Thucydides, the peloponnesian war, the Melian Dialogue ( Book 5, Essay

Thucydides, the peloponnesian war, the Melian Dialogue ( Book 5, chapter 17) - Essay Example The Melians was a colony of many islands, but Athens wouldn’t submit to them. They remained neutral and didn’t s tussle with the people. Athenians used violence to evict the Melians from their territory and this made the Melians change their attitude and became hostile. In the Melian dialogue, Athenians demanded the Melians to give up on their city and compensate them for the destruction caused in the city. In response, the Melians claimed that they would remain neutral and not become enemies so instead they offered friendship. The Athenians argued that they would look weak and the people would undermine their strength, if they accepted the Melians to be neutral and independent (Crawley 2). The Melians countered that it would be a shame and an act of cowardice if they surrendered without a fight. Thucydides stated that, if such an action is taken to keep your empire and your people will not be free and will subdued to slavery, then the people who are free will be considered cowards and weak if they fail to face everything. The Athenians responded and stated that the debate wasn’t about honor, but of self-preservation. The Melians stated that the Athenians were strong and they could easily win. In response, the Athenians stated that the strong were hopeful and the weak Melians were hopeless and outnumbered. The Melians responded that they had great help from their gods, but Thucydides stated that trust in god would give prosperity for those who stood for the right and not wrong. The Athenians response to the Melians was that gods and man value strength over integrity and the strong can make it but the weak suffer (Crawley 3-4). The Melians argued that the Spartans would come and aid them in their defense. The Athenians responded to this by stating that the Spartans had little to their advantage and more to lose by aiding the Melians. The Athenians concluded that there was nothing wrong in getting a strong enemy, but this statement didn’t change

Explain the Sequence and Rate of Each Aspect of Development Essay Example for Free

Explain the Sequence and Rate of Each Aspect of Development Essay Holistic development: The first month Physical development The gross motor skills that the baby of 0-1 month old will develop is that the baby lies supine (on his or her back) and the fine motor skills will be the baby turns his or her head towards the light and stares at bright or shiny objects. Communication and language development Babies need to respond to sounds, especially familiar voices. And babies need to share language experiences and cooperate with others from birth onwards. From the start babies need other people. Intellectual development Babies explore through their senses and through their own activity and movement. Touch From the beginning babies feel pain. Sound Even a new born baby will turn to a sound. The baby might become still and listen to a low sound, or quicken his or her movements when he or she hears a high sound. Taste The baby likes sweet tastes, e. g. breast milk. Smell The baby turns to the smell of the breast. Sight The baby can focus on objects 20cm away. Emotional and social development A baby’s first smile in definite response to carer is usually around 3-6 weeks. Also the baby often imitates certain facial expressions. This is showing that the baby is starting to develop being able to respond to different things. Holistic development: from one to four months Physical development Some of the gross motor skills that the babies develop from four to eight weeks are: the baby can now turn from side to back, and can also lift its head briefly from the prone position. Some of the fine motor skills that the babies develop from four to eight weeks are; the baby turns its head towards the light and stares at bright or shiny objects. Some of the gross motor skills the baby develops form eight to twelve weeks are; when lying supine, the baby’s head is in a central position and it can also lift its head and chest off a bed in prone position, supported on forearms. Some of the fine motor skills the baby develops from eight to twelve weeks are; the baby moves his or her head to follow adult movements and the baby watches his or her hands and plays with his or her fingers. Communication and language development From four to eight weeks the baby recognises the carer and familiar objects, makes non-crying noises such as cooing and gargling and then moves on to often sucking or licking its lips when he or she hears the sound of food in preparation. From eight to twelve weeks the baby is still distressed by sudden loud noises and often sucks or licks its lips when he or she hears the sound of food in preparation. Intellectual development The baby recognises differing speech sounds and by three months the baby can even imitate low or high pitched sounds. Emotional and social development The baby will smile in response to an adult and the baby enjoys sucking. Then the baby shows enjoyment at caring routines such as bath time. Holistic development from four to six months Physical development Some of the gross motor skills; the baby is beginning to use a palmar grasp and can transfer objects from hand to hand. It is very interested in all activity and everything is taken to the mouth. Some of the fine motor skills; the baby now has good head control and is beginning to sit with support. It can roll over from back to side and is beginning to reach for objects. And when supine the baby plays with his or her own feet. Communication and language development The baby becomes more aware of others so he or she communicates more and more. As the baby listens, he or she imitates sounds he or she can her and reacts to the tone of someone’s voice. For example, the baby might become upset by an angry tone, or cheered by a happy tone. Intellectual development By four months the baby reaches for objects, which suggest they recognise and judge the distance in relation to the size of the object. The baby prefers complicated things to look at from five to six months and enjoys bright colours. The baby also knows that he or she has one mother. The baby is disturbed if he or she is shown several images of his or her mother at the same time. The baby realises that people are permanent before they realise that objects are. Emotional and social development The baby shows trust and security and has recognisable sleep patterns. Holistic development from six to nine months Some of the gross motor skills; the baby can roll from front to back. He or she may attempt to crawl but will often end up sliding backwards. Also the baby may grasp their feet and place them in his or her mouth. Some of the fine motor skills; the baby is very alert to people and objects. The baby is beginning to use a pincer grasp with thumb and finger, and can transfer toys from one hand to the other and looks for fallen objects. Communication and language development Babble becomes tuneful, like the lilt of the language the baby can hear. They become to understand words like ‘up’ and ‘down’, raising their arms to be lifted up and using appropriate gestures. The baby may also be able to repeat sounds. Intellectual development The baby understands signs, e. g. the bib means that food is coming. From eight to nine months the baby shows that he or she knows objects exist when they have gone out of sight, even under test conditions. This is called the concept of object constancy, or the object permanence test (Piaget). The baby is also fascinated by the way objects move. Emotional and social development The baby can manage to feed him- or herself using his or her fingers. They are now more wary of strangers, sometimes showing stranger fear. For example if a stranger comes close to the baby and it moves away towards another person, this shows that the baby is fearful of strangers and gains security from the person it moves to. Also the baby might show distress when his or her mother leaves. For example if the mother leaves the room and the baby starts crying, then this shows that the baby feels insecure when the mother is out of sight. Holistic development from nine to twelve months Physical development Gross motor skills; the baby will now be mobile- may be crawling, bear-walking, bottom shuffling or even walking. The baby can sit up on his or her own and lean forward to pick things up. Also the baby may crawl upstairs and onto low items of furniture and may even bounce in rhythm to music. Fine motor skills; the baby’s pincer grasp is now well developed and he or she can pick things up and pull them towards him or her. The baby can poke with one finger and will point to desired objects. They can also clasp hands and imitate adults’ actions. Communication and language development The baby can follow simple instructions e. g. kiss teddy. Word approximations appear e. g. ‘hee haw’ to indicate a donkey, or more typically ‘mumma’, ‘dadda’ and ‘bye-bye’ in English speaking contexts. Also the tuneful babble develops into ‘jargon’ and the baby makes his or her voice go up and down just as people do when they talk to each other. Intellectual development The baby is beginning to develop images. Memory develops and the baby and remember the past. The baby can anticipate the future. This give it some understanding of routine daily sequences, e. g. after a feed, changing, and a sleep with teddy. Also the baby imitates actions, sounds, gestures and moods after an event is finished, e. g. imitate a temper tantrum he or she saw a friend have the previous day, wave bye-bye remembering Grandma has gone to the shops. Emotional and social development The baby enjoys songs and action rhymes, still likes to be near to a familiar adult but will also play alone for long periods of time. Spiritual aspects of a baby’s development Even a tiny baby experiences a sense of self, and values people who are loved by them. Spiritually is about the developing sense of relationship with self, relating to others ethically, morally and humanly and a relationship with the universe. The baby can drink from a cup with help, and shows definite likes and dislikes at mealtimes and bedtimes. Also the baby will start to cooperate when being dressed and likes to look at him- or herself in a mirror (plastic safety mirror). Holistic development from one to two years Physical development Gross motor skills (15 months); the baby probably walks alone now, with feet wide apart and arms raised to maintain balance. He or she is likely to fall over and often sit down suddenly. The baby can also probably manage stairs and steps, but will need supervision. Gross motor skills (18 months); the child walks confidently and is able to stop without falling. The child can also kneel, squat, climb and carry things around with him or her. Fine motor skills (15months); the baby can build with a few bricks and arrange toys on the floor, can hold a crayon in palmar grasp and turns several pages of a book at once, and can also point to a desired object. Fine motor skills (18 months); the child can thread large beads, build a tower of several cubes and uses a pincer grasp to pick up small objects. Communication and language development The child begins to talk with words or sign language, and by 18 months, the child enjoys trying to sing as well as to listen to songs and rhymes. Action songs (e. g. ‘pat-a-cake’) are much loved. Intellectual development The child understands the names of objects and can follow simple instructions, the child also learns about other things through trial and error. Emotional and social development The child begins to have a longer memory and develops a sense of identity (I am me). Also the child expresses his or her needs in words and gestures and enjoys being able to walk, and is eager to try to get dressed – ‘Me do it! ’ Holistic development from two to three years Physical development Gross motor skills; the child is very mobile, can run safely and can climb up onto furniture. The child can walk up and downstairs, usually two feet to a step. The child then moves on to being able to jump from a low step, walk backwards and sideways and can stand and walk on his or her tiptoes and stand on one foot. In my workplace all of the children this age are able to do all of these things. But the girls are all more developed than the boys. For example, with have a boy that is three years of age, and a girl that’s the same. The girl is able to write her name, speak fluently, help other children who aren’t as well developed as her and she even tells me when someone is doing something wrong. Whereas the boy can hardly speak yet, and when he does no one can understand what he’s saying. Michael Gurian, a noted educator and author, has shown through research that â€Å"hard-wiring and socialized gender differences affect how boys and girls learn. † Simply put, male and female brains are equal but different. â€Å"Boys use the right hemisphere more, and girls the left,† (Gurian, M. 2007) Fine motor skills; the child can draw circles, lines and dots using preferred hand. The child can pick up tiny objects using a fine pincer grasp. The child then moves on to being able to build tall towers of bricks or blocks and can control a pencil using thumb and first two fingers (a dynamic tripod grasp).

Assumptions, research design and data collection strategies

Assumptions, research design and data collection strategies Chapter 1 Introduction The purpose of this assignment is to offer a critical analysis of the underpinning assumptions and research design and data collection strategies and the practice of academic research. Two research papers are chosen for the purpose of this analysis. The first paper is a quantitative study and the second paper is a qualitative study. They are as follows:- Shafer, W. E., Fukukawa, K. and Lee, G. M. (2007) Values and the perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility: The U.S. versus China, Journal of Business Ethics, 70 (3), pp. 265-284. Tsoi, J. (2007) Stakeholders perceptions and future scenarios to improve corporate social responsibility in Hong Kong and Mainland China, Journal of Business Ethics, pp. 1-14. The main reason for selecting these two papers is that they both report upon the area of corporate social responsibility, which is the focus of my PhD. Within the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR), there has been considerable research discussing the relationship between values and perception with the attitude/behaviour of businesses towards CSR. These values are considered quantifiable and thus have been measured quantitatively using scales developed by authors such as Forsyth (1980), Singhapakdi et al.(1996), and Vitell and Patwardhan (2008). Interviews have been used to bring forward the values that are deemed important by stakeholders, and were explored qualitatively by Fukukawa and Teramoto (2009), Siltaoja (2006), and Là ¤hdesmà ¤ki and Siltaoja (2009). The two papers selected both looked at cross-cultural values and perceptions, however, they utilise different methods of investigation. This difference could provide a good basis for comparison, in terms of philosophical assumptions, research design, and the method of data collection. The analyses will begin for each paper with an introduction of the research aims, followed by the epistemological and ontological position, the research design, followed by analysis of its research methodology, the alternative research design and lastly, conclusions from this discussion will be provided. Chapter 2 Review of Quantitative Research paper 2.1 Research Objectives This study by Shafer, Fukukawa and Lee (2007) examined the values and the perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility on managers from China and the U.S. The authors used scales instruments to obtain quantitative data in order to make inferences on whether the managers nationality and personal values have effect on their ethical perception. The American and Chinese managers are assumed to differ in their personal values and subsequently this should be reflected from their responses to the â€Å"Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility† (PRESOR) scale. The authors provided the relevant background information and built up the reasoning for their hypotheses. The first hypothesis was that managers from China would believe less strongly than American managers in the importance of ethically and socially responsible conduct to achieve organisational success. The second hypothesis was that both American and Chinese managers personal values are believed to have significant impact on the responses to the scale. These hypotheses seem to correlate strongly with the research objectives which are to determine that there is variation in response due to cultural differences. 2.2 Epistemological and Ontological Assumptions It is likely that the authors based their research on moral philosophy which â€Å"refers in particular to the principles of rules that people use to decide what is right or wrong† (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell, 2005:19). This paper seems to indicate that the principles of rules of managers of different cultures are likely to differ and thus ethical decision-making would vary. The authors provided examples of other empirical research to support this notion. The assumption that personal values can influence ethical decisions shows that the research is likely to infer an ontological assumption of realist, whereby reality is seen to have an existence independent of the activities of the human observer (Blaikie, 2007:13). As the research strives to compare values and perceptions, these elements are thought to be measurable and quantifiable; seemingly leaning towards the empiricism position in which the key idea is that knowledge comes from observing the world (Blaikie, 2007:19). The authors employed deductive research whereby the â€Å"hypotheses formed are tested to determine if the statements can be supported† (Sekaran, 2003:31), which is a typical research approach of empiricists. Taking possibly the stance of positivists, these values are assumed measureable, and are thus thought to form the social reality that these values affect the perception of corporate social responsibility amongst the managers from these two countries. 2.3 Research Design The intention is to establish the differences in personal values, by using large quantities of data, which would be representative of the overall population of American and Chinese managers. This suggests that there are two assumptions, that values are measureable and that it is possible to generalise the population from the sample. In order to generalise, a considerably large amount of data is required, thus a survey research instrument was employed. The PRESOR scale developed by Singhapakdi et al. (1995) was used. The reasons that the PRESOR scale was chosen over the cultural dimensions formed by Hofstede (2001) were argued; examples of the latter in other research were shown to be inconsistent and inconclusive in its directional impact, thus making theoretical predictions difficult. The use of PRESOR scale in other research was exemplified and seemed to have established the reliability of its measurement. The PRESOR scale was explained further in the introduction of the paper. Thirteen out of sixteen original items were selected and the authors justified this by stating that only these thirteen items had significant factor loadings in the Singhapakdi, Scott and Franke (1999:25) study. These items were grouped into two categories; the Stockholder and the Stakeholder views. The Stakeholder View reflects the importance of ethics and social responsibility to organisational survival and success, whilst the Stockholder view indicates that organisational success depends on more than just profitability and obligations to the stockholders (Axinn et al., 2004:104) In the methodology section, the Schwartz value instrument and a demographic questionnaire were mentioned as being used together with the PRESOR scale. There was little mention of the reasons the Schwartz scale was used and how it was applied. It was only later in the appendix that the items considered in the Schwartz scale was provided in details. A clearer explanation could have improved the clarity of the paper. The research design employed the use of two research instruments (PRESOR scale and Schwartz value instrument) as means for data collection. The sample of practising managers from the two different countries was given the same survey to complete, thus the responses could be compared on that basis. The results from the analyses were then compared against the hypotheses formed, affirming or not affirming the hypotheses. This process is typical of the deductive approach (Blaikie, 2007:70). 2.4 Data Collection The sample consisted of 311 practising managers, enrolled part time in selective MBA programmes in the U.S. and China. The participation was voluntary and the scales were completed as an in-class exercise. The authors acknowledged potential problems from this sample selection. The first is that, although the MBA programmes in these two countries appear to be comparable, the sample may have confounded the effects of national differences and MBA programme differences. Secondly, the sample was not randomly selected as the authors had asked their students to complete the scales in-class. The authors did not provide further justification for these two problems and thus this is believed to have weakened the external validity of this investigation (Bryman and Bell, 2007:204). Aside from this comment from the authors, there was very little mention of the validity of the measurement which makes it difficult to make further discussion on this. The basis of their selectivity and the criteria in which these programmes were said to be comparable, were also not provided in details. The details of its comparability may have helped clarify and strengthen the validity of the selection criteria, as well as making the paper more understandable. Considering the objectives of the research, in which the authors seem to be looking at making generalisations on the affect of personal values, there is a need to collect large quantities of data. The survey method seems to be appropriate as surveys are easy to distribute to large number of people and costs can be kept to a minimum (Bryman and Bell, 2007:195). This relates to external validity, which is â€Å"about generalisability of results beyond the focal study† (Easterby-Smith et al., 2008:87). In this paper, external validity was not discussed; however, it is likely that the results are meant to be applicable for the context of China and the U.S. only. The authors stated the limitation of which the participants can not be assumed as representative of the broader populations of managers in these two countries, due to the fact that the MBA programmes were selective in nature. The research took consideration of the possibility that the age and experience differences of their sample might affect the results, and thus these factors were examined for significance. The scale was translated to Mandarin Chinese and later back-translated with resolution of discrepancies, to take account of the language difference. These examples seem to reflect on the effort of the authors in ensuring that the results are not significantly affected by other variables. In order to test the dimensionality of the PRESOR scale, a principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation and Kaiser normalisation was applied. This is typical of a quantitative study where factor analysis is usually applied as part of the research design. In terms of research replication, this research had provided considerable amount of information which would possibly allow other researchers to perform similar research. The items from the two views (Stockholder and Stakeholder) of the PRESOR scale were provided in details. In addition, the authors also mentioned the calculation method used, such as the use of mean values and the Univariate Analysis of Covariance models (ANCOVA). The only exception would probably be the PRESOR scale itself, whereby the questions that were asked and the choice answers were not explicitly given, which might mean that future researchers might find it difficult to replicate the research and might even have to approach the authors or Singhapakdi who developed the scale. 2.5 Alternative Method The authors mentioned that more in-depth examination using qualitative design of investigation such as interviews would perhaps be more revealing. It is agreed that qualitative measure would allow insights into the importance of ethics to managers, and the various ethical issues that managers prioritise. The researchers are more likely to obtain a richer data of the decision-making process of managers, at the same time; they would be able to achieve the research objectives. The researchers can make use of semi-structured type interview which will allow better control of what questions need to be asked, and to ensure that the objectives of the interview are achieved as well (Bryman and Bell, 2007:474), if time and costs are constraints. There are also other alternatives methods to obtain qualitative data that would have fit this research, such as the use of focus groups. Focus group interviews allow researchers to observe the behaviour of the American and Chinese managers as they interact with each other. It would be possible to see the differences in reaction to ethical issues much more clearly, when these managers are given, for example, the same ethical dilemma, and they are required to rationalise the problem and come up with solutions. This method might be more useful than questionnaire surveys, particularly in that the values of the American and Chinese managers could be brought out through the way they respond and react to ethical problems, the problem-rationalisation process, and the degree of attention paid on a particular problem. Similar to the interview method, this would be considerably more costly to conduct, and it might even be more costly than doing interviews, however, the researchers would gain no t only in achieving the research objectives but they would also attain a better understanding of the effects of personal values in ethical decision-making. However, if the goal was only to establish that perception of CSR differs between diverse cultures, the research design would have fit the purpose. This is because the data collection strategy used (questionnaire survey), allowed the authors to obtain considerably response for generalisation. A questionnaire survey would also have been more cost-efficient and less time consuming, especially for cross-cultural studies. Chapter 3 Review of Qualitative Research paper 3.1 Research Objectives In this second paper, this qualitative study aims to make apparent the perceptions and views of the future scenarios from stakeholders within the garment industry in Hong Kong and Mainland China. The underlying intention was to seek consensus and common ground, on a local and regional level to help companies develop an appropriate CSR strategy, to improve the state of corporate social responsibility and in the long run, to achieve sustainability in the region. The main objective was stated as â€Å"by engaging with major stakeholders, to identify the local and regional supply chain stakeholders perceptions and expectations† (Tsoi, 2007:1). Typical of a qualitative study, generalisation is often not the objective of the study (Bryman and Bell, 2007:410). This is apparent from this study as the author had mentioned that the sample may not be sufficient for generalisation for the entire garment industry, however, it is â€Å"relevant to garment businesses involved in export-orientated activities† (Tsoi, 2007:1). Tsoi (2007) used an inductive approach to identify the perceptions of stakeholders by conducting interviews. 3.2 Epistemological and Ontological Assumptions Although the author did not indicate the philosophical assumptions behind this study, the author implied that by identifying the stakeholders perception, â€Å"the findings would help in building consensus, strengthening the implementation, and establishing future CSR framework†. This suggests that the author has an ontological position of constructionism, which asserts that social phenomena and their meanings are continually being accomplished by social actors, implying that there exists social interaction and that there is a constant state of revision of the social phenomena (Bryman and Bell, 2007:23). In this case study, the social reality of what is happening in the garment industry, in terms of its corporate social responsibility, is a social reality that was formed by the stakeholders. It suggests that the social phenomena (condition of CSR) can undergo changes, and that it is dependent on the activities of the social actors. The views of the social actors are thought to be indicative of the important issues in corporate social responsibility, within the garment industry. This form of research is consistent with the research paradigm of the interpretivist position, as the basis of the research is that the study of the phenomena requires an understanding of the social world that social actors have constructed and which they reproduced through their continuing activities (Blaikie, 2007:124). In this instance, the stakeholders are the social actors who will continually interpret and reinterpreting their social world which can be the garment industry. The social phenomenon that the author is investigating is the current state and the future of the corporate social responsibility in Hong Kong and Mainland China. The future conception of CSR in these two places is related to phenomenology, whereby, it concerns with the question of how individuals make sense of the world around them (Bryman and Bell, 2007:18). In this case, it can be viewed as the way stakeholders make sense of the state of corporate responsibility in the region. 3.3 Research Design The author relied on a qualitative method, specifically, the face-to-face semi-structured interview, which indicates the leanings of the author in â€Å"conducting a naturalistic inquiry in real-world rather than experimental or manipulated settings† (Ritchie and Lewis, 2003:4). For qualitative studies, semi-structured and unstructured interviews are commonly used as they provide rich, detailed answers and taps into the interviewees point of view (Bryman and Bell, 2007:474). As the focal source of data was the stakeholders themselves in this study, this seems to infer that the research design is based on the interpretivist view that the â€Å"social phenomena can only be understood and be investigated from the inside† (Blaikie, 2007:125). The author identified major stakeholders possibly with stakeholder theory, stating the assumption â€Å"that multinationals see stakeholder consultation and management as an important communication tool in identifying and interpreting the needs of salient stakeholders† and as such would enable â€Å"the development of a common language for CSR and subsequently the development of proactive CSR strategies†. This correlates with the stakeholder approach of Wheeler et al. (2003:19) who stated that â€Å"value creation at the highest level requires an ability to build value-based networks where all stakeholders see merit in their association with and support for a business†. In this instance, it is likely that the stakeholders were deemed to be important in the future direction of CSR in the region, and this was the reason that stakeholders were chosen as source of data. The author mentioned that these interviews conducted in 2004 and 2005 may no longer be relevant, since there were major developments in 2008. This might have made the interviews slightly outdated however; there should not be many changes to the overall aims of the stakeholders and thus the outcomes of this research would remain valid. However, as an alternative, the author could have applied longitudinal design which â€Å"represents a distinct form of research design than is typically used to map change in business and management research† (Bryman and Bell, 2007:60). The longitudinal design would not only serve the purpose of this study, but it would also allow insights into the factors that cause change to the perception. With this sample, it is possible to use cohort study, whereby â€Å"the cohort is made up of people who share a certain characteristics† (Bryman and Bell, 2007:61), since the stakeholders have a stake in the garment industry. However, longitudinal re search may require a lot more preparation, could be time-consuming and thus it could be more costly. 3.4 Data Collection With regards to the methodology, the interview questions that were used for this research was not provided. As this was a semi-structured interview, it would have been useful if the author had provided general information on how the questions were formed, and the structure of the interview questions as this would provide an indication of the depth of the interviews, and hence the validity of the research design. For the sample, 25 representatives from academia, the business organisations, the non-government organisations, trade association, and government officials were identified. The response rate was 84%, in which 21 out of a total of 25 representatives of these organisations agreed to be interviewed. It was mentioned that the reason for such a high response rate, was that the author had contacted the interviewees on a one-to-one basis. Furthermore, the interviewees were also guaranteed anonymity. The sample, thus, appears to be extensive and is representative of the various stakeholders that are vital in the garment industry. 3.5 Alternative Method The intention was that the â€Å"findings would help in building consensus, strengthening the implementation and establishing the future CSR framework† (Tsoi, 2007:1). The author might have meant that having collected all the different views from these stakeholders, the author would be able to determine the consensus of how CSR should be developed and how CSR should be like in the future. However, it is doubtful that a consensus could have been obtained using this method of analysis. The interviewees, although were representative of the garment industry, each one a vital stakeholder, there was no real interaction between these stakeholders, and thus, the consensus that is meant is only based on the researchers understanding from the interviewees responses. Stakeholders are thought to be able to reach a better compromise through discourse, with different sides arguing for the validity of their point as well as ensuring that the interests of the group or association that they re present are taken account of (Bryman and Bell, 2007:511). While it is understandable, that there is a strong possibility that it could be costly to get all the interviewees to sit together through a discourse, nevertheless there are alternatives which might be more useful for the purpose of this investigation, given that the objective is to reach a consensus amongst the stakeholders. With this reasoning, the research design could improve by firstly conveying the findings of the interviews to all of the stakeholders interviewed, and follow up with another interview to see if there were changes to their views. Alternatively, the author could use the method of focus group interviews. With this method, Merton et al. (1956) (in Bryman and Bell, 2007:511) stated that the â€Å"accent is upon interaction within the group and the joint construction of meaning†. Focus group interviews could provide a platform for the interviewees to interact and to establish a joint construction of what it means to strengthen CSR and also determine what future scenarios should and could be like. With regards to selecting a suitable size for the focus group, it is recommended by Bryman and Bell (2007:517) that the typical group size should be six to ten members, whilst Sekaran (2003:220) recommends a size of eight to twelve members. The reason that the focus group interview method was recommended was that the interviewees would be encouraged to express their opinions argumentatively, which would then allow the researcher to gauge the degree of importance of certain issues and how much flexibility the interv iewees might have to reach a compromise with others. There are of course possible pitfalls using the focus group method, in that some interviewees might be dominant over others, and thus the opinions of those less dominant might not be heard, but these effects can be reduced to a minimum level by having a good moderator (in Bryman and Bell, 2007:511). The one-to-one interview method could still be more advantageous compared with the focus group interview, as the time and monetary costs of conducting a one-to-one interview would probably be considerably less and thus be more manageable especially if there was only one researcher, as was with this case study. In this case study, it seemed that a quantitative design would actually be difficult to apply, and it would also be inappropriate for an investigation on the perception of CSR as a business concern. Taking the example of using a questionnaire survey with closed-ended questions, it is very likely that the respondents would answer that they are very concerned about CSR, as that might be perceived as the correct response, thus creating social desirability bias to the results. Furthermore, with a questionnaire survey, the researcher would not be able to pin-point all the various future scenarios for CSR in Hong Kong and Mainland China, even if it was possible, the list of future scenarios might be too long to be practically manageable. Another issue would be that in making assumptions of the future scenarios that are deemed significant to the stakeholders, it would be problematic as the researcher might risk missing out relevant information. Therefore, it would be difficult, from these r easons, that a quantitative design would not be suitable for such a case study. Chapter 4 Conclusions In summary, the two papers reflect significant differences in their research approach. This was seen through the objectives of the research, the underlying assumptions of the research philosophy and the conceptualisation of research design and the data collection. There is certainly much to learn from these two research papers, both had given valuable information on the differences between quantitative and qualitative methods, as well as offer guidance on the selection of research method and how to go about utilising these methods. The research designs, as shown in these papers, are dependent of the research objectives and the designs are also influenced by the epistemological and ontological assumptions made. Even though the philosophical positions of the researchers were not made explicit, however, the likely positions can be assumed. These papers have also shown that the advantages and the disadvantages of the different methods of investigation, and they need to be considered to e nsure that the best method is chosen for the purpose of the research. In these two papers, the method of investigation is distinct, one was a qualitative study and the other was a quantitative study, however, this does not necessarily mean that a mixed method of investigation can not be used. In fact, (Bryman and Bell, 2007:646) suggested that triangulation can be applied, in which â€Å"the results of an investigation employing a method associated with one research strategy are cross-checked against the results of using a method associated with the other research strategy†.

Man of the House :: essays research papers fc

Character Analysis of The little boy from â€Å"The Man of the House† by Frank O’Connor   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The story opens with the boy, whom to this point had ignored his mothers coughs, drops everything to rush to her aid as she â€Å"collapsed into a little wicker armchair, holding her side†. (O’Connor 206) As he watched his mother struggle trying to light the fire he told her, â€Å"Go back to bed and Ill light the fire†. (206) Now to this point, as the reader, I am unsure of the age of the boy, but I get the impression that he is a young boy. My idea of this boy is that he tries to take on too much throughout the day and eventually it was the demise of the opposite sex that eventually caused the meltdown of the â€Å"awesome† little boy. This is certainly something that will happen again to this young lad but he has definitely learned his lesson this time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The young boy while tending to his mother also did the following things to try and help her get better because of how sick she was at the time. When he made her some tea and it was a little strong he agreed with her in a manner of almost trying to be equal saying that â€Å"†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Tis too strong,† I agreed cheerfully, remembering the patience of the saints in their many afflictions. â€Å"I’ll pour half of it out.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â€Å"’Tis my fault,† I said, taking the cup. â€Å"I can never remember about tea.†Ã¢â‚¬  (207) When the young boy says this I feel that he is trying to act as if he is older than he really is because he is â€Å"the man of the house† and he is taking care of his sick mother. Also, while he has been taking care of his mother, he decides not to go to school today because taking care of his mother is much more important to him than going to school. After he turns down the bus ride to school he offers to go to the store to pick up a few things that his mother might want to get but is certainly unable being laid up in bed all day. So he offer to get eggs because â€Å"â€Å"What will I get for dinner? Eggs?† As hard boiled eggs were the only dish I could manage.†(207) I believe that in this exchange he denotes his young age because all he could make is a simple kind of dish that a lot of people and young people certainly know how to prepare.

A Cycle Is a Biological Pathway or Process in Which the End Product

A cycle is a biological pathway or process in which the end product of one cycle becomes the starting point for the next cycles Write an essay about cycles. Respiration Cells in the body use ATP as a direct source of energy. The conversion of glucose into ATP takes place during respiration. There are 2 different types of respiration, the more common and frequent one is aerobic respiration which is the production of ATP for energy. The less common one is anaerobic respiration, the production of lactate during which the muscles have a limited supply of oxygen, and however keep working despite this.Aerobic respiration requires oxygen and glucose present to work, and occurs in 4 stages: 1) Glycolysis- the splitting of a 6-carbon glucose molecule into 2 3-carbon pyruvate molecules. There is a net gain of 2 ATP’s produced. 2) Link reaction- the conversion of the 3-carbon pyruvate molecule into carbon dioxide and a 2-carbon acetyl co-enzyme A molecule. No ATP is produced during this stage. 3) Krebs cycle- the introduction of acetyl co-enzyme A into a cycle of oxidation-reduction reactions that yield some ATP and a large number of electrons. ) Electron transport chain (ETC) – electrons used from Krebs cycle to synthesise ATP with water produced as a by-product. Glycolysis is the initial stage of aerobic respiration, and it takes place in the cytoplasm of cell. It is the breakdown of glucose into pyruvate, (which then goes in to initiate the second stage, the link reaction, and so forth) although there are a number of smaller enzyme controlled reactions for tis to take place. 1. Activation of glucose by phosphorylation.Before glucose can be split into 2 pyruvate molecules, it first must be made more reactive by the addition of 2 phosphate molecules, donated by the hydrolysis of 2 ATP molecules to ADP. This provides the energy to activate glucose. 2. Splitting of the phosphorylated glucose. Each glucose is split into 2 3-carbon molecules of triose phosphate . 3. Oxidation of triose phosphate. Triose phosphate is oxidized transferring 2 hydrogen molecules to a hydrogen-carrier, NAD to produce reduced NADH. 4. Production of ATP. Enzyme-controlled reactions convert each triose phosphate into 3-carbon pyruvate. molecules of ATP are regenerated from ADP. The pyruvate molecules produced in the cytoplasm during glycolysis are actively transported into the matrix of the mitochondria where the link reaction takes place. Pyruvate undergoes a series of reactions to be made into acetyl co-enzyme A. the following changes occur. * Pyruvate is oxidised by the removal of hydrogen. This hydrogen then binds to NAD to produce reduced NADH (which is later used to produce ATP late). * The 2-carbon molecule acetyl group that is thereby formed combines with a coenzyme, coenzyme A (CoA) to produce Acetyl CoA. A carbon dioxide molecule is formed from each pyruvate. Pyruvate + NAD + CoA acetyl CoA + reduced NADH + CO2 The Krebs cycle involves a series of oxidat ion-reduction reactions that take place in the matrix of mitochondria. * the 2-carbon acetyl CoA from the link reaction with a 4-carbon molecule to produce a 6-carbon molecule. * This 6-carbon molecule loses carbon dioxide and hydrogen’s to give a 4-carbon molecule and a single molecule of ATP produced as a result of substrate-level phosphorylation. The 4-carbon molecule can now combine with a new molecule of acetyl CoA to begin the cycle again. The ETC takes place in the cristae of the mitochondria, where ATP is synthesised using the ETC as followed; * The H+ atoms produced during glycolysis and the Krebs cycle combine with the NAD and FAD that are attached to the cristae. * The reduced NAD and FAD donate the e- of the hydrogen atoms they are carrying to the first molecule in the ETC * This releases the protons from the hydrogen atoms and these protons are actively transported across the inner mitochondrion membrane. The e- meanwhile, pass along the ETC molecules in a series of oxidation-reduction reactions. The e- lose energy as the pass down the chain, some of this is used to combine ADP and inorganic phosphate to produce ATP. The remaining energy is used to from heat. * The protons accumulate in the space between the 2 mitochondrion membranes before they diffuse back into the mitochondrion matrix via protein channels. * At the end of the chain the e- combine with the protons and oxygen to form water.Oxygen is therefore the final acceptor in the ETC. Photosynthesis Photosynthesis occurs in 2 stages. The light-dependent reaction which takes place in the thylakoid, and the light-independent which takes place in the stroma. Both are vital for the production of ATP. The light-dependent needs light to undergo its reactions. The thylakoid contains chlorophyll which absorbs light. Photophosphorylation occurs during this reaction which is the making of ADP plus an inorganic phosphate to make ATP.NADP is also reduced during this reaction into NADPH. As well a s this happening in the light-dependent reaction, water is split via photolysis in to protons and electrons and oxygen which diffuses out of the leaf. The light-independent reactions does not require light to process, however it does rely on 2 major products of the light-dependent reaction to take place, ATP and NADPH. This reaction is shown in the form of the Calvin cycle. * CO2 enters the stroma from the light-dependent reaction, and produces 2 3-carbon glycerate-3-phosphate. 2 ATP molecules then donate 2 phosphate molecules to produce ADP. And NADPH is oxidized to produce NADP. This goes on to form 2 3-carbon triose phosphate molecules. * 1-carbon from the triose phosphate molecule is then stored to contribute to making glucose. ATP is then reduced again donating a phosphate molecule to produce 5-carbon rubiscose bisphosphate, this in turn then produces and enzyme rubisco which catalyses the whole cycle again. * This cycle must happen 6 times in order to make 1 glucose molecule.

Pest on Tesco Essays

Pest on Tesco Essays Pest on Tesco Essay Pest on Tesco Essay The diagrams and the tables that are used in this report are the below: Economic growth diagram Inflation diagram Unemployment diagram Immigration diagram Acknowledgements I would like to thank all the people who are behind these sites and all the web sites that I used, which were very helpful for me to finish my report. Summary In the PEST analysis below is given a description of the environment of the chosen firm in which the firm operates. Also are given some reasons of the importance of the PEST analysis and in the end is provided the influence of political, economical, social and technological factors in the firm’s operation. Introduction Tesco is probably one of the largest food retailers in the UK and generally one of the largest in the world. Tesco operates around 2,318 stores and employs over than 360,000 people (internet source 1). It gives the ability to the consumers to make shopping online, through its subsidiary Tesco. om. Tesco has a wide range of services and is not limited as a normal supermarket. Originally, it is specializing in food and drink, but also it is spread into many other areas. Some of these areas could be clothing, financial services, home and car insurance. PEST analysis is a powerful tool for understanding the external environment which surrounds the business. To be mo re specific, what it is meant to be the expression PEST is the Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors that a firm’s operation can be expressed. Before starting a new business, in the running time of an organization and basically to monitor the future of the organization, it is essential to be carried out a PEST analysis. The aim of the report for Pest analysis of Tesco’s is to monitor the present and to keep an eye on the future. However, the reason of doing the Pest analysis is for checking any changes that could be done in the future and might influence the firm’s behavior, in political, economic, social and technological issues. Methodology Using internet as main source of the report, information about employment law, economic growth, inflation, unemployment, immigration, internet, innovation and technological advances will be taken under consideration. It will be helpful to understand how all these factors influence the firm at present and have an eye on the future. Findings – Results In this section of the report are mentioned the main macroeconomic objectives that government tries to support in order to keep up stability of the economy. These objectives are economic growth, inflation, unemployment and immigration. PATERNITY LEAVE AND PAY IS EXTENTED If the mother of the child returns to work before the maternity leave period ends to which she is entitled and then fathers will be able to benefit from up to 26 weeks’ additional leave. This may be paid and will be available when the child goes over the first six months of his life, if the taken during the mother’s statutory maternity pay period. The legislation of this law is to come into force in April 2010, with effect for parents of babies due from 3 April 2011. (Internet source 1) ECONOMIC GROWTH Since the summer of 2007 and the till nowadays, the economy of many countries round the word, suffers from the global crisis, one of these countries is also UK and it is to be expected the negative affection on the economic growth of the country. However, as Davison (2007:270) states, â€Å"In some years there is a high rate of economic and in other years, economic growth is low or even negative†. This rising and falling of the economic growth is not something unusual. In addition, Davison (2007) argues, that it is a continuous cycle, which has four stages, the upturn, the rapid expansion, the peaking out and the slowdown. At the moment we are experiencing the slowdown stage. (Internet source 2) The above table shows the economy growth in the UK in quarters. During the year 2005 and 2007 the economy showed a stability that does not occur in 2006 and 2008. Especially in 2008 the progress is negative INFLATION Davison (2007:268) argues that, â€Å"By inflation we mean a general rise in prices throughout the economy†. Government policy seeks to stabilize and to keep inflation low. An important reason of this is that it will aid the process of economic decision making as Davison (2007) states. UK inflation rate starts to rise, as shown from the national statistics. Internet source 3) Many people because of the crisis that many countries suffer of it, including UK, do not spend their money to unnecessary products but on products first needs for their living. Due to the increase of inflation as shown the graph above, if firms want to be competitive again, have to reduce the prices of their products. U NEMPLOYMENT Unemployment is a common problem for many countries, so UK as well. They aim to reduce unemployment because it is a negative figure on government resources as Davison (2007) argues. In addition Davison (2007:268) states that, â€Å"Also unemployment represents a waste of human resources†. The graph below shows the increase of unemployment in the UK. (Internet sources 4) The increase of unemployment shows us that in the 3rd quarter almost 140,000 people lost their job. However, that means the government will lose incomes coming for instance from taxes and insurances that the unemployment people were going to pay if they have a normal monthly income as they used to have. IMMIGRATION Many people leave their county hopefully to find another place to live, searching something better which will give them a meaning to their life and for so many others reasons. UK is an attractive country for immigrants, offering many jobs and better life for them. The majority of the immigrants are not educated with a result not to get a good job but the appropriate one to live normally. However, there is a number of people who come to UK searching for a job and because they are educated enough they get a well paid job. The figure above shows the increase of immigration in UK. Every year immigrants come to country more and more. An estimated 590,000 people arrived to live in UK in 2008 which is the second highest figure on record after 596,000 in 2006. Internet source 5) INTERNET Internet is included in technological factor of Pest analysis. Tesco gives the ability to its customers to do shopping online but still is a quite difficult for its customers for the fact that some people do not find easy the order that they have to follow for online shopping. However, to do online shopping you have to meet specific requirements. For instance, to have a Tesco club card is one of the requirements. INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES Technological advance for Tesco would be more specific software which will record all the import and export product of Tesco. It is an advantage for a firm to know what stock has or what products sells for a better organized procedure of it. For instance, sometime some firms like Tesco, when a product that it sells, has been sold and is not available any more for the customers, is a bad image of the firm with a result to lose customers. Discussion Tesco is a food retailer and operates in UK. The PEST analysis will be carried out will point out some of the main factors that influence Tesco. Such factors could be political, economic, social and technological. In the first section political factors are on discussion. Tesco, according to employment law â€Å"Paternity leave and pay is extended†, which will be legally approved on the 3rd of April 2010, should take under consideration the staff recruitment. If Tesco wants to be as less as impossible affected by this law its staff should be equally share in men and women. According to this law Tesco will have to pay the percentage of men who are not going to work probably but legally during their absence and then it will have to recruitment more staff to cover the space that is going to exist. The consequence would be that Tesco will have more costs which could be avoided. The second section is the economic factors. When there is an economic growth of the country, people will continue shop from Tesco and the profits of it will increase because more money will be in a daily transaction between people and Tesco or any firm. However, when people’s wealth(income) growths might be a negative effect on Tesco sales, because people will switch to more expensive food retailers. People with the global crisis started to think more conservatory and they just buy necessary products. That might stay as a characteristic of them self and even if their income will be increased they will not change their habits. However, as the rate of the unemployment of the country increases Tesco is earning customers and making more profits. People who have low income or are unemployment they turn to shop from Tesco because it has low price products. People try to find ways to save some money when there is so much of unemployment in the country and Tesco provides such solutions. Also as the inflation in UK and generally rises, there is a general rise in prices. People are more careful of where and what they spend their money. They do not buy unnecessary products but only for basic needs. This will affect Tesco positive, because it sells products in low price and there you can find products for basic need cheapest. Immigration can be considered as a social factor of PEST analysis. A huge number of people emigrate and come to UK to live and find a job. As the graph shows above on 2006 and 2008 was the highest record of people who arrived in UK. According to that fact Tesco’s customers becoming more and more year by year. When people come to UK and search for a job, it is true that they do not have a high standard income, and they turn to shop from Tesco. Of course they will not shop from food retailers which are expensive but they will try to find the cheapest one, without that is worse than any other food retailer shop. About technological factors, which internet is included, Tesco should consider that many people do not know how to use internet and should try to simplify the procedure of doing shop online. Furthermore, with that impressive movement of Tesco to offer to the customers the opportunity to shop online and then to deliver to them the products is still quite complicated for some people to do it, because they do not meet the requirements. Such requirements are to have a Tesco club card and also they have to sign up in specific data base. That might be a reason for Tesco not being able to expand market share in the future. In addition, if Tesco will promote specific software which record any export or import of its products might gain more customers, because customers sometimes when they go for shopping and search for a specific product and it is not available at the moment are dissatisfied and might start a word of mouth negative promotion. Conclusion and Recommendations In this part of the report the PEST analysis has come to an end and it is essential to refer to the fact that even of the governmental intervention the economic environment remains unstable. However, Tesco has to relate its operation according to some laws which has to be taken under consideration if it wants to make more profits and to expand market share at the present and to keep an eye in the future. In the economic factor of PEST analysis, I recommend for the business to be more carefully with the recruitment staff. Tesco should recruitment younger people and should have an equally balance between the staff to skip some costs depending on the employment law, for instance to pay paternity leave and to recruitment new staff to recover the space that will be if some people of its staff have to be away from the business for a period of time according to the law. It is a waste of money for Tesco. Basically when there is inflation in the country the prices go up. In fact there are numbers of people who will prefer Tesco for shopping in such cases. In some cases, businesses are able to set prices, so a good recommended solution for Tesco, to make more profits and to gain more customers in the future is to set lower prices. In fact it sells products in lower price than others food retailers but because it is also spread into others areas like clothing or financial services that would be a good recommendation. In addition, when the rate of unemployment is high, if Tesco wants to be more profitable I recommend the business to also set lower price to be more competitive but because it is also has low price to find the best price which will still give to it profit and to attract the customers. That can be done also when the rate of immigration is also high. However, an also good recommendation for gaining customers and making more profit is that Tesco should provide some promotional offers. For instance, buy one product and get another one free or buy one and get another in half price. In technological factor, would be good if Tesco take under consideration in the future specific software to record all the import and export products. It is essential for customers when they search for a specific product to can find it easily and to be available at any time. And finally, I recommend Tesco to make easier the access on its website and the procedure for the online shop. That would be a reason for gaining customers and its online sales will be much more, because some people prefer to do shopping online than going to the store and if they are more close to another food retailer, probably they will shop from there. By doing that Tesco will just rise its profits. References Book: -Davison, L. (2007) The Business Environment 3rd Edition, Pearson Custom Publications -Internet web pages all accessed on the 13th and 14th of December 2009: 1)Personneltoday. com : personneltoday. com/events/list. aspx? navigationid=10type=10026 2