Essay on Macbeths Murder of Duncan in William...

Macbeths Murder of Duncan in William Shakespeares Macbeth Various different influences act upon Macbeth causing him to murder Duncan. The main ones are his ambition, his wife and the witches. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is a brave warrior, described as noble and valiant, who knows his place and is a loyal servant to the king. Then a small seed planted in his very fertile head, grows very quickly. In other words, Macbeth has a hidden desire deep inside, which is unearthed by the witches, reinforced by his wife and then acted upon to become king. Back then, in the 1600’s, witches were believed to be real and that their future-telling powers came from the devil. The watching†¦show more content†¦Lady Macbeth is another influence acting upon Macbeth. After receiving Macbeth’s letter, it turns out that she is as ambitious as her husband is. Macbeth knows this and calls her â€Å"my dearest partner in greatness†. She immediately assumes that they need to kill Duncan. She knows exactly what she’s doing and realises that no ordinary woman would plan this murder, furthermore she demands for the spirit world to â€Å"unsex† her and fill her full of the â€Å"direst cruelty†. She easily takes control when Duncan arrives, by flattering him, because she can see possibly before Macbeth can, that his face is easy to read and warns him â€Å"look lie the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under’t†. Lady Macbeth comes across determined, dominant, powerful and frightening in her intense ambition for her husband and when he convinces himself that it easiest not to kill Duncan in his soliloquy she’s there convincing him. She is contemptuous of his change of heart and accuses him of cowardice, insults his manhood and cajoles him back into committing â€Å"this terrible feat†.Show MoreRelatedAltering Reality1114 Words   |  5 Pagesauthor who practices this method of writing is William Shakespeare. In Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, many similarities and contrasts of historical accounts are used to fuel the drama’s storyline. This is very apparent amongst the play’s characters, events, and settings. Shakespeare begins his historical references with the use of well-known historical characters. Two of the play’s main characters are two rivaling Scottish kings, Duncan I and Macbeth. Shakespeare does an excellent job in usingRead MoreMacbeth Appearance Vs Reality1245 Words   |  5 PagesAn Exploration of Appearance and Reality in Macbeth As Plato famously said in Phaedrus, â€Å"Things are not always as they seem†, meaning that not everything is what it appears to be. In today’s society, many politicians appear trustworthy and are in reality crooked. Photoshop also manipulates appearance and reality. In literature, authors use appearance versus reality to create an interesting plot or characterize. In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth, the theme of appearance versus reality is seenRead MoreThe Real Macbeth 897 Words   |  4 PagesWilliam Shakespeare wrote many plays in his lifetime based on historic events that he had researched using a history books from various authors. One of these many plays are the Tragedy of Macbeth, which Shakespeare did his research from the Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland by Raphael Holinshed. Shakespeare stayed true to the history retold by Holinshed in his play Macbeth, but unfortunately Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Irelan d contained false information. Since someRead More The Cause of Macbeths Destruction in William Shakespeares Macbeth1062 Words   |  5 PagesThe Cause of Macbeths Destruction in William Shakespeares Macbeth      Ã‚   In William Shakespeares Macbeth, Macbeth was a well-respected man of noble birth, but his fortune was reversed after he turned to darkness. He plummeted endlessly into a chasm of evil until his corrupt life was ended on the edge of Macduffs blade. Whose actions opened up the path of darkness to Macbeth? Whose actions led to Macbeths demise? The answer is threefold. The weird sisters set Macbeths fate into motionRead MoreThe Character of Macbeth in William Shakespeares Play Essay640 Words   |  3 PagesThe Character of Macbeth in William Shakespeares Play Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ is a play about murder and tragedy. When we first meet Lady Macbeth’s husband, Macbeth, we see him as a loyal and honourable man, however as we read further into the play his character changes. Macbeth says to Lady Macbeth: â€Å"False face must hide what the false heart doth know.† Macbeth creates an alter-ego to help hide the truth. Macbeth becomes a power-hungry, determined man with no emotionsRead MoreAmbition: a Path to Success or Failure?943 Words   |  4 PagesAmbition: a path to success or failure? William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth, is a play about a general from the King’s army whose ambition leads him to usurp the throne. Macbeth’s initial lie perpetuates him to commit numerous murders to ensure that the heir to the throne is still within his reach. The play highlights a common value held by our society which is that we are responsible for our actions. Although Lady Macbeth initially provoked Macbeth, ultimately, his demise was a result of hisRead MoreThe Butcher and His Fiend Like Queen in William Shakespeares Macbeth765 Words   |  4 PagesThe Butcher and his Fiend like Queen in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth Introduction At the end of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Malcolm refers to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as: This dead like butcher and his fiend like queen, when he was crowned as new king of Scotland. In Malcolm’s eyes, the Macbeths are just that, cruel murderers who stole away the throne from him and his father. A butcher can be described as someone who kills, or have people killed unnecessarily or brutally. A fiend canRead MoreMacbeth: The Tragic Hero Essay1026 Words   |  5 Pages In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth is a classic example of a tragic hero who is constantly struggling with his fate. In the opening scene of the play Macbeth receives a prophecy from three witches. They proclaim that he will be the thane of Cawdor. He responds by saying, â€Å"By Sinel’s death I know that I am thane of Glamis/ but how of Cawdor†(I, iii, 70-73)? At first, he does not realize to earn this title what he must do, but when he realizes he is taken aback. His bewilderment prefiguresRead MoreMacbeth And Lady Macbeth By William Shakespeare1343 Words   |  6 PagesIn William Shakespeare’s epic tragedy, Macbeth, the concept of the every blurry line between good and evil is shown through the two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. This husband and wife duo begins the play as polar opposites. Lady Macbeth’s maliciousness and drive is clear to the audience the first time she steps on stage in Act One Scene Five. She continues on with these same characteristics, yet in the middle of the drama, there is a distinct change in her attitude and overall role asRead MoreDeception and Betrayal in William Shakespeares Macbeth639 Words   |  3 PagesDeception and Betrayal in William Shakespeares Macbeth The play ‘Macbeth† written by William Shakespeare† not only shows us how betrayal and deception undermines society but how it restores the moral law and society back to the way it was before the Thane of Cawdor and the tyrant Macbeth brought about the destruction in the first place. the play Macbeth also featured two changes to the throne of Scotland, both as a result of betrayal, deception, the aid of the weird

The Hiv / Aids Epidemic - 1848 Words

Haiti was able to dramatically reduce its high rates of HIV/AIDS prevalence in the face of low socioeconomic development and declining Gross National Income (GNI) per capita because its existing NGO-based system for HIV/AIDS prevention was scaled up through international technical and financial assistance. The two leading NGOs in this effort, Haitian Group for the Study of Kaposi’s Sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections (GHESKIO) and Partners in Health (PIH), were created at the onset of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s, but initially focused their efforts on treating the side-effects of the epidemic due to a lack of access to antiretroviral therapy (ART). HIV/AIDS thus spread rapidly amongst the population, reaching a peak incidence rate of 4% in the 1990s, and it was not until the early 2000s, when the organizations gained access to antiretroviral drugs through international assistance, that HIV/AIDS prevalence rates began their decline. Haiti’s sociopolitical context explains it’s continuously decreasing rate of GNI per capita, and when this modern reality is juxtaposed with the country’s historical legacies, a bleak picture is painted of the Haitian government’s ability to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic. At the time of its independence Haiti was neglected by most Western powers, forcing the country to look inward and rely on its own resources to generate growth. However, corrupt leadership used resources unsustainably and stifled economic growth. The Duvalier reignShow MoreRelatedThe Epidemic Of Hiv And Aids1535 Words   |  7 Pagespopulation include providing access to health care, HIV testing and syringe services programs. The Office of HIV Planning in Philadelphia focuses on the needs of the population, conducts community outreaches and educational sessions. As previously stated, 32 state Medicaid programs reimburse for routine HIV screening of adults aged 15-65 years, regardless of risk. This policy allows for individuals to more likely participate in this screening process. HIV testing can be done through health care professionalsRead MoreThe Epidemic Of Hiv / Aids1306 Words   |  6 PagesOne of the most known and feared viruses in the world today is HIV/AIDS. To fully understand on why HIV/AIDS is so deadly, we need to first understand and breakdown on what this virus exactly is. HIV is an acronym that stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Human means that only humans can be infected by this virus. Immunodeficiency means that this virus attacks and weakens your immune system to the point where your immune system can no longer protect your body. Virus means that it can onlyRead MoreThe Hiv / Aids Epidemic1650 Words   |  7 PagesThe HIV/AIDS epidemic poses a major concern for global health. There are approximately 36.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide (WHO, 2017). Due to the increased phenomenon of global migration and movement we see a proportion of individuals who are HIV positive migrating. In Canada alone, over 300,000 new immigrants were welcomed into the country in 2016 (CIC; Globe And Mail, 2016). As a result we can infer that certain proportion out of all immigration applicants into Canada were HIV positiveRead MoreThe Hiv / Aids Epidemic2082 Words   |  9 Pages The United States has been fixated on its mission to abolish the sex industry since the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. George W. Bush and Congress created the United States Leadership against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 with the intention of funding beneficial programs furthering the resea rch and accessibility of HIV/AIDS treatment. (Middleberg, 2006). The beneficiaries of this funding must show their opposition towards prostitution and sex trafficking in orderRead MoreThe Hiv / Aids Epidemic1072 Words   |  5 Pagesagainst HIV/AIDS (Country and Lending Groups, n.d.). They have one of the highest prevalence rates of HIV/AIDS in the world at 19.1%, and the incidence of new cases is increasing steadily (Milan, 2014; CIA, n.d.). To combat this growing problem President Jacob Zuma launched the largest HIV Counseling and Testing campaign in the world in April 2010 (â€Å"Global AIDS†, 2012). In the same year, the country also achieved a significant reduction in the price of antiretroviral medicines (ARVs) (â€Å"Global AIDS†, 2012)Read MoreThe Hiv / Aids Epidemic3453 Words   |  14 PagesGlobally, there is good news. In 2011 the World Health Organization (WHO) claimed that the HIV/AIDs epidemic was declining in their â€Å"Global HIV/AIDS Response† progress report (Progress Report 2011). Each continent and region, however, showed different changes in their rates of HIV/AIDS (Progress Report 2011). In North America, and specifically in the United States, the incidence of HIV has been constant for the past several years (Progress Report 2011). Despite the stability of this disease,Read MoreThe Epidemic Of Hiv / Aids2413 Words   |  10 Pagesworld issues. In 1980, news papers, highlighted the onset of an epidemic, one that would create fear, isolation, bias and discrimination. The HIV virus took the public by disbelief, one of the main tribulations with HIV disease was that there was no concrete evidence that determined its transmission. Many Semantic variations such as gay mans disease created biases and discrimination toward this population (CITE). The onset of HIV/AIDS virus also created a devastating impact on healthcare professionalsRead MoreHiv / Aids Epidemic : A Huge Epidemic1314 Words   |  6 PagesHIV/Aids Epi demic HIV/AIDs is a huge epidemic still plaguing society today. The lack of knowledge and technical advances has caused an increasing number of cases. It has made its way around the world since the 1940s, causing countries to join together in the fight against AIDs. With all the campaigning that has been done the numbers of cases continue to rise. Countries have separated the disease into three patterns to make it easier to distinguish the effects that AIDs has on different regions ofRead MoreShould The Hiv / Aids Epidemic?918 Words   |  4 PagesShould the HIV/AIDs epidemic in Africa be described as a feminist issue? With higher transmission rates concentrated among African women, and the vast majority of new mother-child transmissions occurring within African countries, HIV seemingly fits into the scope of feminist concerns. As described in Oppong and Kalipeni’s contribution to Kalipeni, et.al.’s HIV AIDS in African: Beyond Epidemiology, the consistent classifying of th e HIV/AIDS epidemic as being the direct result of distinct AfricanRead MoreThe Epidemic Of Hiv / Aids Essay1607 Words   |  7 Pagessyndrome (AIDS). Another two years would pass before scientists were able to isolate the retrovirus that causes AIDS, which in 1984 was termed human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV). Although a successful discovery, in the absence of a proven treatment, HIV and AIDS had free rein in which to leave in its wake a global path of fear, illness, and death. To understand the totality of HIV/AIDS, consider the following. Since the onset of the pandemic more than 70 million people have been infected with HIV, 35

Abstract Expressionists Essay Example For Students

Abstract Expressionists Essay While other areas of the paining, like the head, hands and arms, seem to fade away into sheets Of color. Figure 2 Gladiators Philip Gusto The Estate of Philip Gusto Philip Gustos Gladiators is an abstract expressionist painting in which Gusto applied a social-realistic style that was often preferred by left-leaning artists around the 1 While the modeling is very pronounced and there is a strong illusion of depth and volume, the colors and shapes of the objects, give the painting a cartoonist feel The picture depicts conflict, but does not clearly articulate which subjects are the victimizers and which ones are the victims. All of the subjects faces are covered; not to be identified. Its almost as if the artist, Philip Gusto, is struggling with is his own identity and whether or not he is a victim or victimizer. Figure 3 1941-42 Symphony NO. I The Transcendental Richard Opposite Dart Symphony The Transcendental, is mural sized example of an Abstract Expressionism in the 19th Century. The work has a grid that spans across the canvas and appears sporadically throughout the painting. Opposite Dart breaks away from the cubist structure to include diamonds, circles, ovals, arcs, teardrops and crosses. Occasionally, you can almost make out an Object, potentially a bird in the lower left or a flower in the lower right. The grid and shapes are very apparent and clearly outlined, however, the image as a Whole seems to shift in and out of focus possibly because Opposite-Dart wanted a piece of art that was mysterious and transcending, yet solid and real. Figure 4 1947 Agony Archive Gorky The Estate of Archive Gorky Archive Gorky experienced several tragic events in his life, including a fire in his studio, a serious car accident, and cancer. The title of this painting, Agony, and he use of smoldering reds and suggests that the Corky was transferring his own pain onto the canvas. Majority of the canvas is engulfed in red, possibly flames. To the left you can make out a man, his face smudged black. Although Archive Gorges life tragically ended when he took his own life in 1948, his artwork had a profound impact on the art community and he is remembered as one Of the first abstract expressionists. Figure 5 1950 Autumn River (Number 30) Jackson Pollack Pollacks, Autumn River (Number 30), is an Abstract Expressionist drip painting. Drip painting was a new approach that Pollack preferred where thinned paint as applied to UN-stretched and unprimed canvas that lay flat on the floor rather than on an easel. Pollack used various methods to apply the paint to the canvas, including flicking, dripping, splattering, and using unconventional tools like knives and towels, rather than paint brushes, The Autumn River is 207 inches wide. The background is a beige tone covered in black and white swirls, lines, and drops. There is no significant vocal point of the painting; every part of the painting is equally significant. Figure 6 1 USGS No. 13 (White, Red, on Yellow) Mark Roth The Metropolitan Museum Of Art Mark Rotators NO. 13 follows the compositional Structure that he was most known for starting in 1950. In addition to paint brushes, Roth was also known to use rags and sponges when painting. NO. 13 consists Of three rectangular blocks that are red, white and yellow in color. The edges and depths of the rectangles are soft and inconsistent. Some areas of the canvas are heavily saturated and stained, and in other areas the paint has been applied very thinly. The large scale of No. 13, along with the bright colors and luminous effects, evoke a sense of intimacy and joy with the viewer. Figure 7 959 Black Reflections Franz Cline painting Franz Cline started painting in an Abstract Expressionist style much later than his peers, but by the sass his abstract expressionist work brought him great success. .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3 , .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3 .postImageUrl , .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3 , .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3:hover , .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3:visited , .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3:active { border:0!important; } .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3:active , .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3 .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u3a4ca4f1b84beb92279f7188754dd0b3:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Impressionism | Painting Styles EssayThe use of broad brush strokes to create large gestures aligns Black Reflections to many Of Clings previous work. However, the use of a color make this painting a bit of a stand out from this other work as he often stuck to black and White. Franz Cline was known for finding inspiration for his paintings from previous works. In Black Reflections, the central black shape is a mirror image room one Of Clines earlier works, a black and White untitled painting created in 1954. Figure 8 1961 Elegy to Spanish Republic Robert Motherly Robert Motherless studies in philosophy, art history, and poetry were key influences in his artwork and his path towards becoming an abstract expressionist artist. Much of his work was also driven from his experience in listening to Andre Malaria speak in San V-ranchos in 1937, These experiences influenced Motherless work for years to come. The Elegy to Spanish Republic is a white canvas with six black images spanning it. Horizontally and vertically there re a mix of straight images and curved images that almost create a pattern. When studying the painting, you almost question a literal translation, perhaps two birds hanging from a tree branch. Figure g 1369 Night Creatures Lee Crasser Lee Grassers, Night Creatures, is an abstract expressionist painting with quite the appropriate title. Detroit art dealer, Franklin Sides, who exhibited the painting shortly after it was completed, was the person who suggested the title Night Creatures. The background of the painting is mostly red. The canvas is almost entirely covered in black and white swirls, with occasional earth tones. The swirls have significant volume and depth and are placed strategically across the canvas and work together to suggest they are the eyes of disembodied creatures. Viewers are strongly impacted by the Night Creatures somber color palette and suggestive imagery. Figure 10 1969 The Woodshed Roman Bearded The Woodshed by Roman Bearded is an example Of Abstract Expressionist painting in the 19th century. Prior to creating The Woodshed, Bearded reflected on his role as an artist in a time of social turbulence and explored the ways in which he could contribute to the Civil Rights movement. The fragmented busts shapes and the abstraction of human figures help define early abstract expressionism, The Woodshed depicts a family with constrained resources, In a dark room, a bare bulb hangs above the table, which is covered in pictures of food, taken from magazines. A toddler is eating at the table, while the mother stands next to it, holding a baby. A man, playing the saxophone, stands outside next to the woodshed, The structure and organization of the different materials seem to highlight the divide between family members which reinforces a feeling of constraint and sadness that is evident throughout the entire scene.

Business and Society

Questions: 1. Reflective Essay 1 Why businesses should be concerned about social sustainability?. 2. Reflective Essay 2 How lack of cultural understanding might impede yourprofessional career?. 3. Reflective Essay 3 The relevance of ethics in your future professional life. Answers: (1). Social sustainability in businesses provides a competitive landscape as today being sustainable is more than an environmental gesture that makes sense for the long term. The companies are set up in the social context such that they are not only supported by a large number of stakeholders but also comprises of managing people as well as organizing activities (Bowden 2013). As far as I think, the company Coca Cola gives the best response to social sustainability as it is going far too as much with 98% of compliance level achievement with human rights policy when it comes to managing people at the workplace (Coca-Cola Company 2015). Social sustainability takes in notion the responsibility of the actions that are considered to get a worldwide view of globalization, culture, and communities. When a company is termed to be, socially ideal then that means it has been selling more products than the other products and has known to be reputable as well as respectful but alternatively is mitigating more risk (Gilbert 2015). However, I think here we are talking about multinational corporations like Wesfarmers, Rio Tinto, Woolworths Limited, National Australia Bank, etc. Nevertheless, ignoring social sustainability can invite issues like human rights as well as future liabilities. I had read recently about the mining industry in Australia where the people working in the industry, as well as people living near big mining projects, are facing issues in health. As a result, the industry has been facing complications in stakeholder management and good governance across environments. Not to mention, we cannot ignore the inhumane treatment that the employers are facing in the mining industry with a fair working wage. It's thereby time to put an end to social irresponsibility and to sh ow a cold shoulder to the injustices taking place. One more example that comes to my mind on the issue of sustainability that is apparel companies which have outsourced it manufacturing (weak unit) to Bangladesh. As a result, what happened is that after the collapse of Rana Plaza, they were looking for PR cover, which made the issues prominent in the eyes of media. However, I do not know why companies do not realize that this is increasing their liabilities. The integrity of the worker is not ensured in a company where they do not flip these liabilities into assets like job security, high wages and safe working conditions for the former and checking the safety and pest contamination through special training to the latter (Rice 2013). Consumers, on the other hand, are on the view that they will entertain only those products whose companies care about environmental and social impact. One of the affluent example could be of the tobacco company in India known by ITC has involved corporate social responsibilities through social issues like skill building vocational training to enhance employability and generate livelihoods for persons from disadvantaged sections of society (Itcportal.com 2016). Maintaining social responsibility across the companies has never been easier because as rightly said by Rice (July 2013), nothing can help in practicing social sustainability whether it is right information or right collaborators in the firm. However, the scenario has changed and companies reviews various initiatives for the sustainability model that yields experiences and similarity in goals but the most important issue that are dealt is social injustice, poverty, and opportunity for all that is denied, even for the workers working in the mining industry in Australia. However, if social sustainability is considered a long-term collaboration in any businesses then why it is still a poor strategic response and not a community engagement everywhere? Although, there are companies like ITC and Coca-Cola Limited that are promoting corporate sustainability but others are only providing recognition of the need to manage social risk in business. (2). The professional career is often dependent on the cultural language, economic and social nuances of particular families and people. Cultural competence creates opportunities while working in a professional environment. It is based on the society (Caligiuri 2013). According to my personal review, it is seen that schools are culturally diverse when it comes to speaking or learning languages or understanding culture's importance at each level. However, during our school times in the school curriculum we had learned of different languages that not only added to our knowledge but also helped in identifying its importance while experiencing professionalism today. This explains cultural competence adds values as well as the strength by making the person well equipped while conveying culturally competent care (National Association of Social Workers 2016). When it comes to analysing the professional environment, the culture identifies to meet the leaders who are not culturally diversified or qualified are not able to meet the changing needs of professionalism. Culturally diversified populations like Hispanics, the African-American and Asian people in the growing business scenario in America have been creating issue for the local companies as they are not able to meet their client base and are losing business in the long run as opined by a senior executive in the financial sector in America (Llopis 2011). Cultural understanding rather lack of cultural understanding, on the other hand, elaborates the weal environment at the workplace. During my personal job experience as a tele caller in one of the companies where diversification in language is important, but people never used to survive as a telecaller for long as they could not cope up with the changed languages. As a result, people started leaving the job because the workplace demanded this criterion but did not support in learning because many cultures cannot be developed at the same time. Moreover, it happens that our culture does not match the professionalism used in the workplace. However, during an interview when two candidates with the same qualification are competing, the only deciding factor remains is cultural competence. Lack of culture awareness whether it is related to clarity, relevance, reality, consistency or time for adjustments results in obstructing results in the professional career (Alvesson and Sveningsson 2015) . Whenever we see any news or get to know anything about different culture, we try to imbibe it because today culture is not limited to social life but to our thinking, even that reflects our nature. In a way, people's knowledge of stereotypes of different cultures has resulted in judgmental behaviour as well as ethnocentrism. Today, problems depict that there is an essential lack of understanding about people especially teenagers and the young adult who illustrate to prove that they know about people's culture and beliefs. Although, learning is important because that highlights that there is the basic understanding of standards between cultures (Sarah 2016). Cultural understanding of knowledge can be distinguished from others depending on the specific gestures, facial expressions as well as body language. However, it is important to know that the cultural intelligence of any level can enhance cultural intelligence on basic business etiquettes, which now would want to work, or aspires to work. One should be thinking on its feet all the time to strike the cultural difference, which will not go unnoticed. The other disadvantage of lack of culture understanding highlights the lack of open-mindedness in a life changing experience because when I was small and use to go to parties, my friends used to call me "Gringos" and in the same way, my Turkish friend called me by "White Trash." However, all these comments are annoying but just because I was brought up in an environment where acceptance of worse situation even made you stronger and adaptable to situations. Nevertheless, all these similar activities can result in differences that could nega tively affect the nature of the person. In addition, ethnic social groups understanding are negatively related to social difficulties (Miller 2016). On the other hand, change in culture could be challenging, as it needs to be learned and used in different solutions. Moreover, only a school can only provide the cultural change at the beginning whether it is needed for external interference or in the case of dramatic purposes. The practical journey of understanding of culture is only possible when one uses these in carrying to achieve the desired goal. (3). Ethics has been one of the integral issues that every business needs to maintain. Ethics is governed by moral principles and appropriate conduct of the team or an individual in the profession. The rights and wrongs of a person build at an initial stage will help to understand to differentiate between moral principles (Ferrell and Fraedrich 2016). This can be well cited with personal experience. I have two siblings and being the eldest in my family; my parents tell me to be an example in front of my siblings. However, for an instance, if there was any fight between my siblings, I was the one who sorted out such that I used to ask my brother as well as my sister that what the reasons were that led to the fight. However, after listening to both of them, I used to support the one who was not at fault. Moreover, I used to guide them to the right and wrong things that could govern the argument. On the other hand, just as the example cited above from my personal experience states that every human being has different line of ethics irrespective of the reason we wishes to attribute is right or wrong. However, this can be combated when the person oneself questions that whatever activity was done was vitally moral or not. Although, professionally ethical behaviour differentiates the code of good conduct from the other (Durkheim 2013). I could explain this with the help of the movies instance in the movie Spiderman, where to bring down Spiderman's position; Eddie falsely takes a Spiderman's snap and performs Photoshop portraying him to be thief who is stealing from a bank. Although, later Peter Parker (Spiderman) when depicts the reality, Eddie Brock is thrown out of Daily Bugle. I cited this example because Eddie Brock was one of the competitors of Peter Parker at the workplace who wanted to put his position down and raise his standard of compliance, for this he gave a wrong sto ry with a false document. This kind of unethical behaviour at workplace leads to an understanding of the difference between good or bad especially at work place. The result of unethical behaviour is always bad and may ruin one's life. However, here in this example the professional code of conduct is hampered and is disintegrated by doing wrong things at the workplace and conversely which leads to impacting others (Levy and Salvin 2013). Nonetheless, when it comes to ethics for future professional life, I would always want to be directioned towards my goals and should always keep in mind the competencies that I will build up. In this direction, the future employees like me should always follow a path of ethical standards (Siddiqui, 2014). Although there are others as well, who even aspire for goals but follow planned and intended rather illegal ways to reach the top but following the same, if once caught or observed may lead to a drastic fall in career growth. Nevertheless, an importance of ethics in professional life can be evidenced in some instances from the success and failure of the business and business standards whether it is leaking of a confidential document or illegally getting a document sanctioned, falsifying claiming the revenue of other as one own and many others. All these issues need to be checked, and this can only be ensured by ethical standards (Castronovo 2014). This kind of behaviour anywhere will enable to discredit to our profession that we would be practicing. However, we should follow good ethics that always enhances our image when contrasting with the realistic image of the organization by letting our conscience guide us at all times. Albert Schweitzer rightly said, "Ethics is the activity of man directed to secure the inner perfection of his personality" (Siddiqui, 2014). References Alvesson, M. and Sveningsson, S., 2015.Changing organizational culture: Cultural change work in progress. Routledge. Bond, C.J. and Kirsch, P., 2015. Vulnerable populations affected by mining: Predicting and preventing outbreaks of physical violence.The Extractive Industries and Society,2(3), pp.552-561. Bowden, R. 2013.The Importance Of Social Sustainability And Your Business. SteamFeed. Caligiuri, P., 2013.Cultural agility: Building a pipeline of successful global professionals. John Wiley Sons. Castronovo, R., 2014.Propaganda 1776: Secrets, Leaks, and Revolutionary Communications in Early America. Ferrell, O.C. and Fraedrich, J., 2016.Business ethics: Ethical decision making cases. Nelson Education. Gilbert, S.D., 2015.Business Liability and Economic Damages. Business Expert Press.

application essay essays

application essay essays Life is an adventure. When I was four years old I heard Yo-Yo Ma in Shanghai and immediately knew that was what I wanted to do with my life. I began private lessons and then enrolled in the Shanghai Conservatory where I completed my schooling. Then, to fulfil my dream of being a fine cellist, I moved to Calgary, Canada and spent the next year studying English and cello at Mount Royal College. Since 2000, I have been attending North Park University in Chicago, under full scholarship, and have been studying cello with Professor Hans Jensen at Northwestern University. I am now a senior at North Park University and so am considering how best to pursue advanced musical studies as my dream is still to become a professional musician. I have been searching for an institution that would help make that dream a reality. Juilliard is, of course, a wonderful music school and attracts a very high calibre of students and instructors. I believe it would be a great experience to have the opportunity of being able to work with them. I just performed a student recital at North Park University with Midori and she strongly suggested that I should seek out opportunities to work with highly skilled musicians. As well, I am obviously attracted to the extraordinary depth and range of cultural institutions in New York City, including the New York Philharmonic, the world-renowned musicians who perform at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, and both the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera Companies. I am sure that being exposed to all this would add depth and understanding to my development as a musician. Access to these and associated musical opportunities is of great value to any serious student of music. My studies under Prof. Jensen have helped a great deal with my musical development but I believe that I am at the stage where I can greatly benefit from a focused, conservatory-like music school. Also, I believe I would be particularly comfort...

Business Performance Measures

Business Performance Measures Introduction The world has become very competitive in almost all aspects of human life that has necessitated the need to boost performance in order for businesses to continue with their daily operations. Governments, non governmental organizations and individual firms have had to devise cost effective ways of ensuring their business operations are viable despite the high rate of inflation that seems to run out of control.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Business Performance Measures specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is common knowledge that modernization has brought stiff competition in the quality and quantity of goods and services produced and those firms that meet the required production standards remain in operations. While some companies have taken to monopolization others have merged under different banners in order to increase efficiency in their delivery of services. Regardless of the approach taken by a co mpany to boost its performance there are various measures it must put in place in order to assess its performance. This essay outlines some of the performance measures a company may adopt, benefits such measures bring to the company and the actions it can take with regard to the outcomes of these measures. Performance is a common term used in business to refer to the value of business out put that is used to assess the viability of any business venture in terms of profits or losses. It is measured in two ways in terms of the volume of goods and services produced and profits or losses generated from the sales made. A measure is any approach taken towards realization of any goal by a business (Cokins 2009). Therefore, performance measures are steps taken by a business organization in the attempt of seeking to identify its position as far as business operations are concerned. This discussion covers the human resource and product and service measures as essential tools of evaluating the performance of any business. Human resource plays a very important role in the daily running of business operations in all organizations. Therefore, it forms an important aspect that can not be isolated from performance.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This is due to the fact that human beings constitute a grater percentage of sources of labor in all operations and in areas where machines are used human beings are in charge of controlling them. Performance measures in terms of human resource has various dimensions that include, performance evaluations, productivity reports, turnover, absenteeism and employee satisfaction surveys. Performance evaluations are important measures that businesses undertake in order to assess the levels of production of its workers. Performance is evaluated on the basis of worker’s academic qualifications, experience, interests a nd skills that are essential in ensuring workers deliver quality work (Luecke 2006). Any worker who does not have the required skills is more likely to deliver poor quality work while an experienced person stands high chances of better performance. This is an essential tool of evaluation as it enables the management to identify the worker’s potentials and this helps them in allocation of duties and responsibilities according to the worker’s abilities to perform. A business may decide to train its employees further in order to increase their skills and knowledge by sponsoring their part time education programs and giving them more off duty allowances in order to attend their classes. Timely and accurate information regarding employee’s performance will help the management identify its weak performance areas and plan on how to develop them in order to ensure all workers do their best. Worker’s productivity reports may be prepared by the management as measur es towards assessing business performance. It should be noted that every employee plays an important role in determining the productivity of a business regardless of the person’s position in a company. All positions in a business are created with a view of boosting performance and there is no department or position that should be treated as inferior to others. The business is like a body while workers are like the organs that make the body to function properly and be healthy. Worker’s productivity reports help management identify the specific abilities of every worker and avoid generalization of workers performance (Cokins 2009). Employees who consistently perform below the company’s expectations should be given essential advice and warned in advance but if they seem not to improve they should be laid off and other people with prospects of better performance hired. This measure helps management plan on future expansions of the company in terms of its work force and production.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Business Performance Measures specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More All workers are supposed to spend quality time at their work place in order to boost production and efficiency. It should be noted that time is a very important factor in the process of production and should be spent wisely (Luecke 2006).Therefore, employees should ensure they do constructive activities when at work. Work attendance records will help the management assess their employees in terms of the number of hours they dedicate to work. Those frequently absent from duty should be sacked immediately as this shows laxity and lack of interest and personal initiatives by employees. This measure helps to identify the amount of work an individual is capable of doing in a given time. More time spent at work means more service or goods will be produced and vise versa. The company is able to plan a head with re gard to production of its services or goods. A company may also conduct turnover surveys to identify its ability to produce goods and services within a given time frame. This survey helps the company to identify its potentials and assess whether it is performing according to its expectations. This measure will help the company identify areas that are productive and those that are dormant. It gives management an insight into future planning in terms of budgetary allocation to various departments to boost their efficiency in production. The second approach of measuring performance is through the use of product and service measures. The first step in this approach is conducting surveys on the levels of customer satisfaction with regard to the quality and quantity of goods and services offered by a company (Cokins 2009). This may be done through questionnaires or through conducting interviews that aim to establish the levels of satisfaction their clients attain with regard to the compan y’s services. This measure helps the company to identify weaknesses of a product or service and correct them as soon as possible. It helps a company in planning on how to avoid the occurrence of such errors in future. It enables the business to know the tastes preferred by clients. Rates of returns help businesses asses their performance as it offers an insight to the level the product or service has penetrated the market. Through conducting this survey the management will identify the various marketing strategies that will enable it deliver its services to almost all regions accessible by it. Timely awareness of the problems arising from this survey will help a business change its marketing strategies or use different strategies to market their products.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More A company may choose to asses its performance through surveying the product rates of failure that will enable it identify the effectiveness of its services. This will enable the company to know the reasons why the products are failing and analyze whether it is as a result of poor quality or lack of information on the use of the product and thus address the issues as soon as possible (Cokins 2009). Products’ rates of failure helps to eliminate future assumptions by correcting the client’s current perceptions regarding the quality of services offered. The number of clients served within a particular period of time is an essential step in measuring the performance of any business. This measure offers relevant information regarding the volume of sales made in a given time. This survey measure will enable a company to assess whether the price of goods, timing of their sales, efficiency of employers or the volume of goods produced determine the number of clients served (Luec ke 2006). Timely and accurate information obtained through this survey will help the management plan ahead and decide whether to increase the number of workers to eliminate long queues of clients waiting to be served or extend the time of operations in order to serve many clients within the shortest time possible. Conclusion All business investments are founded on the basis of utilizing all opportunities to make profits and at the same time offer quality goods and services to their clients. If essential steps are not taken early to monitor the performance of a business huge losses may be incurred leading to termination of its operations. Therefore, it is important that businesses conduct performance surveys to determine their viability. References Cokins, G. (2009). Performance Management: Integrating Strategy Execution, Methodologies, Risk and Analytics (Wiley and SAS Business Series). New York: Wiley Publishers. Luecke, R. (2006). Harvard Business Essentials: Performance Managemen t: Measure and Improve the Effectiveness of your Employees. Boston: Harvard Business Review.

Computer literacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Computer literacy - Essay Example These make of computers are expensive and mainly used for specific operations and applications that need huge amount of information and calculations. They are used in weather forecasting among many other places where supercomputers are needed such as nuclear energy research, geological data analysis, and electronic design. Mainframe computers- it is a powerful computer used by several users thus referred to as a multi-user computer. These computers got their names after the small â€Å"minicomputers† emerged in the early 1970s. Today, the mainframe computers are very large. They are very expensive since they can support several hundreds of users at the same time. In different ways, it can be said that mainframe computers exhibit superior characteristics compared to supercomputers since they can support several programs simultaneously. On the other hand, supercomputers have the advantage of executing single programs at a faster rate compared to mainframe computers. Minicomputers- these are midsize computers used for applications. Their main uses includes engineering, desktop publishing, development of software and many other applications that needs moderate amount of power to compute. Personal computers-they first came to existence in 1970s. They are small, inexpensive and designed to be used by individual users. The first types of personal computers to come to the market were the Apple II. Personal computers are categorized depending on size and chassis. The chassis is also referred to as the metal frame, which serves as the structural support for electronic components. Personal computers evolved to a point where small portable computers came to being. There are different types of personal computers including Tower model-in this computer, the mass storage, motherboard and the power supply are on top of one another in a cabinet. This is opposite of what exists in the desktop models where these computer components are in a compact set of box. Tower

American Government poli science 10 exam question Essay

American Government poli science 10 exam question - Essay Example Several generations of political philosophy, scientific empiricism, and intellectual theory culminated in the Revolutionary War that sought the transformation of these abstract ideas into reality for a new society (Fiske, 2012). Antiquity and England itself were the principal inspirations for the ideas about independence, liberty, and the form envisioned by the Founders for their new government. Republicanism derived from several inspirations, notably the ancient Greek and Rome societies where all citizens (except slaves, who were not accorded citizenship) subordinated their private interests voluntarily to the common good. The republics predicated their authority and stability based on citizenry and their resistance to tyranny and corruption. For republicans in the eighteenth century, a person with virtue had a high sense of morality, owned property, and was ready to subordinate his or her interests for the sake of the community (Fiske, 2012). Such are the kind of people Benjamin Franklin and other Founding Fathers thought capable of freedom. The Constitution Framers were visionaries. They designed the Constitution to last. They sought both to address the challenges facing America during their lifetimes and to establish foundational principles that would guide and sustain the new nation into a future that was uncertain (Levy, 2000). Their vision is reflected in the wording of the Constitution. The document defines the fundamental freedoms of Americans in general terms: â€Å"due process of law,† â€Å"freedom of speech,† â€Å"equal protection of laws,† â€Å"free exercise of religion,† â€Å"cruel and unusual punishment† among others. It also sets forth the powers of the government in general terms: the President will ensure that laws are faithfully executed, Congress may regulate commerce in several states, the courts have authority to decide on cases and

Marketing Approaches for Overcoming Increased Competition in the UK Assignment

Marketing Approaches for Overcoming Increased Competition in the UK Hotel Industry - Assignment Example However, in practice, problems are likely to appear when having to apply the market principles related to competition. The challenges set can be many, mostly related to the lack of effective marketing policies for ensuring the equal promotion of firms within each one of the market’s industries. At this point, the identification of the characteristics of the marketing environment is considered as critical in order to understand the needs of industries and organizations and to develop valid assumptions regarding the measures required for protecting competition. In accordance with Dibb and Simkin (2001) the marketing environment can be characterized as ‘those external trading forces that directly or indirectly influence and organization’s acquisitions of inputs and generation of outputs’ (Dibb and Simkin 2001, p.199). The marketing approaches appropriate for managing the increasing competition in a specific sector, the hotel industry, of the UK market, are rev iewed in this paper. Reference is made to the characteristics of the marketing environment, as described above, but also to the differentiation of competition, compared to the past, as mostly resulted by the high development of technology worldwide. The current status of the hotel industry in UK is also described aiming to show the ways in which marketing could help the industry’s firms to face competition, which seems to be continuously increased. It is made clear that marketing can highly support firms in the hotel industry against competition. However, it is necessary for the relevant plans to be designed and promoted using particular criteria, which are analytically presented below. 2. Hotel industry in UK 2.1 Characteristics and trends Hotel industry is one of the most important sectors of UK market. In accordance with Seaton and Bennett (1996) the strength of the industry can be related to its flexibility, meaning the availability of a wide range of rooms covering the n eeds of all visitors. It is also noted that ‘short – stay bookings’ (Seaton and Bennett 1996, p.315) which result to an important part of the industry’s profits, are carefully planned in hotels across UK ensuring that short-term visitors, which are most visitors in UK, are fully satisfied with the accommodation services provided across UK. In terms of marketing, reference should be made to the different approaches used by managers of hotels in UK in order to promote their enterprise. In this context, hotel groups are likely to emphasize on ‘brand through brochures’ (Seaton and Bennett 1996, p.315); on the other hand, ‘independent hoteliers tend to use price and market destination techniques’ (Seaton and Bennett 1996, p.315). The performance of the industry can be characterized as rather disappointing. In accordance with a recent report, in 2009, firms in the particular industry had ‘to freeze recruitment at a percentage of 2 5%’ (Prospects 2009); another 24% of firms in this industry have ‘cancelled their plans to employee new staff’ (Prospects 2009). The performance of the UK hotels from 2003 up to 2009 is presented in Graph 1, Appendix. Despite the market pressures, ‘106 new hotels (with a capacity of 11,800 rooms) opened in 2011’

Business Network Transformation

Business Network Transformation It is nearly impossible to imagine any company in this global economy that operates isolated and does not interact with suppliers, partners and vendors at some stage. This global ecosystem is remoulding relationships between companies in new and often uncomfortable ways. Companies are organizing collaborative partnerships globally to support their business operations locally. That extends their business value and gain competitive advantage. These enterprises are seeing beyond conventional business boundaries to lower costs, increase profit and improve quality of service they provide by tapping into applications, personnel, and infrastructure irrespective of where they reside. So, companies are looking to gain competitive advantage by leveraging these novel opportunities arose from intercompany interactions. Though Business Network Transformation is not a new concept, this idea had been kept apart from action due to IT limitations. Companies traditionally focused on customers, internal processes and cost cutting to differentiate their business in this ecosystem. But IT has changed this perception recently. Enhanced IT capabilities for communication, collaboration and information sharing caused increasing global competition. Companies realised a new way of doing business working together while working for others. Examining their value chains and understanding this competitive weapon resulted in formation of Business Networks. This paper contains the following topics; Business Network transformation explained with example How IT helps business networks and role of IT in business network transformation Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) explained with 3 success stories Relating Service Oriented Architecture to Enterprise Resource Planning packages Conclusion Business Network Transformation According to Philip Lay and Geoffrey Moore, Business Networks are groups of companies that work together toward a specific objective for mutual financial benefit. The example below helps to understand Business Network Transformation. Business network of Cellular Phone Company: Partners: Mobile handset makers, Chipset provider, Network switching manufacturer, Contract manufacturers, Wireless carriers, Routing Vendors, Application enablers, Service providers voicemail, email, mobile search, banking, video streaming etc., Advertisers banks, pharmaceuticals, CPG companies etc., Consumers mobile phone owners, dealers enterprises etc. Strategic Objective: A multi channel marketing strategy to transit from manufacturing handsets and equipment to a software service provider. Business process and IT implications: Demand data should be visible to ensure high level of retail stock through rapid supply chain response. This implies binding marketing programs and sell-out data to improve marketing return on investment. This example shows a company with collaborating partners in a business network and their strategic objective to transformation. As the definition of business networks has become known to everyone, the pace in which these networks are created and transformed and what IT resources are needed for this transition became a challenge. Role of IT in Business Network Transformation Potential to compete in this global market depends on businesss network of people and flexible processes. New technologies like Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Software as a Service (SaaS) enable these networks to amplify opportunities and flourish. Effective and efficient communication by sharing information across its ecosystem of suppliers, employees, customers and distributors is enabled by implementing such service oriented architecture and services. Utilising these capabilities, companies can provide improved customer experience due to improved intercompany interaction. These potentials also enable seamless interaction with intra company systems focusing on improving value chain. Taking full advantage of these global opportunities from business networks and becoming globally integrated enterprise demands high level of flexibility. Businesses need to merge newly acquired business potentials and technologies with legacy applications. Existing IT infrastructure must be adaptable to changes in business models and must be ready to accommodate them. Information is already being shared internally across departments within the business but now it has to be shared externally across business partners, across countries and continents. Business processes must be agile and consistent alignment between business and IT is critical. Service Oriented Architecture (SOA): Service oriented architecture (SOA) enables business organizations to achieve this agility needed to compete in global ecosystem. It divides the business into functional components that are easy to be drawn together quickly and economically. They are flexible enough to reuse in meaningful combinations to meet evolving business needs. These components are called Services. These combinations of services enable efficient collaboration and communication across company lines and unearth information buried within business processes. According to IBM, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is A business-centric IT architectural approach that supports integrating your business as linked, repeatable business tasks, or services. Service oriented architecture is essentially collection of services. These services are loosely coupled and implemented in standard ways. In other words, caller needs no knowledge of the technology or location of service provider. For example Create invoice as a service can be invoked by any other business unit or from any business application when invoice needs to be created. SAP defined Enterprise SOA as A blue print for an adaptable, flexible and open IT architecture for developing services-based, modular business solutions. Three features of an SOA: These three features provide value in a business by implementing SOA. Software reuse: Reusing components is one of the important advantages of SOA. Reusable components enable companies to avoid redundancy. For example a business has many functional silos and each silo usually needs information from other silo such as customer information or invoice. When these silos are using disparate technologies and are operating on different platforms, they need duplicate instances of this information in each silo. SOA creates single version of such services which can be shared across all functional silos. Composite applications: Composite applications are new cross-functional applications formed by combining functionality from many existing systems. For example, SOA enables companies to provide a single point access to a range of products through a self service portal for business partners. Usually this portal might be a combination of different processes with different technologies supported by IT services. Standard interface: Caller of a service does not need to have knowledge about services location or technology platform on which it was developed. Interface to services in SOA takes standard form. This facilitates a flexibility to run services where they are needed irrespective of location and technology with greater ease. It can also increase IT efficiency, improve quality of service and reduce costs. Coming to business partners, these loosely coupled, standard interfaced services provide extra benefits. Partner need not to be aware of progress of implementation of a service, as SOA provides transparency of location and technology. Standard interface enables partners to call a service having minimum information about the service. In essence, the below are the benefits fall into three business categories: Business Effectiveness: Business agility Greater speed in responsiveness to market Competitive advantage Improved business process efficiency Accuracy in deployment of resources according to business needs Cost factor: Maintenance costs are reduced Minimum skills and efforts needed for business change Optimized price due to choice of platform, technology and location Risk factor: Incremental deployment Enhanced IT quality Optimized payback times Enterprise Resource Planning and Service Oriented Architecture: A single system capable of accommodating business data which is centralised and accessible across all functional areas in the company was the basic concept of ERP. Before ERP era, data would flow across business units but not stored in one system. The single system was the selling point of all ERP vendors like SAP, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle etc. ERP implementation requires no service work to integrate smaller components but ERP implementation normally required greater customization. Without customization, ERP software packages seldom matched business processes and getting to the ready to work status. Though implementing ERP results many advantages, it has few drawbacks in terms of cost, customization and timeline for implementation. So ERP implementation and support are expensive and time consuming. It is also costly in the area of upgrading because it is tightly coupled package. The evolution of Service oriented architecture concept focused on these pitfalls of ERP. The Enterprise appl ication vendors used client server technology in 1990s and web client technology in 2000s. Now they are transiting to Service oriented architecture approach to ERP. This blend of ERP based on SOA is the best of breed approach facilitating customers to have more options to select services from any vendor. SOA can be said as father of modern IT architectures. Due to this combination, ERP components became services in Service oriented architecture. The below two are leading ERP vendors who recently released their ERP package based on SOA, SAP Enterprise SOA: SAP NetWeaver is the new product based on SOA. SAP NetWeaver is a platform on which other components such as Finances, Human Resource, Business Intelligence, Business process outsourcing etc are implemented. It boasts the advantages based on its SOA features such as web connections, Business network transformation etc. Oracle Oracle Fusion Middleware: Fusion Middleware is Oracles product based on SOA. It is a family of products seamlessly integrated to run agile business applications. Business Intelligence, User Interface, Content management, SOA Process Management etc. are components in this package. IBM Smart SOA: Smart SOA is a set of guiding principles derived from solidified best practices and documented projects. They have created entry points to each of their products such as Business Intelligence, BPM etc. These entry points are undertaking well defined, focused and individual project to meet individual business need. The role of SOA in Business Network Transformation can be easily understood from the success stories below. Ergon takes oil business to the web Ergon is United States based Petroleum Company. It is a privately owned company with 2,500 employees. It specializes in petroleum products with up and downstream operations like refineries, sales and final trucking. Business need: Ergon wanted to integrate internal processes to improve access to the information and to deliver that information to its customer. The company wanted to introduce self service portals and automated workflows to accelerate budget approval processes. Solution: Ergon has more than 50 operations within the business and each of which is a distinguished profit centre that reports back to the headquarters. They implemented SAP business workflow on existing SAP infrastructure to support purchasing and to automate approval of requisitions. Ergon also implemented IBM TotalsStorage DS6800 and changed its databases to IBM D2 facilitating upgrade their ERP to SAP ECC 6.0 in future. Benefits: Enterprise wide: SAP standardized their business processes. SAP enabled Ergons employees to gain consolidated view of individual workflow and to make better deals with their vendors. SAP ECC 6.0 based on SAP NetWeaver fetches more options for Ergon in the future. Portals enabled users to view core functionality tailored close to business needs. SAP NetWeaver created single enterprise platform. They could successfully align their business needs with their SAP ERP solution with greater flexibility and helping Ergons transition to SOA. Business flow: Ergon implemented SAP business workflow to support purchasing process as part of its ongoing enhancements to internal efficiency. SAP workflow tool accelerated approval of requisition process. This saved lot of administrative time by generating automated routing and emails. SAP business workflow reduced administrative workload and accelerated purchasing. After successful implementation of workflow tool and gained benefits from it, Ergon is now looking to extend this tool into other functional areas such as human resources. Storage Performance: Information access rates were improved and they saved 10-12 hours per weekend on database maintenance. This enabled freeing technical staff and to achieve better throughput for live users. They could increase the access up to 17 times faster than before. DS 6800 made reports and transactions through SAP applications run much more quickly. Storage performance is increased with new storage systems DS6800 and DB2 for business critical SAP systems. Stability: SAP and IBM worked together and IBMs DB2 is constantly supporting SAP applications. As performance and availability have become important aspects in extending SAP applications to more functional areas, this combination of SAP applications and IBM DB2 on IBM hardware using AIX operating system is helping Ergon to deliver excellent response times. Bezeq setup SOA: Bezeq is Israel based leading telecommunications provider. It is a privately owned company with 7,700 employees and with revenue of US $ 1 Billion. Its product and services range includes, domestic, international and cellular phone services, internet and data communication services. Business need: Bezeq wanted to maintain focus on new vision that is customer facing. In the highly competitive industry they wanted to keep their market shares regulated tightly. Field technicians needed equipment with mobile capabilities such as to prepare electronic bills, or customer receipts etc. They also planned to architect a reusable set of web services. Their objectives were to avoid constraints of location with handheld mobile devices and to provide application developers with a reusable set of services. Solution: Bezeq implemented SAP NetWeaver technology platform including exchange infrastructure, enterprise portal components and Web Dynpro development environment for mobile computing. Benefits: Enterprise wide: End to end business process integration was made possible by implementing SAP NetWeaver. This platform also enabled real time monitoring of field repair procedures. As NetWeaver is based on SOA, Bezeq was able to achieve improvements in processes surrounding service calls. Bezeq achieved speed in service completion from assignment to invoice. It has time to focus on streamlining its core telecommunications processes. Avoiding constraints of physical location: Field technicians are given PDAs to receive service calls through which they can order replenishments which also updates central inventory and customer records. They can use these PDAs from their homes and even while travelling. They can even get work related messages and use their cars as local and mobile warehouse for receiving and distributing parts to customers. Reusable services: For mobile computing, team has chosen Web Dynpro development environment. It is actually to program technician PDAs to access directly SAP NetWeaver portal component. Access to back end functionality that calls to the back end SAP system was encapsulated as reusable we services. Reduction in costs and risk in terms of both time and money is ensured by this use of encapsulated web services that is also flexible and reusable. Business model evaluation: Equipment and supplies are optimally allocated and managed using tools that technicians use. Company eliminated hour long scheduling session and consequently saved significant amount of money. They started saving 3, 250 hours a week. Bezeq has also reduced average response times to service requests from 6 days to 2 working days that should help increase customer satisfaction. Wipro Technologies helps its customers to make it quick Wipro Technologies is a division of Wipro Limited, the first global IT services organization to be certified in PCMM level 5 and SEI CMM level 5 and with annual revenue is US $4.3 Billion and 99,965 employees. They are one of the largest product engineering and support service providers globally. They have comprehensive research and development and provide IT solutions and services like systems integration, information systems outsourcing, software application development, package implementation and maintenance services. Business need: Wipro wanted to improve business process agility so as to improve customer experience for large automotive manufacturer in North America to increase competitive advantage. They also wanted to avoid difficulties involved in service level agreements in the areas of service contracts, monitoring agreements and track design times by deploying IT management tools. Wipro planned to increase security level in exposing IT services of the auto manufacturer. Solution: Wipro implemented Oracle products and services including Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle SOA suit including web services manager and BPEL process manager. They also implemented Oracle Enterprise manager an ERP solution that includes Tuning pack, Diagnostics pack, Management pack for SOA and Configuration management pack. Benefits: Enterprise wide: Oracles customer, the automotive manufacturer could roll out new services quickly and leveraged existing IT infrastructure and investments. They could successfully manage the implementation including services by various stakeholders, business units and vendors. Business to consumer portal enabled Wipros customer to access information online. They also gained the ability to analyse their IT infrastructure, capacity planning and service planning. Oracle SOA Suite: As customer deployed Oracle SOA suite, it enabled them to roll out new services in fast pace while leveraging existing IT investments. Business to consumer portal developed using this suite allowed automotive manufacturer to access information such as vehicle service alerts, campaign information, recall information and credit card reward points online. They also built a composite application enabled by SOA suite to aggregate account information gathered from disparate functional units in the business. Earlier, this application development used J2EE and took over one year and now with SOA suite it took 90 days. As part of SOA suite, Web services Manager assure Oracles customer to have the appropriate authorisation to access services. Oracle Enterprise Manager: This product from Oracle enabled its customer to proactively analyse IT infrastructure, service performance and capacity planning. As part of Enterprise Manager, Diagnostic pack enabled the automotive manufacturer to view problem areas in a single view. These success stories reveal how SOA enables businesses to gain competitive advantage by strengthening their business network and internal capabilities. Conclusion: In this commoditizing global economy it is critical to have the ability to operate effectively in business networks and to sustain competitive advantage. This ability to operate business effectively is made easy by Best of Breed IT solution (SOA and ERP) enabling businesses to excel at global scale. But the businesses have a challenge to come out of the shell to invest on these technologies to stand at the top in their niche markets. They also gain advantage of auditing their current infrastructure, business processes and integrate them to achieve single view.

Little Green Men Or Just Little Microscopic Organisms? :: essays research papers fc

Little Green Men or Just Little Microscopic Organisms? The question of life on Mars is a puzzle that has plagued many minds throughout the world. Life on Mars, though, is a reality. When you think of Martians, you think of little green men who are planning to invade Earth and destroy all human life, right? Well, some do and some do not. Though believing that there are little green men on Mars is just a fantasy, or is it? The kind of life that may have lived there is the kind you would never consider of giving the name "Martian" to. They are small organisms such as microbes or bacteria. Proof of this was found in a meteorite containing the fossils of the microscopic organisms intact. Two highly regarded chemistry professors from Stanford, Claude Maechling and Richard Zare, dissected three meteorites that were about 2 to 8 millimeters long and found trace elements of a big mumbo jumbo word— polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. That pretty much means that there once was a warmer climate and maybe even lakes or oceans. Life on Mars is now a real idea. The climate of Mars about 3.8 billion years ago was much similar to the young Earth. Microbes and bacteria probably sprouted everywhere in the warm and wet climate. Although now we only see a cold red planet, which was probably due to a collision of an astroid that would have set back the evolution process of Mars, causing it to be a harsh planet. A Viking spacecraft which landed on Mars in 1976 found that the planet was bathed in ultraviolet radiation, "intense enough so it would probably fry any microbe we know on this planet,"says Jack Farmer, an Ames researcher who calls himself an "exopaleontologist"—a searcher for fossils on other worlds. The redness of Mars is due to the chemical assault known as oxidation, which turns iron compounds into rust, and it would surely kill anything that sticks its head up. "So why do you still believe that there is life on Mars?" you say. Life on Mars is not located on the ultraviolet radiation oxidized surface. The microbes are found below it, probably located in the boiling hot springs, or in frozen time capsules. Life here on Earth are located in some strange places so why wouldn't the Martian microbes be found in strange places if they were trying to survive? Scientists have found bacteria here on Earth that were living inside rocks where they got all of their nourishment from the rocks and from some water. Martians probably do the same thing.

Underepresentation of Women in Positons of Authority.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 1 Introduction The focus of this chapter is to review critically and synthesize relevant knowledge about how and when specific levels of instruments and/ or policy interventions work to empower women and thereby increase gender equality, as stated by the World Bank (2001). Decision-making procedures should be changed to make room for female influences, styles and characteristics as well as in implementation. Participation of women in decision-making processes should the corner stone of Zimbabwe’s ethos as a democratic nation. Zimbabwe should take an active role in promoting gender balance in decision-making.It is important to have balanced participation of women and men at all levels of decision making. Gender equality is central to human development and to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as well as to the enhancement of development effectiveness, (UNDP, 2011). MDGs attach great importance to gender equality and women's empowerment in all facets of life. Gender mainstreaming is one of the strategies that the UN utilises to promote the integration of gender perspectives into the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes (UNDP, 2011).Gender equity is giving boys and girls, women and men equal opportunities in the utilisation of personal capabilities to realize full human rights (UNDP, 2011). There are many studies that have been done by scholars across the world to find association between women empowerment and socio- economic performance. There is empirical evidence that the promotion of gender equity leads to better economic performance of the concerned societies.One such study was done by Stephan Klasen who said that gender gaps undermined â€Å"the ability of women to be effective agents of economic process. Societies with greater female employment opportunities are less prone to corruption and poor governance†, (Klasen, 2006:151). 2. 2 Overview of globa l efforts on gender equality Despite efforts made to ensure that female representation is achieved at all levels of governance, women are still underrepresented in many government and non-government organizations, particularly in positions of power and leadership.According to Campbell (2003:7-8), women’s current position is the result of the historical fact that Zimbabwe’s transition from white colonial rule did not dismantle the structures of patriarchy or oppression, which happen to serve the current regime just as well. 2. 3 Historical Background of Gender Equality According to a UN report of 1997, gender equality, also known as sex equality or sexual equality, is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.This goal includes making women’s rights equal to men's and also making men’s rights equal to women's. 1972-1980s Although the first United Nations Conference on the Human Env ironment in Stockholm, 1972 saw the establishment of the UN Environment Program (UNEP), officially linked the physical environment and society in its title, in the 1960s and 1970s social issues were still largely disconnected from environmental policies and programs.When the World Conservation Strategy living resource conservation for sustainable development the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was launched in 1980, the focus of that document on social-environmental linkages still was presented in a gender-neutral way. 1985The Third United Nations Women’s Conference in Nairobi in 1985, however, was among the first international forum that made explicit the linkages between sustainable development and women’s involvement and empowerment as well as gender equality and equity. In the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies, the environment was included as an area of concern for women. During the Nairobi conference in 1985, UNEP hosted a special Session on Women and the Environment, and UNEP’s Senior Women Advisors Group (SWAG) was established to advice the organization on bringing a gender perspective in its environmental program. 990s In the run-up to the World Summit of 2002, United Nations Conference on Environment and Development UNCED, held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, the UN Secretariat for UNCED, UNEP and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) as well as NGOs such as WEDO and World Wildlife Fund, undertook a number of advocacy activities that reflected the conclusions reached at the 1985 Nairobi Non-governmental Organization-Forum workshops, that stated: â€Å"The growth of women’s power and the sustainability of development are ecologically tied. Environmental Liaison Centre (ELC, 1985). They underlined that women not only bear the highest costs of environmental problems, but as managers of primary resources, also have the greatest potential for contributing to the solution of the crisis. The advocacy activities during the UNCED process resulted in a reasonably Agenda 21, not only including more than 145 references to the specific roles and positions of women in environment and sustainable development, but also a separate Chapter 24 entitled ‘Global action for women towards sustainable development’.This chapter acknowledges the need for a broad participation of women as major group at all governmental levels and in all UN agencies related activities in sustainable development, as well as the need for the integration of a gender perspective on sustainable development planning and implementation. The United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing (1995) identified environment as one of twelve critical areas for women.Section K of the Beijing Platform for Action, on women and the environment, asserted that â€Å"women have an essential role to play in the development of sus tainable and ecologically sound consumption and production patterns and approaches to natural resource management† (paragraph 246). 2000s Five years later, at the Millennium Summit in New York, world leaders promised in the Millennium Declaration â€Å"to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women as effective ways to combat poverty, hunger and disease and to stimulate development that is truly sustainable†.This vision was reflected in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including MDG 1, eradicate extreme poverty, MDG 3 promote gender equality and empower women, and MDG 7 ensure environmental sustainability. However, until now, in governmental reporting on MDG 7 environmental linkages to gender equality are neglected. As input for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, women as major group prepared two documents (ECOSOC/UN, 2001 and 2002), in which progress on the implementation of Agenda 21 from a gender perspective was reviewed.It was concluded th at at international, national and local levels important steps had been taken, but that these were rather scattered and that most were of an ad hoc character. The review showed that there has been no real integration of gender issues into global environment and sustainable development policies and activities, let alone a thorough mainstreaming of gender concerns into these areas. Instead of real implementation, more commitments were made.Principle 20 of the Johannesburg Declaration of the World Summit on sustainable Development (2002) reads: â€Å"We are committed to ensure that women’s empowerment and emancipation, and gender equality are integrated in all activities encompassed within Agenda 21, the Millennium Development Goals, and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. † Among the 153 paragraphs of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) 30 refer to gender aspects.These deal with: benefits of sustainable development to women; the elimination of violence an d discrimination; access to health services; access to land and other resources (particularly in Africa); the enhancement of the role of women in resources management; education for all; participation of women; gender mainstreaming; and gender specific information and data. Major advocacy efforts resulted in a decision by the Commission on Sustainable Development at its 11th session in 2003 to make gender a cross-cutting issue in all its upcoming work up until 2015.In a global context in which gender inequality proves to be one of the most pervasive forms of inequality (UNDP, 2005), the international community during the 10-year Review of the Beijing Platform for Action, recommitted itself to the global goal of gender equality and the empowerment of women. One of the areas of disparity between males and females is related to the difference in their employment status which is manifested by occupational segregation, gender-based wage gaps, and women’s disproportionate represent ation in informal employment, unpaid work and higher unemployment rates (UNFPA, 2005).As women in developing countries have low status in the community, the activities they perform tend to be valued less; and women’s low status is also perpetuated through the low value placed on their activities (March et al. , 1999). According to the millennium indicators data base of the United Nations, cited in the UNFPA (2005), the percentage of parliamentary seats held by women in 2005 was 16% at world level, 21% in developed countries, and 14% in developing countries.This low representation of women in national parliaments could be due to type of electoral systems in different countries, women’s social and economic status, socio-cultural traditions and beliefs about women’s place in the family and society, and women’s double burden of work and family responsibilities (UNFPA, 2005). Beijing Platform for Action (1995) called on governments to take measures to ensure w omen’s equal access to and full participation in, power structures and decision-making.The outcome document of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly (2000) reiterated the need to increase the representation of women. The UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) affirmed the need to include women in decision-making with regard to issues of peace and security. In 2006 the 50th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women adopted the agreed-upon conclusions on the equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes, (UN/DAW, 2007).Other important commitments related to women’s political participation in Africa include: Article 4 (l) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union, the Dakar Platform for Action (1994); the African Plan of Action to Accelerate the Implementation of the Dakar and Beijing Platforms for Action for the Advancement of Women (1999); the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003); and the African Union’s Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (2004).In Zimbabwe gender disparities characterise all aspects of development with Zimbabwe ranked at â€Å"130 in the global gender-related development index according to the (Human Development Report, 2007/2008), reflecting the generally low status of women with respect to access, control and ownership of economic resources and positions in decision-making processes†.This is despite the promulgation of various laws, ratification and accession to regional and international declarations, conventions and protocols earmarked for creating an enabling environment for the accomplishment of justice and equality between men and women. The status of women in Zimbabwe has been noticeably affected by the economic problems facing the country as well as the persistence of discriminatory practices.The country has introduced â€Å"policy and legal measures to promote gender equ ality including the National Gender Policy and specific domestic violence legislation†, (UN, 2010); but in Zimbabwe women trail behind men on measures of economic empowerment â€Å"such as labour force participation, wage equality and representation in senior positions†, (World Economic Forum, 2010:318). A key barrier to gender equality is the discrimination stemming from the â€Å"dual system of law, where customary laws continue to disadvantage women, particularly in the family†, (Thabethe, 2011:8).Zimbabwe adopted â€Å"women in power† and â€Å"decision-making† as two of its priority areas under the Beijing Declaration (1995). The report by UNFPA (2010) notes that â€Å"the achievements made by Zimbabwe in terms of promoting gender equality at national level such as the appointment of the first female Vice-president in 2005, the drafting and launching of the National Gender Policy in 2004 and the enacting of progressive legislation such the Dom estic Violence Act and the Sexual Discrimination Act were landmark decisions.Labour laws have also been amended to reflect gender equality priorities. 2. 4 The Zimbabwe National Gender Policy (2004) According to the Republic of Zimbabwe, (2004), the vision of this policy is to have a â€Å"society in Zimbabwe where there is economic, political, religious and social equality and equity among women and men in all spheres of life and at all levels†. It was said that it anchored on the protection and respect of the rights of the individual.The Zimbabwe government went further highlighting that â€Å"the policy’s goals is to eliminate all negative economic, social and political policies, cultural and religious practices that impede equality and equity of the sexes; to mainstream gender in all aspect of the development process and to ensure sustainable equity, equality and empowerment of women and men in Zimbabwe in all spheres of life†, (Republic of Zimbabwe, 2004).I n 1997, together with other SADC governments, Zimbabwe signed the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development together with its Addendum on the Prevention and Eradication of Violence against Women and Children sets out to enhance equal participation of women and men in national development. Based on these national, regional and international instruments, the National Gender Policy will facilitate the designing and implementation of policies that redress gender imbalances in all spheres and levels of life as part of fulfilling its commitments.The National Gender Policy recognises the fact that women constitute more than 52 per cent of the population of Zimbabwe. It is therefore important that their representation and participation in the development process should be commensurate with this numerical reality. 2. 4. 2 Policy principles The Zimbabwe government (2004) indicated that based on the â€Å"national ethos of democracy, unity, equity, development and self-sufficiency, sets out to enhance equal participation of women and men in national development†.The policy was said to be in line with the need for economic growth, sustainable development, social justice and recognition and respect of human rights. However it is critical to recognise that gender discrimination has its basis in cultural values, beliefs and practices. In this regard, the National Gender Policy is premised on the following principles: †¢ A recognition that issues of development, human development in particular are concerned with equity, equality, participation, association, social justice and human rights. Gender discrimination is a serious impediment to development that affects the whole country and thus needs to be eliminated through appropriate individual and collective strategies. †¢ The prevalence and demonstration of political will and commitment to foster growth and enhance equity is a prerequisite to ensure the successful implementation of the National Gender Policy. †¢ A participatory approach that entails broad consultation and involvement of both women and men in all spheres of development guarantees success of the transformation of society to promote democracy, equality and equity between women and men. All Government policies must acknowledge women and men as equal and important human resources for development. This equality and equity of women and men is anchored on the protection and respect of the rights of the individual. 2. 5 Women in Zimbabwe Women’s status in Zimbabwe has been significantly affected by the economic problems facing the country as well as the persistence of discriminatory practices. The country has introduced policy and legal measures to promote gender equality including National Gender Policy and specific domestic violence legislation, (UN, 2010).Although Zimbabwe has achieved gender parity in primary school education, there remains a gender gap in secondary and tertiary education enrolments. Further, wom en trail behind men on measures of economic empowerment, such as â€Å"labour force participation, wage equality and representation in senior positions†, (World Economic Forum, 2010:318). A key barrier to gender equality is the discrimination stemming from the â€Å"dual system of law, where customary laws continue to disadvantage women, particularly in the family†, (Thabethe, 2011:8). . 6 Laws, Policies and Frameworks to Ensure Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women and Girls, (UN/ZIMBABWE, 2012). The frameworks will contribute to progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, specifically MDG 3: promote gender equality and empower women. To address this challenge, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCT) will support key governance institutions in policy and legislative formulation and implementation.Support will, therefore, be rendered to Government to put in place laws and policies that increase the participation of wom en in decision-making bodies and positions in both the private and public sectors. Moreover, the UN will support measures to ensure that the percentage of the national budget allocated to women and girls’ programs is increased (UN/Zimbabwe, 2012). The UN will work towards ensuring ratification, domestication, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of laws and policies that promote gender equality, human rights, and women and girls empowerment.Efforts will be made to mainstream gender into all Zimbabwe United Nations Development Assistance Framework (ZUNDAF) outcomes using a cross sectoral approach. An estimated amount of USD 20 million will be sourced from the UNCT and development partners for this outcome (UN/Zimbabwe, 2012). In Zimbabwe, gender disparities characterise all aspects of development, with Zimbabwe ranked at 130 in the global gender related development index according to the Human Development Report 2007/2008, reflecting the generally low status of women with respect to access, control and ownership of economic resources and positions in decision-making processes.This is despite the promulgation of various laws and the signature, ratification and accession to several regional and international declarations, conventions and protocols aimed at creating an enabling environment for the attainment of equity and equality between men and women. 2. 7 Structures that enhances subordination of Women in Politics The traditional female/male roles are deeply ingrained and glorified in all Zimbabwean languages, in education, the mass media, and advertising.The society’s perception of women is for the most part negative with the best women as mothers, and their capabilities and capacities going virtually unnoticed (Obura, 1991). Such sex stereotypes and social prejudices are inappropriate in the present society where female/male roles and male-headed families are no longer the norm. According to the United Nations (2000), sex stereo-types a re among the most firmly entrenched obstacles to the elimination of discrimination, and are largely responsible for the denigration of the role and potential of women in society. The subordinate osition of women in the society seems to legitimize their exclusion from participation in political and decision making processes. Many stories depict women as disloyal, disagreeable, untrustworthy, and even gullible (Kabira and Nzioki, 1995:57). Even today women continue to be left out of official records and when recognised, they are addressed as those who need welfare assistance rather than actors in the historical process. The heavy under-representation of women in political life and most decision making processes in Zimbabwe needs to be closely investigated.Karl (1995:185) explores some of the factors affecting women’s political participation worldwide. Among the factors she cites include: household status; work related rights (maternity leave, job security, provision of child-ca re); employment and remuneration; double burden of work; education and literacy; access to financial resources; legal rights; traditions, cultural attitudes and religion; socialization and self-reliance; violence against women; the mass media; health; ability to control fertility.Cooper and Davidson (1982:44) sought to study the problems that women in leadership positions generally face. They found that women face stress from both the work, home and social environments. In addition, women have to acquire male leadership and managerial skills (for example, being aggressive, assertive, confident), as well as multiple demands in running a career and a family. Other sources of stress include difficult working relationships with male bosses and colleagues, sexual harassment, limited opportunities for promotion and career development.The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) (2003) notes that gender equity is the process of being fair to women and men. To e nsure this fairness, measures must often be available to compensate for historical and political disadvantages that prevent women from otherwise operating on a levelled playing field with men. Equity leads to equality. Gender equality implies that women and men enjoy the same status.Gender equality means that women and men have equal opportunities for realizing their full human rights and potential to contribute to political, economic, social and cultural development, and to benefit from results thereof. Gender equality includes both quantitative and qualitative aspects. 2. 8 Enhancing Women’s Participation in Political Power Structures and Decision-Making A survey carried out among national parliaments in the world by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (1997) revealed that women make up less than 5 per cent of world’s heads of state, heads of major corporations, and top positions in international organizations.Five years down the line, the IPU has established that women ar e not just behind in political and managerial equity, they are a long way behind. Politics is everyone’s business and affects the lives of each of us. The more women are associated in numbers in political decision making process in governments, the more they can change the modalities and outcomes of policies. 2. 9 Discriminatory Family Code There is no legal discrimination against women and girls with respect to inheritance rights.In 1997, the Administration of Estates Act was amended to make the surviving spouse and the children of a deceased person as his or her major beneficiaries, as opposed to their heir who was mainly the eldest son. The Act provides that the â€Å"matrimonial home, whatever the system of tenure under which it was held and wherever it may be situated, remains with the surviving spouse. This includes household goods and effects†, (United Nations, 1996:60). The Act applies to all marriages, civil and customary, (United Nations Committee, 2010:12).D espite these laws, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions reports that â€Å"women are still denied their inheritance rights in practice due to discriminatory attitudes, women’s’ lack of awareness of their rights or women’s’ lack of resources to claim their rights†, (Bird et al, 2004:168). The Chronic Poverty Research Centre reports that only â€Å"37. 31 % of widows inherited majority of assets after their spouses in 2005/2006†, (Chronic Poverty Research Centre, 2011:20). Women’s position in the family can also be gleaned from their participation in household decision making.Data from the 1999 Demographic Health Survey provides a snapshot of gender equality in household decision making in Zimbabwe. For large household purchases, 42% of married women reported that â€Å"decisions were made jointly with their husbands, 36% reported that decisions were made solely by their husbands and 16% reported decision were made solely by them selves†, (Demographic Health Survey Zimbabwe, 1999). Furthermore, discriminatory attitudes and practices of authorities place further barriers in women’s access to justice.For instance, according to the US Department of State, authorities generally consider domestic violence to be a private matter, (United State Department, 2009). With respect to prosecutions of marital rape, the government reports that the prosecution of marital rape requires the consent of the Attorney General which may discourage women from reporting. Further, entrenched institutional and societal attitudes that deny marital rape as a form of violence against women also prevent women from seeking justice, (United Nations, 2010:13-14).Female genital mutilation is not widespread in Zimbabwe, but is practised by the Remba ethnic group, which represents a small proportion of the population. Within this group, mutilation is combined with infibulations, which involves closing the outer lips of the vulva, ( US Department of State 2002. Limitations on women’s reproductive rights also infringes upon women’s physical integrity in Zimbabwe. Abortion in Zimbabwe is permitted to save a woman’s life or health, in the event of rape or incest or due to foetal impairment. It is not permitted on request or on social or economic grounds, (United Nations Population Division, 2007).The 2006 Demographic and Health Survey found that overall 60% of married women use contraception and 58 % use modern methods of contraception, (Demographic Health Survey, 2006). 2. 9. 1 Son Bias Gender disaggregated data on rates of infant mortality and early childhood nutrition are not available for Zimbabwe. With respect to access to education, the World Economic Forum reports that Zimbabwe has reached gender parity in primary school enrolments which indicates that there is no preferential treatment of sons with respect to primary school education.However, a gender gap persists in secondary and tert iary education enrolments, suggesting that â€Å"the education of sons continues to be more highly valued than the education of daughters†, (World Economic Forum, 2010:318). Further, the government reported that â€Å"women and girls carry the primary burden of care in the context of HIV which suggests that daughter in Zimbabwe may experience greater time poverty compared to sons†, (United Nations 2010:48). Gender inequality is embedded in the patriarchal, social, religious and cultural stereotypes in Zimbabwean life.UNFPA (2008) indicated that â€Å"the continued presence of long standing cultural and traditional practices that discriminate against women have constrained the progress of achieving gender equality†. Gender inequality hurts the interest not only of women but also of men through societal connections. It often stems from social structures that institutionalise conceptions of gender differences. Cultural stereotypes are ingrained in â€Å"both men a nd women and these stereotypes are possible explanation for gender inequality† (Rhoads et al, 1996:130).McFadden (2004:42) proposes that women have been traditionally viewed as â€Å"being caring and nurturing and are designated to occupations which require such skills†. While these skills are culturally valued they were typically associated with domesticity so occupations requiring these same skills are not economically valued. Men have â€Å"traditionally been viewed as the breadwinners so jobs held by men have been historically economically valued† (McFadden, 2004:42).However, these practices and public attitudes towards the advancement of women and gender equality have not changed at the same pace as policy and institutional frameworks. Mtintso (1999:37) observes and describes the under-representation and discrimination against women as an â€Å"anathema to democracy†. She argues that â€Å"socialisation of women right from childhood directs them away from activities of power. Women tend to be less ambitious and internalises society’s expectation that they are not suited to policy making positions†. (Mtintso, 1999:37).Cooper et al (1994:92) supports Mtintso’s argument when he mentions that â€Å"it starts from the family level where the traditionally designated leader is a man†. The same principle is â€Å"still dominant in our society† (Cooper et al, 1994:92). Leary et al (1994:216) reiterates that â€Å"women have the will but are discriminated against by men in authority who refuse to promote them and by legislation which limit their opportunities†. Because of this ideology, very few women made it in politics. McFadden (1994†142) paints patriarchy as a â€Å"huge setback for women in Zimbabwe, as the society is patriarchal in nature†.Morley (2005:112) alludes to the fact that â€Å"this societal norm leaves out women from the corridors of power and men are left to address issues that mostly affect women such as exploitation, marginalisation, powerlessness, and violence†. Watson (2009:87-93) affirms that â€Å"the under-representation of women remains a big concern in decision making processes and will continue to seriously undermine the realization of equitability in womanhood†. Mtintso (1999:40) argues that â€Å"patriarchal attitudes have become so entrenched that they are literally taken as natural†.She further maintains that â€Å"the government decision bodies are so patriarchal and power is so obvious, women are in danger of being swallowed by its culture, ethos, values and priorities. † This point was supported by Cooper et al (1994) when they argue that â€Å"women fear moving against the mainstream and in that way find themselves compromising and promoting the very patriarchal agenda†. According to Campbell (2003:285), the patriarchal model of the liberation struggle was â€Å"the basis upon which the Afri can government was couched and had been entrenched into law†.Cheater and Gaidzanwa (1996:197) postulate that â€Å"tradition was employed in the first decade of Zimbabwe’s independence to spread the general message of women’s re-subordination†. Black women were considered as â€Å"chattels of black men† (Zuidberg, McFaddens and Chigudu, 2004; 112). Culture prevents women from participating in decision-making processes and the distinction is critical to make in light of the gender differences rooted in the culture and history of Zimbabwe where women have been marginalised in decision-making positions.Cooper et al (1994:100) argued that â€Å"cultural barriers seem to be difficult to remove since they are subtly enforced by both men and women, they are seen as immutable, but one should bear in mind that culture is dynamic, it needs programmes to advocate for popular participation of women in politics from high schools and influence the school curricu la in this line†. Cheater and Gaidzanwa (1996:189-200) perceive traditional roles of men and women as â€Å"still in place due to gender stereotype†.Women still find it challenging to stand and compete with men in the political arena. Cheater et al (1996:189-200) noted the idea of a woman â€Å"to stand to compete with men as unacceptable behaviour, an unheard of kind of a scenario†. 2. 10 Conclusion Given the above scenarios, there is need to scrutinize the conditions under which women are subjected to involvement, participation, and inclusion in key decision-making processes in Zimbabwe and specifically it’s Cabinet.This is because, despite the significant advances made in the policy and legislative reforms arena, the position of women in decision-making positions in the Cabinet of Zimbabwe remains relatively low and is extraordinarily under-representative of women in the highest structures of governance. Gender equality has dominated international debat e on development issues with many intervention mechanisms being invented but to no avail. This demonstrates a gap between policy formulation and the causes of the challenge they are intended to address. Herein lays the core of the problem i. e. the gap between policy and actual implementation.