Preparing a Budget Request Essay

As the chief of police for a midsized city of 75,000 residents, my crime is lower in the downtown area than in other parts of the city because of the population growth I need total of three new police officers even though I currently have 30 uniformed officers and 12 support staffs. I have a request to the city council about hiring three more new police officers but I need to address two robust justifications for hiring new police officers. The two justifications for hiring new police officers is the ability to multitask the demands of their job which may vary throughout the day as well as the extensive paperwork that come with the job must be completed on time. Another is the leadership skill which involves the officer being about to communicate with individuals while in the public eye as well as good judgment when it comes to solving a case of issue at hand and increasing the presence of police officers in the downtown area as well as catching up population growth. (Projections, 20 12) Police officers must be able to enforce the laws so that the criminal convicted of the crime or evidence can be bought before court to testify or judge as fit by the judge during a trial. Some officers depending on the job may be in certain area to prevent crime as well as patrol and give out traffic tickets where it is due, even direct traffic. The police officer must be an U.S. citizen and of good character to get the job position, but must be able to pass the written test after completing high school with some work experience. The three police officers would also need some college training if not they will be encouraged to take some college courses in police work to get a better understanding about the job that they are about to do involving protecting the people as well. As the chief of police I am requesting the workload to increase with the addition of four police officers which would result in an increase seven percent from 2013 to 2020 but slower than the average for all occupations. Most people that are interested in police work understand that it is challenging and offers an opportunity to serve their communities, but a person with college training in police science or military experience even both has a better chance at getting the job. The police officer would be working shift work which is necessary because protection must be provided around the clock, yet with the three police officer being new it would be a requirement to work weekends, holidays, and nights even off duty as security for restaurants, retail stores, and other establishments. (Projections, 2012) I have known that there was a need developing for more police officers because the budget increase over the few years and the workload increasing with more violent acts needing be stop such as the reports of more and more people being kill by traffic accidents while driving down the wrong road or walking. Yes, the manager was briefed on the growing workload because he is the one needed to maximize their effectiveness and concentrating the police attention on hot spots that generate disproportionate amount crime in certain areas which allow the police officers to understand where they are most needed in order to protect the economy as well as enforcing the law to bring down crime. (Justice) As for the police officer funding dealing with the budgeting there is a planning of federal strategies involving the recipients of individual funding to appear to keep their funded positions past the expiration of the grants. The reason for this is to make sure the police officers know that they still have their grants to support them as well as making sure that they would understand upon recruitment there would be no problem in the law enforcement with the grants that promote innovative strategies and use of technology and civilians to maximize efficiency could become increasingly important to practitioners. Hiring them will impact not only our present security situation but will also impact the future economic and social prospects of our fair city. We understand that requesting new hires at a time like this appears to be counter-productive as this would mean more expenses for the city. But if the city does not invest in this particular urgent need now, things can only go downhill. The measure that can hopefully impact local psychology and economic outlook as, once the security issue is fixed, the downtown area can now be marketed as among the most secure places to live in and do business in our State. As the scope and sequence of budgeting in terms of sources of revenues, purpose of government expenditures, budget cycles, budget preparation, and debt administration all involve the grants that are benefitted. According to police officials, grant money was one of the most important factors contributing to growth in many police agencies and slowing staffing reductions in others. Federal money for law enforcement can help increase police presence on the street relatively quickly, lessen the immediate costs of staff expansion, or even cover the costs of new technology that could increase police efficiency. However, police officials should also consider non-funded costs that may be associated with grants, such as the costs of training and equipping new officers, and of retaining officers. References Justice, U. D. (n.d.). Hiring and Keeping Police Officers. Retrieved from www.ncjr.gov/pdffiles1/nij/202289.pdf. Projections, O. o. (2012, March 29). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved from www.bls.gov/ooh.

Payless Service Blueprint

Payless Shoe Source is a discount footwear retailer with over 4,572 retail stores in 15 countries. This company does not only focus on providing different fashion possibilities for the family at a great price, but distinguishes themselves by offering an engaging, easy-to-shop experience and outstanding customer service. Our group chose this company to blueprint because it has a very elaborate customer service process.This company focuses heavily on providing the customer with a great shopping experience by following a series of â€Å"critical actions† that must be delivered to one hundred percent of the customers during their journey in the store. In addition, one of our group members works in this company and therefore, it would be easier to grasp an in depth understanding of the service process and be able to have easier access to all the information we needed.When shopping at the store, the customer goes through five different steps in their shopping experience. The company calls this process the â€Å"customer journey,† consisting of the following stages: Enter, Browse, Try-on, Check-out, and Walk-out. When the customer approaches the store, the customer is impacted by the store’s physical evidence for the first time. The first physical evidence the customer comes across is the store’s outer appearance. They may ask themselves does the store look in good condition and/or is it open.Once they get that established, they notice the parking lot to see if there are any available spaces to park and also if it’s clean. Once they park, the first thing they see on the store is big posters on the windows. The store always has advertisements on the windows to show customers what sales they have going on during that time. The sale posters alone can influence a customer to walk in the store and that alone can make a customer walk in the store with certain expectations, such as prices and brands. As the customer walks in the store, the Enter stage begins.The customer walks into a lobby area, which contains a little jewelry/sunglasses section slightly to the side and in front of them, there are displays of the latest or â€Å"hottest† shoes for customers to view at first. To the left or right wall of the store, there would be handbags/purses for the customer to see, many which match certain shoes. Payless Shoesource as the name says it, is mainly to shop for shoes, but all these extra items that the customers come across in their shopping experience influence a customer who initially went in for a pair of shoes to walk out with two or three extra items, or ccessories they might not even need or did not realize they needed. Once the lobby area has been viewed, the customers are offered assistance and are directed to their size. If they are shopping for children, an associate offers to measure the child’s feet and then directs them to the kid’s aisle. This is where the Browse stage begins. The ai sles are divided by men’s, women, and children. The aisles containing the shoes should be well-organized, put in correct order by size and department, and should be color-coded. This helps the customer and employees to find things easier.In this stage of the customer journey, an associate approaches the customer and initiates interaction. The salesperson asks the customer an open ended question such as, â€Å"What type of shoes are you looking for today† to better understand the customer’s needs. The associate then suggests the customer styles for them to try on and helps them find the right size. Furthermore, in this stage the associate also ensures that the customer understands the promotion that the store has in case they were not yet given that information at the Enter stage.If a certain style is not found in the aisles, the associate checks the inventory system (support process) with a handheld computer device called a scanner. With this device the associat e can check inventory, prices, and in what other payless locations the shoe is in stock. This device is very important physical evidence because it can influence a customer’s experience positively. This allows the employees to give a faster and more accurate service. After the customer begins trying on shoes, the associate goes back to check on the customer and delivers the critical actions for the try-on stage.This stage is very important because the company has determined that sixty-four percent of customers who try on shoes make a purchase. The associate begins by complementing their selection. This can change the sixty-six percent to eighty-eight after a customer receives follow-up. The associate then offers the customer a second style or a matching accessory to increase the units per transaction. Once the customer picks the products they want to buy, the associate offers to take the shoes to the registers which are at the front of the store, where the Check-out stage beg ins.In the beginning of the transaction a customer is asked for personal information such as name, address, and email address that is input in to the registration system in the support process. This data is stored and used for marketing purposes and comes up every time the customer shops in the store, allowing for a more personalized service. The cashier then proceeds by checking that the correct shoe mates are taken. This is done verbally to reassure that the customer is taking what they want and to avoid any returns.Underneath the registers, are shoelaces and shoe care merchandise for the customer to purchase at last minute. In the Check-out stage, these items are offered by the cashier because the company determined that one out of five attempts to sell additional items at the register is successful. The shoe care merchandiser influences the customers experience because they are strategically placed to create additional needs to consumers, making them purchase at the last minute. This helps the company, but it also satisfies the customer because they now have an item that can improve the life of their product.Finally, the customer is thanked and invited back. The last stage of the customer journey is the Walk-Out stage. This is whenever a customer is leaving the store without making a purchase. An associate stops the customer and asks then an open-ended question, such as â€Å"Did you find everything you were looking for. † Many times an associate prevents the customer from leaving and directs them back to the aisles for further help and may actually save a sale. If not, they give the customer a reason to come back by informing them of an upcoming promotion or the day new shipment arrives.Of course, even the best process has potential fail points where problems may occur and/or bottlenecks where backups or slow delivery may occur. There are three different types we can identify. The first bottleneck is the handling of uncooperative customers. All the critical actions that the service employees need to deliver during the customer journey require cooperation from both ends; the customer and the firm’s employees. Customer participation is crucial in effectively delivering all aspects of the service delivery the company wishes to give all of its customers.However, sometimes the company comes across â€Å"difficult† customers, or often called â€Å"get out of my face† customers that can slow the delivery process or even cause a fail point. There are times that customers do not want to be offered assistance and they will either keep walking, ignoring the salesperson, or they will respond with a quick phrase like, â€Å"I am just looking. † For instance, during the Browse stage, the employee is required to interact with the customer.If they are explaining the current promotion to the customer, but a customer refuses to respond to the employees help by not listening to them, then this part of the service del iver creates a fail point if the associate gives up or it makes the process slow down is the associate later attempts to explain the same information once again during a different stage, to avoid the customer arriving at the register not understanding the promotion. Another instance would be at the Enter stage, where the associate offers to measure children’s feet.It is the salesperson’s job to deliver this critical action, however how successful this is also depends on the customer’s participation. If a customer does not allow the associate to measure their child’s feet, then the whole purpose of this part of the service delivery fails because the associate will not be able to give the customer this service. The purpose of doing this is to allow the associates to interact with the children as well as the parents in order to create a pleasurable experience for the whole family.This is a service that many competitors don’t offer, so it is a competit ive advantage. The only solution to this bottleneck is for the front line managers to exercise continuous training with their employees. This will help them gain ease in talking to customer in general. It will provide the associates with practice that will help them learn to enhance customer participation and to effectively deliver good service. That way if a customer shuts down an associate, the associate will be trained to not give up and instead exercise the learned ways to gain a customer’s trust.Unenthusiastic employees are another fail point we identified. Employee’s unwillingness to participate in delivering the customer service can be a potential fail point in the service delivery process. Uncooperative employees can be the result of a variety of things. The first is that the company was involved in an ineffective hiring process. Another is that the company failed to exercise proper training. The employee must be trained to switch from tasks to customer service whenever a customer walks in.Fortunately, this fail point is somewhat controllable by the company. To avoid this, the company should hire the right people from the start. A solution is for the company to develop strategies to determine who is right for this position. Another alternative is to treat their employee’s right. The company must know when to reward their employees and must provide motivation that will drive them to try their best. A third fail point identified is out of stock merchandise. Not meeting the demands of the ustomers can be a big problem that can lead to many lost sales. The solution to this is to exercise more effective communication during the support process where the manufacturer sends the merchandise to the pool point and from there it is sent to the store, and it is received and input into the inventory system. Every time an associate uses the inventory to search for a shoe and prints out a receipt for the customer to go to another location is valu able information that should be used in benefit of the company.This is additional information that should be considered when making the inventory and should be effectively and accurately communicated within the support process to successfully meet the specific demands of customers. A service blueprint not only allows for a quantitative description of critical service elements, such as time, logical sequences of actions and processes, but also specifies both actions/events that happen in the time and place of the interaction and actions/events that are out of the â€Å"line of visibility† for the users, but are fundamental for the service.With the realization of the importance and the domination of services in the world’s economies, there is a growing emphasis in business practice on creating meaningful, memorable customer experiences. Payless Shoe Source has reinvented itself and repositioned its brand as a business that is as passionate about helping customers as they are about the products they sell. By using a detailed service blueprint, Payless can strengthen its Marketing, HR Management, and Operations areas and achieve a stronger bond with its customers.The company’s blueprint showcases key points where customers are more attracted to, spend more time at, and are more likely to focus on promotions, ads, and its products. This will especially be helpful to the stores’ â€Å"extensive media plan. † Measuring the stores traffic in customers, sales, and productivity, the company develops the plan which determines what amount of advertising impressions would be the most effective in T. V, radio, magazine, and newspapers. It was this plan that led them to be awarded the â€Å"2006 Marketer of the Year† by Footwear News among other recognitions. Another important aspect of the organization is its’ employees.Payless is proud of its associates and has a culture that encourages personal, informal feedback between al l employees and includes programs in its stores and corporate offices to recognize excellence by individuals and teams. Through the blueprint Payless can evaluate associates, their relationships with customers, and manage their Development, Recognition, and Compensation Programs. For example the quarterly and annual Pinnacle Awards program recognizes top store and district performers in their three regions. Payless is also an organization looking to innovate their service to customers.Its store operations are a critical, important area in its service process. A blueprint will be helpful to create performance standards for workload scenarios, improve alignment among key business functions, and implement new technologies where needed the most. An example of how payless optimized it’s workforce was the creation of KRONOS. Kronos is a an integrated, analytical workforce management system which pulls data from various sources such as the POS, traffic counters, supply chain systems , and associate preferences to create automated, optimized work schedules.Through this assignment we learned how significant a service blueprint can be to an organization for it to be successful among its customers. The blueprint allows firms to visualize the service process, points of customer contact, and the physical evidence associated with their services from their customers’ perspective. The uniqueness of this technique is its continuous focus on the customer as the center and foundation for innovation, service improvement, and experience design. That doesn’t mean that customers are the source of innovation, but rather that value to the customer is the central purpose of innovation.The service blueprint helps firms improve and innovate their service and create a â€Å"customer-focused† design for the firm, which in turn increases customer retention, creates a competitive advantage and mainly increases brand equity. Payless Shoesource is a perfect example o f how a blueprint can be successfully used to innovate, improve, and communicate the firms’ philosophy of great service to its customers.Works Cited Bharat Book Bureau. February 2009. 5 July 2010 http://g51studio. com/parsons/ServiceBlueprinting

Baldwin Norman

The profundity of silence is a theme that plays a significant role in the works â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† by James Baldwin and â€Å" ’night, Mother† by Marsha Norman. The two tales represent confessions by family members that uncover the profound effect that each person’s communication method has had on the other. In particular, one identifies a lack of communication within both family relationships that demonstrates itself in an overabundance of silence.Baldwin’s tale recounts the woes of a certain brother who feels himself somehow responsible for the tragic events that have faced his younger sibling, and it portrays a relationship that lacks effective communication. Likewise, Norman portrays a family that has spent its usefulness in the avoidance of conversation. She eventually reveals the inadequacies of the mother who is at last unable to rescue her child from the pressures that cause her to contemplate death as the only acceptable option.The protagonists of each story find themselves in family relationships that fall short of the support necessary to prevent each from receding beyond the point of recovery. The tale rehashed in Marsha Norman’s play â€Å" ‘night, Mother† explores the hopelessness that leads to suicide, and in so doing, closely maps the psychological condition of the character Jessie (Whited 65). It takes the analysis of the situation into the realm of the family and considers that cocoon to be the engine that generates and exacerbates the problem Jessie faces. The â€Å"problem† is given its lineage in the relationships experienced by the members of the family.The relationships appear to be filled with action and devoid of communication. Of her own culpability, Mama says, â€Å"I didn’t tell you things or I married you off to the wrong man or I took you in and let your life get away from you or all of it put together† (lines 611-613). This circumstance points tow ard an overemphasizing of action and the downplaying of the type of conversation that allows true feelings to come to the fore. Jessie also recalls the silence of her father, and Norman hints that this silence has for the past decades stabilized or subdued the appearance of Jessie’s mental condition.Yet, this same silence has perhaps created the environment in which her mental or psychological illness has been allowed to germinate (Whited, 67). The idea that Jessie breaks her silence precisely at that hour in which her mental condition has become overwhelming and irreparable gives the idea that the lack of communication within her family setting may actually have been to her detriment. The exploration of the relationship between the narrator and his brother Sonny in James Baldwin’s â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† also represents a crisis of silence and suffocation within a family setting.This family in which Sonny resides also betrays a tendency toward continual act ion that precludes the kind of conversation which might have allowed the brothers to truly understand each other. Without understanding Sonny, the narrator (his brother) and their mother make plans to protect him for the rest of his life. They encourage him to live in situations that are not conducive to his spirited nature, such as his residence with Isabel while his brother goes off to war. Yet the silence Sonny endures, like that of Jessie, has the appearance of being his preferred mode of existence.The narrator says, â€Å"Sonny has never been talkative,† yet he goes on to say something more insightful that hints at the true desires that Sonny has always had. He continues, â€Å"So I don’t know why I was sure he’d be dying to talk to me when supper was over the first night† (Baldwin, 8). This hints at the underlying idea that though silence prevailed within the family, probing by his brother and mother might have dispelled both the silence and the dis mal circumstances that later defined Sonny’s life.Literary analyst Tracey Sherard writes: â€Å"the narrator comes to understand his brother Sonny through the latter’s apparent struggle to strike out into the deep, unexplored waters of jazz improvisation† (691). Therefore, it is only through the music that Sonny’s brother is able to communicate with and understand him in the end. Comparisons between the two tragic characters of the stories, Sonny and Jessie, can be made in regard to their life choices. The two characters can be seen to choose silence during the early years of their lives, and this might be connected to another form of silence throughout the later stages of their lives.Sonny’s choice of life has led him to heroin, and this dangerous drug might be considered one that paves a path to death in a manner that is very similar to the suicide that Jessie contemplates. Both characters, therefore, choose suicide as the only means of silencing the worries and discontent of their lives. Jessie expresses a desire to sleep â€Å"whenever she wanted to, just by closing her eyes† (line 637), and this she has not been able to do since she was a â€Å"pink and fat† baby (639-40). This choice to commit suicide is therefore an extension of the idea of closing one’s eyes to problems of life.Sonny, in a similar way, chooses to close his eyes to his problems via his use of heroin. And likewise, the extension of this action (continued heroin use) is precisely concurrent with the death that Jessie so openly craves. Jessie’s mother, who desires not death, says â€Å"I’m not like you, Jessie. I hate the quiet and I don’t want to die† (lines 626-27) and this juxtaposition of death and quietness underscores the idea that the death desired by Jessie and Sonny can be seen also to be a form of silence.The motif of silence can be carried through even further within the analysis of the stories t old by these authors. During the few short moments before her death, Jessie takes a break from her silence to explain the essence of it to her mother. Within this time she uncovers all the pain that her silence has embodied for the years preceding (Whited, 67). She also enumerates the problems that her ensuing death will hope to silence within her. This moment of conversation can be compared to (and in fact prefigures) the bullet that breaks for a split second the silence that has defined Jessie’s life.It also effects the reconstruction of that silence by guaranteeing its continuation in death. Death guarantees not only that the disappointments and fears in Jessie’s psyche will be quieted, but also that the events that have generated or exacerbated these problems will also cease to trouble her. The forms of silence to which Sonny subscribes are heroin (as has been uncovered above) and music. While heroin promises to lead him toward that final and inexorable death of th e body, music provides a spiritual release for him that also provides an effective (if temporary) silence from his turmoil.Sonny’s escape to music as a means of silencing his demons can be compared to the way his brother describes their father as being â€Å"on the lookout for ‘something a little better. ’† Yet he goes on to say that his father â€Å"died before he found it† (Baldwin, 8). Sonny, too, looks to music as a form of escape—a means of quieting his dissatisfaction with his circumstances, a way of searching for something better. While as a youth he annoyed Isabel’s family with his constant piano playing, everyone was able to sense that â€Å"Sonny was at that piano playing for his life† (16).The piano’s music silenced not only the troubles that haunted his mind, but also the voices of hoodlums and vagrants on the street that would have called him into a life of crime and dissipation. It was, in fact, the eventual silencing of the piano by the screams of Isabel’s family that precipitated the demise that his music had been holding at bay. This re-establishes and supports the idea that music was a means of silencing the call of the inner city life and pressures that threatened to overtake Sonny in his youth.The lives and relationships explored within â€Å"’Night, Mother† and â€Å"Sonny’s Blues,† as told by Marsha Norman and James Baldwin respectively, speak loudly and portray vividly a distinct and almost impenetrable silence that enveloped the main characters. For Jessie, silence has been the defining characteristic of her relationship between her father during both his life and his death. During his life, he demonstrated his love with actions, and while Jessie appeared to be comfortable in that silence, the very essence of it provided the environment in which her psychological demise germinated and matured.Her mother, though disliking silence, has rarely been able penetrate Jessie’s, and this proves to facilitate the more permanent form of silence to which she graduates: that of death. Sonny too experiences silence within his relationships—a silence that becomes extended and embodies by the activities of his life. He refuses to speak to his family, silencing the discomfiture with music or heroin. Like Jessie, Sonny’s major life decisions place him on a path toward the ultimate silence: death. Works Cited Baldwin, James. â€Å"Sonny’s Blues. † Wright State University.1957. Online Text. http://www. wright. edu/~alex. macleod/winter06/blues. pdf Norman, Marsha. â€Å"’Night, Mother. † Literature: Reading, Writing, Reacting. Laurie G. Kirzner & Stephen Mandell (Eds). 4th Ed. New York: Harcourt College Publishers, 2001. 1708-1743. Sherard, Tracey. â€Å"Sonny’s Bebop: Baldwin’s ‘Blues Text’ as Intracultural Critique. † African American Review. Vol. 32, Iss ue 4. (Winter 1998): 691-705. Whited, Lana A. â€Å"Suicide in Beth Henley's Crimes of the Heart and Marsha Norman's ‘night, Mother. † Southern Quarterly 36 (Fall 1997): 65-74.

Financial Compensation and Ethical Issues In Healthcare Essay

Financial Compensation and Ethical Issues In Healthcare - Essay Example The goal of these restructurings was in the provision of access to high quality and effective health care to all individuals. This goal has however faced challenges from market-driven forces that characterize the healthcare system. Such factors include the reduction in costs, reduced utilization of resources and maximization of revenues. The result has been in the mismanaged care. The American Nurses Association in 1995 released a document that highlighted the ethical issues in healthcare. These issues included lack of coordinated care, misuse of financial incentives and decrease in the number of registered nurses. The association also noted a decline in the American healthcare system in a document published in 1996.Some ethical practices which the associations highlighted include the lack of full disclosure, gag rules and compensation plans that rewarded the withholding of nursing services. The healthcare workforce in the American labor market has grown tremendously in the last ten years. This large workforce is now faced with the market-driven forces that seem beyond their control. These forces threaten the closure of some hospitals and retrenchment of workers. The resulting job insecurity brings forth fear of job changes, losses and increased hiring of unlicensed health personnel. The decrease in demand for registered nurses results in reduced and inequitable financial compensation available for them. Financial compensation, ethical issues, and health care delivery systems are related to resource allocation. Application of ethical methods of resource allocation is, as a result, vital. The utilitarian ethical theory and the moral principles of justice are theories that seek to establish the best fit between the scarce resources and financial compensation. The utilitarian theory advocates for the greatest good, for the greatest number. This approach contrasts the existing situation in the U.S. Despite the healthcare workforce constituting

The Therac-25 and Its Accident Investigation Case Study - 2

The Therac-25 and Its Accident Investigation - Case Study Example the principal of accelerating electrons so as to create high energy beams that can be used to destroy any cancerous cells without affecting the other surrounding non- cancerous tissues. For shallow tissues, accelerated electrons were enough to treat them but for the deeper ones, the electrons beams have to be converted into X-ray photons. The machine consisted of hardware and software that helped the machine run. The software also monitored the functionality status of the machine and turning on the beam. It was also responsible for turning off the beam and detecting any malfunctions. The software was responsible for running most of the machine functions in conjunction with the hardware. This therefore means that any small bug in the software will lead to malfunctioning of the machine. The software for running the Therac-25 was not extensively tested before it was deployed for use. This was due failure to follow proper system development and implementation practices. Also the programmer didn’t provide enough documentation about the machine and software errors that could guide operators on when there is malfunction and what to do. The operators therefore were in the dark most of the time despite the machine displaying various error messages as they thought was normal. The hardware that was used to measure the dosage always provided a wrong dosage reading when it as overloaded. Instead of providing a high reading instead it displayed a low reading when it was actually so high. Another defect was how the machine was made to be operated. The machine was made that the operator and the patient were to be in separate rooms to minimize effect of radiation to the operator. Therefore in case there was any overdose and the patient complaining, the operator could not hear it. Also the operator could not ascertain whether the patient was in the right position every time. This was risky and costly assumptions that lead to the occurrence of the accidents. Therefore, software

Mintzbergs Leadership Test and Reflection Essay

Mintzbergs Leadership Test and Reflection - Essay Example Participative leaders value the people they work with and use the inputs that members of the team provide, thus they create a committed team based on participation.  Advantages of being a participative leader are many. Being a participative leader, there is a scope for growth of other leaders within the organization. The process used by the leaders is one which allows for everyone to participate in the decision making of the company. This increases the productivity of the people in the team and also allows for allowing for the team members to express their creativity and also demonstrate their abilities and talents which do not be seen in the other styles of leadership. Also, it has been noted that there is a clear development of skills and abilities. This form of leadership provides the team with a chance to learn their weaknesses and work on improving their weaknesses. This is not only useful for the current job, but also for future jobs and their career as a whole. Also, this st yle of leadership also provides the team with a range of possibilities. This style provides a new direction to decision making and instead of placing all the load on one individual it sees all problems, issues, and processes from several different angles. This method also allows me to use brainstorming as a solution to issues. Using a brainstorming is one which is most useful as any process can be improved and every issue can have a better approach if a number of aspects are considered (Slocum and Hellriegel, 2006).  

Disney case study Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Disney case study - Assignment Example Thirdly, Shanghai Disney should strive to be innovative as much as possible in order to maintain and attract new customers. This means the fairytale experience should be achieved at all times to keep consumers interested and willing to explore beyond the norm. Fast-forward to 2020, Dubai will be the best location for the next Disney park. Besides being the largest city in the Middle East, Dubai is currently enjoying sustainable growth in all fronts, particularly the tourism industry. High-net worth individuals are visiting the city in high droves who are investing highly in the region. The region boasts a host of cultures, who are widely knowledgeable of Walt Disney and its characters. For example, majority of Disney Paris visitors is from the Arabian Gulf and visit its theme parks for a number of days (Hamid, 2013). Dubai is also easily accessible in the shortest time from other countries such As the United States, London, Hongkong, making it a leading and suitable candidate for a Disney-themed park. Hamid, T (2013). Walt Disney Courts Middle East Market but no plans for UAE Theme Park. The National:Business. Retrieved 18th November from

Balance Training in Recreational Gym Users Essay

Balance Training in Recreational Gym Users - Essay Example Questionnaires are used to provide information on demographics and participation in balance activity within a gym setting. Questionnaires are a cost-effective form of the survey, easy to analyze, non-confrontational and a familiar format for participants to complete. They are a good way of obtaining data with reduced bias (Walonick 2004). They have been used previously to ascertain balance training participation and behavior both as an isolated activity (McInnes 2004) and also as part of the multi-modal regimen (Resnick 2000). They are also effective for the measurement of variables such as motivation, barriers to, and promoters of balance exercise (Kline 2000). The convenience of the setting of the gym and the availability of participants already predisposed to regular exercise informs the choice of venue at which to conduct the survey. Biases such as difficulty with transport or aversion to exercise, generally, are reduced by the said choice of venue. In the absence of sampling frames and population lists, 120 recreational gym users were approached in an effort to provide a representative sample of gym users. All participants who took part in the survey were gym users, male and female, aged 20-80 years. Participants are surveyed from this age range as literature has shown the benefits in reduction of injury rates and falls from balance exercise in the young and elderly ( see for example Handall 2001, Hong 2000). Each respondent had been a member of the gym for more than 12 months and reported attendance of once a week or more. The absence of population lists and sampling frames means it is not possible to determine whether the gender difference (or similarities) is a reflection of the gym user population. A minimum of 85 questionnaires was completed to produce a power calculation of greater than 80% in relation to the aims of the study, as specified by Altman,1991.  

N 750 words, discuss and provide support for the evolutionary origins Essay

N 750 words, discuss and provide support for the evolutionary origins of the following organisms or disease HIV,and how or why it spread to humans - Essay Example evidence put forward by a new team of researchers suggests that the AIDS pandemic dates back to as early as 1884 and that the virus responsible for causing the disease began circulating among humans in the Sub-Saharan African regions between the years 1884 and 1924 (National Geographic, 2012). Also, studies indicate that the first instances of this disease were observed among African primates who were detected with a virus closely related to the HIV, known as SIV (Simian immunodeficiency virus). The SIVs are known to have been transferred to humans through hunting activities and the consumption of primate meat by the humans in the African region (Hahn et al., 2000). The study of molecular phylogenies indicates the various cross-species transmission of the virus to humans. The exact number of cross-species transfer of this virus is difficult to estimate, however studies have shown that the incidence of HIV among humans is likely to be caused by as many as three such transfers in case of HIV-1 whereas the sub groups M, N and O are likely to be of independent origin (Gao, 1999; Sharp, 2001). The Evolutionary Theory: In order for any virus transferred from an animal to affect the human, it is essential for it to adapt to the new host. This is a rarity, since mostly viruses transferred from animals to humans do not affect the latter. However, this theory posits that if the virus transmitted from the animals have had several opportunities to enter the human body, it is highly likely for the said virus to adapt to it and latch on to the receptors thus affecting the human cells in the process. The same has been observed in case of the SIV virus which is a virus originally found among animals but successfully adapted to the hosts thus mutating into HIV, thus converting itself into a human virus (Kirkland, 2010). The Hunter Theory: Some researchers believe that the HIV virus is a mutation of the SIV virus commonly found among primates and has been transferred to humans

The Importance of Being Earnest Essay Example for Free

The Importance of Being Earnest Essay The Importance of Being Earnest, having being written in the late Victorian period, shows examples of the contemporary societys attitudes to and customs of marriage. These attitudes serve a very important role throughout the play. The problems and trials of marriage provide the basis for this play. Although this theme of the problem of marriage has featured in a number of English authors works, for example Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde adapted the theme in order for his contemporary audience to relate to it, and so the play is quite unique. Act 1 of the play opens with Algernon holding a brief conversation with his servant Lane regarding marriage. We immediately have an insight into Algernons life as a single man; Algernon is more concerned with money and the high life than he is with responsibility and sensibility. He sees that not having a first rate brand of wine, as it was mentioned was the case in marriage, as demoralising. It is not surprising that Algy, later on in Act 1, expresses such cynical views of marriage. Lane touches on the lower classs attitudes towards marriage briefly in this scene. Lane says that he has had very little experience of marriage he explains that he was only married once and that was a misunderstanding between himself and a young person. The humour in this line lies in the point that experience shouldnt normally be measured in the amount of times one is married but the number of years one has lived in a marriage. He also says that it was a misunderstanding, which is intended to be funny, as marriage is an understanding between two persons. We learn more about Algernons views on marriage in his conversation with Jack. Algernon believes that a proposal is business. This is typical of the Victorian gentlemans attitudes towards marriage. The typical view of marriage was that it was more a way to achieve or sustain social status rather than a way of expressing love. Algernon actually believes that marriage puts an end to all romance. He says that girls never marry the men they flirt with. This is an example of one of Oscar Wildes humorous epigrams, what is even more funny is when it is completely contradicted by what Algernon says shortly after: The amount of women in London who flirt with their husbands is perfectly scandalous.

Outbreak Of One Of The Conflicts In Africa History Essay

Outbreak Of One Of The Conflicts In Africa History Essay Africa from time immemorial has experienced numerous forms of conflicts ranging from ethnic confrontations to interstate wars. The idea of war still plays a veritable role in the post colonial Africa as well as in the international politics. An understanding of the situation in Africa has proved that most of these wars have been fought on the African soils and have had devastating effects on the continent and the world at large. Examples of these wars include Rwanda, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast and just to name a few. These wars have greatly affected the African continent especially the countries involved as it has reduced the economies of these countries to nothing but a shadow on their own. It is obvious that most of these wars are taken place but in the developing countries and therefore leaves one with the question, whether the wars can be seen as a consequence of poverty or is poverty the consequence of war? To my opinion, war is not a solution to confli ct looking at the aftermath of the war, the vulnerabilities of the women and children, the political and economic imbalance of the states. In this light, the international community should seek ways of avoiding the outbreak of such wars especially in the developing countries. In this paper, I will analyzed the outbreak of one of the conflict in Africa which could have escalated to a full scale military conflict between two countries, had it not been settled in a unique showcase of conflict management by the UN. The conflict in question is the Cameroon vs. Nigeria claim of sovereignty over the potentially oil rich Bakassi peninsula, which almost trigger to an interstates war and sends fear and uncertainty across the two nations. B. G. Ramcharan describes the role played by the former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan in maintaining peace between the Republic of Cameroon and the Federal Republic of Nigeria and in settling the dispute over the Bakassi peninsula, another fascinating story of conflict prevention at work in practice. The signing of the Green Tree Agreement by both countries enabled both countries to adhere to the ruling passed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), officially put to an end to the Nigeria occupation of the peninsula and fin ally led to the peaceful handover of the occupied areas by the Nigeria military to Cameroon. President Obasanjo Olusegun of Nigeria clearly described the way the conflict was handled in the following words: Our agreement today is a great achievement of conflict prevention, which practically reflects its cost-effectiveness when compared to the alternative of conflict resolution its significance, therefore, goes much beyond Nigeria and Cameroon. It should represent a model for the resolution of similar conflicts in Africa, and I dare say, to the world at large. For most conflicts especially in Africa, has been as a result of natural resources and the politics play by the international community for their own interest which more often has fuel the violent conflicts. I will seek to analyze in this paper the historical background of the contested area leading to the outbreak of hostilities. It will be follow suit with the underlying causes of the conflicts in part 4 and part five will shed more lights on how the conflict was resolved at the level of the ICJ and managed at the UN following the implementation of the famous Green-Tree Accord signed by both countries. While part six will emphasize on the conclusion with the way forward of ensuring that both countries respect the terms of the green-Tree Agreement and the unique showcase of conflict management and resolution achieved. 2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The Bakassi peninsula is an island located along the eastern end of the Gulf of Guinea between latitudes 8 °20 and 9 °08E. The area is greatly made up of a low-lying, mangrove and swampy area with a population of approximately 150,000 to 300,000 inhabitants, as of 2005. The island is highly inhabited with the indigenous people of the Efik tribe, which they claimed to belong to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The peninsula is a veritable ground for fishing activities and other maritime wildlife activities, for the simple fact that two great ocean currents meet here that is the cold Benguela Current and the warm Guinea Current, has really made it possible for fishing activities to be the livelihood of the inhabitants. The historical background of the peninsula goes back to the colonial period after the arrival of the European colonial master to Nigeria in the middle of the 19th Century, the King of the Old Calabar kingdom entered into a treaty of Protection with the Queen of England on September 10, 1884. The territory covering this region was at this time under the control of the King of the Old Calabar Kingdom. So in signing this treaty, it means he has officially ceded the territory to the British as a protectorate. In this respect, Britain was free to carry out any activity and equally exercised whatever she deems fit in the territory. The claim of sovereignty of the Bakassi peninsula is one of the numerous conflicts in Africa concerning border disputes. This however, should be in some extent put on the shoulders of the former colonial masters who partitioned Africa without taking into considerations of the ethnic groupings, geography and demography of the area, history, language and socio-cultural affiliations of the people. This has really hampered the integrity and sovereignty of most countries in Africa, as most often people from the same ethnic grouping happen to found themselves on two different colonial territories and governed by different colonial powers. The historical background of the Bakassi peninsula can be traced back during the era of colonialism. The Germans were the first colonial master to colonized Cameroon not until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, which saw the defeat of the Germans by the French and English in Cameroon. Before the outbreak of the First World War, the European powers having colonial territories were largely interested in securing their interests instead of the colonial people they claimed they were civilizing. A country like Germany were only interested in securing for itself the vast territorial waters in order to keep the huge amount of shrimps and other maritime wildlife found in this water for herself. In order to avoid conflict of interest amongst the colonial powers, Germany enter into an agreement with the British who were at this time the colonial master of Nigeria, limiting Britains expansion to the east, while Britain on the other hand required an undisturbed and free sea passage to Calabar, which was an important commercial seaport in eastern Nigeria. This agreement was later code name the Anglo German Agreement of 1913, which clearly defined the exact demarcation of the borders between Cameroon and Nigeria. The first part of the treaty entitled: The Settlement of the Frontier between Cameroon and Nigeria, from Yola to the Sea, clearly situate the territory of Bakassi under the jurisdiction of the Germans. The second part entitled: The Regulation of Navigation on the Cross River, placed the navigable portion of the offshore border of the Bakassi peninsula to Britain. Article 21 of the Anglo-German Treaty of 1913, which stipulates the exact position of the border: From the centre of the navigable channel on a line joining Bakassi Point and King Point, the boundary shall follow the centre of the navigable channel of the Akwayafe River as far as the 3-mile limit of territorial jurisdiction. For the purpose of defining this boundary, the navigable channel of the Akwayafe River shall be considered to lie wholly to the east of the navigable channel of the Cross and Calabar Rivers. This however, proves that from 1913, after the signing of the Anglo-German Treaty and onwards, British and German maps clearly show the Bakassi peninsula in Cameroon. Following the dramatic twist of event which saw the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the French and the English decided to extend the war in German colonial territories in Africa, aimed at fighting the Germans in their African colonial territories. At the end of the war, Germany lost all her colonies in Africa including Cameroon to the allied powers. Cameroon was ruled as a mandated territory under the League of Nations and later partitioned in 1919, into two territories among the British and French. The French took 4/5 of the territory called French Cameroons and the British get 1/5 of the territory called British Cameroons. The Franco-British Agreement of July 1919, placed the territory of Bakassi and the rest of British Cameroons under the mandate of Britain. The British introduced the system of indirect rule in their territory of British Cameroons as an integral part of Nigeria with respect to the borders agreements laid down in 1913. In 1931, a further agreement between both powers was signed to further codify the treaty of 1919. The two Cameroons that is French and English Cameroons were ruled as a mandated territory by France and Britain till the outbreak of the Second World War. With the collapse of the League of Nations and the subsequent end of the Second World War, the mandated territories of the British Cameroons and French Cameroons were placed under the United Nations Organization which succeeded the League of Nations as Trust Territories. Worthy of note here is that the agreement creating these Trusteeship territories re-ratified the Anglo-German treaties of 1913 demarcating the borders between Cameroon and Nigeria. Again maps produced during this period placed Bakassi under the sovereignty of Cameroon. It should be noted here, that the British Cameroons was divided into two parts namely British Northern and British Southern Cameroons respectively, with Bakassi falling under the competence of Britain Southern Cameroons. In the advent for the fight for independence in the late 1950s across Africa, tensions have grown in the territory of British Cameroons. In the light of this growing tensions for independence, the United Nations requested Britain to carry out a plebiscite in the territories under her jurisdiction. British Northern Cameroon and British Southern Cameroon were to exercise their rights and willingness as to which country they would like to join and become independent. A plebiscite was held in British Northern Cameroons as Do you wish to attained independence by joining the Federal Republic of Nigeria or by joining the Republic of Cameroon. The outcome of the result of the plebiscite was that British Northern Cameroons voted to achieve independence by joining the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The events of the political parties and their divided opinions made the plebiscite to be postponed in British Southern Cameroons. It was only on February 11th, 1961, that British Southern Cameroons voted to join the already independent Republic of Cameroon (former French Cameroons). It should also be noted here that at the point of independence, Bakassi was a territory under the jurisdiction of Cameroon. This can be seen from the fact that Bakassi itself has 21 polling stations and 73% of the population voted to become independent by joining the Republic of Cameroon. So there is no gainsaying that Bakassi was and remain a territory in Cameroon. The Bakassi peninsula is an area that was of no interest to the two nations, as the territory has been long forgotten and was not an issue looking back at the afore-mentioned paragraphs. It became a centre point of focus after the alleged discovery of oil by some foreign experts. As a result of the suspicion that Bakassi have a huge oil reserve, Nigeria was the first to claim sovereignty of the peninsula and immediately deploy her military in the territory to mark her presence and ownership. This dramatic twist of event gave way for the look back of the Anglo-German Treaty of 1913, which clearly defines and demarcates the maritime borders of the two countries and which both countries accepted it. In the wake of this post independent period, both countries sought way of regulating the colonial agreements of 1913, signed by the colonial powers. Leaders of both countries exchanges visits as can be seen in April 1971, the Nigeria Head of State, General Gowon accompanied with his collabor ators visited Cameroon and meet with his Cameroonian counterpart Amadou Ahidjo, in the capital city Yaoundà ©, to discuss the issue. The outcome of this meeting was the signing of the Coker-Ngo Line delimiting the navigable portion offshore border of the two countries, thereby reaffirming the 1913 agreement. Both Heads of States were very satisfied with the outcome of the meeting not only after General Gowon of Nigeria, hearing the advices from his advisers, reverse the decision arrived at the meeting. This trigger a second meeting as General Gowon again paid a second visit to the President Ahidjo of Cameroon at Maroua city in July 1975, in order to correct the wrongs of the Coker-Ngo Line referred in the 1913 agreement. Worthy of note here is that at this point in time, the sovereignty of Bakassi was not the issue, as the meetings were out to understand the colonial borders. Gowon was overthrown shortly after his visit to Cameroon in a military coup in July 1975, General Murtala Muhammed was the new Head of State of Nigeria and he was very strategic. In order to have the support of the Nigeria bulk population, he convinced them to believe that General Gowon has given Bakassi to Cameroon as a compensation for the assistance Cameroon played in the Nigeria Civil War. He goes further to reject the authenticity of the 1971 and 1975 agreements between Gowon and Ahidjo that it has not be ratified by the military council. He too was killed in a military coup just a year after and was replaced by General Olusegun Obasanjo. What a coincidence here that President Obasanjo was Nigeria Head of state during this period and he still re-emerges again as president when hostilities break out between the two countries and help to brokered peace by ensuring that Nigeria police and soldiers withdraw from the territory in accordance with the Green-Tree Agreement of 2006. 3. THE EMERGENCE OF HOSTILITIES As earlier discuss above, the obvious reasons for most violent conflict have been natural resources conflict, territorial and ethnicity, and political and economic. The case of the Bakassi conflict was as a result of the colonial legacy left behind by the colonial powers without taking consideration of the indigenous population. As also said above the Bakassi peninsula came into the lime line after the alleged discovery of huge volume of oil reserves by some Chinese experts. Cameroon and Nigeria share a 1600km long border running from Lake Chad in the north down to Bakassi in the south and a maritime boundary meandering into the Gulf of Guinea. It is worth noted here that with all the different borders that Cameroon share with Nigeria, it is only the Bakassi peninsula which has spark tension. This can be seen as a result of the oil discovery in that area and the water which was a veritable ground for fishing. During the 70s, minor tensions have been building up in the claim of ownership of the territory. Clashes took place where some human lives were lost and on May 16, 1981, the first major form of direct violence occur when the Cameroon National Radio announced that three Nigeria patrol boats have violated and entered the Cameroonian territorial waters in Bakassi up to Rio del Rey, and open fire on the Cameroonian army. This act was widely condemned in Cameroon and in retaliation; five Nigerian soldiers were killed by the Cameroonian soldiers. This incident brought a lot of suspicion between the two countries as both countries were accusing the other for causing the incident. While Cameroon on their part accused Nigeria that they were exploiting the matter politically by blaming Cameroon for the incident, Nigeria on their part, insisted that the incident took place along the Akwayafe River. The Nigeria claimed that the incident took place at the Akwayafe River means that they have not a cknowledge the maritime border set down at the Anglo-German Treaty of 1913, thus a gross violation. So Cameroon immediately apologizes for the deaths of those five soldiers and promised to pay reparations. This matter was resolved diplomatically and put to rest. But it has triggered the question of sovereignty over the territory. Things take a dramatic turn in the advent of multi party politics in Cameroon in the 1990s. Anglophone Cameroonians started feeling of been marginalized and under-developed. They started asking for their own autonomy and possible Bakassi been a territory under the English speaking part of Cameroon was a big concern to the government of Cameroon. So there was need to consolidate the entire sovereignty of the territory under Cameroon administration. In order to fight this Anglophone antagonism in Cameroon, the government became so hard on the Anglophones especially the Nigerians who have been living in the Anglophone communities for decades doing businesses. Through intimidation and high taxes, many Nigeria traders were forced to leave Cameroon. But the most deliberate incident that fully lead to the occupation of the territory and sends fear of an impending military conflict between the two countries occur in February 1994. At this point in time, Nigeria had deployed 1000 soldiers to Bakassi on the pretext that they were out to protect the Nigerian Traders and fishermen against the continuous Cameroonian Gendarmerie harassment. The deployment of Nigerian troops was not welcome by Cameroon and it eventually break out to an open fire from both sides. It led to many casualties and deaths on civilian population and soldiers from both countries. Cameroon has lost closed to 40 soldiers and many of its soldiers have been taken as pris oners of war by Nigeria. It was this bloody incident that prompted Cameroon to seize the ICJ for adjudication. A complaint was filed on March 29, 1994 to the ICJ. Whether due to a sense of premonition of defeat or due to the fact that many Nigerians were aware of the Bakassi lie, the Nigeria government criticizes the government of Cameroon for taking the matter to the UN. The pointed out that they would have prefer the matter be settled through a bilateral negotiations. They go as far as challenging the competence of the ICJ for lack of jurisdiction in handling the matter. While the matter was pending at the ICJ, fighting was still going on between the two countries. The Nigerian government again deploys another 1000 troops in February 1996. This last deployment of soldiers was the last major incident that shows sign of an impending full scale military war. The Nigerian soldiers invaded and occupied the territory of Bakassi despite the fact that the case was pending at the ICJ. Record holds it that by May 1996, more than 50 Nigerian soldiers had lost their lives and several others taken as prisoners of war according to diplomatic sources. One of the most leading African magazines, The Jeune Afrique has analyzed the situation by saying that the prerequisite for a major military conflict were all present in the case of Bakassi. It went further to analyze the strategic economic importance of the territory to both countries and as a pivotal factor for the cause of the conflict. As tensions continued to grow on the ground with the military presence of both countries in the territory, the government of Cameroon called on the ICJ to institute measures to halt down the fighting. The ICJ immediately asked both countries to stop the fighting while waiting for the final ruling on the matter. But that notwithstanding, both countries still maintain the presence of their military believing that it might work in their favor for the rightful owner of the territory. 4. THE CAUSES OF THE CONFLICT The claim of sovereignty over the peninsula between the Republic of Cameroon and the Federal Republic of Nigeria is one the several violent conflicts that have plagued Africa for a very longtime as I mentioned in the preceding chapters. It was one of an interstate state war that could have escalated to a full blown war if not of the high sense of responsibilities on the parts of the UN on one hand and the countries concern on the other hand. The causes of the conflict are discussed below. 4.1. Economic factors It is evident that economic factors might have stemmed up the conflict over the ownership of the territory. If we go back to the Anglo-German Treaty of 1913, we can see that both countries were more or less not interested in the area. Nigeria under British rule have surrender the area to the Germans who were at that time ruling Cameroon. British Nigeria ceded this territory to the German in 1913, and even after independence, Nigeria still did not made any claim to the territory. Cameroon on her part, knew and sees the peninsula as its territory but failed to carry out any development in the area. The government of Cameroon did not put up any administrative structure in the area to indicate that the rule the place. They equally left the place at the mercy of the dominant Nigeria indigenous population to carry out their trading and fishing activities along the peninsula with little or no control except the arbitrary tax collection from the people by the authorities of Cameroon. This point is to bring out the picture of the peninsula at that time, but things take a dramatic turn when during the late 70s and 80s, there was an alleged discovery of huge volume of oil reserves around the Rio del Rey area of the peninsula. A good number of foreign multi-national companies have carried out surveys in the peninsula and came out with the reports that the territory may indeed be a treasure of immeasurable economic value. The discovery of oil reserves was not the only determinant economic factor that almost plunged both countries to a war. The fact that Bakassi peninsula is situated between two great oceans i.e. the cold Benguela current and the warm Guinea current, makes it a veritable ground for fishing. It also harbors a wide variety of fishes and other maritime wildlife creatures. According to the internet encyclopedia, the Wikipedia, the fertility of the Bakassi peninsula as a fishing ground is comparable only to Newfoundland in North America and Scandinavia in Western Europe. It was as a result of these economic benefits i.e. the prospect of potential oil reserves and securing the fishing rights, that the Germans were so desperate on keeping the peninsula to themselves during the 1913 agreement. It would not be a gainsaying that economic factors attracted the attention of both countries to claim sovereignty of the peninsula, judging from the discovery of oil reserves and the sale of fishing rights. 4.2. Political reasons The Cameroon and Nigeria claim of sovereignty over Bakassi also has a political manoveuvres, i.e. political reasons also contributed to the conflict. It is believed that the political leaders of both countries wanted to use Bakassi as a means to divert public opinion from their respective home countries. This is evident of the fact that there was growing unpopularity of the leaders of both countries. They wanted to shift the public attention to Bakassi so that their citizens will forget about their worries at home when engaged in a full scale war. Both governments have failed to address the economic problems, unemployment, bad governance, bribery and corruption, lack of social services and the bad Human Rights records they hold. Cameroon under President Amadou Ahidjos human rights records was not a good one as he was notorious for the violation of human rights during his time as president. Examples of his bad Human Rights violation is the killing of more than 25,000 people during the UPC revolt in the 1960s as reported by Albert Mukong and Mongo Beti. Then came President Paul Biya who succeeded Ahidjo in 1982 and is still on seat. Under Biya, the economy has faced a severe economic crisis in the mid 80s that saw the currency been devalued. The salaries of normal civil servants was reduced to about 70% while those of the army was increase, and that is why the army is so loyal to the president and do not plan to overthrown him in a coup. On the part of Nigeria, the situation was not too different from Cameroon, but the prominent problem that Nigeria was undergoing before the return to civilian rule was the successive military coups that has seen their governments from time to time been toppled. In fact, Nigeria holds worlds record for the highest number of military coups and counter coup attempts. These coups have led to the deaths of thousands of civilians and soldiers. Looking at her human rights records, nearly all the successive governments have had a very bad human rights record. They are noted for killing their political opponents, an example is the assassination of the minority leader Ken Saro Wiwa and nine others in November 1995. The unreasonable imprisonment of acclaimed winner of the presidential election of 1992 Moshood Abiola and the events leading to his death while in prison still remain a fact to be told. Even the brutal murder of Abiolas wife made the government unpopular. It very evident from the above mentioned paragraphs that both Cameroon and Nigeria had nothing to ride home with because the governments of both countries were facing internal and severe ethnic nationalism and economic fallout. They believe that diverting the peoples mind into an external crisis will work in their favors. They made their citizens to believe that Bakassi was worth fighting for i.e. to defend their fatherland. 4.3. National and human securities Security issues have been very vital and play an important role in the peninsula, as such were one of the causes of the claim of sovereignty over Bakassi. This is true to the fact that during 1884, the Chief of Old Calabar signed a Treaty of Protection ceding the territory (Bakassi) to the Britain. Britain thereafter ceded the territory during the 1913 Treaty to German Kamerun in order to secure a safe passage to the port of Calabar and also reassuring the Germans that she will not made any further advancements to the east. Security in the wider sense could so also be seen in the domain of national security and human security. The former been the security of the states sovereignty and the latter been the security of the citizens. So in this light, both countries were fast to advance security reasons for the military occupation of the peninsula. Nigeria lay claims that she invaded Bakassi to protect her citizens who were doing business and carry out fishing activities in the area against the continuous harassment from the Cameroonian forces, while Cameroon on her part, claimed that the obvious reason was to protect the territorial integrity of the state as she claims Nigeria has violated its sovereignty and posed a threat to her national security. 4.4. Natural resources Natural resources have been the cause of several violent conflicts in the developing countries. The question is can natural resources be seen as a curse or a blessing. This is a territory which was out of the discussion tables of both country, but soon became a bone of contention to the countries immediately after the discovery of oil reserves or black gold as is commonly refer to in Africa. Many oppressive regimes will want to be in full control of the natural resources. For the fact that another border region which is the Lake Chad between Cameroon and Nigeria is gradually disappearing because of over used by the neighboring countries such as Cameroon, Nigeria, DR Congo, Tchad and Equatorial Guinea. With the assurance that the Bakassi peninsula is blessed with natural resources such as oil and fishes, both countries divert their attention there claiming sovereignty. 4.5. Territorial integrity The territorial integrity of the peninsula also plays a very important role for both countries as they believed it was the responsibility of the state to protect the sovereignty of its territory against any form of external threat from its neighbors. So we can see here that the Bakassi conflict was an interstates military conflict aim at protecting the sovereignty of the territory as both countries claimed. The government of Cameroon was more than ever ready to defend and protect the sovereignty of the Bakassi people against an impending military occupation from Nigeria. None of the two countries was ready to let go off the territory, as Nigeria on her part, was sending a warning threat that they are very much ready to protect Nigeria citizens leaving in the area from arbitrarily harassment from the Cameroon Gendarmes and as such protecting the sovereignty of the territory. 4.6. Socio-cultural aspects The territory under question was largely inhabited by the Efik indigenous people who see themselves as belonging to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They made up about 90% of the population and would not understand why they should be forced to be governed by Cameroon in case the ruling of the Hague was in favor of Cameroon. This is a territory that has been long forgotten by the government of Cameroon with no social structure put in place to make it look like a Cameroon territory. Nigeria on their part has built some few schools in the area and putting up some structures to give life to her citizens leaving in the area. Nigeria used her large population advantage to claim sovereignty of the territory, though the government of Cameroon accuses the Nigeria government that they took advantage of their large home population and thereby transfer so many Nigerians to live in the Bakassi peninsula, so that it will give them an upper hand in claiming sovereignty of the territory. It can also be justified here that the bulk of the Bakassi population who claimed to be of Nigeria origin, were not willing to lose their territory to Cameroon and so urges the Nigeria government to go to war if it needs arise. Culturally speaking, we can also see that the colonial demarcations of the borders done a great deal to the people, as we can find the Efik people on the side of Nigeria speaking the same language with the Akwaya people in Cameroon. These two tribes have the same cultures, traditional rites and traditional attires during festivities. It cannot be deny here that peoples of the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon have similar cultures with the peoples of Benue, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Taraba states of Nigeria. So it is obvious that Nigeria based her claim of sovereignty over the territory was as a result of their large population in the area. 5. HOW THE CONFLICT WAS RESOLVED AND MANAGED When Nigerian troops violated the Anglo-German Treaty of 1913, by invading the territory of Rio del Rey in May 16, 1961, they claimed five of their soldiers were killed by the Cameroon soldiers. So in respond, the Shehu Shagari the president of Nigeria made it clear that the Nigerian soldiers were not on the Rio del Rey territory but on the Akwayafe territory and as such demanded an apology from Cameroon for the death soldiers. It can be seen here that both countries resorted to diplomatic means to queue down the growing tensions and somehow the conflict was managed. The government of Cameroon made an official apology on July 1981, and promised to pay reparations to Nigeria. This brought the misunderstanding to an end. But worth noting here, is the fact that Nigeria claimed their soldiers were on the Akwayafe river but not on the Rio del Rey river, meaning they indirectly acknowledged and accept the colonial maritime borders delineated by the 1913 Treaty. This sought of management and resolution of

The Performance Management At Hewlett Packard Commerce Essay

The Performance Management At Hewlett Packard Commerce Essay   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hewlett-Packard is believed to be one of the most popular companies in the universe. It markets all over the world and distinct locations. Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard founded HP in the year 1939. The company has its own philosophy to attain success and stand different from its competitors in the market. Management by Objectives (MOB) is one of the successful trends carried out by HP Company to measure its performance management and appraisal system. Therefore many companies were following this method for evaluating their performance management. The objective of this report is to identify the performance management effectiveness and frequency of appraisal and also recognize the strength and limitations at HP Company and to make recommendations regarding their limitations and possible ways to overcome them (Armstrong 2005). Hewlett-Packard   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hewlett-Packard (HP) is a multinational company marketing allover the world. The company offers a wide range of consumer and IT products such as personal computers, Laptops, printing machines and services, Ink, Toner paper, Monitors, Accessories and softwares, Scanners, Smart Phones etc. The HP Way   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The HP way is not entirely different from other companys management philosophy. But the company has got its own principles and management frame implemented by its founders in approaching the top to bottom level management in distinct way. It implies that the company should trust and respect every individual and they believe in their employees intelligence leads to company success and they followed decentralized system (Peter Burrows business week 2004). This leads HP Company to retain the second top most places in the hardware industry globally (Hardware Top 100 2010). System Aim Performance management is a process carried out by organizations in order to attain the organization goals by identifying their employees performance individually and in teams (Armstrong Baron, 2005). The management levels may differ from organizations to organizations thus every management has its own performance appraisal system to identify, support, ascertain problems, develop and appreciation to the employees regard their work performance (Sims 2002a, p. 81). Performance management evaluates the companys performance of the employees, which helps to give effective feedback in order to improve their employees working performance and to succeeded organization targets. The organizations targets are considered to be the long-term goals and to attain that performance appraisal system are to be carried as short-term goals. Controlling process, which is the most important role of any organization to monitor the individual employees performance and this helps to compare the employees per formance and to analyses the overall management performance (Sims, 2002a). The basic need for controlling system is to initiate performance principles, observing performance of the employees and comparing it with the primary principles framed by the organization and finally taking required action to manage the performance. Hewlett-Packard applies the quality management therefore their organizations aim and objective is concerned about the ultimate customers. Therefore, HP employees practice the scheme called Management by Objectives (MOB). This scheme has structured the company objectives into two elements as long-term objectives and short-term objectives. These objectives were discussed between their distinct management levels that are communicating the performance criteria with the individual employees and as department vise were negotiated. The Management by Objective (MOB) scheme finds how the employees complete their task successfully, which indicates the process of mentoring and coaching. This process is made efficient by interconnecting the monitoring process at all levels throughout the HP Company. MOB also involves in the strategic planning of HP Company as a part that describes the aim or goal of the company. The companys top management involves in performance management system and introduces the performance appraisal process to the employees and given chances to fix their goals. Even the workers at bottom management level are encouraged to participate in the process of decision making by suggesting their views for attaining targets successfully this process is carried out for every six months between all levels. The Mobs objectives are to serve as day-to-day to help in making decision for tremendous growth of the company. Dave Packard believe in if HP made every individuals understanding their company objectives and goals and what the company planning for, then they could easily get every employees narrow attention towards attaining the goal. This is known as the HP Way. Frequency of Appraisal:   It is a process of identifying the employees characteristics during the working period that basically indicates quantitative and also qualitative features of management performance. This can be identified by adopting certain appraisal methods in order to find how the employees work efficiently and perfectly. Accordingly performance appraisal has goal setting and performance evaluation as arching targets. These targets are combined because of the performance management criteria used by the managers/supervisor in order to encourage the employees by giving proper command about how to transfer results to compete distinct levels of performance. 1. Goal Setting In HP Company they traditionally practice the HP Way, according to it they give respect and importance to each individual employee, therefore people in top-to-bottom level management have determined their goals. According to Bill Hewlett (co-founder of HP) a organizations performance should be measured by setting up of Goals also that should be measurable in both qualitative and quantitative terms for efficient management performance (mystrategicplan). 2. Performance Evaluation In Hewlett-Packard, the performance evaluation method is implemented as a basic development device. The company conducts frequent meetings by mixed up with all level of management people at one roof to evaluate about the management performance quarterly. According to the HP Way the employees are given full freedom to place their requests and ideas in the meeting and their suggestions are strongly supported. They practice an informal way of approaching to the analysis the performance of its management by giving feedbacks to the employees on an ongoing basis. This reflects and made the company to introduce 360-degree and MOB appraisal method as measuring the companys performance. Method of Appraisal Management of Objectives In HP Company their managements performance is analyzed by carrying out the management of objectives appraisal method. Through this method the company find their employees rating during the work time and those who attain top rating are awarded with promotions and offers on the other hand the employees who got poor performance rating will be taken necessary actions to make them correct accordingly. This appraisal scheme followed by the Hewlett-Packard Company measures both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of their employees performance. The company follows a quality management hence their objectives

Bembos Discourse on Love :: Italian Renaissance History Europe Essays

Bembo's Discourse on Love The idea of the Renaissance Gentleman. Just as it is false to see the Renaissance as a simple and sharp contrast with the Middle Ages, as did Michelet and Burckhardt, neither should it be seen as all of one piece. After the age of civic humanism came the dominance of the Medici in Florence, and in those contacts made with eastern scholars when the Council of Florence was attempting the reconciliation of the Eastern and Western Churches (a last effort to stave off the menace of the Turk) Cosimo de'Medici had been attracted to the figure of Plato. So there came his patronage of Marsilio Ficino and the birth of the Platonic Academy. Ficino became the disciple of Plato, and an advocate of neo-Platonism. Perhaps coincidentally, but as befits a court, the contemplative ideal began once more to gain over the active one. It was transmitted potently to Europe by a book that mirrored one of the noblest of Italian courts, that of Urbino. This was Baldassar Castiglione's Il cortegiano/The Book o f the Courtier). Published in 1528 (that is, after the Sack of Rome, 1527) it has a nostalgic vision of the civilisation nurtured in Urbino from the time of Federigo da Montefeltro, in one of the most beautiful of princely palaces. Apart from offering in its close the neoplatonic idea to Europe, it recommended not so much the status of the courtier, as the ideal of the gentleman. There is no other comparable book that encapsulated the ideals of the Italian Renaissance, and its European success ensured the diffusion of the message. (Penguin Hutchinson Reference Library Copyright (c) 1996 Helicon Publishing and Penguin Books Ltd) Renaissance Humanism became increasingly concerned with the self and the fashioning of the self. In Il Cortegiano (The Courtier), published in 1528, Conte Baldassare Castiglione's ideal courtier is an exponent of the latter. The education or the self-fashioning of the courtier involves almost everything under the sun. Therefore, as the courtier must learn the proper skills of war, he must also learn how to love. Love, the deportment of the courtier towards court-ladies, keeps recurring in the conversation in the court at Urbino during the discourses of all four nights and the many controversies generated by Gaspar Pallavicino, Lord Julian, and Bernard Bibiena all involve love and culminate ultimately in Pietro Bembo's inspired Platonic exposition. Here, however, are a few problems.

Pollution and the Environment Essays -- Environmental

Pollution and the Environment Pollution occurs when harmful substances or products are introduced into the environment. It is a major problem in America, as well as the rest of the world. Pollution damages the environment and does harm to humans and other animals. It creates many problems, from lung cancer to the greenhouse effect. Oblivious to the damage they cause, rednecks continue to throw trash out of the window instead of walking two feet to a garbage can. The laziness of these types of people creates problems for the entire planet. People must realize that something needs to change. Why does our world continue to become more polluted year after year?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Obviously, most pollution comes from automobiles. The most famous pollutant from cars is the exhaust. The fumes given off as a byproduct of the engine slowly damage our lungs and the atmosphere. The exhaust is also toxic to human beings. Cars produce a large amount of noise pollution as well as a large amount of heat. Despite all the damage caused by cars, no significant progress has been made to change their destructiveness. People call the car ‘‘progress’’: an improvement on our daily lives. However, making a sport out of destroying the environment as NASCAR does cannot be justified as progress.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another major source of waste is garbage. Americans throw away millions of tons of garbage each year. There are projects underway to clean and reuse this trash, but most of it ends up in huge landfills. ...

Angry Men

Although the movie has a well written plot and moral, it is very tedious and uneventful because of its setting, situation, and pace. In a Jury room with twelve men with ranging personalities, eleven men want the Jury to be over as soon as possible so that they can continue on with their lives. The protagonist, Juror 8, sets out to change the presumed idea that the boy Is culpable and forces the careless eleven Jurors to discuss the evidence.All twelve men have their own situation and knowledge that ties in with evidences, and numerous hours have been spent for the helve angry Jurors to finally agree that the boy Is not guilty. The entire film, having a running time of 96 minutes, took over one continuous period of time and in one place, the Jury room, which made It uneventful and dull. The movie was also extremely slow. Even though the twelve characters of the film intensely fought for and against their opinion, the result was predictable.The moral of the film, that the society Is li ke a flock of sheep, Is agreeable to the general public today. The movie says a lot about human nature and character. Each of the twelve Jurors Is forced to make Individual decisions, stating their own rationale and prompt thoughts, Instead of Individuals being dominated by various people In a group. When each juror slowly changes his mind, others followed, one after another.This demonstrates that the society Is Like a flock of sheep, where people are too easily Influenced or led to following others In the flock. In other words, It shows that even the smallest things can affect our decisions (one against many). Also, even If this film might have been popular at the time It was released, (having an overall rate of 9 out of 10, also awarded and nominated for numerous awards) It Is too dated to be popular today. Movie genres such as action and science fiction are becoming favored today, as opposed to classic movies In the past.In my pollen, despite the well written plot and moral, the film was still tedious and uneventful because of Its setting, situation, and pace. The pace of the movie Is very slow, also taking place In one continuous location. Although It Is time consuming, 12 Angry Men rigorously sets out to solve the conflict ND clearly points out whether the boy who killed his father Is guilty or not. The moral of the story, that society Is Like a flock of sheep, expresses how society Is appears. 2 Angry Men By Yemeni out to change the presumed idea that the boy is culpable and forces the careless twelve angry Jurors to finally agree that the boy is not guilty. Of time and in one place, the Jury room, which made it uneventful and dull. The of the film, that the society is like a flock of sheep, is agreeable to the general public The movie says a lot about human nature and character. Each of the twelve Jurors is forced to make individual decisions, stating their own rationale and prompt thoughts, instead of individuals being dominated by various people in a group.When each that the society is like a flock of sheep, where people are too easily influenced or led to following others in the flock. In other words, it shows that even the smallest things can affect our decisions (one against many). Also, even if this film might have been popular at the time it was released, (having an overall rate of 9 out of 10, also warded and nominated for numerous awards) it is too dated to be popular today. Opposed to classic movies in the past.In my opinion, despite the well written plot and moral, the film was still tedious and uneventful because of its setting, situation, and pace. The pace of the movie is very slow, also taking place in one continuous location. Although it is time consuming, 12 Angry Men rigorously sets out to solve the conflict and clearly points out whether the boy who killed his father is guilty or not. The moral of the story, that society is like a flock of sheep, expresses how society is Angry men I believe in the beginning the 2 main Jurors who were basing their decisions on prejudice were mainly Jurors #3 and #10. Juror #3 more based on prejudices of young men, particularly because he had such a horrendous relationship with his own son, I feel like this case really hit him close to home and really affected him In a personal way. I believe he let his feelings got In the way of his logical thinking and was practically projecting the anger he had towards his son towards the young men on trial, who had been accused of a horrible crime against his father.Juror #10 was more prejudice of the young suspects race, making statements like; â€Å"You know how they are,† and â€Å"They're all the same, all born liars†. I guess In a way he could have been using reverse discrimination because he wasn't at all prejudice about the Individual or what the witnesses said during their testimonies. But I really don't believe that Juror #8 was using reverse discrimination but was pos sibly more interested and paid more attention to the small details of the case then the other jurors.He simply brought up other points that some of the other jurors didn't catch ND just couldn't think of until brought up by Juror #8. I don't think it should have been a hung jury because it's not like all of the Jurors made a decision and stuck to it, people were changing their votes, slowly but surely, therefore I don't think it should have been a hung jury. Some of the persuasive pieces of evidence are first and foremost the knife, the witness saying it was a rare knife that was one of a kind, and juror #8 went out and proved that.Another piece of evidence was the blueprint of the other man's apartment, which pretty much proved the older gentlemen would eave been able to go out and check everything he said he did. Juror # 1 aka the foreman was a pretty good leader and kept the Jury organized and as focused as possible when things got a bit too out of hand. Juror #2 was more of a sh y individual who would voice his opinion whenever he needed too. Juror #3 was a bit out spoken and was a very angry and very easily excitable person. Juror #4 was more of a quiet but confident person, and had a very serious demeanor.Juror #5 was a man who said he was from the slums but he spoke when he felt attacked or when he felt something regulatory was said about the young man on trial based on where he was raised. Juror #6 was a very respectful man, who stood up for the elderly man when he felt people were trying to intimidate the older gentlemen. Juror #7 seems Like he TLD really care about the case but more worried about the ball game which he had tickets for. Juror #8 was the one who pretty much stood up against the rest of the Jurors based on his thoughts and beliefs. He stood up for the boy when everyone else thought he was guilty.It took a lot of courage to not only stand up against what everyone else was saying, but also to sway the vote of the Jury In the opposite direc tion. Juror #9 was the older gentleman, who was fairly quiet except for when he really wanted to get his opinion in. Juror #10 was a more racist individual and really didn't like the young man on trial from the get go, saying he was â€Å"one of them† and lust basing his vote on his dislike of â€Å"them†. I don't really recall too much or juror remember that Juror #12 was a marketing agent and he seemed rather distracted from the case.I don't really feel like any of them have my style of communication, and oneself I don't even feel like it would be close to any of them. But since I had to pick one I would more than likely say Juror #8 Just because I feel like I am pretty good and looking at the small details and usually pretty good at persuading people. Answering this question is tough, especially since I literally didn't see any part of the case. If I was on the Jury I would have probably voted along with every other of the Jurors because it seems like to me the defe nse team didn't do a good Job in this case.But I loud have probably been persuaded along with the rest of them as Juror #8 would have pointed out facts that the defense wasn't able to point out. In a case like this I believe having a more than amazing defense team is way more important than if your truly guilty or not. A great defense attorney wouldn't have let any of the Jurors go into the Jury room thinking that boy had committed any type of crime, and if they thought he committed a crime right from the get go, a good defense team would have put a doubt into their mind, and make them rethink those guilty thoughts.

“Nineteen Eighty-Four” by George Orwell Essay

â€Å"Nineteen Eighty-Four† is George Orwell’s unswervingly grim vision of a dystopian future. The author always intended it as more warning than prophecy, so that even though its title date has passed, its lessons about the dangers of conformity, mental coercion, and verbal deception retain their validity and relevance. The novel depicts a world divided into three totalitarian superpowers that are constantly at war with one another: Oceania, dominated by the former United States; Eurasia, dominated by Western Europe; and Eastasia, dominated by China and Japan. Since the novel belongs to the genre of the dystopia, a negative Utopia, much of its content is necessarily involved in describing Oceanian society—not only in the features of its everyday life, much of which reflects British life in 1948 (a year whose inverted numbers may have suggested the novel’s title), but also in detailed explanations of the historical origins of Ingsoc and Oceania, as well as its official language, Newspeak. Discussion A key ingredient in this chilling documentation of eroding human freedom is its depiction of a corrupted language, â€Å"Newspeak,† Orwell’s brilliant rendering of that degraded language of politicians and sophists which hides rather then reveals truth. (Orwell, 19) Orwell, rather clumsily in the view of some critics, gives much of this information in the form of a book-within-a-book, the supposed handbook of the revolutionaries, and an appendix to the novel itself about Newspeak. The purpose of Newspeak was to drastically reduce the number of words in the English language in order to eliminate ideas that were deemed dangerous and, most importantly, seditious to the totalitarian dictator, Big Brother and the Party. â€Å"Thought crime,† the mere act of thinking about ideas like Freedom or Revolution, was punishable by torture and brainwashing. Newspeak was the sinister answer. A character in 1984 describes it succinctly: â€Å"Do not you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end, we shall make thought crime literally impossible because there will be no words in which to express it. The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact, there will be no thought as we understand it now. † Is our real world today, at the beginning of the new millennium, so very different on a fundamental level from what Orwell predicted? There have been countless refutations of the 1984 dystopia: Totalitarianism is on the wane, Communism is dead, there is more prosperity, more community, more freedom than ever before. (Orwell, 37) Arguably, on a geo-political level, the global information economy has promoted the causes of peace and freedom, preventing potentially worse atrocities and repression in hotspots such as China and the Balkans. The bottom line is: you have no freedom, no power, you feel no need or desire for freedom or power, and, what’s worse you do not even know that you do not have it. Analysis Critics of every aspect along the political spectrum, no matter what their views about the validity of Orwell’s social analysis in â€Å"Nineteen Eighty-Four†, agree on one thing: Considered politically and historically, â€Å"Nineteen Eighty-Four† is one of the most important books of the twentieth century. The bleakness of its vision of a totalitarian society became a profound warning, and Orwell’s accuracy was attested by dissidents in Eastern Europe and Russia both before and after the dissolution of the Soviet empire; Orwell, said a Russian philosopher, â€Å"understood the soul, or soullessness† of Soviet life. Not only did the words â€Å"Newspeak† and â€Å"doublethink† enter the English language but Russians refer to the Novoyaz of Communist Party language. (Orwell, 67) Some critics have pointed out that another layer of meaning exists within the novel. They connect Orwell’s dissection of Oceanian society to his portrayal of his depressing and unhappy preparatory school days, which he discussed in his essay â€Å"Such, Such Were the Joys† (1952). Young English boys were removed from the warmth and security of their families, mini-societies governed by love and respect, and hurled into a world dominated by fear, repression, and an all-pervading sense of guilt. There, Orwell was imprisoned â€Å"not only in a hostile world but in a world of good and evil where the rules were such that it was actually not possible for me to keep them. † In such a society, rebellion or even dissent becomes almost impossible, and even personal relationships are viewed with hostility and suspicion by the ruling â€Å"class,† that is, the masters and proprietors of the school. (Orwell, 81) Conclusion As a true anti-utopian novel, one in which the horrors of totalitarianism are amply illustrated, â€Å"Nineteen Eighty-Four† serves as a poignant reminder of the preciousness of free thought and an open society and whatever the author has predicted in this novel has one way or the other turned out to be true. Works Cited Orwell, George (1949). â€Å"Nineteen Eighty-Four†. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co. pg 15-129.