Equal Opportunities in Education Essay

Education is a key of success.No human begins are able to survive properly without education,especially when living in this era.Education tells men how to think,work and make a proper decision.Therefore girls should have be given the same education as boys. Olden people like to differentiate between girls and boys.They assumption that boys should give extra education, because in the future, boys will become the head of the family and need to provide money to their family.while for girls they should just stay at home and give an education about getting ready to marriage. This are wrong.In my personal opinion,girls should have the opportunity to excel in studies too.they should be allowed to pursue their own interests.Giving this opportunity will allow them to be more independent.Moreover,with this opportunity will allow the girls to support their family to have a better standard of living. Being a soul bread winner is not easy,especially when living in a development countries like Sin gapore. We need a partner to support you in order to improve or have a better standard of living. This can only help if the partner have the education. Hence, this had already support the statement that girls should be given akin education as boys. Nowadays, Girls had improved a lot in term of studies.i can see many successful faces from the women side.As an example,in my classroom the Notable ones will always come from the girls. There are faces from the boys,but what i am trying to say that girls can also study and excel in education.Girls are more perfectionist and more careful towards work,and i believe that girls can do more better than boys.Girls can study everything that boys are studying. All human are born equal.God gives everyone brain,and there are no different between girls and boys brain.It is just a different how they socialized.God gives a similar brain to each of everyone of us. There are no pretext that girls should not get the same education as boys. Detractors will argue that girls and boys are different. girls should not have be given exactly the same type of education as boys.boys should work and therefore they need to be more educated. While for girls they need to take care of their children and family.It is a waste of time giving them the same knowledge as boys. Hence,they should not get the same knowledge as boys. Yes,this is true.men are responsible to find an income for the family,the y need the education to find an income.But without giving the same education to the  girls how can they teach their children in the future. Therefore, they need the knowledge too.Moreover,before their marriage they need to work and find their own income. they need the education for them to go out and work. Hence,i strongly agree that girls and boys should be given exactly the same type of education.Without education people cannot read,write and even communicate to others.Therefore,education is important to everyone,regardless of genders.

Psychology Behind Sex, Porn And Intimacy Essay

If I may ask, does your boyfriend or husband love to watch porn? Does his behavior affect your sex life in whichever way? Several studies have indicated that quite a good number of men watch pornographic videos for one reason or the other (Bowring, 2005). Several women who attend psychotherapy sessions have been complaining about their partners watching porn, which has led to a change in their habits and demands. Most of the women reported that their partners have lowered libido and others have lost interest in sex and intimacy. However, the reports have not been one-sided, as some couples still manage to enjoy marriage even though the husband loves to watch pornographic videos. On their side, men who watch porn have a reason for doing so as they say watching porn is harmless but rather resourceful. In his, book â€Å"Watching Sex: How do men really respond to pornography,† David shares that some of the reasons men watch porn movies include curiosity, play of fantasy, pleasure of surrender, among others. There are a few problems associated with watching porn videos, issues which threaten to derail or tear apart the noble institution of marriage. Men who are avid lovers of porn have been reported to be less intimate during sex. When they are supposed to caress their partners or do foreplay prior to making love, they fail to do so. The resultant effect is non-gratifying sexual intercourse. Their mindset is that the woman is needs little stimulation to get aroused, a common feature with most porn movies. The second problem that men suffer from is fixation. According to Mark Bnschick, M.D in The Intelligent Divorce project, when men watch porn for so long, they form an idealized image of a perfect woman with a curvy body shape, looking sexy, stunning and random . When having sex, they derive gratification not directly from the act of doing it with their partner but by creating a mental picture of an ideal woman in terms of body shape, beauty, etc. These kind of people may even start to r esort to self-pleasuring because they never find the act of sex to be fully gratifying. When such things start to happen, the women in subject will start to feel betrayed, having self-esteem issues as well as self-questioning such as wondering whether they never satisfy their partners’ or spouses’ sexual needs (Bowring, 2005). To make the matters even worse, claims are that regular watching of porn have made men more less like rapists who are clumsy in bed, without any sense of  intimacy or attachment (Gallop, 2011). This kind of behavior is propagated by porn movies since the porn stars behave in a clumsy and commanding way. They take a dominating role during the whole process of sex or love making. The more the men watch these videos, they more they idolize the male porn stars, slowly incorporating that personality into themselves and finally into their love making moments. In his book, â€Å"The Centrefold Syndrome,† David points out that porn changes how men think. Porn stars are attractive, sexy, good looking and some have curvy body shapes. The more men watch these videos, the more they develop an urge to have a quick and thrilling sexual encounter with virtually every woman who fits the billing of a porn star. On the other hand, Journal of Applied Social Psychology observes that people, who watched porn regularly reported less sexual satisfaction, coupled with a view that their partners lack good physical appearance and have poor sexual performance. Furthermore, another study published in the â€Å"Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy,† indicates that men who watched porn videos find other people less attractive. The real image is masked by an idealized image. In his blog Good in Bed, Dr. Kemer says, â€Å"More and more women are complaining about guys who can no longer reach orgasm during sex, or seem distracted during sex†¦.† Apart from the effects of watching porn outlined above, let us now look at other factors such as oxytoxin, endorphins, hugging, cuddling and kissing along with how porn affect these vital elements needed for a satisfying relationship. Oxytoxin, commonly branded â€Å"the love hormone† plays a key role in bonding. This hormone promotes a feeli ng of warmth and attachment between two people (Banschick, 2014). On the other endorphins promotes a feel-good sensation. During sex, women secret more oxytoxin as compared to their male counterparts. This explains why women yearn for attachment and closeness after sex such as holding each other tightly, cuddling passionately, or even talking in low tones. For a woman, foreplay and arousal are as important as is sex, and are the prerequisites for intimate and orgasmic sex. Women find it so gratifying and pleasurable when a man caresses her without gently, look deeply into her eyes, whisper romantic words into her ears, play with her hair, caress he face and gently touching her ears. When these are done, they lead to the production of more endorphins and oxytoxins for bonding and a feel-good sensation. Nevertheless, take a moment and think about this, do porn actors even take  time to caress, hug and cuddle? Does oxytoxin get enough time to be secreted in abundance for bonding? The answer is NO! This is exactly where the problem starts with men ad dicted to watching porn videos. They rarely take their time to arouse their partners. They take a very short time before engaging in sexual intercourse even before their partner is ready. This leads to inability to reach a climax as well as a cause for unsatisfying sex life (Streufert, 1987). The second aspect is kissing. Kissing and intimacy are like the head and tail of a coin; irreplaceable. You cannot kiss if you are not intimate, and a good sign of intimacy is deep kissing. These two aspects are what make couples or partners to have an intimate sex and relationship. If I may ask, have you known why sex workers refrain from kissing their clients? Due to its tender, close and developing nature, kissing can turn out to be too intimate to the extent that the sex workers can find themselves falling in love (Alexander, 2011). This is why they avoid kissing at all costs, or if they do, it is only light kissing and not deep kissing. According to Sheila Gregoire, a psychotherapist, the more a man watches porn, the more the mode of gratification changes to solely stimulation, gradually excluding kissing and cuddling. I now bet you can clearly see why sex and intimacy may never be the real deal for your relationship. Men you should be careful! References Alexander, L. (2011). Putas of the Caribbean Prostitutes of the Caribbean.. Phillipsburg: AuthorHouse. Bowring, L. (2005). Searching for intimacy: pornography, the internet and the XXX factor. Milton Keynes: Authentic Media. Gallop, C. (2011). Make Love Not Porn: Technology’s Hardcore Impact on Human Behavior. New York: TED Books. Ley, D. J. (2009). Insatiable wives: women who stray and the men who love them. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield. (2013). Pornography. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 37(6), 12-17. Sex, Porn, and the Challenge of Intimacy. (n.d.). Psychology Today: Health, Help, Happiness + Find a Therapist. Retrieved April 21, 2014, from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-intelligent-divorce/201403/sex-porn-and-the-challenge-intimacy Streufert, S. (1987). Applied Social Psychology. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 17(7), 605-608. Why Husbands Lose

Candide and Free Will

Voltaire's Candide is a novel that is interspersed with superficial characters and conceptual ideas that are critically exaggerated and satirized. The parody offers cynical themes disguised by mockeries and witticism, and the story itself presents a distinctive outlook on life narrowed to the concept of free will as opposed to blind faith driven by desire for an optimistic outcome. The crucial contrast in the story deals with irrational ideas as taught to Candide about being optimistic by Pangloss, his cheerful mentor, versus reality as viewed by the rest of the world through the eyes of the troubled character, Martin.This raises the question of whether or not the notion of free will is valid due to Candide’s peculiar timing of his expression for it. Some readers might think that Voltaire's novel Candide suggests that belief in free will is absurd. However, a close reading of the text suggests that Voltaire does not deny free will altogether. Candide is in complete control of his actions and ideas during times when an agreeable reality poses not to be enough, which explores Voltaire’s message that true reality is the ability to identify the deficiency of human conventions.Candide’s journey to attain the balance between submitting his will completely to the opinions and actions of others and taking control of his own life through blind faith highlights the notion of free will throughout Voltaire’s novel. Throughout the novel, Voltaire represents mankind as being consumed by immediate personal problems. When the characters of Candide virtually have no troubles or dilemmas, Voltaire illustrates how they do not express their happiness and contentment for it, but rather portray their feelings of boredom and a desire to involve themselves within the complex social constructs of the world.In chapter eighteen when Candide and his valet Cacambo enter the glorious city of El Dorado, Candide expresses the city’s extravagance and how it i s incomparable to any other, even when compared to his overvalued Westphalia. Voltaire described â€Å"the public edifices raised as high as the clouds, the market places ornamented with a thousand columns, the fountains of spring water†¦which were paved with a kind of precious stone which gave off a delicious fragrancy like that of cloves and cinnamon† (45) to illustrate the decadence of El Dorado, and how it was virtually a utopia that no man could resist.However, Candide held enough free will within himself by opting to leave the splendor in order to â€Å"recover Miss Cunegonde† (46). This event solidifies some readers’ opinions that belief in free will is absurd, for Candide uses it for irrational and perverse means by hoping for a finer future. El Dorado serves as a symbol to Candide that there is more the world has to offer after having been taught that he was already living in the best of all possible worlds while in Westphalia.The fact that he came across such magnificence paradoxically influenced his choice to leave since he thought he could find better than El Dorado, which demonstrates the faults of human conventions about how Candide could not distinguish between true and optimistic realities when he already had quite possibly the best world right in front of him. Once again, this substantiates readers’ ideas that free will is outlandish and nonsensical. â€Å"If we abide here we shall only be upon a footing with the rest, whereas, if we return to our old world†¦we shall be richer than all the kings in Europe† (46).He is not aware of the ramifications of his actions, of his professed free will, and believes that only good things will come to him as a result of his foolish autonomy. Voltaire presents the characters as having emotional lives that shift between worries and boredom with almost no periods of prolonged happiness. Pangloss’ influence instructs Candide to submit to blind faith that the o utcome of all will be well, and that all events happen for a reason. â€Å"It is demonstrable that things cannot be otherwise than as they are; for all being created for an end, all is necessarily for the best end† (1).Under these assumptions Candide says, â€Å"There can be no effect without a cause [†¦] The whole is necessarily concatenated and arranged for the best† (6). This philosophy that everything is fated to be good omits the validity of free will that Candide later claims to have since he is man and therefore above the animal world, because no matter what man does in part to shape the entirety of his future, Candide was taught that the outcome is predestined to yield an optimistic and hopeful reality. The belief that everything happens for a reason and where the reason is good is incompatible with the act of free will.Therefore, any efforts of free will are futile because they cannot change the predetermined outcome, making its concept essentially nonexi stent. This logical cycle strengthens and endorses readers’ ideas that free will is incongruous with faith. Candide is a naive character that is in complete control of his ideas and actions despite the influence from others. In chapter two when he is captured by Bulgarians and given the choice between death and running the gauntlet, he groundlessly uses his free will to receive an intense degree of torture and anguish. He was asked which he would like the best, to be whipped six-and-thirty times through all the regiment, or to receive at once twelve balls of lead in his brain. He vainly said that human will is free, and that he chose neither the one nor the other† (4). Candide tries to argue that having free will meant not having to choose, because being a human retaining that free will meant he had the choice not to make a choice. However, his attempts are thwarted when he is forced to make a decision for his fate, where â€Å"he determined, in virtue of that gift of God called liberty, to run the gauntlet six-and-thirty times. He bore this twice† (4).During a time when death clearly presented itself as the unusual superior choice, Candide foolishly picked the lesser of the two options. By choosing â€Å"four thousand strokes, which laid bare all his muscles and nerves, from the nape of his neck quite down to his rump† (4), Voltaire proves to readers that having free will is an absurd notion. He reinforces readers’ ideas that preserving belief for free will only leads to self-destruction due to Candide’s imprudent use and inappropriate application of it. Voltaire’s Martin provides a slightly more realistic albeit largely negative slant of the world that readers can more easily identify with.Martin says that the world has been formed â€Å"to plague us to death† and that â€Å"it is a chaos – a confused multitude, where everybody seeks pleasure and scarcely any one finds it† (54-55). In chapt er 21, Candide asks Martin if he believes â€Å"that men have always massacred each other as they do to-day, that they have always been liars, cheats, traitors, ingrates, brigands, idiots, thieves, scoundrels, gluttons, drunkards, misers, envious, ambitious, bloody-minded, calumniators, debauches, fanatics, hypocrites, and fools† (55).Martin is deeply struck with pessimism, feeling the world is doomed to evil and destruction, and responds with a valid question as an answer: â€Å"Do you believe hawks have always eaten pigeons when they have found them? † (55) Martin’s insight to the fixed cycle of nature demonstrates how he perceives man’s nature to be just like one of beasts. Candide firmly counters and says â€Å"there is a vast deal of difference, for free will† (55) Candide, though easily influenced, senses that there is something more which exists between the contrasting worlds that both Pangloss and Martin have presented to him, which is free will.However, this claim is inconsistent with his belief that blind faith is the key to an optimistic reality, because once again, faith and free will are concepts that counteract and negate each other. At this point, readers’ opinions that free will is a meaningless and hollow notion is underpinned because of the fact that it is the only aspect that Candide cares to explore as the sole difference between man and animal that ultimately proves to be insignificant since man does not use it wisely or properly.In chapter two, Voltaire describes how â€Å"it was a privilege of the human as well as the animal species to make use of their legs as they pleased† to justify going for a walk (4). Here, Candide states that animals in fact have their own will to walk, which contradicts what he says to Martin in chapter 21on the discussion about what differentiates man from animal. Throughout Voltaire’s satirical novel Candide, readers are exposed to the two major themes reg arding fate and free will, and how each belief is exemplified through various hollow characters such as Pangloss, Candide, and Martin.Candide frequently wavers between the two beliefs, and Voltaire ultimately comes to the conclusion that people have free will and must shape their own future based on their actions in the present rather than pursuing the idea that blind faith driven by desire will lead to optimistic results. In the end, Candide achieves equilibrium by accepting that he must exist between spiritual devotion and unpredictability through free will, when he says, â€Å"we must cultivate our garden,† as Voltaire famously declares in the ultimate chapter (87).This seemingly superficial parody engages the reader and makes them reflect about whether or not free will is actually free will and what aspect of Candide is in control of it. Readers perceive how human nature is incapable of constant happiness because of how desire handicaps free will, and are ultimately made aware of how Candide must create his own reality based on action rather than blind faith.

Ardipithecus Ramidus and Its Relationship to Humans and Chimpanzees Term Paper

Ardipithecus Ramidus and Its Relationship to Humans and Chimpanzees - Term Paper Example The hominoid gap is the first and is said to date back to approximately 22-32 million years ago. This is the period that the human and ape ancestors were diverging from the monkeys’ evolution path. The other gap is the hominid gap and is estimated to date back to about 4.5 to 14 million years ago. It is believed that during this period, the human ancestors and extant ape ancestors separated from a common evolution path. Hominids refer to the human ancestors after the divergence from the last common ancestor with extant apes. Recently, fossil evidence bridging the hominid gap was discovered in 1992 in Aramis, Northern Ethiopia by a group of researchers. The discovery of Ardipithecus ramidus changes the initial belief that the common ancestor between man and extant apes looked more like a chimpanzee. The characteristics of the Ardipithecus ramidus are more similar to those of humans and therefore, the extant apes must have developed their traits after their evolution path and th at of humans separated. This discussion explores the Ardipithecus ramidus’ relationship to Chimpanzees and humans. Ardipithecus Ramidus Ardipithecus ramidus is believed to be 4.4 million years old and its discovery has changed the belief that human beings evolved from chimpanzees. Ardipithecus ramidus walked upright like humans and had a big toe for holding trees like apes. Before the discovery of Ardipithecus ramidus, the oldest early human skeleton was that of Australopithecus afarensis, also known as Lucy. Lucy is believed to be 3.2 million years old. Australopithecus afarensis was also discovered in Ethiopia and had many common characteristics with human beings. Therefore, the earlier ancestry between humans and apes was missing. The first specimen of Ardipithecus ramidus was discovered in 1992. The fossils were found in sediment layers which are approximately 4.4 million years old. The skull, arms feet, pelvis, and teeth were later discovered. The features of Ardipithecu s ramidus such as lack of ape-like canines show that she was not an ancestor of modern chimpanzees (White et al., 2009). Studies of evolution have been trying to determine the reason for the distinctiveness of human beings in terms of being bipedal, having high intellectual and technological capabilities, and other traits that distinguish them from extant apes. Before the discovery of Ardipithecus ramidus fossils, the evolution of humans was based on the characteristics of African apes. It was believed that these unique abilities that humans possess evolved from the modification of the traits of chimpanzees and bonobos, which are the closest human relatives. Human behavior was viewed as a modification of the chimpanzees’ characteristics such as the dominance of males, hunting, culture, upright feeding posture, among others (Harrison, 2010). The discovery of Ardipithecus ramidus sheds light into the period of hominid development after splitting from the common ancestor with ap es. Before Ardipithecus ramidus was discovered, scientists believed that the last common ancestor looked more like a chimpanzee than humans. They believed that the modern apes got many of their traits from this ancestor, such as walking on knuckles and hanging and swinging on trees. Characteristics of apes such as short backs, limbs, and pelvis which are appropriate for walking on knuckles and arms for swinging and hanging on trees were believed to have originated from the last common ancestor. It was believed that after the split, the human ancestors dropped the characteristics of the common ancestor such as sharp canines and walking on knuckles while the ancestors of the chimpanzees retained them up to the present. However, these beliefs are refuted by Ardipithecus

Sam 386 assig 4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Sam 386 assig 4 - Assignment Example The benefits consider the list of resources that are available to the participant of the athletics program. For Laser high school, there exist nine areas of benefit, which includes the equipment and supplies, scheduling of the practice time, per diem, coaching, locker rooms, medical services, publicity, tutoring, and support services. The equipment and supplies include the apparel, instructional devices, specific supplies and equipment, and apparel and uniform. Therefore, during the visit uniforms such as travel bags, shoes, and warm up were examined to ensure that the female and male participants have comparable attires. Most schools preferred the rotation based on some number of years. For instance, in the first year the basketball uniform for boys and girls were bought. In the second year, soccer attires were bought, in the third year softball and baseball attires were bought, in the fourth year tracks for the volleyballs and cross-country was bought. During the fifth year, the cycle started all over again. In Laser, a crucial aspect for the component was the policy on the basketball team of the girls that compete on the prime date. The policy of the high school is that every year, the basketball teams of the girls must need to schedule forty percent of the regular season contests during the prime date. The percentage of girls was necessary irrespective of the home game for boys. The percentage for the prime date was calculated by dividing the number of home matches on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday by the number of home matches scheduled (Carpenter, 2000). The program component involved the mode of transport, distance travelled, lodging, and meal that are offered for the teams. Specifically, the factors that were important include the means of transport; bus versus van, school bus versus the luxury charter, clinic and camps, arrangement of meals from booster group or restaurant, and the

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing - Essay Example There are various reasons, which lead to the effective marketing of certain brands than others in the same market. This paper looks at the reasons, which make certain companies such as Unilever, and Good Foods brands gain market dominance quickly than other brands such as Nike and Adidas. One main reason why companies gain market dominance quickly than other brands is the capital invested in the company. This is because these companies have enough capital obtainable to pay for set-up costs and any preliminary losses. These companies’ gains these funds from two main sources. This are from other departments of the company, such as Unilever getting the finance to fund its tea processing from the soap-manufacturing department, or in the other countries where the company has invested, such as a Unilever brand operating in the US borrowing money from a Unilever brand operating in UK. The first strategy of borrowing from a different department is known as diversification process and is usually associated with big companies. The second strategy is known as globalization of markets which results from pressures from competing companies in the same market. ... een in history whereby the legislature enact laws which is a political strategy to develop the national economies that has provided critical protection and support to by creating barriers of entry into the market. Examples of political strategies used are the formation of many licenses, which a company has to fulfill in order to be allowed to operate in a given country. Moreover, some countries create barriers of entry in increasing the tax payable to the government by a foreign company. For instance, in Kenya, a company has to pay a tax of 30% of its total earnings in order to be allowed to operate in that country (Creamer & Neil, 2008, p.8). Furthermore, these companies benefit from excess demands, which surpass their supply. Unilever Company and Good Foods Companies deal with highly perishable goods and which are necessities. These goods enable the company to have regular demand since, for people to live they have to have the necessity as compared to the luxury goods produced by N ike and Adidas. The regular demand enables the company to have a high profit level allowing them to expand. Consequently, this company uses this profit to form a good base by investing in newer markets and developing brands, which will in turn make profit for them (Creamer, 2008, p.5). To buy a product from Nike and Adidas companies, a customer has to spend a lot of money as compared to buying a product from other sporting brands such as Puma and Umbro. By raising their products prices, these companies’ makes mistakes by becoming complacent thus allowing other big firms to develop and therefore undermine their position in the market. In addition, they allow other smaller companies such as Legea, to expand and therefore increase the competition (Hall & Mark, 2000, p.5). Besides, companies

Arabic students overseas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Arabic students overseas - Essay Example Indeed, the aforementioned countries have become the melting pot of cultures because of the lifestyle they offer which most people desire to have. For students, studying in one of these countries would mean better job opportunities either in the country of their choice or their own country. Nevertheless, along with the dream of pursuing one’s education in America or the United Kingdom are the challenges which could be truly difficult especially for Arabian students. The problems of communicating in English, having numerous written assignments, meeting new people, cultural differences, food preferences and homesickness are common among international students but there are solutions that could possibly help students to cope with their new environments. The first challenge that Arabian students face is communication barrier. Since English is not their native language, grammar mistakes, word use and sentence constructions which may come so easy with American and British students can prove to be a difficult job for an Arabian student. Struggling to speak in the English language oftentimes makes students ashamed or afraid to speak up their thoughts. In school, they may have difficulty explaining what they have in mind. During recitations, they may have wonderful ideas but their lack of English communication skills makes them incomprehensible and sometimes, they can be misinterpreted. In addition, they can also find it challenging to approach school authorities regarding their concerns because they may fear that their issues will not be resolved and that they will be exposed to humiliating circumstances. In communicating with their fellow students, the Arabian students may feel intimidated and therefore choose to keep to themselves ins tead and try to understand their lessons or other things on their own. However, of course, this often results to misunderstanding and further problems. Aside from having problems being understood, there is also the problem of

Case studies 1 & 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Case studies 1 & 2 - Essay Example However the company is faced with the ethical issue of being environment conscious and pro-green operations while having to dump the sewer waste in the Chavon River. This poses as a major issue for the company. Legally there exist no laws that the company would be breaking if it decides to continue on the suggestion provided by Teltec and dump its sewer waste in the Chavon River. However the increasing interest in environment protection including protecting Earth's water resources can lead to a law suit in the future by the Dominican Republic or the community living near the river against the company for dumping its waste in the Chavon River. Moreover consumer action groups can take action against the company for not upholding its social corporate responsibility by polluting its regions of operation in Dominican with the dumping of sewer waste in the Chavon River. In Economic terms the company would be better off dumping its waste in the river as the company would not have to deal with the extensive costs of setting up a treatment plant, and treating the waste before it gets dumped into the river. In the short term this is going to be economically feasible and profitable for the company. However with the passage of time the amount of pollution being driven into the river is going to increase while increasing the pollution levels and concentration as well. At this position it would not be economically suitable or viable for the company to continue dumping untreated sewage into the river as counter lawsuits and legal action can raise fines for the company that would have to be met and alternatives to dumping would have to be developed at additional costs. From the ethical perspective the issue that the Clean Power Company would be facing pertains to the ethical dilemma of not acting upon ones own vision and strategy for business. The company manufactures energy efficient products with the vision of increasing awareness amongst the consumers for environment sustainability while still earning profits form the sale of the energy regulators. However with the practice of dumping the sewerage and the waste directly into the river the company would be not acting on its own beliefs leading to tarnished image for the company. The company is also philanthropic in the manner it wants to develop the local region of operations in the Dominican Republic by building infrastructure to provide support to the local community while establishing programs for their education and development. However if the company takes to dumping sewerage and waste directly into the river, it would create a contradiction of ideology as the action would lead to the pollut ing of the regional environment that goes against the philanthropic viewpoint and perspective of the company. Question B: Stakeholder Management - Write a minimum of 2 pages in APA format addressing the questions below regarding the following stakeholders: the

SEN Autism and Learning Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

SEN Autism and Learning - Literature review Example The exact cause of Autism remains unknown, and is still under the purview of various ongoing scientific researches. From the previous researches conducted by different scientists there are suggestions that Autism may result from genetic mutations within the human body, but there are no clarifications, as of yet, whether this condition results from rare genetic mutations, or from the rare combinations of commonly occurring gene variants (Abrahams and Geschwind, 2008, 345).    There are also other researches that suggest that Autism may be caused by certain environmental  factors, like pesticides, vaccinations in children, and heavy metals  (Rutter, 2005); though the hypothesis in children’s vaccines has been strongly contended by other researchers, owing to a complete lack of any supporting  scientific material (Gerber and Offit, 2009, 256-261). Kestenbaum (2008), in his research papers suggested that Autism can be observed in a child even before he is 3 years of age, t hough the American Psychiatric Association (2000) states that the external manifestations of Autism during infancy, especially during the child’ first two years, are very subtle and almost esoteric in nature, thus making it extremely difficult to delineate and diagnose the disorder. Autism can be identified by certain clinically characteristics that can be broadly defined as â€Å"deficits in reciprocal social behaviour,  with accompanying delays in the development of language, and  by the emergence of stereotypic patterns of odd behaviour...that reflects a restricted range of interests. Reciprocal  social behaviour refers to the extent to which a child engages  in...social interaction with  others† (Constantino and Todd, 2000, 2043).... This essay approves that from a study of its symptoms and characteristics of the disorder, it is now quite evident that the diagnoses of Autism would be more behaviour based, and not dependent on the mechanism or cause of the disorder. The two most commonly used diagnoses tests for Autism are the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised which as a form of semi-structured parent interview; and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule for observing and interacting with a child, in order to understand the nature of his impairments. This report makes a conclusion that autism is a form of developmental disorder that can be diagnosed as early as in a three year old child. However, one must take care that once a child is diagnosed as Autistic, the parents must go in for early intervention, so that the available support systems be started as early as possible, in order to give the child the maximum benefit as regards assistance in acquiring skills necessary for self-care, and social interactions which would help the child to integrate better into the society as he grows up. Counsellors working with autistic children should approach the child with a broader perspective, and include other service providers like psychiatrists, teachers, and other experts in the medical field. The teachers, within an inclusive model, must be well trained and given appropriate support so that they can effectively teach within an integrative classroom setting. Thus, the chief aim should be not in differentiating according to a childâ€⠄¢s disabilities, but more towards focussing on how to integrate a child with learning disabilities with the general children in a class, and the society at large.

7s McKinsey model Essay Example for Free

7s McKinsey model Essay Strategy is a plan developed by a firm to achieve sustained competitive advantage and successfully compete in the market. What does a well-aligned strategy mean in 7s McKinsey model? In general, a sound strategy is the one that’s clearly articulated, is long-term, helps to achieve competitive advantage and is reinforced by strong vision, mission and values. But it’s hard to tell if such strategy is well-aligned with other elements when analyzed alone. See more: Is the Importance of being earnest a satirical play essay So the key in 7s model is not to look at your company to find the great strategy, structure, systems and etc. but to look if its aligned with other elements. For example, short-term strategy is usually a poor choice for a company but if its aligned with other 6 elements, then it may provide strong results. Structure represents the way business divisions and units are organized and includes the information of who is accountable to whom. In other words, structure is the organizational chart of the firm. It is also one of the most visible and easy to change elements of the framework. Systems are the processes and procedures of the company, which reveal business’ daily activities and how decisions are made. Systems are the area of the firm that determines how business is done and it should be the main focus for managers during organizational change. Skills are the abilities that firm’s employees perform very well. They also include capabilities and competences. During organizational change, the question often arises of what skills the company will really need to reinforce its new strategy or new structure. Staff element is concerned with what type and how many employees an organization will need and how they will be recruited, trained, motivated and rewarded. Style represents the way the company is managed by top-level managers, how they interact, what actions do they take and their symbolic value. In other words, it is the management style of company’s leaders. Shared Values are at the core of McKinsey 7s model. They are the norms and standards that guide employee behavior and company actions and thus, are the foundation of every organization.

Property Prices in Sydney

Property Prices in Sydney Sydney Property Prices Executive Summary In early March 2014, the governor of Reserve Bank, Glenn Stevens, warned house owners that Sydney property prices including houses will keep rising. For this reason, he cautioned home buyers never to borrow so much debt because, like the house prices are anticipated to continue rising, they can equally fall. Foreign investors have been moving to Australia at a very high rate especially those from China. The business people increasingly buy houses in Australia particularly those at the hot Sydney market. This has caused Sydney house prices to shoot up at a very rapid rate. This rapid rise in Sydney house prices has also been caused by few homes in Australia that only leave the cashed-up foreign investors with the opportunity to purchase those that are available. This situation creates a big problem to first home buyers who do not have as much money to purchase such expensive houses. Table of Contents Executive Summary Table of Contents Introduction Sydney house prices The key stakeholders that are impacted by the rise in Sydney house prices Economic theories Other relevant issues in the article Conclusion References Appendices Introduction Since 1983, house prices in Sydney have been increasing and this trend has been constant for over thirty years. The rapid rise in Sydney house prices is contributed by an increase in house demand by foreign buyers, as well as the low supply of houses in Australia. The purpose of this report is to present the causes and impacts of the rapid rise in Sydney house prices, and to provide possible solutions to the problem. The report begins by analyzing the present situation in Sydney as far as house prices are concerned, including major contributors and possible impacts. This is followed by description of the stakeholders that may be impacted by the rise in Sydney house prices. The report also explains the present problem in Sydney in terms of economic theory and concepts of demand and supply. The last section of the report focuses on possible solutions to the rapid rise in Sydney house prices. Sydney house prices Sydney house prices have rapidly increased over the recent past. Home buyers increasingly move to Australia to look for new homes for residential purposes and for investment. The rapid increase in prices is attributed to an increase in demand for Australian real estate from foreign buyers that have resulted into several bidders quoting very huge prices (Macken 2014). Home owners have raised house prices in Sydney because foreign investors, especially from China, increasingly buy local homes. These foreign investors are attracted to Australia by the Australian significant investor visa. The significant investor visa attracts prominent investors and business people to Australia and increase innovation and economic growth (Nicholls and Macken, 2014). Additionally, the Canadian government has cut its Federal Immigrant Investor Program and the recent change in the Canadian Visa scheme is expected to attract even more investors and business people to Sydney (Macken 2014). Australian houses are also expensive because of low supply of the stuff (Nicholls and Macken, 2014). Many Australian families increasingly buy new residential homes resulting into the rapid increase in house prices. This form of demand is driven by education as well as lifestyle. Highly educated people believe that they should stay in executive homes. They are therefore attracted to purchase such homes that are available in Sydney at high prices. Again, many Australian men point out that they want quality lives for their wives and families and since price is equated to quality, they end up buying Sydney houses at high prices which keeps these prices high. Foreign investors from China are likely to keep Sydney house prices high as they move to establish industries in Australia concerning the fact that China has strict policy against pollution (Macken 2014). It is anticipated that a consistent rise in Sydney house prices will soon render new home buyers homeless because they will not be able to cope w ith the high prices (Johnstone 2014). However, the Reserve Bank brings back hope to such people by stating that Sydney house prices are likely to fall in the near future due to low interest rates that have encouraged Australians to build new homes (Hutchens 2014). The key stakeholders that are impacted by the rise in Sydney house prices The rapid rise in Sydney house prices may impact a number of stakeholders including home owners, upgraders, foreign investors, local investors, first home buyers, second home buyers, the society and the Australian government. Home owners will have to increase the quality of their houses and build them in different architectural designs to attract home buyers. In addition, the rapid increase in Sydney house prices will compel home owners to consider building varieties of executive houses suited for investment and residential purposes (Macken 2014). As more and more foreign investors come to Australia, the upgraders will want to sell off their present houses in order to build new ones that will meet the current demands of families and businesses (Nicholls and Macken, 2014). Foreign investors are likely to be impacted by the rapid rise in Sydney house prices as they will be compelled to dig deep into their pockets and give out the required amounts before they can be allowed house owners hip. Like the foreign investors, local investors will also have to pay for the houses as per the prevailing market price. Unfortunately, some local investors might not afford to pay these prices, leading to market domination by the foreign investors (Macken 2014). First home buyers are those individuals who are purchasing homes for the first time. This group of customers lacks home purchasing experience and they may not have as much money to pay for the expensive houses. Eventually, they might soon become homeless if the current situation persists. Second home buyers on the other hand have bought homes before and can easily adapt to the rapid rise in Sydney house prices. They would thus have an advantage of house ownership at the prevailing prices as opposed to first home buyers (Johnstone 2014). With many foreign investors acquiring new residences in Australia as a result of rapid rise in house prices, the Australian population will obviously increase. Increase in population is ass ociated with environmental pollution and scarcity of resources. The Australian government must therefore make a change in its policy to ensure that these foreign investors are peacefully accommodated in the country. Even though all these groups will be impacted by the rapid rise in Sydney house prices, the first home buyers will be impacted the most because they will not be able to purchase new houses if the house prices increase further (Johnstone 2014). Economic theories The two main factors causing the rapid rise in Sydney house prices are; increase in demand of houses from foreign buyers and low supply of homes. According to the law of demand, the quantity of commodity demanded decreases with increase in price and vice versa, all other factors remaining constant. This can be plotted graphically in form of a demand curve showing the relationship between price and quantity demanded of a product (Sakovics and Steiner, 2012). Supply curve is a graphical representation of the quantity of goods that suppliers are willing to bring to the market at the prevailing market prices, with all other factors remaining constant. The point of intersection of demand and supply curves is the equilibrium price and quantity (Liu and Agbola, 2014). All these three relationships are shown in figure 1. Other factors such as changes in consumer tastes and preferences can cause a shift in demand curve thereby changing the price of a particular commodity (Liu and Agbola, 2014 ). From the media report, an increase in demand for executive houses is Sydney is derived from the increase in number of foreign investors, education and lifestyle (Macken 2014). These factors cause a positive shift in the demand curve where the demand curve shifts to the right (Liu and Agbola, 2014). This shift generally causes an increase in house prices as presented in figure 2 in the appendices section. At the same time, there is low supply of houses in Sydney causing the rise in house prices (Nicholls and Macken, 2014). This causes the supply curve to shift to the left as shown in figure 3. These shifts in demand and supply curves contribute to the high house prices in Sydney. Other relevant issues in the article The fact that first home buyers are the stakeholders that are likely to be impacted the most with the rapid rise in prices of Sydney houses, I would ensure that they are not disadvantaged through abolishment of stamp duty for first home buyers and reintroduction of first home buyers incentives for houses. This will give first home buyers the opportunity to meet the expenses of purchasing new homes. In addition, I would encourage first home buyers to form partnerships and share mortgage costs. This is cheaper because those involved in the partnerships can formulate policies that govern their practice. They can also extend these houses and lease the extra portions to others who will in the process assist them in meeting costs (Johnstone 2014). Other alternate actions that can be taken to solve the economic problem in Sydney include building of more homes to increase their availability to foreign investors and Australian residents. Building more homes will mean an increase in supply of homes (Hutchens 2014). This will cause the supply curve to shift to the right thereby lowering the house prices as shown in figure 4. Conclusion In conclusion, both local and foreign home buyers in Sydney are faced with the challenge of rapidly rising house prices. The current trend observed in Sydney house prices occurs as result of scarcity of houses and the increasing demand from foreign buyers. If these prices continue to rise over the coming years, first home buyers will be rendered homeless as they will not be able to afford houses in Sydney. The increase in demand as well as low supply of houses cause a shift in the demand and supply curves respectively, which causes prices to rise. First home owners can acquire houses at the prevailing prices through formation of partnerships. Additionally, they can be assisted to fit in the current market through reintroduction of first home buyers’ incentives for houses. Consequently, building more homes in Sydney will increase the supply of houses and house prices will come down. References Hutchens, G 2014, ‘House Prices Can Fall Too, Warns Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens,’ The Sydney Morning Gerald, March 8, also available from http://www.smh.com.au/national/house-prices-can-fall-too-warns-reserve-bank-governor-glenn-stevens-20140307-34cr5.html Johnstone, T 2014, ‘No Joy For First Timers at Auction: Upgraders Win in Lilyfield as Sydney Records Another Strong Clearance Rate of 82.5 %’, The Sydney Morning Gerald, March 8, also available from http://smh.domain.com.au/real-estate-news/no-joy-for-first-timers-at-auction-20140308-34dud.html Liu, WS Agbola, FW 2014, ‘Regional Analysis of the Impact of Inward Foreign Investment on Economic Growth in the Chinese Electronic Industry,’ Applied Economics, Vol. 1, no. 26, pp. 2576-2592. Macken, L 2014, ‘Property: Sydney Expected to Gain Foreign Buyers as Canada Closes Visa Scheme,’ The Sydney Morning Gerald, March 8, also available from http://smh.domain.com.au/real-estate-news/property-sydney-expected-to-gain-foreign-buyers-as-canada-closes-visa-scheme-20140307-34cr6.html Nicholls, S Macken, L 2014, ‘Upgraders Keep Sydney Property Market Bouyant,’ The Sydney Morning Gerald, March 8, also available from http://smh.domain.com.au/real-estate-news/upgraders-keep-sydney-property-market-buoyant-20140314-34rqe.html Sakovics, J Steiner J 2012, ‘Who Matters in Coordinating Problems? American Economic Review, Vol. 102, no. 7, pp. 3439-3461. Appendices Figure 1: Demand and Supply curve showing market equilibrium Price S PEMarket Equilibrium D QE Quantity S Supply curve PE Equilibrium price D-Demand curve QE Equilibrium quantity Figure 2- An increase in demand for houses raises the price of Sydney houses Price Supply P1 P0 D1 D0 Q0 Q1 Quantity Figure 3: A decrease in supply of houses raises the price PriceS1 S0 P1 P0 Demand Q1 Q0 Quantity Figure 4: An increase in supply by building more houses lowers the price PriceS0 S1 P0 P1 Demand Q0 Q1 Quantity 1

Theoretical Overview of Gender Socialization

Theoretical Overview of Gender Socialization What is the meaning and intent behind this rhyme? What types of messages are given with a rhyme to children? How children internalize these messages? What are little boys made of? Frogs and snails and puppy dog tails Thats what little boys are made of. What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice and all thats nice. Thats what little girls are made of. (Marchbank Letherby, 2007). Immediate after the birth, children are surrounded with environmental input from the society in which they grow up, peers and teachers they interact, media, books and parents related to their gender and roles attributed to their gender. Those messages and social cues tell children there are two ways of existing (Marchbank Letherby, 2007). Children are surrounded with environmental in-put about gender from family, peers, and the media. At the same time, they make their own attempts to understand the world and to form categories that help organize it. Gender provides one convenient way for them to accomplish this cognitive organization. In addition, society suffuses the gender distinction with affect, making gender what is perhaps the most salient (Eckes and Trautner, 2000). Gender is seen as a categorical system made up of many levels. Although at the most fundamental level, it is defined by physiology as biological differences between the sexes, on the basis of their sexual anatomy; it usually refers to social, cultural and psychological rules and traits linked to males and females through particular social context. Gender Identity is defined as individuals experience oh himself or herself as masculine or feminine and one of the strongest components of socialization is the development of gender identity. Gender identity, an aspect of self-concept, develops in childhood, learned early and well (Richardson Simpson, 1982). The acquisition and modification of childrens gender roles, attitudes, and social behaviors related to gender, are regulated by many factors, including the values of social class to which they belong, interaction with peers and teachers, exposure to behavior and standards through mass media and especially parents and their parenting styles are the most principle and most influential agents in childrens gender socialization process (Mussen, et al, 1979). In the fallowing part, the influences of parents will be discussed; however, it is needed to look at theoretical overview of gender role development to understand the role of parents in detail. Theoretical Overview of Gender Socialization All theories of gender role development focus on primary socialization and deal with how children learn gender identity, at the time they become aware of two sexes having different gender roles and acting differently. Gender socialization and gender role development are influenced by a variety of significant elements such as biology, social constitutions and social interaction and personality. Different theories bring different point of look and understanding to these each element (Lindsey, 2005). Biological accounts of gender differences have been popular in recent years by focusing on the hormonal and genetic factors. Physical differentiation of two sexes and differentiation of sex organs are determined due to the sex hormones and chromosomes. Here, starting at the conception, it could be said that hormones play a role in sex differentiation between male and female bodies, but it is not at all (Marchbank and Letherby, 2007). Biological theories of sex differences indicate that hormone activity as biological events are viewed as producing psychological and cognitive differences between sexes in terms of being nurturance or aggressiveness. For example, the changes in the mood of women during the menstrual cycle are seen as result of the hormone levels in their blood or the level of testosterone becomes a common explanation used to explain aggressive and hostile behaviors (Burr, 1998). However, there are also studies in literature rejecting the effects of hormones on the differences of behaviors among the females and males. Monozygotic twins sharing 100% of identical genes have been analyzed in terms of the similarities and differences in their behaviors. Mitchell and his colleagues resulted that genes can explain from 20% to 48% of the differences among the behaviors, but environmental factors have a greater role in the range of 52%- 80% of differences (Helgeson, 2005). When the attention is drawn on the studies of testosterone hormone, according to the study of Brannon, both males and males involved in criminal activities and the relationship between aggressiveness and violence can not be solely depending on the testosterone level in men (Brannon, 2005). Similar to the results of Brannon, according to a study conducted with prisoners, college students and psychiatric patients, it is found that there was no positive correlation between hostility and testosterone levels (Burr, 1998). Additionally to these findings, the level of testosterone should not be associated with males, rather in a study; there is a correlation between increased testosterone levels of female students and improved performance on tests for spatial abilities. However, the improvement is not due to the presence of testosterone, rather it is related to relative level of testosterone seen as determinant character of optimal performance (Smith, 2007). When the attention has been turned to the brain studies to explain sex differences in cognition and behaviors of females and males, again paradoxical explanations can be seen in that era. Although, some argue that differential brain lateralization contributes differently to the emotional and cognitive functions of two sexes, the findings are not satisfactory to explain gender role differences (Hetherington Parke, 1993). Different areas of brain have been playing different roles in terms of different cognitive functions. It is believed that right-hemisphere dominated male brain makes men superior in the spatial abilities, while women are good at verbal and language skills because of the lateralization of their brain which is left-hemisphere (Marchbank and Letherby, 2007). However, in a study, damage to the right-hemisphere related to spatial skills influenced both men and women. Hiscock and colleges concluded that the differences among two sexes because of the brain specialization are very small with 1 and 2 % variability (cited in Helgeson, 2005). Besides, it is reviewed that right-hemisphere is more emotional half of the brain. So, if women are left-hemisphere and men left-hemisphere dominated how women are seen as more emotional than men (Lindsey, 2005). When it is generally looked at the literature of brain studies and biological theories, it should be said that the evidences are contradictory and those studies supporting the influences of biology on the gender differences suffer from methodological inadequacies. Therefore depending on the theories of many researches on the issue of gender socialization, it is assumed that biology alone can not be thought as determinant gender roles and gender differences in behavior and cognition. However, those biological theories draw attention of the theorist to explain the reasons of variability in the behaviors of men and women. That is why it is needed to focus on social-situational and cognitive factors while investigating the process of gender role development. To begin with the psychoanalytic theory, Freud in his theory, talked about a series of stages playing role in the development of personality and third stage focused on the development of gender roles (Helgeson, 2005). In the third stage called as phallic, Freud described the role family environment where children engage in the process of identification with mothers feminine virtue of love and nurturance and with fathers masculine strengths of discipline and rules. That means phallic stage is the starting point that boys and girls discover their genitals and they realize that only boys have penises which leads both boys and girls to view girls as inferior. Due of the desire of opposite-sex parent, oedipal complex, boys fear castration, because father figure is seen as source of threat and fear. Boys, at this stage, overcome their castration anxiety, by giving up sexual attraction for their mother and by identifying with their fathers (Eckes and Trautner, 2000). For girls, the resolution of Electra complex with the meaning of being sexually attracted to their fathers is not completely resolved in the same way that the oedipal complex of boys resolved. Freud was not clear explaining girls identification with their mothers. For girls, anxiety occurs because of the penis envy, realization of girls that they do not have a penis and they blame their mothers for anatomic deficiencies. Therefore, girls want to attract their fathers which lead them to handle conflict, Electra complex, by identifying with their mothers and transferring their energies to make themselves attractive towards their fathers (Smith, 2007). Freuds psychoanalytic theory, however, has been criticized on a number of grounds. One of them is that it is not possible to evaluate thoughts and actions by sexual instincts of unconscious mind from a scientific standpoint. That means it is difficult to verify objectively, whether girls suffer from penis envy or boys from castration anxiety. Another criticism comes from feminist theories due to the Freudian thoughts related to penis envy and castration anxiety. Karen Horney, a feminist psychologist, pointed out the importance of social forces as determinant of gender identity rather than biology. Horney, believed that penis envy experienced by girls, does not reflect an actual adoration to have a penis; rather it is envy of power and social status attributed to men (Brannon, 2005). On the other hand, psychoanalytic theory has been criticized by many researchers of not considering any outside influences such as parents, peers or media (Matlin, 1987). Margret Mahlers and Nancy Chodorows Object-relation Theory grew out of Freuds psychoanalytic theory, but it emphasized the importance of early relationship in establishing gender identity. Like Freud although they stressed the importance of sexuality, Mahler and Chodorow believed that rather than unconscious process, family structure and childrens early experiences have an important role in shaping their gender socialization (Helgeson, 2005). Besides Parson mentioned that Freudian psycho-analytic theory is needed to be modified by pointing out on the development of social roles of children. In his model, Parson emphasized that children learn the male and female roles by playing roles of other family members. Girls learn how to be a mother, or boys learn how to be a father by observing what is expected of individuals who enact roles. According to Parson, gender development of children is the result of learning by mastering of prescribed roles (Eckes and Trautner, 2000). Unlike psychoanalytic theory of Freud emphasizing anatomic human drives in the role of socialization, social learning theory should focus on external events controlling childrens behaviors and the theory also posited that defining factors which promote gender socialization come from the social world. It is assumed by behaviorists that appropriate behaviors have been learned directly through reinforcement or indirectly through observation and imitation (Burr, 1998). Depending on operant-conditioning theory, different expectations lead to different reinforcement from parents, teachers or other agents such as television programmes, books, comics including a rich source of symbolic models reinforcing stereo-typical behaviors for females and males. They reinforce children for behaviors which are thought appropriate to their gender and such social pressures serve to condition gender-typed behaviors such as for girls playing with dolls or for boys playing with balls. Children by this way, learn that gender appropriate behaviors which are reinforced with praise and gender inappropriate behaviors which are scolded by punishment (Smith, 2007). On the other hand, Albert Bandura, social learning theorist, explained the process of socialization of children emphasizing the role of observation and imitation. Parents are seen as primary figures who are imitated and viewed as role models by children. Throughout the time they spent with their parents, children first discriminate gender-typed behavior patterns, then they make generalization of what they have learned to new situations and they performed similar to what they acquired from their observations of their parents. As a result, girls become feminine and boys become masculine by imitating similar models, because society rewards them to behave in particular way (Marchbank and Letherby, 2007). However, like psychoanalytic theory, social-learning theory has been criticized in many ways. Depending on the first criticism, a girl can be rewarded for a masculine activity, such as being a basketball player; however they keep a tight hold on other aspects of feminine role. That means rewarding or punishing a behavior does not always lead children to behave in desired way. Besides, social learning theory underestimate the importance of social changes such as increasing number of single or divorce family environments where adults take on a range of non-traditional roles. Lastly, and the most apparent critique towards social learning theory is that its view of children passive recipients of rewards and punishment and it fails to explain children who are quite rigid about constructing their personal version of gender roles (Lindsey, 2005). Unlike social learning theory, cognitive developmental theory views children as primary agent of his or her own gender role socialization by pointing out the importance of cognitive skills as determinants of selecting role models. Building his theory of Piagets work, the most and the first influential cognitive-developmental theory of sex typing were proposed by Kohlberg. According to him, as children have developed intellectually, they become able to understand the world in terms of categories, including gender categories. The starting point of comprehending the world of child is self-realization which is distinguishing each individual from others. To acquire all aspects of self-realization, children develop their gender identity by observing and labeling behaviors of males and females and translating those sex-typed behaviors at the age six where gender constancy is in place. After that time, to develop their self-esteem, same-sex attitudes, occupations and activities are seen as g ood by children (Serbin, et. al., 1993). Kohlbergs cognitive developmental model of sex typing has been influential since it gives importance to childrens active roles in determining gender-based value system. However, like other theories, there are some limitations in cognitive developmental model. It is criticized since there is a problem to understand the sequence in this model whether gender identity or childrens understanding of gender constancy comes first. According to theory, gender constancy should be acquired before children start to develop a gender-based value system fitting their gender role. However, studies stress that there are children who can not acquired gender constancy, become aware of sex-typed behaviors and integrate them in their lives (Lindsey, 2005). On the other hand, the theory fails to explain why sex such dominant category rather than race, religion, or even hair color. Therefore, to understand why children become sex-typed, rather than race or religious typed, and why priority is given to gender schemas, it is needed to look at the Gender Schema Theory (Marchbank and Letherby, 2007). Like Kohlberg, Sandra Bem, mentioned children categorize their social world along gender lines and their desire is to develop an identity which is consistent of social expectation. However, Bem, as mentioned above as shortcoming of cognitive developmental theory is only has valid explanation for the development of gender identity, not other variables such as eye color, race or culture (cited in Serbin, et. al., 1993). Depending on this theory, schemas are cognitive structures used to grasp the knowledge about the world, take perception and process new information. Gender schema includes information related to what being male or female means and what kinds of behaviors, cognitions, attitudes and emotions associated with those gender-related schemas. Children first learn what their gender is and they realize that there are significant differences related to each gender. This knowledge which children acquire by the sex-differentiated social messages, leads them to the information of gen der schema (cited in Smith, 2007). Like Kohlberg and Piaget, Bem agreed with the view of children as being primary agent of his/her own sex-role socialization, however, unlike those theorists, she emphasized the role of society as providing information used by individuals to acquire gender roles (Bem, 1983). Gender schema theory is the combination of the elements of social learning theory and cognitive developmental theory. When it is looked at the philosophy of social learning theory, it talked about how individuals acquire the different characteristics of female and male gender categories and what kinds of characteristics are associated with those categories. On the other hand, cognitive developmental theory also explains how children start to encode new information and how the accommodate this information into the schemas and categories maintain consistency. Besides, as an answer to the question of why sex-typed categories are dominant, Bem believes that gender is more salient and significant and society assigns to the category of gender a broad functional significance (cited in Helgeson, 2005). In short, gender schema theory indicates that every culture includes assumptions about certain characteristics within personalities of individuals. Sandra Bem used the term cultural lenses to define cultures values, beliefs and norms and due to the influences of those cultural norms and forces, without questioning and altering them, children accept to organize their world (Bem, 1983). When it is considered biological, social-learning, cognitive developmental and gender-schema theories, it could be concluded that each theoretical perspective has a number of problems. Although some of them focus on the environmental forces affecting gender identity, some others mentioned the importance of self-cognitive functioning as determinant issue of developing sex-typing behavior, but in fact, none fully explains gender identity acquisition and gender typing. However, generally, all these theories, offer productive avenues to explain gender role socialization. Now, it is needed to move the attention to sociologically based explanations accounting for primary socializing agents who play an important role on attitudes and behaviors of children regarding gender (Lindsey, 2005). Parents Expectation and Childrens Gender Role Socialization Within the aim of this paper, it is expected to find the answers to the questions of do parents provide different socialization for their girls and boys and do they have different expectations from them? Numerous studies on this issue reveal that by modeling traditional roles and encouraging sex-typed activities, parents influence childrens gender role socialization. (Fagot, 1974). Even starting before birth, mothers give sex-appropriate meaning to the activity of fetus. If fetus moves actively by kicking, mothers define this sign as the child will become more likely male than female (Lewis, 1972). Mothers and fathers have different expectations from their sons and daughters leading childrens gender role socialization depending on their values, attitudes and beliefs which are differentiated for girls and boys. To support this differentiation, a study was conducted with 1200 mothers and fathers from different cultural backgrounds to see how children socialize differently in terms of their gender in family environment. The results reveal that parents emphasize on their sons competition, autonomy, achievement and they support sex appropriate behaviors of their sons compared to girls. When parent-daughter relationships have been examined, parents concern warmth and closeness in the relationships with girls (Block, 1973). The study conducted by Pomerantz and Ruble also the relationships between attitudes of parent in use of control on their children and childrens self-evaluation. When it is looked at the outcomes of the research, parents are more controlling with their daughters rather than their sons and they give more autonomy to boys rather than girls. Childrens self-evaluation analysis also indicates that girls outperform boys in school and they have fewer behavioral problems, but on the other hand, they are more vulnerable to anxiety, depression compared to boys. The authors believe that parents differentiation of use of control with girls and boys is influential factor in their socialization (Pomerantz Ruble, 1998). Supporting the claims of Pomerantz and Ruble, Goshen-Gottstein mentioned that supporting dependency of boys rather than girls, mothers believe that boy should be autonomous (cited in Lindsey et.al.,1997). Similar to the findings of those studies and observation mentioned above, depending on the research of Lewis about the interaction between parents and child and expectation of parents, mothers believe that boys should be independent and autonomous than girls and hence they show more proximal behaviors such as touching, holding, or rocking to support their sons to explore their world. On the other hand, mothers look at the eyes of their girls and talk to their daughters more than they do with their sons as part of distal mode of behaviors (Lewis, 1972). Apart from mothers who spent a great deal of their time with both their sons and daughters, when the literature on parenting has been discovered, it is concluded that fathers play primary role in socialization process of their sons especially. A study done by Rothbart and Maccoby parents differential reactions towards their sons and daughters have been analyzed. Fathers have been seen to be potent constructor of the understanding of gender for their children. More likely than mothers, they encourage more traditional gender specific behaviors in their son. They empathize more with them and support independency and autonomy for their sons, rather than girls (Rothbart Maccoby, 1966). Besides, fathers have higher expectations for their sons and they give more emphasis on their sons achievement and occupational attainment rather than the success and carriers of their girls. (Maccoby Jacklin, 1974). As indicated above, due to their different expectations from their sons and daughters, parents reflect their values, beliefs and desires towards their attitudes, communication types and relationships with their children influencing their understanding of the world in a gender-schematic process. Clothes and Arrangement of Childrens Rooms Most parents know the sex of their baby before birth and design childs room accordingly. It is not surprising to see boys rooms are covered with educational and art materials, sport equipments, toy animals and vehicles, while girls rooms consist of dolls, house-keeping toys, and floral furnishings. In a study conducted by Rheingold and Cook, parents furnishing rooms of their sons and daughters has been examined and thought as providing index to their ideas about appropriateness by sex and their different attitudes towards their children. 96 children between the ages of 1 and 71.6 months are the sample of the study. The result of the study reveals that parents design differently the rooms of their daughters and sons with different styles of furnishing and toys. The boys rooms involve more vehicles, and toys supporting motor abilities of children, while girls rooms are full of with domestic equipments and toys of home encouraging nurturance and concern with fashion. According to author s, some of the differences were more apparent and impressive than expected. In girls rooms, there are not vehicle toys such as wagons, boats or buses which can be frequently found in boys rooms. On the other hand, almost total absence of baby dolls and domestic equipments can be observed in boys rooms seen in Table II (Rheingold Cook, 1975). According to authors of this study, the differences in parents furnishing of the rooms of their daughters and sons can be associated in other classes of their behavior towards their girls and boys (Rheingold Cook, 1975). Color-coded and gender-typed clothing of children are widespread and parents choose gender appropriate colors when dressing their children. While they prefer pink, yellows clothing and clothes in pastel tones with embroidered hearts and flowers for their girls, for sons, dark colors such as brown, blue or red clothes with superhero and athletic motives are preferred. According to social learning theory mentioned above, children receive strong messages from their parents related to their gender and by those positive reinforcement associated with their clothing, toys selection and room arrangement, they start to learn what is or not gender appropriate (Lindsey, 2007). Communication and Interaction Differences with Children Differences in the behavior of boys and girls are associated with the differences how parents behave toward them (Rheingold Cook, 1975). Numerous studies indicate that parents play a pivotal role in shaping childrens gender role development by interacting and using different communication types with their sons and daughters. The conversation styles of parents with their children are seen as persuasive socialization mechanisms through which gender roles are conveyed to children (OBrien Shinn, 2008). In a study conducted by Horan and with his colleagues, the aim is to investigate the differences among the communications between mother-daughter, mother-son, father-daughter and father-son dyads. Depending on the collected results of dyads, it is concluded that mothers communicate with their daughters by giving more feminine gender role messages compared to their sons. Similarly, when it is looked at the results of father-son dyads, it can be said that fathers encourage their sons to communicate in masculine styles by sending more masculine messages than they did to their girls. Fathers perceive their sons as being self-reliant, dominant, aggressive, competitive and ambitious than their daughters (Horan et.al, 2007). In another study, fathers have been found to play with their newborn sons and talk them more when compared to their daughters. Besides, when fathers interaction with their girls has been examined, the result shows that they are more gently cuddle to their newborn daughters, while physically rough to their sons (Fagot, 1974). According to the study conducted by Mussen and Rutherford (1963), masculinity of young boys is closely associated with the nature of father-son relationship. That means appropriate sex-role preferences in boys directly correlated with nurturing, affective relationship with their fathers who strongly motivate them towards masculine behaviors. On the other hand, by acting in feminine ways, participating with their daughters in girls game such as housekeeping, mothers become a feminine role model by encouraging their girls to act in the expected ways (Mussen Rutherford, 1963). More recently, a meta-analysis has been conducted about how parents behave towards their sons and daughters. Siegal (1987), concluded that mothers and fathers treat differently and the apparent differences has been found in the era of physical involvement. That means both mothers and fathers participated in physical activities with their boys and they were more strict, and restrictive with them (cited in Helgeson, 2005). Similar to those studies, in another research of OBrien and Shin, they aimed to discover differences in communication styles between mothers and fathers engaged in conversation with a 9-year-old son or daughter. They put two types of communication styles characterized differently for men and women. Assertive communication styles consist of characteristics which are directing attention of others, controlling whole conversation by influencing ideas of others and even interrupting the conversational partner and this style is thought as reflecting mens power and status in the society. On the other hand, affiliative communication which is considered to reflect lack of power of women in society is characterized by concentration on other person through conversation, focusing on others ideas and expecting involvement from partner. The results of the study indicate that fathers use more assertive communication styles and mothers were more affiliative through conversation. In this study, sex o f child has an important role of use of each communication styles. When the powerful status of males and even male children have been considered in society, according to authors, it is not surprising that both mothers and fathers used more affiliative speech with their boys to support their power and dominancy (OBrien Shinn, 2008). Besides those studies, in another study, the frequencies of mothers and fathers parenting behavior with their sons and daughters have been examined. Depending on the results of the study, mothers engage in personal interaction with their daughters rather than their son and similar results of fathers with their sons. According to the authors, traditional gender stereotypes children acquire are the consequences of differential parenting of girls and boys by their mothers and fathers (Moon Hoffman, 2008). Play and Toys Selection In the socio-emotional domain, children develop through the expansion of their social network, from the early relationship with their parents to relationship including other people, especially peers. In this step of the socialization process, play becomes most powerful agent for the formation of peer relationships (Smith, 2007). When the developmental literature has been discovered, consistent findings indicate that children prefer playing with traditionally stereotyped toys for their own sex more than toys stereotyped for the other sex (Martin et.al., 1995). While boys tend to be more active and show higher interest in rough-and-tumble play, girls mostly prefer playing with dolls in the dramatic play (Thorne, 2005). Even starting very early in their lives, children show sex-differences in terms of play and toys selection. Depending on the study of Goldberg and Lewis, 13 month olds, 32 girls and boys behaviors in free play, their interaction with mothers and mothers responses to their infants have been observed. Results indicate that boys and girls reflect striking differences in terms of interaction with mothers, toys and styles of their play. When it is looked at their play styles, girls select toys appropriate for fine motor coordination rather than gross motor abilities. In contrast girls, rather than sitting on the floor, boys are more active by rolling the landowner over toys seen in picture below. Considering maternal behavior of mothers showing differentiation between girls and boys in terms of touching, vocalization and response to their play, author concluded that parents catalyze sex-role appropriate behaviors of children by reinforcing sex-typed activities (Goldberg Lewis, 1969). Parents are the first agent who enact traditionally prescribed sex role

Comparative Style-book Essay :: Writing Style Styles Essays

Comparative Style-book Essay Two well-know style books are The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White, and Style Toward Clarity and Grace, by Williams. Both of these books are very beneficial, discussing grammar rules, style, and composition, all with the aim to make its readers better writers. They teach readers to use proper techniques and proofread their papers so they can improve their writing style. Although the books goals are the same, each one approaches it in a different way, emphasizing certain points above others. While both books are well-written and taught me important rules, after analyzing both books, looking at their authors, target audience, cultural awareness, organization, and detail, I find Williams more helpful in developing my writing style and addressing the need of contemporary prose. A lot can be inferred about how the books were written by looking at their Authors. The authors of The Elements of Style, Strunk and White, were professor and student. When White was a student in 1919 his professor, Strunk, assigned him a coursepack, which would be the basis for their future book. The coursepack was very detailed and commanding, like White describes his professor when he calls him, â€Å"Sergeant Strunk snapping orders to his platoon† (xiv). Years later, after White had become a well-known, professional writer, he was commissioned to edit and improve the Strunk coursepack for publication. The book was published in 1959, and by that time White’s old professor had passed away. Now, White is also gone, and the book has been around for quite a while, making it slightly dated. I found Williams to be more modern, and connectable. It was last published by its author in 1990. Williams, a linguist, professor, and communication consultant, has meticulously studies the craft of writing, discovering what makes good writing good and bad writing bad. His careful observations and sensitivity to current issues that plague writing make his readers grasp many of the different aspects of writing. Since he is part of modern times, he is more culturally aware, giving him an advantage over Strunk and White. Since the books have been written in different times, the targeted audience is different.

Natural Science :: essays research papers

Ever since the first dinosaur fossil was unearthed by Robert Plot in 1676, dinosaur fever has infected almost everyone. Dinosaurs captivate us not only because of the enormous size that some of them attained, but because of their extraordinary diversity. Encompassing such astonishing creatures as the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex, the majestic Triceratops and the cunning raptors, dinosaurs are truly fascinating. From such fascination many questions arise. How were the dinosaurs able to survive for such a long period of time? Why did they become so large? Just what was their everyday existence like? These questions have puzzled scientists for years. But by looking at fossils, paleontologists have been able to learn much about the dinosaurs. They can infer the appearance of these creatures in life-like detail as they existed millions of years ago. They can investigate their diet. And they can find out about the way dinosaurs interacted both among themselves and with their environment. Despite the frequent media attention given to discoveries of dinosaur bones, especially skulls, the truth is that such fossils are rare, much rarer than fossils of most plants and invertebrate animals. Thus, although bones are of great interest, if we had no other evidence, we would have a much less accurate picture of the dinosaurs than we in fact possess. How, then, has it been possible to learn so much about these terrible lizards when we have so few bones to study? The answer lies in trace fossils. As the name implies, a trace fossil is a "trace" of an ancient organism such as a footprints, a tooth or bite mark, or a coprolite. Footprints and tooth marks, yes, but coprolites? As any paleontologist will tell you, a coprolite is a piece of fossilized dung. Why would anyone study fossilized dung? Well, if you really want to know, you would do well to ask Karen Chin, visiting scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA, who is the world's foremost expert on dinosaur dung. Chin is considered a rising star of paleontology. At Montana State, she studied under the prominent and controversial John Horner. Now she is hitting the lecture circuit, explaining to enthused audiences around the nation the importance of dino dung. From the University of California, Santa Barbara, Ph.D. in hand, Chin took up the seemingly unusual notion of studying the fecal remains of Triceratops and other herbivorous dinosaurs. Soon, however, she was diverted by a project beyond her chosen area of study.

Fourth Industrial Revolution

Fourth industrial revolution has started talking since 1999 (Abdullah et. al., 2017). It refers to a further developmental stage in the organization and management of the entire value chain process involved in manufacturing industry (AATC Finance, 2015). The Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Seri Dr. Salleh Said Keruak, had said that Malaysian society must be prepared to face the fourth industrial revolution and all its challenges to continue develop this country (The Malay Mail Online, 2017 December 15). Datuk Seri Dr. Salleh Said Keruak had mentioned that Industry 4.0 would bring important changes to the traditional media industry when people no longer needed the newspaper and started use the smart phone and computer to read news (The Malay Mail Online, 2017 December 15). As reported by Researchgate (2015), Malaysians are the welcoming lot in embracing new technologies, such that become one of the active users of application like Whatsapp, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. According to Schwab (2016), the fourth industrial revolution has the potential to raise global income levels and improve the quality of life for populations around the world. The fourth industrial revolution made change in technologies breakthroughs in connectivity, artificial intelligence, machine learning, internet of things, and other innovative technologies (unicefstories, 2017). As the usage of smart devices, laptops, tablets, and personal computers has expanded, so demand for internet will be increase. According to Ashton (2009), the term Internet of Things (IoT) had created in 1999 by Kevin Ashton, who is the British entrepreneur and innovator. The IoT refers to things connected to the internet that one can access through pervasive technologies (Atzori, Iera, Morabito & Nitti, 2012). The IoT enables user to achieve their intentions with the click of a button, giving them complete control of devices and apparatus that will simplify their lives (Abdullah et.al, 2017). The IoT includes all of the devices including some quite intelligent and others quite simplistic, that are now connected to the internet and therefore an overarching infrastructure. According to a recent estimation by McKinsey, the potential economic impact of IoT applications in 2025 is between US$ 3.9 and $11.1 trillion, of which $1.2 to $3.7 trillion is allotted to IoT applications within the factory environment (Zuhlke & Gorecky, 2017 Jan 04). According to unicefstories (2017), applications of the internet of things consist of smart home, wearables, smart cities and connected car. The smart home is likely the most popular IoT application because it is the one that is most affordable and readily available to consumers. The wearable is also popular among the users. For example, Apple Watch which is no longer just for telling time, but also enabling text messaging, phone calls, and more. The smart cities refer to the internet of things that has the potential to transform entire cities by solving real problems citizens face each day. With the proper connections and data, the internet of things can solve traffic congestion issues and reduce noise, crime, and pollution. Lastly is connected car. It considers when vehicles are equipped with internet access and can share that access with others, just like connecting to a wireless network in a home or office. For example is like Grab car services that allow customers books car through Grab's application. In the perspectives of human resource economics, human resource is an important factor for economic development. For example in Japan and Singapore, both countries were mobilizing their human resources by increase the managerial capacity and entrepreneurship and leads to innovation. Japan also implements consensus system known as ‘ringi system'. Ringi system is one of the most important human resource management practices in Japan where decisions are made up with regard to the long term impacts rather than just the immediate short-term impacts. The transformation of the fourth industrial revolution gave impact to human resource economics, thus, changing the economic development in Malaysia. In the future, human labors are no longer use because all the production lines in manufacturing facility will be taken over completely by robots. In the long run, using robots in the production will be sustainable because can minimize errors and save costs. This is called smart factory which are highly effective and efficient in technology. For example is smart watch that is able to give four functions such as tell time, text message, make telephone calls and provide health data (Meola, 2016). The internet of things also intensifies the potential to solve problems which are related to traffic, help reduce noise, crimes and pollution (Abdullah et. al, 2017). Fourth industrial revolution technology helps changing the way we live and work from traditional to modern life. In addition, the future need of human resources in future is important especially in manufacturing sector. But it helps a lot the business sector where supplier can transform their business models from selling a product to providing a managed service. On the other hand, the products become assets that can connect to the internet straight away remotely monitored by the system (Frangos, 2017 Jun 24). In the future, this can help companies to better understand how assets are used, minimized an impact, and better understanding of risk and financial exposure (Frangos, 2017 Jun 24). According to unicefstories (2017), Erica Kochi, the Futures Lead, Office of Innovation, UNICEF had stated that the young people will face these two major challenges: (i) industrialization will die out soon since it belongs to the previous generation, thus, killing the jobs that require skill and (ii) the effort to equip youth with the proper skills will be hampered by the absence or lack of suitable education system. From my opinion, to be a responsible people, we need to prepare young people to be able participate in fourth industrial revolution. Governments, corporations and civil society all must play a role and it requires a dramatically different approach. At the same time, our traditional notions of classrooms and curriculums will need rethinking.

Toy Recall

Mattel is multinational toy company that has been beleaguered by problems involving massive toy recall. Indeed, the company has been announcing product recalls and providing details about them since 1998. In 2007, wooden toys were ordered recalled by the state Department of Consumer Protection because the toys were found to have high lead content. Moreover, the excessive amount of lead found in the toys was considered violations of the federal prohibition on the use of lead paint on children’s toys (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 2007). Apparently, the toy was already sold in several stores. Thus, the Department of Consumer Protection instructed customers to return the purchased items to stores for a cash refund (Krechevsky, 2007). Mattel is taking a beating with the repeated product recalls of Chinese-made toys, due to excessive levels of magnet and lead content. The staggering number alone of the toys recalled, coupled with the frequency and short duration in between recalls, is sure to cause damage to the company’s credibility and financial performance (Microsoft, 2008). Reports would show that in the previous year, Mattel recalled 1.5 million Fisher-Price infant toys to be sold all over the world. A few weeks later, Mattel announced another recall order of 9 million toys, such as Polly Pocket dolls, â€Å"Cars† movie souvenir products, and Barbie dolls. Other popular toys that are included in the toy recall are Tanner play sets and action figures of Batman and One Piece Triple Slash Zolo Roronoa action figures. These toys, which were all manufactured in China, are feared for having lead-paint and small magnets that could be swallowed (Microsoft, 2008). Several injuries related to the recalled toys had been reported in the United States, which include the death of one child and the surgery of 19 children since 2003, as a result of the swallowing of little magnets found in the toys. Children who swallow more than one magnet are in danger of intestinal perforation, blockage, or infection caused by the magnet’s attachment to each other. Intestinal perforation requires surgery, and could be fatal (Microsoft, 2008). On the other hand, the high levels of lead content in China-made toys present a different risk. It is not necessarily dangerous for children’s toys to have lead paint. However, there is a limit to the lead content of toys because there should only be a maximum of 0.6 percent of lead that is accessible to users. Children who are exposed to more than 0.6 percent of lead could ingest the toxic substance (Microsoft, 2008). These frequent and massive toy recalls would create a huge dent on the company’s credibility among consumers, specifically parents. This would easily translate into huge losses in terms of profit. Thus, Mattel is trying very hard to convince parents not to lose trust in the company. The company is undertaking campaigns such as full page ads at popular newspapers like the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and New York Times, in order to convince parents that they should still be trusted to provide entertaining and safe toys for children (Microsoft, 2008). Officials of the company say that they started investigating as soon as they learned of potential problems with the toys in late July of the previous year. Bob Eckert, the chief executive of Mattel, declared in a press conference that the company is exerting effort to beef up its oversight and testing procedures in its production processes. Thus, they expect to recall more toys to protect the public. Testing in the high levels as the company is currently doing, it cannot be guaranteed that there would be no more recalls this year. In order to help consumers who may have concerns and questions about toy recalls, Mattel set up an online site where such concerns could be ventilated (Microsoft, 2008). The company’s response to the toy recalls is to counteract the damage done. Thus, they spent resources in printing huge and expensive ads in popular newspapers in order to reach out to their primary consumers, or the parents. They try to convince parents that their foremost priority is the safety of the consumers’ children, and the toy recalls are steps in the right direction towards protecting children. Mattel’s lack of objection, and instead, full cooperation and support for the toy recalls shows that the company is taking full responsibility for the situation, and that they are not shirking from their responsibility to the consumers. The company’s actions send a strong message that they know that something is wrong, but they are doing all that are necessary to address the problem. Moreover, the establishment of a hotline and a website that would provide relevant information to all concerned is a responsible initiative that shows how serious Mattel is in helping out consumers. In the given situation, Mattel could not have handled the situation in a better manner. An irresponsible manager would try to keep the controversy under wraps in order to avoid humiliation and damage to the company’s reputation. However, it is better to address the issue head-on in order for the company to maintain the customers’ trust and confidence. If I were an official for Mattel, I would put more vigor to the campaign and marketing of Mattel products. I would not stop at newspaper advertisements and appeal to the intellect of parents; rather, I would again tap into the interests of children so that they would want Mattel’s products. This way, parents would feel pressure from children to reconsider Mattel as a toy producer. Before Mattel took a definite course of action, it was possible that they considered to keep the controversy a secret. They could have taken a risk in not recalling products and simply hope that no injury would result. They could have chosen to be irresponsible. However, such alternative action would have resulted in more damage in the credibility of the company. If such act were discovered, it would make the company appear greedy and selfish, without regard for the health and safety of its consumers. Therefore, Mattel’s strategy of coming out in the open, supporting the recalls, and providing support to consumers, is the best strategy possible in the given circumstances. References Customer Expectations. The Business Information Revolution, 65-77. Retrieved   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   February 8, 2008, from jsessum.com/samples/WP-enterpulse.pdf Krechevsky, D. (2007). State recalls robot toy due to lead levels. American-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Republican Inc. Retrieved February 8, 2006 Mattel Inc. (2007). Product Recalls. Retrieved February 8, 2008, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://service.mattel.com/us/recall.asp Microsoft. (2008). Mattel issues new massive China toy recall. Retrieved February 8,    2008, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20254745/ U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. (2007). Fisher Price Recalls Go Diego Go   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Boat Toys Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard. Retrieved February 8, 2008