Coursework on sociology Essay

To be a non-traditional student is not at all an easy decision I made. Having my own family who needs my full time and attention is the biggest consideration I had when I decided to take on-line course. However, my family is also the best encouragement and inspiration I had. The world is taking its fast pace towards globalization and everyone must be able to cope up. The computerization of almost everything requires that everyone must conform to the speed of economic changes. In this world where education is a key to success and progress, everyone must avail of education by any means available. I believe that the best thing I can do is to avail of education while still having time with my family is to take online courses. The decision will affect my social life and the financial status of my family since I will have to allocate time and finances with my studies. The hours I am spending before in personally doing the household chores will now be partly consumed by my studies. The few I hours I am spending before in visiting my friends next door will now be lessened in have time for my studies. (Kindly use the remaining required words in answering the question whether you are studying a technical field) In the absence of on line courses, I may consider having evening or weekend classes. However, evenings are my only time to help my kids in their home works. I do not want to sacrifice weekends either because I strictly set these days as family and church days. So the best thing for me is to choose timeslots that will best fit school hours when my children are in school which online courses offered. Question 2 English is undoubtedly the world’s widely accepted language as it is the required language for everyone to communicate globally. It is therefore important that everyone be able to have the opportunity to learn Standard English in order to cope up with the fast changing world especially that the world is pushing through globalization. I believe that even the students in the rural areas can compete globally. However, it is impossible for them to do it if they cannot meet the standards of the global arena expressed in Standard English. I believe that with this need, a child needs to learn English even before he go to a formal school. This does not however mean that local dialects are to be set aside and be forgotten. While English has been set as the official language of Kentucky in 1984, I believe that their local dialects as well as that of African-American who speak Ebonics must still be practiced. â€Å"Teachers should be given every possible tool to reach our children† (L. L. Rush). Even in school premises, it is important that students be able to freely express themselves which can only be possible when they speak in their dialects. But in order for them to cope up with the global standard, they are to strive hard in learning Standard English. Even the government of Kentucky is doing steps in order to assure that the students get the minimum skills required in English and Mathematics (V. Honawar). China, being the host in the 2008 Olympics is requiring its people to learn English in preparation of the event. The best way to learn is to practice and that is what every child in Kentucky and the rest of the world must do. This way, their confidence in facing the world will be better build up which will be their instrument in achieving success whether educational or economic success. Question 3 Robert William’s list of values have been created in 1970, that was more than three decades ago. The world has changed a lot, and so are the American’s perspectives, priorities and moral standards. As a contemporary American, morality and family are the values that are of the highest importance to me. With the fast changing world, I value education in order for me to cope up with the success and progress of the world. In order for me to do this, I need to avail of the freedom and equality that the American government offers. All of my current efforts are for my family and I owe all of what I have now from God. With reference to William’s list, I think that the importance of protecting the family is the value that he had missed. As I browsed on the websites providing lists and information on the American values, I was impressed with the survey results made by the Roper Poll Corporation revealing that protecting the family is the first in the list of values that Americans consider as important. The other values in William’s list still appear to be the same important values for Americans although there is a noticeable change in their sequence. I believe that because America has already been progressive, the value of success, achievement and progress are no longer on top of the list. Most of the websites I browsed agreed on the order of the values but are contrary to William’s list in the sense that family is not included in the latter’s list. Also, achievement and success are no longer on top of the values prioritized by modern Americans. I believe that my list of values will differ with that of the other students in a way that family and morality, including faith are on top of my list. I am assuming that majority of the students will conform with the latest survey of which family is on top but religiosity and morality at the 8th and 9th spots out of ten values. WORKS CITED Crawford, James. â€Å"Issues in U. S. Language Policy†. Retrieved on June 23, 207 from http://ourworld. compuserve. com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/langleg. htm Grass, Gunter. â€Å"The US Betrays its Core Values†. The Los Angeles Times. April 07, 2003. Retrieved on June 23, 2007 from http://www. commondreams. org/views03/0407-05. htm Grouling, Thomas E. â€Å"American Values†. â€Å"Common Questions: Uniquely American Questions†. Retrieved on June 23, 2004 from http://www. americanhospitals. com/questions/american/amervalues. htm 06/23/07 Honawar, Vaishali. â€Å"Kentucky Seeks to Improve College Readiness†. Retrieved on June 23, 2007 from http://www. edweek. org/ew/articles/2004/11/17/12ky. h24. html Rush, Ladonna Lewis. â€Å"The Ebonics Debate†. Retrieved on June 23, 2007 from http://www. princeton. edu/~browning/news/rush. html The American Demographic Magazine. October 2000 issue â€Å"American Values: Overview†. Retrieved on June 22, 2007 from http://www. orednet. org/~jflory/205/day_val_overview. htm

Explain the contribution of Teresa of Avila to mysticism Essay

Transfer-Encoding: chunked i »? Explain the contribution of Teresa of Avila to mysticism (35) Mysticism is an aspect of religious experience that is little understood. This term has been used to describe experiences that reveal spiritual recognition of truths beyond normal understanding, from the mildly ecstatic to the occult. It has been said that there are certain features which accompany such experiences which enable their recognition, such as a sense of freedom from the limitations of time, space and the human ego. Believers may also experience a sense of â€Å"oneness† or unity with God, accompanied with bliss and serenity. Mysticism is seen as the closest a human being can ever come to actually meeting God in this life. Mystical experiences can also be classified into two areas: extrovertive, where one experiences unity in the world through the physical senses and introvertive, where the person loses their identity as a separate individual and slowly merges into the divine unity. A key introvertive mystic is Teresa of Avila. In examining her contribution to religious experience, a good place to start is considering her background. Teresa’s background may be key to understanding her enigmatic personality and experiences. She was a woman from a wealthy background and had a turbulent start in life. When she was seven her mother died, and when she was fourteen she ran away to seek martyrdom. She had an alleged love affair with her cousin that tarnished her reputation and effectively made her unmarriable. This, coupled with her obsession with books of chivalry, may have corrupted her view of what love really is. Her father decided to send her into an Augustinian convent where she was very unhappy. This sense of rejection played a major part in her later religious experience. It was while she was in the convent that her religious experiences began. In 1554 she had a deeper conversion when she saw a statue of Jesus after he had been whipped. She was deeply moved and wrote, â€Å"I felt so keenly aware of how poorly I had thanked him for those wounds that, it seems to me, my heart broke. I threw myself down before him with the greatest outpouring of heart. † After this experience she progressed into a life of intense prayer and the Catholic practice of mortification, so much so that he motto became, â€Å"Lord, either let me suffer or let me die. † She was also deeply influenced by the Confessions of Augustine and other theological books – although she did not have access to the Bible. Perhaps the single most influential experience she had was when she ‘came back from the dead’ after suffering from what is thought to have been malaria. This increased her notoriety. Moving on, Teresa was encouraged to write about her experiences and her books continue to influence mysticism today. Her two main writings are Way of Perfection and The Interior Castle. Way of Perfection is considered her spiritual autobiography. Here she emphasises the importance of praying mentally as well as vocally. In sixteenth century Spain the common people were encouraged to restrict themselves to vain repetitions of learned-off prayers, Teresa rejected this in favour of a more personal relationship with God. Her superbly inspiring classic on the practice of prayer is as fresh and meaningful today as it was when she first wrote it. The Way of Perfection is a practical guide to prayer setting forth the Saint’s counsels and directives for the attainment of spiritual perfection. Through the entire work there runs the author’s desire to teach a deep and lasting love of prayer beginning with a treatment of the three essentials of the prayer-filled life — fraternal love, detachment from created things, and true humility. St. Teresa’s counsels on these are not only the fruit of lofty mental speculation, but of mature practical experience. In The Interior Castle she compares the soul to a castle with seven rooms, with the Trinitarian God residing in the inner room. Growth in prayer enables the believer to reach a deeper intimacy with God, symbolised by a progressive journey through the rooms of the castle. She also describes the resistance that the Devil places in various rooms, to keep believers from union with God. Throughout, she provides encouragements and advice for spiritual development. Teresa’s writings lack Biblical references due to the Spanish Inquisition restricting access to the scriptures, and this grieved her. William James identified four characteristics of religious experience: ineffability; noetic quality; transiency and passivity. All of these care clearly apparent with Teresa’s experiences. Starting with ineffability, this is when one experiences a feeling that cannot be described to anyone else. She wrote that, â€Å"the soul is fully awake as regards God, but wholly asleep as regards the things of this world. † Secondly, noetic quality is when the mystic experience gives insight into truths unobtainable by the intellect alone. This is also apparent in Theresa’s experiences: â€Å"when I return to myself, it is wholly impossible for me to doubt that I have been in God, and God in me. † Thirdly, transiency. The religious experience does not last for long, usually half an hour or so. Though they are remembered, they are imperfectly recalled, but recognised if they reoccur – the recipient usually feels a profound sense of the importance of the experience. Associated with Teresa’s raptures are always visions. Her most famous vision involved her seeing a small angel with a beautiful face holding â€Å"a long golden spear† tipped with a â€Å"little fire† which he thrust into her heart. Finally, there is passivity, when the mystic feels as if they have been taken over by a superior power. In Teresa’s case, her visions were sometimes accompanied by levitation or strange screams. It could be this aspect that led many to believe she was possessed by the devil. In terms of impact, Teresa of Avila had a profound influence on religious experience. She the first female saint of the Roman Catholic Church – the saint of headache sufferers, rather oddly. She was somewhat of a reformer, emphasising a personal relationship with God above rigid sacramentalism. In 1562 she established the strict Carmelite order in various areas of Spain and her writings continue to be studied by believers today.

Bmw’s Dream Factory and Culture

The culture at BMW is an entrepreneurial culture which emphasizes creativity, risk taking and the bottom-up system of freewheeling ideas. The top-down management style is popular in Germany but not at the BMW. As soon as associates start working at the BMW, they will have the sense of the place, history and the mission of the company. BMW creates a working environment that promotes easier communications between leaders and employees. Every employee can contribute his or her ideas and creations via either formal or informal ways. For example, an employee sees his or her supervisor by chance on the way to lunch, he/she can tell this person of the idea which has just happened in his/her mind. More importantly, their voices and their ideas are heard, welcomed and brought into discussions and consideration. As a result, a car from BMW is often a production of thousands of impromptu brainstorming sessions. Furthermore, BMW cares for the benefits of its employees. It includes all employees in profit sharing. It has a plan that distributes as much as one and a half months’ extra pay at the end of the year to employees. The company also provides a high level of job security for its employees. Lastly, BMW also focuses on high-quality but practical products which meet the demand of consumers and are highly competitive with other auto producers. The company’s near-failure from producing impractical and expensive cars during the postwar time in 1959 was a big lesson for them. This near-failure is always retold and mentioned in all new orientations for the new associates. It helps to remind all employees at BMW of a lesson learned for the company in developing its plans in the future and ensuring that kind of mistake should never happen again. 2. Discuss the model of leadership illustrated at BMW. The model of leadership illustrated at BMW is the consideration model of leadership. The leaders at BMW have close relationships with subordinates that are based on mutual trust, two-way and open communications, and respect for employees’ ideas. The managers at BMW must stay humble and work closely with subordinates and their peers. The Leipzig factory, which looks like an art museum, is a very creative working environment that can make the communications between managers and employees easier. Managers at BMW are the ones who know to make the right questions to ask their subordinates, not the ones who have all the right answers. They also emphasize the satisfaction of their employees’ needs and provide as many benefits to their employees as possible. They are approachable and always willing to listen to their employees. They think if the employees are well motivated, better cars will be produced. . Discuss how the leadership model contributes to the culture. The leadership model at BMW shortens the distance between leaders and subordinates. The relationships between them are built on mutual trust. Employees can feel free to raise their innovative ideas to their managers anytime and anywhere. When the employees see that their voice is heard, they are more encouraged to talk. Moreover, the company cares for the employees’ benefits. In return, the employees are very flexible to contribute their best for the company. The employees do not mind working temporarily for months in another work location which requires them to be far away from their family. They are willing to work for extra hours without being concerned about overtime. In summary, the leadership model at BMW has made it such a culture that is quite distinct from other German companies. 4. Discuss why employees derive high job satisfaction at BMW. The employees of BMW derive high job satisfaction because their benefits are well cared of, their voice is heard and their hard work is highly appreciated. Also, their job security at BMW is high. Any employees, regardless of what grade they are, can contribute their ideas and their innovations to the company’s managers easily. There are no complicated, formal processes or procedures required to send their ideas to their management teams. Furthermore, when the company gets more profits, the employees will also be more benefited. Good working environment is developed and paid attention to. In conclusion, BMW’s employees are highly motivated so they are satisfied and willing to contribute more to the development of the company.

Income Inequality and Globalisation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Income Inequality and Globalisation - Assignment Example Over the past decades, many economists have been debating and claiming that increasing degree of trade relations between developed and developing countries can be identified as one of the major aspects which gave rise in income inequality. Furthermore, economists have also argued that trade relations practiced within nations in the current day context are highly influenced by globalization trends and thereby, globalization can also be addressed as a vital reason for income inequality (Freeman, 1995). Where on one hand, the advantages of globalization can be identified as reduced trade barriers and implementation of modern technologies; conversely, its disadvantages can be identified as inequality in payment of wages to workers being grouped as skilled and unskilled. To be illustrated, implementation of modern technologies can be observed to play a vital role in reducing the demand for the unskilled workers in the global platform which is further giving rise to income inequality amid different economies (Batterson & Weidenbaum, 2006). Recent studies (Atkinson, 2003; Alderson & Nielsen, 2002; Sala-i-Martin, 2002), based on the understanding of this particular issue in the current day context, have revealed that nations react in a distinct manner towards controlling income inequality, fundamentally depending upon their divergent social as well as economic features. For instance, the current trends have revealed that the US, as a developed nation is also facing the problem of income inequality which has further been recorded to augment with significant rapidity over the past few decades. This particular issue, within the context of US business environment, can further be illustrated with reference to the distribution of the organizational wages i.e. in accordance with the rising significance of higher level officials such as the Chief Executive Officers and skilled managers in comparison to the ground level laborers or front desk employees. It is worth mentioning in this context that the recent trends depict a contin uous increment in the wages paid to the skilled employees designated in the decision-making or managerial positions, but contradictorily, it also reveals that the low-skilled workers are receiving lesser wages at a stagnant rate.

An Analysis of Japan and China Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

An Analysis of Japan and China - Assignment Example China is the world’s second largest market for consumer goods after the US (Martinsons, 2002). On average, consumers spent an annual average of US$61 on FMCG online an increase of 9.8% from 2010. In 2011, on average, shoppers for FMCG products made three trips while shopping online against 97 offline shopping trips over the same period. The average online transaction amount per trip was US$21, 80% greater than an offline transaction that averaged US$11.50. Attitudes related to e commerce showed that 29.9% of people doing online shopping are comfortable while 17.9% felt it is safe to purchase online. This indicates that there is large potential in China’s e-commerce markets (Ke, 2010). Japan has been innovative in technology with shopping lists growing significantly due to lower costs of setting up businesses online. Japanese consumers who previously were reluctant to do online shopping have grown the online retailing business to a multi-billion dollar market (Fitzsimmon s &Okada, 2002). According to Hamburg market research, the Japans B2C e commerce revenues are forecasted to grog annually by a low double digit percentage between 2012 and 2016 due to high average spending and growth in online shoppers (Herbig & Milam, 1994). Environmental analysis China’s environment has suffered degradation as the country reform its economy because of urbanization and industrial development. The environmental damage costs up to 8% of China’s GDP thus the development of China’s environment protection industry to respond to the environment degrading over the past two decades (Takao, 2012). China focuses its investment to environmentally friendly projects a shift form infrastructure. Energy... This essay stresses that Japan’s legal structures to foreign investors are bureaucratic and present legal hurdles. The main business structures that foreign companies open in Japan are representative office, branch office, and subsidiary company and limited liability partnerships. Representative offices are not allowed to engage in sales activities. Branch offices do not have independent decision-making abilities since they do not have legal corporate statuses. However, foreign investors can invest in Japan through joint ventures with Japanese companies. Corporate enterprise tax is the local tax levied on foreign companies conducting business in Japan. Corporate taxes levied on taxable income. This paper makes a conclusion that the researcher recommends interested Australian companies wishing to go international to invest in China. China is the world most populated nation with over 1.3 billion people compared to Japan, which has a population of approximately 128 million people. As such, China presents more chances of cheap labor and a ready market for the produced products and services. Growth in ecommerce is high in China than in Japan presenting an opportunity for investment. Both Japan and China have stringent environmental regulations. However, Japan being the most affected in emissions is more likely to pass stringent rules regarding pollution than China. China is well adapted for globalization by enacting laws that are in line with WTO guidelines. This puts it in a better position to attract foreign investment than Japan.

The City in the progressive era Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The City in the progressive era - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the progressive era was a time of flourishing during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. During this era, there was much reform taking place. Women, government, education, and healthcare were made new to make for a better America. The progressive era was also a huge time for modernization. The leaders and families in the progressive era focused on modernizing everything. This meant increasing city life and many swarmed to the city. The present research has identified that during the progressive era the city had so much to offer. The city offered housing complexes, theatre, jobs, shopping, and schools were nearby. Many began to develop around cities. Immigration also began to grow. Asian decent immigrants came dramatically into the cities. The modernized way of thinking and city life encouraged increased immigration. During the progressive era, there was a huge focus on clean water and healthy family life. Many different act s such as the Pure Food and Drug Act, helped to put regulation on food and drinking water. This was important since the cities rapid growth contributed to illness as a result of improper sanitation. The paper tells that many living in the city during the progressive era shared the same toilets and overcrowding became an issue. The progressive era was definitely a time where many saw hope and dreamed of a promising future.

2 STORIES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

2 STORIES - Essay Example To me, the two friends’ journey to the new catacomb appeared to be a simple adventure. However, as the two descended into the catacomb, the details inside the catacomb, with its hidden mazes, stacked corpses and the surrounding darkness started to take a hold over me and I began to develop the premonition that something eerie is going to take place. Then the climax came with all its hidden wrath and vengeance. I was surprised and in fact awed to realize that the emotion of hurt and revenge could turn into something so treacherous and at the same time so just. The end filled me with a feeling of fear. But, deep down within me, I was to some extent satisfied that the treatment met to Kennedy by Roger was fare and well deserved, though grotesque. Overall, I found the pace of the narrative, very disciplined, terse and exciting. While reading this story I felt that the writer left many facts and details unanswered. For example, he fails to mention the time and place in which the story takes place? One of the characters is shown as being an Italian and fond of Italian wines. Yet, it in no ways supports the conclusion that the locale of the narrative is Italy. Besides, the writer makes one of the characters narrate the story. Yet, the narrator fails to specifically mention his reasons for inflicting such a cruel revenge on Fortunato. This makes me guess that either Fortunato had committed some grave injustice to the narrator, or perhaps the narrator is mentally sick or psychotic. One more thing that I found inappropriate is that the writer conveys this at the very beginning that Montresor intends to inflict revenge on Fortunato. This stole a great deal of the suspense and apprehension, which I usually expect from such a thriller. The narrator’s understanding of the human nature and weaknesses was very realistic. Overall, I feel that the writer do

Data Rules Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Data Rules Summary - Essay Example The more experienced nurse has internal decision making resources provided by past experiences and a better ability to recognize patterns based on those experiences. Additionally, the experienced nurse may not experience the emotional barriers arising from fear of making the wrong decision. Fear prevents creative and clear problem solving abilities.   One way to hasten the pattern recognition skills that are critical in the clinical decision making process of a novice nurse is to create rules that provide a process of intervention through modeling the situation and potential actions that are best suited to accurately resolve health problems. This modeling is based upon a hypothesis and then a listing of rules that lead to a sequence of decisions to be made accordingly. The model and rules naturally also promote the novice nurse to anticipate potential corollary problems and prepare by mentally exploring solutions—proactively avoiding or at least mitigating problems.

What Justice means to me Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

What Justice means to me - Essay Example mbers since these laws were structured in accordance to the morals of the society and the Bible as well as the sense of justice innate to every individual otherwise known as conscience. However, most of the time, laws are not implemented as intended due to personal biases of implementing officers and external influences that causes authorities of the law to commit injustices to individuals. An example of good laws that are not effectively implemented would be the case of Criminal Justice in the United States. Before stating my view on a good approach on implementing laws in practicing as a Criminal Justice professional, it would be best to examine the laws applicable to Criminal Justice and citing examples of unprofessional conduct in implementing these laws. In the U.S. Constitution, justice for individuals is characterized by protection from unreasonable searches or seizures; ensure that individuals to undergo due process of law; compensation for property acquired from individuals; criminally accused individuals are to be provided with legal counsel and fair trial; and protection from suffering extreme punishment and unnecessary bail. Protection from unreasonable searches or seizures, which are described in the Fourth Amendment under the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution, safeguards individuals from house, property or personal searches and seizure or arrest without a warrant duly issued by authorities who, in turn, had reasonably established a probable cause to issue a warrant (Cornell). This also includes car searches; an example of this would be the case of Rodney Joseph Grant who was arrested on the road for suspected possession of illegal drugs and the arresting officers on the spot, without a search warrant, searched his car. This case was controversial since the police officers were prompted to immediately search the car so the suspect can be taken into custody thus clearly violating the Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights. Another law that

Community Health Nursing Essay Example for Free

Community Health Nursing Essay The implementation of a program which makes health care accessible is a goal of any society. In line with this goal, the establishment of community health nursing was formed. This provided better opportunities for people to acquire the right health care assistance for each of their concerns. There were some factors that may be attributed in the formation of a health nursing. These influenced the creation of the program which intended to provide resolutions for problems that have long been encountered. The first source of influence may be justified even before the 19th century Europe. In the past, family members who were sick were just attended by female members of the family and were not able to access full health care from a professional or a specialist (Allender, 2004). One of the great problems which were encountered by societies was the minimal opportunity for ordinary people to go to a medical specialist. Almost always the case, only those who have the economic capability were able to avail these types of services. Add to that the seemingly underdeveloped infrastructures back then. This paved the way for an idea to bring at least satellite health care units in small communities to service the general public. One more attribute which lead to the development of community health care can be pointed out to religious charities. The monks in Florence, Italy had committed a historical health care service for those who encountered accidents. They even provided first aid solutions for people who needed their help even on a 24 hour basis. As a matter of fact, these religious figures even provided the necessary health care for various pilgrims to some of the considered holy lands based on religious beliefs. During the medieval times, there have also been great developments in community based health services. There was a time when a law catering to the poor of England was passed in 1601. This rule designated the instructions for health specialists to render their services to the poor who did not have any means of availing health care. Since the governing sector is centralized in the royal institution, it was really easy to disseminate the services to identifiable poor communities in the country. Another historic event took place in France when the Friendly Visitor Volunteers was formed. In 17th century France, there was a great deal in re-establishing the economy. This prompted the organization to render public health services by sending the service directly to the homes of the poor and disabled. The main funding process of the organization was initiated by wealthy women individuals of the society who cared for the welfare of the general public. The community health nursing was definitely a very good approach in caring for the needy and unfortunate. However, by the time the Industrial Revolution hit Europe and America, the group of these community based health units were greatly reduced. This paved the way for what the present health care structure societies have today. Hospitals and health centers were established even in bigger units and concentrated near urban areas. This was in direct contrast to the former approach of delegating specific health units among communities. Even though the extent of community health nursing is already reduced, newer counterparts in modern society today still has the same principle. Home nursing can be availed today via appointments with doctors and nurses. There are also some programs among today’s hospitals which can provide an extended health care service at home based on agreements. Moreover, the establishment of home care nursing centers provides at least a refuge for patients outside of hospitals. The modern day health professionals are partnering directly with individuals who want to improve their communities in promoting optimum health care (Richmond Health, 2001).

Irish Defence Forces History

Irish Defence Forces History Joshua Ryan Public Administration: Public Organisation Profile 2017 The public organisation that I have chosen to investigate is the Irish Defence Forces. I chose this organisation as I have a strong interest in the Irish Defence Forces and a desire to pursue a career as an officer upon completion of my degree. The Irish Defence Forces have a proud tradition of professionalism and good conduct. They have proven themselves on the world stage with their peacekeeping missions that have gained them a phenomenal reputation within the UN. At home they have defended the state and provided security in times of need. They have provided aid at the highest levels at both home in conjunction with the Gardaà ­ and abroad with other militaries and Aid organisations. Origins The Irish Defence Forces can trace its origins back to the formation of the Irish Volunteers in 1913.The Irish Volunteers were founded by The ORahilly and Eoin MacNeill, they were founded due to growing militarism in Ulster and to oppose the Ulster Volunteer Force. The Irish Volunteers grew substantially and by 1914 they numbered approximately 180,000 personnel. The Irish Volunteers however split after the outbreak of the First World War. John Redmond the leader of the Irish Home Rule party urged members of the Irish Volunteers to join the British army and show their support for the Empire to prove their loyalty to home rule. Approximately 11,000 personnel strongly opposed this and split from the Irish Volunteers but retained the name, the remaining personnel renamed themselves the National Volunteers.[1] The Irish Volunteers were then effectively taken over by the Irish Republican Brotherhood, using the volunteers they planned the 1916 Easter Rising. The 1916 Easter rising was a reb ellion mainly confined to Dublin, fought by a small group of the hardened volunteers due to confusion in orders, it was characterised by fierce street fighting and incredible discipline by the volunteers. Fifteen of the leaders or the rebellion were executed by the British which led to public outcry and a sympathy for the rebels which previously they did not have. This sympathy would lead to a strong public support for the volunteers as they transitioned into the Irish Republican Army.[2] In 1919 as the Dail was established the Irish Volunteers pledged their allegiance to the Dail, which made them the national army of the Dail. This transitioned them to become the Irish Republican Army. They then grew in strength and in 1919 after an attack by an IRA section at soloheadbeg they began the war of independence. They began to use guerrilla warfare tactics and gained success through small sections called flying columns. Members of the Irish Republican Army had to swear the same oath of allegiance to the Dail as TDs which further concreted them as the national army.[3] Once the war of independence was complete and both sides wanted peace, the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed. This caused a divide in both the Dail and the Irish Republican Army. The IRA split between the Anti-Treaty IRA and the Pro-Treaty IRA. The Pro-Treaty IRA became the National Army, unofficially known as the Free State Army or the Regulars. The Civil War began on the 22nd of June 1922 with the shelling of the four courts which the Anti-Treaty IRA had taken and ended on the 24th of May 1923 with the order for the Anti-Treaty to drop arms. The National Army strengthened itself during the civil war and began to take shape of a professional Army and lay the foundational structure for the Defence Forces we have today. The National Army was given Artillery, Aircraft, Armoured Cars, Machine Guns, Rifles, Small Arms and Ammunition supplies by the British Army. At the end of the war the National Army numbered at 55,000 personnel and 3,500 officers. Many of the troops that entered the new Na tional Army were veterans of the First World War that served in Irish Battalions in the British Army. After the Civil War the National Army was well structured, manned and equipped, they were no longer a guerrilla insurgency but a strong National Army.[4] There was a need to reduce the size of the Army after the civil war. This led to the Army Mutiny where there was a severe reaction to the demobilisation of officers. This was dealt with effectively and democratically. This led to the Executive Council formally establishing Oglaigh na hEireann on the 1st of October 1924. The Army sent representatives to the United States of America in 1926 to study their structures, tactics and training. This visit led to the formation of the Military College, Corp and Service schools. In 1934 the Volunteer Force were established as the Permanent Defence Forces were being reduced. [5] In June 1922 the Air Service HQ was formed at Baldonnell. They began with 14 pilots flying 13 aircraft. In 1926 the cadet scheme was introduced which still is the process in becoming a pilot in the Air Corp today. Moving into the late 1930s and early 40s the Air Corp received new Aircraft and equipment. In 1956 the Air Corp upgraded their airfields to accommodate the purchases of jet fighters later that year. In the early 1960s the Air Corp purchased their first helicopters for search and rescue then for troop transport and air reconnaissance. The Air Corp continued to update its Aircraft as time progressed and as new needs and duties for the Air Corp were required. In the late 1990s a new branch of the Gardai was established the Garda Air Support Unit, the Air Corp was tasked with helping establish this and to train its personnel. [6] From 1922 the Army was tasked with protection of the state from the land, the Air Corp with the protection of the Airspace but Irish waters were under protection by the British until 1938 when the Treaty ports were returned after the economic war. In May 1939 the Irish Government ordered two torpedo motor boats. The outbreak of the Second World War greatly increased the speed of which the Naval Service was being established. The order of torpedo motor boats increased from two to six and in September 1939 the Marine and Coastwatching service was established. This service at its height during the Second World War comprised of ten vessels. After the war the Coastwatching service was disbanded. Afterwards the Irish Government decided that what remained of the Marine Service would be integrated into the Defence Forces. This is the establishment of the Naval Service that we know today.[7] Head of the Defence Forces The overall head of the Irish Defence Forces is the Supreme Commander President Michael D.Higgins but this is more of a ceremonial role rather than direct management. The Irish Defence Forces falls under the Department of Defence, the current Minister for Defence is Paul Kehoe TD. The Chief Of Staff for the Irish Defence Forces with overall control of the Defence Forces is Vice Admiral Mark Mellett DSM. Vice Admiral Mellett DSM has held this position since September 2015. [8] Vice Admiral Mellett DSM is a native of Castlebar, Co. Mayo. He enlisted in the Naval Service in November 1976. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) in 1994 as Captain of LE Orla for his role in detention of drug smuggling craft. He has had a long and successful career in the Irish Defence forces, having served overseas in both the Lebanon and Afghanistan [9] The Chief Of Staff is accompanied by General Staff, these include Deputy Chief Of Staff Operations Major General Kieran Brennen, Deputy Chief Of Staff Support Major General Kevin Cotter and Assistant Chief Of Staff Support Brigadier General Peter OHalloran. [10] The General Officer Commanding of 1st Brigade is Brigadier General Philip Brennan, 2nd Brigade is commanded by Brigadier General Michael Beary. The Defence Forces Training centre is commanded by Brigadier General Joe Mulligan. The Officer in command of the Air Corp is Brigadier General Paul Fry. The Flag Officer Commanding the Naval Service is Commodore Hugh Tully.[11] These heads of the Defence forces are those that are called upon to answer for actions of the Defence Forces. They are responsible for accountability with the General staff cooperating with the Minister for Defence in times where accountability is questioned. Structure The Irish Defence Forces encompasses the Army, Air Corp, Naval Service, both Army and Naval Service Reserves . There is currently a recruitment drive in the Defence Forces. There is approximately 9,137 personnel as of May 2016 in the Permanent Defence Forces and 2,323 personnel as of November 2015 in the Reserves. This is distributed among the branches with 7,310 personnel in the Army, 733 in the Air Corp and 1,094 in the Naval Service.[12] The Army is structured into the Defence Forces HQ, 1st Brigade, 2nd brigade and the Defence Forces Training Centre. The 1st Brigade is responsible for the south of the country, Carlow, Laois, Offaly, Kilkenny, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Tipperary and Galway. The HQ of 1st Brigade is located at Collins Barracks Cork, there are four other 1st Brigade barracks, Sarsfields Barracks in Limerick, Stephens Barracks in Kilkenny, Kilworth Training Camp in Kilworth and Dun Ui Mhaoilosa in Galway.[13] 2nd Brigade is responsible for the north of the country, Wicklow, Dublin, Louth, Kildare, Longford, Meath, Westmeath, Roscommon, Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim and Mayo. The HQ is Cathal Brugha Barracks in Rathmines, Dublin, there are six other 2nd Brigade barracks, Mckee Barracks in Dublin 7, St Bricins Hospital in Dublin, Gormanstown Camp in Co. Meath, Aiken Barracks in Dundalk, Custume Barracks in Athlone and Finner Camp in Ballyshannon.[14] The Defence Forces training Centre is located in The Curragh Camp in Co. Kildare. The HQ and all training, education and logistical units are located there. The 1st Mechanised Infantry Company, 1st Armoured Cavalry Squadron and the Army Ranger Wing are also located in the Curragh Camp. The Army consists of nine corps, Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, Communications and Services, Engineers, Ordnance, Medical, Transport and Military Police.[15] The Air Corp Comprises of the Air Corp Headquarters, No.1 Operations Wing, No.3 Operations Wing, No.4 Support Wing, No.5 support Wing, Communications and Information Services Squadron and Air Corps College. The Air Corps Headquarters is located in Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel. The Naval Service comprises of the Naval Service Headquarters, Naval Operations Command, Naval Support Command which are all located on Haulbowline Island in Cork Harbour and the Naval College. The Naval College is situated in two locations the Naval College Training Naval Base and the National Maritime College of Ireland in Ringaskiddy. The Navy consists also of seven ships, one Helicopter Patrol Vessel, three Offshore Patrol Vessels, two Large Patrol Vessels and two Coastal Patrol Vessels.[16] Main Functions The Irish Defence Forces main role is protection of the state. The Irish Armys role is to defend the state, provide aid and support to the Garda Siochana when needed, to contribute and participate in peacekeeping and international aid and support. In times of emergency to assist crisis situations.[17] The Role of the Irish Air Corp is to provide Inshore and Offshore Maritime patrol, Army support and reconnaissance, Garda Air Support, Air Ambulance, Military Transport and Search and Rescue.[18] The role of the Naval Service is to defend the state, to protect the nations maritime interests. The Naval Service provides a lot of deterrent aggression and protecting Irelands sovereign rights. The Navy does a lot of policing word with people, arms and drug smuggling. The Naval Service has provided support for refugees fleeing Syria in the Mediterranean recently and has been praised globally for its efforts there. The Navy has been flexible in its UN missions and have outperformed much larger better equipped naval powers.[19] Budget The Irish Defence Forces has always had a small budget compared to other nations but it has utilised the resources its been given most efficiently. The 2016 Defence Forces Budget was 904 million euro which was an increase from 2015, the proposed budget for 2017 will see an increase again in the defence budget. The budget increase is to maintain commitments of the Defence Forces both internationally and at home.[20] The budget for the Irish Defence Forces is planned to increase over the next six years, there is a planned 437 million to be given for equipment and capital investments for the Defence Forces. Minister for Defence Paul Kehoe announced that the 2017 budget would be 922 million euro which is a 16million euro increase from 2016. The proposed plans for the increased investment in the Irish Defence Forces are to upgrade or replace the Armys Armoured Personnel Carriers, to increase the capability and strength of the Army Ranger Wing, to replace three of the Naval Service Vessels and replacement of the Air Corps Cessna fleet and Casa Maritime patrol aircraft.[21] The breakdown of the 2017 budget of 922 million is 692million for defence and 230 million for Military pensions.497 million of the 692 million is spent on wages for the 9,500 military personnel, 550 civilian employees and 350 civil servants. With the order of the replacement Naval Vessels, this will take up a good portion of the increased budget and the additional capital investment allocation. The increased spending on the Defence Forces is welcomed by the public and military personnel. There is an additional 2 million allocated to the Reserve Defence Forces to recruit new members but to also improve equipment and increase the capabilities of the RDF. This further investment into the RDF comes as they are given a stronger link to the Permanent Defence Forces and joint cooperation is increased, with plans to send member of the RDF on peacekeeping missions alongside PDF members this increase in spending is welcomed and needed.[22] Personal Impressions of their Public Profile My own personal impressions of the Irish Defence Forces is that recently there has been a big push to promote the Irish Defence Forces within the public. There has been a stigma over the years towards the Defence Forces, that since we are neutral that there is no need for them. I completely disagree with this and the image that previously the public have viewed the Defence Forces lightly and not seen them as a professional outfit. The Irish Defence Forces of 2017 are one of the best trained in the world, they not are equipped with new standard issue Steyr Aug A4s replacing the A1s we have been using.[23] The Defence Forces Peacekeeping missions for the UN have been praised worldwide, they are favoured by the UN for their professionalism and good conduct. The Naval Service has been conducting operations in the Mediterranean, where they have been rescuing refugees and migrants from the conflicts in the Middle East. They have received international recognition for this and have truly ma de the nation proud.[24] My personal opinion is that the Defence Forces deserve the increase in Budget, there has been issues with pay in recent years, I firmly believe that every member of the Defence Forces deserve an increase in pay. The Job asked of our brave men and women is full of peril and the current wages dont match what is asked of them. The Irish Defence Forces of 2017 is a military of which I am proud of what they have accomplished as a small island with a small population we have made our mark on the world stage that would make a much larger military envious. Bibliography Coogan, T.P. and Morrison, G. (1998) The Irish Civil war: A photographic record. Boulder, CO: Rinehart, Roberts Publishers. (Coogan and Morrison, 1998) Cuà ­v, É.Ó. and Ó, M. (2013) The Irish Volunteers 1913-1915: Recollections and documents. Edited by F. X. Martin, Ruan ODonnell, and Micheal O h Aodha. Ireland: Merrion Press. (Cuà ­v and Ó, 2013) Department of Defence home page (2017) Available at: http://www.defence.ie (Accessed: 1 March 2017). (Department of Defence home page, 2017) English (no date) Available at: http://www.military.ie (Accessed: 2 March 2017). (English, no date) Forces, I.D. (2015) Irish Defence forces Lebanon 16 06 2014 TAOISEACH Enda Kenny meets some of the Irish Personnel who escorted him during his visit. Commandant Colin Miller ( back to camera), trooper Shane Callaghan (foreground) and trooper Michael Barry (background). Available at: http://www.defence.ie/WebSite.nsf/WP2015E (Accessed: 3 March 2017). (Forces, 2015) Independent (2012) Irish Army rifle to get multi-million euro upgrade. Available at: http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/irish-army-rifle-to-get-multimillion-euro-upgrade-26835770.html (Accessed: 3 March 2017). (Independent, 2012) Lee, J. (2017) Irish Defence budget increases but is it enough? Available at: https://flyinginireland.com/2016/10/irish-defence-budget-increases-but-is-it-enough/ (Accessed: 1 March 2017). (Lee, 2017) Ltd, I.E. (2016) Naval service rescues over 10, 000 in Mediterranean. Available at: http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/naval-service-rescues-over-10000-in-mediterranean-411454.html (Accessed: 3 March 2017). (Ltd, 2016) McCarthy, M. (ed.) (2013) Irelands 1916 rising: Explorations of history-making, Commemoration heritage in modern times. Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate Publishing. (McCarthy, 2013) McIvor, A. (1994) History of the Irish naval service Aidan McIvor hardcover. Dublin: Irish Academic Press. (McIvor, 1994) [1](Cuà ­v and Ó, 2013) [2] (McCarthy, 2013) [3] http://www.military.ie (Accessed: 1 March 2017). [4] (Coogan and Morrison, 1998) [5] http://www.military.ie (Accessed: 1 March 2017). [6] http://www.military.ie (Accessed: 1 March 2017). [7] (McIvor, 1994) [8] http://www.military.ie (Accessed: 1 March 2017). [9] http://www.military.ie (Accessed: 1 March 2017). [10] http://www.military.ie (Accessed: 1 March 2017). [11] http://www.military.ie (Accessed: 1 March 2017). [12] http://www.military.ie (Accessed: 1 March 2017). [13] http://www.military.ie (Accessed: 1 March 2017). [14] http://www.military.ie (Accessed: 1 March 2017). [15] http://www.military.ie (Accessed: 1 March 2017). [16] http://www.military.ie (Accessed: 1 March 2017). [17] http://www.military.ie (Accessed: 1 March 2017). [18] http://www.military.ie (Accessed: 1 March 2017). [19] http://www.military.ie (Accessed: 1 March 2017). [20] (Department of Defence, 2017) [21] (Lee, 2017) [22] (Forces, 2015) [23] (Independent, 2012) [24] (Ltd, 2016)

Menu for Sandwichman :: Free Descriptive Essays

Menu for Sandwichman Sandwichman is the name for our sandwich restaurant. Sandwichman was started by four college students at Iowa State University: Rajane Patel, Ashlyn Bloom, Rachel Te, and Agus Leonardo. We decided to open this sandwich restaurant at 1000 Duff Avenue here in Ames, Iowa. The basic colors for our sandwich restaurant are orange and yellow. My responsibilities in building this sandwich restaurant are designing and preparing the menu. The Menu is considered to be the most important aspect in order to build a restaurant because a menu tells what the restaurant offers. In order to create a menu for this restaurant, several items need to be considered, such as: prices, type of ingredients, and the nutritional facts for the sandwiches we offered. I have done some research about the menu from other sandwich restaurants. In this paper, I would like to discuss all these items. Prices are one of the most important considerations for people who want to buy a sandwich. In order to determine the right prices for our sandwiches, we have to know our targeting customers first. In this case, the majority of our targeting customers are students and people who are living in the lower economic class. Because of these targeting customers, the price for a sandwich in our restaurant is relatively cheaper than in other sandwich restaurants, such as: Subway, Jimmy John's, etc. Moreover, our sandwich restaurant is built as a low-profit restaurant. The price for all sandwiches in our restaurant will be $3.75. They all have the same price because it will be easier for the internal operation of the restaurant, especially the cashier. Moreover, having the same price enables the customers to pay for any sandwich more conveniently and easily too. Besides that, our restaurant also provides meal packages. These meal packages consist of a sandwich, a drink, and chips. In these meal packages, customers are free to choose what kind of sandwich, drink, and chips they want to have. These meal packages will cost $5.00 for one meal. Beside sandwiches and meal packages, our sandwich restaurant also provides salads, chips, and drinks. Salads will cost $3.00; chips will cost $0.75; and drinks(soda and lemonade) will cost $1.00. However, iced tea will cost only $0.75. The payment for the sandwiches can be done by cash or credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover will work. Choosing the right type of ingredients is a major concern for this menu.

Type 2 Diabetes Essay -- Health, Diseases

Obesity is rapidly increasing in the United States. According to the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), obesity is the fasted growing health problem in America1. When looking at the trends in the United States, it is estimated that approximately 33% of the adult population is obese and 15% of children, ages 6 and older, are obese1. Although not falling into the obesity population yet, two-thirds of the adult population may be considered overweight, and making their way into the obesity category soon1. It may be startling to most that current evidence suggests that by the year 2030, approximately 90% of all American adults would have become overweight or obese, and 51.1% of them would be obese1. A disease highly correlated with obesity is type 2 diabetes. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes in America has drastically increased in recent years1. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2007, approximately 24 million Americans had diabetes, with one quarter of those (6 million), undiagnosed2. It is estimated that roughly 60 million U.S. residents also have prediabetes2. The superseding issue in diabetes is glucose control1. Type 2 diabetes is a major cause of premature mortality and morbidity related to cardiovascular disease, blindness, kidney and nerve disease, and amputation2. Exercise has been proven to have a positive effect on preventing type 2 diabetes, via its effects on preventing elevations in blood glucose1. The focus of this essay will be to summarize the effects of resistance training on the improvement on individuals with type 2 diabetes. Aerobic endurance training has conventionally been promoted in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, while the likely role of resistance tra... ...n spontaneous physical activity6. With this information, it can be presumed that resistance training can work in addition with standard care in diabetic patients6. This piece of information may be vital to a diabetic patient who is disobedient with medical recommendations that have been provided, as well as, patients who may receive inferior health care6. As expected, resistance training proves to have various health benefits to populations dealing with type 2 diabetes2. As previously stated, the chief concern when dealing with type 2 diabetes is glucose control1. The results of the collective studies being referenced in this essay have confirmed that resistance training leads to a decrease in hemoglobin A1c3,4,5,6. With this evidence, it is clear that resistance training will help to make improvements on patients living with type 2 diabetes3,4,5,6.

Objections Of The Croquette And Hoop Skirt :: essays research papers

While reading selections from The Tatler and The Spectator, two subjects that I found most interesting were that of the coquette and her place in society, and also that of fashion, in particular, the hoop skirt. The Webster’s Dictionary defines a coquette as "a woman who flirts." One of the reasons why ‘she’ appears so frequently in these essays is because these men sense a danger in them. The croquette is a figure of self-sufficiency and 18th century women were not supposed to be self-sufficient. Women of the 18th century were supposed to be ‘sugar and spice and everything nice’ and, above all, dependent on men. When a croquette comes into the picture, however, the men are the ones who can’t handle themselves. The croquette is a flirtatious woman who knows very well the powers of her sex and uses them to her advantage. Just by looking and acting a certain way around men, she learns how to ‘control’ them to a certain degree. Although the men realize what she is doing, they are powerless to stop it. It is also apparent to these men that women are able to be deceitful, and that the coquette may not be the beginning or the end of th is deceitfulness. And they find this to be very dangerous to the ideas of knowing your respective places in their society. Addison and Steele seem to think that the croquette is not only a lady who tends to flirt with every man she comes into contact with, but any young lady who outwardly makes every attempt to find a suitable marriage partner. In No. 110, of The Tatler (478-482), Addison speaks of a certain young woman being accused of catching the lust of several young men and breaking their hearts. He explains how she seems very innocent when proposed with the accusation and that this is how she obtains that she is not in the wrong. The way he words this essay makes me think that he believes that it is criminal for a woman to use the "Motion of her Eyes and Turn of her Countenance"(p 479) to capture the eyes of a possible suitor. Because a woman is able to use her ‘special powers’ in such a way is deceitful and therefore may lead to other wrongful doings which, in turn, disturbs the way Addison believes the opposite sexes serve opposite sides of society.

Blessed Are the Peacemaker

CHAPTER ONE: Peace Makers INTRODUCTION: The followers of Jesus have been called to peace. When he called them they found their peace, for he is their peace. But now they are told that they must not only have peace but make it. And to that end they renounce all violence and tumult. Now, PEACEMAKING is a divine work. For peace means reconciliation; and God is the author of peace and of reconciliation. †¦ It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the particular blessing which attaches to peacemakers is that â€Å"they shall be called sons of God. For they are seeking to do what their Father has done, loving people with his love. 1. 1Who are the Peace Makers Being a peacemaker is part of being surrendered to God, for God brings peace. We abandon the effort to get our needs met through the destruction of enemies. God comes to us in Christ to make peace with us; and we participate in God's grace as we go to our enemies to make peace. For no one has ever been converted by violence. Mak ing peace makes us God's children—and kin to each other. According to Michael H. Crosby, in his work ‘Spirituality of the Beatitudes’. The peace intended is not merely that of political and economic stability, as in the Greco-Roman world, but peace in the Old Testament inclusive sense of wholeness, all that constitutes well-being. †¦ The â€Å"peacemakers,† therefore, are not simply those who bring peace between two conflicting parties, but those actively at work making peace, bringing about wholeness and well-being among the alienated. However, they play a vital role by their impact by creating peace where violence has taken control. It is important to note that peacemakers are honoured insofar as they speak about peace as something already victoriously won that we can celebrate as part of our glorious past or as something that will be won in the other world. They continue to be dishonoured insofar as they continue to point out injustice, hypocrisy, and suffering. They are noble when their actions bring to light, problems far away from us; they are an odious nuisance when they point out our own sins. We are called peacemakers as Christians by our ways of life. However, in our reflection, it’s interesting to point out that, none of those theologians seem to give much thought to how one deal with evil. Are we supposed to give in and allow violent, evil people to make slaves of us all? That would be the result of peace making at any cost. Hitler and his people would be ruling the world today, people would be evaluated according to their mental and physical abilities and those who are for whatever reason unable to participate and contribute would end up in concentration camps. Muslim extremists are not all that different; a good example is the recent religious crisis in Jos Plateau state. Perhaps Mr. Bush and his people were wrong for starting the war and as he himself has said, we might never know the answer but evil and injustice must be fought against with every thing we have. Jesus commanded us to do good and that includes putting down evil action. As long as there are violent self-serving leaders in charge of underdeveloped countries there is nothing we can do. The poor will ever benefit from our charity. 1. 2The Cry of the Beatitudes: Get a New Heart One after the other the beatitudes tell us that the blessings of eternity will be given only to those who have become new creatures. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. If we don't obtain mercy, we receive judgment. If we don't see God, we are not in heaven. If we aren't called the sons of God, we are outside the family. In other words these are all descriptions of final salvation. And it is promised only to the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers. Therefore the beatitudes are like long spikes holding down the lid of the coffin on the false teaching which says that if you just believe in Jesus you will go to heaven whether or not you are merciful or pure in heart or a peacemaker. In fact, from beginning to end the Sermon on the Mount cries out, â€Å"Get yourself a new heart! Become a new person! The river of judgment is at the door! † You recall the words of verse 20: â€Å"Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven† (Matthew 5:20). And at the very end of the sermon in (Matthew 7:26f), the Lord calls out over the crowds, â€Å"Every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it. † In other words, a life of disobedience to the beatitudes and to the Sermon on the Mount will not stand in the judgment no matter what we believe! 1. 3How to Become Sons of God When Jesus says, â€Å"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God,† he did not tell us how to become a son of God. He simply says that sons of God are in fact peacemakers. People who are peacemakers will be recognized as the sons of God at the judgment and they will be called what they are and welcomed into the Father's house. To see how to become sons of God we can look, for example, in John 1:12 and Galatians 3:26. John 1:12 says, â€Å"To all who received him (Jesus), who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God. And Galatians 3:26 says, â€Å"For in Christ we are all sons of God through faith. † In other words, we become sons of God by trusting in Christ for our forgiveness and hope. What Jesus is saying in Matthew 5:9 is that people who have become sons of God have the character of their heavenly Father. And we know from Scripture that their heavenly Father is a â€Å"God of peace† (Romans 16:20; 1 Thessalonia ns 5:23; Hebrews 13:20). We know that heaven is a world of peace (Luke 19:38). And most important of all, we know that God is a peacemaker! God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them† (2 Corinthians 5:19). He made peace by the blood of the cross (Colossians 1:20). In other words, even though by nature we are rebels against God and have committed high treason and are worthy to be eternally court-marshaled and hanged by the neck until dead. Nevertheless God has sacrificed his own Son and now declares amnesty free and clear to any who will lay down their arms of independence and come home to faith. God is a peace-loving God, and a peacemaking God. The whole history of redemption, climaxing in the death and resurrection of Jesus, is God's strategy to bring about a just and lasting peace between rebel man and himself, and then between man and man. Therefore, God's children are that way, too. They have the character of their Father. What he loves they love. What he pursues they pursue. You can know his children by whether they are willing to make sacrifices for peace the way God did. By the sovereign work of God's grace rebel human beings are born again, and brought from rebellion to faith, and made into children of God. We were given a new nature, after the image of our heavenly Father (1 John 3:9). If he is a peacemaker, then his children, who have his nature, will be peacemakers too. CHAPTER TWO: 2. 1The Spirit of God Is the Spirit of Peace To put it another way, as Paul says in Galatians 4:6, â€Å"Since we are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father! ‘† And therefore, as he says in Romans 8:14, â€Å"All who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. † And being led by the Spirit always includes bearing the fruit of the Spirit. And the fruit of the Spirit is peace! So you see why it must be so, that the children of God must be peacemakers. It is by the Spirit of God that we are made children of God, and the Spirit of God is the Spirit of peace. If we are not peacemakers, we don't have the Spirit of Christ. So we do not earn or merit the privilege to be called sons of God. Instead we owe our new birth to the sovereign grace of God (John 1:13). We owe our faith to the impulses of the new birth (1 John 5:1). We receive the Holy Spirit by the exercise of this faith (Galatians 3:2). The fruit of this Spirit is peace (Galatians 5:22). And those who bear the fruit of peace are the sons of God. Our whole salvation, from beginning to end, is all of grace—therein lies our hope and joy and freedom. But our final salvation is not unconditional, we must be peacemakers—therein lies our earnestness and the great seriousness with which we must deal with these beatitudes, and seek the grace of God in our lives. Now let's look at . . . what it means to be peacemakers. 2. 2What It Means to Be a Peacemaker The promise of sonship in the second half of the Matthew 5:9 points us to Matthew 5:43-45 for our main insight. Both of these texts describe how we can show ourselves to be sons of God. You have heard that it was said, â€Å"You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. † But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Notice verse 45, â€Å". . . so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. † The thought is the same as in Matthew 5:9. There, we must be peacemakers to be called sons of God. Here, we must love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us if we would be sons of God. So probably Jesus thinks of peacemaking as all the acts of love by which we try to overcome the enmity between us and other people. And if we ask for specifics, he gives two examples. The first thing he mentions is prayer (verse 44): Pray for those who persecute you. Pray what? The next chapter tells us. In Matthew 6:9-10 Jesus says, â€Å"Pray like this. † Pray that you and your enemy would hallow God's name. Pray that God's kingdom be acknowledged in your life and his life. Pray that you and he would do God's will the way the angels do it in heaven. In other words, pray for conversion and sanctification. The basis of peace is purity. Pray for yours and pray for his, that there might be peace. Then in Matthew 5:47 Jesus gives the other specific example of peacemaking-love in this text: â€Å"If you salute (or greet) only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? † In other words, if there is a rupture in one of your relationships, or if there is someone who opposes you, don't nurse that grudge. Don't feed the animosity by ignoring and avoiding that person. That is the natural thing to do—just cross the street so that you don't have to greet them. But that is not the impulse of the Spirit of a peacemaking God, who sacrificed his Son to reconcile us to himself and to each other. Peacemaking tries to build bridges to people. It does not want the animosity to remain. It wants reconciliation. It wants harmony. And so it tries to show what may be the only courtesy the enemy will tolerate, namely, a greeting. The peacemaker looks the enemy right in the eye and says, â€Å"Good morning, John. † And he says it with a longing for peace in his heart, not with a phony gloss of politeness to cover his anger. So we pray and we take whatever practical initiatives we can to make peace beginning with something as simple as a greeting. But we do not always succeed. And I want to make sure you don't equate peacemaking with peace-achieving. A peacemaker longs for peace, and works for peace, and sacrifices for peace. But the attainment of peace may not come. Romans 12:18 is very important at this point. There Paul says, â€Å"If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all. † That is the goal of a peacemaker: â€Å"If possible, so far as it depends on you . . . † Don't let the rupture in the relationship be your fault. 2. 3A Tough Question: Peace and Truth? What raises a tough question: Is it your fault when the stand that you take is causing the division? If you have alienated someone and brought down their anger upon your head because you have done or said what is right, have you ceased to be a peacemaker? Not necessarily. Paul said, â€Å"If it is possible . . . live at peace. He thus admits that there will be times that standing for the truth will make it impossible. For example, he says to the Corinthians (11:18-19), â€Å"I hear that there are divisions among you; and I partly believe it, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. † Now he would not have said that, if the genui ne Christians should have compromised the truth in order to prevent divisions at all cost. It was precisely because some of the Christians were genuine—genuine peacemakers—that some of the divisions existed. (Also see 1 Corinthians 7:15. Jesus said in Matthew 10:34, thus: Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's foes will be those of his own household. In other words, you must love peace and work for peace. You must pray for your enemies, and do good to them, and greet them, and long for the barriers between you to be overcome. But you must never abandon your allegiance to me and my word, no matter how much animosity it brings down on your head. You are not guilty; you are not in the wrong if your life of obedience and your message of love and truth elicit hostility from some and affirmation from others. CHAPTER THREE: 3. 1Social Injustices as Demands for Personal Repentance There is another explanation for why he preaches the way he does. In Luke 13:1-5 some people confronted Jesus with one of Pilate's atrocities. Here's the way he responded: There were some present at that very time who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And e answered them, â€Å"Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. † He took a major social outrage of injustice and turned it into a demand for personal, individual repentance. â€Å"Unless you repent you will all likewise perish! † That's what he always did. Why did he do this? Because for Jesus, the eternal d estiny of a human soul is a weightier matter, a bigger issue, than the temporal destiny of a nation. . 2The Truly Weighty Matter in the World Today Now let's go back to the question. Why does a message on peacemaking from the Sermon on the Mount focus on the individual issues of prayer and greetings and personal reconciliation? Aren't these personal issues insignificant in comparison with the issues of nuclear war, military budgets, arms talks in Geneva, apartheid in South Africa, and religious crisis in northern Nigeria, civil wars in Central America, religious oppression in Romania and Russia, and international terrorism? The answer is no, because the point of these personal issues in the Sermon on the Mount is to make crystal clear that every individual within the hearing of my voice must become a new creature if you are to have eternal life. You must have a new heart. Without a merciful, pure, peacemaking heart you cannot be called a son of God at the judgment day. And that is the truly weighty matter in the world today. Is the Son of Man confined in his views of the world, is he out of touch with the real issues of life because he regards the eternal salvation of your soul as a weightier matter than the temporal destiny of any nation on earth? Blessed are you peacemakers who pray for your enemies and greet your opponents with love and sacrifice like your heavenly Father for the reconciliation of people to God and to each other, for you will be called sons of God and inherit eternal life in the kingdom of your Father. CONCLUSION Blessed are the peacemakers. But if you look around you, peacemakers are extremely rare. In fact, conflict is basically everywhere on the face of this earth – because of religion, because of politics, because of just simple old bald-faced human nature, we have massacres and destruction and ayhem and wars all over this earth. Even our court systems seem to make everybody unhappy with the judgments that are rendered. And of course we hear many things coming out of Congress that sometimes make you wonder just exactly what are they trying to do? And of course Cincinnati has become, in the last little while, renown for its conflicts as well. Isaiah the prophet wrote these words, he said, â€Å"Th e way of peace they have not known, there is no justice in their ways. They have made themselves crooked paths and whosoever takes that way, shall not know peace. â€Å"

Chicken

Although online and offline experiences are quite different In practice, the goal remains the same. The mall purpose of the boutique and the website Is to create a unique and unforgettable experience for the customer. Smart brand marketers are the ones who realism luxury always was and always will be about the relationships. Luxury Interactive helps you advance the integration of traditional and interactive marketing strategies to create exceptional customer experiences, keeping your brand top of mind with your customers. Location Central London Hotel AttendeesLuxury executives in the following areas: Sales & Marketing, marketing, commerce, Interactive, Strategic Planning, Branding & Brand Management, PR & Advertising, Business Development, Corporate Communications, Strategic Partnerships, Customer Relationship Management & Loyalty Marketing, Interactive Campaign Management. History of Event Landmark 3/10 – 3/13 2008 El Meridian Piccadilly 03/16 – 03/18 2009 Decision Da te 9/30/09 What to include in Proposal Dates, Meeting Space outline with Room Names, Floor Plans, Menus, Meeting Space Rental, Distance to Metro Date Options 05/11 -05/13 2010Space Needs Days are flexible as long as no meetings are on Friday Monday 2 Offices Setup for Conference needs to be 110 Pl in crescent rounds with Stage, Riser and room for podium and panel table. (these people really like to spread out there papers and Interact in a table format) Setup to start at pm – 24 hour hold Exalt Setup to take place for 10 xx booths that need to be next to General Session this would need a setup of pm with 24 hold till breakdown on Wednesday at pm. Tuesday Conference Starts at am – pm needs to be set In crescent rounds for 110 Pl with

Internet Addicition Essay

Much evidence has been alleged that social pathologies are beginning to surface in cyberspace (i.e., internet addictions). A lot of controversy is surrounding the question, is there proof that the internet is being abused and misused by individuals on an everyday basis and should we consider this to be a major mental health problem? Key Arguments: * Why do people have attachment insecurity and dissociation with their lives to make them choose to be disorganized, and allow a fantasy world to take over resulting in problematic internet abuse. * How information and communication technologies changing our way of interacting with reality. * What are the psychological symptoms involving disturbed relationships with technologies emerging, how some are more affected than others. * How different forms of related dependence behaviours, such as an addiction to social networking, cybersex, online gambling, or web-based role-playing games are affecting our need to be on the internet. * How some games reward â€Å"achievements† and â€Å"goals† making the cyber game goals more important of that than reality goals. * Does social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and other forms of cyber communication have detrimental effects related to internet addiction. * Internet Gambling, main reasons for internet addiction, however not just costing their health but impacting finances and crippling family relationships. Critical Analysis Article 1: Reference (2) Researchers have begun to examine the personal and social consequences associated with excessive online involvement. The present study examined college students’ problematic Internet use (PIU) behaviors Its specific aim was to investigate the links between PIU with both internalizing (depression, social anxiety) and externalizing (substance use and other risky behaviors) problems. Article 2: Reference (4) There are many psychological factors surrounding the present issue of internet addiction, using evidence such as Social Networking Sites (SNS)e.g., facebook , twitter etc, Massive Multiplayer Online games and Internet Gambling as my three key topics. The aim is to provide a clear and concise method about how individuals who consistently spend their time on the internet are having detrimental effects on their physical, social and psychological life. Article 3: Reference (5) There is an increasing need for the provision of both internet addiction prevention and care for any sufferers, psychologist should be weary of the dangers of internet abuse when youth present with anti-social, aggressive behaviours. Socialization in girls may be warped towards online contact and the user may beneï ¬ t from providing alternatives. The aim is to focus on internet-related addictive behaviours and how to include the use of suitable diagnostic tools, a detailed personal interview, a mental health status examination and information regarding the overt behaviours gathered by the surroundings. I want to engage the reader to believe that internet addiction is a real mental health issue, that effects youth all the way to late adolescent, whether it be an addiction though games, gambling, social media etc, there is evidence to say that individuals influenced by this addiction are not progressing in life, because excess use of a cyber world has become a major part of their li ves or taken over their lives. Structure: – Evidence addiction in Video Games (Kuss, Daria J; Griffiths, Mark D. Studies): Main conclusions stemming from this source – Psychological Evidence to Addiction (Griffiths, M Study & Gencer, S L & Koc, M Study): Main conclusions stemming from this source – Evidence addiction to Social Networking Systems (Kittinger, R., Correia, C J., & Irons J G Article): Main conclusions stemming from this source References Bozkurt, H; Coskun, M; Ayaydin, H; Adak, I; Zoroglu, S S (2013). Prevalence and patterns of psychiatric disorders in referred adolescents with Internet addiction. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. 67(5), pp. 352-359. De, L., & Josepth, A. (2013). Problematic Internet Use and Other Risky Behaviours in College Students: An Applicationof Problem-Behaviour Theory. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 27(1), pp. 133-141. DOI: 10.1037/a0030823. Gencer, S L & Koc, M. (2012) Internet abuse among teenagers and Its relations to internet usage patterns and demographics. Journal of Educational Technology & Society. 15(2), pp. 25-36. Griffiths, M. (2010). Internet abuse and Internet addiction in the workplace. Journal of Workplace Learning, 22(7), 2010, pp. 463-472. Kittinger, R., Correia, C J., & Irons J G (2012) Relationship Between Facebook Use and Problematic Internet Use Among College Student. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. 15(6), pp. 324-327. Kuss, D J; Griffiths, M D. , Internet video game addiction: A systematic review of empirical research in the literature. Revue Adolescence. 30(1), 2012, pp. 17-49.

Shorefast Case Study B March 2013

Table of Contents Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1 Financial Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 Strategy Diamond Model†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 Internal Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 8 Value Chain Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 8 VRINE Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦12 External Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦13 Porter’s five forces†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦13 PESTEL†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦.. 14 Alternative Evaluations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦15 Fit analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 18 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 19 Re commendations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦19Introduction Plant Nutrients Inc. (PNI) is an international company that supplied fertilizer ingredients used by its subsidiaries in 6 geographic area which are Northeastern United States, Eastern Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South America. The general manager of PNI is Brian Dunwoodie and the marketing manager is Dave Claussen. Mr. Dunwoodie and Mr. Claussen are the main decision makers within the organization. They were meeting with each other to determine the main issues of the company, which how to improve company’s performance next year (1999).They came up with three potential alternatives, which are strengthening the existing business, adding a seed business and adding precision agricultural services to better PNI’s performance next year. For choosing the best alternatives, this paper will use d ifferent frameworks and models to analyze each alternative, for example financial analysis, strategy diamond model, internal analysis (Value Chain and VRINE), external analysis (Porter’s 5 forces and PESTEL). After analyzing all these parts, the fit between internal and external environment will be analyzed as well. Financial Analysis 1. Operating income statement (Exhibit 1)As Exihit 1 in the case shows that the main product PNI had sold was Fertilizer, the total sales of PNI in 1998 is $4,621,097, which consist of the sales of Fertilizer( $3,339,097), the sales of pesticides ($1,058,000) and the sale of services ($224,000). The sales of fertilizer accounted for 72. 3% ($3,339,097/ $4,621,097) of total sales, the sales of pesticides accounted 22. 9% in the total sales, and the service only accounted for 4. 8% in the total sales, so fertilizer product generate more sales than pesticides and services and this also means the sales of pesticide and services may have huge growth potential in the future.Hence, PNI should focus more on the sales of pesticide and service in the future. In addition, the gross margin of fertilizer was 20. 07%, and the gross margin of pesticides was 18%. Among these products, fertilizer was the major contributor of PNI’s profit. In terms of the sales of each product, the analyst will use the following tables to identify what the major markets and customers of these products. 2. Fertilizer sales No. 1 The percentage of PNI’s customers accounted in the Fertilizer Market. (Formula: Number of Customers in PNI / Number of Customers in the whole market)Market AreaPNI Farm SizeSalesCustomersSalesCustomersMarket Share Small$1,128,000527$986,00040476. 7% Medium$10,635,0001578$1,259,00017110. 8% Large$3,631,00095$319,00099. 5% Total$15,394,0002200$2,564,00058426. 5% No. 2 The percentage of the fertilizer sales for the market and for PNI over the total sales by customer segment, 1998 Market AreaPNI Farm sizeSalesSales Small7. 33%38. 5% Medium69. 1%49. 1% Large23. 6%12. 44% Total100%100% Market AreaPNI Farm sizeSalesSales Small100%87. 41% Medium100%11. 84% Large100%8. 79% Total100%16. 7% No. The percentage of PNI’s fertilizer sales contribute to the market sales by customer segment, 1998 3. Pesticide Sales No. 4 The percentage of PNI’s customers accounted in the Market. Market AreaPNI Farm SizeSalesCustomersSalesCustomersMarket Share Small$797000527$35600020939. 6% Medium$63120001578$4580001066. 7% Large$3,300,00095$244,00077. 4% Total$10,409,0002200$2,564,00032214. 6% No. 5 The percentage of pesticide sales for the market and for PNI over the total sale by customer segment, 1998 Market AreaPNI Farm sizeSalesSales Small7. 66%33. 6% Medium60. 64%43. 3% Large31. %21. 2% Total100%100% No. 6 The percentage of PNI’s pesticide sales contribute to the market sales by customer segment, 1998 Market AreaPNI Farm sizeSalesSales Small100%44. 67% Medium100%7. 26% Large100%6. 79% Total100%10. 16% I nterpretation of tables 1. Table No. 1 and No. 4 For both fertilizer products and pesticide Products, PNI’s major customers are the small farm owner (Fertilizer: 76. 7%, Pesticide: 39. 6%), so the future trend for PNI is to take more medium and large farm size customers (Medium: Fertilizer: 10. 8%, Pesticide: 6. 7%; Large: Fertilizer: 9. 5%, Pesticide: 7. %). 2. Table No. 2 and No. 5 in the market area, the sales of fertilizers, the medium farm account the largest portion of sales (69. 1%). For the sales of pesticides, the medium farm still accounts the largest portion of sales (60. 64%). In the PNI’s area, both the sales of fertilizers and pesticides to the medium farm customers have the highest percentage (Fertilizer: 49. 1%, Pesticide 43. 3%); therefore, PNI should focus on the sales of fertilizer and pesticide to the medium farms’ customers because it accounts the largest part of PNI’s total sales. 3. Table No. 3 and No. The sales of PNI’s fert ilizers and pesticides to the small farms’ customers have already gained the largest sales in the whole market (Fertilizer: 87. 41%, Pesticide: 44. 67%). However, for the sales of PNI’s fertilizers and pesticides to the medium and large farms customers account a very small portion of the total sales in the whole market (Medium: Fertilizer: 11. 84%, Pesticide: 7. 26%; Large: Fertilizer: 8. 79%, Pesticide: 6. 79%). Hence, PNI should also pay more attention to increase the sales to the medium and large farms’ customers due to its huge growth potential. . According to the Exhibit 5 in the case, the large farm size prefer Materials and Regular fertilizers and it contributes almost 54. 3% of the material sales to total sales. Therefore, PNI should focus on selling Materials to large farm size customers. However, the sales percentage of the premium and regular fertilizers, which in the medium farm size contributes the most to the total sales of the market, and the sale percentages are 53. 1% and 59. 7% respectively, and the Exhibit 4 showed that the Premium fertilizers and Regular fertilizers of PNI have the highest ($89. 5) and second highest gross margin ($66. 11); hence, PNI should focus on selling premium and regular fertilizers to small and medium farm size customers. In addition, it is unnecessary for PNI to focus on the sales to dealers because PNI cannot stop the trend that the sales volume to dealers is decreasing year after year. Observation: 1. Medium and large farmers have great grow potential. 2. Small and Medium farms prefer Premium blends fertilizers, which is the most profitable fertilizer product in PNI (gross margin: $ 89. 95/ ton) Strategy Diamond ModelThe strategy diamond, which includes arenas, vehicles, differentiators, staging and pacing, and economic logic, shows how well a company do its business in a strategic level. Arenas: PNI’s current product and service lines consisted of fertilizers, pesticides, custom appli cation services and oil testing. The PNI in Lancaster is one of the subsidiaries in the 6 geographical regions, which are Northeastern United States, Eastern Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South America. In terms of distribution channel, the company outsource a trucking company to cut down on their distribution costs.Moreover, the company have modern equipment to produce products and have the best trained operators to provide services in the region. Vehicles: There is no information about vehicle in the current situation. However, if PNI select the second alternative, which is adding a seed business in the near future, the company may alliance with Larson Seed, a regional seed producer, to provide expertise and sales training for PNI sales consultants. Differentiators: PNI bundles their prices so that when a farmer buys their product the services are also included in the price.The services provided are also customizable to the farmer’s needs. They have the most q ualified operators in the region, and because of this, they are able to provide the highest quality services. They have a strong long lasting relationship with their customers as they have been in the business for 20 years. Furthermore, PNI is the only fertilizer supplier in the area with proprietary, premium fertilizers, had invested heavily over the years to develop and test their products. Each customer needs different services that depend on that customer's situation by creating value bundle.Staging and Pacing: There is urgency for PNI to do internal development because the company wanted to perform better in the next year (1999). So, the top management had come up with three alternatives to either adding new businesses or strengthening the current business. Economic logic: There is a great potential for PNI to generate more profits when the company minimize its cost. The case mentioned that PNI didn’t achieve its maximum capacity. For example, the capacity of PNI blendin g plant is 14,000 tons/ year; however, it just blended approximately 10,000 tons in 1998.By achieving the maximum capacity, the company can utilize the economies of scale to assign the fixed costs of the production into each process, so that the company can make more profit. Observations: Overall, PNI didn’t perform very well in 1998 because the operations within the organization don’t function well. The major reason of it is that the production level didn’t meet the maximum capacity, which increases the cost of each product. When costs go up, the revenue will decrease (assume the volume sold is the same).Internal Analysis-Value Chain analysis The Value Chain is a tool to analyze the internal environment of a company and determine where the business concentrates their efforts. Inbound logistics: PNI’s warehouse met the latest U. S. environment standards for fertilizer and pesticide storage; however, its storage is able to handle a substantially larger vol ume than currently required. This means the company have high variable cost per item because it didn’t fully utilize its storage. Operations: The capacity of PNI blending plant is 14,000 tons/ year; however, it just blended approximately 10,000 tons in 1998.This means PNI were not achieving the maximum capacity. The company has two types of application equipment, which are modern and in good working order. The first type is fertilizer equipment, which consist 25 bulk, full-typed spreaders. The cost of the equipment is incorporated in the price of fertilizer, so it is free for customers. However, customers just used bulk spreaders on about 80, 000 acres in 1998, which is about 32000 acres per spreaders, which is less than a spreader’s capacity of about 4000 acres. So, the company can reduce the number of spreader it gave to customers to reduce costs.Air spreader is more attractive to large and medium farmers. The capacity is 8000 acres per year under ideal condition, ho wever, only 4000 acres in 1998, which is only half of the actual capacity. Consumers can choose to pay for it by bundling price of equipment to fertilizers or separate the price for spray equipment and fertilizers. The other type of application equipment is pesticide application equipment. There are two self-propelled applicators under pesticide application equipment, which are small unit applicator and larger unit applicator.The capacity is 8,000 acres per year for smaller unit and 10,000 acres per year for larger unit. In the last two years, these two units are fully utilized, which sprays a total of 18, 000 acres of land each year. The problem is two application units were fully booked, whether lack of application capacity might be constraining pesticide sales. The soil testing lab can handle 14000 samples per year; however, it only handled 6000 samples in 1998. Outbound logistics: PNI deliver raw materials by using an excellent rail service and a local trucking firm handled all shipment to customers.Dunwoodie said that the outsourcing of PNI’s trucking had reduced costs and investments substantially. Marketing and sales: PNI is the only fertilizer supplier in the area with proprietary, premium fertilizers, had invested heavily over the years to develop and test their products, which are urea and ammonium, regular N-P-K, and premium N-P-K. The last product was a proprietary product that carried the Nutri-Plus brand, which provides significant economic benefits to farmers and the sales of it accounted for half of sales in 1988 and an increasing percent percentage of PNI's total sales over time.Most of customers didn’t ask about price, so they are less price sensitive. Dunwoodie estimated that to be about 40% of the total acres treated with chemicals sold by PNI. The market segments are depending on the size of farm, which are sorted by small, medium and large. There are up to 100 acres of crops in small farms, 100-500 acres of crops in medium f arms and over 500 acres of crops in large farms. PNI charge on the basis of the customer's ability and willingness to pay and are sharing in the benefits it create for the customers, which result in higher margin, premium products.However, PNI lost profit on the higher prices of these products due to high cost of service. The company had about $25,000 in its budget for marketing. PNI spent most of them on PNI-sponsored events where 25-50 local farmers were treated to a meal, some entertainment, and an information program. PNI also advertised in local newspaper and gave away hats, pens, and other premiums to customers and prospects. Moreover, $5000 was spent on a corporate brochure in 1998. Service: extensive agronomic services: soil analysis, crop scouting, nutrient consulting, micronutrients analysis, and pesticide and fertilizer application.Sales representative do delivery, application, consultation, consultation, and billing to customers. Also, they kept latest product knowledge and attempted to build strong personal relationships with each customer result in low customer turnover rate. Procurement: Supplied by its mother company. Technology development: PNI use modern equipment to produce products and advanced information system to provide more accurate data and feedbacks to the company. Also, if it decides to enter into the precision agricultural business, it needs to use GPS system and other AgriTechs, such as Yield Mapping and Remote Sensing Mapping.Human resources management: Brian Dunwoodie has 11 staffs reporting to him that includes sales, marketing, accounting, production, administrative functions. Staffs are flexible and empowered, so that they could do what needed to be done. Dave Claussen is responsible for developing PNI's marketing program. There are two services managers who work with sales consultant to determine the types of products and application rates for individual farmer clients. PNI is possible to use high-level technical support bec ause it use full time and better trained employees than competitors.Other company use part-time employees with little expertise with the equipment or procedures involved for applying fertilizers and pesticides. There are 4 sales consultants who is selling PNI products and services, working with existing customers, explaining soil test results, helping develop an annual fertilizer and pesticide program, providing general technical advice and attracting new customers. Average 30 days each year to sales and product training, compared to other competitors less than 15 days on training. Each consultant had a designated sales territory, which has approximately 140 customers. Observations: 1.PNI have extra capacity of warehouse and machinery. 2. Outsourcing trucking service reduce the company’s cost. 3. Staffs are well-trained and be able to provide superior services to customers. VRINE analysis VRINE is a tool to analyze the internal resources and capabilities to determine if a com pany has a competitive advantage over competitors. Value: There is no unique resource within the organization because the technology and resources the company use to produce the products is easy to access by other competitors. However, the company provide customized services and products to customers, which provide benefits to farmers.Also, PNI has the best operators within the organization to serve its customers, which helps the company to build a good relationship with customers. It also used the â€Å"win-win† philosophy and dispatched sales representatives to keep a good long-term relationship with its customers Rarity: The resources the company use are not rare, because it can be access by competitors too. Inimitability: The technology the company use to produce products is easy to imitate by competitors. Non-substitutability: The chemical fertilizer product can be substituted by Biofertilizers, which is made from microorganisms.Pesticide can be substituted if farmers bu y pest-resistant seed to remove the need to by pesticides. Exploitability: PNI didn’t manage its resources well because they have wasted a lot of resources in the process of operations. For example, the capacity of PNI blending plant is 14,000 tons/ year; however, it just blended approximately 10,000 tons in 1998. Air spreader is more attractive to large and medium farmers. The capacity is 8000 acres per year under ideal condition, however, only 4000 acres in 1998, which is only half of the actual capacity. Observation: 1.PNI has a non-sustainable competitive advantage. 2. The exploit of resource within the organization is poor. External analysis -Porter’s five forces Michael Porter's five forces model, which determined industry profitability, included degree of rivalry, threat of new entrants, supplier power, buyer power and threat of substitutes. Rivalry (High) There were five companies sell fertilizers and chemicals to farmers around Lancaster. PNI's largest competi tor is Lancaster County Co-op. It supplied both crop and livestock inputs and purchased grain through a separate division.It also offered application services-farmers were dissatisfied with the quality of these services and co-op didn't provide many value-added services, such as precision agriculture. Another competitor is Smith Farm Supply, which is an independent dealer. It only sold chemicals and fertilizers and provide custom application services using less expensive, poorly trained, part-time operators. Smith Farm Supply offered the best prices in the area. The other three competitors are Archibald Farm Supply, Henderson Farm Supply, Wilmington Crop Services; they all focus on supplying chemicals rather than fertilizer.Threat of new entrant (Low) Since the competition is so fierce, there is less chance that new entrant want to enter into the market. Supplier power (Low) PNI can directly get supplied from its mother company. Plant Nutrients International supplied fertilizer ingr edients to its subsidiaries. And their sales would not be influenced by the suppliers. Buyer power (High) The switching cost for customers is very low, so no matter which company offer good service and lower price customers could switch forth and back. Threat of Substitutes (medium-high)Fertilizer’s potential substitute: Customers may switch to biofertilizer, which is made from organism is applied either by coating seeds with the fungus, because people’s awareness of body health. Pesticide’s potential substitute: farmers may buy pest-resistant seed to remove the need to by pesticides Observation: Overall, the profitability of the market is not attractive because the competition is fierce, buyer power is high and there is some product can substitute the products the company currently sell. PESTEL AnalysisPESTEL analysis is used to analyze the external environment of a company; it stands for Political, Sociocultural, Environmental, Economic, Technological and Lega l. Political: PNI’s warehouse met the latest U. S. environment standards for fertilizer and pesticide storage. Sociocultural: Many of the small and some of the medium farms in Lancaster were owned by Amish farmers, they were hard-working farmers whose religious beliefs called stewardship of the land. Most of them are willing to adopt technology that supported stewardship of the land.Environmental: The chemical fertilizers and pesticides PNI sell have a potential to pollute land, so the company should be careful about the environmental costs regarding ecological or environmental issues. Economic: Asian financial crisis happened in 1997-1998, so it is not a timing to enter market into Asia. However, the financial crisis has limited influence to the United States’ economic environment. Technological: The company use advanced Information System to provide more accurate and detailed data on customers.Moreover, PNI is possible to use high-level technical support because it u se full time and better trained employees than competitors. Legal: Several federal regulations cover fertilizer manufacturing and transportation safety and limit their potential impact on the environment and security. Observation: Overall, there are many factors outside of the company have the power to influence a company’s decision and strategic plan. Alternatives Evaluation 1. Working the existing business harder Dunwoodie says that if they were to make no changes and just work their existing business harder they would be able to meet their objectives.They are lagging in the large farm segment and if they were to add 20 farms from that segment they would be able to meet their objectives. They could use their excess capacity to spread out their fixed costs. Advantages: a. It has a great potential to increase the number of customers from medium and large farmers. b. It can help the company to achieve its maximum capacity, which will reduce the cost of each product because it assigns the total fixed cost into more numbers of products. (Economies of Scale) c.Could meet the financial obligation within one year by attracting more medium farmers (the most profitable market segment) Disadvantages: a. It is hard to attract larger farmers because they prefer low-priced products. If PNI wants to attract larger customers, it should reduce product price, which means the profit will decrease as well. b. They should hire and train more sales consultant to meet the increasing number of customers, which increase PNI’s cost too. 2. Adding Seed Business Dunwoodie thought that adding a seed business to PNI would add value to the company.With the new genetic seed technology chemical sales would decline in the future thus creating more opportunities for seeds. Companies like Larson Seeds were already successful seed suppliers. Larson was looking for a distributer in Lancaster, but Dunwoodie was worried about the already existing competition in the seed market, the n ew staff they would need to hire, and the training for the employees and the company alike to get into this business. Advantages: a. Its new genetic technology might increase seed sales. b. It can help PNI complete the product line. Disadvantages: a. he new genetic technology can also decrease chemical sales in future, which conflict with PNI’s current product line. b. Another challenge for PNI to access to the seed business was that it needed to partner with a good seed producer, so whether PNI can cooperating with a regional producer would became an important question for Dunwoodie to consider if he wanted to enter the seed business. c. This alternative is hard to meet the company’s one year financial obligation because it is a new business to add a seed business, PNI should take times to discover the right strategy to sell seeds. . the competitive market is fierce, for example, Monsanto is a giant in the seed business. It is hard to steal market share from it. 3. Ad ding a Precision Agriculture Services If PNI was to adapt the precision agriculture they would be the first ones to market with this service, thus creating a huge competitive advantage. There would be a huge start-up cost to start such a venture, expenses like; new staff, equipment, trucks, and training. With is new technology they would be able to better serve their customers allowing them to put together superior agronomic packages.A lot of farmers were skeptical of the new technology but after reading the survey, I find that not many of the farmers are educated in the benefits of the new technology. It would be the sales force’s job to educate the customer on the benefits to be able to make the sale. Advantages: a. Many farmers were aware of precision agriculture and precision agriculture was a coming trend, so adding precision agriculture would improve the customer service and increase total sales. b. It can complete the company’s services by providing more precise and accurate method to application service. . It will be a competitive advantage for the company, because no competitor enters into this service. Disadvantages: a. High cost: it would cost $10,000 to set up one pull-type spreader and $225,000 to purchase the truck with six separate tanks. Moreover, PNI still needed people, computers, software, and monitors and so on; the investment would be extremely large. b. The survey found that many farmers had skepticism regarding the real benefits of the precision agriculture. c. It cannot meet the company’s financial obligation in one year. FIT AnalysisInternal: Internally PNI hires the best operators and most experienced sales consultants so that they are able to provide the best services and knowledgeable employees. By meet the company’s goal, which is better financial performance in the next year, PNI should hire more sales consultant to meet the increasing number of customers. Moreover, the company should try to achieve its maximum capacity in the next year, because it will significantly reduce the COGS. External: PNI has 5 competitors in Lancaster, which created a fierce competitive environment.However, PNI has its competitive advantage over other competitors, which is the customized and superior service it provided and also the relationship it built with customers are both the assets of the company Moreover, there are many factors externally have the power to influence a company’s decision and strategic plan. Observation: Overall there is a good fit between PNI’s internal and external environment. It recruited full-time and well trained staff to provide superior services to customers, which is a competitive advantage of the company.Externally, customers and even competitors perceived PNI as superior services providers with knowledgeable sales reps in the region. Conclusion In conclusion we think that PNI has the resource and capability to either entering new business or strengthening t he current business, because they haven’t achieve the maximum capacity of machinery and warehouse. Moreover, medium and large farmers have great growth potential and they prefer premium blends fertilizers, which is the most profitable fertilizer product in PNI.In addition, outsourcing trucking service reduces the company’s cost. Furthermore, PNI staffs are well-trained and be able to provide superior services to customers. PNI has a non-sustainable competitive advantage, which means its competitive advantage can be imitate by competitors. In addition, there are many factors outside of the company have the power to influence a company’s decision and strategic plan, such as government’s regulation and sociocultural factors. RecommendationAfter analyzing the organization’s internal and external environment, and all three alternatives, we recommend PNI choose the first alternative, which is working on the existing business harder. We also suggest that PNI focus on targeting medium farmer because of the following reasons: 1. PNI have a competitive advantage over their competitors because of their superior quality and customer relations. At the same time, medium farmers value good services when buying products, which is what PNI good at to do. 2.They are less price sensitive than larger customers, which can help PNI increase sales. 3. Medium farmers prefer premium blending fertilizer, which is the most profitable products in PNI. 4. There are only 6. 7% of medium farmers buy fertilizers of PNI and 10. 6% medium farmers purchase PNI pesticides. This means there is a great potential for PNI to get more customers from medium farmer segment because the customer base is big. 5. It has a greater potential than other alternatives to help PNI achieve its one year financial goal.Other two alternatives need longer term than the alternative 1 to breakeven, because PNI needs cost more money to implementing the seed business and precision busin ess. However, it costs the company less to implement the first strategy, because the company already have all capabilities and resources to implement the first alternative. However, it is not to say PNI should only target on medium customers. Instead, PNI should keep targeting small and large customers, because it is good to diversify the risk of targeting only one market segment. However, the medium farmers should be the priority of PNI.