Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Kaleidoscope Strategy Resume Essay

Pursuing success can feel like shooting in a landscape of moving targets: Every time you hit one, five more pop up from another direction. We are under constant pressure to do more, get more, be more. But is that really what success is all about? Laura Nash and Howard Stevenson interviewed and surveyed hundreds of professionals to study the assumptions behind the idea of success. They then built a practical framework for a new way of thinking about success—a way that leads to personal and professional fulfillment instead of feelings of anxiety and stress. The authors’ research uncovered four irreducible components of success: 1.- happiness: (feelings of pleasure or contentment about your life); 2.- achievement (accomplishments that compare favorably against similar goals others have strived for); 3.- significance (the sense that you’ve made a positive impact on people you care about); and 4.- legacy (a way to establish your values or accomplishments so as to help others find future success). Unless you hit on all four categories with regularity, any one win will fail to satisfy. People who achieve lasting success, the authors learned, tend to rely on a kaleidoscope strategy to structure their aspirations and activities. This article explains how to build your own kaleidoscope framework. The process can help you determine which tasks you should undertake to fulfill the different components of success and uncover areas where there are holes. It can also help you make better choices about what you spend your time on and the level of energy you put into each activity. According to Nash and Stevenson, successful people who experience real satisfaction achieve it through the deliberate imposition of limits. Cultivating your sense of â€Å"just enough† can help you set reachable goals, tally up more true wins, and enjoy lasting.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

How does Arthur Miller present the flaws and limitations of the American Dream in ‘Death of a Salesman’ Essay

The American Dream is an object of desire for many Americans as it is what they strive for their whole life. The American Dream is based mainly on wealth and materialism. The sense of freedom is what people are striving for. Freedom from bills and debt is what Willy Loman is striving for in ‘Death of a Salesman’. The American Dream is seen as a perfect life, which consists of a house with a white picket fence and perfect family: husband, wife, two children and a dog all living happily and comfortably without any financial troubles. But very few Americans achieve that goal in their lifetime, because there’s also competition if everyone’s aiming for it. Every person is competing with their friends and neighbours. These flaws show through in ‘Death of a Salesman’ as Willy tries to get to grips with his life and trying to pay off his house. ‘Death of a Salesman’ has been used by Arthur Miller to show what the American Dream is really like. The play is based around an average family man, Willy Loman, who has struggled all his life to make something of it; to strike it lucky, but his chance never came. He is presented as a ‘normal’ character; the average ‘middle American’, who wants to pay off all his debts and bills. This shows the lack of contentment in his life. He’s not content having a roof over his head, or having a job, because he wants more. Willy wants to achieve more, just like his brother, Ben, who struck it lucky, because he happened to get lost and stumble upon some diamond mines, but Willy blames himself for not going to explore the world with him, ‘There’s just one opportunity I had with that man†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Willy regrets not going with his brother, but what he doesn’t realise is that he was too young to go with him; he was only 3 years old, when his brother left, whereas Ben was 17. But, despite this fact, he still admires his brother. Yet, there’s barely any mention of his father, who earned his living and fulfilling the American Dream by working hard. Willy has a very flawed way of trying to fulfil the American Dream. He does everything the wrong way and what he doesn’t realise is that it takes some hard work. This may be the reason as to why there’s a feeling of failure in the play. Both, Willy and his sons Biff and Happy are failures in achieving in what they wanted and this shows how Arthur Miller is presenting the flaws of the American Dream, because it can really take its toll on people’s lives and practically ruin their relationships with other people, such as their friends and neighbours. Willy has constantly been competing with his neighbour, Charley. However, Charley is running his own business, whereas Willy is still in the same job that he’s been in for years. Selling. The character of Willy Loman is perfect for presenting the flaws of the American Dream, because he’s just an average man; an average ‘Joe Bloggs’ and basically a nobody, because he hasn’t achieved the things that he wanted to achieve. He continues dreaming of making it big and he keeps on chasing this dream, because there’s a feeling of hope in him, everytime his sons go for a job interview or have an appointment with their boss. He refuses to listen to what his sons have to say, because it’s not what he wants to hear. So, instead he just fills their mouth with words or keeps on interrupting them. Willy holds a lot of false hope of something that he won’t be able to achieve and this is reflected within the play and its setting. The play is set in Willy’s house and this is one of the main reasons as to why there is a lack of contentment in the play, because he hasn’t been able to pay off his mortgage for the house. The setting gives off a boxed in feeling, because of the towering apartment buildings and the lack of greenery is a representation of a metaphor, as nothing can flourish or grow. This is why it is regarded as a limitation of the American Dream, which Arthur Miller presents in the play and through Willy. The lack of contentment is also shown through both sons. Happy’s name is pretty ironic, because his life doesn’t seem to be happy, even though he pretends to be. Both, Biff and Happy have a vengeful streak in them as they both take revenge on their bosses in one way or another. Happy has a tendency to sleep with his boss’s girlfriends/fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s/wives, whereas Biff steals from his boss. But the reason they are like this is because their father has made them think they can do anything and get anywhere without qualifications, ‘You filled us up with hot air!’ however, Biff seems to go against his father, probably due to the fact that he knows about his father’s affair. He has always gone against his father’s wishes, such as wanting to work with his hands rather than work in an office job. But, Willy is still very stubborn and proud. He doesn’t realise his children are happy doing what they want. This is why his pride has got in the way of him not being able to achieve anything. He has also made his sons proud; too, by making them think that it’s their personalities that will get them a successful job. This represents another limitation of the American Dream; people have to work hard to get where they want. Bernard, Biff’s high school friend, is an example of a hard working person because he worked hard to get where he wanted and yet he never mentioned it to Willy, ‘The Supreme Court! And he didn’t even mention it!’ This shows that Bernard isn’t the type to boast about how well he’s doing even though he climbing the ladder towards the American Dream. He’s overtaken Biff and Willy regrets that, but isn’t quite sure who to blame. Himself or Biff? Willy is blinded by false hope and great aspirations of striking it rich, but he’s doing all this for his children, so that they don’t have to struggle the way he did. But Bernard and Charley show that people have to do things themselves to achieve what they want to achieve, because Bernard is a top lawyer and he did this without anyone’s help. He doesn’t need Charley to provide for him, nor is he working for him either. The only things that Willy has ever been able to achieve in his life are solid material goods, such as his house, fridge, car and vacuum cleaner. But he doesn’t think that it’s enough, so he decides to go and crash the car and kill himself, just because he wants his children to lead a comfortable life. His death brings in money for his children, but it shows what lengths Willy went to just so that his children could lead the perfect life of an American Dream.

Which Is the Most Successful Gothic Horror Short Story

Gothic horror (Gothic Fiction) is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. As a genre, it is generally believed to have been invented by the English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto. The effect of Gothic fiction feeds on a pleasing sort of terror, to thrill and scare the reader. The Red Room, by H. G Wells and The Monkey’s Paw by W. W Jacobs are both good examples of Gothic Horror. Both stories deal with the theme of the supernatural – the ‘ghost’ and the wish granting paw. Another, less obvious theme is the nature of humans, the main character in The Red Room is very confident in the face of the wisdom of the elderly residents of the castle. Even in the opening sentence the man seems to simultaneously acknowledge and dispel the fear of the paranormal in the Castle by saying â€Å"it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me. † He is showing off his confidence, which will slowly diminish on his journey to the red room, his actual stay in it and as the tension builds. This is confidence and arrogance is ironic as he will end up defeated by this so called ‘ghost’. In The Monkey’s Paw, the family, particularly Herbert is also very cocky – â€Å"might drop on his head from the sky† yet again this is also ironic as the in order to get the money Herbert gets mutilated and dies. The setting of each story is a very important way of adding to the tension. If the story was set in a nice, happy cottage, in the middle of a suburb, on a warm summer’s day there is nothing scary about it. If it is set in an old rotting house in the middle of nowhere, which is engulfed in darkness, there is an aspect of fright and scariness. In both The Red Room and The Monkey’s Paw there is this aspect of darkness, isolation with the stories setting – the isolated, dark and cold Lorraine castle and the dark, isolated house. The darkness and isolation, for the readers, increases the risk of something bad happening. The rain and storm outside the isolated house in The Monkey’s Paw also adds to the risk of danger. We know this house is isolated, as the wife says â€Å"the worst of living so far out† The time of both stories is also important. Both stories involve the night – in The Monkey’s paw, we meet the Sergeant Major at night and the knocking also start at night. This is also the case in The Red Room. The story is set at night. This adds to the tension through fear. People are naturally scared of the night as it takes away our vision. This would allow someone to creep up on us. Particularly in The Red Room this is the case as the darkness itself creeps up on the man, and we think there might be something behind that blanket of darkness. Both authors use a lot of in depth descriptive text, such as to describe the three custodians, or but I find Wells does a lot better job then Jacobs. Wells creates an amazing, tangible feel and sense to the story, despite the massive contrast between modern life and that of that era. ‘The glow vanished, the reflections rushed together and vanished, and as I thrust the candle between the bars darkness closed upon me like the shutting of an eye, wrapped around in a stifling embrace, sealed my vision, and crushed the last vestige of reason from my brain’. The detail and quality of this quote is very powerful and is very good at describing the scene, which is integral for the story and shows off the writer’s actual skill. Jacobs isn’t quite as skillful as Wells, but he isn’t bad either and while his descriptive text isn’t quite as good, it’s still quite effective. This might have been a decision on his part, but I personally prefer Wells’ method. However, in my opinion the most important technique in both stories is the author’s use of characters. Yet again, Wells is better in a more obvious way than Jacobs. Wells is very good at describing and turning the custodians into horrible, non-human creatures. The idea of using old, crippled people is very smart and ties in with the theme and even the setting very well. It’s almost like their part of the castle with their age and grotesqueness. The description used, could almost make a horror story. Instead of making each monster a similar monster, he makes them all unique and gives them all their own ‘quirk’. One man has a withered and wrinkled arm, the other red eyes that could pierce the night sky, yet the lady seems not to have as much of a quirk as the others, she only seems to repeat one thing over and over again. Each has its own weird personality, one saying nothing apart from, â€Å"tonight of all nights† and another, constantly warning him. Yet the third character is very interesting and says practically nothing, but his presence is strange and unexplained. This makes us very curious of his purpose. Some of Jacobs’s characters are quite interesting, like the soldier, but the idea of having characters as part of the horror story doesn’t seem to be important. The personality of the Whites seems to be non-existent, even the name is very plain and not interesting but it’s obvious when everything goes wrong – Mrs White goes hysterical in grief and becomes very desperate and maybe even loses the plot a bit. This lack of personality provides a nice contrast to the hysterical side. However, Mr White seems to keep it together a bit more. In The Red Room the main character seems to get more and more desperate. At the start he was very matter of fact and by the red room he is frightened by a statue of Ganymede and Eagle. Ganymede is a character from Greek mythology. He was supposedly the most beautiful of all mortals, and so the king of the gods took the form of an eagle and stole him from earth to become the god’s cupbearer. This relates to the story, as in both the story and the myth, the main character finds himself powerless in the face of a greater power. He reaches the room, which appears normal, and then suspense is built again, as the candles are extinguished due to an unknown cause. This is similar in The Monkey’s Paw. The characters are very relaxed at the beginning and confident of the lack of power by the paw, only Mr. White’s and the soldiers fear gives us warning of possible problems. Then once Herbert dies they start panicking and the wife even goes slightly mad. The Monkeys Paw’s ending, in my opinion, is much better as it is a better story plot and it keeps the tension and suspension right up to the very end. As the race between the husband and wife unfolds we are desperately wishing that the mutilated thing doesn’t come in, this keeps the reader involved and absorbed until the very end. In The Red Rooms ending was a let down and quite dull – an anti-climax. The tension finished before the ending and this made the ending quite boring, and though the concept of the fear of fear is very interesting it’s not very exciting. I personally prefer The Monkey’s Paw despite the better style of writing by Wells. For me, The Red Rooms ending completely ruined it and the story line was not as interesting or as gripping as Jacobs story.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Answer the questions for each of the articles Quant and Quali Research Paper

Answer the questions for each of the articles Quant and Quali - Research Paper Example 53). The design is generally categorized under the major class of quantitative approaches to research. The major category of the design was experimental design. The random assignment of sampled subjects into a treatment and control group are identifiers characteristic of an experimental design (Sears et al., 2010, p. 53). An independent variable is a variable that the researcher has control over. In this case, the independent variable in the research was the mode of training adopted for nursing education. The manipulation of this variable was attained by assigning differing models of nursing education delivery, which included clinical simulation-based education and actual clinical placement. The dependent variable is the measured element of interest, which is affected in the research, and in this research the dependent variable was the medication errors (Sears et al., 2010, p. 52). Survey forms were used as the data collection instruments and these were filled by the instructors and students (Sears et al., 2010, p. 53). Observed medication errors were entered into forms that only bore the instructor’s name in order to preserve the confidentiality of the participating students. The external validity of the research was low because the research cannot be widely generalized. In spite of randomly selecting the participants, generalization cannot be possible for other populations and locations because all participants were from a single collaborative nursing program. This limitation reduces the external validity, but it can be overcome if the research could be replicated for different populations and locations across different times (Sears et al., 2010, p. 54). The second research titled â€Å"Whatever it takes": nursing students experiences of administering medication in the clinical setting† was authored by Happell, B. Walker, S. Moxham, L. and Reid-Searl, K. The research appeared in the seventh issue of the 20th volume of the

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Art Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Art - Assignment Example On the other hand, Rome is based on aristocratic and hierarchical form of government and society. The two types of pottery are hand-built and wheel-thrown pottery. There are 3 techniques in making hand-built potter namely pinch pot, coil pot, and slab pot techniques. Pinch pot technique is undertaken by kneading the clay and then shaping it into different potteries such as bowl, dish, cup, etc. The coil pot technique is achieved by making long, round clips of clay and then these are coiled and stacked to achieve the desired shape. The third technique is the slap pot which is used to make clay boxes and other geometric forms and shapes. Advanced or complicated shapes can be achieved through the combination of the techniques. The other type of pottery is the wheel-thrown pottery which uses a potter’s wheel to be able to form shapes. The use of the said tool is a needed skill thus it is the primary requirement in using this method. Another important skill is to know the amount of water to use in making the pottery. This water suspension is referred to as the slip. The potter y glaze seals and waterproofs the pottery and undertaken after the first firing process that hardens the clay. Another term important in pottery is leather-hard which means a stage wherein the pottery is considerably hard but still workable. This stage is included in the greenware stage of pottery process which is prior to being put in the kiln or the baking apparatus. Pottery at this stage is also called bisque. The Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations are included in the earliest human civilizations with very distinct culture and art forms. The Mesopotamian civilization originated near the Tigris-Euphrates River while the Egyptian civilization originated near the Nile River. They both have a society based on religious beliefs. This can clearly be seen in their art wherein the

Saturday, July 27, 2019

The regulatory intervention that took place in the US post 2008 crisis Assignment

The regulatory intervention that took place in the US post 2008 crisis - Assignment Example There is a dichotomy between investor protection on one hand, and the need to have a government that does not interfere too much with the economy. The President Obama ended the era of investor protection enacted by President Roosevelt. As a result, uncertainty in the markets is created. Moreover, international companies bear the brunt of their presence in the United States. However, this act focuses more on systemic risk than its equivalents in other countries, such as Japan and Germany. As a result, the United States complies more rigidly with some of the G20 recommendations than other countries. Introduction Until 2007, the world experienced low inflation levels, high growth and an increase in international trade and movements of capital.1 Then in 2007, the housing markets started to collapse, as lenders began to default on their mortgages. However, soon defaults spread across other parts of the financial industry and in 2008, the United States entered a crisis whose consequences a re still felt today. The crisis spread globally, as many foreign banks invested in the American financial industry. 2 Consequences of the crisis were enormous. ... f the causes of the crisis being in the housing market and the ability of the housing market collapse to spread to other markets, and eventually affect the real economy as well. In short, due to such interconnectedness, there are multiple explanations of causes of the crisis: over borrowing and securitization of mortgages, inadequate financial regulatory structure and failure to properly foresee possible problems that might arise from recent financial innovations are main causes of the 2008 crisis. Though the Dodd – Frank Act (Act) was passed to address the 2008 crisis and prevent a future crisis of such a magnitude, the Act creates instability on the markets, and fails to address properly the international nature of the crisis, which will be further elaborated on in the paper. Causes of the 2008 Crisis As Reinhart and Rogoff put it, there was a lull in defaults, globally and domestically, before the 2008 crisis took place.4 However, the two authors note that the last lull was the deepest in the last two centuries of the American history. 5 The regulators created a weak regulatory system. Between 1990 and 2006, housing prices increased to an average of four times the yearly income of an average family two or three times previously.6 High housing prices led to high demand for construction workers, remodelling and real estate services. Moreover, the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999 enabled banks to engage in investment banking, while banks could also act as insurers. Mortgage – backed securities were invented and sold freely. 7 In 2000, the Commodity Futures Modernization Act deregulated the derivatives market, which was used by banks to increase liquidity. 8 Risky homeowners were encouraged by the Clinton administration to acquire expensive homes, despite

Friday, July 26, 2019

Accounting Calculations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Accounting Calculations - Assignment Example Wireless and Remote connectivity Challenge – Sanford University QUESTION 1: 1. Compute the company’s predetermined overhead rate (a) -Pre -Determined overhead rate Fixed Manufacturing Overhead 106,250.00 Basis of Allocation -Machine Hrs 85,000.00 1.25 Variable Manufacturing Overhead 0.75 Predetermined Overhead Rate 2.00 Question 2: Calculation of Overhead Costs Manufacturing Overhead Utilities 14,000.00 Budgeted Overhead 160,000.00 Insurance 9,000.00 Maintainance 33,000.00 Indirect Materials 7,000.00 Indirect Labour 65,000.00 Depreciation 40,000.00 Under –Applied overheads 8000 168,000.00 168,000.00 Work -In -Progress Direct Material 530,000.00 Cost of goods sold 783,000.00 Direct Labour 85,000.00 Overheads 160,000.00 Under -Allocated Overheads 8,000.00 783,000.00 783,000.00 3. Computation of the Underapplied or Overapplied Overhead for the Year Under- applied (Over -Applied) indirect costs = Actual indirect costs in curred - Indirect costs allocated Actual Manufacturing Overhead 168,000.00 Budgeted Manufacturing Overhead 160,000.00 Under (Over) Applied Overheads 8,000.00

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Analyse and access the blackboard Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Analyse and access the blackboard - Essay Example Currently in your Blackboard courses, you need to remove the existing file and re-upload the new version of the file. With the Blackboard Content System, you will no longer need to upload the same file to several different sections you would simply link from your course to the file in the Content System. This way if you modify, for example, the syllabus file in the Content System, the updates in the file can be reflected automatically in all the courses without having to go into each course and modify each file. Throughout this guide, you find a set of "Why Bother" ideas for Blackboard usage. So, below we've compiled a list of ideas from the broad spectrum of uses to get you thinking of why you would use Blackboard in your course: This is an exploratory study that aims to understand the current implementation of University Blackboard. Based on evaluation, it indicates that the general visibility of this study is guaranteed. The results of this study give students and faculty members more understanding of how Westminster University applies the standard student-faculty services online with the use of tools via the internet according to the website design standards. Furthermore, enhancement and personalising the University Blackboard can be adapted to suite and blend with the general there of the University website. Security is still a concern. Giving access to students should be monitored momentarily to avoid identity theft among students. References Wikipedia. (November 2006). Blackboard Inc. Retrieved November 7, 2006,

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

American Government and Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

American Government and Politics - Essay Example Many writers both supporters and criticizers of the efficacy of Reagan have come up to indicate their knowledge about the president’s life, activities and thoughts. This has brought about several arguments concerning the president’s thoughts and feeling on the government organization and performance. One of the key members in this relation is Michael Deaver through his several books that he wrote (Deaver, Guide to Federal Records). Michael Keith Deaver was a historian, born in California in a place known as Bakersfield, in mid April 1938. He graduated at San Jose State University in the year 1960 after which he moved into public relations and worked with a lot of great determination and expectation. Ten years later, Ronald Reagan was employed as a governor in California. Michael Keith Deaver co -initiated a public relations company in the year 1975 popularly known as Deaver and Hannaford. The co-corporation booked Reagan’s public appearances, research and traded in his radio program, and ghostwrote his syndicated column. Alleges from Peter Dale Scott were heard claiming that,’’ all these with ambitions that Hannaford and Michael Deaver assisted systematize from outset (Deaver, Guide to Federal Records). Deaver and Hannaford in 1977 were registered with the Justice Department as alien agents getting 5000 dollars in every month from the management of Taiwan. Amigos Del Pais group in Guatemala who were friends to their country also gave them 11000 dollars every month. The principal of Amigos del Pais was known as Roberto Alejos Arzu. He was the head organizer of Guatemala’s ``Reagan for president association.... He graduated at San Jose State University in the year 1960 after which he moved into public relations and worked with a lot of great determination and expectation. Ten years later, Ronald Reagan was employed as a governor in California. Michael Keith Deaver co -initiated a public relations company in the year 1975 popularly known as Deaver and Hannaford. The co-corporation booked Reagan’s public appearances, research and traded in his radio program, and ghostwrote his syndicated column. Alleges from Peter Dale Scott were heard claiming that,’’ all these with ambitions that Hannaford and Michael Deaver assisted systematize from outset (Deaver, Guide to Federal Records). Deaver and Hannaford in 1977 were registered with the Justice Department as alien agents getting 5000 dollars in every month from the management of Taiwan. Amigos Del Pais group in Guatemala who were friends to their country also gave them 11000 dollars every month. The principal of Amigos del Pais was known as Roberto Alejos Arzu. He was the head organizer of Guatemala’s ``Reagan for president association. Azru as a CIA he permitted his farm in 1960 to be utilized for coaching Cubarn exile in favor of Bay of Pigs. Peter Dale Scott disputed that Deaver started contributing money for Ronald Reagan from groups such as Amigos del Pais from Guatemalan clients for the presidential campaign. On BBC news, it was approximated that about ten million dollars were contributed from the program. Francisco villgaran Kramer alleged that a number of members from this association were frankly connected with planned terror (Deaver, Guide to Federal Records). Hannaford and Deaver also started to get jobs from military authoritarian who desired to better its representation in

Final Exam Essays Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Final Exam Essays - Essay Example â€Å"Use Immunity† is a bit narrower in its classification in terms of what can be used within the trial and what the Fifth Amendment Privilege protects. In use immunity, statements made by the witness cannot be used against the immunized person. At the same time, the persecution is not in agreement that it will not persecute the person given use immunity. This type of immunity does not give definite protection under the Fifth Amendment privilege; at a later date, the court under independent or untainted types of evidence may persecute the person. Finally, testifying without asserting one’s right against self-incrimination wouldn’t receive transactional immunity, but is a viable candidate for use immunity. These are two of the three different types of immunity classified under ones Fifth Amendment rights. â€Å"Sovereign Immunity† is the immunity that says that the state or government entity cannot commit legal wrongdoing. It is based in the English roots of our country, generally exalting the concept that the crown or higher governmental power is always right. For this reason, it is sometimes called â€Å"Crown Immunity.† Much like the name, sovereign immunity holds a state or federal entity immune from any or criminal prosecution unless they expressly consent to waiving this right. This is true in many cases where the United States, the concept of sovereign immunity is waived by the government or the government gives its consent to suit. The differentiation between federal and state sovereign immunity is defined and explained, though it isn’t the most clear-cut outline and is constantly being debated. in the eleventh amendment, it describes suits between the federal government and states, between states themselves and between individuals in different states. Fe derally, the government prefers to

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Stem Cell Therapy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Stem Cell Therapy - Essay Example Some stem cell researchers have advocated for the therapy in treating diseases like diabetes mellitus, Parkinson’s disease, ulcerative colitis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis and other myopathy, hematopoietic organ diseases, oncological diseases, some hereditary and genetic abnormalities (Conrad, 2012). Some success rates in stem cell therapy exist in the field of oncology where cancer patients subjected to chemoprophylaxis may at one point require bone marrow transplantation or umbilical blood stem cells. Chemoprophylaxis in cancer patients often results in the destruction of cancer cells plus even hematopoietic cells. Stem cell often helps them in restoring their normal blood cells increasing their chances of survival from the disease. Therapeutic cloning is a type of stem cell therapy. Cloning is possible through the use of embryonic stem cells. Here, an egg gets denucleated, that is, the DNA gets removed, and replaced with a somatic cell nucleus. The egg gets stimulated through the use of an electric pulse, and a blastocyst gets formed to provide stem cells that are identical to those of the original somatic cell nucleus. If implanted in the womb, the replicated embryo can be born as a cloned baby. It is through this process that Dolly the first cloned sheep was created (Conrad, 2012). Embryonic stem cell suitability for transplantation has recently been in question because of the instability of the cloned cells. Dolly, for example, gave an outward impression of full health but had many genetic defections (Wimmer 3). The process of therapeutic cloning is ineffective. A high percentage of clones die before or soon after birth with a success rate of between 3 to 4% (Conrad 2012). In as much as there have been a number of progresses in stem cell therapy, there are still a number of controversies regarding the issue. Controversies

Monday, July 22, 2019

Kellin Quinn Essay Example for Free

Kellin Quinn Essay I. Introduction â€Å" I can’t promise that things won’t be broken, but I swear that I will never leave.† -Kellin Quinn. Isn’t that what everyone really wants- what everyone really needs? Not always is a solution to a problem needed. Sometimes we just need someone to help us through our tough times and to help us learn from mistakes that have been made. Kellin Quinn understands this. Not only does he relate to the need to help friends, but Kellin relates to almost all the struggles most teens and, well, pretty much all ages witness. It shows in his music. You see, Kellin Quinn is the singer and pianist of the band Sleeping With Sirens. Their music is about coming from a broken family and how much it hurts because you feel responsible. Difficulties ranging from self-harm to bullying to love are heard in the meaningful lyrics of their songs. Not only do Kellin and the band write about that, but also they have songs that are inspirational, joyful, and that make you want to smile and appreciate the good in life. II. Caring Kellin is more than just a musical genius; he is one who cares about people as individuals. For example, Marie Fowler was a nineteen year old cancer patient that was diagnosed with only 72 hours to live. Kellin Quinn, her idol, was notified on Twitter and he Skyped her. He told her to be strong and to savor and appreciate the life she has enjoyed. On top of that, Kellin has dedicated his life to music and to make his fans feel better and blissful. He has definitely made my life easier and made me cope well with tragedies. I’m so thankful that I have Sleeping With Sirens in my life. III. Kellin’s Struggles Kellin Quinn’s father left him and his mother when he was young and they had to work hard to pay the bills and to take care of themselves. Kellin was diagnosed with depression and mental disorders because of his difficulties. With a great deal of effort and persistence, he overcame these challenges and is now helping others do the same. Also, Kellin has â€Å"haters† who call him rude and selfish when actually he is the exact opposite. Other negative comments made about him are that he is â€Å"too punk† or that he â€Å"sounds like a girl.† He mostly just ignores the disapproval. Overall, Kellin is a talented and inspirational 26 year old. IV. Impact Kellin Quinn and the band have made my life so much better. I, like many others, have struggled with bullying and many other difficulties. Meaningful music makes these things easier to cope with and Sleeping With Sirens does an amazing job at portraying a message in their lyrics that their fans can relate to. The band has actually saved countless lives. Some teenagers have depression or are struggling in life and feel the need to commit suicide to end his or her pain. In Sleeping With Sirens’ songs, one may notice how the lyrics are meant to make the listener happy and some songs are even specifically written to help self-harmers. â€Å"One day youll open your eyes, take a look inside. I just saved your life. Just take a look inside. I hope you know what its like for you to be alright. I am for you.† –In Case of Emergency, Dial 411, Sleeping With Sirens. V. Conclusion Overall, Kellin Quinn is an amazing artist who writes and sings about relatable tragedies and moments in his and others’ lives. He is an inspiration to many teenagers, including myself. I will never forget the impact that Kellin as a person and Sleeping With Sirens have had on my life.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

The Role of a Midwife in Domestic Violence Cases

The Role of a Midwife in Domestic Violence Cases Domestic violence and public health The role of the midwife. Why is domestic violence a public health issue for midwives?The latest triennial maternal mortality report (CEMACH, 2004) reveals that for the years 2000-2002 eleven new mothers were murdered, within six weeks of giving birth, by their partners. The report highlights that domestic violence is a risk factor for maternal death from all causes. In this report 14 percent of all the women who died had declared that they were subjected to domestic violence. This translates to 51 women in England, Wales and Northern Ireland over the three year period. If progress is to be made in reducing maternal mortality careful note needs to be taken of all the risk factors.   Risk assessment is currently a means by which the type of care received by the woman in pregnancy and labour is determined. This midwifery role is already well established for antenatal and intrapartum care. Epidemiology Domestic violence has a high prevalence. Crime figures for a single day, 28th September 2000, were obtained and publicised form British police forces. On that day there were 1 300 calls to the police reporting domestic violence. Extrapolating from this there is an incidence of domestic violence every six to 20 seconds. Most of the victims are women. According to Home office figures two women die in Britain each week from violence by either their current or their previous partner (Mirrlees-Black, 1999). A study in London found in a sample of women on antenatal and postnatal wards a 23% lifetime experience of domestic violence. Three percent of these women were encountering domestic violence in the present pregnancy (Bacchus, 2004). The impact of domestic violence What constitutes domestic violence varies tremendously. It does not have to be physical violence. This is problematic. Collection of statistics is hampered by the blurring of the boundaries between the abuse severity. Whilst it can be agued that no level of abuse is acceptable some distinction needs to be drawn. Pregnancy may act as a trigger for domestic violence; it may start at this time or change in nature sometimes becoming mental rather than physical but sometimes being more focussed on blows to the abdomen. The puerperium is a time of particular vulnerability (CEMACH, 2004). The high prevalence of domestic violence impacts economically on society. The costs of dealing with 100,000 women seeking medical help annually due to domestic violence and the fact that of applications for shelter on account of homelessness 17 per cent are caused by domestic violence may be costing London alone approximately  £250 million each year. Support systems are overstretched; there are 7 000 women and children looking for places of safety every day (Seymour, 2001). Physical violence to a pregnant woman increases the risk of miscarriage, premature labour, low birth weight and intrauterine fetal death. Domestic violence may increase the likelihood of a pregnant woman smoking, drinking alcohol or taking drugs with deleterious effects on the pregnancy and fetus. Domestic violence is associated with depression and suicide attempts. Trauma to the abdomen incurs risk of life threatening placental abruption, rupture of the uterus or other internal organs in addition to the fetal risks. Women incurring domestic violence are less likely to be able to access antenatal care, many book late and a significant proportion not at all. They have problems accessing care and often default on visits, change addresses and have no reliable means of being contacted. Often the partner will exercise stifling control over them and accompany them during visits to the midwife, answer questions for them and remain present during examinations (Mezey, 2002). Initiatives to address the problem The Department of Health’s National Service Framework (2004) for Children, Young people and Maternity Services states the importance of identifying victims of domestic violence and includes pointers for recognition and action during pregnancy and recommends that staff should be aware of the importance of these aspects. Some emphasis is put on the supportiveness of the environment and the sensitivity of the enquiry about the abuse. The Government has looked closely at the issue of domestic violence (The Government’s Proposals on Domestic Violence, 2003). Parliament has legislated via the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. This has extended police powers of arrest for common assault under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. This has had some effect with a dawn raids to intercept offenders (Bird, 2004). Dimond (2005) argues that to really tackle the issue of domestic violence people in general must become involved and this includes health care providers. It is already the case that following an assault which leads to miscarriage the offender can be charged under s.58 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 (Bristol Evening Post, 2004). Where the assault leads to premature delivery from which the child dies the charge is one of manslaughter. The Home Office is taking the lead on behalf of the Government on this issue. Specialist domestic violence courts are planned. In Leeds it is pil oting a Domestic Violence Cluster Court. The aim is to make the process of dealing with the perpetrators faster and to make custodial sentences longer. In 2000, the Department of Health advocated routine questioning of pregnant women about domestic violence. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Midwives and NICE all requested that this should happen. In a position paper in 1999 the Royal College of Midwives recommended that abuse be recognised and documented and also that such women should be given information to choose for themselves what to do.   It is recognised that it is important for a woman to be able to find the help that she needs when she is ready (Smith, 2005). Whilst the woman can be assured of confidentiality it is important that the extent and limitations of this are made clear. For instance if she already has children and there is a risk that they may suffer domestic violence then confidentiality will have to be broken. If there is a real danger to the fetus once it is born then again the confidentiality between the woman and the midwife will have to be broken. Up until the moment of birth the fetus does not have any right of its own in law. In Wales and in Bristol there have been significant projects to screening pregnant women for domestic violence and following through the positive answers. There have also been initiatives in Leeds and also in London. A study done in Bristol (Salmon 2004) and funded by the Department of Health showed that where midwives were trained to ask about domestic violence more women disclosed it. Midwives wanted further training and without this only 10% of midwives would ask about domestic violence by choice. Midwifery training in asking the question increased midwives’ confidence in this area(Baird, 2005). The Bristol research was important to determine the impact of the routine questioning about domestic violence on midwifery education. The multi-agency involvement of the work and education was apparent. A vitally important aspect of the work on disclosure was talking to the woman alone, specifically without the presence of her partner (Merchant, 2001). The question is unlikely to be of benefit if the woman is not asked alone or if there is no effective follow up (Ward and Spence, 2001). Sometimes the only time the abusive partner will allow the woman to be alone is when she goes to the toilet. Therefore posters must be available in this location detailing contact numbers of women’s refuges, social services, victim support etc. Information can also be pre-printed on maternity records so that if a partner sees it it is obviously not aimed specifically at that woman and she is then not likely to suffer further abuse on account of him seeing the information. Another aspect, which might be considered, is to have in the women’s toilet a poster indicating that if the woman is being abused she may mark her routine urine container in some way that alerts the midwife but no one else that she is in danger from domestic violence. Women from ethnic minorities where English is not spoken by the woman pose particular difficulties. It is important to use an inte rpreter who is not a family member. The Bristol study was a pilot to inform about education needs of midwives when asking about domestic violence. It was not designed as a study to gather evidence about whether it is effective to promote disclosure and whether subsequent information and support giving is beneficial in reducing the problem. London based initiatives Mezey studied 892 pregnant women at St George’s Hospital, south London. Midwives were trained to ask the question about domestic violence. Women were more likely to admit to domestic violence when directly questioned about it. Women’s fears of loss of confidentiality or that their children might be removed from them hampered disclosure. Some midwives found asking the question was distressing and some feared reprisal from the woman’s partner. It was clear from the study that midwives cannot tackle this problem alone. Considerable back up from other agencies is vital and all agencies must work together. The strengths of the work and initiatives so far include the understanding and acceptance that whilst midwives play a pivotal role in this opportunity to screen women for domestic violence they cannot tackle the problem alone. It is accepted that training of midwives can enhance the percentage of women abused who disclosure this. Other strategies around enhancing disclosure also have a positive effect. To be critical the major weakness of the initiatives is that they are not of proven benefit. Statistics are always going to be difficult to collect in this area. Concentrating on this problem may be detracting from other important midwifery aspects and studies have not addressed this aspect. Training given to midwives has not been universal and the wider aspects of continuing professional development and training of other members of the multi disciplinary team have not been set up. Just admitting to domestic violence does not mean that the woman’s life is going to improve. To bring the problem out into the open may upset the woman’s family and result in isolating her from them both physically and emotionally and in some situations may do more harm than good. A targeted approach needs to be fostered and work needs to be done to evaluate how we can spot the domestic violence cases where intervention would really make a difference. It is doubted whether this is a midwifery role since skills within the field of criminology would seem appropriate. What improvements could be made? A recommendation of the 2000-2002 maternal mortality report (CEMACH, 2004) is that midwives require adequate training both pre registration and as continuing professional development to ensure that they can effectively assess women who suffer domestic violence. A further recommendation is that all pregnant women should be asked if they suffer domestic violence presently or previously (but that the question be deferred until midwives have received the relevant training and multidisciplinary support services are in place). Asking about domestic abuse is generally done poorly in social history taking (Foy, 2000). The most difficult part seems to be the midwife asking the question about domestic violence (Scobie and McGuire, 1999; Price and Baird, 2003; Mezey et al, 2003). The default position would seem to be that they midwife is reluctant to ask and the patient feels unable to talk about it (Ashton, 2004).   The educational aspect is important. Both theory and practical skills are involved. The work around domestic violence is multidisciplinary and multi-agency and clearly this needs to be reflected in the midwife education and continuing professional development courses (Baird, 2005). There needs to direction from the nursing and Midwifery Council and the Royal College of Midwives about what the training will consist of and what comprises the required level of competency. Education should be of proven benefit to practice. The reluctance to answer the question is not supported by women being offended; generally they accept it (Price, 2004). Approximately 90% of women asked are in favour of being asked (Leeds Inter-Agency Project, 2005). On average a woman will suffer domestic violence 35 times before she contacts the police. This is of concern and highlights the degree to which women are trapped in the violent situation. Factors within themselves, for instance fears of reprisals from the partner, compounded with a lack of confidence in the police, social services and the legal system contribute to this problem. Pressure cannot be put on the woman to leave the violent situation (Bewley C and Gibb, 2001). Initiatives aimed at these problems are needed. How midwives can be involved in this public health initiative Thirty percent of domestic violence towards women starts whilst they are pregnant (CEMACH, 2004). Asking all pregnant women about domestic violence as a routine question has advantages over asking only a selected group, for instance; it helps with the changing attitude to domestic violence; it helps women feel they are not being picked on and it is lees likely to jeopardise the safety of an abused woman (Tacket, 2004). The key areas of involvement of midwives to best support these women include; Asking all women directly whether they have been domestically abused and facilitating disclosure Documentation and allocating those with positive responses to high dependency care Giving information to affected women thereby enabling them to access specialised help Supporting women when they are making a change away from the violent situation Inter-agency working (Hepburn M McCartney, 1997) Peer review Midwives do agree with the concept of questioning pregnant women about domestic violence and approximately 80% also agree that it should be the midwife who does this (Price, 2004). However in clinical practice only about 60% are happy about asking the woman this question (Price, 2004). The reasons the midwives gave for these problems were practicalities such as a lack of time or lack of staff or difficulty getting privacy with the woman and personal problems with asking the question (Leeds Inter-Agency project, 2005). ConclusionWith the increased awareness and increased stance of non-acceptability of domestic violence it is to be hoped that people in general will have a common awareness about how they can seek help. Pregnancy is still going to be a vulnerable time from the point of view of the physical stage of mother and fetus and the fact that such a high percentage of abuse situations develop during pregnancy. Midwives are therefore still going to be pivotal in this area. Another important aspect from the midwifery point of view is that a woman may be better motivated to make a change to her situation whilst she is pregnant. Perhaps the role of the midwife in aspiring to solve the problem of domestic violence will be moving away from just asking the question and giving information (since women will largely already have this knowledge) towards encouraging the woman to make a change that really is for the better. It should be recognised at this stage in time that greater challenges lie ahead and we should plan for them now.   ReferencesArticles Aston G The silence of domestic violence in pregnancy during womens encounters with healthcare professionals. Midwives 2004 vol 7 no 4 April Bacchus L Domestic violence and health. Midwives 2004 vol 7, no 4 April 2004 Baird K, Salmon D and Price SLearning from the Bristol Pregnancy and Domestic Violence Programme British Journal of Midwifery, November 2005, vol 13, no 11 p692-6 Bewley C and Gibb A MIDIRS Midwifery Digest 2001 vol 11 no 2 183-187 Bird S Police hold 150 in domestic violence raids. The Times8 December 2004 Bristol Evening Post 18th December 2004, report on Nycoma Edwards. Dimond B Protecting victims of domestic violence. British Journal of Midwifery February 2005, vol 13, no 2 p105 Foy R et al Antenatal detection of domestic violence. The Lancet 2000 vol 355, p1915 Hepburn M McCartney S Domestic Violence and Reproductive Healthcare in Glasgow. In: Bewley S Friend J Mizey G (eds) Violence Against Women London: RCOG Press, 1997: 233 Leeds Inter-Agency Project (2005) Health and social care project report: promoting good practice in health service responses to women and children experiencing domestic violence Marchant S Davidson L Garcia J et al Addressing Domestic Violence through Maternity Service-Policy and Practice. Midwifery 2001 vol 17 164-170 Mezey G Bacchus L Haworth A et al Midwives’ perceptions and experiences of routine enquiry for domestic violence. Br J Obstet Gynaecol2003 110: 744–52. Price S Routine questioning about domestic violence in maternity settings. Midwives 2004 vol 7, no 4 April   Price S and Baird K Domestic Violence: An audit of professional practice. Pract Midwife2003 vol 6 no 3 15–8 Salmon D Baird K Price S et al An impact evaluation of the Bristol Pregnancy and Domestic violence Programme to promote the introduction of routine antenatal enquiry for domestic violence at North Bristol NHS Trust 2004 www.northbristol.nhs.uk Scobie J McGuire M The silent enemy: domestic violence in pregnancy. British Journal of Midwifery1999 vol 7 no 4 557–62 Seymour J Pregnancy No Protection From UK Epidemic Of Domestic Violence. 1st November, 2001   Panos-UK/1 http://www.panos.org.uk/global/featuredetails.asp?featureid=1039ID=1005 Smith N Training is vital to domestic abuse screening. British Journal of Midwifery Nov 2005 vol 13, no 11 p676 Ward S and Spence A MIDIRS Midwifery Digest 12, 2002; Supplement 1, S15-S17. Papers Mirrlees-Black C Home Office, Domestic Violence: Findings from a New British Crime Survey Self-Completion Questionnaire, London, 1999. Royal College of Midwives (1999) Domestic abuse in pregnancy: Position Paper 19a (London: RCM) Reports CEMACH Why Mothers Die. Confidential enquiry into maternal deaths 2000-2002. RCOG press 2004. London   Department of Health (2000) Domestic violence: a resource manual for health professionals. 2000 London: Department of Health   Ã‚   Department of Health (2004) National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services: Part 111 Maternity Standard (London: Gateway ref. 3779) Taket A Tackling Domestic Violence: the role of health professionals. 2004 Home office Development and Practice Report 32 The Government’s Proposals on Domestic Violence. Home Office Safety and Justice: June 2003 Home Office;http://www.domesticviolence.gov.uk Websiteswww.doh.org.ukwww.rcm.org.ukwww.rcog.org.uk

Analysis of Structuralism in 47 Ronin

Analysis of Structuralism in 47 Ronin THE ANALYSIS OF STRUCTURALISM IN A WESTERN FILM ENTITLED 47 RONIN DIRECTED BY CARL RINSCH AS THE IMAGING OF AMERICAN DREAM Capritia Dirgantari ABSTRACT Media or medium in singular form is the main means of mass communication that addressed to society. The author chooses 47 Ronin directed by Carl Rinsch to be the focus of this analysis which specified to discuss the ‘American dream’ that reflecting from this film. The objectives of this analysis are to identify, describe and analyze influences that given by media to the society. The author uses descriptive as the method of this analysis and applies Structuralism theory to examine the scenes of this film that represents the ‘American dream’. Structuralism theory emphasizes how films deliver its meaning by the utilization of languages that are used to establish purposes in communication. The result findings show that film as one of media represents ‘American dream’ that related to the society mindset, unconsciously or consciously. The author hopes the readers get better understanding of Structuralism theory in analyzing a film and comprehend the m eaning of ‘American dream’ that influencing the societies. Keywords: Media, Film, American dream, Structuralism INTRODUCTION The influence of mass media has grown exponentially with the advance of technology. First there were books, newspapers, magazines, photography, sound recordings, films, radio, television, and internet.Nowadays, everyone depends on information and communication to keep their lives moving through their daily activities like work, education, entertainment, personal relationships, and the other stuff with which we are involved.Societies gather much information that they needed from those media sources. Raymond Williams estimates that media can be defined in three senses: historical sense; technical sense; and etymological sense. Historical sense is an intervening substance or agency and technical sense means medium as communicating message to public. Williams also defines etymological sense of the media as a capitalist sense which developed during the nineteenth century (Williams, 1983). Media became profitable enterprises during this era because its commercials features produce generati ng business for example like advertisements, video clips, and films. America was one of the capitalist states that introduce the famous term of ‘American Dream’ and tons of films have been made in here. The author chooses a western film entitled 47 Ronin directed by Carl Rinsch as the main focus of this analysis to interpret how big ‘American Dream’ influences the public from the structure of this film. 47 Ronin is a 2013 American fantasy action film representing a fictional account of the real group of ronin—a samurai with no master—in 18th era of Japan, who revenged the death of their lord commonly called as ChÃ…Â «shingura. This film was directed by Carl Rinsch and produced by Universal Studios. 47 Ronin costs $152 million for making all scenes and visuals which crowned as the second most expensive box office ever behind The 13th Warrior film (Kit, 2012). Another favored feature of this film is the protagonist character was acted by famous actor Keanu Reeves and other five Japanese actors: Sanada Hiroyuki; Rinko Kikuchi; Tadanobu Asano; Jin Akanishi; and Kou Shibasaki. Universal Studios chooses those five Japanese actors to create better storyline and more genuine than choosing actors who was too mainstream in the United States, even though the scenario in this film giving no resemblance to the origin story of ChÃ…Â «shingura. This film broadly tells about a group of ronin who revenge to the death of their master. The story begins when Lord Asano accompany with samurai of Ako, find an unknown boy—Kai—and allow him to stay in province of Ako. Years later, Lord Asano arranges welcoming event dedicated to the arrival of the Shogun and Lord Kira in Ako. After that, conflicts emerge until Lord Asano penalized to obligating suicide by the Shogun’s order, called as Lord Ieayashu. Time after time the groups of ronin realize this tragedy happened because of Lord Kira, then the group of ronin led by Oishi and Kai sets up for revenge against the Shoguns order (Dresner, 2013). The author chooses this film because it reflects the definition of ‘American Dream’. The definition of ‘American dream’ in this analysis is someone’s struggle for achieving a high position to become recognizable by other people and it has triggered the passion of people from generation to generation (americanradioworks.publicradio.org, 2015). American dream popularized by American people and it is also valid for everyone from other countries to find their opportunities in foreign countries. The American dream offers the freedom of each people to make decisions that render better life; the freedom to wish better dreams; the freedom to gaining prosperity; and the opportunity to lead a dignified life (Adams, 1931). Hence, the author uses Structuralism theory in order to find out the main purpose of this analysis. The structuralism film theory explains in what manner films deliver its meaning by the utilization of languages that are used to establish purp oses in communication (Storey, 2009). An example of this is to understand how combination of scenes can create an additional idea, in this case ‘the American Dream’ portrayed in this film and affecting the societies. ANALYSIS This chapter intends to analyze the implicit meanings from ‘American Dream’ in scenes of 47 Ronin by using Structuralism theory. Structuralism assumes a film or any other kind of media as a signifying system, a set of patterns or relationships within the society. First of all, the author gives a brief explanation about Structuralism theory used in media. Ferdinand de Saussure, the founder of modern structural linguistics in the 1960s, in his essay ‘Object of Study’ theorized his structuralism assessment of language and he also shows the basis of structuralism theory (Eagleton 84). This essay states the role of communication tracts which substituted from one person to other person. Saussure explains that someone must omit the individual act to understand this communication tract, which he has concluded it as social phenomenon (Saussure, 1959). This study related to Claude Levi-Strauss’ the ‘unconscious foundations’ of culture, he argues th at to understand this structure we could correctly comprehend the meaning by discovering the value of myths (Levi-Strauss, 1968: 209). Myths purpose to provide stories that bring peace towards the existence of people. To understand the social meaning of a myth, Will Wright introduces the power of Western which symbolizes deep conceptualization of American social beliefs that contain of three stages: ‘classic’; ‘transition theme’; and ‘professional’ (Wright, 1975). The author describes each stage that mentioned above by proving some scenes taken from 47 Ronin film. According to Wright, the ‘classic’ stage divided into sixteen narrative ‘functions’ (Propp, 1968) which are: The hero enters a social group This happens in the prologue of 47 ronin film when Lord Asano the leader of Ako province saved Kai the protagonist character to live along with Ako society. The hero is unknown to the society In the early beginning of this film, there are scenes that explain the unknown background of the protagonist character. The narrator said, â€Å"No one knows where is he come from or how he arrived in Ako province†. The hero is revealed to have an exceptional ability After Lord Asano takes Kai to his territory, he said that he saw something special inside Kai that no one has seen before. The society recognizes a difference between themselves and the hero. The hero is given a special status This occurs when Oishi, a ronin who asked help from Kai which at the first time Oishi underestimates him. And this recognition continues when Oishi gave him a sword which is inherited from Basho, a comrade who died. The society does not completely accept the hero Unfortunately, one of the other ronin did not accept Kai’s existence in this group. He assumed that Kai is not a samurai and have no clear background of his life. There is a conflict of interests between the villain and the society Meanwhile the antagonist character, Lord Kira has ulterior motive to reigns the Ako province by using witchcraft. The villains are stronger than society. The society is weak In this film, Lord Kira has stronger troops and supernatural beings that can give adverse spells to Ako society. Contrast with Ako society who does not accept any witchcraft and they just rely on human strength. There is a strong respect between the hero and the villain Both Lord Asano and Lord Kira has mutual respect as the leader of province and each year they arrange a friendly competition. The villains threaten the society After Lord Kira made Lord Asano committed suicide—in this context commonly known as hara-kiri, Ako society has no power to avenge his death because it has a big risk to their future. The hero avoids involvement in the conflict When Oishi asked Kai for help, Kai denied it because he feels underestimate at the first time. But then Oishi gives explanation that he was wrong. The villains endanger a friend of the hero Lord Kira launched his second attack by trapping the ronin in a village. This raid laid to two victims of ronin. The hero fights the villains In climax, Kai fight the supernatural beings and Oishi fight Lord Kira. The hero defeats villains The result is the protagonist wins this battle. The society is safe After beheaded Lord Kira’s head, ronin come home and Ako society is safe. The society accepts the hero Ako society and other provinces are accepting Kai as one of the hero who saved Ako province. It is more visible again when Lord Ieyashu gives salute and respect Kai and other ronin as samurai. The hero loses or gives up his special status In the final scene shows that Kai doing hara-kiri as well as the other ronin does in order to uphold the honor as a samurai. These entire sixteen narrative functions give important role to finding the ‘American Dream’ that contains in this film. The author found that entire narrative functions represent the steps of someone’s struggle to achieve recognizable position within the society. And the second stage is ‘transition theme.’ According to Wright, ‘transition theme’ describes about the transition that happened in the protagonist character (Wright, 1975). For example in 47 Ronin, after Kai got banished to a foreign ship, he adapted with his surroundings by keep fighting with other bandits which contrast with his first personality in Ako province. The last is ‘professional’ stage which means as the official position of the protagonist that gives professional identity. This is happened when Kai got recognizable position from the society of Ako province as samurai. Each of the stages that mentioned by Will Wright are interrelated and what has been e xperienced by the protagonist symbolize the definition of ‘American dream.’ According to James Truslow Adams’ book entitled The Epic of America, he states that the American dream is â€Å"a dream which life should be better for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement† (Adams, 1931: 214-215). That is to say, anyone have their right for having big dreams which led them strive to realizing their dreams and how fast they could achieve it depends on the ability of each person. CONCLUSION This conclusion intends to follow up the result of this analysis. Structuralism theory that used to analyze a film entitled 47 Ronin is capable in revealing how the western film industries influence the viewers through the three stages mentioned by Will Wright. Each type of these stages articulates its own mythic version of how to achieve the American dream. The first stage is classical plot, it defines the structure of human achievement by bestowing the relationship, respect, and dignity to differentiate yourself from others. The second stage transition theme argues that companionship and love are alongside with the social status of someone and this stage also reveals how someone’s life change and get a different social status. The last stage is professional plot. This stage argues that respect and companionship are to be achieved only by becoming one of the professional groups. The member of professional group must accept any obligation, responsible of the task that is offer ed, has solidarity to the team, and not competing with the same comrades in any social values. These three stages are representing the ‘American dream’ that is influencing the society nowadays. According to Levi-Strauss, he mentioned that the myth of a society through their structure reveals the communication of a theoretical demand to the members of that society (Wright, 1975: 17). Film portrays reality and reality portrays films. Moreover, the readers should notice that the world is the stage itself and everyone is merely the player. People have their own way to achieve their goals whether they become villain to the society like in ‘transitional theme’, become the professional’ group of the society or maybe become both of them. Hopefully, this analysis can give deeper insight to the readers by knowing influences given by the media especially in a film like 47 Ronin. REFERENCES Adams, James Truslow. The Epic of America. New York: Simon Publications, 2001. Dresner, Jonathan. The Many Things 47 Ronin Gets Wrong About Shogun-Era Japan (And the One Thing It Gets Right). http://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/154304 USA: 2013. Eagleton, Terry. Literary Theory: An Introduction. Minnesota: The University of Minnesota Press, 2001. Ellis, Kate, Ellen Guettler. A Better Life: Creating The American Dream. http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/americandream/ USA: American Public Media, 2015. Kit, Borys. Universal Pushes Back Keanu Reeves 47 Ronin. New York: The Hollywood Reporter, 2012. Levi-Strauss, Claude. Structural Anthropology. Hammondsworth: Penguin Books, 1968. Saussure, Ferdinand. Course in General Linguistics. New York: Philosophical Library, 1959. Storey, John. Cultural Theories and Popular Culture: An Introduction. 5th Ed. Pearson, 2009. Williams, Raymond. A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. Rev. Ed. New York: Oxford University Press,1983. Wright, Will. Sixguns and Society: A Structural Study of the Western. California: University of California Press, 1975.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Egypt :: essays research papers

Egypt The majority of people have various ways of viewing cultures. Because of close-mindedness and lack of cultural education, people have a difficult time interacting with different societies. I feel that people shouldn't stereotype because this might lead to misjudgment. For example, I have personally experienced this type of stereotyping of my Egyptian culture. Although people view Egypt as a plain desert with camel riders, my experience from living there shows Egypt to be a developing civilized country with a great history . People think about Egypt in this manner because of the media. The news primarily exposes the uncivilized parts of the country. For instance, the well known news broad-casting channel CNN showed the circumcising of a young girl on the television screen. This is a harsh way to introduce a culture to people. Often, CNN shows cases of the Egyptian desert with camel riders. This narrow perspective influences the society's view of our culture. Another example is an article in the National Geographic magazine about Egypt (written by Peter Throux in April 1993). The writer described the country as smoggy, dirty, over-populated and with traffic problems. The article introduced Egypt as a superstitious culture which was graphically proven in a picture shown in the article. This picture showed the head of a woman with the body of a snake. This picture gives the reader the impression that Egyptians believe in black magic. Whenever the media introduce a culture, they should mention all the positive and the negative aspects of that specific culture. For instance, whenever you watch a program about the United States of America back home, you see only sky-scrapers and big luxurious cities. This doesn't portray the entire United States. In reality, Egypt is a mixture of well educated and uneducated people. I have lived there for many years and from experience, I think it's an interesting country. Egypt has the Nile River which supports the cities around it with water and green areas. In Egypt, the government encourages the people to move away from the cities and start agricultural communities with great facilities. This encouragement helps provide more agricultural areas and more jobs for the Egyptian people. This enrichment has stabilized the currency for six years and has also improved the growth of the national income. In Egypt, there are the "pyramids" which are symbols of the Egyptian pride. Temples, churches and mosques show a great art of design. These buildings are not just constructions, they are decorations and a history for all generations. This history has motivated the Egyptians to continue their modern progresses. It has also influenced the Egyptian traditions.

Friday, July 19, 2019

Insomnia :: essays research papers

Insomnia Insomnia Almost everyone experiences insomnia now and then. When one believes he must be in bed by a certain time every night or that he needs a certain number of hours of sleep, it may be the very thing that is preventing him from going to sleep (Munson 21). It is unfortunately true that many people still suffer from poor sleep but do not know that there are numerous programs that can help them. Insomnia, which is due to various causes and includes a vaiety of symptoms, can be reduced or eliminated in a number of ways. Stress is one of the main causes in determining insomnia. It is a fact of every day life and can be defined as any event which causes a significant emotional response. Happy occasions such as getting married, promoted, or going on a vacation can cause stress reaction, not only because because participation in the event is occurring but also in the preparation. More obvious events that occur throughout one's life are the loss of a job, a loved one, or the need for surg ery. In such major life changes, the sources of the emotional response is much more easily identified (Shapiro MacFarlane Hussain 49). There are two types of stress: bad stress or negative stress which destroys your ability to operate at capacity, mentally and physically and good stress which improves your performance (Shapiro 49-50). There are different ways to reduce stress. One should try to find a job he really enjoys. It is not the stress of work that wears one out but the stress of frustration and failure. Two big causes of stress on the job are not knowing what is expected and not having adequate facts or tools. Escaping for a while is another method to help eliminate stress. One can visit a friend, go to a movie, or shop. When he returns, he can attempt to cope with the problem. However, it does not help to keep escaping, the individual should try to cope with problems as promptly as they arise (Hauri 111). Even though it is often difficult to make changes in lifestyle, the effort is worth it. Exchanging stress for a sense of control can lift a heavy weight from one's shoulders. The more control one has over his life during the day, the more likely it is that his night time sleep will become satisfying again (Hauri 113).

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Effects of Technology on the Hr Function Essay

Critically analyse the ways in which the increasing application of technology at work have an effect upon the HR function. The use of technology within HRM has grown considerably within recent years with the majority of large organisations now using technology of some form within their HR function (CIPD, 2005). As HR becomes increasingly reliant on technology it is important to assess its effect upon the HR function. Firstly, consideration will be given to definition of terms along with a description of the uses of technology within the HR function. Next the change in the structure of the HR profession that has developed alongside the emerging and growing use of technology will be addressed. The goals of the use of technology which have been afforded a significant amount of attention within the literature will then be outlined along with consideration of the realisation of these goals. In addition, the effect of shared service centres, which make significant use of technology, upon t he role of HR practitioners will be addressed in conjunction with the views of HR practitioners themselves. Whilst little attention has been given to the situating of the use of technology in HR within a wider sociological perspective in the academic literature, an attempt will be made to consider the effect of technology upon HR within such a debate. Finally, conclusions will be drawn as to the impact of the use of technology upon the HR function. It is firstly important to consider what is meant by the use of technology within the HR function. The term e-HRM is frequently used to refer to the use of technology within the HR function. The use of e-HRM varies enormously within organisations and may be used for different purposes (Parry et al. 2007). The term Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is also used to refer to any system that helps an organisation to â€Å"acquire, store, manipulate, analyse, retrieve and distribute information about an organisation’s human resources† (Tannenbaum, 1990, p.28). However, the use of technology within HR is broader than the use of HRIS and may encompass manager and employee self-service, the use of staff intranets and e-enabled processes such and recruitment and performance management amongst others (Reilly, 2012). It is acknowledged that some current research focuses on the more recent developments in web-based technology, collectively referred to as social media technologies or Web 2.0 (see Reddington, 2012). However, the use of Web 2.0 is outwith the focus of this discussion. HRIS was originally used for standardising the gathering of information about and for employees (Kovach et al. 2002). However, the use of HRIS has subsequently developed and is now used more broadly for purposes such as recruitment and selection, learning and development, administration of flexible benefits and performance appraisal (Grensing-Pophal, 2001) or to manage HR and employee information across the whole employment cycle (Parry et al. 2007). Technology has also been increasingly associated with supporting integrated call centres, shared service centres and the use of manager and employee self-service (CIPD, 2007). There is a great emphasis in the literature about the potential goals of e-HRM (Marler, 2009; Ruel, Bondarouk and Looise, 2004). However, there has been less emphasis on whether these goals have been realised in reality (Parry and Tyson, 2011; Strohmeier, 2007). Alongside the development and increasing use of technology is the development and changing role of the HR function itself. Traditionally the HR function has been seen as being a largely administrative function, focussed on administrative processes such as the maintenance of employee and payroll records (CIPD, 2007). It would appear that in its search for identity and the resulting proposed need for transformation of the function (Ulrich, 1997), HR has made use of technology to attempt to facilitate this transformation (Shirvastava and Shaw, 2003). Ulrich (1997) has argued that HRM should become a strategic business partner, in addition to performing roles as administrative expert, change agent and employee champion. It has been suggested that the use of technology within the HR function may create the opportunity for HR to become more strategic by freeing up time through the automation of many administrative tasks (Parry et al. 2007). The provision of accurate and detailed information available through the use of HRIS could also enable HR practitioners to engage in a more strategic role as such data could be used to inform managerial decisions. The move to new service delivery models of HR and the development of technology can be seen as interdependent as without increasingly sophisticated technology the various elements of HR service delivery may not be as effective (Reddington, 2012). Drivers for introduction of technology can be described as being operational, relational or transformational (Kettley and O’ Reilly, 2003; Snell, Stueber and Lepak, 2002) Operational goals can be described as having a focus on reducing the administrative burden of HR and cost effectiveness, whilst enhancing the accuracy of data; relational goals relate to improving services for internal customers due to reported low levels of satisfaction with the HR function (Kyprianou, 2008) and transformational goals address the strategic aims of the business (Lepak and Snell, 1998; Martin et al. 2008). These drivers of e-HRM can be seen as addressing either transactional or transformational goals (Martin et al. 2008). Transactional goals relate to operational efficiencies or improved service delivery. There is talk of liberating HR through technology (Shirvastava and Shaw 2003) although this strong statement is qualified by the requirement that it informates as opposed to automates HR proc esses. The distinction between automating and informating is made by Zuboff (1988) whereby automating relates to increasing efficiency through computerising work processes and procedures with decreasing dependence on human skills. In contrast, informating refers to increasing effectiveness through acquiring information by using information technology and using that information to create new knowledge. Automating could be seen as relating to addressing operational goals whereas informating could potentially address the relational and transformational goals through provision of information to inform decisions and strategy. Despite the attention to the promise of technology in transforming the HR function, much less attention has been given to the impact of technology on the HR function and whether or not the highly prized strategic orientation of HR has been achieved (Lepak and Snell, 1998, Shrivastava and Shaw, 2003). Studies that relate to whether e-HRM is achieving its operational goals provide some mixed results (Strohmeier, 2007). In practice it would appear that HRIS is having a slightly better (but not statistically significant) impact in areas of information processing, for example improving the speed that information is available and the quality of the information available than in economic terms, such as reducing headcount, lowering operational costs and improving productivity and profitability (CIPD, 2005). However, within this survey, in a third of cases the reduction in administrative burden was less than was to be expected. Stronger support for the operational impact of e-HRM comes from analysis of 10 case studies by Parry et al. (2007) which showed that technology can lead to faster and more efficient processes, greater accuracy and consistency as well as a reduction in costs. A number of other studies also provide some evidence of the impact of technology on operational efficiency ( Marler, 2009; Ruel, Bondarouk and Looise, 2004; Ruta, 2005). However, it may be that some caution needs to be exercised in drawing conclusions on the impact of e-HRM in this area as it may be that the efficiencies achieved within the HR function are simply moved elsewhere within the organisation as the responsibility for some tasks is moved from HR to line managers or employees (Ruel, Bondarouk and Looise, 2004). There is some positive evidence for the relational impact of e-HRM, notably improvements in HR service delivery achieved through the increased accuracy of data or by simplification of processes (Gardener, Lepak and Bartol, 2003). However, the relational impact of e-HRM appears to have been granted little attention in the literature (Strohmeir, 2007). Whether technology has led to a transformational impact on the HR function appears even less clear than the impact it has had on transactional processes. Despite the identification by many organisations of transformational drivers being important in the adoption of e-HR (Watson Wyatt, 2002; Yeung and Brockbank, 1995) it would seem that the issue of whether e-HRM supports a transformation of the HR function into a strategic business partner is only â€Å"parenthetically addressed† (Strohmeir, 2007, p.28). Indeed, Bondarouk and Ruel (2009, p.508) state â€Å"organisations are definitely silent about whether their HR departments become more strategic with e-HRM†. Where evidence is presented it is contradictory in nature. It would seem that in some cases technology has not led to a more strategic orientation of the HR function and has been used mainly for automating operational processes (Burbach and Dundon, 2005; Dery, Grant and Wiblen, 2009; Kinnie and Arthurs, 1993; Tansley et al. 2001). Indeed, Broderick and Boudreau (1992) found that most organisations have only used technology to support a narrow range of administrativ e decisions, resulting in efficiencies in managing information but that the potential competitive advantage of technology has not been exploited. In contrast, other studies have offered some evidence that e-HRM has supported the strategic integration of HR with business strategy (Olivas-Lujan, Ramirez and Zapata-Cantu, 2007; Ruel, Bondarouk and Looise, 2004; Teo, Soon and Fedric, 2001) More recent research has provided some anecdotal evidence for a move towards a more strategic role (Parry and Tyson, 2011) although the evidence supporting the transformational impact compared with the operational and relational appeared to be the weakest. It would appear that there is far greater attention in the literature to the potential for e-HRM to have an impact in the three areas outlined above than there is accorded to the actual outcomes (Shrivastava and Shaw, 2003; Strohmeir, 2007). The reorganisation of the HR function and the introduction of shared service centres appears to have had an impact on numbers of on-site HR staff and a reduction in the number of HR staff to employees (Francis and Keegan, 2006). The operation of such shared service centres relies on technology that is characterised by formalisation, routinisation and centralisation resulting in an impact on staffing of such centres, which require specialised but generally low level HR administrators (Martin and Reddington, 2009). Research that addresses the issue of how HR practitioners have viewed the increasing use of technology appears to be limited to date. There is evidence that some practitioners may view the use of technology and an associated increase in the use of shared service centres cautiously because it has resulted in a reduction of face-to-face relationships, which is often the reason individuals cite for choosing a career in HR (Francis and Keegan, 2006). Martin and Reddington (2009) suggest that the significant role of technology within shared service centres will lead to a lowering of the status of those employed in such environments especially when compared to the status of HR business partners. It is arg ued that there is a risk of deskilling within the administrative function of HR and that staff may be confined to more routine tasks where they had previously had a wider role (Reilly, 2000). It is also suggested that within shared service centres different skills may be required and staff may be employed who have customer service skills but who do not necessarily have a background in HR as technical knowledge can be learned whereas the right attitudes may be harder to learn (Parry et al. 2007; Reilly, 2000). In addition to this, there is evidence that suggests that there a perception amongst HR practitioners of an increasing distance between those at the top and bottom of the career ladder and that people from outwith the HR function are â€Å"parachuting† into the top jobs (Francis and Keegan, 2006). This effect could possibly be explained by the requirement of new areas of expertise, such as technical, consultancy and project management skills (Parry and Tyson, 2011), which may require developing within HR practitioners and could possibly result in recruiting from outside the profession. Indeed a number of reports emphasise the skills of HR staff as a significant barrier to transformation of the HR function (see Reilly, 2012). The debate on the use of technology within HRM can also be situated within a wider sociological perspective. Whilst the sociological literature appears to focus mainly on the use of technology within manufacturing environments or of computerisation in general as opposed to within the HR function an attempt to situate the effect of technology upon HR could be made in terms of attempting to assess the effect upon the organisation of the function and the impact on the level of skills required. The attempts to understand the impact of technology upon the organisation of work have resulted in divergent views. The debate focuses mainly on two opposing views. The managerialist and essentially optimistic perspective associated with writers such as Blauner (1964) argues that the application of technology will render obsolete routine and more manual jobs and create more skilled and complex opportunities resulting in an overall effect of â€Å"upskilling†, along with organisations characterised by decentralised structures, reduction in hierarchy, increased worker autonomy and a prevalence of knowledge workers (for example, Attewell, 1992; Piore and Sabel, 1984) Such analysis suggests that in the earlier phases of industrialisation advances in technology tended to reduce skills and devalue work but that more recent technological developments have had the opposite effect. Examination of the increasing use of technology and its impact on skills levels has provided some evidence for a raising of skills levels (Daniel, 1987, Gaillie, 1991) In contrast, labour process theorists have argued that technological changes have a degrading effect on work and result in â€Å"deskilling† of the labour process and reduced worker autonomy, with a centralised, neo-Taylorist form of organisation, with separation of conception from execution (for example, Braverman, 1974; Zimbalist, 1979). The issues of the expansion of non-manual work and the apparent rising skills levels as suggested by formal skills gradings are not inconsistent with the labour process perspective (Gaillie, 1991) who argues that non-manual work has undergone a major transformation, r esulting in work that is increasingly routinized and mechanised (supported by the increase in office automation). From such a perspective non-manual workers are no longer accorded their relatively privileged position and are now accorded a similar level of skills as manual workers. Support for the process of deskilling can be found in many analyses of the effects of computerised technology (Meiksins, 1994) Analysis of the experience of employees within the call centre environment emphasises the process of deskilling (Desai, 2010) which is described by Taylor and Bain (1999, p.109) as a situation of â€Å"an assembly-line in the head†. The impacts of such call centre roles are often high turnover rates and high levels of absence (Ackroyd, Gordon-Dseagu and Fairhurst, 2006) and the effect on employees is outlined by Rose and Wright (2005, pp.156-157): â€Å"low skilled call centre jobs allied with high levels of technological and management controls do not contribute towards employee well-being and satisfaction† This account of the impact of technology resonates with the description above of shared service centres whose result has been the deskilling of the administrative function of HR and the recruitment of those who do not have a background in HR (Martin and Reddington, 2009; Reilly, 2000). However, whilst it could be argued that a labour process perspective accounts for the effects of technology on some aspects of the HR function, it does not address the effect on the function as a whole as it does not appear to account for the strategic end of the spectrum, where it seems that business partner roles are accorded status and prestige along with substantially increased salaries (Francis and Reddington, 2006). The role of business partners cannot easily be reconciled with the notion of deskilling. There has been a tendency to view the classification of either upskilling or deskilling as too simplistic and some writers have moved away from this conceptualisation of work by postulating that instead there is an increasing polarisation of the workforce in terms of skill level with at one end, highly skilled workers with high levels of autonomy and at the other end a lower skilled sector characterised by an intensification of work through deskilling and management control (Edw ards, 1979), who can be dispensed if surplus to requirements (Berger and Piore, 1981). This polarisation of the workplace appears to be a better reflection of the changing HR function with the autonomous business partner role, with the accompanying perception of a high level of skill and status at one end of the spectrum and at the opposite end, the shared service centre roles characterised by routine and deskilling. In relation to professional work, there is some argument that professionals have not been adversely affected by computerisation and continue to be accorded high status and prestige (Friedson, 1984, 1986). In contrast, it is argued that technology may have differing effects on professionals, depending on the relative status of the profession and on the status of individuals within the profession (Burris, 1998). It is argued that alongside polarisation of the workplace, there tends to be poorer career prospects for non-expert workers (Baran, 1987; Hodson, 1988) with higher level posts being filled from outwith the organisation (Hodson, 1988; Burris 1983,a,b) This issue within HR is highlighted by Reilly (2000) who suggests that there may be less opportunity for career development if lower level staff do not build the experience that they would gain in more generalist roles in traditional HR functions. As stated earlier, there also appears to be a perception that the higher status business partner roles are at least sometimes being filled not just from outwith the organisation but from outwith the HR profession (Francis and Reddington, 2006). Whilst the issue of the impact of technology upon the HR function appears to have been given little attention within research (Lepak and Snell, 1998; Shrivastava and Shaw, 2003) it would seem that what discussion there has been relates mainly to the promise of technology in transforming the HR function and facilitating a more strategic orientation. The reality of the impact of technology in achieving an impact in operational, relational and transformational areas is much less clear although evidence would suggest that the greatest impact is in achieving operational efficiencies. Alongside the development of the use of technology has been the reorganisation of the HR function. Although there has been little attempt to consider the impact of technology from a sociological perspective, it can be argued that the increasing use of technology, which has been used to support the shared service centre model may be resulting in a deskilling of an element of the HR profession and reducing career development paths for some practitioners. In addition, there appears to be a change in skills viewed as necessary within this function, with a focus on customer service skills as opposed to specialist HR knowledge. In contrast, although the evidence for a transformational impact of technology upon HR is weaker and more contradictory, there would appear to be a perception of a higher status role in the business partner, with accordingly higher remuneration, thus demonstrating a polarisation of the HR function in terms of both skills and status. However, this reorganisation of the HR function and the development of a more strategic orientation, which it is argued can be facilitated by the increasing use of technology, although being seen as having an upskilling effect on those in a more strategic role could be argued as achieving the opposite effect if the result is recruiting from outwith the profession. This could leave HR professionals in a precarious position in terms of career and skill development, which could at least in part be attributed to the effect of technology as without increasingly sophisticated technology the new models of service delivery may not be possible or at least may not be as effective. Whilst, a lack of academic attention to the actual impact of technology on the HR function requires that caution is exercised in drawing conclusions, the tendency to focus on the potential impact of technology could be followed in suggesting that the potential of technology in facilitating the move to a transformation of the HR function may be to tend towards a degradation of the HR profession, with low skilled staff employed in shared service centres and more highly skilled and valued business partners being recruited from outwith the HR profession. However, without significant further research in the area, in particular on the impact of technology and the accompanying change in service delivery models upon the career paths and development opportunities for HR practitioners, this conclusion remains just a potential. References Ackroyd, K., Gordon-Dseagu, V. and Fairhurst, P. (2006) â€Å"Well-being and call centres†, Institute of Employment Studies, Brighton [online]. 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