Monday, September 30, 2019

Assess Hume’s Reasons for Rejecting Miracles

Assess Hume’s reasons for rejecting miracles Hume defined miracles as a â€Å"violation of the laws of nature† and consequently rejected their occurrence as both improbable and impractical. This view has been supported by modern scientists and philosophers such as Atkins, Dawkins and Wiles to a certain extent. However Aquinas, Tillich and Holland and Swinburne to a certain extent reject Hume’s reasons, instead arguing that miracles have a divine cause and that Hume’s arguments are weak.This essay will argue that Hume’s reasons for rejecting miracles are not valid and in doing so consider his two main arguments; lack of probability and Hume’s practical argument. Hume’s first reason for rejecting miracles was a lack of probability. He argued that evidence from people’s experience of observing the world showed the laws of nature to be fixed and unvarying. However to suggest a miracle occurred was to say that the laws of nature had been violated, hence his definition of miracles being a â€Å"violation of the laws of nature. Miracles were reported has having occurred by eyewitnesses, as is stated in the Bible in the case of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. However for Hume it was far more likely that the eyewitnesses were mistaken in what they witnessed, than for Jesus to have actually raised Lazarus from the dead and in doing so violated fixed laws of nature. A violation of the laws of nature was therefore an improbable occurrence. Wiles’ agrees with Hume’s point that it is more likely the eyewitness was wrong than a miracle occurred, in doing so raising the problem of evil.It was illogical to suggest God was omnipotent and good if he showed clear favouritism through creating miracles whilst at the same time many people were suffering. It would be more likely that a witness made a mistake or did not understand what they saw than an ominbenevolant and omnipotent God showed clear signs of bia s and favouritism through miracles therefore Hume’s first argument is valid. Swinburne supports Hume’s view that laws of nature are defined by the experiences of people observing the world, as he believes that people’s observations are the basis for all natural laws.Additionally Hume’s argument that miracles are improbable is supported by Dawkin’s view that it would be highly unlikely that someone could simply learn to walk again after being paralysed as a result of a miracle, as this would constitute a violation of the laws of nature. This also supports the idea that Hume’s argument is valid. However he rejects Hume’s concept of the laws of nature being fixed and unvarying, as he believed them to be â€Å"corrigible† due the possibility new discoveries and observations about the world could result in them being altered in some way.Additionally Swinburne disagrees with Hume’s idea of what an improbable event is. Whilst f or Hume this means an event which it would be foolish to suggest occurs at all, such as the sun staying the sky, Swinburne argues that miracles are more â€Å"probalistic† such as picking out a red grain of sand, highly unlikely but not totally impossible therefore the validity of Hume’s first argument can be questioned.Additionally Swinburne criticises Hume’s definition of miracles as a â€Å"violation of the laws of nature† as he believes that whilst a miracle such as that of Jesus’ resurrection clearly does not fit in with the laws of nature, on it’s own it is not enough to prove the laws of nature have been violated, a view supported by Aquinas who suggests miracles have a divine origin. The contingency argument, supported by Holland and Tillich also criticises Hume’s definition of miracles as a â€Å"violation of the laws of nature. It uses evidence from the Bible, such as Jesus feeding the five thousand, to highlight that Godâ €™s aim with miracles is not to fit in with the framework of modern concepts but to for God to reveal Himself to the people. Tillich himself argues that miracles do not have to involve the violation of nature as they can be possible events, such as a train stopping just in front of a child on a crossing, which hold religious significance for some people. Therefore a miracle does not have to be an improbable event, suggesting that Hume’s argument is not significant.Hume’s second reason for rejecting miracles is presented in his practical argument. He considered levels of education to be a significant factor as miracles were only reported to have occurred by those who were not educated enough to understand the scientific explanation of an event. The stories these people reported were usually circulated and exaggerated, altering them significantly as is the case with urban myths, such as that after Hurricane Katrina stating that law and order had broken down.Hume also considered the general level of education of the country as a whole to be important. He highlighted how the early history of countries is full of miracles and visions due to the ignorant and barbarous populations, such as the very long life of Adam. However as the country becomes more developed and the populations better educated such stories disappear. Therefore for Hume, Adam living to 930 was simply a story made up by the uneducated, as living so long would suggest the laws of nature to be false.Additionally Hume believes that miracles used by religions to prove their religion true would be cancelled out, as not every religion could be true. Dawkins presents a key strength of Hume’s second argument, by supporting his belief that miracles are only reported by the uneducated, as he believes there is a scientific explanation for the effects, such as Jeanne Fretel being cured at Lourdes.The miracles of people being cured at Lourdes, as well as those reported in the Bible simp ly show that miracles were used to cover up a lack of understanding of a way the world worked and to increase people’s faith in God, something which is no longer necessary as most people no longer rely on God for guidance therefore Hume presents a relevant argument rejecting miracles. Atkins supports Hume’s argument that the typical educated person would not be inclined to report the occurrence of a miracle as they would know better.According to Atkins it is only the publicity seeker or someone deluded or hallucinating who would claim to have witnessed such an event as they may lack the scientific level of understanding of their peers, therefore Hume’s argument is relevant. However this view has been criticised by Swinburne as it raises questions about how to define terms Hume raises. It is unclear at what stage a person becomes â€Å"educated† sufficiently to reject miracles. It is also unfair to assume that a person believes in miracles simply because t hey do not know any better, as it is possible to both have a strong belief in God and a good understanding of Science.Further to this it is unclear what constitutes being â€Å"ignorant and barbarous† as whilst earlier nations may now seem uneducated compared to modern times, the nation may have been highly educated for the time as the standards change. Therefore the relevance of Hume’s second argument can be questioned. In conclusion Hume believes that miracles are â€Å"violations of the laws of nature† which are fixed and unvarying, and that they are only experienced by uneducated people who do not understand Science.This view rejected by Aquinas, Swinburne Holland and Tillich. Swinburne believes the laws of nature to be â€Å"corrigible† whilst Holland and Tillich argue that miracles are not violations of the laws of nature but sign events revealing God to the people. However Dawkins and Atkins support Hume’s view that miracles are only experie nced by the uneducated. Overall Hume’s reasons for rejecting miracles are valid to only a minimal extent, as he does not consider the different definitions of a miracle, and does not define what constitutes ignorant and barbarous.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

I Spy Literary Analysis

Prehal Patel ENG 1302 Ms. Mach February 20, 2013 Literary Analysis â€Å"I Spy† by Graham Greene is a short story published in 1930 that takes place within a tobacco shop in England during World War 1. The story is regarding a young boy, Charlie Stowe, who has never before smoked a cigarette and therefore he decides to sneak into his father’s  tobacco shop  to steal a pack of cigarettes. Charlie hides in the shop when he sees his father comes back along with two men. He watches his father and the two men as they converse about confidential work. Charlie goes back to bed when his father and the two men leave the house.In the story, Greene uses various literary devices such as character, imagery, and setting to represent many ideas. There are two main characters in the short story. The first main character is Charlie Stowe, a twelve year old boy who is teased by his classmates at school because he has never smoked a cigarette. That is why one night he sneaks downstair s to his father's tobacco shop to get hold of a cigarette. He knows it is not the right thing to do, but he decides to do it anyways to try to lessen his schoolmates' ridicule though all through the story he has an imperious fear of being caught.However, the consequences of being caught trying to steal cigarettes are less than the consequences of not smoking at all for Charlie. The second main character of the story is Charlie's father; he is described to be an ‘unreal wraith,' not liked by his son. As the story continues, it becomes obvious that Mr. Stowe has been taken into custody for being a spy, and is being brought to the shop to grab his coat before he is led, seemingly, to trial and execution.It is apparent, however, from Charlie's recollections of his father revitalizing himself with proverbs and muttering to himself, that he actually may not have wanted to have the treacherous occupation that he did. Both of their society’s morals have been detached, Charlie's by his schoolmates and Mr. Stowe, assumingly, by German spies coercing him to join their defenses. They both know they are doing wrong and, though they present their dread in their own way, they are scared nevertheless about what might happen if they don't do their individual tasks.The imagery illustrated in the story presents the central idea of fear. Throughout the narrative, light is represented as the danger of being caught. The candle in his mother's room, the spotlights sweeping the windows of the shop, and the policeman's flashlight all provide threats to Charlie's mission of stealing a cigarette. And each time the light shines Charlie shies away from the light in fear. Also, the character of the shop itself lends to deception and fear. The phrase â€Å"smoke-filled room† usually stirs feelings of surreptitious secrets and deals, and this room is no different.The anxiety is almost as perceptible as the smoke in this room of faint transactions. Imagery shows pillars of morality and fortitude through the two agents accompanying Mr. Stowe. They both had their identical suits, mackintoshes, bowlers, and these government agents, presumably from the British MI-5, represent those who do not have to make decisions for them and have their policy of morality laid before them. The setting of the story notably gives the story a secretive and dark aspect. Story takes place in Great Britain in the early twentieth century.Britain at this time in history was coming off with the jingoism policy, implying that there is a vast amount of dedicated patriots living in the area. Charlie's mother happens to be one of them. Therefore she has nothing but good to say about the queen, and nothing but bad to say about the Germans. Charlie's father also validates the patriotism, saying that as soon as the neighbors find out he is a spy for Germany, they will break down his tobacco shop. The story takes place in a town off the coast, so there are spotlights are frequently swe eping across the sea searching for German boats.The story also takes place in the middle of the night, which is known to be the darkest hour off the day. This creates a mysterious and fearful feel to the story. In conclusion, â€Å"I Spy† is a story about ones morals and fear of standing up for them. The main idea and themes lie within the character, imagery, and setting of the story. The theme comes across as dramatic events stimulate personal morals and children often inherit their parents’ traits for better or worse. In order to present these ideas Greene utilizes various literary devices throughout the story to give the narrative depth.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

CARL ROGER’S19 propositions Essay

CARL ROGER’S 19 PROPOSITIONS PROPOSITION 1: HUMAN EXPERIENCE AT ACONCIOUS AND UNCONCIOUS LEVEL Every individual exists in a continually changing world of experience of which he is the centre. PROPOSITION 2: HUMAN PERCEPTION The organism reacts to the field as it is experienced and perceived. This perceptual; field is, for the individual, reality. PROPOSITION 3: WHOLENESS The organism reacts as a whole to this phenomenal field. PROPOSITION 4: SELF-DETREMENATION The organism has one basic tendency and striving – to actualize, maintain, and enhance the experiencing organism. PROPOSITION 5: NEEDS AND BEHAVIOUR Behaviour is basically the goal-directed attempt of the organism to satisfy its needs as experience, in the field as perceived. PROPOSITION 6: EMOTIONS Emotion accompanies and in general facilitates such goal directed behaviour, the kind of emotion being related to the socking versus the consummatory aspects of the behaviour, and the intensity of the emotion being related to the perceived significance of the behaviour for the maintenance and enhancement of the organism. PROPOSITION 7: FRAME OF REFERENCE The best vantage point for understanding behaviour is from the internal frame of reference for the individual himself. PROPOSITION 8: THE SELF A portion of the total perceptual field gradually becomes differentiated as the self. PROPOSITION 9: THE SELF AND SIGNIFICANT OTHERS As a result of interaction with the environment, and particularly as a result of evaluational interaction with others, the structure of self is formed – an organized, fluid, but consistent conceptual pattern of perceptions of characteristics and relationships of the â€Å"I† or the â€Å"me† together with values attached to these concepts. PROPOSITION 10: VALUES:OWN AND ADOPTED FROM OTHERS The values attach themselves to experiences, and the values which are a part of the self structure, in some instances are values experienced directly by the organism, and in some instances are values introjected or taken over from others, but perceived in distorted fashion, as if they had been experienced directly. PROPOSITION 11: DEALING WITH EXPERIENCES AT CONCIOUS AND UNCONCIOUS LEVEL As experiences occur in the life of the individual, they are either (a) symbolised, perceived, and organized into some relationship to the self, (b) ignored because there is no perceived relationship to the self – structure, ( c ) denied symbolisation or given a distorted symbolization because the experience is inconsistent with the structure of the self. PROPOSITION 12: SELF AND BEHAVIOUR Most of the ways of behaving which are adopted by the organism are those which are inconsistent with the concept of self. PROPOSITION 13: BEHAVIOUR AND UNCONCIOUS EXPERIENCES Behaviour may, in some instances, be brought about by organic experiences and needs which have not been symbolized. Such behaviour may be inconsistent with the structure of the self, but in such instances the behaviour is not â€Å"owned† by the individual. PROPOSITION 14: PSYCHOLOGICAL TENSION Psychological maladjustment exists when the organism denies to awareness significant sensory and visceral experiences, which consequently are not symbolised and organized into the gestalt of the self-structure. When this situation exists, there is a basic or potential psychological tension. PROPOSITION 15: RECONSTRUCTION OF SELF Psychological adjustment exists when the concept of the self is such that all the sensory and visceral experiences of the organism are, or may be, assimilated on a symbolic level into a consistent relationship with the concept of self. PROPOSITION 16: DEFENCE OF SELF Any experience which is inconsistent with the organization or structure of self may be perceived as a threat and the more of these perceptions there are, the more rigidly the self-structure is organized to maintain itself. PROPOSITION 17: CONDITIONS FOR CHANGE Under certain conditions, involving primarily complete absence of any threat to the self structure, experiences which are inconsistent with it may be perceived, and examined, and the structure of self revised to assimilate and include such experiences. PROPOSITION 18: ACCEPTANCE OF SELF When the individual perceives and accepts into one consistent and integrated system all his sensory and visceral experiences, then he is necessarily more understanding of others and is more accepting of others as separate individuals. PROPOSITION 19: DEVELOPING YOUR OWN VALUING PROCESS As the individual perceives and accepts into his self-structure more of his organic experiences, he finds that he is replacing his present value system – based so largely upon introjections which have been distortedly symbolized – with a continuing organismic valuing process.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Global Marketing in Albania Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Global Marketing in Albania - Assignment Example This research will begin with the population and demographics of Albania. As of July 2014, the population of Albania is 3,020,209, of which 19.3 percent belongs to 0 to 14 age groups, 19.2 percent belongs to 15- to 24 age group, 19.2 percent belongs to 25 to 54 age group, 10.5 percent to 55 belongs to 64 age group and 11.1 percent belongs to 65 years and over age group. Population growth rate is 0.3 % whereas birthrate is 12.73 births per 1000 population. Knowing about the population, the demographics, the trends and related statistics of a specific country or region is critically important while planning for marketing of certain goods or services to that market mainly to design and develop the marketing strategies by considering customer requirements and preferences. Albania is a small mountainous country with a long Adriatic coastline. The country has a Muslim majority. Basically, Albanians are divided into two, the Northern Albanians or Ghegs, and the Southern Albanians or general ly termed as Tosks. Shkumbin River plays a significant role in dividing the southern and northern Albanians. According to Albania’s official figures, Muslims are 59 percent of the Albanian population, Catholic amounts to 10 percent of Albania’s population and Orthodox Christian below 10 percent. For a global marketer, it is very important to see where the economy stands and how it stays in comparison with other economies either nearby or with those the company proposes to expand its marketing. Albania is ranked 68, in relation to business environment and ease of business. The figure given below shows the ranks of Albania and other comparator economies on the ease of doing business.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Business management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Business management - Essay Example On the other hand behavioral theory argues out that any individual who can adopt a behavior that is appropriate can be considered to be a good leader. Behaviors could be learned in an easier manner than traits making the leaders to access all behaviors. As opposed to the trait theory that believes that all leaders may be born, behavioral theory argues out that leaders may not be born. The process of leadership can be learned thus not automatic. Different leaders are made through hard work and efforts. The behavioral theory argues out that managers’ potential of leadership can be could be trained to leadership that is effective thus leadership needs to be combined together with management so as to obtain significant outcome. In this regard, the theories of behavior are based on the idea that leaders are normally made instead being born. With this basis, the theory of behaviourism focus on the leaders actions instead of traits. Transformational leadership is a leadership style that facilitates morale, performance, and motivation of the followers by using various mechanisms. The first mechanism include having the follower’s identity and self sense connected towards the project and an organization’s identity. The second mechanism is challenging the followers for them to assume a great working ownership. The third mechanism involves serving as a role model of the followers hence inspiring them and boosting their interest. The last mechanism involves getting to know the weaknesses and the strengths of the followers for the leader to align the followers with tasks for enhancement of their performance. An organization that will call for transformational leadership is an organization whose workers need their needs to be addresses, for them to rise beyond self interest for the organizational sake. This is an organization whose workers have a consciousness level considered as below the optimal level o f the

Management and Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Management and Leadership - Essay Example Most organizations would only hire those individuals suitable for a particular position and the one they are mostly suited. Further, workers must be trained in their respective positions to ensure that there is improved productivity as well as personal career development. The training would be on how to perform the job and the best standards to be applied (Koestenbaun, 2002). Early Approach to Classical Administration The scientific approach to management focuses on the overall productivity of employees. However, classical administration approach to administration places much importance on the total organization. The most important aspect is on the development of good management practices rather than the development of work methods. In any organization, for effective management, there has to be effective flow of information from the top managers to the subordinates. Effective communication reduces the amount of time spent in unproductive duties. Communicating effectively ensures that employees are able to spend most of their time doing constructive and beneficial duties to the organization. Further, effective communication fosters unity between the management and the employees. This can eliminate problems of industrial actions that result due to lack of understanding between the management and the employees. In classical administration, most companies were managed on a personal family like basis. The employees in the organization were expected to be submissive to their managers rather than to the organization (Lussier & Achua, 2009). Tesco Management Model Tesco management model states that employees must be given a chance to meet their full potential. In carrying out their duties, they should not be discriminated against due to age, gender, disability, ethnicity or sexual operation. Due to these factors, Tesco has been able to rise from a small retail supermarket to the world’s fourth largest retail market. Good leaders and managers must ensure that the ir employees are given a chance to contribute to the wellbeing of the organization. This can only be achieved through effective communication. The diversity approach to management at Tesco ensures that all levels of the society are represented in the organization. Tesco aims at employing local people as well as developing them to become effective leaders in the development of the business. Further, Tesco does not discriminate on the basis of ethnic origin. Understanding among various ethnic groups is the basic priority of Tesco. This ensures that corporation among employees is ensures. Lloyds TSB's Management Model Lloyds TSB is major banking and insurance group in the UK with several other branches in more than 30 countries across the world. Their main aim is to be the best bank in the world. Measures of performance at Lloyds TSB are geared towards the faster completion of task completion. This is the best example of accompany that employs bureaucratic form of governance. Measureme nt of performance is not towards goal accomplishments but task completion, and the process revolved around the bureaucratic process of form filling. Most employees are required to sign up to some common agreed upon goals (Lloyds TSB,2012). The first goal is finance. Employees at the organization are expected to maximize income and optimize cost so as to bring about increased revenues. Secondly, employees must be able to maximize the number of new customers, products and services which are sold in the organizat

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

The Book After The Fact Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Book After The Fact - Essay Example Whether for a historical methods course or for an introductory survey, this book is the perfect text to introduce readers, stepwise, to the analytical approaches and detective work that historians use when they are actually doing history. The authors of the book are both are both history professors and historians who have specialized in American history and they draw their work from the history of the USA to provide illustrations of the ideas they are interested in describing. Each chapter of the book is dedicated to an individual detection technique that can be applied in depth to explore and renovate past events. The main idea behind the book is communicated in an extensive introduction that looks at the life of an 18th C diplomat called Silas Deane, whose death was nothing less than mysterious death (Davidson and Mark, 88). The book illustrates how historical investigation is equivalent to the seemingly more exciting detective work used to solve mysterious in tv, movies and real l ife. I must say that; through this work, we are able to uncover the truth of what happened in the past. The authors take people and/or events in the USA history and write chapters on the events representing techniques and methods used in writing and studying history. To some people this may seem boring- but fact is, it is not. The reality is an interesting look at events- some known other not clear- that reminds us that good narratives are required for good history and historians must use numerous diverse techniques and methods to get the information they require to completely and appropriately write the narratives. In chapter one, the authors examine the significance of the selection of evidence even if its real importance may not appear understandable at first. The authors focus on early settlement of Virginia as an example. The Virginia settlement is a vital historical subject in America especially because it is one of the earliest English settlements in the United States of Amer ica. Until today, there is still a good deal of written description about Virginia settlement that survives despite the fact that much of the written records about the settlement have been lost (Davidson and Mark, 9). The most remembered historical account is that of Captain John smith, whose swashbuckling tale gives emphasis to his own involvement and importance. Smith witnessed a Native American ritual of some form and described it in writing. As demonstrated by the authors, Smith’s account, however, was given in terms that were similar to him and would have been familiar to his readers. Unknown to him was the intended meaning of the traditional roles and ritual of the people involved. Some other prove is found in the dry accounts of financial transactions and court decisions, which include an order necessitating Virginia settlers to plant at least two acres of corn while at the same time forbidding them from burning hay to dry tobacco. If you have read this book, then you will certainly agree with me that it is possible to know truth about the past historical events. History is a very interesting that every person should fall in love with. The chapters in the book combine one incident and one aspect on the way historians go about doing what they love best-history. For example, the chapter of the Salem witch trials tells us a rather interesting story while at the some time introducing the reader painlessly to the historical perceptions of community dynamics, demographics, multiple causations, and the status of women in the 17th C New England (Davidson and

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Why did political parties form in the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Why did political parties form in the US - Essay Example As Hamilton once said, â€Å"Its not tyranny we desire; its a just, limited, federal government.† The idea had support, but also had a lot of opposition. Many Americans felt that the creation of federal parties would make the U.S. like the U.K. which the hated. It is part of a question that has troubled billions of people since the dawn of time: how should a society construct itself to maximize justice and opportunity? Is a strong central government necessary to do so? There are as many theories as there are grains of sand on the beach, but some ideas over the years have been more popular than others. Some people believe in socialism and that everyone must be made equal by a very powerful central government, the tall cut down and the short pulled up; others believe in a meritocracy where those people who have talent and work hard are rewarded for their labours. These people believe the government should get out of the way. Considering how developed the U.S. is today, the latte r view should prevail. Thomas Hobbes is most famous for his book Leviathan. In it he argued that a â€Å"war of all against all† existed in nature and that people were mostly motivated by fear and distrust and that peoples’ motivations all conflicted with each other. The only way for order to prevail, Hobbes argued, would be through an absolute sovereign or strong central government. While there is certainly some truth to what Hobbes says regarding human beings, other political thinkers have questioned elements of his vision. Indeed there are several flaws in this theory, but it shows us that it is not possible for people to effectively work as a commune. That does not mean we need a dictator to control things, but it does mean we need a strong rule of law to protect individual freedoms. The rule of law is effectively the latter-day sovereign. It serves the same purpose: it protects contracts and business and

Monday, September 23, 2019

Analyze an online article called Does Gender Matter by Ben.A Barres Essay

Analyze an online article called Does Gender Matter by Ben.A Barres - Essay Example First it acts as the backdrop. He argues that women are not pursuing sciences in academics mainly because of discrimination unlike what Lawrence and the others have based their argument on; that, women fail to advance in sciences due to difference in instinctive inability between men and women. This paper addresses the common expressed forms of discriminations that women go through and the risks that the writer takes in addressing this issue. Risks taken by writers to prove the impacts of female discriminations are far-fetched. Ben Bares refers to the before said hypothesis as, ``Larry summer hypothesis†.   He based his argument on that, a part from the major social factors that might make women to hate sciences and mathematics from a tender age, there is still slight evidence that there exists difference in gender abilities in mathematics which are innate or which are slightly relevant to lack of progression of women in sciences.   He explains that it is a fact that the society assumes that the women are less innately able in comparison to men. He further says this assumption is the foremost reason  why women are slow in progressing in sciences and mathematics. Ben Bares in rejecting the hypothesis by Lawrence Summers, Bares takes a great risk because he has to prove that it is not scientifically proven and there is no data supporting such claims. This he does warning that he dies not intent to battle with men or turn them into villains as  expressed in the quote, â€Å"I have no desire to make men into villain.† Bares take this risk so that he could protect the female gender in the society because in the past years it has faced much discrimination and there is no one who stood to protect their desires. This risk pays off well because it brought a great debate which has been discussed for months turning to years making him famous in protecting women in the society. Even before anybody could think of importance of studying the issue of

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Should Schools Have Uniforms Essay Example for Free

Should Schools Have Uniforms Essay Most high school students are teenagers. They are no longer children, but they still are not adults. Thus, they often want to wear latest fad clothes when they go to schools. However, I prefer the idea that they should be required to wear uniforms. First of all, uniform is one of the best features of each high school. Every country has its own national flag. Every football team has its own club emblem. Similarly, every high school has its own uniform. Uniform helps us to distinguish among schools. When we see a student at the street or on the media, we can tell where he is studying by the uniform that he is wearing. Moreover, each high school has a particular tradition. School uniforms can instill a feeling of school spirit. Wearing them can make students proud of their schools quintessence. Furthermore, wearing uniforms makes the classes more formal and more beautiful. If students have the right to decide what to wear to school, the classes appear to be in disorder. Hence, wearing the same clothes helps in creating a tidy learning environment. The teachers are interesting in imparting the knowledge to students, and the students are enthusiastic about studying more. It not only makes the teachers to feel comfortable in teaching, but it also helps the students to acquire better scholastic achievements. Finally, requiring all students to wear uniforms keeps high schools having high standards of discipline. To evaluate the quality of a school, besides providing superior learning programs, having a lot of books in libraries, building good buildings, the way its students obeying the schools rules is also one important factor. If the students attend classes regularly with uniforms, the school will have a good reputation. Many teenagers, as well as their parents, want them to be able to enter these schools. It ensures that the juveniles not only have better education, but they also are trained to become virtuous people. In conclusion, for the reasons above, I strongly agree that all high school students should wear uniforms at school. It makes the schools to be more beautiful, and helps the teachers and students in teaching and learning effectively.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Effect of sugar price increases on food sellers

Effect of sugar price increases on food sellers The consumers in Malaysia have variety of menus for their daily diet, and sugar is one of the most important ingredients. Thus the market of sugar is an important factor to Malaysias economy. At the end of 2009, the government intended to decrease the subsidy of sugar. The purpose of this proposal was to promote a healthier lifestyle.  [1]  The cheap price of sugar has lead to overconsumption. There is 105% increase in overweight or obese Malaysians from 1996 to 2006.  [2]  Early 2010, the government has increased the price of sugar by RM0.20. However the increment was not because of the decrement sugars subsidy but it was because the increase in price of raw commodity.  [3]  In 16th July 2010, government decrease the sugar subsidy by RM0.25. This is one part in Malaysias subsidy rationalisation process. When the price of sugar in Malaysia was being compared to sugar price in other region, it was proven that sugars price in Malaysia is much lowered. Compared to sugar price in Thailand which is RM2.60, Malaysia is only RM1.90. It does not surprise us at all when Malaysias subsidised goods were being smuggled to neighbouring countries.  [4]   The government would have to spend RM1.26 billion if the price of sugar maintain at RM1.45 per kilogram. As the price of sugar had increased to RM1.90 per kilogram, the subsidies now worth almost RM1 billion only. Government only need to spend RM0.80 for every kilogram of sugar.  [5]  The government spending is reduced and through this rationalisation process has gave many benefits to Malaysia which will be discussed later. Although there were many benefits were gained, the increased in sugars price gives large impact to the food industry and the consumers. However, this research will focus on the impacts of increase in sugars price to the small food sellers in Shah Alam. I chose to do this research in Shah Alam mainly because I want to study on how the increase in price of sugar affects an industrial area. In Malaysia, there is only four main sugar factory; one of them is in Shah Alam which is Central Sugar Refinery (CSR). The research would be interesting to conduct, since the supply can easily distribute to the consumers. This factor, in theory, should have created a more efficient market for the food industries. Besides that, increment in price of sugar likely to be happen again in the future time as the government wants to decrease the sugars subsidy gradually. So, by doing this research, I can educate the society to prepare themselves on the consequences that they might face in the future. In the beginning of the research, I am expecting the food sellers in Shah Alam to be slightly affected by the increase in price of sugar. The food sellers will increase the price of their product and the demand of their product will decrease. 2.0 The Research 2.1 Objectives This research main aim is to study the effects of increase in price of sugar to food sellers in Shah Alam. Yet, in completing the investigation, this research has a few objectives that need to be obtain in order to answer the research question. To determine the effect of increase in the price of sugar to its supply, costs and income of the food sellers. To identify the demand of the sugar after the price of sugar has increased. To investigate the causes of sugar shortages in Shah Alam. To investigate the condition and operation of the market of sugar after four months of price of sugar has increased. To find any recommendation on this issue. 2.2 Hypothesis The hypothesis is: In the short run the food sellers in Shah Alam were only slightly affected by the increase in price of sugar. The food sellers will increase the price of their product and the demand of their product will decrease. 2.3 Methods Three methods had been chosen to be used in this research. Each method was done specifically to obtain the objectives that had been set before. Interview The first method chosen is through interview. The interview was done to investigate the supply-side after the price of sugar has increased. It involved ten food sellers and two grocery retailers in Shah Alam and six bakeries had been chosen for the interview. The result is assumed to represent the whole area of Shah Alam. The aim of the interviews is to achieve the first, second, third and fourth objective (2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.1.4 and 2.1.5). The questions to be asked for interviews can be referred in Appendix A. Surveys Aside than the interview, a survey was done also to achieve the second objective (2.1.2). The survey was in the form of questionnaires and involved residents around Shah Alam which were chosen randomly (Appendix B). Secondary research The last method chosen through the secondary research; which were through internet and library research. This method was conducted to achieve the fourth objective (2.1.4 and 2.1.5). 2.4 Theoretical Framework The theories that support the aims of this study are as below: Theory / Term Definition Law of Demand As the price of a product falls, the quantity demanded of the product will usually increase, ceteris paribus  [6]  . Law of Supply As the price of product rises, the quantity supplied of the product will usually increase, ceteris paribus. Elasticity of demand A measure of how much the demand of a product changes when there is a change in one of the factors that determine demand. Price elasticity of demand (PED) A measure of how much the quantity demanded of a product changes when there is a change in the price of the product. Elastic demand PED is greater than one and less than infinity. A change in the price of the products leads to a greater than proportionate change in the quantity demanded of it. Inelastic demand The value of PED less than one and greater than zero. A change in the price of the product leads to a proportionally smaller change in the quantity demanded of it. Subsidy An amount of money paid by the government to a firm, per unit of output. 2.5 Scope of Research This research will study the market mechanism of sugar and food around Shah Alam (microeconomics). The demand of sugar is studied to determine whether removal of subsidy has impact on it. This research will focus on the demand side and supply side of food to study the implications of increase in sugars price. 3.0 Data Collection and Analysis The following results obtained from the research done. The results are based on the surveys and interviews that represent the whole community of food sellers and bakers in Shah Alam. 3.1 The supply side of the food market sold by the food sellers The supply curve for the food Effect increment of price of sugar on 1st January to the supply of food: The supply curve of Graph 1 has shifted to left, which caused the lowering supply of food by the food sellers in Shah Alam. The reduction is approximated to be 10%. However, there were 10% increments in the supply of food after four months shown by Graph 2. Average price of food (RM) S2 P2 pP S1 P1 0 Q2 10% Q1 Average quantity of food Graph 1: Supply of food after the price of sugar increased on 1st January 2010 Average price of food (RM) S2 S3 P3 P2 Q2 10% Q3 Average quantity of food Graph 2 : Supply of food after four months of the increment of price of sugar on 1st January 2010 On 16th July 2010, when the price of sugar increased, the food sellers increased their food supply about 25%. The price of food. To take the price of food as example could be difficult because there are ranges of food. Hence I chose Teh Tarik as example. Teh Tarik is a type of drink that is popular in Malaysia. It is actually a type of tea that is made by special technique by Malaysian and being drink by all races in Malaysia. Period of time Before 1st January 2010 1st January 2010 16th July 2010 Price of teh tarik, RM per glass 1.20 1.50 1.80 Table 1: The increase in price of food The price of food continue to increase because to the increment on the cost of production. Income of the food sellers Due to the severity of the situation in the market during the increase in price of sugar, all the income of the food sellers has decreased. The average decrement in income faced by them was 20% after the price of sugar had increased on 1st January. After four months, the average increment in income is 20% back to the equilibrium  [7]  . Then when the price of sugar increased again on 16th July, the average decrement in income was 30%. After one month, the average increment in income is 20% (Refer Graph 3) The costs of production. From the interview, all samples reported an increment in the costs of production. The costs had increased for 13.8% after the price of sugar had increased on 1st January and the increment shown by Graph 5. When the price of sugar increased in 16th July, the cost increased to 10.1% from the previous cost. This cost is variable cost  [8]  . The market is considered to be short run (1st Jan) and long run (16th July). (Refer Graph 4). Cost, RM 10.1% AVC3 13.8% AVC2 AVC1 Graph 4: The average variable cost of production Average quantity of food The detail on the cost is shown in Appendix A. 3.1.5 Measures taken by food sellers to overcome the problem. The measures taken by the food sellers to overcome the cost experienced are:- Increase the price of the product Decrease the quantity of product being sold Decrease the amount of sugar in the product Extent the sales time 3.2 The demand side of the food market The demand shows the significance effect of increase in price of sugar to the food market and the sugar market itself. 3.2.1 The demand for sugar when the price of sugar increased. The demand for sugar has increased when the price of sugar increased on 1st January. Even though, the price of sugar increase again in 16th January, the demand for sugar continue to increased. Hence the demand curve shifted to the right for both situations. Price of sugar, RM/kg P D1 D2 0 Q1 Q2 Quantity of sugar, kg Graph 6 : The demand for sugar when the price of sugar increased. 3.2.2 The demand of food after the sugar price had increase When the price of sugar increased on 1st January, the demand of food decreased. However after four months, the food demand was back to normal. Then on 16th July, although the price of sugar continued to decrease, the demand of food at Shah Alam also continue to increase. The increment was about 15%. 4.0 Evaluation In this section, we will investigate the behaviour of the demand and supply and how exactly it had affected the food retailers and bakers in Shah Alam when the price of sugar increased. 4.1 The market mechanism of sugar when the price of sugar had increased The demand of sugar continued to increase after 1st Jan and 16th July even though the price had increased. The consumption of sugar in Malaysia is about 1.3 tonnes and up to two million tonnes of refined sugar is produced annually  [9]  . The PED  [10]  for sugar after 1st Jan is 2.175. This indicates that the sugar has inelastic demand. According to the theory, if a product has elastic demand, then if price is raised, the quantity demanded will fall by more in comparison and so the total revenue gained by the firm will fall. However, the demand of sugar continued to increase; was not following the theory. Government noticed that the demand of sugar was not affected by the increased in price. Then they proceed with rationalisation subsidy and increased the price of sugar by RM0.25 on 16th July. New PED was created which was 0.66. The new PED indicating that demand of sugar was inelastic and this also gave a signal to the government that the market of sugar was back to normal. Sugar is a necessity product therefore it should have inelastic demand. The increment on price of sugar on 16th July was a first step for rationalisation subsidy programme. The government continued with this programme and on 4th December, the price of sugar was increased again.  [11]   Price of sugar, RM/kg 1.90 1.65 a D b c Q2 Q1 Quantity of sugar, kg Graph 7: The demand of sugar Based on the Graph 7, if a good has inelastic demand, before the price is raised, the revenue gained is equal to revenue box b+revenue box c. After the price is increased, revenue box c is loss and revenue box a is gained in return. Thus holding in this theory, government is expected to decrease the sugars subsidy, increase the total revenue and at the same time, hopefully decrease the consumption of sugar to promote healthier lifestyle. After 1st Jan, the increase in price of sugar gave a shocking experience to citizen in Shah Alam even around Malaysia itself. In short run, the behaviour of the market was not stable. Mostly this was because consumers are afraid if the price of sugar is going to increase and sugar shortages are likely to happen. Malaysia offers the lowest price of sugar in the region and hence sugar are being smuggles to countries nearby. (see Table 2) Country Price of sugar (RM) Malaysia 2.10 Indonesia 3.50 Singapore 3.80 Thailand 2.80 Table 2: Different price of sugar among different countries in the region on September 2010.  [12]   In the long run (16th July), the demand of sugar continued to increase but proportionally. Consumer knows about rationalisation programme and the quantity demanded continued to increase because of festive season. 4.2 Importance of rationalisation of subsidy In 2008, sugar has not been subsidised. It started in 2009 when the price of raw sugar increased from US$220 per metric tonne to US$440. Earlier 2010 the government decided to remove the subsidy gradually as the price of raw sugar increased to US$660.  [13]   Price of sugar (RM) S + subsidy (3) S + subsidy (2) S 1.65 1.90 3.00 S + subsidy (1) S + subsidy (1) P3 1.45 Graph 7: Removal of subsidy on sugar 0 Qe Q3 Q2 Q1 Based on Graph 7, subsidy was first given (S+subsidy(1)) and then it was reduced gradually. Consumers are indirectly affected as the government will use tax revenues to fund the subsidies and involves an opportunity cost in terms of reduced government spending on other things. Importance of removal of subsidy. The benefit of subsidy is manipulated by the wealthy, foreigners and large firms. The large firms manipulate the use of subsidies and better off compared to the poor citizen. Reduce deficit and national debt. Thus achieve the development goals. Malaysia have to import 99% sugar supply.  [14]  According to the law of demand, when the price of a good increased, the quantity demanded of the good will fall. Therefore when the subsidy is reduced, the sugar demand will decrease, hence the imports will decrease too. Thus the amount of deficit will fall. From 1998 to 2009, the deficit increased from RM5 billion to RM47 billion. The national debt is rising to RM362 billion. If the government debt continues to increase at rate of 12% per annum, Malaysia could go bankrupt by 2019 (RM1158 billion debt) and ended up like Greece. In order to save the country, Malaysia needs to increase its GDP  [15]  and reduce government expenditure. Government spent RM74 billion in 2009 for subsidy and RM3.4 billion was for food. When sugars subsidy is removed gradually by RM0.20 until 2012, by 2014, Malaysia will save RM1237 million. Deficit and debt will be reduced by RM103 billion in five years.  [16]   Reduce opportunity cost and use the spending in other sectors or even for merit goods. Part of New Economic Model and 10th Malaysia Plan. Improve competitiveness and ensure optimal utilization of resources.  [17]   Malaysias competitive index has improved from 18th to 10th.  [18]   4.3 Food market mechanism when the price of sugar increased in short run. Average price of food, RM S1 S2 E3 P3 E1 Q1 E2 P2 P1 D2 D1 Average quantity of food, Q 10% Q1 Q3 Q2 Graph 8: Average demand and average supply of the market of food when the price of sugar increased in 1st January E1 was the equilibrium of the market of food when the price of sugar is not increased while E2 and E3 shows the new equilibrium when the price of sugar increased. The movement of D1 and S1 looks insignificant; however the reduction is big enough to cause the income of the food retailers to decrease significantly. There was 10% decrement for both supply and demand. This was caused by three factors which are substitutes, real income and government policies (campaign). Average price of food, RM There are wide range types of foods; hence there are a lot of substitutes (determinants). When the price of food increased, consumers tend to find other substitutes even in short run. This caused the demand curve to shift to the left from D1 to D2. The second factor was real income of consumers decreased; purchasing power decreases. When the price of sugar increased, many goods increase their price due to production cost increased. CPI  [19]  mostly for all types of goods increased (Refer Appendix C). Therefore real income of consumer decreased and they choose to decrease the amount of food to buy and rather cook by themselves. The third factor was government policies (campaign). One of the main objectives of government to increase the price of sugar was to create awareness among consumer to decrease the amount of sugar consumed. This was also the objectives of 5M campaign which to decrease the amount of sugar consumed. From this campaign, the consumer a void from buying ready food because the food sold contains a lot of sugar and it is not healthy. 4.4 Food market mechanism when the price of sugar increased in long run. The second increment of sugar is accepted as a long run increment because the consumer was aware of rationalisation subsidy programme. Price of food, RM E1 S1 S1 P3 E2 Q5 Q4 Q3 Q1 15% 25% 25% 25% 25% 25% D2 S2 D1 P2 P1 D1 Average quantity of food, Q Q2 Graph 9: The demand and supply side of food when the price of sugar increased on 16th July The graph shows that the demand and supply curve shift to the right. The supply increased by 25% while the demand increased by 15%. This is due to festive season (seasonal changes) stated earlier. The consumer had to increase their demand for food as it were necessity for them. Aware of this situation, the food sellers increased the food supply to generate more income. From the surveys conducted the public are aware of the increment in the price of sugar and of course the price of food. Most of them decreased the act of buying food because there are a lot of choices in Shah Alam. There are many wet markets, supermarkets and hypermarkets. The consumer can buy raw materials and cook their food themselves and save their money.(Appendix C) However, when the festive season came, there are traditions in Malaysia where there are markets that sell variety of ready foods in this season. Therefore many consumers increased their consumption of foods because of the festive season. In addition, Malaysian has the habit of accepting government plan even though at the beginning they were not satisfied. As time passes by, they accept it as they know it is for their own good; hence the market mechanism of food is back to normal in long run. 4.5 The burdens that increased price of sugar had caused to the food sellers. From the interviews conducted, the increased price of sugar affects the income of the food sellers and increases the cost of productions. Average price of food, RM D2 D1 S1 S2 P1 E1 E2 P1 Loss of income Average quantity of food, Q Q2 Q1 Graph 9: Income of the food sellers At the beginning, the income of the food sellers was 0P1E1Q1. This was the equilibrium level of income of the food sellers. At this level, the food sellers can support all type of costs. The food retailers live a comfortable life until their income decreased to 0P1E2Q2. The grey area is around 20% percentage loss from the real income. The food sellers had to decrease their expenditure because of less income. Not even the price of sugar has increased but other materials that needed for production of food also increased. The technology used could not be repair and no replacement investment  [20]  could be carried out. The sellers need to decrease their living expenses to resort the loss income. They also might need to use their savings especially the sellers that handle small business, hawkers. They will faced big impact as they did not gain a lot of income compared to larger business. Competition increased as food sellers compete to minimize the cost to lower the price of food, thus increase demand. The sellers reported that they did not agree by the decision of the government especially when the price of sugar increased. There were rumours that the government will increase the price of sugar again, hence the consumers were afraid and thus panic buying happened and the demand of sugar increased. This caused shortages. This affects the food sellers as they cannot find the supply of sugar. For small food sellers who used to buy sugar at mini market had to travel to find other suppliers as shortages of sugar happened. Even at the hypermarket, sugar supply is limited and each people restricted to buy only 2kg of sugar. This has increased the cost of production and also affects their emotion and the productivity. They even had to increase the price as geographical mobility affects pricing. In addition, inflation  [21]  (increased in CPI) gave additional burdens to the food sellers (Refer Appendix D) as the price of other products increases (increase in cost of production). Some of the food sellers need to lay off their workers and this caused unemployment rate to increase (Refer Appendix E) The food sellers had to take few measures to repair this situation. Among the measures taken, they had to extend the sales times and this actually burdened them as the labour cost increased. When they follow the government campaign to decrease the amount of sugar, this change the taste of the product and caused the taste of the consumer changed too. Mostly the measures taken do not help them but since food is a necessity and due to festive season, the demand increased. After four months, the demand increased heading towards equilibrium and so does the supply curve. The income increased as it was nothing happen. Fortunately, festive season came and the demand for food increased significantly. This helps the food sellers to gain back their loss profit. Aside from that, 50% of the consumer did not agree that by increasing the price of sugar, the citizen will decrease the consumption of sugar while the other half agree that by increasing the price of sugar, consumption of sugar will decrease. Not many consumers are aware that government decreased the subsidy to decrease the national debt. This shows that public is unaware of the countrys situation. Incomplete flow of information is one of the reasons of market failure. Therefore government interventions are needed to create awareness so that the public could help the country to increase the national income. On the other hand, the research made by the government reported that out of 191 592 Malaysians, 115 703 agree with subsidy rationalisation and 124 750 agree the subsidies should reduced in 3-5 years.  [22]   5.0 Conclusion Clearly this research has answered the research question. The food sellers did experience a lot of problems when the price of sugar increased. Shah Alam is the capital city and there is a sugar factory but the food sellers still faced sugar shortages. The cost of production increased the income are lowered. Their emotion are affected but only in short run. The living expenses being reduced and their way of life changed. Although, there were few measures taken, it still cannot fix the problems. Fortunately, the market of food had recovered by itself and fixed the problems faced. The demand increased and the income of food sellers increased. The loss is recovered. Government should be aware of the impact that could cause the food sellers and should give awareness to the consumer the problems faced by the country (See Appendix F for recommendation). The consumer should understand the burden faced by the food sellers and do not blame them when the price of their product increased. Maybe the consumer could decrease the consumption of import good and increase the consumption of local good instead, then reduce the deficit and hence to help the country. Consumers also can change the way their life by consuming less sugar or substitute with other type of sugar example brown sugar or any artificial sugar on market. (See Appendix G for sugar substitutes). With this sugar shortages will decrease and substitutes could promote healthier lifestyle. Nevertheless the balance of payments is now become more stable. The deficit already reduced (see Appendix H ) and the current account balance increased  [23]  (see Appendix H and I). However, the GDP growth rate annually decreased. This might due to decrease in government spending. Still, this situation is surprising because rationalisation subsidy programme should increase the GDP but contrary situation happened (see Appendix J). Further research can be done to investigate the reasons of this situation and market mechanism around Malaysia should be study especially the rural areas so that comparison can be made. 6.0 Limitations In this research, the exact figure could not be attained. The food sellers do not want to co-operate due to confidentiality. The workers also could not co-operate due to working policies that not allow any interviews. On the other occasion, the respondents do give response but the answers might incorrect, they simply answer it because the answer looks true. This research was carried out in Shah Alam, therefore the data could not represent all population. This research does not specific on one type of food. Hence the data might be inaccurate. However from the observation make, the data is reliable. Time constraint hindered the research progress.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Critical perspectives on management and leadership

Critical perspectives on management and leadership There is a difference between what theorists believe managers should do, what managers believe they should do and what managers actually end up doing (Grint, 1995). Applying critical theory to determine what is what and who has what. Critical Theory The Frankfurt School of Critical Theory is the longest and most famous traditions of Marxism. This tradition is often referred as critical theory- meaning a special kind of social philosophy from its inception in 1923 by Felix Weil (Seiler, 2004). The critical theory of society of the Frankfurt School continues to excite interest and controversy (Kellner, 2001). A theory is critical to the extent that it seeks human emancipation, to liberate human beings from the circumstances that enslave them. A number of critical theories have emerged in connection with the many social movements that identify varied dimension of the domination of human beings in modern societies (Gutting, 2003). Thus, the term critical theory was used as the symbol of a philosophy which questions the effective order of political and social modernity through an order of immanent critique. It was mainly an attempt to regain a critical potential that had been overrun by recent intellectual, social, cultural, economic and technological trends. The term Critical theory has its origins in the 20th century Frankfurt School, and now is associated with scholars across a range of disciplines.   Its purpose of inquiry is to confront injustices in society (Clark, 2004).   Critical Theory has been deeply concerned with the fate of modernity, and has offered systematic and comprehensive theories of the trajectory of modernity. Critical theory began by putting Marxian political economy at the centre of analysis, and early critical theory was materialist and committed to socialism (Gingrich, 2000).   Critical theory has generally been committed to the idea of modernity and progress, while at the same time noting the ways that features of modernity can create problems for individuals and society (Kellner, 2000). This is much reflected on the 21st century, though there is progress in many things, but still issues like globalisation tends to pose important problems for the society.   According to Heilman (1998), being critical involves understanding the sets of historically contingent circumstances and contradictory power relationships that create the conditions in which we live.   Theory helps us to organize the world, to sort out the details, to make some coherent sense out of a kaleidoscope of sensations (Ayers, 1992). When theory is theorized, as stated by Heilman (1998), the imperatives of practice bring the theory down to the ground.   Phenomena are observed and experienced; this experience informs theory; and then the theory is further modified as a result of additional practice.   Rather like fiction writing, critical theorizing is a process of imagining and describing a non-real but possible world.   The critical theorists have deeply influenced contemporary social theory, communication theories, cultural theory and many more for a number of decades.   According to Clark (2004), Critical theorists are committed to understand the relationship between societal structures (such as economic and political) and ideological patterns of thought that constrain the human imagination and thus limit opportunities for confronting and changing unjust social systems.   Critical theorists emphasise that theory and research must serve emancipator interests, to create a world that satisfies the needs and powers of social actors (Sanghera, 2004).   According to critical theory, people are dominated by a false consciousness created and perpetuated by capitalism in order to preserve the hegemony of those in power (Meyer-Emerick, 2004).   Due to this cause, one can assume that it prevents people from freely pursuing their own interests.   This dissent is only dismissed if people begin to see the contradictions between the social construction of the world and their lived experience.   Critical Management Studies Critical management studies also known as CMS which is the known as the term that describes the a diverse group of people that has adopted the critical or questioning approaches to management, this term emerged of recent years. The report outline The above statement sets the mood for this report, as the report will be looking at how the critical management theory of yesterday applies to the modern western approaches of management today.   Another key aspect will be on trying to articulate the connections between the management perspectives of contemporary society in the critical theory.   The focus will be on Karl Marx and Michael Foucault as critical theorists and how their perspectives affect the management and leadership in today modern western era. Marx argued that capitalism, like previous socioeconomic systems, would inevitably produce internal tensions which will lead to its destruction. Just as capitalism replaced feudalism, he believed socialism would, in its turn, replace capitalism, and lead to a stateless, classless society called pure communism; Marx economic relationship between managers and the workers. Whilst Foucault argued that patterns in disciplinary behaviour found in management practices. management and leadership Scientific management Scientific management (Taylor System) also known as Taylorism is a theory of management that analysis and manufactures workflows to improve employee (labour) productivity. The idea was developed by a Frederick Winslow Taylor between 1880 and 1890, and it was the first published monograph (written documents). Frederick Taylor believed that decisions based upon tradition and the rules of the thumb should be replaced by accurate procedures that are developed after a study of an individual at work. This means that there is a high level of managerial control over employee work practices. Scientific management is a distinction on the theme of efficiency; it developed in the 19th and 20th century were instance of large recurring theme in the human life of increasing efficiency, decreasing waste and using experiential methods to dictate what matters rather than accepting pre-existing ideas of what matters. Management today is the greatest use of scientific management is a form to contrast a new and improved way of doing business. Leadership Leadership is having the ability to give guidance to those that will follow. Those that follow will help to complete the mission. It is an immature science and the body of knowledge in the field has developed through a series of fits and starts. Leadership is a soft science, just as anthropology, sociology and psychology. It can not be proven exactly what it is. Leadership is an art; the skilful application of leadership behaviours beyond techniques is much the same as the skilful application of brushstrokes by a master painter. Leadership is both rational and emotional. It involves both sides of human experience. It includes actions and influences based on reason and logic as well those based on inspiration and passion. Leadership is a social process shared among all members of a group. (Yolk, 2002) Leadership also involves in political activity as in power activity; conversely, it is much more like transformational leadership. Political processes involve efforts by members of the organization to increase their power or protect existing power sources (Pfeiffer, 1981). Although the ultimate source of political power is usually authority, control over resources, or control over information, political power involves influence processes that transform and magnify the initial basis of power in unique ways Karl Marx A Marxists thought is based on this lifestyle, a science of logic called Dialectics. Thus, Marxism is both a theory and a practice. The theories of Marxism are based on a scientific method of thought called dialectal materialism.   Theory is based on a particular set of conditions that are always finite, and thus, any theory is necessarily limited. To test the validity of theory, Marxists rely on empirical evidence as the criteria of truth (Basgen, 2005). Marxism embraces modernity and Marxists argue that one of the main problems is that capitalism puts fetters on the progressive forces. The forces of capitalism are viewed as progressive in sweeping away the traditional, religious, backward, and feudal forms of society, spreading industrialisation and urbanisation across societies (Moody, 2003). Michel Foucault His studies challenged the influence of German political philosopher Karl Marx and Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Foucault offered new concepts that challenged peoples assumptions about prisons, the police, insurance, care of the mentally ill, gay rights, and welfare (Ron, 2000). The main influences on Foucaults thought were German philosophers Frederick Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger.   The connect.net website, describe Foucaults thought as explored the shifting patterns of power within a society and the ways in which power relates to the self. He investigated the changing rules governing the kind of claims that could be taken seriously as true or false at different times in history. critical analysis Marx critique of capitalisms Capitalism is the system that upholds the relationship between the owners of the means of production and workers. The former comprise the bourgeois class and the latter the proletariat Marxs critique of capitalism was that while this system had incredible power and potential to transform human society positively, in actual fact it resulted in exploitation and ultimately limited the possibility for further improvement (Powell, 2001). Moody (2003), describe this environment as workers were emancipated from traditional limits but became slaves of the new factory system, monopolisation resulted in limits on trade and further progress, and the state acted in the interests of the bourgeoisie rather than society as a whole. Commodity Fetishism Labour Power To be clear about is what the capitalist has bought. The worker has sold not his labour but his ability to work. This Marx calls his labour power. Also, as Marx defines, labour power is the abstraction of human labour into something that can be exchanged for money. In addition, capitalism can purchases labour power as a commodity. In other words, Labour power is a commodity governed by the same laws as other commodities. Its value is determined by the labour-time necessary for its production. Labour power is the ability of the worker to work. It is consumed by the capitalist in the actual labour-process. (R.Sewell and A.Woods) Marx explains, I use the term labour power or capacity for labour, to denote the aggregate of those bodily and mental capabilities existing in a human being, which he exercises whenever he produces a use-value of any kindà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The value of labour power, like that of every other commodity, is determined by the labour time necessary for the production, and consequently for the reproduction as well, of this specific article as well. Capitalism Power As Campbell (1981:34) describes, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦as in slavery, where the producers themselves are owned by the slavery owners; in feudalism where the land is owned by the landlords; or in capitalism where machinery and factories (capital) are owned by capitalists. In capitalism, the machineries and factories is not the only thing owned by capitalists (or factory owners), also labours. For example, in a car making factory, all the machineries are fixed assets to the factory owner, machineries can not make profit for the factory owner if no one operates them, and so labourers who operate machineries are the main assets to the factory owners. In addition, labour power is a commodity (which is bought and sold on the labour market), (The Marxist critique of capitalism) because it has an exchange value. As Campbell (1981: 38) says all commodities labour power has an exchange value, its price (the wage), yet again like all commodities, it also has use value to the purchaser. The purchaser here is any capitalism or any factory owners. It continues one purchased, like any commodityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Labour power is owned therefore, like a machine, and is put to work (Campbell 1981:38) As the labour power is a commodity, so once it is purchases by factory owner, the owner has the power to either use it or exchange it to others. Also, in capitalism, once the owner purchases new labour power, he has the rights to make decision on how much he will pay to his new labourers, and how long the new labourers will work every week; also he can fire any of the labourers in his factory any time if he feels not satisfied with them. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ in a capitalist economy the vast majority of people have only their labour power to sell in order to gain income with which to purchase food, clothing, housing and other goods and services. The means of production are owned by the capitalist class and if they are unwilling to hire labour, or wish to reduce the numbers of workers they employ, this puts workers prosperity immediately at risk (Campbell 1981:111) Marxs argument was against capitalism, which he referred to as a stage at which every society must go through that can bring about the seed of its own destruction. He indicated that human essence was labour and physical effort needed in the production of the means of subsistence. Hence, some forms of production are needed for survival. The suggestion being that it is acceptable for oneself but not for others because some individuals may have all factors of production (capital, entrepreneurship, labour and land), while others may have nothing but just their own labour, which eventually will result in uneven distribution of wealth and income. Additionally, Marx argued that capitalism deprives the labour force of their creative fulfilment, and since they are portrayed to be the already planned part of the production process, they are unable to achieve self-actualisation. Exploitation and Alienation For Marx, this alienation works as a process, but it can be broken up into 3 different aspects for analysis. The first aspect of alienation under analysis is how workers are alienated from the product they produce. Under capitalism, the object the workers produce is surrendered for the wages they receive. The workers then loose any relation to the object they are producing because they are handing it over. This is of course is different from the system of self-sufficiency, where the workers have a much more direct relationship with the object that they produce. As the workers become more independent of their product, they transfer power to the employer. As mentioned with Marxs critique on the political economy, the more objects the worker produces, then the more power the employer possesses which will lead to a greater weakness to the workers. Therefore under this system, the workers are only competing to be exploited. This is a form of alienation, because the object that the worker produces becomes an alien entity to him, independent of his control and ultimately controls the worker. Another aspect of alienation that Marx examines is how the self becomes another alien entity to the worker. Under the mode of capitalism, the working conditions are established by the capitalists and not by the workers themselves. These conditions are established along the grounds of the capitalists drive for profits, rather than the workers need for self-fulfilment. Marx felt that self-fulfilment was a major aim of a person, and felt that under the system of capitalism, where your working conditions are created by your employer, it was impossible for the worker to gain this self-fulfilment. He also felt that the capitalist employers were victims of this problem too because if they didnt drive for profits, then they would be put out of business. The labour itself is described by Marx as exterior to the worker, that is, it does not belong to his essence. Therefore he does not confirm himself in his work, he denies himself, feels miserable instead of happy, deploys no free physical and intellectual energy, but mortifies his body and ruins his mind (David McLellan 2000). Explain Marxs articulation of exploitation. The practice of mistreat of workers in an environment that is deliberately designed to maintain it, i.e. capitalism, Marxs conforming the workers alienated by/owners of the means of production to gain profits at the expense of the workers (e.g. managers forcing employees to undertake tasks outside their job description in order to cut costs and maximise profits) because people are alienated they conform to the demands of their employers in order to keep jobs safe. Foucault disciplinary Power Moves away from the economics of Marx. Looks at power and reconceptualises it. Management as a representation of power relations in society. Specific rules maintain, regulate and institutionalize practices in a work environment (office, factory, school, etc), Power- Disciplinary power the panopticon as a illustration of society, the middle tower is all seeing yet prisoners always obey without knowing for certain whether they are being monitored, by whom or by how many. The result is the creation of self-regulating, obedient and disciplined prisoners (at least in theory). Relate this form of disciplinary power to management. Power as the central driving force in a society within a group of people in a working environment. Manager doesnt create a system the manager merely plays along with the rules, thus maintaining the relations of dominance and dominated. Critical Analysis on Leadership Over the influence process of leadership, it needs power. (Northhouse, 2007). Leaders are usually described as wielders of power in the discussion of leadership because they are individuals who dominate others. Power is the capacity or potential to influence another party (Mint berg, 1983; Pfeiffer, 1981, 1992). It is talked as the basis of leadership according to many political theorists like Machiavelli through academic political scientists such as Marx in the twentieth century. People have power when they have the ability to affect others beliefs, attitudes, and courses of action. Ministers, teachers, doctors, and coaches are examples of individuals using power to effect change in people. In commercial, there are two major types of power, position power and personal power (Bass, 1960; Etienne, 1991): Position power refers the power a person derives from a particular rank in a formal organization system, for example, department heads have more power than clerical staff in position. It includes potential influence derived from legitimate authority, control over resources and rewards, control over punishments, control over information, and control over the physical work environment.   Personal power refers the power a leader derives from followers. It includes potential influence derived from task expertise and potential influence based on friendship and loyalty. Followers give leaders power when leaders act in ways that are important to them. Power is also inherent in a persons position in the organization. (Bass, 1960; Etienne, 1991) According to Northhouse (2007) the current dominant leadership paradigm is the transformation approaches which is a process that changes and transforms people. The elements at the heart of transformational leadership are: idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration. Critical Analysis on Scientific management The Marxist theory of capital sees labour as a cost of production resulting in the alienation of workers as the need for labour surfaces from the physical needs defined by the fundamental relationship between humans and their physical environment (Hatch, 1997, p.27).   Taylors ideas on scientific management (1990) have similar economic themes to Marx and Adam Smith.   By viewing management as a science, he broke down the managerial problem into stages of research, definition, analysis and implementation.   His principles were inherently based on the assumption that people put in as little effort as possible into their work and were soldiering on in order to earn money.   This shifted all the responsibility from the worker to the manager and scientific methods were used to determine the most efficient way of working.   After selecting the best person capable of performing the task, they were trained to work efficiently and their performance was strictly monitored.   In hin dsight, though this may have appeared to be a good generic strategy for the success of a firm, it heavily depended on whether the optimal method of producing could be found and whether or not the strategy was implemented correctly.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   conclusion

Thursday, September 19, 2019

GERONIMO Essay -- essays research papers

More than 5,000 troops were under General Miles' command at that time, including elements of the 4th, 6th and 10th Cavalry. He gave the principal pursuit mission to the 4th because it was headquartered at Fort Huachuca, the base of operations for the campaign. The Army had permission to go to Mexico in pursuit. Captain Henry Lawton, commanding officer of "B" Troop, 4th Cavalry, was an experienced soldier who knew the ways of the Apaches. His tactics were to wear them down by constant pursuit. Stationed at the fort at that time were many men who would later become well known in the Army: Colonel W. B. Royall, commanding officer of the fort and the 4th Cavalry, who was responsible for the logistical support of the Geronimo campaign; Leonard Wood, who went along on the expedition as contract surgeon; Lieutenant Colonel G. H. Forsyht; Captain C.A.P. Hatfield; Captain J.H. Dorst; and First Lieutenant Powhatan H. Clarke, who was immortalized by the artist, Remington, for saving a black trooper during the campaign. With the fort as advance base for the pursuit forces, the heliograph communications network, which General Miles had established in Arizona and New Mexico, was used effectively for logistical purposes. However, the Indians and the Army were conducting their chase in Mexico where the system did not extend. So the most the heliograph could do in the campaign was relay messages brought by fast riders from the border. April 1, 1886 was the date that Captain Lawton led his troopers with two pack trains and 30 Indian Scouts through the Huachuca Mountains to Nogales, Mexico, to pick up Geronimo's trail. Though various units would join the pursuit later and separate to follow trails left by the Indians back and forth across the border, there were few times that Army troops and members of Geronimo's band would come face to face. Four Months later, Captain Lawton and Leonard Wood were sent back to Fort Huachcua, worn down by the rough country and grueling campaign. More than 3,000 miles were covered by the Indians and the Army during the chase, which took a month longer than General Miles had planned. The men had walked and ridden through some of the most inaccessible desert land in North America, in heat sometimes above 110 degrees. After Geronimo's surrender, "B" Troop of the 4th Cavalry was given the mission of escorting the Apache's to Flo... ...were killed by Mexicans in 1858, he participated in a number of raids against Mexican and American settlers, but eventually settled on a reservation. In 1876 the U.S. government attempted to move the Chiricahua from their traditional home to San Carlos, New Mexico; Geronimo then began ten years of intermittent raids against white settlements, alternating with periods of peaceful farming on the San Carlos reservation. In March 1886, the American general George Crook captured Geronimo and forced a treaty under which the Chiricahua would be relocated in Florida; two days later Geronimo escaped and continued his raids. General Nelson Miles then took over the pursuit of Geronimo, who was chased into Mexico and captured the following September. The Native Americans were sent to Florida, Alabama, and finally to Fort Sill, Oklahoma Territory, where they settled as farmers. Geronimo eventually adopted Christianity. He took part in the inaugural procession of President Theodore Roosevelt i n 1905. Geronimo dictated his memoirs, published in 1906 as Geronimo's Story of His Life. He died at Fort Sill on February 17, 1909.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Huck Finn :: essays research papers

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is a story of a young man who finds himself in many unpredictable situations. In the novel, Huck is constantly changing his setting. Either he is on the land, at the shore of the mighty Mississippi river, or upon a small raft floating downstream. Since Huck lives on both the shore and the river, the reader is able to compare the differences between them. To Huck the river has sense of freedom. Compared to life on the shore, Huck believes the river should be his home. For his companion, the runaway slave, Jim, life is always dangerous because of the price on his head. Also there are always hidden hazards that can pop up at any time. Huck Finn, the son of the town drunkard, has had a hard time living with the Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson. Huck grew up living wild out in the open, just going as he pleased. Now he living in a house, with two ladies that are very strict with manners. Although, he doesn’t runaway back to the woods, he still wishes he could go back to the easy living in the uncivilized outdoors. When Huck’s father learns of his wealth, he kidnaps Huck, and takes him back to a cabin on the other side of the river. After repeated beatings Huck escapes and makes the scene look as if he had been murdered. He then hides on Jackson Island, and returns to his life of freedom. Also on the Island is Jim, Miss Watson’s runaway slave. After finding out that the men of the town are searching for Jim, the two load up on a raft and sail down the river. Huck’s life has changed very drastically through these course of events. When he was living in town he learned manners, and how to be civilized. Now he is floating peacefully down the Mississippi River without a care in the world. For Jim, life on the river is always threatening. They must travel at night, and hide during the days. Jim’s plan is to go to the Ohio river, and travel north into the free states. One night, in a storm they float past Cairo and cannot sail back upstream, to the Ohio. Jim’s secret is put in jeopardy, when two frauds, are picked up by Huck. They ask Huck about the pre sence of Jim, on the raft, but Huck is very clever with his answer. Huck Finn :: essays research papers The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is a story of a young man who finds himself in many unpredictable situations. In the novel, Huck is constantly changing his setting. Either he is on the land, at the shore of the mighty Mississippi river, or upon a small raft floating downstream. Since Huck lives on both the shore and the river, the reader is able to compare the differences between them. To Huck the river has sense of freedom. Compared to life on the shore, Huck believes the river should be his home. For his companion, the runaway slave, Jim, life is always dangerous because of the price on his head. Also there are always hidden hazards that can pop up at any time. Huck Finn, the son of the town drunkard, has had a hard time living with the Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson. Huck grew up living wild out in the open, just going as he pleased. Now he living in a house, with two ladies that are very strict with manners. Although, he doesn’t runaway back to the woods, he still wishes he could go back to the easy living in the uncivilized outdoors. When Huck’s father learns of his wealth, he kidnaps Huck, and takes him back to a cabin on the other side of the river. After repeated beatings Huck escapes and makes the scene look as if he had been murdered. He then hides on Jackson Island, and returns to his life of freedom. Also on the Island is Jim, Miss Watson’s runaway slave. After finding out that the men of the town are searching for Jim, the two load up on a raft and sail down the river. Huck’s life has changed very drastically through these course of events. When he was living in town he learned manners, and how to be civilized. Now he is floating peacefully down the Mississippi River without a care in the world. For Jim, life on the river is always threatening. They must travel at night, and hide during the days. Jim’s plan is to go to the Ohio river, and travel north into the free states. One night, in a storm they float past Cairo and cannot sail back upstream, to the Ohio. Jim’s secret is put in jeopardy, when two frauds, are picked up by Huck. They ask Huck about the pre sence of Jim, on the raft, but Huck is very clever with his answer.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Health and Social Care Act Essay

Legislation: Health and Social Care Act; the Medicines Act and The Misuse of Drugs Act. Guidelines could include the Nursing Midwifery Guidelines for the management of medicine administration – registered nurses have to abide by this set of guidelines and for paid carers, the General Social Care Council’s Code of Conduct will have something which could relate to medication. Policy – for example – consider the Government’s drive to ensure people with dementia are not over medicated – so their policy is currently designed to ‘push’ the professionals responsible for prescribing to bear in mind the effect of drugs on frail elderly people and to consider alternative treatments such as activities and therapies. Other examples of policy might be the Government’s drive to limit the prescribing of antibiotics to reduce the incidence of resistant strains of bacteria. Protocols – a protocol is a procedure and you could outline your company’s procedure (protocol) for disposing of controlled drugs or medication in general. 2- Know about common types of medication and their use. Antibiotics- The most common side effects of antibiotics affect the digestive system. These occur in around 1 in 10 people. Side effects of antibiotics that affect the digestive system include: being sick feeling sick diarrhea bloating and indigestion abdominal pain loss of appetite Ibuprofen- Ibuprofen can cause a number of side effects. For this reason, take lowest possible dose of ibuprofen for the shortest possible time needed to control your symptoms. Common side effects of ibuprofen include: nausea (feeling sick) vomiting (being sick) diarrhoea (passing loose, watery stools) indigestion (dyspepsia) abdominal (tummy) pain Antihistamine- Common side effects of first-generation antihistamines include: drowsiness impaired thinking dry mouth dizziness constipation blurred vision an inability to fully empty the bladder (urinary retention) Drugs like insulin (blood has to be taken from a pinprick so that glucose can be measured before the insulin can be given); warfarin to thin the blood – again blood levels must be checked regularly; digoxin to slow and steady the heart (pulse should be checked prior to administration and advice taken if the pulse dips below 60 beats per minute) Common adverse reactions might be diarrhoea (some antibiotics for example); skin rashes; nausea – through to serious adverse reactions such as anaphylactic shock (facial swelling, blistering of the skin, wheezing and hives) leading to total system collapse and (if not treated with adrenalin) death. The different routes of medication administration are orally, injection/intravenous, creams, and liquids. 3- Understand procedure and techniques for the administration of medication. The required information from prescriptions and medication administration charts are medication name, the name of the person the mediation is prescribed f or, dosage, frequency/PRN and medication strength. 4- Prepare for the administration of medication. Standard precautions for infection control would be hand washing, ppe for  example gloves and aprons etc. In a structured health care setting, medication would be administered to the patient or resident or client by a nurse, such as an RN or LPN – whoever was assigned to be the med nurse. In other facilities, medication is administered by persons with med cert’s (certification training to administer meds). It’s a very specific, precise duty. Meds are secured in locked rooms, areas, and carts. No one is allowed access except the med nurse or scheduled med cert. (person). Meds have to be administered in the correct dosage, which can only be according to a doctor’s prescription. Dosage cannot be altered unless a doctor alters or updates the Rx. The person administering the meds must observe the person they administer them to and ensure that they took them. Pocketing meds (in the cheek), or refusing meds are handled according to the person’s meds and orders. Sometimes it is marked as declined / refused meds. Sometimes, it is documented that they did not swa llow it initially and had to be encouraged, etc. or whatever happened according to the facilities guidelines. Meds are always, and must be, administered and documented accurately when they are administered (contemporaneously). Meds are prescribed to be given sometimes at certain intervals. If the med is a few minutes late, no one is to assume that it was already administered, and skip it. Likewise, if it is offered a little early and that is appropriate according to the order, the med, or the patient request, etc. and it is not documented correctly and contemporaneously, and a second dose is administered, assuming it is on time, and assuming falsely that it was not recently administered (upon request or whatever the circumstances were), then the patient would have been given an incorrect dosage, more than they were prescribed. You know that with some meds, that could be very a very serious overdose, sometimes terminal. They do try to put many checks and balances in place to prevent as much human error as possible, but it can happen. The consequences are usually pretty severe. A med cert would automatically lose their med certification, and they would be disciplined up to, and including, termination. With a licensed nurse, I’m not as sure of the procedure, but I’m fairly certain it would definitely include reporting the med error or  abuse, suspension without pay, an internal (or perhaps external) investigation, and disciplinary actions up to and including termination. Also, unauthorized access and theft of prescription medications – whether by the assigned med nurse, or an outside party, would automatically involve criminal charges. And of course, criminal charges are always a possibility in the other two scenarios I presented above for med certs and nurses, depending on the laws, the circumstances, and the outcome of the investigations. Like I said, very serious consequences. And it’s not like someone could just take a med and it could go unnoticed. med admin documentation is reviewed / audited at least daily, if not more often, and if someone was suspected of confiscating meds, such as narcotics, the building, in some agencies would go into lock-d own and staff could / would be subjected to a search.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Employer Health Coverage: Cost Control Essay

Health insurance benefits are a large factor that employees consider when looking for employment. Employers are looking to provide insurance that is cost effective for the employer. Choosing what type of insurance to provide can have different effects on the profitability of the employer. Here is a comparison of the cost effectiveness of employer-sponsored health care and self-funded health plans. In employer-sponsored health plans the employer buys health insurance from an insurance company. The human resources department manages the group health plan (GHP) and they negotiate costs and different coverage plans with the insurance company and then select what is offered to the employees. This helps the employer save money by negotiating for deals and choosing what will be offered to employees. The employer can carve out specific items during negotiations, like prescription drug coverage in order to save money. GHP’s also include riders. These are certain options that the employ er doesn’t pay for. Riders are purchased by the employee directly from the insurance company to cover things like vision and dental services. GHP’s have open enrollment periods in which employees choose the coverage options they desire. This is the only time coverage changes can be made. Thus, the employer saves money during the year because insurances coverage isn’t constantly changing. Self-insured health plans are ones where they employer covers the cost of health benefits. This saves an employer money because they can set the premium rate on their claims history. Any money not used towards benefits can be saved and invested. If claims are above projected figures, stop-loss insurance will cover the difference not the company. Self-insured employers, many times will use third-party claims administrators. They are hired to collect premiums and to process and make claims. This saves the  company from the cost of performing these tasks themselves. Provider networks are doctors, health care workers and hospitals that accept the employer health plans. Most are contracted with the employer or insurance company to perform specific services at reduced rates. This saves the company money. Many times, if employees use out of network providers the cost difference is an out of pocket expense for the employee saving the company money. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) limits the ability of insurance companies and employers to deny benefits to employees (and their family members if applicable) because of preexisting conditions. This actually costs the company more money because they cannot deny benefits in most circumstances. Other state laws require employers to have a minimum standard of benefits for employees. This is called creditable coverage. This can also cost the employer more money because they have to adhere to a minimum standard of benefits for employees. Employer sponsored and fully funded insurance are two choices companies have to offer health insurance to employees. There are ways for employers to save money by what they allow to be offered to employees. State and Federal laws also demand certain coverage for employees. This leaves employees with many options to take into account when choosing an employer to work for.