicate information by direct meeting which is not good all the time especially during the rush time. Not only this, but also, the president spent too much time on listening to suggestion rather than having his own clear cut idea.Therefore, in c onclusion, to solve this kind of problem they should have transparent communication network within the organization to make sure there are no barriers in effective communication, they should define the job authority and responsibility of each task, there should be some chain of command in the organization or the top level management should decide in certain things which critical to the organization. They should change the structure to mechanistic structure and finally they should change their technology to mass production so that they also can reduce the cost of production and be more competitive in the market place.To be effective, Omega electronics should have some kind of hierarchy where employees feel themselves in the chain of command and there should be clear authority and responsibility of each employee. They should make sure that they communication channel within the organization is effective and transparent for the efficient and prompt flow of information. Alternative- 2 Me rger In the case of Acme and  Omega, the high level of competitions seems to be the main motivator for both plants to strive excellence, once they merge, this motivator will vanish.Another problem that might arise is a cross cultural conflict between members of the two  plants. At Acme, every role is clearly defined, and the specialization level is high, while at Omega, roles are spread among members and specialization is not that high, conciliating such differences will be a  hectic job. If those two issues were overcome, combining the well defined structure that Acme holds and the skills of its workers, with flexibility and the innovative nature of work that Omega provides,An Acme Omega merger would be a successful one and a great competitor to other plants in their industry Developing an action/implementation planAt Acme: I would be of great benefit of cross functional teams were introduced into the structure to handle jobs such as the one in this case study. It would also be a great motivator and booster  of quality of work if  managers as well as specialists were given some open space to share their view collectively rather than the unidirectional channels that are adopted at Acme. This will  also need a higher level of coordination between departments. Innovation should also be highly encouraged, due to the high pace of change and introduction of new products in Acme’sindustry.At Omega: The informal nature of the structure seems to be working fine,except that it needs a bit of formalization and  clarification of  people’s roles. This structure was a point of strength for Omega in this bid; however, it won’t work for other tasks that need faster accomplishments of the activities. For example, instead of  exchanging opinions and suggestions most of the time, this can be organized using information sharing systems that centralized data that everyone in the organization needs.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The Old Man & The Sea essays

The Old Man & The Sea essays The Bible, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Catcher in the Rye. All books. Old books that are still enjoyed by old and young readers alike. But what makes these books different from other books? Why are these classics and yet other books arent? Arent ALL old books classics? As we all know, and this paper will prove, is that not all old books are classics. There is a formula, or a blueprint that often can make the book great. The Old Man s known nothing in life other than fishing. And baseball. But theres more than that. Underlying topics, unanswered questions and a great struggle plague the reader as hes reading, and even after completing the book, leaving a sense of wonder much like other classics. First, we start with some undefined hints in the book. The novel uses its characters and events in a way that draws many comparisons to Jesus Christ. For example, if the fish was Jesus, it was consumed by the shark (death), but still his bones (the spirit or message of God) had a profound impact on the people who passed it and saw. Also, if the man is representing the worlds believers, and the fish is their faith and salvation, he should be wary of the evil of the world trying to take it away from him. Besides the obvious, more straightforward symbolism (the man carrying the beam, 3 days at sea, etc.), these demonstrate an aspect for the reader to ponder. Like this book, many classics have themes that are not as easily seen, like racism, religion, and capital punishment to name a few. These themes are often controversial, which is why these books are frequently challenged. Next are the unanswered questions. What happened to the boys family? Or Santiagos wife? What happens between the boy and Santiago at the end? Does Santiago adopt him? All of these are le...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Roy Plunkett and the Invention of Teflon

Roy Plunkett and the Invention of Teflon Dr. Roy Plunkett discovered PTFE or polytetrafluoroethylene, the basis of Teflon ®, in April 1938. It’s one of those discoveries that happened by accident. Plunkett Discovers PTFE Plunkett held a Bachelor of Arts degree, a Master of Science degree, and his PhD in organic chemistry when he went to work at the DuPont research laboratories in Edison, New Jersey. He  was working with gases related to Freon ®Ã‚  refrigerants when he stumbled upon PTFE. Plunkett and his assistant, Jack Rebok, were charged with developing an alternative refrigerant and came up with tetrafluorethylene or TFE. They ended up making about 100 pounds of TFE and were faced with the dilemma of storing it all. They placed the TFE in small cylinders and froze them.  When they later checked on the refrigerant, they found the cylinders effectively empty, even though they felt heavy enough that they should still have been full. They cut one open and found that the TFE had polymerized into a white, waxy powder polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE resin. Plunkett was an inveterate scientist. He had this new substance on his hands, but what to do with it? It was slippery, chemically stable and had a high melting point. He began playing with it, attempting to find out if it would serve any useful purpose at all. Ultimately, the challenge was taken out of his hands when he was promoted and sent to a different division. The TFE was sent to DuPont’s Central Research Department. The scientists there were instructed to experiment with the substance, and Teflon ® was born. Teflon Properties The molecular weight of Teflon ® can exceed 30 million, making it one of the largest molecules known to man. A colorless, odorless powder, it is a fluoroplastic with many properties that  give it an increasingly wide range of uses. The surface is so slippery, virtually nothing sticks to it or is absorbed by it – the Guinness Book of World Records once listed it as the slipperiest substance on earth. It’s still the only known substance that a geckos feet cant stick to.   The Teflon Trademark PTFE was first marketed under the DuPont Teflon ® trademark in 1945.   No wonder Teflon ® was chosen to be used on non-stick cooking pans, but it was originally used only for industrial and military purposes because it was so expensive to make. The first non-stick pan using  Teflon ® was marketed in France as Tefal in 1954. The U.S. followed with its own Teflon ®-coated pan the Happy Pan in 1861. Teflon Today Teflon ® can be found just about everywhere these days: as a stain repellant in fabrics, carpets and furniture, in automobile windshield wipers, hair products, lightbulbs, eyeglasses, electrical wires and infrared decoy flares. As for those cooking pans, feel free to take a wire whisk or any other utensil to them – unlike in the old days, you won’t risk scratching the Teflon ® coating because its been improved. . Dr. Plunkett stayed with DuPont until his retirement in 1975. He died in 1994, but not before being inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame and the National Inventors’ Hall of Fame.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Critically evaluate the extent to which workplace bullying is Essay

Critically evaluate the extent to which workplace bullying is facilitated by Organizational rather than individual factors - Essay Example In the article entitled Organizational, Work Group Related and Personal Causes of Mobbing/Bullying at Work, Zapf, D (1999) stated BULLYING is defined as the severe form of social work stress maker. Bullying last very long and often times escalates conflict with frequent harrassing actions that are aimed at one specific person. According to Zapf (1999) further clarifies that the causes of the Bullying is the work place itself, the social system, the bully perpetrator and the victim itself. The unwiling victim employee needs work to feed his or her family. The perpetrator supervisor is given the power to hire or fire the victim subordinate. As a consequence the supervisor is tempted to ask favors which are sometimes immoral or illegal. The supervisor could have been given the same cold bully and victim treatment when the supervisor was just a new subordinate in the company. The supervisor may just want to play the same game but this time he is the supervisor and his subordinate is the new victim. The social system is also cause because the victim employee is forced to endure and accept his or her predicament because it is very difficult to find a job. The victim prefers to swallow his or her pride in return for money to feed his or her hungry family. A survey of two samples of bully victims and bullies have supported this thesis. It is further discussed that bullying cannot be explained well without discussing the other parts of the bullying system (work place itself, the social system, the bully perpetrator and the victim itself)There are a few supervisors who unfairly use their position to exert power to abuse or bully some of his or her subordinates. The supervisor will abusively ask favors which are against the labor law and other discrimination laws in exchange for job retention. The refusal of the employee to obey such illegal overtures may cause the removal of his or her job.Bullying in the workplace can be done many ways. One-way is for the bully to threaten the victim that he may be lost his job or be demoted if the bully supervisor or co-worker's overtures are not followed. Another bullying move is threaten the person's personal work standing such as threatening the victim's work due to the victim's age or sex. Another bully move is to isolate the individual or victim form g etting information, opportunities, outings, and others. Bully could also give impossible project deadlines, make the victim produce more work within the same time schedule and other undue pressure because the victim would not accept the love proposals of the workplace supervisor. The superior feels that the victim is helpless because of the difficulty of finding another job.Still another bully move by the supervisor is to undermine the individual or give a below standard work performance grade for a job excellently done or to give difficult project benchmarks so the victim will fail. The victim can either bow down to the overtures of the supervisor for special favors like having dinner in an expensive restaurant and the like. EFFECTS OF BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE Bullying will have a long-term psychological effect

Friday, October 18, 2019

Contract Law Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Contract Law - Article Example However, in February 2001 Junior Aids forget to send a representative to one of the major retailers during one 2 week period and miss a small order from that company. Infasuck, who have been looking for an opportunity to replace Junior Aids, immediately repudiate the agreement and claim damages: In order to be able to assess Junior Aids Legal Position it is necessary to examine the ways in which a contract can be repudiated. The starting point in this type of situation is to examine the terms of the contract to determine whether there has been a breach. This will enable a conclusion to be drawn as to the rights of the parties in terms of repudiation of the contract. In law either party might be entitled to repudiate the contract. In this particular situation Infasuck Ltd might be entitled to repudiate the contract because the other party has not adhered to a clause in the contract. In order to decide whether repudiation is likely to be authorised by the court it is necessary to examine the content of the contract to determine whether the clause amounts to a condition. In this particular situation it is obvious that Clause 6 amounts to a condition as the agreement is that Junior Aids will visit the groups at least once a week. ... As a result of this lateness the plaintiff failed to attend rehearsals which were viewed as a lesser part of the contract. The court held that there had been a breach of the warranty to attend the rehearsals but that the defendant was only entitled to compensation for this loss and was not entitled to repudiate the contract. In some cases the court will not allow the parties to repudiate if a substantial part of the contract has been performed before the breach occurred. This was the case in Hong Kong Fir Shipping2 where the court found that as a substantial part of the contract had been completed the plaintiff was only entitled to claim compensation for loss of profit and earnings whilst the vessel could not be used. In these cases the court held that there had been a breach of warranty but not a breach of a condition in the contract. By contrast in the case of Poussard v Spiers3 the court reached the conclusion that there had been a breach of a condition inserted within the contract. The court stated in this case that the plaintiff was entitled to repudiate the contract on the grounds of the breach as the breach rendered the contract void. In general terms the person seeking to repudiate a contract must do so as soon as the breach becomes apparent. In the situation above Infasuck Ltd knew of the breach some time before hand, but had allowed the contract to continue and had amended the terms of the contract. The court might hold in such a case that by doing so Infasuck Ltd had affirmed the contract, in which case the court may decide that they are not entitled to repudiate the contract. In Hayes (t/a Orchard Construction) v Gallant[2008]4 the court had to determine whether there had been an

Microlending helps small enterepreneurs start businesses Essay

Microlending helps small enterepreneurs start businesses - Essay Example There are collaborative efforts between Kiva, lenders, entrepreneurs, and other players in the microfinance sector. This diversifies its reach to the global population, allowing web-based donations to be mobilized for loaning purposes. The organization of Kiva.org is unique relative to the financial purposes it serves. The microfinance combines a traditional business system with a contemporary web platform in executing its operations. The ultimate objective is to reach out to the needy entrepreneurial population and help it eradicate poverty in both the short run and long run. Kiva.org uses other microfinance players to reach out to the globe. Being a web-based microfinance, it does not necessarily need physical locations to attend to entrepreneurs. Also, working with other global microfinances further makes Kiva.org unique. Most importantly, the microfinance does not operate on a return-on-investment basis. Lenders actually donate the loan funds without expecting any returns on the loans that Kiva gives to needy entrepreneurs. The loans given by Kiva.org to entrepreneurs come from donations that are received from the lenders through the website. This essentially deviates from traditional businesses where loan funds are obtained from deposit-taking activities. On the same note, Kiva.org depends on field partners to have entrepreneurs’ profiles approved in order to qualify them for microfinance lending. The model Kiva.org uses to give loans is effective and efficient. As the situation stands, this microfinance has reached millions of entrepreneurs in need of loans. Follow-ups are also made to not only ensure that the awarded loans are put to use, but also repayments are collected when they fall due. While this model appears simple, it is actually sophisticated and functional. Personally, I think that this model would work on a larger scale. The

AGING AND SOCIETY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

AGING AND SOCIETY - Essay Example e is a laser technology which is currently being used in treating eye cataract all over the world since the year 2000 (Biography, 2013b; Buzzle, 2013; MIT, 2005). Discrimination on race, ethnic, gender, and social economic status was not a hindrance on Dr. Bath’s desire to be successful. Aside from inventing the Laserphaco Probe, Dr. Bath is also â€Å"the first woman to be appointed to the faculty of Jules Stein Eye Institute, the first African-American to serve as a surgeon at the UCLA Medical Center, and the first African-American to receive a patent in the field of medicine† (Buzzle, 2013). The life success of Dr. Bath was the end-result of her mother’s strong support to education. Basically, the family of Dr. Bath was not rich. Her father was the first African-American who worked as a motorman in New York and her mother was a housewife who worked as domestic worker (Lambert, 2007, p. 70). Despite their socio-economic situation, Dr. Bath’s mother would put aside her hard-earned money for her children’s education (Biography, Because of her parents’ strong support to education, Dr. Bath was able to complete high school in 2 years before earning her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at Hunter College in 1964 (Biography, 2013a; Wilson and Wilson, 2003, p. 23). Dr. Bath is a person who is eager to learn something new each day. In 1968, she decided to pursue a doctoral degree in medicine at Howard University College of Medicine for a medical degree and completed her internship at Harlem Hospital (Williams, 2011, p. 45; Lambert, 2007, p. 72; Henderson, 1998, p. 9). A year later, Dr. Bath decided to pursue further studies in ophthalmology at Columbia University (Biography, 2013a). Particularly in the book entitled â€Å"Issues in Aging†, Novak (2012) explained that the elderly people who belongs to the minority groups (i.e. African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and the American Indians and Alaskan Natives (AIAN)) are the ones who often face

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 65

Assignment - Essay Example To gauge this conclusion as an investment opening, the use of the extra and or available money to make more money later will be discussed. Some of the considerations to keep in mind are risk tolerance, investment options available, and the cash flow situation. Below are some vital points to consider in regard to the question ‘is paying down debt usually a good investment?’- Before considering whether or not to invest, you have to make sure that you really have additional money. Have enough backup income to keep all debts current; being behind on your debt expenses can destroy your credit and lead you to suffer fees that will overcome the return on any investment (ROI). At least ensure that you settle your minimum payments on all your debts. This will reduce the incidences where one pays debts and he/she is with time has no money for personal and emergency situations (Warren & Amelia 75). Things may be looking up now; this is where one takes into consideration the long term effect. For instance, what will happen if one loses his/her job next month or in the case of a medical emergency? Before one thinks of investing or making larger than necessary payments on your loans, some amount of money should be saved for emergency purpose. Many financial consultants recommend that one saves enough to cater for at least three months of emergency scenarios; the money should be in a safe, accessible account (Warren & Amelia 105). This is when one looks at reduction or full settlement of any given liability as an investment as it provides the first step to accumulation of assets, wealth. Accumulated interest rate increases the duration one take to source wealth; this makes one to avoid payment of unnecessary extra amount of cash annually in the future (Warren & Amelia 33). For instance, when one makes $5000 payment on a loan with a 10% interest rate, your annual return is 10%, or $500. This is based on the

Engineering Management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Engineering Management - Coursework Example Management style has an important role to play as appropriate management style can help employees perform their tasks efficiently and achieve their targets, meet organizational goals, keep the employees motivated and help organization make efficient decisions (Bryman, 1993). Not only this, management style has a major part to play in creating the organizational culture. This report highlights about the management style of one of the most renowned companies of the world, Apple Inc. The management style of the previous Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Apple has been analyzed and advantages and disadvantages of his leadership style have been discussed. Also the report provides different types of recommendation to the management of Ili Electronics Inc. to implement some of the characteristics in the company that could be helpful in increasing the morale and motivation of the employees and at the same time improve the productivity and profitability of the company. ... In an autocratic management style, the decision making authority and power lies with the top management of the organization and employees are not allowed to make their decisions. In such a management style, the employees of the organization are supposed to follow the instructions and orders given to them by the manager. Apple operates in an industry where innovation and creativity are very important factors, and other firms in the same industry encourage employees to think and be innovative and come up with different ideas (Silicon Beach Training News, 2011). In Apple the decisions are imposed, whereas in Google the management has given employees to the option to select the project they would like to work on and with whom they would like to work with thus these two management styles have been contrasting but both have been successful. 20% of the employees working time have been allocated by Google to come up with their own software concepts and ideas whereas all kinds of thinking and planning is done at the top level at Apple (McInerney, 2011). ADVANTAGES OF MANAGEMENT STYLE OF STEVE JOBS There are several advantages of the autocratic style of leadership which was adopted by Steve Jobs and these advantages are described below Standards Pre-defined In an autocratic management style, there are standards that are to be followed by the employees therefore they know what is expected of them and thus they can perform their tasks accordingly which would lead to the organizational objectives. Supervision In such a management style, the supervisors are present to guide the employees wherever they get stuck or faces problems and generally supervisors or managers are experienced and they have the

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

AGING AND SOCIETY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

AGING AND SOCIETY - Essay Example e is a laser technology which is currently being used in treating eye cataract all over the world since the year 2000 (Biography, 2013b; Buzzle, 2013; MIT, 2005). Discrimination on race, ethnic, gender, and social economic status was not a hindrance on Dr. Bath’s desire to be successful. Aside from inventing the Laserphaco Probe, Dr. Bath is also â€Å"the first woman to be appointed to the faculty of Jules Stein Eye Institute, the first African-American to serve as a surgeon at the UCLA Medical Center, and the first African-American to receive a patent in the field of medicine† (Buzzle, 2013). The life success of Dr. Bath was the end-result of her mother’s strong support to education. Basically, the family of Dr. Bath was not rich. Her father was the first African-American who worked as a motorman in New York and her mother was a housewife who worked as domestic worker (Lambert, 2007, p. 70). Despite their socio-economic situation, Dr. Bath’s mother would put aside her hard-earned money for her children’s education (Biography, Because of her parents’ strong support to education, Dr. Bath was able to complete high school in 2 years before earning her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at Hunter College in 1964 (Biography, 2013a; Wilson and Wilson, 2003, p. 23). Dr. Bath is a person who is eager to learn something new each day. In 1968, she decided to pursue a doctoral degree in medicine at Howard University College of Medicine for a medical degree and completed her internship at Harlem Hospital (Williams, 2011, p. 45; Lambert, 2007, p. 72; Henderson, 1998, p. 9). A year later, Dr. Bath decided to pursue further studies in ophthalmology at Columbia University (Biography, 2013a). Particularly in the book entitled â€Å"Issues in Aging†, Novak (2012) explained that the elderly people who belongs to the minority groups (i.e. African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and the American Indians and Alaskan Natives (AIAN)) are the ones who often face

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Engineering Management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Engineering Management - Coursework Example Management style has an important role to play as appropriate management style can help employees perform their tasks efficiently and achieve their targets, meet organizational goals, keep the employees motivated and help organization make efficient decisions (Bryman, 1993). Not only this, management style has a major part to play in creating the organizational culture. This report highlights about the management style of one of the most renowned companies of the world, Apple Inc. The management style of the previous Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Apple has been analyzed and advantages and disadvantages of his leadership style have been discussed. Also the report provides different types of recommendation to the management of Ili Electronics Inc. to implement some of the characteristics in the company that could be helpful in increasing the morale and motivation of the employees and at the same time improve the productivity and profitability of the company. ... In an autocratic management style, the decision making authority and power lies with the top management of the organization and employees are not allowed to make their decisions. In such a management style, the employees of the organization are supposed to follow the instructions and orders given to them by the manager. Apple operates in an industry where innovation and creativity are very important factors, and other firms in the same industry encourage employees to think and be innovative and come up with different ideas (Silicon Beach Training News, 2011). In Apple the decisions are imposed, whereas in Google the management has given employees to the option to select the project they would like to work on and with whom they would like to work with thus these two management styles have been contrasting but both have been successful. 20% of the employees working time have been allocated by Google to come up with their own software concepts and ideas whereas all kinds of thinking and planning is done at the top level at Apple (McInerney, 2011). ADVANTAGES OF MANAGEMENT STYLE OF STEVE JOBS There are several advantages of the autocratic style of leadership which was adopted by Steve Jobs and these advantages are described below Standards Pre-defined In an autocratic management style, there are standards that are to be followed by the employees therefore they know what is expected of them and thus they can perform their tasks accordingly which would lead to the organizational objectives. Supervision In such a management style, the supervisors are present to guide the employees wherever they get stuck or faces problems and generally supervisors or managers are experienced and they have the

A Classic Shakespearean Comedy Essay Example for Free

A Classic Shakespearean Comedy Essay The Chicago Shakespeare Theatre at Navy Pier manages to combine an extravagant and lavish, while at the same time still very intimate, theatre setting with professional acting performances in every production shown. However, the production of As You Like on March 5, 2011 perhaps best exemplifies these significant qualities crucial to Shakespeare plays. Directed by, Gary Griffin, the production is able to captivate the entire audience for the complete duration of the play through its brilliant illustration of spectacle as well as strong narration. However, the most significant factor of the production would undeniably be its inclusion of an alliance of narrative, dramatic, and spectacle elements all intertwined in the overall production. Griffin depicts a traditional Shakespearean comedy with the use of vivid set design and perfect actor selection in the production of As You Like It in a way that separates the comedic production from any other previous Shakespeare play I have seen. The production does so by being able to masterfully combine Shakespearean comedic elements with deeper connotations about self-identity and the power of love crucial to all productions of As You Like It. The thematic elements prevalent throughout the production are contemporary in regards to all Shakespearean comedies in that the play revolves around mistaken identity, the many forms of love, and the resolutions of all misunderstandings in the end of the play. However, the way in which Griffin’s overall production is able to enthrall the audience through brilliant acting, audience inclusion, and beautiful theatre design in such a way that the audience isn’t forced to exert much personal imagination makes As You Like It a classic example of an ideal Shakespearean production. The Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, the producing theatre for director Gary Griffin’s adaptation of As You Like It, is a professional theatre venue and company located on 800 East Grand Avenue in Navy Pier. The theatre is ornately designed with the intent to transform the audience’s connotation of setting and to make them believe/ give the appearance that they are in an actual Shakespearean Theatre without the use of their imagination. The theatre space used for the production of As You Like It is called Jentes Family Auditorium and features a total of 510 seats on three levels surrounding the courtyard theatre’s â€Å"thrust stage†. This specific theatre was modeled/ designed with inspiration coming directly from the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Swan Theatre, evident at first glance, and thus creates an immediate intimate relationship between the actors, stage/ set design, and the entire audience seated around the three sides of the stage. While part of the set is elevated as a â€Å"stage†, the entire area/ space of the theatre is used by the actors throughout the production; when this is incorporated with the fact that no seat is more than thirty feet from the stage, a feeling of intimacy between actors and audience is ever-present. For instance, the audience is engaged into the action of the play immediately by the way in which the stage extends through the middle of the first-floor seating allowing the appearance/ feeling of the actors walking directly out into the middle of the audience members. In an analysis of the overall production of As You Like It it is evident that even though the set, stage, and use of props and vivid images are riveting, the inclusion of an â€Å"all-star ensemble† of some of Chicago’s finest actors is truly the underlying nature in exemplifying the statement that the production is indeed Shakespeare’s â€Å"glorious romantic comedy†. The actors play courtiers, clowns, philosophers, and locals all who are under the classic comedic spell of the trials and conquests of love as the main character, Rosalind, must disguise herself as a boy in order to escape the royal court. The characters, following Rosalind’s lead, venture into the timeless Forest of Arden where Rosalind finds herself trapped by love and mistaken identity in her attempt to teach the man she loves how to win the women of his dreams. A traditional element present in the production of Shakespearean comedies such as As You Like It, is undeniably the inclusion of both a dominant and a secondary major female characters. The significance of the secondary female lead is often determined by the skill of the actress portraying that role. The actress can make the character seem somewhat mysterious and forgettable, as seen by the DePaul student’s portrayal of Hero in Much Ado About Nothing, or she can appear as significant and mesmerizing as the lead female. In Griffin’s production of As You Like It this notion of the importance of ctor/ character portrayals is illuminated. For instance, one of the most memorable characters in the entire play is Cecilia, the secondary female character played by Chaon Cross. Cross is able to depict the comedic character almost perfectly through well-rounded acting and clear knowledge of Shakespearean language. In Cecilia’s character, Cross symbolizes a playful, charming, immensely loyal, witty and charismatic supporting female role. This is apparent in her juxtaposition of speech and comedic body language. Crucial plot and thematic elements of As You Like It are depicted by the actors as well. For instance, the review on human life illustrated by the character Jaques, played by Ross Lehman in this production, is witnessed in  Lehman’s acting skills in his performance as Jaques. He emphasizes the faults and ambitions of life in a funny and touching manner by offering both comedic and emotional moments for the audience throughout the play. There are many other characters in the production that portrayed memorable performances illuminating the underlying themes and comedic elements present in the correct use/ knowledge of Shakespearean language and acting. These actors included:   Kate Fry as Rosalind, Matt Schwader as Orlando, Dennis Kelly as Adam, Phillip James Brannon as Touchstone, Matt DeCaro as Duke Frederick, Kevin Gudahl as Duke Senior, and Elizabeth Ledo as Phoebe. Each character possesses unique and intricately detailed costumes and character traits crucial to the understanding of the overall production. The costumes are vivid with detail and evoke the use of imagination and feeling that the audience is witnessing the action of the play within actual setting of certain scenes (whether the orchard, royal court, or forest). The differences in characters’ personality, social class, and hierarchy alongside other characteristic elements are illuminated through the costumes intricate glamour and detail juxtaposed with a more simplistic but still vibrant use of props and set. In addition to individual actor performances, the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s production of As You Like It signifies the epitome of Shakespeare’s ’â€Å"glorious romantic comedy† through the use of a unique/ one of a kind setting. The set designs present are an attractive and ubstantial visual supplement to the action taking place on stage at every point throughout the progress of the play. This can be perceived in almost every scene of the production but is most notably present in the opening scene, depicting a lush/ vivid apple orchard with minimalistic use of props, as well as the more luxurious forest setting that accompanies it. The scenery presented by lighting, sound, props hanging from the ceiling, and the perception of depth in the stage prominently adds to the attraction and understanding of the production. The lighting and music of the production present in set/ scene changes enhances the plot developments as well as the overall journey and adventure portrayed in the play’s narrative nature. The set design of various different scenes is thus completely believable and enchanting; employing the audience’s complete inclusion into the imaginative world of the production. Alongside the appearance of setting in the various scenes, the intricately detailed costumes are exquisite and add a visually appealing aspect to the performances of the actors. At the same time, the creativity and uniqueness of each character’s costume mandates the audience’s teleportation from the feeling of watching a traditional play to the feeling that they are in fact present in this magical/ timeless world of As You Like It. Overall, As You Like It, a production shown by the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, is a professional and glamorous portrayal of traditional/ contemporary Shakespearean comedy. Every aspect of the theatre and production is employed into the narrative element of the play which makes this adaptation of As You Like It unlike any other theatre experience. For instance, the elaborate theatre space is perfect for setting the mood of seeing a professional Shakespearean production and the way in which the stage is the center of vision no matter where you sit in the audience allows sound to travel in a surreal, surround sound manner only enhances this feeling. The actors’ use/ knowledge of Shakespearean language in conjunction with their use of space (entire theatre used as stage while most of the action is mere inches away from the first row of audience members) makes the production flow well while at the same time enhancing the professional feel of the production as well. In this professional nature of the production nearly every aspect and element of Shakespearean comedy is exemplified. Through Gary Griffin’s production of As You Like It, the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre is able to directly exemplify the notion of ideal Shakespearean plays and why these plays still remain so popular and relevant in our society today even four hundred years later.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Environment Of The Events And Exhibitions Industry

Environment Of The Events And Exhibitions Industry This report will focus on the environment in which GL events is currently operating. GL events started as a small company based in Lyon in 1978 providing furniture and stands for exhibitors. Through mergers and acquisitions, they have progressively evolved to become an important player in todays exhibiting and event world with 34 venues around the world, an event and exhibition full-organising service and a portfolio of 250 trade-shows in various industries (food beverage, sport leisure, health, etc.). Influencing all trends and being influenced by all trends, the exhibition and events industry is in the centre of it all. No company can succeed without being aware of the environment it is evolving in. In the exhibition and events industry, companies need to pay particular attention to details impacting not only its industry directly but also every other sector of activity as it would soon have repercussions on future events, exhibitions, product launches, etc. For this reason, a good PESTEL analysis for the industry needs to cover a broad range of issues and analyse many trends which may not influence events yet but could soon be a threat if companies do not react and stay in the times. This report will focus on a PESTEL analysis (Political, Economic, Social, Technology, Environment, Legal) of the exhibition and events industry conclude by establishing which factors GL events should most take into account going forward as they could be potential threats or areas of opportunities in the years to come. Political: There are two main political factors influencing the industry today. One is the increasing political pressures to make regulations and policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We will see in the environmental section that this trend started with consumer awareness but it is no longer just something the clients want to know more about, it has become an obligation. This has greatly impacted the transport industry, in particular airlines which found their image hit as people all around the world pointed to airplanes being a major source of pollution. This impacts the event and exhibition industry, especially at a time when various green technologies are evolving to permit meetings, conferences and even exhibitions to take place online (Long, 2009). This will be developed further in Environmental and Technology sections. The second is the increased globalisation and liberalisation of trade and deregulation (Dwyer, L and Edwards, D 2009). This is very important in terms of number of potential competitors and number of potential clients. Companies need to learn to evolve in a globalised economy, taking advantage of it by going to find new markets, possibly entering into partnerships with similar companies to widen market share and visibility. With this liberalisation of trade comes political pressure to have global higher standards of living. If you do not see your neighbours yard, you do not know that it is greener, when you break the fence, you find that it is. It is this situation that developing countries are finding themselves in today. Citizens all around the world can use internet to gain knowledge about how others are living and become envious. Because of this, countries want to attract foreign investment to boost local economies and gain wealth and higher standards of living. This creates oppo rtunities for countries not only to establish new and cheaper production lines but also to display their products in emerging markets. Last week for example, Apple launched the Iphone4 in China (AFP, 2010). Economy This last point brings us to analysing the economic trends and pressures impacting on the exhibition and events industry. Although the UNWTO 2002 forecasted world tourism to grow at a rate of 4.1% annually until 2020 (Dwyer L, Edwards D., 2009) due to rising wealth internationally, the exhibition and event industry has seen a slow in growth since 2005 but a rise in exhibition and event attendance (Biba E, 2008). This puts the industry in a rather awkward position. There are people coming to exhibitions but exhibitors have switched their approach towards events and exhibition. Indeed, especially with the recent crisis, the first expenses cut by organisations worldwide were advertising and travel. Exhibitions and events being in the centre of this, the industry was hit and forced to react. The expectations from exhibitors will be looked into more fully when we look at the social aspects of the trend but the main ideas are that companies are looking to maximise their ROI (return on investment) (Kovaleski D, 2009) and minimise the perception of frivolous spending (trips, events, etc.) (Events Managers, 2010). In order to do this, companies are squeezing suppliers to get more value for money and investigating the return on investment of their events much more closely and looking at alternatives more then they did before. Companies are not so much cutting their exhibition and event spending so much as allocating it more carefully and with conditions of an assured return (Biba E, 2007). This has changed to job of the event organiser who needs to think of more in novative ways that the company can use to introduce their product. A leaflet handout at the exhibition is no longer sufficient, people want to be amused, entertained, really involved in the product (Furness V., 2007). Because of this, the industry is moving away from major events in favour of smaller, more intimate events where companies can really interact with potential clients (Biba E, 2007). Another aspect companies are putting under the microscope is how to measure ROI generated from social networking and e-marketing. Indeed, if an event is posted on Facebook, LinkedIn, various industry blogs and online magazines this all takes resources in terms of man-hours put into promoting the event on these new channels but how can a company measure that this was efficient? How can the event planner know that the Facebook invitation attracted the client and not some Email they receive every year which pushed them to look for a Facebook event? (Terrero R, 2009). Today, there is little way of knowing exactly what path a client took and what really convinced them to attend your particular event. Social Indeed, the main goals of events and exhibitions are brand awareness, brand preference and networking. Although brand awareness can be achieved through various communication mediums (advertising online, billboards, TV, etc.), it is not the way to create brand preference. Brand preference is achieved through interaction, experience of the brand with the client (Kovaleski D, 2009) and leads to better ROI for the company. This means that exhibition halls and event organisers are not expected to provide a massive attendance so much as a good promotional space and real, targeted potential buyers (Biba E, 2007). From the buyers perspective, they want to experience and know the brand as a whole. With globalisation came increased competition and consumers now have the possibility to buy from anyone anywhere around the world. The quality and price are no longer the only issues, people and therefore companies look at the triple bottom line. Its no longer just about economics but also the socia l and environmental benefits of a product or company. Clients dont want a coupon or a price comparison when they come to a product launch, they want to feel and experience the product for themselves (Dwyer L, Edwards D., 2009 and Furness V., 2007). There needs to be a real interaction between companies and clients. Companies want to build a rapport with their clients, want to become part of their lives. This has forced exhibition halls and event managers to re-think space use and create sections that are dedicated to sitting down in a relaxing atmosphere with a drink to discuss business more casually. The bottom line is still to get the client but the approach is much friendlier then boxed up in a meeting room (Kovaleski D, 2009). This also has an impact on stand design. Exhibitors are encouraged to pay more attention to details such as carpet colour as it has been shown that if the carpet colour of the stand is different from that of the exhibition hall, it may create a barrier and deter clients from approaching (Kovaleski D, 2009). Technology With the development of various technologies, companies have the opportunity to have a virtual event run along-side of the live event. This allows them more time to prepare the client for the interaction and pursue the relationship after the event (Furness V., 2007 and Kovaleski D, 2009). This phenomenon of virtual event is not only to accompany live events, there are now events using only virtual platforms, simulating a physical event on the online world. Platforms such as Second Life are being used by companies to reach potential clients without having to create an event in one physical place. This has the advantage, if not necessarily of price reduction, but to be able to reach clients who may not be prepared to travel to meet you. You can meet them where they are all at once (Biba E, 2008). Using 3D technologies, your virtual exhibition can be as simple as visitors being able to look around at the different stands and as complex as re-creating the event in a completely online wor ld (web chatter, 2010). This is not to say that virtual events will completely replace live events because, as we have seen, people still want to interact and know who they are dealing with but it certainly does replace certain live events already (Biba E, 2007). Another important aspect of the new technologies that the exhibition and event industry should be aware of is the democratization of the internet. This means two things. First, even small firms can bring competition to the large, well-established event organizers if they have good SEO (search engine optimization) and general web-marketing skills as they have equal visibility (Dwyer L, Edwards D., 2009). Second, through UGC (user generated content) anyone can post their feedback about their experience with a certain organizer and make it available to the world (Papathanassis A, Buhalis D, 2007). This is good news for companies who have good relations with their clients and suppliers but will be difficult for companies who were focusing on one-shot clients and therefore not paying much attention to details. The final aspect of technology refers to the traditional definition of technology, ie: the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry (Oxford Compact dictionary). Here we are referring to how to build ecologically friendly stands? What technologies can we use to handle the new products that now need to be used in order to create a green stand? Environmental We are now obviously diverging to the environmental issues around the exhibition and event industry. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly important for companies to be perceived as environmentally aware (Biba E, 2008). This presents a good opportunity in term of cost reductions as decisions such as travelling less can be explained as an environmentally gesture rather then cost-cutting in a bad economy (Events Managers, 2010). However, it presents a challenge for events and exhibition companies who now need to develop green stands made with ecologically friendly materials and production techniques and purchased from local suppliers to avoid pollution from transport (Biba E, 2008). Another aspect the exhibition and event industry will need to look at closely is the impact that global warming will have on their choice of venue and the viability of these choices with respect to client attendance and attractiveness (Dwyer L, Edwards D., 2009). Indeed, sunny destinations which are very pleasant to hold events at may be changed for the worse in the next 30-50 years while new destinations will establish themselves as more favourable climate-wise. Legal The final point we will view is the legal aspects that the industry needs to pay attention to. The policies regarding the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the liberalisation of trade have lead way to many legal documents and laws by countries around the world which need to be followed by event and exhibition organisers and by venues to make sure they are acting within the limits and scope of the law. However, an important legal issue is the terms and conditions put forward by events and exhibition planners and venues. First, with regards to particular cancellation fees, they need to protect themselves without being outrageously unfair to the potential client which is looking at cancellation fees and possibilities more closely since the crisis. Second, with respect to the inflexibility of minimum numbers, if venues hope to attract client, they need to consider the advantage of having one definite client with a contract who may not bring exactly 1000 participants versus one potential client who is still shopping around and may never sign (Event Manager, 2010). From this PESTEL analysis, we can draw several conclusions for GL events next step. First, it is clear that the new technologies, though they will not fully replace live events, are certainly complementing them and they are here to stay. GL events could take advantage of this by creating a network with all its venues. When one event is organised in Nice for example, they could offer the possibility of extending it via 3D conferencing tools to other of their venues around the world. This would increase the potential number of attendees who would not have to sit in front of a computer to enjoy the virtual event but would benefit also from meeting with others who are also in their geographical areas and enjoying the event virtually. People in China could enjoy the conference of the event taking place in Nice and have the opportunity to network with other people afterwards via video-conferencing and face-to-face with people who were also unable to attend the meeting. A second opportunity GL events could take advantage of is the growing importance of the perception of being environmentally friendly which pushes companies to invest in Green stands. Through their event organising service, GL events should try to develop the competencies to offer this possibility to their clients, if possible at a similar cost, to make sure they are in keeping (and even a little ahead) of their times. In these fast changing times, the opportunities are still up for grabs but will soon become threats if venues and organisers do not react quickly.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

How Volunteer Work Has Changed My Life Essay -- Community Service, Ser

"He who wishes to secure the good of others, has already secured his own." - Confucius   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Christmas in October Program is an annual event I participated in that helps someone who is less fortunate by fixing up their home. It is a two-day event where exterior and interior work is done on a home. The program requires a company to sponsor the project, and volunteers to do the actual work. It is called Christmas in October because it takes place in October, but feels like Christmas because of its memorable effect. Participating in the Christmas in October Program was the most meaningful work I've done because of its lasting effect on me.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Christmas in October was very meaningful to me because it changed my feelings about volunteering. Before I participated in the program, I didn...

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Love One Another :: essays research papers

Love One Another Well, I sure hope I was not the only one who caught the main message of today's gospel. If you accidently missed the gospel, the main message from Jesus was that he commanded us to "love one another." I gave the message some thought thinking of "how can I love everybody?" How could I love my enemies? How can I love someone when they already have a lover? How can I love someone that I do not know? It is all these "how's." So how can I love my enemy? After giving it more thought, I found a little solution. It might not be the best solution, but it will suit my needs. If this enemy offends me, I tell the enemy with my heart that I truly did not appreciate that comment. What does that relate to love your enemy? I was trying to show my love to my enemy by expressing my feelings. What about how can I love someone when they already have a lover? We can still love someone and still be friends or maybe even best friends. There is nothing wrong in being friendly with someone that already has a lover. Well, what about how can I love someone that I do not know? An easy solution is to get to know society. Just do not have doubt and end up using assumption. Be critical, be open, ask questions, and get to know how peers. Okay, but what if I am a shy person? There is wrong being shy. Everybody is shy of something, but shyness can always be reverse. I used to be shy of something, but then I gave it some thought when I was thinking when life was getting boring. I thought that if I were more open and sought friendship, my

Friday, October 11, 2019

Hippolytus: Seneca, Euripides, Ovid

Liz Soolkin Hippolytus: Seneca, Euripides, Ovid The story of Hippolytus, a man wronged and killed by his own stepmother is a myth retold by many different writers. For this paper, I have chosen to discuss the myth as retold by Ovid, Seneca, and Euripides. Each multiform has a few distinct differences that impacts the meaning of the myth as whole. While reading each myth, the reader receives a completely different sense from the story, a conclusion that is unique to each story.The difference in each retelling that changes the meaning of the story most significantly is the stepmother, Phaedra’s role and the emphasis each author places on her character in his form of the story. The variations in the portrayal of her character provide each story a different meaning; a large portion of the meaning comes from the reader’s ability or inability to relate to Phaedra; this ability depends on the author’s portrayal of her and her actions.Seneca’s version of the story of Hippolytus’s death is called Phaedra. Before even beginning to read the narrative, the reader understands that Phaedra is the main character in the story; the main conflict of the story is one between her and her stepson. She does everything in her power to get Hippolytus to sleep with her: she asks the nurse to convince him and even tries to do so herself after fainting in his arms. She does not seem to care about his strong morals or her own morals.Aphrodite’s curse on her has led her to be so determined to sleep with her stepson that she ignores her ideals and the ideals of Hippolytus. When she is rejected, she spreads the lies about Hippolytus having raped her and lives to see the consequences of those lies; though she is in control of the situation and could physically stop the story from ending tragically, she does nothing to prevent her stepson from being cursed by his father. She is alive when Hippolytus’ mangled corpse is brought to her and her husb and, Hippolytus’s father, Theseus.Only then does she realize her immense shame because she recognizes that her dishonest actions lead to Hippolytus’s undoing and that her need for revenge is what causes Hippolytus to suffer his horrendous fate. Her shame only comes after she causes her stepson’s death. In Euripides’ version, Phaedra kills herself before Hippolytus is cursed. She leaves a suicide note blaming Hippolytus with her death. She is unable to outlive Hippolytus and see the consequences of her vengeful actions.Unlike in Seneca’s version, in Euripides’s retelling Phaedra dies and has no ability to stop the spread of lies about Hippolytus. She can do nothing to take back her actions like she could have in Seneca’s version. The reader can accept Phaedra’s actions more in Euripides’s version because she dies, attempting to keep herself morally good and free from shame and guilt for her lust; she is portrayed more as essentially a good person who is cursed by Aphrodite and her attraction to her stepson. One can be more empathetic to her in this version because Aphrodite could cast the same curse on anyone.In her death, she blames Hippolytus of rape, relating her to Seneca’s version of her character as a harsh person, intent on revenge, someone to whom the reader cannot easily relate. Ovid’s retelling of the myth of Hippolytus is completely different from Seneca and Euripides’ narratives. First of all, Ovid’s account starts with Hippolytus’s narration of the story; the reader is first introduced to Hippolytus as someone returned from the dead so, even without reading the story, the reader already knows that Hippolytus suffers tragic death at the end of the story.Because he is telling his story to a bystander, Hippolytus does not go into great detail of his life; he recounts the story of his stepmother’s betrayal in a very short and succinct manner, concen trating more on the suffering he faced when his â€Å"limbs [were] entangled in the reins [of his chariot]† (Ovid’s Metamorphoses p. 539 line 608-609). The fact that Hippolytus talks of his own death in a conversational manner, attempting to console Egeria is important because it is one of Ovid’s techniques that he used to place the reader’s attention on Hippolytus.Whereas Seneca wrote about Phaedra and described the story with her as the main character, Ovid wrote about Hippolytus, from Hippolytus’s point of view. In this story, Aphrodite is not even mentioned as being the instigator of Phaedra’s lust. Phaedra is portrayed as a cold-blooded, merciless killer who did not feel shame for her murder of Hippolytus. The shame aspect, that was so important in defining the other author’s versions of the myth, is absent from Ovid’s version. Phaedra’s shame’s absence from the myth can be explained by the fact that Hippolyt us himself is narrating the story.Ovid gives the reader a perspective from the victim’s point-of-view, which does not view any guilt felt by Phaedra as relevant. Even if she feels guilt, she is still held responsible for her actions. Whereas in the other myths, the reader knows that Aphrodite is the final cause of Hippolytus’s death and Phaedra is not completely guilty, in Ovid’s myth, she is not mentioned since Hippolytus was not aware of her influence on Phaedra. The three versions’ portrayals of Phaedra are important when analyzing the different meanings of the multiform myth.The difference lies in the different conflicts that arise in each myth and the various sources of Phaedra’s shame, or the absence of it. In Euripides’ version of the story, the main struggle of the myth lies in Phaedra’s inner conflict; she struggles with her desires and is unable to express them and deal with them in a healthy way. She must use the help of he r nurse to help her and before the story is over, the shame of her immoral thoughts kills her. Unlike Euripides’ version, Seneca’s retelling of the myth shows her conflict to be one with Hippolytus.Phaedra’s every action is a struggle against Hippolytus’ strong morals and chastity. The story is one of a fight between the two characters, concluding with Hippolytus’ loss of life, an event that leads to Phaedra’s shame and eventually her death. Ovid tells the story as a conflict between Hippolytus and Phaedra from Hippolytus’ point-of-view. Hippolytus, in Ovid’s version is wronged by his stepmother, who is portrayed as evil and coldhearted. There is no mention of any shame she might feel for her stepson’s murder; the lack of shame depicts as heartless, an obvious antagonist to Hippolytus’.From these differences, one can interpret that a greater meaning lies in the three author’s definitions of shame. Whereas P haedra in Seneca’s version is shameful of her own immoral thoughts and urges, the other Phaedra, in Euripides’ version, only realizes her guilt when she sees Hippolytus’ dead body; she acts more child-like, not believing that such terrible consequences could come from her actions until she sees them. Ovid differs completely in his view of shame. He sees it as irrelevant to the victim’s suffering and pain.In his version, Hippolytus does not consider Phaedra as having felt any remorse for her actions, he sees her as a coldblooded killer who caused him immense grief. The way I began to analyze the myths of Hippolytus was to think about the major differences between the characters. Because the story is all about the characters rather than the setting or culture, I thought that the differences of each character among each multiform would give me a clear view of the meanings of each multiform. The character that seems to influence each story the most is Phaedra .I could have gone into greater detail about the differences amongst each Hippolytus, Theseus, and nurse but I realized that analyzing those differences would result in an essay of 20 pages and would not be as meaningful. Relying on the differences among each author’s version of Phaedra to give meaning to the differences was very fruitful. I managed to find that the differences in Phaedra’s character were based in her decisions throughout the story. In one story, she killed herself before Hippolytus was dead; in another version, she killed herself after Hippolytus died and in the third version, she was barely even mentioned.Each story showed her as more or less humane; in Euripides’s and Seneca’s versions of the story, Aphrodite was mentioned as the source of her attraction to Hippolytus. The godess’s participation in the crime took some of the blame off of Phaedra’s shoulders and made it easier for the reader to relate to Phaedra. In Ovidâ €™s version, Aphrodite was not mentioned and Hippolytus’s death was viewed as a direct result of Phaedra’s cruel passion. More differences between Seneca and Euripides’s versions could be found and meaning could be discovered from the timing of Phaedra’s death.I asked myself, â€Å"why caused her to die before or after Hippolytus and what is the meaning of the difference in her suicide? † I realized that in both cases, shame had caused her to kill herself but in each story, shame was a result of something different. In Euripides’s version, Phaedra kills herself because of her own immorality; she feels guilty about her sinful passions towards Hippolytus. In Seneca’s versions, she commits suicide from guilt of seeing Hippolytus’s mangled corpse and realizing that her actions had caused his death.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Racism in Football Essay

Throughout the 231 years football has been in existence, we are at the most critical era of football. In the last 10 years , the sport which had been invented to unite people of different colours , countries and religions .Has become a word which excruciates my heart . Racist. Racism was first encountered by the world in 1891 in a pub, full of intoxicated minds , the same act was discovered on a pitch full of sober men who get more than a soldier for being on the pitch. Racism itself means prejudice or discrimination directed against someone of a different race .Is It that footballer have developed this malicious habit of saying derogatory terms – then obviously not remembering it in a court room . There however has been more then a dozen cases reported of the years ( from maradona to suarez ) . Yet 77% of these cases have not been taken action on but the 33% which have been recognised only 11% have been taken to the high court and found justice . this does leave a controversi al question in our mind is it the F.A ( Football Association ) behind this ? A more recent case on racism and football is the Blackburn skipper Jason Robert’s decision to boycott wearing the ‘kick racism out of football’ t-shirt, for Saturdays pre-match warm up against Swansea . This is because the Reading striker believes there is a lack of commitment from the F.A and football in progressing and until he is satisfied more has been done to address racism in football he will not wear the t-shirt again . Also as A number of black players – Rio fernidad and brother Anton fernidad , Ashley Cole , Raheem sterling have all joined Roberts with the decision of boycotting the t-shirt because they also believe there is insufficient progress . Conversely there are some footballers that do follow the F.A code of conduct , and also do that little bit of an extra aid , such as craig bellamy who has opened his own academy in Zambia . However there is always that small minority in every population , that weigh the majority of people down . Also most racist incidents occur between player of rival teams – but this is no excuse for racism . As a result of this barbaric culture of using racist terminology , the sport has began to suffer verbally from various organisations .The sport which was made to unite people of different colours , countries and religions is becoming segregated . I know your thinking â€Å" I cant make a difference â€Å" . But I can , you can and we can .

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Beautiful Happiness In A Meaningless Life Short Story English Literature Essay

Beautiful Happiness In A Meaningless Life Short Story English Literature Essay I intend to write a short story featuring a few of the more potent themes present within the novelette â€Å"The Outsider†. This short story has simply been written to entertain, and explore the central themes and issues that I have chosen. The content of the story is gruesome and described with vivid details in some cases, so the target audience would be fairly mature, and have an orientation towards fanciful fantasy worlds. The story is set in a land where the local entertainment consists of arena type pit fights. These pit fights are similar to a council of the city’s rich and wealthiest, with the lower classes also in attendance. These pit fights are also the place where status is gained and lost among these affluent members of society, with the slaves that compete being used as a means to this end. I have also interpreted the ending of â€Å"The Outsider† differently in my story, with my main character realising that he can make a difference with his life, and that he can live for other people rather than himself only. The content of the story is gruesome and described with vivid details in some cases, so the target audience would be fairly mature, and have an orientation towards fanciful fantasy worlds. The story is set in a land where the local entertainment consists of arena type pit fights. These pit fights are similar to a council of the city’s rich and wealthiest, with the lower classes also in attendance. These pit fights are also the place where status is gained and lost among these affluent members of society, with the slaves that compete being used as a means to this end. I have also interpreted the ending of â€Å"The Outsider† differently in my story, with my main character realising that he can make a difference with his life, and that he can live for other people rather than himself only. The ring of steel on steel resounded around the arena, to join the din of gaudy music and jeering shouts ensuing from th e on looking patrons of this violent event. The ‘Slave Games’ took place every day, from the blaze of the new fire in the sky at its start, to its dying embers at dusk. The games consisted of slaves and a monster entered by the ‘Games Keeper’. Of course to make it more complicated, there were two different types of slaves, the ones entered by their master, and the ones donated. By a slave being entered it was similar to a bet being placed, with a small fee for entry paid to the games master, the fee also gave slaves the privilege of a weapon of choice. At the conclusion of the battle if the monster was the last one standing, the games master would keep the majority of the winnings, otherwise if a slave was the victor; their master was granted higher standing in society and a large sum of gold as their winnings. There was also an unspoken tradition, that the victorious slave was granted freedom for their heroic deeds performed within the arena. The ‘do nated’ slaves on the other hand, were the unwanted outcasts of rich society that the Games Keeper bought for a small fee, to â€Å"liven up the games† as he would call it.

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Plato's The Republic Criticism of Democracy Essay

Plato's The Republic Criticism of Democracy - Essay Example Instead, Plato favored the Republic as the best form of government. His depiction of a Republic was one where it was ruled by the lovers of wisdom and/or the lovers of honor. This is quite contrary to today's belief that democracy is the best and the only fully justifiable political system. Today's concept of democracy has been popularized specifically with the American view of democracy as a government of the people by the people and for the people. As much as it may seem surprising, Plato found inherent flaws in democracy as a political system and as a form of government. More surprising is the fact that although Plato's thoughts may seem to be outdated and ancient, his criticisms of democracy are quite in certain modern democratic societies. Plato's criticism of democracy is hinged on his belief that democracy has the tendency to degenerate into anarchy. This, he believes, is democracy's greatest weakness. Although such a belief may not seem as apparent in today's democratic societies, a deeper analysis of certain democracies today may reveal that there is indeed some truth to Plato's assertions. However, one must not be mistaken in thinking that the flaws of democracy that may be applicable to the modern form of democracy predominant in today's world cannot be changed. These flaws are not fundamental to all democracies today. There are but certain democratic societies that need to alter their political system because of cert ain flaws that are contrary to the fundamental principles of modern democracy. Plato views democracy as the second worst form of government. In his work, The Republic, he points out that the biggest weakness of a democracy is that it can easily lead to anarchy. Moreover, because of its essential features coupled with certain attributes of man, a democracy can lead to tyranny. His rationale behind his dislike for democracy is that democracy tends to lead to excessive freedom. Although Plato believes in the significance and true value of freedom, he asserts that with the form that democracy takes, it is not unlikely for people to exercise excessive freedom. When people have the freedom to do as they please, there is that tendency to lead to anarchy. Democracy is hinged on the ideology that every person has the equal right and equal capacity to lead. However, in Plato's point of view, he sees this as an avenue which may lead to a government that is ruled by individuals in pursuit of personal gains rather than for public good. In The Republic, Plato wrote; ....Is it not the excess and greed of this and the neglect of all other things that revolutionizes this constitution too and prepares the way for the necessity of a dictatorship... ...When a democratic city athirst for liberty gets bad cupbearers for its leaders and is intoxicated by drinking too deep of that unmixed wine, and then, if its so-called governors are not extremely mild and gentle with it and do not dispense the liberty unstintedly, it chastises them and accuses them of being accursed oligarch. In this sense, democracy is indeed highly corruptible. Democracy, viewed from this light, opens gates to demagogues, potential dictators, and can thus lead to tyranny. Before, one judges Plato's view, it must be noted that his conception of democracy is based on what he saw in Athenian democracy. In certain respects, not all of his thoughts and ideas may be applicable to