A Critique Of The Social Contract - 1946 Words

A Critique of the Social Contract According To John Locke Introduction John Locke embedded his political ideas in the form of two treatises popularly known as Two Treatises on Civil Government that he authored in 1690. In the first treatise, Locke disagrees with the political and social philosophy of Robert Filmer in his work known as Patriacha, authored in 1654. The second treatise contains Locke’s viewpoint on political philosophy where he expounds the origin, authority and the significance of a civil government. In addition, the treatise contains his view on the state of nature, the social contract, political groupings, types of government and a citizen’s right to own private property. The Social Contract Theory Unlike his predecessor,†¦show more content†¦In other words, human beings can be depended upon based on the fact that they are rational. Unlike Hobbes, Locke believed that human beings are unselfish and social. It is only in exceptional cases that some human beings are selfish, overly competitive and aggressive otherwise; most human beings are able to rule themselves through the law of nature or through rational thinking. Human beings are born free and are equal. The presence of reason in human beings ensures that they remain rational in their dealings. This factor enables human beings to discover the right behavior as seen in their control of emotions, anger, and expression of love among others. Instinctively, man desires to live in peace and harmony with fellow men. In regard to the state of nature, Locke contrasts Hobbes by asserting that there was law, order, peace and private property. Political legitimacy and power is derived from the state of nature since according to Locke, man has always lived in perfect equality and freedom where human beings order their actions and use their property within the confines of the law of nature. However, the state of nature does not imply misuse of liberty but using such liberty for the good of self

Oijiojoi Free Essays

Rise of one person at the expense of another, contrasting worlds, disguises, and redemption reveal the four most common Dramatic Patterns found throughout The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. To start with, rise of one person at the expense of another Is a pattern that ultimately describes an Individual whose actions take effect upon themselves. In this case, an example of this pattern would be how the Nurse and Lady Caplet try and convince Juliet to marry Count Paris. We will write a custom essay sample on Oijiojoi or any similar topic only for you Order Now Lady Caplet, who barely speaks to Juliet since he was born, surprisingly beckons her to accept Paris’ hand in marriage. When the Nurse hears Lady Caplet’s request, she also tries to persuade Juliet to marry Paris. This example exposes to the audience how both of the characters are personally setting up the marriage for Juliet only to satisfy themselves. Count Paris is blood related to the Prince, and knowing If they got Juliet to marry him Into the family, his wealth will be shared upon with them. They both consider how much advantages they would get over Gullet’s wellbeing and happiness. Take the Nurse for instance, in the play, the audience may recognize that she over exaggerates how lovely the idea of marrying Paris when she apprehends the idea of the service she was going to get within Paris. Another example of this pattern Is when the Friar agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet. Like the first example, this reveals the greediness within Friar Lawrence. Within the flirts few scenes before agreeing to the marriage, he disagrees greatly of Romeos love for Juliet and mentions how he tends to rush relationships to an expense. Pam 2 After pondering over the idea, he realizes that their forbidden love can patch the Caplet and Montague houses back together in peace. He quickly changes his mind and decides to wed them both, assuming he will get all the credit for mending the feuding households together. Additionally, contrasting worlds is another dramatic pattern that discloses this play and contrasts the differences between the servants and their masters. A scene in the play that specifically describes this pattern is when the servants were having a personal party within the Caplet party. When the audience thinks about servants, they think about the responsible tasks that they have to savor for their masters. The audience least expects the servants to have a laughing matter at their own leaders’ party. In this case, the Caplet servants are not respecting their roles, but Instead, act as equal within the household to try and gain more privileges. In addition, another instance of this dramatic pattern is when Gullet’s father calls the Nurse by her first name, Angelica. While in the midst of preparation for the wedding, Lord Capsules is inning around, overexcited, and giving orders. He gives a task for the Nurse to complete and ends up mentioning her by her first name. The Nurse, astonishingly, the reader to infer that Lord Caplet and the Nurse had an affair. If the audience truly thinks about it, it is remarkable that he calls her by her first name. Last time he spoke to her, he was calling her hurtful names when she went against Juliet and Paris’ marriage. Furthermore, disguises is an additional dramatic pattern that supports the building block of the plot of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. The first example of this pattern is when Lord Caplet warms up to Paris about marrying Juliet. When Paris asks Lord Caplet for Gullet’s hand in marriage, he tells him that Juliet is too young of an age to get married. This reveals that he is Pam 3 lying and hypercritical because he vowed to his wife when she was Just as young as Juliet was. The reader may notice that Lord Caplet is playing hard to get, and instead of easily handing Juliet to Paris, he suggests that Paris should get to know Juliet at the masquerade party before marrying her. In addition, another illustration of disguise is when the Friar pretends that Juliet is dead. When Juliet comes running into Friar Lawrence cell, she demands him to find a way to keep her from marrying Count Paris or she will kill herself right then and there. He panics and tells Juliet that he consumed a potion that will make it appear as if she is dead, but only for a certain amount of time. The Friar’s plan was to have Juliet beg her father for forgiveness and agree to the marriage with Paris. She is then going to ingest the potion and appear dead in the morning. The Capsules will then place Juliet in the Caplet tomb, and when she wakes up, Romeo will be there to reassure her. She will then return to Mantra with Romeo, and be unrestricted to live with him away from their parents’ hatred. What the Capsules do not know is that Friar Lawrence lied about her being dead, and reassured them to quickly start the burial for Juliet so they will not suspect a thing. Having to lie about Gullet’s death prevents his idea from backfiring. Moreover, the dramatic pattern that ties the conclusion of the play is redemption. Redemption s when the characters of the storyline begs for the forgiveness of others. An example that reflects this pattern is when the Friar confesses and asks for mercy when he is caught. In the last act of the play, the Friar’s plan had miscarried and Romeo and Juliet ended up committing suicide individually. After being caught by the watchmen, he quickly confesses how he secretly married Romeo and Juliet thinking that he could bring the Capsules and Montague together. He mentions how destroyed Juliet was for having to marry Paris and he offered her a Pam 4 leaping potion to trick everyone that she was dead. The Friar also mentions that he sent a letter to Romeo which failed to deliver about the false death of Juliet, thus leading to Romeo killing himself over disbelief. After seeing Juliet awaken from her deep sleep, the Friar mentions how he tried to convince her to come with him where he will cast her away to be a nun. When Juliet refuses to go with him, he runs away as the group of watchmen closes in. While asking for forgiveness, the reader can tell that the Friar does not pity up to the Prince. He gives himself up to Prince Callus and asks for consequences and sacrifice knowing the tragedy he has done to both of the houses was his fault. Another instance where the characters seek redemption is when Lord Caplet makes up with Lord Montague. After they both lost their only child, they both realized that no more lives should be taken from the aging dispute. Now knowing that his daughter is married to a Montague, he calls Romeos father, his make a monument of Romeo while Lord Montague makes a monument of Juliet in honor of their characters. How to cite Oijiojoi, Papers

Cultural shock free essay sample

What do you understand by culture shock? Have you ever experienced it and how did you deal with it? (Please limit your answer to 300 words) Each place has its own unique values, laws and systems, so there Is no doubt that different countries share a lot In common. Cultural shock may be defined as a psychological disorientation that most people experience when living In a culture markedly different from ones own. One experiences cultural shock when they are uprooted from their familiar way of life. This includes experiencing different climate conditions, being unfamiliar with ew cuisine, language as well as social values. When a person has to adapt in a new unknown environment the transition is not smooth for some. There is a feeling of disconnect and it can take a toll on a persons physical as well as emotional health. As long as people learn to manage it effectively, it will help them to experiment new ideas, boost their sense of well-being and equipping them with necessary skills which helps bringing enormous potential benefits. We will write a custom essay sample on Cultural shock or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Cultural shock never had an extreme Impact on me as from my childhood have been travelling to different countries due to the nature of my fathers profession. The Initial impact of cultural shock was cushioned due to the comforting presence of my parents which helped to acclimatize to such transitions. Since childhood I have travelled to the lengths and breadths of the globe and this experience of Intermingling with different natlonalltles and adapting to their culture have evolved me into a more confident and broad- minded individual. I understood that one needs to have flexibility towards practices and customs of different cultures. I am now comfortable with people of different cultures, a trait that plays an integral role in todays global economy.

Mdcc Track And How You Could Have A Better Health Essays

Mdcc Track And How You Could Have A Better Health Consider how likely you would be to agree if one offers you the opportunity to better your health and your physique while at the same time getting rid of the everyday stresses. I once read that for college students, minor hassles, rather than major life events tend to maintain stress at unhealthy levels. But exercise is one of the essential elements to help lower stress. In an effort to help students, and teachers, to lower stress levels, I analyzed the ambiance found at Miami Dade South track facility. MDCC track offers a 400 meters facility with seating capacity for about 450 people (in permanent concrete bleachers) and additional temporary bleachers suited for 200 more. The track is located behind the pool (building 7000) and between the baseball and soccer fields. The track is made out of red clay, consists of eight lanes clearly separated by white lines, and painted with their respective numbers. The hours of operation of the track are from Monday thru Friday 7:00 to 2:30 PM and 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM; Saturdays from 9:00 am to 4:00 PM and Sundays is closed. Advantages of working out at the MDCC track are that the track is well lit and the students can go right after classes. In the middle of the track there is a well-trimmed grass area that can be utilized while warming up or cooling down. It is favorably recommended for any MDCC student to make use of the campus facilities, especially the track. Not only one will get natural stress reduction while jogging running for walking, but it is also free. In order to enjoy. MDCC track and avoid potential for injury here is a small list to utilize in order to get better results: 1) Start out by wearing comfortable shoes 2) Drink plenty of water throughout the day and try to eat healthy 3) Warm up for at least 10 minutes before starting your exercise (running, jogging or walking); make sure you give your muscles a good stretch without over exhaustion. 4) Start your exercise (run, jog or walk) and continue it for at least 15 minutes. Enjoy the view at MDCC. Look at the people around you and try to get pepped-up. 5) Finish your exercise by cooling down for at least 5 minutes in the same way you did your warm-up. I am by no means a true expert on fitness and health but I am giving a fist hand account of what turns out to be a very relaxing experience at the track of Miami Dade. I hope you can enjoy it too! Sports and Games

Free Essays on The Tyger

are so distinguishable from the non-rhyming wor... Free Essays on The Tyger Free Essays on The Tyger â€Å"The Tyger†, by William Blake, is a compelling piece of literature which is very ambiguous and vague. Many different interpreters have very dissimilar opinions not only of the poem itself, but of its deeper meaning. Algernon Charles Swinburne asks, â€Å"Could God bring down his heart to the making of a thing so deadly and strong? Or could any lesser daemonic force of nature take to itself wings and fly high enough to assume power equal to such a creation?† In the poem itself, Blake asks the tiger, â€Å"Did he who made the Lamb make thee?† The central question seems to be whether the tiger, a fearful and wrathful creature, was created by the grace of God or the iniquity of Satan. Of course the tiger was created by God, for it was He who created Heaven and Earth. Therefore, as abominable as the tiger may be, it inevitably has to be a production of God. Apparently over time the tiger has been transformed into this malicious creature. Is it not true t hat people are a product of their environment? The same case applies to the tiger. It has been given the circumstances in which it must take on the role of savage beast to maintain its survival in the environment. The lamb, on the other hand, has been presented a lifestyle in which it must really do nothing to perpetuate its species. Therefore, the tiger appears sinful, whereas the lamb appears passive and innocent. However, both creatures are actually equal. The only difference is the conditions in which they are in as a species. God did not create an abominate creature; he created a creature which developed its own traits. Being a romantic poem, â€Å"The Tyger† has a much deeper meaning than just who created the tiger. Blake is trying to enlighten people as to the concept of transformation. Even though these two creatures were essentially created the same, they have transformed into two entirely opposite entities. One has transformed into good, and one evil. Pe ople ca... Free Essays on The Tyger â€Å"The Tyger† Does god create both gentle and fearful creatures? If he does what right does he have? Both of these rhetorical questions are asked by William Blake in his poem â€Å"The Tyger.† The poem takes the reader on a journey of faith, questioning god and his nature. The poem completes a cycle of questioning the creator of the tyger, discussing how it could have been created, and then returns to questioning the creator again. Both questions about the tyger’s creator are left unanswered. William Blake uses rhythm, rhyme, and poetic devices to create a unique effect and to parallel his theme in his work â€Å"The Tyger.† William Blake’s choice of rhythm is important to his poem â€Å"The Tyger† because it parallels the theme of the poem, that the tyger may have been made by god or another harsher creator. Most of the poem is written in trochaic tetrameter as can be seen in line three, when Blake says, â€Å"What immortal hand or eye.† This rhythm is very harsh sounding, exemplifying the very nature of the tyger. Some of the lines in the poem were written in iambic tetrameter, such as in line ten, when Blake says, â€Å"Could twist the sinews of thy heart? .† Iambic tetrameter has a much softer sounding beat than does trochaic tetrameter. This implies the gentle nature of god, and if he could create such a beast. The last word of each quatrain is written in a spondee. This helps to create a unique symmetry and to parallel the â€Å"fearful symmetry† of a tyger. William Blake’s use of rhyme greatly affects his work â€Å"The Tyger.† The entire poem is written in couplets. Couplets contain two lines, paralleling the dichotomy of the poem, that everything has two sides or parts. The rhyme scheme is AA BB CC etc. Because the rhyming words are so distinguishable from the non-rhyming wor...

Assignment #2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

#2 - Assignment Example One time when dad was the only one at home, I tried talking to him about my day. I had a really bad day but I don’t want to just blurt it out to him because to me, the feelings are painful and I want to be assured that I will be listened to. So I asked him how his day went. He replied with a brief story about what happened at the office. When he didn’t ask me, I tried asking him another set of questions and none of them seemed to give him the signal that it’s time for him to ask me. When I got upset, I told him, â€Å"Aren’t you even going to ask me about my day?† I felt really bad. But he apologized and said, â€Å"Sweetie, I didn’t even know you wanted to say something. You kept asking me. If you want to tell me about your day, go right ahead.† Only then did I realize that men don’t instinctively know this â€Å"non-spoken rule† among women. For them, if you ask a question, it is a message that you just want informatio n and not comforting. As it was pointed out by Maltz and Broker, one tendency of a woman when it comes to communication is to ask questions. (A Cultural Approach, 38) In my experience in that conversation with my dad, this proved to be true. I believe that this miscommunication was due to gender differences because whenever I ask my mom or my girlfriends about their day or feelings, they always return the question to me. We always ask each other questions but I don’t recall my dad or brother asking me. As it was explained in men’s features, men make more direct declarations of fact or opinion than do women. (A Cultural Approach, 38) When they want to say something, they don’t ask me first, they go right ahead. Another factor that may have affected the miscommunication in my example is sex role. As it was said in Explanations Offered, having been taught to speak and act like â€Å"ladies† women become as unassertive and insecure as they have been made to sound. (A Cultural Approach,

Freedom and emancipation of women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Freedom and emancipation of women - Essay Example On the other hand, men were more flexible and could look for work and live away from homes, while still expecting to have their wives take care of their children at home. In Kate Chopin story â€Å"the story of an hour†, women are depicted as being oppressed, but repressing their feeling despite their desire for freedom. The theme of oppression of women in the society is best captured in the story of an hour where Mrs. Mallard; the main author who is depicted as having a heart trouble. This is the reason why the death of her husband is brought with gentleness (Chopin 788). This is a disease that Chopin refers to be the one of the causes of trouble facing Mrs. Ballard. In the story, the heart disease is a symbol of the pain that Chopin has to contend with, one that makes her sick and remain at home, while her husband goes to work. The interpretation of the heart diseases ties with the notion that women’s places was home and not in the industry, which was considered as a playing field for men only. This was a belief that men held during the nineteenth century, at a time when women were trying to liberate themselves from chains of having to take roles as wives at home. But as indicated in the story, the struggles of women like Mrs. Mallard bore no success as she succumbed to death because of her heart trouble. Mrs. Mallard is depicted as a young woman in the story and yet all she could do was stay at home, while the husband went to work to fend for the family. Chopin’s portrays Mrs. Mallard as a young woman who has a fair and calm face. These descriptions indicate the status of women in the society being that most of them had the potential to take over roles in the industries and other domains (Stein 54). Needless to say, the theme of oppressions seems to be overstretched on women like Mr. Mallard who have to wait at home for the husband to come home. In addition, it is clear to point that men made women hold gender roles at home advancing the theme of oppression. In what seems as a twist, Mr. Mallard later becomes happy because the death of her husband meant his freedom. In the story, Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard as having a dull stare, one that illustrates the kind of life she has gone through. The dull eyes present readers with the feeling of women have having been stagnated and withdrawn in the quest for freedom. This notion is true considering the fact that women during the 19th century continued to hold a role at home with none having the chance to take part in other facets of life. In the story, it is apparent that Mrs. Mallard is less independent in her marriage, which indicates the oppression that women were going through in their society. To a great extent, it can be argued that married women like Mrs. Mallard were less independent because of their allegiance to the will of their husbands. Historically, the women’s quest from freedom in the nineteenth century reflected the difficulty of women making sig nificant breakthroughs in a society where men were parochial. In another perspective, the dull stare reveal the routine that characterized the lives of women being that many of them stayed at home. This signifies a form of oppression that made women restricted to their homes rather than joint the social and economic life experienced by their male counterparts. To some degree, Chopin reveal that women despite being oppressed remained tied to their husbands to the chain of oppression tha

You could put any topic you think is necessary Essay

You could put any topic you think is necessary - Essay Example Capital punishment began as early as in the 14th century B. C. under the Hittite code. They were also in used by Romans in the 5th century B. C., in Athens under the Draconian code in the 7th century B. C. as well as in Babylon in the 18th century B. C. during the reign of King Hammurabi. Criminals were mostly burnt alive, beaten to death, crucified or beheaded. In Britain, the most commonly used methods for execution were hanging, boiling alive or beheading. In the 16th century A. D, more than 70,000 people were executed in the country during the time of Henry VIII. Crimes included theft, getting married to Jews, treason and many other crimes that added up to 222 by the 17th century A. D. In the mid 18th century A. D., the crimes that were punishable by death were reduced to 120 (Banner (2002). Many nations have abolished capital punishment, but some are still practicing it, with China leading the group of 58 countries, having executed 5000 capital offenders in 2008. Iran and Saudi Arabia were also ranked among the countries with the highest executions though they came after China by far at 348 and 102 respectively. In the United States, 37 offenders were executed. Japan, Indonesia, Libya, North Korea and Saudi Arabia are also applying capital punishment (Hands off Cain, 2008). Abolitionists are still campaigning against death penalty. Brown (2010) observes that the bible, which is used in many criminal justice systems for swearing convicts and witnesses has many verses such as â€Å"Genesis 9:5-6, Numbers 35:30, Num. 35:30 and Num. 35:33-34† among others that support death penalty for various crimes including murder, adultery and incest among others. There are offences in these passages that can only be punished through capital punishment. Some countries such as the US use these verses to justify the application of capital punishment. However, there are usually controversies concerning the sixth commandment that cautions against

The Stepping Stones of Labor in America Essay Example for Free

The Stepping Stones of Labor in America Essay Throughout time, in all places, there is an upper class and a lower class. During the 16th to 19th century in America people came from all over Europe. People from Europe found America as an escape from their life; a new start. Some could not afford to take a boat ride across the Atlantic with their whole family. Because of this, some people became indentured servants. Later on, the South revolutionized America by bringing in black slaves and getting rid of indentured servitude. Slaves generated the economy for the South, but was also the main cause of the civil war. Both slaves and indentured servants were treated badly, however, black slaves were much more expensive and had to work for life, whereas indentured servants worked for a reward. Both the indentured servants and black slaves did very similar agricultural work. They were treated dreadfully and were not able to change their employer. They didnt get to choose what labor they did and they were not able to own the product from their labor. Black slaves were captured in Africa and brought on boats to come to America. A lot of black slaves didnt make it to America because of sickness and diseases on the boat. Indentured servants were often forced to go with their owner or were kidnapped and put on ships, where the boats were unsanitary. During this time in America there was too much land for the amount of people so when they servants and slaves were brought over they had to sustain the crops and the fields. They worked long hours in the cold winters and in the brutal summer days in the fields. Both the indentured servants and black slaves were scarred mentally for being taken from their families and coming to a new land. They were physically beaten if they tried to escape or didnt do their work well. Sometimes they were beaten without a reason. Both groups were treated badly and couldnt do anything about it. Indentured servants had a certain amount of time they had to work to get a reward so they had more motivation for becoming free and had hope during tough times whereas black slaves were forced into labor for their whole life and didnt have any hope to escape. After the indentured servants had did their time depending how long their contract was, they were given money, land and often a sustainable job. Black slaves were permanently slaves and didnt have as much hope as indentured servants because they had no family and they knew that they were stuck living their life the way it was forever. Also, indentured servants often had learned some economically valuable skills, so when their contract was up, they were more prepared for the outside world, while black slaves were not usually and were not let out. Indentured servants were slaves and dehumanized during their time of their contract, but often had a better life because of what they learned from being a servant and their reward. While both slaves and servants typically did similar work, slaves were bought and put into work whereas indentured servants signed a contract and the owner didnt give up any money value until the end of contract. During this time the cost of a black slave was about 130,000 dollars. This was a lot higher because this is when there was no more indentured servitude and the Souths economy relied on black slaves for cotton. Paying 130,000 dollars for a slave seems like a bad investment, but they got the slaves for life and the slaves could reproduce and have more slaves in the future. The biggest reason why black slaves were a better investment was that they were permanent and were with the owner forever or could be sold whereas white servants were short term and had to give up land and money in the land. Indentured servants were like a loans; youd get them and at the end you would have to give up some money. Black slaves were worth so much more at the time then indenture servants and because of this indentured servants no longer existed. The ultimate purpose of slaves and indentured servants are identical, however, the conditions on which they worked was completely different. Slaves had no hope for any freedom unless they risked the danger of escaping while indentured servants would one day be free from their masters, once they fulfilled there contracts which stated how long they would work for. Slaves were worth a lot more money and helped generate the economy for the South. Eventually indentured servitude disappeared and slavery had become one of the biggest forms of labor in America. While indentured servitude had little impact in the making of America, slavery become one of the most controversial issues of the 1800s, and the issues over racial discrimination which had started in America in the 1600s, would continue on into the mid-twentieth century.

In What Ways Do You Think That The Dreams Of The Characters Are :: English Literature

In What Ways Do You Think That The Dreams Of The Characters Are Different From Reality And To What Extent Will They Be Fulfilled? The American Dream can be defined as the idea that America is the land of opportunity for everyone who is willing to work hard and persevere. It was seen as the land of freedom where everyone has a chance of "pursuit of happiness." The USA was seen as a place of equal opportunities for anyone, one of the reasons being that there was no class system like there were in Britain. Dramatic irony links in with this idea of the Wingfield family living in the middle of the American Dream. It involves us in the play but as it is a memory play, dramatic irony does not make us feel part of it. It reminds us that we are on the outside looking in and also that we live in a different time period than the one in which the play is set. We, as the audience have a great deal of insight into the play, and therefore we know that there is no real truth in the American Dream. It is just a myth because the play is set in the 1930's, which was the period of the Great Depression. The American economy had collapsed due to the Wall Street Crash, so it would have been virtually impossible for the American Dream to work for someone like Jim. Jim is Tennessee Williams' central focus point of all the characters' dreams as he is "the long delayed but always expected something" that the Wingfield family have been waiting for. He is the most significant character in the play who can be related to the American Dream. In the film version, Jim is portrayed as an ordinary man, which is disappointing for us as we find it impossible to believe that he is such a central character and that all the dreams of the Wingfields depend upon him. " Knowledge - Zzzzp! Money - Zzzzzp! - Power That's the cycle democracy is built on!" When he pitches this line to Laura, we wonder that how can a person who believes in this absurdity, be such a central character in the play if he is portrayed like this. The actor who plays Jim in the film makes him seem extremely stupid. The actor does not give the impression that Jim is very important and it does not emphasise the fact that he is such a major character, which is why I feel that the portrayal of Jim is unsuccessful. Jim strongly believes that he will be able to obtain an executive post

Ameritrade’s Cost of Capital Essay

Executive Summary After careful analysis of Ameritrade and comparable companies, I have estimated a 14.784% cost of capital that should be used to evaluate Ameritrade’s upcoming investments in technology and advertising. After analyzing the historical return on Ameritrade’s investments, I have concluded that if the firm manages this project at least as well as its previous investments, the return on the proposed project will exceed the cost of capital resulting in a positive NPV project. Based on the estimated cost of capital, relative to the company’s historical returns on investment, I recommend that Ameritrade undertakes this investment project. I believe that the estimated cost of capital is appropriate because it is partly based on a set of companies where the main source of revenue is similar to that of Ameritrade, deep discount brokerage companies. In addition, the nature of the project is to increase the customer base of Ameritrade, a frequent and archetypal venture for a deep-discount brokerage firm. Because Ameritrade has very limited data due to its recent IPO, I will be using the comparable data of Waterhouse Investors, Quick and Reilly Group Incorporated, and Charles Schwab Corporation to estimate Ameritrade’s levered beta using a bottom-up approach. I will be using these comparables because they are all characterized as deep-discount brokerage firms with similar sources of revenue. I used data from 1992-1996 because in my experience, I have found that five years of data provides a reasonable and precise measure of information. It should be noted that I consistently used the same amount of data from five calendar years for all of Ameritrade’s comparables. The key stakeholders involving this decision are management and those providing the capital, both debt and equity, for this new undertaking. For these stakeholders, priority lies in the return of the investment, the success of the company, and the ability to meet the financial obligations of the firm. These priorities can be best predicted with my provided estimation of the cost of capital in relation to the company’s historical return on investment. Market Overview As Ameritrade continues to grow and make investments in projects, it is important to realize the effect the market has on the brokerage. One thing I want to emphasize is the direct correlation between the deep discount brokerage market and the stock market. While the S&P 500 during the last two years (1995 and 1996) have had returns of 34.11% and 20.26% respectively, it is easy to be optimistic about the health of the economy and the performance of the company. In the case of an economic downturn, Ameritrade should be ready for a decrease in consumer activity and should consider diversification. Perhaps taking on other types of activities such as investment banking roles like mergers, acquisitions, and security underwritings would also be wise. This would diversify away some of the risk involved in strictly deep-discount brokers. Ameritrade should also be conscientious of the very price-sensitive nature of its consumers when evaluating this investment. My calculated cost of capital i s subject to a variety of factors affected by the uncertainty of the future. For instance, it is conceivable that the company’s beta will change over time due to the dynamic characteristics of the market and the economy. In addition, stakeholders could change their comfort regarding the degree of risk aversion, which would affect the market risk premium. In order to mitigate the risk, Ameritrade could place a premium cost of capital on top of my estimated cost of capital when discounting future cash flows. This would mitigate the risk of future cash flows that are too optimistic in potentially harsh economic times. I believe that this would be an appropriate way to help stakeholders feel more comfortable with investments, especially investments as large as this advertising and technology project. In order to estimate the cost of capital of Ameritrade, I had to determine standard parameters, such as beta, from comparable companies because of Ameritrade’s recent IPO and subsequent short track record of performance. I was able to obtain comparable companies’ betas by way of running a regression on the returns of the companies in relation to the return on the market, or the S&P 500. By applying Ameritrade’s capital structure to the comparable companies’ unlevered beta, I was able to approximate the beta of Ameritrade. I was subsequently able to estimate the cost of equity assuming the same capital structure prior to the prospective investment with the  Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). I used CAPM to find the cost of equity for this particular project, not to evaluate the potential change in the process. The capital asset pricing model can be used in evaluation of the cost of capital because it reflects the reward for postponing consumption, the relative amount of systematic risk, and the reward in the market for bearing systematic risk. Thus I can estimate the cost of capital using the true systematic risk. I believe that in the future, a capital structure consisting of more debt may lower the weighted average cost of capital and keep a larger proportion of the benefits of the project to the current stakeholders, while keeping in mind that Ame ritrade should abstain from taking on too much debt considering its sensitivity to the market. I used three comparable companies to estimate Ameritrade’s cost of capital: Waterhouse Investors, Quick and Reilly Group Incorporated, and Charles Schwab Corporation. These deep-discount brokerage firms, along with Ameritrade, source most of their revenues through transactions and net interest. Situation Overview The WACC is a measurement of the riskiness of the firm as a whole and can be applied to standard company projects. Ameritrade has been first movers on introducing features such as an automated phone trading service and an online trading platform in the deep discount brokerage market. Both of these investments are characterized by substantial investments in technology, as is the proposed project. Based on this, I consider the stated project as a typical project of the firm, yielding an average risk equal to that of Ameritrade’s nature. Therefore, I find that evaluating the stated project with WACC as a hurdle rate of whether to undertake the project is correct. One of the parameters that has a large effect on WACC is the capital structure applied in the calculations. In my calculations of the WACC of 14.783%, I assumed a debt to equity ratio of 0.261. I based this on the balance sheet numbers you provided me with for the two available years; it is a weighted? average of the two years of data. When looking to the market comparables Quick and Reilly Group Incorporated and Charles Schwab Corporation, one can see that the debt to equity ratio of Ameritrade is an industry standard. I decided to omit Waterhouse Investors for this comparison because of their atypical capital structure. In the calculation  of the WACC, debt has the advantage that it brings a tax shield since interest on debt is tax deductible. Therefore taking on more debt relative to equity can be profitable to a certain point where, cost of potential financial distress for undertaking that extra debt is less than the value of the interest tax shield. In addition, taking on too much debt carries the risk of major credit rating agencies downgrading the company, where eventually, debt becomes too costly because the cost of potential financial distress is greater than the value of the interest tax shield. Therefore, the management in the evaluation of the investment must have a clear focus on which capital structure is the optimal for Ameritrade in the future. Below I have done a sensitivity analysis of the WACC that should be applied in the evaluation of the investment project in relation to the capital structure. D% – E% 10/90 20/80 30/70 40/60 WACC 14.54% 14.32% 14.11% 13.89% Based on these calculations, I would recommend that management look into the optimal capital structure after the proposed investment. While keeping in mind the disadvantages of taking on too much debt, I would recommend a higher, though incremental, debt to equity ratio. I found Ameritrade’s after-tax cost of debt to be 7.28%. To find Ameritrade’s after-tax cost of debt, I collected the credit rating of Ameritrade’s outstanding debt through Standard & Poor’s credit rating agency. Ameritrade’s debt is currently rated at B+. The default spread on B+ corporate debt is listed at 5.01 on 10-year debt obligations. To find the cost of debt you add this number to the risk-free rate, which as of August 1997 is 6.69%, and multiply that number by 1 subtracted by the corporate tax rate of Ameritrade. The corporate tax rate of Ameritrade I found to be 37.7%, by averaging Ameritrade’s tax rates  over the two available years. It should be noted that the default-spread rate applied in my calculations are projected rates, not current rates (2014). The risk free rate of applied throughout my calculations is the annualized yield to maturity of a 20-year government T-bond has and has a yield of 6.69%. I have chosen to use this because I consider the proposed investment project a long-term investment. When choosing the risk-free rate, there can be no uncertainty about reinvestment rates in the calculations, meaning that one should use a zero-coupon bond with the same maturity as the project. The Market risk premium is defined as the difference between the expected return on the market portfolio and the risk-free rate; in other words, it is the compensation that risk adverse investors need to receive in order to invest in the market portfolio. I calculated the current market risk premium by finding the geometric average of the return on the market subtracted by a 20-year government T-Bond. I used the geometric average because we are valuing the average over a long period of time and the arithmetic average tends to overestimate the value. I then found the beta by using a bottom-up analysis. The bottom-up approach tends to make the standard error of the beta much lower than other types of analyses. In addition, the bottom-up approach can reflect the current and the expected future beta of the company. I looked at the beta of the comparable companies and found the average of the betas over the 1992-1996-time period. I then had to un-lever the beta and then re-lever the beta by Ameritrade’s capital structure to find Ameritrade’s levered beta. By using this beta, I was able to calculate Ameritrade’s cost of equity to be 16.06% by using the Capital Asset Pricing Model. In terms of the size of the investment, increasing advertising expenses to $155 million and technology expenses to $100 million is a huge undertaking for Ameritrade. If you look at your total assets at the end of 1996, you will see that it values at a little more than $400 million. Thus, the investments of this project would be 64% of Ameritrade’s total assets. When looking at the comparable companies Schwab, Quick and Reilly, and Waterhouse, a similar investment would only be 2%, 6%, and 21% of their total assets respectively. Because the investment is so large for Ameritrade, in comparison to its competitors, Ameritrade should be conscientious of the enormity of the project and require a higher proportional return. After consulting the database of Bloomberg Financial  Records, I found that your return on assets and return on equity exceeded my estimated weighted cost of capital. Thus, I conclude that Ameritrade undertakes this project with full-invested confidence in the m anagement. Conclusion My extensive research on Ameritrade and its comparable companies yielded an estimated 14.784% cost of capital for this project. Because of the nature of the proposed investment, I decided that the WACC would be applicable to the project. While this project may require a significant amount of resources, an optimistic return like the one you proposed and the historical average of your return on assets and equity would more than make up for the costs. Therefore my recommendation based on my calculations is that this is an attractive investment opportunity for Ameritrade, to grow its customer base and revenue, which the management should accept. However it must be taken into account that the beta and thereby the cost of equity I used to calculate the cost of capital were influenced by the comparable companies because I used data of these companies in my estimation of Ameritrade’s beta. Further the beta is estimated on historical return and not the future return. Consumer preferenc es and market conditions may lead to a change in Ameritrade’s beta over the projects lifetime. Since the future is unknown estimating a historical beta is the best guess of what the future beta will be. The market risk premium that I have applied in my calculations is also a subject to the changes of the future. The market risk premium is the compensation a risk adverse investor needs in order to invest. In periods of economic and financial depression, this market risk premium will increase resulting in a higher cost of capital. On the other hand, periods with good economic and financial conditions will lower the market risk premium. Further the market risk premium applied in my calculation is based on a projected default spread (2014) instead of the actual spread in 1996; this may be a source of variability. The capital structure of Ameritrade has a substantial effect on the cost of capital. In my calculations, I have applied the historical capital structure of Ameritrade. Increasing Ameritrade’s debt to equity ratio can bring down Ameritrade’s cost of capital. Therefore it would be in Ameritrade’s management best interest to look at the company’s future capital structure prior to this investment.  Ameritrade’s management should also look into the projected revenues of the investment. With projections ranging from 10% to 50%, only the most pessimistic forecasts are lower than the cost of capital of the project. However by cutting the transaction fees and thereby relying on a higher volume of executed trades can make Ameritrade even more susceptible to future economic depressions. As per my calculation, the size of the investment is proportionally large and must be treated in the most delicate manner. Ultimately, I suggest that management find the optimal capital structure before investing in this project. However, I do believe that with my calculated cost of capital in comparison to the average return on equity and return on assets, the investment will be a worthy venture.

Paralleles of Cosi and Cosi Fan Tutte Essay

Cosi by Louis Nowra and Cosi Fan Tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are set in completely different times but both themes of the play parallel each other. Cosi was set in 1970’s society whilst Cosi Fan Tutte was set in 1790. Cosi Fan Tutte is play about love and fidelity which parallels with what happens in Cosi. On the surface they are parallel because Lucy is unfaithful to Lewis when they are in a relationship together just as the women were in Cosi Fan Tutte. But it is much more than that. To really understand the parallels of the plays we must look at love and fidelity in depth. What really is love? What is demonstrated throughout both plays is that people have double standards towards love. In the Cosi we see free love and characters that believe in free love such as Lucy, Nick and Doug. Free love is the belief of having sexual relations according to choice, without being restricted by marriage or long-term relationships. They believe in freedom in doing whatever you want but this is the complete opposite of how they treat the mentally ill. They treat them with not dignity that makes them restricted to being behind walls of an asylum. Free love is about freedom yet they are confined to their ward like traditional marriage because people fear them. This is not the definition of love. Louis Nowra wants us to love each other and not stereotyping people by giving labels to people that we fear but instead showing respect and compassion. That is what true love is. In Cosi Fan Tutte we see two men test the love and fidelity of their girlfriends. This displays the double standards that men have on love. They believe that is alright to for them to test love. Mozart tells us that love needs to be equal that one side can’t unfaithful and that is alright. Mozart is trying to make us question what love is, like Louis Nowra did in Cosi. For there to be love, it must be equal and this is the key theme from bo th plays.

How Much Advice Should You Give Away For Free With Matt Snodgrass

How Much Advice Should You Give Away For Free With Matt Snodgrass How much should you give away for free? Should you solve every problem for your audience, even when they do not buy your product or service? Determining how much content to give out for free can be challenging. Whether it is free or fee-based, make sure your content is valuable and helpful to users. Today, we’re talking to Matt Snodgrass, Director of Marketing at MarketingProfs which is all about learning. Whether it is for blogs, podcasts, or seminars, learn how to attract amazingly talented subject matter experts (SMEs) that contribute content to your business. Discover how to plan themes and content months in advance. Join us for a pack of actionable takeaways! Some of the highlights of the show include: When it comes to marketing, you may play many roles and do a little bit of everything. MarketingProfs focus on various types of content because people respond differently to types of content, depending on whether they prefer to read, watch, or listen to content. Developing a process for prioritizing content to educate others and identifying SMEs/potential influencers and topics you need to focus on to guide your business. Make different types of content available on-demand. Let the users learn on their schedule. Compile a backlog of content, so you can tailor and customize it to some degree. For example, you can have one month focus on one topic, and then the next month, focus on a different topic. MarketingProfs’ product is content. Courses, Webinars, seminars everything the company does revolves around content. It can be difficult to determine how much content to give away for free. MarketingProfs’ Website contains mostly free content. But for a fee, users can subscribe to additional in-depth content. Avoid junk by making sure the content you offer has value. Convey the principles of good marketing. Learn how to become an authority for your niche by not being afraid. Let go of worrying that people do not care about what you have to say. Powered by PodcastMotor Actionable Content Marketing powered by By AMP073: Matt Snodgrass How Much Advice Should You Give Away For Free? With Matt Snodgrass From MarketingProfs 00:00/00:00 1x 100 > Download file Subscribe on iTunes Leave Review Share Links:   HubSpot   iTunes review and email to podcast@.com If you liked today’s show, please subscribe on iTunes to The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast! The podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Quotes by Matt: â€Å"Our goal here is to help people learn and, in the end, to create smarter marketers.† â€Å"We know that for each person, there’s going to be a different way of learning that works best for them.† â€Å"We believe in our heart of hearts that learning is transformative. We know learning can change lives. Honestly, learning has the power to change the world.† â€Å"Learning really can change you as a marketer, can change your role in your company, can change you as a person.†

Strategic Alliances Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Strategic Alliances - Essay Example Risk taking is ubiquitous feature among the organizational managers these days. Strategic alliance is a kind of concept in which risk is an integral factor while developing such decisions. Strategic Alliance is an â€Å"an agreement between firms to do business together in ways that go beyond normal company–to–company dealings , but fall short of a merger or a full partnership† (Khurana & Singhal 2010). Any business decision involves planning and there is always a threat of failure of the plan. The move taken even after knowing the risks and evaluating their effects can be termed as risk. Similarly, strategic alliance is a kind of business decision which would involve amalgamation with outside companies not on a full partnership basis but a little different from daily intercompany dealings (Das & Teng, 1999). There may be a number of situations at risk as a result of the strategic alliance between two companies. The performance of the partner company, cooperation among the companies and the opportunistic approach of the companies involved among others could be the probable circumstances rendering risk to the decision in practice (Alders, Van Liere, Berendsen, & Pieters 2010). However, largely the risk situations can be categorized into four categories namely; the contextual risk, the transactional risk, the relational risk, and the performance risk. The contextual risk involves the risk influenced by the market scenario like meeting of the demand in the market, the competition faced by the company and also the technological and the regulatory influences. Thus, this can be also referred to as the external risk (Alders, Van Liere, Berendsen, & Pieters 2010). The transactional risk involves the importance of cooperation between the partners involved in the alliance. A proper cooperation and sharing of mutual trust can pay off to minimize risk to a great extent. Therefore, this may be referred as internal risk (Alders, Van Liere, Berendsen, & Pieters

Critical Infrastructure Protection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critical Infrastructure Protection - Essay Example c. Responsibilities-This particular unit performs various responsibilities pertaining to cross sector leadership and overarching leadership. The unit is also responsible for addressing all those broad complexities in relation to the federal system of the government (GAO, 2011; Homeland Security, 2009). 2. Explain what Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) initiatives are, what are protected, and the methods used to protect our assets CIP is referred to as a concept which signifies the responses that are made to tackle serious incidents involving the critical infrastructure in a particular region. In the concerned article of Government Accountability Office (GAO), CIP initiatives are: all round cyber security guidance in seven most vital sectors i.e. material, nuclear reactors, banking and finance, health care, information technology, water and solid wastes. The broad initiatives being rendered by CIP are specifically meant for protecting the above mentioned broad sectors. The meth ods used for protecting the assets included unique operations that mainly consisted of risk alterations (GAO, 2011; Homeland Security, 2009). 3. ... critical infrastructure. In relation to maintenance of critical infrastructure, the IS professionals need to consider the aspects of cyber security to a very large extent. Ensuring cyber security requirement of high level of technical knowhow inculcates accelerated level of critical thinking for analyzing the broad aspects of cyber security. The online atmosphere also consists of numerous amounts of hackers and malicious users who perform different illicit and unauthenticated activities in the web. They are also responsible for misinterpretation of facts and figures and gathers authenticated and restrictive information for the sole purpose of misuse. IS professional need to be well aware of such entities (GAO, 2011; Homeland Security, 2009). 4. Evaluate the Effectiveness of IS Professionals In Regard To Protecting the U.S.’S Critical Infrastructure The contributions of IS professionals in relation to protection of U.S.’s critical infrastructure is ideal in the context o f infrastructural development. The IS professional have greatly utilized the broad aspects of cyber security guidance in an in depth manner. This concept has been utilized not only in national but also in the international context, which is one of the broadest contributions that is served from the part of the IS professionals. In addition, they are also serving various purposes pertaining to the factors associated with improving the current Federal system in the U.S. All the activities reflecting from the parts of IS professionals aimed at a particular objective i.e. diversification of the infrastructural facilities and improving it thereby. The IS professionals are also responsible for improving the federal information systems, which is being carried out in alliance with National

Contemporary American Television Drama Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Contemporary American Television Drama - Essay Example 215). For instance, the CSI Miami production team show the season three episode â€Å"Lost  Son† under unfavorable weather (SPEIER, M., 2002, p. 33). However, photography heads managed to integrate rain in the episode’s narration and embarked on new measures to capture as much natural light as possible (Gray and Lotz, 2011, p. 31). The set design of CSI Miami organizes and personifies space to differentiate between scenes shot inside artificial set designs and those shot outdoors (Campaiola, 2008, p. 2). For instance, the â€Å"Lost  Son† shows a precinct within a stunning glass building where CSI investigators collect scientific proof and brainstorm to solve a crime. Here, every specialist is allotted his or her own special, calculated space for work (Fiske, 2010, p. 87). For instance, a coroner gets the freezing room because he deals with mostly dead organic matter that needs preservation, the detective gets a computer area or desk, and the DNA expert gets a lab (OWEN, 2003). Such set designs weave into the show’s narration almost perfectly since they organize character roles and facilitate their effectiveness (MCNUTT, 2011, p. 60). The outdoors set design for the same episode entails Miami city, a metropolitan that harbors many criminals and potential suspects (GELINEAU, K., 2005). Campaiola, JG 2008, â€Å"Why French Television Drama Lags Behind: A Multiperspectival Approach,† Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, TBA, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Online . 2014-11- 10

Responding to Dark Waters Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Responding to Dark Waters - Essay Example Just as the title suggests, the essay presents the dark side of civilization in Bogalusa as a representative of situations in the entire globe. This response paper will analyze the article critically and unravel these dark sides. The author chose an appropriate title for this piece of work. No other title would efficiently convey the themes of the essay in only two words. The author succeeds in revealing all types of poisoning in Bogalusa that made all waters dark. Bogalusa has both white and black residents who do not trust each other (Komunyakaa 108). The whites have gained dominance over the men of color. The men of color in this region have limited opportunities in every sector (99). The author offers much imagery that describes the situation of the men of color in this region. The reader cannot help but empathize with the men of color living in Bogalusa. The author does not exaggerate things because the American history in the years mentioned tell it all. Men of color have been struggling to attain equality and inclusion. The essay elaborates all forms of environmental pollution evident in Bogalusa. There are all forms of pollution in the city. There are numerous air explosions, water pollutions, and deforestation. Rivers and ponds in the region have toxins from continuous pollution. There are no interventions to curb environmental degradation. The numerous descriptions and poems help the reader understand the real situation of environmental degradation in Bogalusa. The author paints a realistic concept in the mind of the reader through the vivid illustrations, poems reflecting the nature and references to his opinion. The author expresses his feelings about the condition. It is obvious that he sees horror in Bogalusa. He wishes everything were reversible to return nature into the original state. The poem ‘Fog Galleon’ depicts the real situation of things in Bogalusa (106). Through the author’s image, the reader gets to understand the s ituation. In addition, the author illustrates the effects of environmental degradation to man. He mentions the development of cancer, respiratory diseases, and death. By highlighting these effects, he drives the reader to understand the fact he mentions at the end of the essay that as long as humans do not conserve the environment, they will definitely face negative consequences. Komunyakaa sums it up by saying that ‘hurting nature wounds human beings’ (111). This fact receives a lot of support from the essay. All negative effects towards the environment eventually affect the welfare of man either directly or indirectly. The changing global climates in the recent past serve as further support to the author’s allegation. Humans have brought doom to themselves through activities that are destructive to nature. The reader can clearly understand what the author implies when he says that man and nature exist in connection. Komunyakaa exposes an additional reality of m atters. Governments are reluctant to enact laws that act as guidelines to environmental protection. Louisiana is a clear example of what majority of government sectors are doing. It was becoming obvious that the prevailing environmental conditions needed intervention. However, the officials were doing nothing about it. Through this, the author introduces a new idea about racism trends in American states. States inhabited by majority blacks were likely to be home to multiple companies releasing numerous toxic

Person Values To The Work Of Social Care Social Work Essay

Person Values To The Work Of Social Care Social Work Essay According to Ewles and Simnett and Edelman Mandle , values and principles mean powerful drivers of how we think and behave. These are often a significant element of culture, where they form a part of the shared rule set of a group. Every peoples personal values and principles influence their work contribution significantly in health and social care management. There are different types of values like instrumental values, personal values, political values, social values, economic values, religious values etc. Vilkka (1997) and Edelman Mandle (2005) have stated that instrumental values mean being honest, courage, polite, gentle, well-behaved etc. In addition, these values mean to have a good moral. It has a great impact of work contribution. For example, in a care home employees may need to keep the service users belongings which are valuable. In this case, they have to be honest. Otherwise, dishonest people may take those materials and flee away. So instrumental values influence work contribution. Posner (n.d.) has cited that personal value means dignity, creativity, courage, attitude of care, independence, friendliness etc. It can influence work contribution. For example, a person with good creativity skills can serve the service users in a better way. In addition, if they become friendly and positive in caring, then the service users or the clients will be happier. The ethnicity of people, tradition, regional ties, linguistic ties, national ties etc. are included in cultural values. For example, if anyone is from white ethnic background, then they will be more punctual where Asian ethnic people are less sincere. Another thing can be, people who are from the Middle East are very honest. Social values may include equality, justice, liberty, freedom and national pride. These are the values that put the rights of wider groups of people first. As it promotes equality, justice, freedom and liberty then it can impact on work contributions significantly. For example, in a care home there may have employee and service users from different ethnic and national background. Their culture can be different from each other. So, following equality law, justice, national pride etc. improve workplace contribution. According to Connor et al (2006), work values mean autonomy, dedication, teamwork, competitiveness, trustworthiness, reliability, professionalism, ethics etc. Autonomy means feeling relaxed and confident. It is universal truth that if anyone fell relaxed, ambition, and confident then she or he can play a very good role in work. Another thing is teamwork. It is always better than single work. Dedication has a positive impact as well. Doing favor to someone is called dedication. Health and social care is mainly related to co-operation and co-ordination between the employees and clients. For instant, an employee may not able to handle heavy things. So, in that case if anyone helps him to accomplish his task that is called dedication. It improves work outcome as well. Trustworthiness and reliability are the two main sources of work effectiveness (Holloway Wheeler, 2002). If the employees trust one another, they can work with free from tension. Because they know whatever the co-workers are doing are correct. Also, they should be reliable so that staff can get help from them whenever it is required. According to Allison (2001) and Posner (n.d.), professionalism has a significant effect in work contribution in health and social care. If professionals forget about their role and start making close relationship with clients, then it brings very negative outcome for the staff. They may be penalized for breaking organizational law. Sometimes, they chat with their co-workers ignoring the service users. But those follow the professionalism rules, can never do such kinds of things. As a result, clients will be happy and work outcome will be increased significantly. Thus, proffesioanlism influences contribution to work. Litman (2009) has stated that economic values may include ownership of property, contributing to common good etc. This value means the value around money. According to some people, this is the most important value for work contribution because if the employees are paid soundly, then they must try to give their best. In reverse, if their expectations are not fulfilled, they must not give their best. Religious values are the other important values. According to Cooper Palmer (1998), these are spiritual values, which means how we should behave, including caring of one another and in worship. Religion views have one of the most significant effects to work contribution. For example, according to Muslim laws, if you do not try to give your best to your employer, then you will be penalised by your god. So, those people who have respect on their religion, they will always try to do better in work. Thus religion values can influence work contributions. According to McPartland (1991), principles are the policy, objectives, rules, fundamental norms, or value that state what are the role of an individual, or an organization, or a community. It also makes a distinction between fairness and unfairness. So, it can influence work contribution as well. Some people may have principles which may be directly opposite to organizational principles. For instant, if a conservative Buddhist is told to serve a non-Buddhist client, he/she may not give positive response and it will affect work contribution negatively. On the other hand, if an open minded Christian is told to something that is work related, they will do with 100% positive attitude. Thus, principles influence workplace contribution in health and social care. 1.2 Analyse how your own cultural values and beliefs influence your work in support and care of service users in your work place. According to Kitayama Cohen (2007) and ODonnell (2001), different cultural values and beliefs impact support and care of service users in workplace differently. Values and principles include equal rights, diversity, confidentiality, protection from abuse and harm. In addition, personal values are beliefs and preferences, culture, political perspectives, interests and priorities, change over lifespan to date etc. I have my own culture and beliefs which also influence the care of the service users. For instance, I am not either vegetarian or non-vegetarian. I take all types of dishes which are halal because I am a muslim. So, I may not be interested to serve those people who will eat much haram dishes. But, in the same time I may provide a better service than a Buddhist. The reason of that is most of the Buddhists are non-vegetarian and they are not willing to serve the people who deserve meats. My culture and value has taught me to treat every person equally. It has also taught me to give adult people their freedom. So, I will not discriminate any people. People from any background are same to me. So, I can provide them a good service. 1.3 Explain how development of new priorities targets and legislation impact upon your role as a care worker. There are a few new developments in legislations, priorities, research, policies, principles and values that can impact upon my role as a care worker. For example, Sex Discrimination Act 1975, The Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995, The Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000, The Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004, Disabled Persons Act 1986, Human Rights Act 19980, The Work and Families Act 2006, The Children and Young Persons Act 2008, Care and Support Green Paper, are the legislations and priorities that impact upon my role. Sex Discrimination Act 1975 states that it is unlawful for an employee to discriminate anyone because of their sex. The Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995 has given a legal status and some rights to carers. Carers are requested to assess their ability of work under this act. So, as a carer now I do self-assessment and inform it to local council and they take necessary steps. The Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004 is very necessary for all t he carers as it ensures their rights. According to this act, authorised people have to assess their needs, give priority to their wishes, and provide training whenever they need. It also facilitated co-operation between care workers and authorities in relation to the services. The government has recently prepared green paper where care and support system will be mentioned. Also, the government has given carers to express their opinion. In addition, they have engaged all the carers, stakeholders, service users, shareholders and members of the public to give their views to improve care plans. So, now I can share everything related to job with authorized persons and work with free of hassle. Thus these priorities and legislations impact upon my role as a care worker. 1.4 Discuss how the changes in personal values have contributed to your personal development Pavlina (2008) has cited that the changes in personal values and principles have contributed a lot in personal development. For example, if I change my beliefs and preferences then it affects the service users. I used to think that serving the lesbian or gay or people who are not from my background are not good. But when I can come to know the legislations and change my beliefs then I can serve them as well and that is a part of my personal development. As an Asian my culture is different from European culture. So, while serving clients I may have to face difficulty as I dont know their culture very good. But when I will be aware of their culture and views then I can deliver a better service because my cultural value will be changed that time. Thus the changes in personal values have contributed to my personal development. Produce, monitor, revise and evaluate plans for personal progress in developing the skills and abilities required of a care worker 2.1 Assess your own preferred learning style and abilities As a care worker personal progress is very important as it is related to the skills and abilities. According to Jonassen Grabowsk (1993), preferred learning style and abilities vary from person to person. Kolbs (1984) states that, learning style can be concrete experience (feeling), diverging (feeling and watch), accommodating (feeling and doing), active experimentation (doing), reflective observation (watching), assimilating (thinking and watching), and abstract conceptualization (thinking). Learning from experience from outside world can be categorized as assimilating learning style. But usually people can learn four ways and those are watching, listening, writing, and reading. This is called linguistic learning method. Basically I prefer to learn in all ways but it depends what am I learning? For example, if I want to learn how to provide a better service to the service users then I prefer to learn it by linguistic mode and then by assimilating and accommodating because by this wa y I can read, watch, feel and think that I am doing. Then I have to do that practically. I can take notes as well if I want. The reason of that is there are certain things of learning where practical learning is more important than theoretical learning. After that I like to learn by writing and reading. There are a few things where it seems that easy after reading. But after some time I may forget that because only reading can not stimulate the memory cells most effectively. So to stimulate the memory cells effectively, I need to learn by writing as it stimulates my memory cells better than reading. I miss much information while learning by listening. A diagram of my learning style is given below: Reading-Writing-Diverging -Accommodating- assimilating 2.2 Produce and justify a personal development plan with short-medium-and long term aims and Outcome Gallen and Buckle (2001) has noted that acquiring new skills, updating practice, learning, career development etc are the main parts of personal development. According to them, personal Development Plan (PDP) is important for all types of people whatever they are employee or employer or student. As a care worker or a as student of Health and Social care management personal development plan is vital for me. It can be short term, long term, short-medium-and long term aims. My personal development plan with short-medium and long term aims can be learning IT skills, being well-disciplined, improving presentation skills, negotiation policy, learning human resource management, learning people psychology, different types of acts and legislations related to health and social care, making effective decision, acquiring knowledge about medicine, improving leadership skills and developing communication skills. IT skill: At this era information technology is the most important thing to learn as it has an effective impact in Health and Social care management. Without learning IT skills none can reach in a good level of their career. In addition, this branch is vast as well. So I have to spend a long time to be efficient of this branch. Now-a-days all information are saved and managed by computers. In addition, in some cases, computers can be used to diagnose the problem of the service users. I need to learn about programming, Microsoft word, Microsoft excel, power point, drawing good diagrams, presenting power point slides etc. Negotiation policy: this is the area where I must need to improve. For example, when my manager will tell me you are going to be paid this amount of money for your job then I have negotiate with him if I am not satisfied. I have to show him/her the reasons as well why I should be paid more. This is important as money has an influence of employees mentality and employee with good mentality can provide good service. Presentation skills: as a social worker I should have good presentation skill what I dont have at all. If I can not present anything clearly to the service users then many misunderstanding will take place. So, I have to avoid this. It is not possible to improve presentation skills by day night. So, I will do a long term plan to improve my presentation skills. My personal development plan and its outcomes are shown below in the table: Development area Mode Duration Outcome Information technology Long term 5 year Be able to keep records correctly, create necessary soft wares if necessary. Presentation skills Long term 1 year Make clients understand what services they are going to get Negotiation policy Short term 3 month Ensured self betterment Human resource management Short-medium term 3 month Managing human resource Law, legislation and acts Long term 5 years Be able to deal with complaints and play by rules. Leadership skills Short medium 3 months Leading effectively. Decision making Medium term 1 year Be able to take right decision. 2.3 Discuss the arrangements to monitor the progress of your personal development plan. The progress of my personal development program can be monitored by the outcome and job performances. For example, if I take IT and leadership skill as my personal development plan then it can be monitored by my record keeping skills, saving patients data, handling electronic devices etc. leadership skills can be monitored by the way I am managing people. For example, if hundred employees work under me I have to manage all of them efficiently where ever they are from or who ever they are. In addition, my progress can be monitored by performance appraisal. 2.4 Evaluate your personal development plan in context with your duties as a care worker Bild Pountney (2007) have shown the necessity of personal development plan of a care worker. So, as a care worker my personal development plan is very important. IT skills and decision making were included in my personal development plan. As a care worker knowledge about IT helped me to keep all medical records digitally. I could find out information from computer or any electronic devices quickly. Decision making was another important thing. For example, if any frail client tells me he can not move and breathe properly. Also, he does not know what happened to him last night. But so far, he knows he did not take any food last night. In that situation, I am to take quick decision otherwise something can happen seriously. So, in context with my duties as a care worker these are essential to include as my personal development plan (PDP). Analyse the application of principles of professional engagement with service users in a specific setting 3.1 Analyse the nature of different professional relationships in health and social care context According to Fritz Omdahl (2006), professional relationship is a process by which staffs make relationship with individuals, service users family and friends, workers with other agencies, colleagues or any authorized persons related to health and social care. Usually, it is focused on some specific principles of an organization. The natures of professional relationships are described below: Relationship with service users: All the service users should be respected as individual and service users with no mental problem can choose any services those are required. Service providers are entitled to provide appropriate care to clients without any hassle. In addition, healthcare professionals are not allowed to discriminate anyone while providing service. Carers, doctors, social workers or any healthcare professionals must ensure service users confidentiality. They are not allowed to disclose any information to anyone unless it harms to their clients. Every health care specialists, carers or service users will ensure the full autonomy of their clients. Engagement with co-workers: A good understanding and work relationship among the staff must be established so that they can work as a team. Martin et al (2009) have stated that, teamwork always ensures good outcome of work. Health care staff, social workers, carers will share their views and knowledge with everyone which are related to job to provide better service. Every staff will respect other cultures and may accept the good knowledge from them. Employers and service providers will work together to keep a workplace with no discrimination, harassment, bully etc. Everyone will work together to keep a safe workplace. They will make a work relationship among them but not more than that like emotional relationship. this can harm engagement among the employees. 3.2 Analyse effectiveness of different models of care/support in health and social care settings According to Heller et al (1999), health care services can be provided by various models e.g. bio-medical model/conventional medical model, bio-psycosocial model, traditional social care model, NHS social care model etc. But in the UK health care services are traditionally delivered by bio-medical model. Every model has particular effectiveness for providing health care which are described below: According to Srivastava (2007), effectveness of conventional medical model: Supports are available in terms of healthcare as conventional medical model is formed by the basis of NHS and western health care systems. Protecting illness and disability becomes easier as health services are mainly geared towards treating the sick and disabled people. A high value can be ensured in terms of specialist medical services especially in institutional setting or clinics. This model gives a chance to conduct medical research effectively. Effectiveness of bio-psychological model: In 1986 Kleinman and Good have stated that bio-psychological model focuses on the psychological, emotional, social and mental problem. As a result, experts can identify service users mental needs effectively. It recognizes that disease or illness can be neither studied nor treated in isolation from social and cultural environment. It considers the links between socioeconomic deprivation and adverse health e g improving access to health care and reducing health inequalities. Effectiveness of tradtional social care model (according to Leira, 2002): It always priorotse the vulnearable groups so that they can get help from the service providers without any hassle at any time. Service users and their organisations are fully involved in the development and even delivery of services. It also empower the people. Effectiveness of the NHS social care model: Glasby Littlechild (2004) has shown that NHS social care model always prioritizes the improvement of care for people with long term conditions. This model will help to ensure health and social care organisations take an overall structured and systematic approach to improving the care of those long term conditions The immediate focus should be the introduction of case management for the most vulnerable people with complex long term conditions so that long term hospital admissions can be reduced. It aims to achieve early detection, good control to minimise effects of disease and reduce complications, improve effective medicine management. It also promotes independence, empowers patients and allows them to take control of their lives. Overally, it improves patients quality of life. 3.3 Critically analyse own role in promoting individuals choice, ability and right to care for and protect themselves According to Bradley et al (2009), own role is very important in health and social care workplaces to promote individuals choice, ability, right and to protect the service users. The lists of my plans are given below to implement these things: As a social care worker I will must protect the rights and promote the interest of service users. This means I will Treat every person as an individual, Respect their privacy and promote the individual views and wishes of both service users and carers. In addition, I will promote equal opportunities, Respect diversity and different cultures and values for service users and carers. I must strive to establish and maintain trust and confidence of service users and carers. It includes to be honest, trustworthy, Communicating in an appropriate, open, accurate and straightforward way with the colleagues and clients. In addition, I will be relieable and dependant, honoring to service users and carers. Also, I will be adhering to policies and procedures about accepting gifts and money from service users and carers. I will promote the independence of service users while protecting them from dangers. It means Using established processes to challenge and report dangerous, abusive and discriminatory or exploitative behavior and practice. I will ask them to give their opinions because people usually feel important if anyone asks about their choice or wish. I may identify their emotional needs as well by this way. I will talk to the service users cordially about their concerns and interests so that they can express what they want. So, I can be aware of them and can protect them. (CD lesson 3, page 7, little bit) 3.4 Analyze the dilemmas that may arise in professional relationships and how you would deal with them In 2005, Tribe Morrissey have noted that, lots of dilemmas can arise in professional relationship e.g. abuse, ethics, challenging behavior, risk, conflicts between values and principles, confidentiality vs. disclosure, values of others etc. For example, ethical dilemmas can arise frequently in professional relationship. it means people can not understand actually what to do. Though sometimes they are able to take a decision, many questions arise like is it correct that is done? Usually, there are two types of ethical dilemma and one is the Right to Accept or refuse treatment and other one is the Patient Bill of Right. A patient with no mental problem can take his medical decision. They have right to choose whther they will accept death or life. But as a medical professional his/her duty is to ensure clients well-being or save life. So, this is an ethical dilemma. But most of the cases, it is suggested to give priority of the clients wish. Another dilemma can arise in terms of ensuring clients confidentiality and disclosure of any information. For instant, if a care service user tell his/her carer like this, I want to tell you something if do not disclose it. After that the carer can come to know that his/her clint is being abused by another carer. By that case, he/she should infrom it to an authorized person to protect the client from abuse but she/he is already told not to disclose it. So, dilemma can arise between confidentiality and disclosure by this way. In this case, the carer should tell it to an authorized person to protect the client from abuse and to ensure safe-guarding and well-being. 1000 words 4.1 Evaluate own contribution to your work team Bradley et al (2009) and Leathard (2003) have mentioned that in health and social care every individuals performance is very important. My own contributions as a social care worker are evaluated below: In my workplace I always inform my colleagues about my activities to an appropriate level of detail. I always behave in such a way so that it supports the team to be more effective. It means my actions, speech, language, body language, gestures, written and verbal communications are always polite. I am efficient in computer skills. So, I can handle all the electrical data. I share my views, ideas and information relevant to job with team members. I also accept others ideas and information to make team work smoother. I always offer assistant in a friendly and helpful way whenever it is required. I suggest clearly if I have any better idea to improve team work at an appropriate time. 4.2 Discuss how your contribution influence the effectiveness of the teams of which you are a member. According to West (2004) and Snee (n.d.), contribution of every individual has an influence of the effectiveness in a team. My contribution also influences the effectiveness of team work in various ways. For example, I know about the Legislations, Policies and Good Practices which are relevant to health and social care. So, I can provide a very good service to the clients. Moreover, my colleagues often are benefitted by me. As a result, teamwork becomes developed. in addition, I can communicate in a effective way with my fellows. So that, lots of misunderstanding, ambiguity, conflict, backstabbing, and mistrust can be avoided which influence the effectiveness of team work. I have a clear idea about the role of individual. So, I can specify their roles and they can perfrom according to that and it increases team outcome significantly. In addition, I am aware of different cultures and values and I act in a way what they want. According toà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. it inspires teammates which are another root of effective teamwork. I have very good leadership skills and it helps to lead my colleagues. Time management is one of the most crucial skills that I have. So, I do my job in time and I suggest other people to follow me. They also follow me which influences team effectiveness. Thus my contributions influence the effectiveness of the team. 4.3 Describe the limits of your work role and how these impact on your work with others According to Heron (1998), every employee has limitations of their roles and responsibility and these are influenced by others. As a care management trainee I have some limitations as well. For example, I am not allowed give any new medication to a service user at any condition. In addition, as I work in management position, I should not involve in care work. I am not allowed to gather any personal information both of colleagues and clients. I should not handle their documents which are supposed to handle by their lawyers. Failing to do any of these has very negative outcome of individual role. Colleagues may not trust and respect. Also, employees may not listen to me and I can be frustrated. As a result, work outcome can be reduced sharply. 4.4 Analyse the barriers for effective team working and how you would contribute minimizing such barrier. West (2004) and Snee (n.d.) notes that effective teamwork is very important in every sphere of work and there are lots of barriers of effective team work. For instant, poor leadership, interpersonal interactions, poor communication, professional codes, poor team dynamics, high expectations, different priorities, lack of trust, silo thinking, pressure of high accountability can be the barriers of effective teamwork. In the same time, there are many ways as well by which social workers can minimize these barriers. As a social care worker I am required to work with my colleagues as well as various professionals and it is a daily occurrence for me. These professionals could be doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists laboratory technicians and pharmacists and many other professions. My colleagues and they may be from different cultures and they have different values. So, at the starting level of job all people need to share their views and knowledge and it wastes lots of time. Leadership has a great impact of team working because almost everything flows from here. It is leaders fault if a team can not perform in proper way. The reasons can be not enough communication among the employees or lack of proper guidance. Sometimes, leaders fail to specify of individuals agenda. So, team members are not aware of their roles and can not perform well which reduce the productivity of team work. Poor communication and high expectations are the other barriers of effective team work. These cause lots of misunderstanding, ambiguity, conflict, backstabbing, and mistrust among the employees. Employees have to work under stress as well if they have to fulfil higher expectation. Study from Anon (n.d.) has shown that, poor team dynamics can cause breakdown of team dynamics and team can fail to achieve their goals. Also, absenteeism of employees reduces team dynamics and cut performance of a team. Ways to minimize barriers of team work: Trust in all colleagues. Being respectful to seniors and team leaders. Communicate effectively with the employees. Let the employees work according to their ability. Focus on team as well as individual performance. Constructive criticism should be improved. Reducing the absentee rate etc. Overall, any organization can minimize the barriers by following these things and does excellent team work. 4.5 Discuss how you can contribute personally to the effectiveness of your team According to Snee (n.d.) and West (2004), every individual can influence team effectiveness significantly by playing their professional roles. My own contribution can influence team effectiveness as well and some of the ways are given below: Share own views, ideas with co-workers. Offer help to service users and colleagues whenever it is necessary. Provide suggestion for the betterment of work. Respect everyone in the team especially the seniors. Explaining team roles and goals to eve

Hybrid Cars Essay -- Gasoline Electric Hybrid Automobiles

Want to buy a hybrid car? Consider the facts. You may be correct in thinking that you should buy a hybrid car or SUV, but are you thinking you need it for the right reasons? Kevin Ransom’s article â€Å"Reasons to buy a hybrid – or not† updated on CNN’s website in January 28, discusses many aspects consumers should consider when thinking about buying a hybrid vehicle. He makes good points, but he needs some better ones to convince me. Ransom is making an argument with plenty of statistics for buying a hybrid and trying at the same time to give you somewhat of a counterargument against buying a hybrid. He never takes a clear bias, but leaves many questions out in the open. One example of this is his lack of comparing a Prius with anything. Also he claims that hybrids are â€Å"definitely one of the waves of the future. Does he mean they are a link to the future with ten times better innovations coming in the near future? This link needs to become cost effective if he thinks this is moving forward. He tells us that one school of thought is that it could take years for a consumer to break even on the amount saved in fuel costs. This is definitely true considering if the price difference between base models of a Toyota Civic and a Civic Hybrid being $18,710 and $22,600 respectively. That is a difference of $3,890 with the only major standard equipment difference being a navigation screen most users opt out from getting in the first place! Also, the base model Ford Escape and base Escape Hybrid are priced at $20,140 and $27,445 respectively. That is a whopping difference of $7,305. We will come back to the issue of cost, but now we will move on to the environment and how it is affected. Ransom’s first major point of interest is the fact t... ... cost of replacement will fall onto the customer. The costs of replacement the battery packs range from $2,000 to $5,000 depending on the model. This piece of information would be very important to include in Ransom’s article if he is trying to compare and contrast benefits of having a hybrid. Because the article appeared in a journalistic setting, the author is trying to appeal to a general audience by using language that is to formal or informal. The genre is an opinionated article with statistics that he uses trying to sway readers and influence their thoughts In Conclusion, if Ransom is trying to persuade the general public that is a good idea to buy a hybrid at this time, he is going to need to use more conclusive evidence that proves it is worth the setbacks. Works Cited Ransom, Kevin. http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/01/28/buy.hybrid/index.html

Ethics in Decision Making Essay

Decision making or the process of choosing among alternatives is practiced by almost all individuals (Mingst, 2001). In almost every situation people is faced with the idea of making decisions whether it is as simple as choosing what clothes to buy up to life changing choices like deciding on a particular career path. This kind of act is not always as simple as it looks like especially when decisions are perceived according to particular factors that affect it. The choices that a person made are often influenced by many factors and one of which is the idea of ethics. Ethics is a set of standards that directs an individual on how to act in certain situations. The idea of ethics is often confused with feelings, law, religion, science, and cultural norms. These concepts influenced ethics in one way or another but these are not synonymous with it. Ethical standards are derived from five sources namely: Utilitarian Approach, Rights Approach, Fairness or Justice Approach, Common Good Approach, and Virtue Approach (Santa Clara University, 2007). The Utilitarian Approach emphasizes the idea that ethical action gives greater good and minimal harm. This approach is after the results of particular decisions that it should strived to give more advantageous effects rather than adverse consequences. A good example of this is ethics in corporation that aim to produce more beneficial results for everyone in the company (Santa Clara University, 2007). The Rights Approach is a source of ethical standards that gives high regards in respecting and protecting the moral rights of those people concern. This can be rooted from the idea that the very essence of an individual’s humanity that enables him/her to make decisions for oneself entitled each one of them to a sense of dignity. Based on this dignity, their rights as individuals should be given due importance. These rights also come with its corresponding duties and one of which is to respect the rights of other people as well (Santa Clara University, 2007). The Fairness or Justice Approach is based on the arguments of Aristotle and other Greek philosophers that â€Å"all equals should be treated equally†. Ethical actions should treat individuals equally but if there is inequality then there should be a defensible standard as to such. A corporate environment is a best example of such approach because workers are paid according to their productivity and contribution to the company, which is perceived as fair. However, there is contention when it comes to the CEOs of companies because their salary is many times larger than the others which make such disparity unfair for some (Santa Clara University, 2007). The Common Good Approach gives value in the importance of life. They believe that the very idea of life is good which is why ethical actions should contribute to the well-being of that life. The intermingling of societal relationships as well as the respect and care for others especially the marginalized are emphasized. Furthermore, this approach also highlights the importance of conditions that bring common good (Santa Clara University, 2007). The Virtue Approach is considered as a very ancient way of looking at ethical actions. Certain virtues are to be followed in order to attain the full development of human beings. These virtues are needed in order to reach the full potential of ones character. Questions like â€Å"What kind of person will I become if I do this? † or â€Å"is this action consistent with my acting at my best? † are taken into consideration in this approach (Santa Clara University, 2007). These aforementioned sources of ethics could be applied in the process of decision making especially with the individuals or decision makers that are involved within the process. Decision makers have various motivations and characteristics that affect their choices. There are two types of motivation namely the â€Å"in-order-to motives† and the â€Å"because-of-motives†. The â€Å"in-order-to motives† explains that a decision maker will choose a particular decision in order to accomplish a certain objective (Mingst, 2001). Ethics could highly influence this kind of motivation especially in terms of the Utilitarian, Virtue, and Common Good approaches. The Utilitarian approach is manifested in the â€Å"in-order-to motives† because if an individual will make a decision based on an objective of producing more good rather than harm then it already fulfils an ethical action in the Utilitarian perspective. In terms of the Virtue approach, ethics is seen in the motivation of the decision maker when the choices made are based on an objective that helps the development of an individual towards its full potential. The Common Good approach also asserts ethics because actors are influenced to choose decisions that will bring about the greater good to the most number of people. On the other hand, the â€Å"because-of-motives† arises from the â€Å"unconscious or semiconscious motives or impulses arising out of previous life experience or inner values, interests, or drives of the decision maker† (Mingst, 2001). Ethical action becomes possible in the decisions made by an individual based on the ideas of the Rights Approach and the Fairness or Justice Approach. The Rights Approach exemplified the moral rights of the people that should be respected and protected. These rights motivate the decision maker to make choices that will uphold these values. Similarly, the Fairness or Justice Approach also influences the motive of the decision maker by putting in mind the idea of what is equal from what is not especially if such idea is something that the individual values or has interests on. According to the assumptions of the Decision Making Theory, a rational actor plays a vital role in the decision making wherein that individual is well-aware of the list of available alternatives and capable of calculating each option’s possible results and has the freedom of choice to select the one with the highest preferential value. However, the biographical knowledge of the decision maker has a crucial role in the choices that will be made. Factors such as a person’s educational background, religion, life experiences, mental and physical health as well as other activities could explain the interests and values of the decision maker (Mingst, 2001). An individual decision maker is already influenced by numerous factors that affect its decisions which make decision making for a collective entity of diverse people more complicated. A population would have various and sometimes conflicting interests and basically different decisions. In such case, the important factor for this diverse population to successfully arrive at a most advantageous decision is to acquire consensus. Consensus building is an important factor for the decision making process of a diverse population. Since they have numerous interests and motives they need to be able to arrive at a decision that everybody will benefit from even if it means having to compromise at times. In doing so, they also need an appropriate leader that would collaborate their interests. A democratic form of leadership is a good example of how the process of decision making takes place in a diverse population (Bissessar, 2004). The interests of its citizens are represented through party system as well as by elected political leaders. However, numerous party systems is still not that easy to manage which is why a rational and appropriate leader is still needed that would be able to make sound decisions for its citizens. The decision maker is the most important part of the decision making process. The motives, interests as well as the background of this rational actor are vital in order to understand the choices that are made. Being the case, ethical standards is also one of the factors that influenced these decisions. This also applies in the decision making of diverse population because they need consensus building in order to embody their various and sometimes conflicting interests. In doing so, it also need an appropriate leader that would collaborate their interests and implements the decision.Ethical standards and the other factors that influence the decision maker have a big part in the selection of sound decisions. References Bissessar. A. M. (2004). Globalization and Governance: Essays on the Challenges for Small Countries. North Carolina: McFarland. Santa Clara University. (2007). A Framework for Thinking Ethically. Retrieved 14 May 2008, from http://www. scu. edu/ethics/practicing/decision/framework. html. Mingst, K. (2001). Essentials of International Relations. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.