Friday, November 29, 2019

XM-Sirius Essay Example

XM-Sirius Essay The BusinessWeek electronic publishing has covered the developments of XM and Sirius Radio Companies which have been close competitors in satellite radio broadcasting. Recently, the competition has ended by the merging of the two companies. However, some perceptions points out unprofitability of the merging. Thus, this paper will briefly discuss and examine some points of considerations, relating the capital structure and the short-term and long-term implications of this structure.DiscussionsRelatively the mergers Sirius-XM Radio has indicated â€Å"swing of momentum† leading to its profitability. Based on the 2008 Consolidated Statements of Operations, it manifested about 5% increase in the first quarter of 2008 valued at gross revenue of $578.8 Million and adjusted from operation losses. The indications of upswing capital performance can be noted from the independent revenue generations prior to the merging. This can be traced from the year 2003 financial-audit reports that indicated the consistent independent performances of both companies, as shown below in the significant ‘Return of Revenues in US Million Dollars from year 2003 to 2007’:Company20032004200520062007XM91.8243.5469.77901,138Sirius12.968.2186.7520.71,383.4Source: Securities and Exchange Commission, (2009)With the above illustrations and to the most recent financial performance update, the short-term financial performance upon the merging signifies capital liquidity, accordingly achieved substantial cash flow and recoupment from losses (Grover, 2009).It may be recalled that the previously strong competition of Sirius and XM have attributed to their losses in operations. This can be exemplified by the long planning expansions of XM and Sirius that favored the small competitor AM/FM radio companies which gradually acquired their customer-subscribers way back in 2004.It can be perceived, the indicated net revenue of $108.8 Million could restructure the capital budget under the c urrent merging of Sirius XM Radio Company. On the other hand, the cost of operations can be â€Å"fluidly† maintain within new capital structure, referring to one-time earmarking on the cost of expense, such as in incurring services retention costs on advertising, marketing, subsidy to equipment suppliers, customer care programs and royalty fees to shareholders.Partly, it can be recommended that long-term financial or capital restructuring must first recoup the operating costs and consistently maintain the financial liquidity or cash flows. On the other hand, the merging must likewise jointly defray the outstanding indebtedness of the two companies, referring to settle the previous financial liabilities at the time prior to the merging. Moreover, what could be then the bottomline of a long-term achievement of capital structure is to recover and reconsolidate the volume of customer-subscribers by promoting competitive services amidst the new set up of emerging competitors. Fro m this point of view, it may be on time for Sirius XM Radio companies to pursuing their infrastructural development plans of expanding satellite units and setting up of latest technologies.ConclusionThe merging of Sirius and XM radio companies have finally settled their â€Å"divisive† competition, in a sense that the long time competitions have divided their once captured customer-subscribers which gradually switched to their competitors. In conclusion, the operational losses would mean long-term planning for sustainable capital structure and revitalize the competitive stance in the new trends of marketplace and genre of customers.ReferencesGrover, R. (2009).   Ã¢â‚¬ËœDish Network Moves On Without Sirius XM’. BusinessWeek.Com.Retrieved 08 May 2009 fromhttp://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2009/tc2009032_598666.htm.Securities and Exchange Commission (2009). ‘Sirius XM Radio, Inc. 2008 FORM 10-KAnnual Report’. Retrieved 08 May 2009 fromhttp:// idea.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/908937/000119312509049874/d10k.htm#toc.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Free Essays on Ecology

Ecosystems An ecosystem is the simplest entity that can sustain life. At its most basic, an ecosystem consists of several species and a fluid medium (air, water, or both); it sustains two processes, the cycling of chemical elements and the flow of energy. Ecology: Scientific study of relationships between organisms and their environment The living part of an ecosystem is the ecological community, which is a set of species connected by food webs and trophic levels. A trophic level: Group of organisms with the same relative position within the food chain. (troph = nourishment) Trophic levels 1st Trophic Level referred to as Producers or autotrophs (auto = self). are organisms which make their own food from inorganic chemicals and a source of energy. E.g. green plants blue-green algae and bacteriu 2nd Trophic Level: Consumers = Heterotrophs (hetero = other, different). Primary consumers = herbivores E.g. grasshoppers, cows 3rd Trophic level: Carnivore (secondary) Consumers: lynx, meadowlarks. 4th Trophic level: a. Omnivores: (eat plant and animals) e.g. humans, black bears. b. Tertiary consumers E.g. carnivores which eat carnivores (hawks, bass) c. Decomposers/scavengers: E.g. live off the dead biotic remains and wastes (earthworms, beetles). Dominance: refers to the species that are most abundant or otherwise most important within the community. In the hotsprings certain bacteria survive better at some temperatures than others. Therefore the springs are coloured by the dominant bacteria according to temperature Terrestrial Food Web 1st Trophic: grasses, herbs, trees 2nd Trophic: herbivores that graze upon the grasses (mice, pine borers, deer) 3rd Trophic: Carnivores (spiders, hawks [3 & 4 level] 4th Trophic: Omnivores (black bears, people) Oceanic Food Web more complex than terrestrial food webs 1st Trophic: phytoplankton live on the surface environment of the ocean. Algae. 2nd Trophic: h... Free Essays on Ecology Free Essays on Ecology Ecosystems An ecosystem is the simplest entity that can sustain life. At its most basic, an ecosystem consists of several species and a fluid medium (air, water, or both); it sustains two processes, the cycling of chemical elements and the flow of energy. Ecology: Scientific study of relationships between organisms and their environment The living part of an ecosystem is the ecological community, which is a set of species connected by food webs and trophic levels. A trophic level: Group of organisms with the same relative position within the food chain. (troph = nourishment) Trophic levels 1st Trophic Level referred to as Producers or autotrophs (auto = self). are organisms which make their own food from inorganic chemicals and a source of energy. E.g. green plants blue-green algae and bacteriu 2nd Trophic Level: Consumers = Heterotrophs (hetero = other, different). Primary consumers = herbivores E.g. grasshoppers, cows 3rd Trophic level: Carnivore (secondary) Consumers: lynx, meadowlarks. 4th Trophic level: a. Omnivores: (eat plant and animals) e.g. humans, black bears. b. Tertiary consumers E.g. carnivores which eat carnivores (hawks, bass) c. Decomposers/scavengers: E.g. live off the dead biotic remains and wastes (earthworms, beetles). Dominance: refers to the species that are most abundant or otherwise most important within the community. In the hotsprings certain bacteria survive better at some temperatures than others. Therefore the springs are coloured by the dominant bacteria according to temperature Terrestrial Food Web 1st Trophic: grasses, herbs, trees 2nd Trophic: herbivores that graze upon the grasses (mice, pine borers, deer) 3rd Trophic: Carnivores (spiders, hawks [3 & 4 level] 4th Trophic: Omnivores (black bears, people) Oceanic Food Web more complex than terrestrial food webs 1st Trophic: phytoplankton live on the surface environment of the ocean. Algae. 2nd Trophic: h...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Politics in the Middle East Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Politics in the Middle East - Assignment Example The assignment "Politics in the Middle East" addresses such issues as Arab nationalism and particularly Zionism and the Israeli-Palestine conflict. Arab nationalism refers to an ideology that channeled for the union of Arab countries based on their common language and religion. It was an advocacy for socialism and Arab ideologies to create unity among Arab countries. Since the end of European imperialism from the Middle East, several nationalistic movements emerged. Countries such as Iran, Israel, and Turkey experienced several Arab nationalism movements. Several political events were responsible for the development of Arab nationalism in different countries. Israel is very fundamental in the history of Arab nationalism. Zionism was a renowned movement that united Jews and informed the ideologies that channeled for their independence. According to Jews, Zionism was a movement that focused on the restoration of their cultural and religious beliefs. It culminated into the ideas of new Jew. Jews occupy most of Israel that campaigned for the Zionist movements. After 1967, during the six-day conflict, Arab nationalism and considerations turned to be a factor of political marginality. After Egypt’s defeat by Israel, there was a call for the Arab Union by President Nasser. The modernization of Turkey was a key event in the development of Arab nationalism. The last Ottoman left Turkey in 1923. Under Kemal, Turkey eliminated all Arabic elements and reformed the country’s language to the Turkish language.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Is teenage pregnancy a social problem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Is teenage pregnancy a social problem - Essay Example The increase in the rate of unwed teenage births weakens the integrity of a country. Research suggests that millions of teenage girls get pregnant in the United States every year most of which are those who did not use any contraceptive, as is found by Jewell, Tacchi and Donovan (2000) who asserted in their study that â€Å"young mothers revealed more difficulties getting access to reliable contraceptive services, and dissatisfaction with sex education in schools† (p.522). Gillham (1997, p.10) states that whether one sees teenage pregnancy as a social problem is entirely one’s own perspective. To some teenagers, getting pregnant would be a total disaster of their personalities if they want to step ahead in their professional lives; while, there are other teenagers who find themselves enjoying the situation. Statistics According to Gillham (1997, p. 1), the perception that the out-of-wedlock teen pregnancies are increasing with every passing year is not correct. He asser ts that 1991 saw â€Å"10,000† fewer teenage maternities than 1981, while the rate was higher in 1971 and was highest in 1961. Gillham however draws a line between conception rate and maternity rate, and states that since the increased use of contraceptive measures and high trend of pregnancy termination or, in other words, abortion, the conception rate has increased with passing years but the maternity rate has lowered. Research suggests that 4 out 10 girls get pregnant every year which makes up around one million of teenage girls in the United States. Gillham (1997, p.10) mentions a study according to which 23 percent of the participants of the study intended for pregnancy, and the rate has increased to 40 percent in a recent such study. Boonstra (2002) conducted a survey and the study revealed that the rate of unmarried childbirths in teenagers has increased â€Å"from 13% in 1950 to 79% in 2000†. Moralization The increase in the rate of teenage pregnancy has given rise to the hot debate regarding public morality. The emphasis on morality has not made a drastic shift from teenage sexuality to no teenage sex at all, but actually it has given rise to safe sex with the use of contraceptive measures. Mothering on welfare (Breheny & Stephens, 2007; Phoenix, 1991, p.87) or issues like sexually transmitted diseases as AIDS (Teenage Pregnancy, 1999) has not compelled the teenagers to refrain from having sex; however, it has made them choosy about their sexual partners while using contraceptives. Although most teenagers do not give serious thought to AIDS but the debate on it has made it a public discussion. The society ignores the fact that the teenagers are not the ones who should be expected to make a revolution against teenage pregnancies; instead, they are the ones who are the recipients of this sexual inheritance from their forefathers. Moralists also overlook the fact that teenage pregnancies do not stand alone as a social problem but there are a number of social issues that are associated with them which include education, employment, politics,

Monday, November 18, 2019

Three Brief Topics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Three Brief Topics - Essay Example Eliade's The Sacred and the Profane are enlightens three categories. The Sacred which is a transcendent referent such as God or Nirvana, hierophany which is the advancement of the sacred into human experience where he discusses the revelation of the sacred in a person's life and the third category is idea of homo religiosus where Eliade considers the appreciation and devotion of one to such a breakthrough of supreme power. He describes numinous experience as an appropriate experience of the Sacred by religious human beings or homo religiosus. When a person can experience the amazing, mysterium tremendum and fascinans, both are awesomely fearful and the enthrallingly captivating aspects of the Holy or the wholly other. In expanding and expounding the phenomenological dimensions of the Sacred, Eliade describes the sacred experience in human being as a crucial point of orientation and at the same time it also reveals the ontological reality which is its source of homo religiosus experie nce. For an instance the space is characterized as the boundary between sacred and profane and thus locates the axis mundi as centre. Thus temples and tepees, homes and hearths become sacralized for homo religiosus. ... According to Gerardus even the most ordinary events such as the customary associations with one's neighbors or similarly one's long familiar tasks prove to be replete with mystic interconnections if one examines them more closely. One can completely ignore his own scheme of explanation in terms of single causes and can misconceive life as a broad current of mighty powers. If, for instance, one of the Toradja tribes in Celebes is preparing for an expedition and an earthen pot is broken, then they remain at home, saying that it is measa. This may be translated as a sign, indicating some future misfortune, but that the current of life has been interrupted: If then one thing has been broken, why not more Similarly, when a Ewe tribesman finds refuge from his enemies on a white ant hill he ascribes his escape to the power residing there. Thus the place, the action, the person in which the power reveals itself receives a specific character. Bearers of mana, for example, are sharply distingu ished from the rest of the world: they are self-sufficient.2 References: - The Nature of Religion. The Sacred and The Profane Pages 8-18 by Eliade Mircea Religion in Essence and Manifestation, volume 1 Chapter 4 Potency. Awe. Tabu. by Gerardus Van Der Leeuw, (1967) Pages 43-51 The nature and elements of myth Q2. Discuss the nature and elements of myth and explore a particular myth using the frameworks in the following texts: Chapter 2- Myth and Religion. In Myths: God, Heroes, and Saviors by Billias Leonard J (1986). Chapter 3 'Five monolithic theories'. The Nature of Greek Myths by Kirk G S (1974). Answer: - Myths are the stories from the remote past as in another world or an earlier stage of this

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Culture of the Penan Tribe

Culture of the Penan Tribe The review that I would like to made among the 5 tribes that acted by the Bruce Parry is the Penan tribe. First of all, I would like to introduce briefly about the character of Bruce Parry. Bruce Parry is an activist that venture into the most remote area of Sarawak state in Malaysian Borneo. He believes that the only ways to knows more about the culture anthropology and knowledge for a tribe is to have a participant observation in his fieldwork. Participant observations mean that living within a given culture for an extended period of time, and take part in its cultural daily life in all its richness and diversity. The Penan is a nomadic aborigine that roved on the land of Sarawak Borneo and some other parts on Brunei Bandar Seri Begawan. Nowadays, the number of Penan had officially stated approximate to 10,000 people and around 350-500 of them are nomadic that scattered over Ulu Baram, Limbang, Tutoh and Lawas of Sarawak. (Figures retrieved from: http://www.survival-international.org) The present Penans are consisted with settled, semi-nomadic and total nomadic communities that fully depend on the forest products. In Penan society, the natives are highly developed in an egalitarian society and little gender division. It means that the social stratification among the man and women are almost equal. For instance, the man and women shared most of the chores among them. Such as, gathering the forest product and extracted sago from the sago palms, but they are still some part of chores that dominated by male, for example, hunting in the forest. Penan is a group of native that practiced the ritual of Molong which means that never take more than necessary. The majority of the Penan natives are work as nomadic hunter-gatherers. The nomadic Penan usually moves in group that consisted approximately 40 people included children and old people. They do not stayed for a long time in a particular place. The period of time that they stay is depend on the resources at the place that they stayed and when the resources became fewer, they will choose other suitable places and moved again. The nomadic Penan native that lived in the forest was very much depending on their traditional diet-Sago that starch from the Sago palm. Once, the Sago palms are matured and fully grown, the sago palm trees will be cut down. The leader of the collecting sago palm will make sure an amount of sago starched is enough for each family and kept adequately for their supply. After that no more sago palm will be chop down until they are ran out of food. Besides that, the Penan native also preys on wild animals like wild boars, mouse deer and monkeys. The hunters hunt by using a blowpipe, made with the Belian wood and carved out with a bone drill. The poison darts that they used are made from the sago palms tree bark and on its tip; the Penan dipped it with kind of powerful poisonous latex that extracted from a tree from the forest. However, the Penan natives also cultivate the planting of paddy and domestic animal breeding for their own foods not for sales. Furthermore, I would like to discuss briefly about the Penan culture. Culture can be defined as a learned behavior in any particular society includes those ideas, techniques and habits which are passed on by one generation to another in a sense, a social heritage and which are virtually a set of solutions to problems that, in the course of time, others have met and solved before. (Tony Bilton, Kevin Bonnett, Philp Jones, Michelle Stanworth, Ken Sheard, and Andrew Webster, 1987, page 11) The nomadic Penan move in groups and they have their own clan territories, the groups are consisted of a family of five or six members and some family even consisted of 30 people. The nomadic Penan will leave their old selap (huts) and move to another domain of forest when their sago supplies are exhausted. The majority of the roofs are tarpaulins and there are seldom roof made by giant palm leaves. In the aspect of material cultures, only Penan elders dress in traditional dress, which called chawats means that the loin cloths, and wearing large holes in their earlobes. Nowadays, the Penan natives are making the tattoos by themselves which is almost like prison tattoos. Only few Penan now go in barefoot, most of them are wearing cheap plastic boots with rounded studs to protect their foots. In addition, I would like to discuss about the Penan traditional weapons that are used for hunting. For example the Penans blowpipes which is used for hunting wild animals. The another name for blowpipe is called keleput, are approximately 6 feet long and made from one solid piece of iron wood. Secondly, the process of making the Penan poison darts is cutting off the bark of the tajem tree to extract milky latex that is warmed over a fire to produce the poison. The poison darts can cause lethal arrhythmias to the animals. Blowpipe darts are made from palm fronds with light weight. Darts with metal tips which cut from tin cans are used for bigger size wild animals like deer and bearded pig. The last weapon used by Penan hunters is knives. The Penan hunters are carrying two knives. The first knife is called a poeh, is large and machete-like. The second knife is called darhad which is much smaller than peoh and is used for cutting meat, whittling blowpipe darts and fine work. Both knive s are carried close together with the Penan hunters. Besides that, in the aspect of religion believe for Penan native, the Penan have been converting their animism belief to Christianity since in the 1930s. According to the functionalist Emile Durkheim, religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden beliefs and practice which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them. (Robert Van Krieken, Daphne Habibis, Philip Smith, Brett Hutchins, Michael Haralambos, Martin Holborn, 2006, page 390) However, some of the Penan native still having a strong believe in myths and spirits. The Penan leaders still practice the ritual of blood pacts with neighboring tribe when doing the political agreement. The ritual of blood pacts was believed that anyone who breach of this pact will cause to vomiting of blood and a violent death. Moreover, in the aspect of economic for Penan native, most of the Penan are work as a hunter gatherer in forest and selling the main resource of the forest which is sago. The economy can be defined as a system of production, distribution, and consumption of resources, including the cultural belief that supports economic processes. During the colonial times, the British government will arrange trading missions called tamu close to the forests of the Penan to offered forest products like damar (now used in eco-paints), rattan mats and baskets, rhino horn, gaharu wood (or eagle-wood), wild rubber, monkey gallstones (for Chinese medicine), bills of hornbills, and deer antlers. These items were traded for manufacturing goods like knives, cooking pots and shotguns. None of these forest products are now abundant, but many Penans will sell surplus meat to logging camps. The Penan native also sold the high quality gaharu from gaharu tree but that can take years to accumulate. Gaharu is used a s incense, for medicinal and religious purposes, and as a perfume in the Middle East countries. For the division of labor for Penan, the man will always go for hunting and the woman will generally gather the sago from the sago palm tree and do the house chores. The pattern of economic subsistence for Penan native is foraging and horticulture. For instance, they are foraging in groups for wild plants and hunting for wild animals like wild boar and mouse deer. However, some Penan hunter still practicing the pedestrian foraging which means that the hunters are diversified hunting and gathering on foot. For the horticulture, they also rear some chickens, pigs, and monkey outside their house. The Penan native also having symbolic interactionism when they are hunting inside the forest. According to the principal ontological claim of symbolic interactionist is that reality is not immutable or fixed but is constantly being recreated or achieved through the meaningful interaction of individuals. (Tony Bilton, Kevin Bonnett, Philp Jones, Michelle Stanworth, Ken Sheard, and Andrew Webster, 1987, page 521) Symbolic interactionism means that the interaction among people, how people use symbols in communication and interaction to establish meaning, develop their view of the world, and communicate with one another. The Penan natives have their own forest sign language. For example, a bent twig stuck in the trail may simply delivering the direction of the hunter is going. The complex arrangements of cut twigs, sticks and folded leaves means that delivering the message to the Penan native about anything from the state of the hunting locally to the others hunter whether they are in go od mood or not. Furthermore, the Penan native also facing social changes in the Penan society. In general terms social change refers to the changes in the nature, social institution, social behavior or social relations of a society, or other social structures. According to Barbara Marliene S. Mary Ann A. Schwartz (2006) social change was defined as the time when external events happened, such as war and conquest and culture contact and diffusion, or environmental factors or internal events, such as innovations, invention and population shifts. For instance, in Penan society, the Penan native was influenced by the cultural diffusion from western, such as wearing t-shirt and jeans, cooking pot and cups made from western and lastly some of the hunter are using shotgun for hunting instead of using the blowpipes. The collective action also occur among the Penan natives toward the government when the logging company keep on cutting of the tree in Penan forest without paying any compensate and development to the Penan area. For example, many blockades were set up in attempt to stop logging operations on their land. Unfortunately, the efforts were hard to carry on and the situation turns bad with vast scale of clashes between the indigenous community and the state supported logging company. The Penan native also facing social changes because of the the geography and climate. It is because, the Penan natives is dealing with the survival problems inside the forest. Their food becomes hard to attain and the inhabited environment was contaminated because of the serious logging happened in Penan forest. These kinds of situation makes their natives life in the jungle becomes tough and unease. So, the member in the group is keep decreasing due to migration. Migration refers to the movement of people into or out of a geographical area (Barbara S Mary A, 2006). So, in future, many youngsters who grew up in the nomadic group will choose to move out from the community and headed to the life style in the city. It is because the young people rather choose a spouse from the city than they own people that stayed in the group. In the aspect of development in Penan society, the Penan native did not want any development from the government to them and they just want their own traditional life remains. According to Hunt, E. F. Colander, human being appears to be basically conservative and the human mind and personality are so constituted that once people beliefs, attitudes, and patterns of behavior, they have difficulty in changing them. (Hunt, E. F. Colander, D.C. 2005, page 90) The statement above have shown that why the Penan natives reject the development from government. However, the logging company which could bring development and economic rises to the country have also cause a lot of negative impact to the Penan natives. For instance, the poorly planned logging trails had caused the issues of earth erosion, landslides and the silting of watercourses happened. The situation had affected the functional relation among the Penan and the forest. The big trees which were removed had cause the Penan native hard to gather and hunting for their foods. Lastly half of the habitat of Penan native was being demolished. In the aspect of family in Penan society, the Penan natives are having closure group of marriage, it means that the Penan native will only married each other which is in their own tribe. According to Murdock, family is a social group characterized by common residence, economic co-operation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults. (James Fulcher, John Scott, 2007, page 447) Most of the family in Penan society is nuclear family and extended family. Nuclear family refers to a domestic unit composed of a man and woman in a stable marital relationship, with their dependent children, and the extended families refer to where more than one generation of husbands and wives cohabit with their offspring. (Tony Bilton, Kevin Bonnett, Philp Jones, Michelle Stanworth, Ken Sheard, and Andrew Webster, 1987, page 253) Most of the family member in Penan was built in extended family where the Penan natives live and work together inside their huts. In the aspect of gender in Penan society, gender can be defined as a term that has psychological or cultural rather than biological connotations. If the proper terms for sex are male and female, the corresponding terms for gender are masculine and feminine; these latter might be quite independent of biological sex. (Robert Van Krieken, Daphne Habibis, Philip Smith, Brett Hutchins, Michael Haralambos, Martin Holborn, 2006, page 304) The Penan natives are having their gender identity through the gender socialization. According to Ann Oakley, gender socialization is how socialization in modern industrial societies shapes the identity and behavior of girl and boys from an early age. (Robert Van Krieken, Daphne Habibis, Philip Smith, Brett Hutchins, Michael Haralambos, Martin Holborn, 2006, page 316) For instance, the Penans male when they are born they have to be a hunter-gatherer and do some rough work or learning the skill of doing rattans. The female who are born will have to do the h ouse chores with their mother and do the fine work like collecting sago or fruits. As a conclusion, the social changes have caused a lot of conflict among the Penan tribe and the government. Individual, groups, communities are reluctant to change and facing big struggle to adjust from the life style and conditions that they had used with, so many aspects in life have to be considered. At the same time the society have to differ themselves to maintain existing conditions. The Penan resists change because of their romanticized notion of traditional values and the good old days. (Barbara S, Mary A, 2006) For example, the Penan people valued their forest habitat and their traditional rituals very much and fear of losing each of them caused them hesitated to receive changes. So, the phenomenon of the Penan resistance is natural and it is common if they persisted in their objection. References: James Fulcher, John Scott. 2007. Sociology: Third Edition. United States. Oxford University Press Inc. Robert Van Krieken, Daphne Habibis, Philip Smith, Brett Hutchins, Michael Haralambos, Martin Holborn. 2006. Sociology Themes and Perspectives: 3rd Edition. Australia. Pearson Longman. Tony Bilton, Kevin Bonnett, Philp Jones, Michelle Stanworth, Ken Sheard, and Andrew Webster. 1987. Introductory Sociology: 2nd Edition. Mackays of Chatham PLC, Kent. Barbara Marliene Scott Mary Ann A. Schwartz. 2006. SOCIOLOGY: 2nd edition, Making Sense of the Social World. Allyn and Bacon Pearson. Elgin F. Hunt David C. Colander. 2005. Social Science: An Introduction To The Study Of Society. James H. McDonald. 2002. The Applied Anthropology Reader. Allyn and Bacon Pearson. BBC Tribe of Penan from the website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/tribe/tribes/penan/index.shtml, retrieved at 1 April 2010 Figures retrieved from the website: http://www.survival-international.org, retrieved at 4 April 2010.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

No Christmas :: essays research papers

When Christmas Couldn’t Come   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We lived in the farmhouse until my dad lost his job in 1994. No longer able to afford a mortgage, let alone utilities in the old, drafty house we moved into a smaller house two doors down. My mom called the new house â€Å"cozy† – making the best of a situation I couldn’t begin to understand; words like â€Å"WIC†, â€Å"welfare† and â€Å"debt† meant nothing to me at the time. I missed the barn that longed to be explored, the hill where at eight, I saw my first snowfall and of course, my room. The new house wasn’t mine, it was Miranda’s, a friend who moved away, my room wasn’t mine, it was hers. My mind raced with thousands of questions, all of them pitying myself, feeling bad for Andrea, forgetting about my family, all of them until my mom told the four of us that Christmas couldn’t come that year.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The words fell out of my mom’s mouth like hail from a winter sky, pelting me in the face, stinging my entire body. What did she mean Christmas couldn’t come, that we could no longer afford any â€Å"extras†, that things were going to be â€Å"different†? Instantly my eyes swelled with things unfamiliar to a tomboy, my heart raced my shortening breath as I struggled to empathize with my parents, searching for a question, an answer, something to make it better. Before that November day I never thought about money or affording things; I grew up in a upper-middle class family where eating out was a commonality, vacations were assumed and for all I knew money could have grown on tress. I was eleven, self-absorbed in wants and wishes where the new house was a drag not more affordable and sharing a room was suffocating, not compromising. Life, for me, had never consisted in cutting corners or working to make ends meet, I simply lived getting what I wanted, not what I needed. Only after that conversation with my

Monday, November 11, 2019

Do You Think Advertising to Children Should Be Banned Essay

Do you think advertising to children should be banned? Why or why not? It is an established fact that companies might benefit from right understanding of the children’s role in purchasing process. It is considered to be the case adults are loyal to those brands which they are used to enjoy in their childhood. Moreover, getting elder, children may influence their parents quite deeply. Parents tend to work more and earn more to make up the deficiency of the time to spend with their children by making some purchases. Thus, effective advertising addressed to the young audience is in the interests of manufactures. Due to a possible harmful effect on children advertising is the subject of wide speculation: whether it should be banned or not. It is important to find out which groups of children run the risk. Many researches describing human socialization’s process divide it in several similar stages (Table 1). This division is very relative, but not devoid of sense. The summarized stage from birth to 2 years is not significant for consideration due to lack of ability to distinguish between commercials and other TV programs which appears in the second stage (2 – 6 years). In this stage, children don’t tend to deconstruct contradictions in their opinions and are not able to tend difference between their own belief and another point of view thrust on them. At the age of 6 – 8, children are aware of existence of opinions which may differ from their own beliefs, but do not exhibit the ability to actually think from another person’s perspective. At the fourth stage (9 – 10 years), children are able to accept another point of view, but are not able to consider situations as an impartial side. Children at this stage are able to understand advertising intent and recognize bias in advertising. However, they have no defenses against advertising. At the final stage (since 11 years), teenagers are able to set up hypotheses and take into account all possible options. They have already got some knowledge of advertising tactics and appeals. As evident from this analysis, the most defenseless element here is children aged by eight. However, they are allowed to make just a simple consumer choice and strictly limited financial resources. As for elder children, they have more substantial financial recourses and considerable freedom. Besides, they may influence parents’ choice in areas such as electronic devices etc. Some people argue for ban against advertising. Nevertheless, there are some refutations of necessity to ban it. For example, younger children rely in their choice most on in-store experience rather than information introduced by adds. As for teenagers, they tend to use alternative sources of information, parental advice or peers’ opinions. Most researchers believe that some people have not got the certain characteristics of the final stage even during adulthood. The question arises as to not just advertising to children, but advertising to everyone. In my opinion, the most reasonable way is to control (or even ban in certain cases) advertising of goods such as cigarettes, alcohol and non-nutritious foods.

Friday, November 8, 2019

A Case Study Of Mental Health Essays

A Case Study Of Mental Health Essays A Case Study Of Mental Health Essay A Case Study Of Mental Health Essay Mental wellness has become a major planetary job. It affects 450 million people and one in four of us will endure from mental ill- wellness at some clip in our lives ( WHO, 2001 ) . Mental Health is used positively to bespeak a province of psychological well- being, negatively to bespeak its antonym ( as in mental wellness jobs ) or euphemistically to bespeak installations used by, or imposed upon, people with mental wellness jobs ( as in mental wellness services ) . During the 19th century, all patients were certified under madness Torahs. That is, the State merely made commissariats for the control of lunacy. The fledgeling profession of psychopathology ( this term was foremost used in Britain in 1858 ) was singularly preoccupied with segregating and managing madmans. With the outgrowth of the First World War, soldiers began to interrupt down with shellshock now called post traumatic emphasis upset . From this point on, psychopathology extended its legal power from lunacy to versions of jitteriness provoked by emphasis or injury. In the 20th century, more unnatural mental provinces came within its legal power, such as those due to alcohol and drug maltreatment and personality jobs. Today, mental wellness services may be offered to, or be imposed upon, people with this broad scope of jobs, although lunacy or severe mental unwellness still captures most of the attending of professionals.Another facets of the term mental wellness jobs is tha t some people, critical of psychiatric nomenclature, object of scientific or logical evidences to impressions like mental unwellness or mental upset . In the 1983 Act and tantamount Scots statute law mental unwellness is non defined. However, Article 3 ( 1 ) of the Northern Ireland Order does specify it as a province of head which affects a individual s thought, perceiving, emotion or opinion to the extent that he requires attention or medical intervention in his ain involvements of other individuals . Neither the Scots nor Northern Ireland definitions include psychopathologic upset and there has late been some treatment in the context of reappraisal of the Mental Health Act about taking it in England and Wales. Issues refering mental wellness have been raised well in the consciousness of politicians, the media, and the populace. Furthermore, the burden of mental upset is regarded non merely as a if non the- chief cause of human wretchedness, but as a important hindrance to societal and economic growing. Measurement of the old ages of possible life lost and the old ages of productive life lost through mental ill- wellness could make 15 % of all diseases and deceases globally by 2020 ( WHO, 1999 ) . A farther dimension of inequalities in the evident graduated table of mental wellness jobs is race. Race is controversial to specify. Familial differentiations between groups of worlds ( other based on sex ) have small empirical footing. Racial differentiations arose from anthropological probes carried out by colonised autochthonal people. However, because of colonisation, the societal individuality of these people became existent for them and others. In the United States black patients are overrepresented in mental establishments, and have become progressively so over the postwar period. This has peculiarly been the instance within province mental infirmaries, where minority groups constitute 35 per cent of the infirmary population, and are capable to higher rates of admittance and readmission. In a reappraisal of eight epidemiological surveies conducted in the United States between the late 1950 s and mid- 1970 s, Kessler and Neighbors ( 1986 ) found that among individuals with low incomes black people exhibited significantly more hurt than white people. They claimed, hence, that race is an of import independent variable in finding the likeliness of an single going mentally sick. There is some difference over what to do of this grounds. Cockerham ( 1990 ) maintains that the bulk of surveies on the incidence and distribution of mental wellness jobs suggest that race is non an independent variable: race entirely does non look to bring forth higher rates of mental upset for peculiar groups . Rather, it is because more black people are in the lower societal instances that they tend to show more marks of mental hurt. Others, nevertheless, disagree. Halpern ( 1993 ) argues that minority position can be demonstrated to ensue in a inclination towards psychiatric jobs. As with gender, a figure of surveies have been conducted bespeaking that racial prejudice exists in the appraisal, diagnosing and intervention of mental wellness jobs. It has been found, for illustration, that white healers by and large rated their black clients as being more psychologically impaired than did black healers. Patients who are uncooperative, endangering or opprobrious are more likely to be diagnosed as being mentally ill if they have minority position. In peculiar, it has been found that being black tends to increase the opportunities of a individual being diagnosed as being schizophrenic ( Wade, 1993 ) . Certain groups such as people of Afro- Caribbean beginning tend to be more likely than Whites to have psychotherapeutics. Minority groups have proved less able to do usage of community- based services. This is partially because they have lacked the resources to take part in the development of community attention, and partially because of the deficiency of involvement in or apprehension of the specific cultural demands of minority groups when set uping services ( Wade, 1993 ) . The term Afro- Caribbean refers to black people who either still live in Caribbean or who moved to Britain. Britain is an ex-colonial power, which enslaved and forcibly transported African people. Afro-Caribbean people have higher rates of diagnosing for schizophrenic disorder but lower rates for depression and self-destruction than autochthonal Whites. An unsolved argument about over- representation is whether it is existent ( black and Irish people are huffy more frequently ) or whether it is a map of misdiagnosis. The information of Irish people highlight why the emphasiss of racism, based strictly on skin coloring material, are non an equal account of differences in mental wellness position. Although Afro- Caribbean people are vulnerable to psychosis, prevalence rates of all diagnostic classs are higher than for the autochthonal ( non- Irish ) whites in Britain. What are the deductions of comparing and contrasting these two ex-colonized groups for our apprehension of the relationship between race and mental wellness? The first point to underscore is that given the white tegument of the Irish, racism based on skin coloring material may be a stressor but is non one that accounts for racial differences in mental wellness. A 2nd point is that while both groups are post-colonial leftovers of forced migration, the fortunes for each were different. Third, the fortunes of migration to Great Britain were similar in some ways but non others. Employment chances governed population motion in each. Fourth, as ex-colonized, Afro- Caribbeans and the Irish have been recurrently stigmatized and rejected. A verification of this point is that these groups are besides over-represented in the prison population, non merely in nonvoluntary specializer mental wellness services. Fifth, and following the old point, whatever the causal accounts for over- representatio n, the racial prejudice means that these groups are disproportionately dealt with by specialist mental wellness services. As the latter are dominated by coercion, this result can be thought of as a signifier of structural disadvantage for these groups. The demands, issues and concerns of black and minority cultural people ( BME ) with mental wellness jobs have been pushed to the bow of the national wellness policy docket ( Department of Health, 1999 ; Department of Health, 2005 ) . Britain is a multi- cultural society where the per centum of the population that is from minority groups is steadily increasing. In 2001 minority groups comprised seven per cent of the population, with a concentration in London and other interior metropolis countries. BME communities occupy peculiar places of disadvantage in the United Kingdom. Inequalities are reflected across all indices of economic and societal well- being.They by and large have higher rates of unemployment, live in poorer lodging, report poorer wellness, have lower degrees of academic accomplishment and higher rates of exclusion from schools. The tragic but important marker for BME communities was the decease of David Bennett while being restrained by nursing staff on a medium secure ward. After a long run by his household, an independent enquiry study concluded that the NHS mental wellness services are institutionally racist ( Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA, 2003 ) . The authorities later published an action program for Delivering Race Equality ( Department of Health,2005 ) . This program has three edifice blocks: to develop more appropriate and antiphonal services, to supply better quality information on the mental wellness demands of BME, to promote greater community battle in the planning and bringing of mental wellness services. DRE focuses on organizational alteration, but fails to appreciate the heterogeneousness within the BME population, and the complex scope of individualities and patterns it contains.It besides fails to appreciate that the inequalities in mental wellness for black people exist within a broader historical and modern-day context of societal and economic inequalities and bias. Furthermore, the job seems to hold been framed in the context of culture- therefore, the focal point in the DRE scheme on developing a culturally competent work force. Fernando ( 2003 ) argues that a focal point on civilization can itself be racist and hence has to be examined in this context. Another issue to see is the impact of racial disadvantage and favoritism on persons, their households and communities. Petel and Fatimilehin ( 1999 ) suggested that the impact of racism is psychological, societal and material. The effects of these are likely to be damaging to mental wellness, but it has to be borne in head that for some it may be minimum, while for others it may be of great significance to their emotional wellbeing. The effects of racism on the person may hold wider impacts on households and communities. The impact of racism therefore has to be analysed in the context of histories of migration, histories of disaffection, the subordination that resonates for these groups, and the manner in which these groups have been stigmatised and go on to be stigmatised in society today. There are many viing discourses and positions on what constitutes mental unwellness. Bracken and Thomas ( 2005 ) argue that our cognition of mental unwellness and hurt is undetermined and new ways of believing about mental unwellness are invariably emerging. Coppock and Hopton ( 2000 ) suggest that there is ample grounds to demo that mental unwellness is affected by societal and political fortunes. Mental unwellness can be profoundly dehumanizing and estranging. It is by and large regarded with anxiousness and fright and tonss to rejection and exclusion. A study by the Social Exclusion Unit ( 2004 ) found that people with mental wellness jobs are among the most deprived and socially excluded groups in society. The stereotype of large and unsafe has been fixed in the popular instance of Christopher Clunis- a back adult male who had a diagnosing of schizophrenic disorder, who indiscriminately killed a alien to him, Jonathan Zito, in a London resistance in 1992. Keating et.al ( 2002 ) have demonstrated that such stereotyped positions of black people, racism, cultural ignorance, stigma and anxiousness associated with mental unwellness frequently combine to act upon the manner in which mental wellness services buttocks and respond to the demands of BME communities. There are at least three factors that underpin black people s experiences of the mental wellness system: one, how black people are treated in society ; two, how people with mental wellness jobs are treated in society and three, the power of establishments to command and hale people with mental wellness jobs. Black people s experiences in society have an impact on their mental and emotional well- being ; these experiences in bend in fluence how they experience and perceive mental wellness services, and their place in society affects how they are treated in mental wellness services. Eliminating the disparities in mental wellness intervention and results for a black people requires alteration in single patterns, but this can merely be successful if supported by alterations at the organizational degree. Attempts to better mental and emotional well- being for BME communities should be anchored in an apprehension of history, broader social conditions and contexts, and black people s lived experiences: non merely their experiences of racism, but besides how they have survived in the face of multiple hardships. McKenzie ( 2002 ) has argued that the deficiency of definition of mental wellness from a British African Caribbean position and the usage of diagnostic standards based on white European norms instead than on the values and experience of the African- Caribbean population is debatable. Further grounds Hunt ( 2003 ) , Keating, Robertson and Kotecha ( 2003 ) and McKenzie ( 2002 ) suggests that people from BME communities experience a figure of societal and environmental hazard factors which adversely affect their mental wellness. These include high unemployment rates: hapless lodging, racism, low educational outlooks, peculiarly for African and Caribbean male childs ( Grater London Authority/ London Health Observatory 2002 ) ; isolation ; and a deficiency of entree to chances for personal development. A study by the black mental wellness charity Footprints ( UK ) ( 2003 ) , which works chiefly with African Caribbean service users, has identified go oning issues of concern about attention and treatmet as: the demand for better appraisal to advance more culturally acceptable intercessions, concerns about medicine, including high doses and polypharmacy, ensuing in legion inauspicious side- effects and negative staff attitudes. Keating et Al. ( 2003 ) have highlighted the point that black people see utilizing mental wellness services as a degrading and estranging experience and that their perceptual experience is that service respond to them in ways that mirror some of the controlling and oppressive dimensions of other establishments in their lives, for illustration exclusion from schools and contact with constabulary and the condemnable justness system. The National Service Framework for Mental Health ( NSFMH ) is an of import driver and ways a cardinal measure in actively signalling that wellness services must guarantee that the demands of people from BME communities are incorporated in the planning processes from mental wellness attention. The model emphasised the demand for diverse communities to be consulted about the on-going effectivity and suitableness of services. The NHS Plan is underpinned by 10s core rules that are aimed at guaranting that people who use mental wellness services are at the Centre of finding how services are delivered. The NHS Plan contains an expressed acknowledgment of the diverseness that exists within Britain. The late published scheme on black mental wellness once more underscores the authorities s committedness to race equality and outlines the underpinning functions of the NSFMH and the NHS Plan in guaranting that its modernization programme within mental wellness is delivered. In decision the drift and betterment for mental wellness service bringing to BME communities can be seen. Many people who use mental wellness services, nevertheless, would reason that what is less touchable is alteration in infirmary wards, twenty-four hours Centres, residential places and battles with community mental wellness squads ; in kernel, at the coal face. There is range for significant and sustainable alteration. It will necessitate a acknowledgment by mental wellness professionals of the strengths that service users and their households can convey in reshaping service bringing, partner- professionals and, most significantly, understanding by service suppliers and service users on clear and reciprocally agreed ends and results about what constitutes improved attention and intervention. Attempts to better mental and emotional well- being for BME communities should be anchored in an apprehension of history, broader social conditions and contexts, and black people s lived expe riences: non merely their experiences of racism, but besides how they have survived in the face of multiple hardships. Beata Kulinska Student no: 09284805 Word count: 2999 Mentions Pilgrim, D. ( 2005 ) Key Concepts in Mental Health. London: Sage Publications Ltd. Scull, A. ( 1979 ) Museums of Madness.Harmondsworth: Penguin. Rock, M, ( 1985 ) Shellshock and the psychologists. London: Tavistock. Rogers, A. and Pilgrim, D. ( 2005 ) A Sociology of Mental Health and Illness.3rd erectile dysfunction. Hymen: Open University Press. Wade, J. ( 1993 ) Institutional racism: an analysis of the mental wellness system. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.63 ( 11 ) : 536-544. Littlewood, M. ( 1980 ) Ethnic minorities and psychiatric services. Sociology of Health and Illness.2: 194-201. Sashidharan, S. ( 1993 ) Afro- Caribbeans and schizophrenic disorder: the cultural exposure hypothesis re- examined. International Review of Psychiatry. 5: 129- 144. Bracken, P.J. , Greenslade, L. , Griffen, B. , Smyth, M. ( 1998 ) Mental wellness and ethnicity: an Irish dimension. British Journal of Psychiatry. 172: 103-105. Greenslade, L. ( 1992 ) White tegument, white masks: psychological hurt among the Irish in Britain. Leicester: Leicester University Press. White, A. ( 2002 ) Social focal point in Brie: ethnicity. London: Office for National Statistics. Healthcare Commission ( 2005 ) Count me in: consequences of a national nose count if inmates in mental wellness infirmaries and installations in England and Wales. London: Healthcare Commission. Bhui, K. , McKenzie, K. , Gill, P. ( 2004 ) Delivering mental wellness services for a diverse society. British Medical Journal. 329: 363-364. McKenzie, K. ( 2002 ) Understanding racism in mental wellness. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Trivedi, P. ( 2002 ) Racism, societal exclusion and mental wellness: a black service user s position. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Department of Health ( 1999 ) National Service Framework for Mental Health: Modern Standards and Service Models. London: Department of Health. Department of Health ( 2000 ) The NHS Plan: A Plan for Investment, a Plan for Reform. London: The Stationery Office. National Institute for Mental Health England ( 2003 ) Inside/ Outside: Improving Mental Health Services for Black and Minority Ethnic Communities in England. London: Department of Health.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Heres How Crabs Find Food

Here's How Crabs Find Food Crabs may be a favorite food for some people, but they need to eat too. They often live in dark or muddy areas, where it can be difficult to find prey by eyesight. So how do crabs find food, and how do they eat? And, interestingly, what types of food do they like to eat? How Crabs Find Food Like many other marine animals, crabs rely on their sense of smell to find prey. Crabs have chemoreceptors that allow them to detect chemicals in the water that are released by their prey. These chemoreceptors are located on a crabs antennae. These are long, segmented appendages near the crabs eyes that have both chemoreceptors and allow them to feel its surroundings. Crabs also have antennules, shorter antenna-like appendages near the antennas that allow them to sense their environment. A crab can taste using hairs on its mouthparts, pincers and even its feet. Senses of Taste and Smell Crabs have pretty well-developed senses of taste and smell. Fishing for crabs, or crabbing, using pots and cages relies on these senses, and makes it possible to catch crabs. The pots are baited with a variety of smelly things, depending on the target crab species. Bait can include chicken necks, pieces of fish such as eel, menhaden, squid, herring and mackerel. As the bait hangs in the trap in a bag or in a bait jar, odorous chemicals waft out into the ocean, attracting hungry crabs. Depending on water flow, these conditions can affect their senses to detect prey. What and How Crabs Eat Crabs arent picky eaters. They will eat everything from dead and living fish to barnacles, plants,  snails, shrimp, worms and even other crabs. They use their claws to grab food particles and put the food into their mouths. This is similar to the way humans eat using their hands or utensils. Crabs also use their claws to manipulate or break up the food so they can place it into their mouths more easily in smaller bites. When crabs have to break through shells of other sea life, their strong claws come in especially handy while their other appendages help them quickly move to catch various types of prey. Different Crabs, Different Diets Different crabs like to eat different types of sea life and plants.  Dungeness crabs, for example, may snack on squid and worms, while king crabs like to nosh on clams, mussels, worms and sea urchins. Basically, king crabs hunt for prey on the ocean floor and often eat decaying animal matter as well as live sea life. Sources and Further Reading â€Å"Frequently Asked Questions.†Ã‚  Blue Crab.â€Å"Encyclopedia of Tidepools and Rocky Shores.† Edited by Mark W. Denny and Steve Gaines, University of California Press, 2017.â€Å"Dungeness Crab.  Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom..Blue Crab Anatomy web.vims.edu.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Minor in Entrepreneurship Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Minor in Entrepreneurship - Assignment Example Here are some of the issues you need to understand when launching and building a new business: 1. Industry Characteristics 2. Competitive Rivalry 3. Influence of Suppliers 4. Substitute Products Most successful entrepreneurs develop an intimate knowledge of these factors by working in the industry in which they start their business. If they haven’t held a job in the industry they are serious and frequent product consumers. Personal experience in the industry provides excellent exposure to the products, services, suppliers, important contacts, competitors, strength and weaknesses of competitors, key customers, channels of distribution, and marketing strategies. In nearly every success story we have collected, extensive experience in the industry revealed the missing piece that led to the business opportunity. Successful entrepreneurs continue to experience their industry first hand after they launch their new venture. All organizations exist in geographical space; the center is the furthest away from customers; the boundary is the place where customers, products, and competitors all interface. Thriving business builders spend a great deal of time in the boundary of their organization rather than inside an office: they interact with customers, work with front-line employees, and study their competitors’ products and services. Living in the boundary provides personal and up-to-date information about new innovations, reactions from consumers, tactics of competitors, changing conditions, and new business opportunities. Abraham Lincoln, one of our greatest American presidents, is a superb example of â€Å"living in the boundary† in the political arena. According to Lincoln, the best way to assess an opportunity was to gather data personally. During his first few years in office, Lincoln spent more days out of the White House than he did in it. He inspected every state regiment that passed through Washington, D.C., he met with his generals in the field, he spent time with the troops in their encampments, he visited the wounded in hospitals, he spent many days in the telegraph office at the War Department to obtain real-time information, he studied new weaponry, and even took charge of several battles, coming under fire on more than one occasion. This approach gave Lincoln first-hand information for quick decisions and effective strategies without having to rely on second- or third-hand information from others (Donald Phillips, Lincoln on Leadership, New York: Warner Books, 1992). In like manner, successful entrepreneurs spend a considerable amount of time on the edge of their organization, rather than in the center. This gives them a broad and deep understanding of their industry and provides valuable information for decision making and strategic planning. By contrast, company founders who fail often create ideas in a vacuum, and then try to push them into unfamiliar territory. In this scenario, the learning curve is long an d steep, and the fragile venture quickly burns through the capital, passion, goodwill, and team members.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Bird & Bird the Leader in Extensive Legal Services Provision Research Paper

Bird & Bird the Leader in Extensive Legal Services Provision - Research Paper Example It is stated in the case that â€Å"B&B lawyers wanted to be able to access case histories and other legal reference materials online from any of the firm’s 14 offices†. This is one of the highlighted issues that require the attention of the knowledge management (KM) team. Knowledge management system is very important to the business for it usually plays the role of organizing people and generating software and databases by using business expertise and experience. In response to the issue, a development team is created that includes the effort of KM team, information systems specialists and the personnel of 14 offices. The purpose of developing new system demands a team effort in order to meet the purpose of the information system. Another cited issue is all about the â€Å"searching capabilities for finding topic-related content within documents stored in the KM system† (Stair & Reynolds, 2010, p. 478). B&B lawyers are not satisfied with the result provided when using the traditional knowledge search because it generates long lists of results that are not relevant to the answer (Marcinko, n.d.). To address this concern, KM team adapted conceptSearching which is different and more flexible compared to the traditional keyword search. ConceptSearching has the ability to retrieve relevant information in a way that upon entering the natural sentences the nearest searched information is ranked according to relevancy (Chapline & Jytyla, n.d., p. 2). Through the collaboration of KM team, UCLogic and concept searching, a new expert system called â€Å"know-how† has been created. The designed user interface is important to make the usage of KM system easier for the users. The driver for change is B&B’s clients wherein the intention is to share the ways of doing business (White & Flutsch, 2006). Using the internal and external repositories for the new system is risky because there is a possibility that the storage capacity cannot handle the number of documents. Although technology  plays a relevant role in the society nowadays, it can never replace all the intelligence attributes of human beings.Â