Spanish Civil War Essay Research Paper For free essay sample

Spanish Civil War Essay, Research Paper For Whom the Bell Tolls tells the interesting narrative of Robert Jordan, who is a college instructor, and American protagonist of the Republican cause in the Spanish Civil War ( 1936-1939 ) . Within a short span of 68 hours, Jordan gets involvement with a set of guerillas, and a immature adult female named Maria, with who he subsequently on in the book falls in love with. She forces him to oppugn his ain engagement in the war. This war seems unwinnable, and Jordan subsequently on realizes that contending for the interest of political causes might be excessively high a monetary value to pay. First Jordan discusses the location of a span with a local usher named Anselmo. We find out that the Spain Jordan loves is in a Civil War, and that Jordan has truly come to assist battle for the side he believes in. At that minute Jordan has to destruct a span behind the enemy lines. We will write a custom essay sample on Spanish Civil War Essay Research Paper For or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This first assignment came to Jordan from General Golz, who was a Soviet officer besides in Spain to contend the war. Harmonizing to General Golz, the devastation of this span at the right clip can be a large factor for the Republican forces. Jordan needs aid to make this occupation, so the provincial Anselmo brought Jordan to a guerilla set concealment in the mountains. From the minute Jordan meets Pablo, the leader of this guerilla set, he suspects that Pablo might take Jordan to some problem. But Jordan needs Pablo to be his ally in this operation. We find out that Pablo had gone bad. He lost his thrust, his intent as a guerilla leader. He lost the thought to merely remain concealed and survive, instead so to hassle the enemy. With the reaching of Jordan, Pablo gives new instructions to the seven work forces and two adult females of the set, on how to make things and when to make them. I think this was to demo Jordan that there is some leading in the set. A batch of the set membe rs and some other sets don Ts like Pablo, and would be happy if Jordan would kill him, but he doesn t. Alternatively Jordan makes programs to run into with another neighbouring guerilla set, led by El Sordo. Jordan has them aid in the destruction of the span. Robert Jordan finds more than the span to busy his attending. Among the guerilla set there is a adult females named Maria, who the set rescued during their last important operation. Maria and Robert about immediately are attracted to each other and pass the first dark doing love. This is non the first sexual experience for either of them. Jordan has been with other adult females. And Maria was one time raped by a group of enemy soldiers. But this was the first experience that combined sex and love for both of them. The following twenty-four hours Robert, Maria, and Pilar, who is Pablo s kept woman, travel to the hideaway of El Sordo to inquire for their aid in destructing the span. El Sordo promises their support. On the return trip, Pilar leaves Jordan and Maria on intent by themselves for a piece. And once more they make love, and this is where I think Jordan begins to recognize that this war might non be the most of import thing in his life after all. Pablo s set so tries to avoid being seen by the enemy soldiers siting through the country. El Sordo and his work forces are non so fortunate. Nationalist soldiers the enemy trap them on a hill and they are slaughtered. Jordan and the others hear the sounds of contending but did non come to help El Sordo. Jordan thinks that it is a atrocious feeling. Jordan negotiations about some personal experiences with now make him doubt the value of this war. He says the concentration of enemy soldiers and planes in the country make him doubt if they have the ability of blowing up the span. He says that if General Golz was cognizant of the Numberss of the enemy soldiers, he would desire the operation canceled. So Robert Jordan writes a message for Golz. But the courie r is delayed because of the presence of so many soldiers in the country. And eventually the note neer gets to Golz because the courier is arrested and the note is taken off. At the cantonment Maria and Jordan dream about their hereafter together, but Jordan knows that they are gulling themselves. Soon after some clip passes Pilar brings Jordan the intelligence that Pablo ran off and took with him the explosion devices. Jordan says that the span operation International Relations and Security Network T easy with the explosion devices but without it seemed impossible. Jordan now has to come up with a stopgap exploder and detonating devices merely to hold a opportunity of wining. Night and twenty-four hours after that Jordan spends to calculate out a manner, and keeping Maria. We will be killed but we will blow up the span, he whispers into her ear while she sleeps in his weaponries. On the 4th twenty-four hours, while the set eats what can be their last breakfast Pablo returns. He apol ogizes for his minutes of failing, and to do up for it he brought several more work forces from the country to fall in them, but the exploder and the detonating devices are gone, he tossed them in the river. The courier is so released and the note gets to Golz, but it is excessively late because the enemy begins their onslaught. So the mission of blowing up the span returns. Jordan and Pablo come up with some explosion devices merely in clip. And the program was that at the sound of the Loyalist onslaught the span should be destroyed. Jordan s mission is so accomplished, and he had done what he s come to make, but he is now a different adult male from what he was a short piece ago. The success gives him merely a small of satisfaction. Now the set must try to withdraw. Pablo, the most familiar with the country, comes up with a program which is possible to work. The set is fired at a batch of times, but no 1 is hurt. They all have a opportunity to get away to a safe country, except Robert Jordan. His Equus caballus is hit and falls on him, interrupting his thigh. So he is left behind, and everyone but Maria can see that there s no other manner to last unless they keep traveling. There is a short but really painful adieu. Maria protests to the terminal and won Ts leave until Pilar and Pablo force her to. Robert Jordan struggles to stay witting merely long plenty to kill at least some of the enemy, and so he merely lies there on the land. After holding read both For Whom the Bell Tolls and Farewell to Arms both novels by Earnest Hemmingway I can clearly see what War/Romance was like. The subject in For Whom the Bell Tolls is clearly demonstrated by the actions of Robert Jordan. Throughout his engagement in the Spanish Civil War, he fight s actively for a cause. Not the cause of communism, as Robert Jordan says but the cause of antifascism. As I read more and more of the novel, I realized that the engagement of Robert with the guerilla set and Maria, teach him the value of the person as he affects a larger society. For Jordan, Maria represents human love, at least the first he has of all time known. I think it is for her that he remain s behind to let the remainder of the set to get away at the terminal of the novel, showing his realisation that others depend on him as he depended on them. I don t know why he doesn t commit self-destruction at the terminal of the book, I think it may be his understanding that he must c ontend for the people whose lives are affected by the cause. The relationships between Robert and Maria, and Henry and Catherine, are both really similar. Both twosomes meet each other at the forepart, and autumn in love. And by the terminal of the book they realize that their love is better so the war, they had to contend. Robert and Henry s lives alteration, their positions on life, war, love and relationships between human s alteration. I think most alterations were for the better. I think Hemmingway depicts a few different sorts of love in For Whom the Bell Tolls. Romantic love is depicted in the relationship between Jordan and Maria. Before Jordan met Maria, he expressed himself sexually, but he neer loved. Loving Maria makes Robert a better individual, she represents the love that makes Jordan a human. For Maria, Jordan s love is the mending touch she needs to bring around the psychic lesions administered upon her by her old capturers. Hemmingway besides shows some sort of lov e between the people and land they are contending for. Jordan s love of freedom brought him to Spain to contend for the Republican cause. The hurting of Pablo s set as the guerillas listen to the onslaught on El Sordo s cantonment shows some sort of love between the people. And Pilar s concern about Maria s felicity and good being is a sort of motherly love that play s a large portion in Maria s mending procedure. To some extend For Whom the Bell Tolls non merely a book of war and love, but besides decease. Robert Jordan from the beginning of the book realizes that decease may come at any clip. Henry in the Farewell to Arms besides realizes this, but it is the nature of war that people get killed. And being at the incorrect topographic point at the incorrect clip, can acquire you killed. I think decease is besides linked to the fresh s one of major subjects, which I though was the mutuality between people. Everyone in the book and in the set depended on one another. The decease s th at happen during the narrative, like Kashkin s decease in the beginning of the book, affected the lives of others. For illustration Kashkin s decease affects Jordan and the guerilla set, because that s one less individual in their set. El Sordo s decease had some serious effects for the members of the cantonment. Jordan is besides haunted by the deceases of his male parent and gramps. I think Jordan s determination to keep off his ain decease by non perpetrating self-destruction is made in order to salvage the lives of the others who are seeking to run off from the enemy. Merely as one adult male s life can hold a strong affect on those around him, so therefor his decease can hold similar effects.

London Bridge Hospital Operational Methods and Strategies The WritePass Journal

London Bridge Hospital Operational Methods and Strategies Introduction London Bridge Hospital Operational Methods and Strategies , p. 588). The London Bridge Hospital uses operations management methods and strategies in understanding and improving labor productivity, shortening cycle times, improving the overall experience of patients, and reducing waiting lines. All these contribute to the overall financial health of the hospital. Operational methods and strategies in the Healthcare Industry In the healthcare industry and in particular hospitals, healthcare operations is a summation of all the functions that allow the hospital staff to offer their services to the patients in the best possible way. Chahal (2010, p. 362) says that the various transformations going on in the healthcare industry across the world are driving the people working in hospitals and other healthcare facilities to also adopt the reforms in their daily operations. The management of the London Bridge Hospital is aware of the fact that operational efficiency is critical to the success of any business organization. This is particularly so because the opinions developed by the patients on the hospital plays a big role in determining not only whether they will come back or not but also on the messages that they pass to their peers who are also potential clients to the hospital (Stock McDermott, 2011, p. 145). The London Bridge Hospital faces many different challenges that range from resource utilization, improvement of care, to lowering the costs to the patients. Reduction of the bottlenecks and implementation of solutions to the common problems are vital in ensuring the success of the hospital in both the short and long run. The hospital has both internal and external customers. The external customers of the London Bridge Hospital are the patients and other people who visit the hospital and its other premises for help. In particular it includes the patients, their friends, family members or any other representatives. Harper (2002, p. 169) says that the internal customers on the other hand are the facilities and the hospital staff. The employees of the hospital often buy products like medicine from the hospital store, come for treatment whenever they get sick and refer their friends and relatives to come to the hospital. The latter category of customers is very important in determining th e success or failure of the hospital as they are not only customers of the hospital, but also offer service to the external customers. This is why the management of the London Bridge Hospital does its best to ensure that its employees are well remunerated and have good working terms. As already outlined, the external customers are the people receiving services from the hospital. These customers expect the hospital staff to adapt a more personal approach in executing their service and willingness to keep them happy. The internal customers on the other hand expect that the different departments in the hospital should function efficiently in order to improve their work experience. For example, the central department should always ensure that all the instruments used in patient care are properly sterilized and stored in their right places (Dwyer et al 2010, p 519).   They should also ensure that the doctors get the right instruments when they need them. This is an important department in the hospital as the nurses, other hospital staff and doctors depend directly on it and its efficiency has a direct impact on the external customers. Operational objectives Healthcare operations management as a discipline integrates different principles of scientific management in determining the most optimal and efficient methods in supporting the delivery of care to the patients. Although the London Bridge Hospital does not have a department named operational management, most of the positions in the hospital involve roles of coordination and execution of different operations. Nearly 85% of hospitals are nonprofit in nature as they are there to serve the community in which they operate (Dey, Hariharan, Clegg, 2006, p. 861). Some nonprofits hospitals are often exempt from paying some taxes and are not required to continuously show positive growth rates or large profit margins like is done by most publicly traded companies. However, if a hospital fails to show positive return on the capital invested then there will be negative consequences on the economy. For instance, if a hospital fails to show reasonable margins, then the public bond market (the publ ic bond market finances most of the healthcare growth today) will likely record sub-par credit ratings. Sachdeva, Williams Quigley (2007, p. 162) claim that the consequence of this is that the bonds will have poor yields hence rendering the hospitals less than stellar investments for bondholders. The limited profit margins imply that there will be little money to invest back in the business to ensure that the buildings are updated, technology innovated, equipment replaced and clinical programs continue to expand and be enhanced. Without the investments, the hospitals will lose the ability to attract the most qualified administrators and physicians and the downward spiral will continue. While some healthcare systems and hospitals at times wait for changes in public health policy to save them, some competitive and successful ones like the London Bridge Hospital act in advance in order to save their margins. The current economic climate is characterized by perpetual pricing pressures that affect the top of the line income statement. In fact more than 50% of all hospitals report negative profit margins (Sinreich, Jabali, 2007, p. 301). This is why it is essential for hospitals to start looking forward toward more sophisticated business strategies in order to succeed. The London Bridge Hospital uses differentiated marketing strategies and programs, long term planning on service lines and broader use of advertising in order to be able to succeed in its business operations. It does this in tandem with adopting broader logistical and operational techniques into the business affairs of the hospital. The London Bridge Hospital monitors and maximizes labor productivity for all the medical support and allied health professionals as a way of maintaining salary expenses. The other strategies that other hospitals have adopted but are not currently in use by the London Bridge Hospital include: Incorporation of methods of scheduling optimization and queuing theory to eliminate time wastage and cycle time out of hospitals. Incorporation of techniques of logistical and supply chain in reducing operational expenses. Elimination of excess safety stocks. General improvement on the management of the working capital. Use of technology in the automation and streamlining of all the hospital operations to reduce operational costs and maximize efficiency. The hospitals and other healthcare organizations cannot depend on the extrinsic factors like shifts in managed care market structures and health policy as tools for changing their margin potentials. Although the macro level issues are important, the organizational and micro economic issues are more important as they have a strong and direct impact on a particular organization. In fact all the microeconomic issues are a function of operational management. As such, operational management is a set of intrinsic decisions and processes that assist in addressing productivity, costs, process and technology (Ford et al 2004, p.26). Healthcare is a primary service sector because the industry provides intangible goods to the customers. The goods here cannot be seen or touched. The services provided by the London Bridge Hospital and other hospitals in the industry are somewhat unique, differentiated, knowledge based and have high levels of customer interaction (Teoh, Pan,   Ramchand, 2012, p.588). There are also physical goods that accompany the service in the hospitals which the supply chain procures and replenishes. The hospitals also store medical supplies and pharmaceuticals. Therefore, in this regard hospitals have a mix of both tangible and intangible characteristics. It is these attributes that make operations management in hospitals a little different from those of other industries that strictly produce physical goods. It is in this regard that Harper (2002, p 171) defines healthcare operations management as the quantitative management of processes and supporting business systems that transform resources (inputs) into healthcare services (outputs). Inputs in this case refer to the resources and assets like equipment, labor, technology, cash, personnel and space.   The outputs include actual production and delivery of healthcare services. Quantitative management uses extensive quality improvement techniques, optimization and analytical tools to drive improved results. Healthcare operations management integrates quantitative or scientific principles in determining the most optimal and efficient methods of supporting patient care delivery. Functions of Healthcare Operations Management Healthcare operational management is a relatively new field in healthcare although it has been in existence in the other industries for many years. Its scope includes all functions related to business processes and management systems that underlie clinical care. It includes physical labor, physical network optimization, workflow, process engineering, supply chain and logistics management, capacity design, staffing and productivity management (Lorence Jameson 2002, p 749).   The healthcare operations and logistics management includes all the business functions that provide job opportunities for the people like administrators, operations supervisors and scheduling manager.    Operations Management Objectives or Issue to consider Workflow process How many manual processes exist? Are there ways of reducing steps, cycle time and choke points for the key processes? Can we improve speed and patient satisfaction? Are there too many departments or people performing the same task? Capacity design and planning How to reduce bottlenecks to improve the experience of patients? In which case to increase the use of technology to improve labor productivity? Staffing levels and productivity management How much output to expect from the employees? Have we maximized the use of automation and electronic commerce in increasing productivity? Quality, planning and process improvement Do we know how to compare the key competitors? Do we use advanced tools for tracking projects? Have we identified the quality issues that affect the goals of customer satisfaction and efficacy? Physical layout Are the hospital facilities designed with the consideration of traffic flow, operational efficiency and consideration of speed? Physical network optimization How to strategically utilize vendors and their facilities Where to strategically position the different facilities like pharmacy satellites, supplies and warehouses in order to minimize costs and resources. Supply chain and logistics management How much inventory needed at a particular time Whether or not to use perpetual inventory in ensuring stringent internal controls and accurate financial reporting Have we built collaborative planning and forecasting processes to standardize items and reduce total costs? The goals of operational management The operational management team in the hospital is tasked with different goals and functions in the hospital that include reduction of variability, costs, improve logistics, business processes, productivity, flow of logistics, and quality of customer service. These are explained in more details in the following sections Reduce costs The primary role of operational management is to take out the costs of the healthcare system. It finds waste, improves utilization, stabilizes and reduces the overall costs of service delivery. A hospital that has an appropriate management and tracking system   with the ability to isolate material, personnel and other resources utilized for delivery of care is more likely to reduce the costs of operation because it has a good understanding of the underlying cost structure (Teoh, Pan, Ramchand, 2012, p. 591). Once the costs have been identified and all unnecessary wastes eliminated then an organization can operate efficiently. Reduce variability and improve the flow of logistics The operations management team should continually look for more efficient and optimal ways of moving both physical and information resources. This should go together with reducing variability. Chahal (2010, p355) defines variability as the inconsistency or dispersion of inputs and outputs. Variability disrupts processes because it leads to uncertainty, too few or many resources and inconsistent results. For instance, if there are 30 patients seeking treatment in a certain hospital within a specific period, and then in the following period the number doubles or triples it creates problems for the employees in terms of controlling waiting times and general management of patient flows. An improvement in flows means higher yields or throughput with the same level of resource input. Shapiro Shapiro (2003, p246) define throughput as the velocity or rate at which goods are delivered or services performed. In the hospital situation, if a hospital attends to ten patients per hour and can inc rease the number to 15 per hour then this represents a 50% improvement in throughput and logistical flow (Miller, Sumner, Deane, 2009, p. 156). In the same manner, if the number of patients in the hospital doubles and the hospital manages to maintain the same historical inventory levels of pharmaceutical supplies then this is a significant improvement in material flow owing to the higher level of capacity utilization. Resource consumption and staffing should be directly tied to workload and patient volumes (Cowen, 2008, p.410). If the number of patients increases the quantity of the resources should equally increase. Good management of this variability allows a change in staffing mix and scheduling to accommodate the changes without staffing at the low points, valleys or peaks. Improve Productivity Improving productivity means looking for higher levels of output from all employees and other assets. This ensures that the hospital is operating optimally with high levels of efficiency by not only eliminating bottlenecks but also making efficient use of the available resources within the organization (Leury, Jean-Louis, Sicotte, 2003, p58). Improve the quality of customer care Improving quality means reducing medical errors and improving the safety of the patients. Additionally, constant improvement and maintenance of high quality service levels in terms of both patient care and other business services like admissions and cafeteria is also important. In the healthcare industry just like other industries, higher quality services leads to the ability to secure higher prices and this has the effect of driving an increase in operating margins and market shares (McCue McCluer, 2008, p 36). Ensuring an improvement in the patient satisfaction levels and reducing waiting and response times simultaneously ensures that the patients get higher quality services. Continuously improve Business Processes In the highly structured organizations like hospitals, business processes often tend to be unique in all departments as they are not integrated or highly cross functional. For example the operating room of a hospital may handle the procurement of a certain good in a certain way while the gynecology department of the same hospital handles it in a totally different way.   Miller, Sumner, Deane (2009, p. 110) assert that in large hospitals most departments operate as independent businesses which lead to multiple problems of efficiency. This is where operations management comes in as it ensures that efficiency and effectiveness are greatly improved in the organization. Recommended Changes From the analysis it is clear that the London Bridge Hospital is performing fairly well in terms of operational management although there are areas that the hospital management needs to work on in order to improve the general performance of the organization. First off the hospital should incorporate methods of scheduling optimization and queuing theory to eliminate time wastage and cycle time out of hospitals.   Efficient scheduling and queuing methods will improve the experience of the customers by eliminating unnecessary time wastage. The hospital should also incorporate techniques of logistical and supply chain as a way of reducing operational expenses.  Ã‚   Improved logistics and throughput in the hospital will increase the workflow and overall capacity (Noon et al 2003, p97). The London Bridge Hospital should tie staffing and resource consumption directly with workload and patient volumes. This will ensure that if the number of patients increase, then the number of resource s should equally increase as a response. Once the hospital manages to efficiently deal with the variability in the number of patients, it will have created a change in the staffing mix and scheduling to accommodate any changes. Staffing at the peaks leads to excessive costs whereas staffing for the valleys leads to periodic long lines because of the limited resources. The success or failure of the hospital depends directly on its readiness to cope well with the valleys and peaks without disrupting the normal flow of operations. This is where technology comes in as it automates most if not all of the manual processes. It also improves transaction processing capabilities and the quality of analysis, reports and organizational decisions. This will alter all the economics of the hospital because mechanization allows for faster production and delivery using relatively less resources. Substituting capital or technology for labor especially in the department of business support services wi ll reduce transactional and processing costs in the long run. As such, the role of technology in enhancing productivity is one which the London Bridge Hospital should take into consideration. Conclusion Although operations management is a relatively new phenomenon in the healthcare industry compared to the other industries, it is important to the industry because hospitals face the same challenges just like the other business organizations. The London Bridge Hospital is already making use of most of the principles of operational management although it still needs to implement some changes in its way of operation as highlighted in the discussion. These changes will ensure that the hospital continues to perform well both in the short and long run. Hospital operational management will help the London Bridge Hospital to deal efficiently with the challenges that it is currently facing. Additionally, this paper has shown that the manner in which the hospital responds to the valleys and peaks is critical to its performance. Hospital operational management has the solution for this as it puts in place mechanisms that ensure that the organization makes optimal and efficient use of its resour ces to achieve the best results without any shortages or wastages in terms of resource allocation and utilization. Bibliography Chahal, H. 2010, Two component customer relationship management model for healthcare services, Managing Service Quality, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 343-365. Cowen, M.E., M.D., Halasyamani, L.K., M.D., McMurtrie, D., M.D., Hoffman, D., R.N., Polley, T., M.D., Alexander, J.A., PhD. Banko, P.D., F.A.C.H.E. 2008, Organizational Structure for Addressing the Attributes of the Ideal Healthcare Delivery System/PRACTITIONER APPLICATION, Journal of Healthcare Management, vol. 53, no. 6, pp. 407-18; discussion 419. Dey, P.K., Hariharan, S. Clegg, B.T. 2006, Measuring the operational performance of intensive care units using the analytic hierarchy process approach, International Journal of Operations Production Management, vol. 26, no. 8, pp. 849-865. Dwyer, Alison J, MBBS, MBA, MHSM,F.R.A.C.M.A., F.C.H.S.M. 2010, Medical managers in contemporary healthcare organizations: a consideration of the literature, Australian Health Review, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 514-22. Ford, R., Boss, R.W., Angermeier, I., Townson, C.D. Jennings, T.A. 2004, Adapting to Change in Healthcare: Aligning Strategic Intent and Operational Capacity, Hospital topics, vol. 82, no. 4, pp. 20-9. Harper, P. R. (2002). A framework for operational modeling of hospital resources. Health Care Management Science, 5(3), 165-73. Leury, M., Jean-Louis, D. Sicotte, C. 2003, The role of regional planning and management strategies in the transformation of the healthcare system, Health Services Management Research, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 56-69. Lorence, D.P. Jameson, R. 2002, Adoption of information quality management practices in US healthcare organizations: A national assessment, The International Journal of Quality Reliability Management, vol. 19, no. 6, pp. 737-756. McCue, M.J. McCluer, R.F. 2008, Financial and Operational Ratios for Bond-Insured Hospitals, Hospital topics, vol. 86, no. 1, pp. 37. Miller, W.J., Sumner, A.T. Deane, R.H. 2009, Assessment of Quality Management Practices Within the Healthcare Industry, American Journal of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 105-113. Noon, C.E., Hankins, C.T., Cote, M.J. Lieb, M. 2003, Understanding the impact of variation in the delivery of healthcare services / Practitioner application, Journal of Healthcare Management, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 82-97; discussion 97-8. Sachdeva, R., Williams, T. Quigley, J. 2007, Mixing methodologies to enhance the implementation of healthcare operational research, The Journal of the Operational Research Society, vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 159-167. Shapiro, J. Shapiro, R. 2003, Towards an improved collaboration model for the national healthcare system in England and Wales: A critical and constructive approach using operational research, Logistics Information Management, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 246-258. Sinreich, D., Jabali, O. (2007). Staggered work shifts: A way to downsize and restructure an emergency department workforce yet maintain current operational performance. Health Care Management Science, 10(3), 293-308. Stock, G.N. McDermott, C. 2011, Operational and contextual drivers of hospital costs, Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 142-58. Teoh, S. Y., Pan, S. L., Ramchand, A. M. (2012). Resource management activities in healthcare information systems: A process perspective. Information Systems Frontiers, 14(3), 585-600.

How to cut the cowardly language and say what you mean

How to cut the cowardly language and say what you mean Cut the cowardly language Cowardly writing is the linguistic equivalent of your unreliable ex. It avoids committing. It leads you astray. It wastes your time. And it evades all entreaties to be straightforward or say what it really thinks. You can recognise it by its long sentences, convoluted structure and overuse of words and phrases such as ‘clearly’, ‘it may be assumed that’ and ‘there is evidence that’, with no verifiable evidence in sight. These vague, deceptive or empty proclamations are also known as ‘hedges’ or ‘weasel words’ (so called because of weasels’ habit of sucking the insides out of eggs, leaving a shell that still looks full). Linguistics professor Ken Hyland defines hedging as ‘any linguistic means used to indicate either a) a lack of complete commitment to the truth value of an accompanying proposition, or b) a desire not to express that commitment categorically.’ Â  The hedging writer distances themselves from their own content, either out of insecurity or a lack of knowledge: ‘it may be believed that’ is a big, frightened step away from ‘I believe that’. Come out, come out So why do people hide behind woolly wording? Well, because actually saying something can be scary. It puts you at risk: of being questioned, proved wrong, or held accountable. Long, overly complex sentences and unnecessary jargon are often a sign that someone’s trying to hide something – perhaps the fact that they don’t know what they’re talking about. And even if they do know, it’s going to look to the reader like they don’t or that they’re a bit shifty. Editor Patrick Neylan lives up to his Twitter handle @AngrySubEditor on the subject of cowardice in language, and the causes behind it. ‘Usually [the writer’s] only goal is to have written To have been understood is a worry. To have inspired action in others is terrifying.’ Pull the wool Of course, the whole point of writing is to inform and inspire, not confound. And if your writing goal is to persuade or encourage your reader to take action, you’re more likely to achieve this if you are clear and sound authoritative. So here’s how to pull the wool from your writing – and therefore your readers’ eyes: Start by knowing what you actually want to say: do your research, plan, and structure logically. Ask yourself the all-important questions: who, where, why, what, how – and how much does it cost? And dont start writing until youre firm on the answers. Avoid the temptation to cover your back. Never mind ‘it could be said that’: are you saying it or not? Be direct – don’t qualify everything with ‘possibly’s and ‘perhaps’s (unless you’re making the point that something is uncertain): state facts, reference them, and note their implications. Use the most direct words possible to make the relation between things clear, eg ‘because’ not ‘due to the fact that’. Favour simple sentence structure (subject-verb-object) wherever possible, eg ‘Prices have fallen.’ Remove words and phrases that add nothing but ink. For example, ‘consensus of opinion’ (just ‘consensus or ‘opinion’ will do), ‘as is explained below’ (are you explaining it twice?), ‘as the case may be’, and ‘at the overall level’. Speaking of inspiration, we could all do with some. Consider then, these wise words from Chinese artist and political activist Ai Weiwei,: ‘Say what you need to say plainly, and then take responsibility for it.’ Or, with @AngrySubEditor’s tough love approach: ‘(Wo)man up; say what you’ve got to say, say it briefly, then shut up.’ Image credit: Elena Yakusheva / Shutterstock

Gender Equality Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gender Equality - Research Paper Example The progression of women’s rights has been to open up their lives so that instead of being legally dependant, they could live a public life, own both land and their own person, and to have equal opportunities within the work place and the corporate world in order to be able to provide sufficiently for that autonomy. With the passing of this initiative, the opportunities for women will be addressed and assessed, furthering the goals of women’s rights to equality in society. Until very recently society has had a very distinct view on the roles of men and women, creating separate spheres in which their worlds evolved. Labor was divided by what was deemed appropriate for men and what was appropriate for women. The behaviors within society that were defined by these roles were thought of as normal, while deviating from these roles was considered abnormal behavior (Smith and Kornblum, 2008, p. 336). Roles for men and women were divided according to the sociological need that was present. However, as the nineteenth century came to a close, and the twentieth century was born, great and unique historical changes were occurring that would begin the transition towards equality for women. At the turn of the 19th century to the 20th century, women’s suffrage was a hot topic, creating a movement that revolutionized the political landscape of the United States. However, it was not within the search for the right to vote that women first applied their influences and power in order to create social change in the United States. During the abolitionist movements of the mid 19th century, it was the actions of a great many women that supported the freedom of slaves (Adams, 2003, p.12). By the end of the century, the power of women to move sociological considerations was well established and the new cause took form of political voice. For most of history, the roles that were applied to the genders were suspected to be defined biologically. Therefore, the way

Business Model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Business Model - Essay Example The business model was developed through though an integration of both creativity and innovation skills as shown in the appendix. Each of the group members was required to suggest a noble idea that would help in developing a business model suitable to solve the challenges facing the future development of the company. The ideas were merged to develop the model. The ideas suggested by the members were based on a number of factors. One of the factors is that the suggestions had to be focused towards managing the stability of the airline. Another aspect of the ideas is that they were supposed to conscious of the discontinuity aspect of the overall business strategy of the company. The members were thus supposed to possess personal experience and skills in the business in order to suggest ideas that had the ability to manage strategy discontinuities in the process of implementing the strategy. The ideas were also dependent on the ability to maintain and manage patterns arising in the indu stry due to technological and market-driven needs (Chen, 2009). This is the final business model was supposed to create an environment that balances several strategies necessary for the growth of the company. The last factor is that the ideas were dependent on the ability to balance changes in the industry facilitate continuity and growth of the business. An effective business model should have the ability to determine when to replace redundant strategies with new strategies in the implementation of the model. The processes involved in the creation of the business model were thus suitable in developing a model that had the abilities to initiate radical changes in the company and promote the future growth of the company (Chesbrough & Rosenbloom, 2002). Evaluation of a business model This section entails an evaluation of the business model including its ability to promote the future growth of the company. The evaluation is based on a comparison between Quasi-charitable provision and E -commerce business models. The evaluation thus involves a comparison between the Quasi-charitable provision of a service project and introduction of e-commerce in the company’s booking system. This is because Quasi-charitable provision of a service project is not viable in the long-run and does not consider the issues of emerging markets (Michael & George, 2006). The analysis will consist of an overview of the SWOT analysis of the two models. Quasi-charitable provision of a service project or business model Overview The model will be effective in addressing the challenges in business growth,

A Prolonged Civil Conflict :: essays research papers

The reasons why the Vietnam War lasted so long is a very controversial subject among Americans. There is no simple answer to as why the war lasted so long. Many factors have to be considered when analyzing the war. The first factor that has to be considered is whether or not the U.S. really belonged in the Vietnam War in the first place. The initial reason that the U.S. became involved in Vietnam was because they thought that North Vietnam was going to Russia and China, which were communist countries, for support. Because of the containment policy, the U.S. felt it had to defend South Vietnam from communism. They thought that Russia was trying to take over Europe and make it one communist state. Herring says, “The United States formally committed itself to he containment of Soviet expansion in Europe, and throughout the next two years attention was riveted on France, where economic stagnation and political instability aroused grave fears of communists takeover'; (11). However, all Ho and North Vietnam wanted was for their country to be reunited. “For the Vietminh, unification of their not only represented fulfillment of the centuries-old dream of Vietnamese nationalists but also was economic necessity'; (8). The Vietminh asked the U.S. for support but because they thought that North Vietnam was influenced by Russia, the U.S. turned them down. It was not until later that the Vietminh went to Mao Tse-tung’s Chinese Communists for support out of desperateness. From the very beginning, “the U.S. had attached itself to a losing cause'; (19). Because the U.S. was obsessed with the domino theory and a communist threat in Southeast Asia, they became involved in and were partly to blame for prolonging a civil conflict.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the U.S. had initially become involved in Vietnam’s civil conflict, they kept getting more and more involved. Besides several bomb raids the U.S. also kept sending more and more troops into South Vietnam. The massive bomb raids and the continuous flow of troops into South Vietnam established the U.S.’s policy; they were willing to give full support to South Vietnam and fight in a war in order to stop the spread of communism. As Herring says, the U.S. also insisted “that an important interest had been established that had to be defended for the sake of U.S. credibility throughout the world'; (309).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This leads to the second factor to as why the war lasted so long.

Facebook Versus Friendster and Myspace

Stealing Success & Leaving the Unsuccessful Behind: Facebook Facebook, one of the most successful social networking sites up to date, has 500,000,000-users. Facebook found phenomenal success through the mistakes and downfall of fellow competitors, Friendster and MySpace. However, was Facebook’s success due to the downfall of its predecessors? In this paper, we will discuss what makes a social networking website successful, and reveal what Facebook did and what other social networking websites such as Friendster and MySpace, did not do.There are certain properties that will be highlighted later on in the paper that will distinguish the successful social networking websites such as Facebook from the unsuccessful, such as Friendster and MySpace. Social networking websites have five main characteristics. First, social networking websites are user-based where they are built and directed by users themselves. Second, social networking websites are interactive, meaning that they are n ot just a collection of chat rooms and forums anymore. Such websites are filled with network-based gaming applications, allowing individuals to play with one another online.Third, social networking websites are community-driven allowing members to join a group where they all hold common beliefs or hobbies. People are able to find sub-communities of people who share commonalities, such as alumni of a particular high school, or part of a charity organization, or who are just interested in the same things. Fourth, unlike other websites, social networks thrive on relationships. It allows people to build connections, links to one another and allows people to establish themselves toward the center of a network.These websites are also another way for individuals to discover new friends, but it also allows them to reconnect with old friends lost along the way, allowing them access to possible friendships out there. The last characteristic of social networks is the emotional factor. While we bsites are usually designed with the primary function of providing information to the visitor, social networks â€Å"provide users with emotional security and a sense that no matter what happens, their friends are within reach. †To start off, let’s beg the question of what exactly went wrong with Friendster? There isn’t a single reason that explains why Friendster failed, but merely actions Friendster did not take to secure their position as the number one social networking website. First, the more popular Friendster became, the longer it took to load the webpage, sometimes taking as long as 40 seconds. Such technical problems were not issues that could not be solved; however, they felt that such â€Å"technical difficulties proved too pedestrian† for them.Instead of spending hours fixing such problems, the team of Friendster devoted most of its time talking about future investors, potential competitors and new features that would give Friendster a distin ct look. They focused more on the future or rather than the problems of the present; they wanted to run before they could even walk. Secondly, Friendster was a closed system that allowed users to only view the profiles of those on a relatively short chain of acquaintances.As a dating website, it was imperative to be able to find people whom may be suitable for you, but if the viewing of their profile was limited, then the possibility of finding a possible date would be much lower than if Friendster took on a open system approach. As mentioned, most of the problems Friendster faced were technical, but it was their decision to only focus on the next big thing, rather than the simple mechanics that made Friendster possible in the first place.If the team had solved these minor problems, Friendster today could still be a leading social networking website, and possibly have prevented MySpace and/or Facebook from emerging. On these accounts, Friendster is an example of an unsuccessful soci al networking website. Next, MySpace saw phenomenal traffics growth starting in early 2004 and it continued all the way to 2007 even as Facebook entered the scene, but what happened along the way? Similar to Friendster, MySpace faced several technical problems.Firstly, MySpace pages are designed mostly by individuals with little HTML experience causing HTML code to be rarely met leading to accessibility problems for users and freezing up web browsers. Secondly, security is another major problems. There are advertisements that provide links to fake login screens tricking users into entering their information, allowing people access to their page. Another security issue would be of our personal information. There is no privacy setting; therefore f anyone wants to know more about an individual, there are no restrictions on the amount of information they could attain on the individual via MySpace. Lastly, MySpace lost to Facebook simply because there is no sense of privacy with MySpace. MySpace took an opposite approach from Friendster, allowing everyone and anyone to see their profile. Any individual keen on viewing a certain page would be given access whether or not the owner approved or not, rendering owners of MySpace account vulnerable to outside criticism and viewing.The open system caused a lot of security and personal issues creating stalking incidents, violent fights, and gate crashing of parties. These problems were due to the fact that anyone had access to people’s MySpace page, and nothing could be done to prevent limited viewership. Unlike Friendster, MySpace was able to see more success, however, that success was short-lived. And similarly to Friendster, MySpace did not respond to requests to fix their problems, causing them to fall into the category of an unsuccessful social networking website.First Friendster, second MySpace, and lastly Facebook? What makes Facebook a fad, and why has it survived longer than its predecessors? A normal routin e for a majority of the population would be, wake up, check facebook, go to school/work, check facebook again, do work/listen to lecture while checking facebook, and then go home and check facebook once again. On average, it’s been found that people check their Facebook an average of 4 to 5 times a day. There are many reasons why Facebook is so successful, and why Friendster and MySpace failed to see the kind of success Facebook is seeing today.In the next part of the paper, we will see how Facebook overcame the problems Friendster and MySpace encountered, turning what could have been unsuccessful into something immensely successful. As mentioned previously, Friendster and Myspace encountered issues such as technical problems such as the webpage taking up to 40 seconds to load or where it would sometime just fail to load altogether, and additionally, that Friendster was a closed system. Facebook knew these reasons and made sure these were not to be problems.Mark Zuckerberg st ates, â€Å"if the website is even down for a few minutes, people will leave. † As such, till this day, users around the world have not seen Facebook down. Admittedly, there still are a few small technical problems, but users never had to wait more than 10 seconds for a page to load, and if there were problems, they were fixed shortly after. Having downtime would mean that the rate of infection for social networking sites would decrease causing less people to firstly know about the website, and secondly, to be able to spread the ‘infection’ even further.This was a problem that caused the rapid reduction usage rate for Friendster because not only did the rate of infection die down, but also people just simply got annoyed causing the susceptibility of new individuals rather low. Therefore, Facebook made sure there was no downtime and in doing so not only made the rate of infection high, but satisfied million users worldwide causing many to be susceptible to the ide a of being part of the new fad, Facebook. Next, Facebook did not enforce a closed or open system policy.Instead, they allowed users to choose whether they wanted their page visible to people, and allowed users to adjust their security settings. It gave people an option to reveal as much or as little information about themselves, and allowed people to choose who to allow access to their information. This system not only solved Friendster’s closed system, but at the same time, MySpace’s open system and privacy problems. Security was never a real issue for Facebook until they started allowing more applications to be a part of the system.Inevitably, people created software that stole users’ sensitive information. However, shortly after, Facebook reacted by introducing new technology to limit the security breach. Facebook developer Mike Vernal stated, â€Å"We take user privacy seriously. We are dedicated to protecting private user data. † Shortly after the in cident, Facebook rendered all applications that broke such security inactive. Lastly, as with all companies, talent is a major issue.We can talk about how user friendly, or how the technical bits are better in Facebook when compared to Friendster or MySpace, but the truth is that it all boils down to who is in charge. Facebook brought in better viral experts, more efficient programmers, stronger usability coders, more influential public relations teams and faster HR Personal. For instance, Facebook recruited Sheryl Sandberg, the head of sales at Google, Jonathan Helliger, the former engineering head at Walmart, for former CFO and VP of Genetech and Elliot Schrage, the former PR head at Google.After talking about the properties that made Facebook successful, I’d like to talk about the receptivity of Facebook and how it responded to the population because a population can only go crazy for a fad if people are receptive of it. First, we will look at Friendster and how the popula tion responded to it and what made Friendster successful at times. In 2002, Friendster was originally created as a dating website, four years later, Friendster was changed to cater to young teenagers. In 2006, Friendster became very popular in the Philippines because of their games and fun applications that were marketed.Along with that, Friendster started incorporating advertisements on their websites, but more importantly, advertisements that had to do with games. Second, MySpace became popular because it was a means to hear about what was happening to others, keep track of the whereabouts of friends and celebrities and to create and attend parties, all on one page. MySpace was not just a blog, but it was an area for friends to congregate and communicate with one another. Next we will see how Facebook made use of Friendster and MySpace’s strengths, turning it into their success.Facebook made use of the successes of both Friendster and MySpace, and combined everything that w as successful into one platform. Friendster and MySpace were both marketed differently to different kinds of people, and because of this, Facebook knew how to make people more receptive to this new social networking site. Facebook did not just want to target people who wanted to find new friends or dates, or people who wanted to communicate with friends and keep in contact, or simply play games- Facebook wanted it all.And that was exactly what Facebook did, ensuring that people who joined would get the benefits from both Friendster and MySpace altogether. In doing this, Facebook made their website more appealing to a larger population, allowing two things to happen. First, by increasing the number of things an individual can do on the website would make more people susceptible to wanting to be a part of it. Second, a larger population being susceptible would eventually mean a faster rate of infection causing more people to join and be a part of the increasing fad. Facebook was the n ew generation social etworking website that incorporated all the successful elements of its predecessors, and neglected all the unsuccessful elements. In conclusion, we have established that Facebook has attained a successful status due to its 500,000,000 users worldwide. Facebook is successful because of two main reasons. First, the failures of Friendster and MySpace gave Facebook an opening into the market and the opportunity to fix those mistakes caused by the two. Second, Facebook fed off the successes of both Friendster and MySpace, incorporating all the ideas into one website.Therefore, to be successful one must remember to firstly attend to the problems at hand, secondly, find out what makes things work, and lastly, make sure the population is receptive. With this, Facebook not only overtook its predecessors, but conquered their failures, and fed off their successes, becoming the number one social networking website of all time. Citations: Chung, J. (2010) How Facebook won th e battle of the social networks. Innoblog. Retrieved from http://www. innosight. com/blog/564-how-facebook-won-the-battle-of-the-social-networks. tml Dykes, B. (2010) Another day, another instance of Facebook breaching user privacy. Yahoo News. Retrieved from http://news. yahoo. com/s/yblog_upshot/20101018/tc_yblog_upshot/another-day-another-instance-of-facebook-breaching-user-privacy Gary, R. (2006). Wall Flower at the Web Party. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www. nytimes. com/2006/10/15/business/yourmoney/15friend. html? pagewanted=all Rdube. (2010). Characteristics of Social Networks. Retrieved from http://socialnetworking. lovetoknow. com/Characteristics_of_Social_Networks