Quality of Life in Nigeria

The term ‘quality of life’ (QOL) refers to the general well-being of individuals and societies. The term is used in a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, and politics. â€Å"Warren Buffett, probably the world’s most successful investor, has said that anything good that happened to him could be traced back to the fact that he was born in the right country, the United States, at the right time (1930)†. None of us has a say in where he is born, but we can do something about it for our children.I therefore wish to discuss each factor associated with quality of life as related to Nigeria and plead for suggestions from all of us on how to improve on them so as to make this country a good place for us to live: * Material wellbeing as measured by GDP per head: The gross domestic product (GDP) or gross domestic income (GDI) is one of the measures of national income and output. GDP can be defined in three ways, which should give identical results. First, it is equal to the total expenditures for all final goods and services produced within the country in a specified period of time (usually a 365-day year).Second, it is equal to the sum of the value added at every stage of production by all the industries, plus taxes and minus subsidies on products. Third, it is equal to the sum of the income generated by production like compensation of employees, taxes on production and imports less subsidies, and gross operating surplus. The gross domestic product (GDP) measures of national income and output for a given country's economy. The gross domestic product (GDP) is equal to the total expenditures for all final goods and services produced within the country in a stipulated period of time.The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Nigeria was worth 243. 98 billion US dollars in 2011. The GDP value of Nigeria represents 0. 39 percent of the world economy. GDP in Nigeria is reported by the World Bank. Historical ly, from 1961 until 2011, Nigeria GDP averaged 50. 07 USD Billion reaching an all time high of 243. 98 USD Billion in December of 2011 and a record low of 4. 40 USD Billion in December of 1961. This is low as compared to 14. 99 USD Trillion of United States in 2011. * Life expectancy at birth:Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life. In other words, it contains the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year, if mortality at each age remains constant in the future. The entry includes ‘total population’ as well as the ‘male’ and ‘female’ components. Life expectancy at birth is also a measure of overall quality of life in a country and summarizes the mortality at all ages.It can also be thought of as indicating the potential return on investment in human capital and is necessary for the calculation of various actuarial measures. It is estimated to be 52. 05 years for total population, 48. 95 years for male and 55. 53 years for female (2012 estimates) in Nigeria. This is low as compared to 78 years in Qatar for example. * The quality of family life, based primarily on divorce rates: Family quality of life refers to the extent to which families’ needs are met, family members enjoy their life together, and family members have a chance to do the things that are important to them.The five domains of family quality of life are emotional well-being, parenting, family interaction, physical/material well-being, and disability-related support. * The state of political freedom: Political freedom is described as a relationship free of oppression or coercion; the absence of disabling conditions for an individual and the fulfillment of enabling conditions; or the absence of lived conditions of compulsion, e. g. economic compulsion, in a society. It can a lso refer to the positive exercise of rights, capacities and possibilities for action, and the exercise of social or group rights.The concept can also include freedom from â€Å"internal† constraints on political action or speech (e. g. social conformity, consistency, or â€Å"inauthentic† behaviour. ). The concept of political freedom is closely connected with the concepts of civil liberties and human rights, which in democratic societies are usually afforded legal protection from the state. * Job security (measured by the unemployment rate): Job security is the probability that an individual will keep his or her job; a job with a high level of job security is such that a person with the job would have a small chance of becoming unemployed.Job security is dependent on economy, prevailing business conditions, and the individual's personal skills. It has been found that people have more job security in times of economic expansion and less in times of a recession. Also, some laws (such as the U. S. Civil Rights Act of 1964) bolster job security by making it illegal to fire employees for certain reasons. Unemployment rate is a good indicator of job security and the state of the economy and is tracked by economists, government officials, and banks.Typically, government jobs and jobs in education, healthcare and law enforcement are considered very secure while private sector jobs are generally believed to offer lower job security and it usually varies by industry, location, occupation and other factors. Personal factors such as education, work experience, job functional area, work industry, work location, etc. , play an important role in determining the need for an individual's services, and impacts their personal job security.Since job security depends on having the necessary skills and experience that are in demand by employers, which in turn depend on the prevailing economic condition and business environment, individuals whose services are in dema nd by employers will tend to enjoy higher job security. To some extent, job security also varies by employment laws of each country. A worker in Continental Europe, if asked about his job security, would reply by naming the type of statutory employment contract he has, ranging from temporary (no job security) to indefinite (virtually equivalent to ‘tenure' n US universities but across the whole economy). However, people's job security eventually depends on whether they are employable or not, and if businesses have a need for their skills or not, so although employment laws can offer some relief and hedge from unemployment risk, they only have a marginal contribution to job security of individuals. Fact is, individuals need to have the right skill set to have good job security. | * Climate (measured by two variables: the average deviation of minimum and maximum monthly temperatures from 14 degrees Celsius; and the number of months in the year with less than 30mm rainfall):Clima te change poses a wide range of risks to population health – risks that will increase in future decades, often to critical levels, if global climate change continues on its current trajectory. The three main categories of health risks include: (i) direct-acting effects (e. g. due to heat waves, amplified air pollution, and physical weather disasters), (ii) impacts mediated via climate-related changes in ecological systems and relationships (e. g. rop yields, mosquito ecology, marine productivity), and (iii) the more diffuse (indirect) consequences relating to impoverishment, displacement, resource conflicts (e. g. water), and post-disaster mental health problems. Climate change thus threatens to slow, halt or reverse international progress towards reducing child under-nutrition, deaths from diarrheal diseases and the spread of other infectious diseases. Climate change acts predominantly by exacerbating the existing, often enormous, health problems, especially in the poorer pa rts of the world.Current variations in weather conditions already have many adverse impacts on the health of poor people in developing nations, and these too are likely to be ‘multiplied' by the added stresses of climate change. A changing climate thus affects the prerequisites of population health: clean air and water, sufficient food, natural constraints on infectious disease agents, and the adequacy and security of shelter. A warmer and more variable climate leads to higher levels of some air pollutants and more frequent extreme weather events.It increases the rates and ranges of transmission of infectious diseases through unclean water and contaminated food, and by affecting vector organisms (such as mosquitoes) and intermediate or reservoir host species that harbour the infectious agent (such as cattle, bats and rodents). Changes in temperature, rainfall and seasonality compromise agricultural production in many regions, including some of the least developed countries, th us jeopardising child health and growth and the overall health and functional capacity of adults.As warming proceeds, the severity (and perhaps frequency) of weather-related disasters will increase – and appears to have done so in a number of regions of the world over the past several decades. Therefore, in summary, global warming, together with resultant changes in food and water supplies, can indirectly cause increases in a range of adverse health outcomes, including malnutrition, diarrhea, injuries, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and water-borne and insect-transmitted diseases.Health equity and climate change have a major impact on human health and quality of life, and are interlinked in a number of ways. The report of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health points out that disadvantaged communities are likely to shoulder a disproportionate share of the burden of climate change because of their increased exposure and vulnerability to health threats. O ver 90 percent of malaria and diarrhea deaths are borne by children aged 5 years or younger, mostly in developing countries.Other severely affected population groups include women, the elderly and people living in small island developing states and other coastal regions, mega-cities or mountainous areas. Climate change can lead to dramatic increases in prevalence of a variety of infectious diseases. Beginning in the mid-70s, there has been an â€Å"emergence, resurgence and redistribution of infectious diseases†. Reasons for this are likely multicausal, dependent on a variety of social, environmental and climatic factors, however, many argue that the â€Å"volatility of infectious disease may be one of the earliest biological expressions of climate nstability†. Though many infectious diseases are affected by changes in climate, vector-borne diseases, such as malaria, dengue fever and leishmaniasis, present the strongest causal relationship. Malaria in particular, which kills approximately 300,000 children annually, poses the most imminent threat. Often it is argued that Africa need not care about climate change because in global dimensions Africa itself produces negligible greenhouse gases. Climate change is primarily caused by the developed countries, so they should be the ones dealing with it.However, it is the bitter irony of destiny that Africa contributes least of all the continents to the climate change, but will probably suffer most from its consequences. According to economists it is a typical case of negative external effects, an externalisation of costs: A noninvolved party bears the costs of a third party’s actions. As Africa is exposed to a number of resource-consuming stressors (ranging from HIV to corruption to permanent crises and conflicts), comparatively few resources remain to react proactively on the climate change.Seeing the climate change as an external shock to the continent caused by the externalisation of costs of a third party, payments and assistance can be considered to be a reasonable way to compensate Africa for the negative climate effects. Currently, there is no evidence to suggest that the rapid onset of climate change is subsiding. Even if we miraculously managed to stop all greenhouse gas emissions, we would still be faced with the potentially irreversible changes we have already brought.Thus, it is essential that we adapt to these changing conditions. Our response will be both reactive and anticipatory and will need to take place at many levels (legislative, engineering and personal-behaviour). In response to malaria we will need to, for example, improve the quality and accessibility of health services, identify and target response towards vulnerable populations, improve our modelling and surveillance capacity, and implement broad-based public education campaigns. Personal physical security ratings (based primarily on recorded homicide rates and ratings for risk from crime and terro rism): Physical security is primarily concerned with restricting physical access by unauthorized people (commonly interpreted as intruders) to controlled facilities, although there are other considerations and situations in which physical security measures are valuable (for example, limiting access within a facility and/or to specific assets, and environmental controls to reduce physical incidents such as fires and floods).Security inevitably incurs costs and, in reality, it can never be perfect or complete – in other words, security can reduce but cannot entirely eliminate risks. Given that controls are imperfect, strong physical security applies the principle of defense in depth using appropriate combinations of overlapping and complementary controls. Physical security is not uniquely human. The practice of actively defending a territory against intruders or opponents is very common in the animal kingdom. Physical security is also not a modern phenomenon. The technology is continually evolving along with the threats.Physical security controls that were considered adequate in the past tend to be insecure today due to advances in the knowledge and capabilities of attackers. The goal of physical security is to convince potential attackers that the likely costs of attack exceeds the value of making the attack, e. g. that consequences of a failed attack may well exceed the gain. The combination of layered security features establishes the presence of territoriality. The initial layer of security for a campus, building, office, or other physical space uses crime prevention through environmental design to deter threats.Some of the most common examples are also the most basic: warning signs or window stickers, fences, vehicle barriers, vehicle height-restrictors, restricted access points, security lighting and trenches. However, even passive things like hedgerows may be sufficient in some circumstances. * Quality of community life (based on membership in soci al organisations): The community life of a set of people is based on their culture. Community life is almost the same with culture of the people and this entails activities within the regulation and scope of culture which morality also takes cognizance of.The number and kinds of people in a community have a great influence on type of community/social living, and this is where the traditions of such people have a great role to play. Traditions are the customs, practices, bits of legend and folklore and legends go a long way in establishing the community life, that tangible quality which makes it different in spirit from other communities in the same circumstances. Similarly, people in a community share legends and bits of folklore and this common heritage from the past gives people a sense of community solidarity. Governance (measured by ratings for corruption): There are various reasons why the situation has come to this dangerous abyss but when compared to other societies, it is ob vious that Nigeria lack a home grown ruling class that in addition to everything else should set the direction of the nation by detailing set objectives and the steps and aims necessary to achieve desired goals. What obtains today is the governance of Nigeria by a political structure whose main objective is to take and plunder the land without giving back anything to the country.According to the oxford English dictionary governance mean to rule over, be in power over, exercise control over and hold sway over. In other words governance is a form of dictatorship. As it applies to Nigeria, governance is a peculiar form of dictatorship presently exercising a domineering paralytic control and power over the Nigerian people. A few group of people and their families have decided to hold power over everyone else in Nigeria since the British dictatorship handed over power to them in 1960.These few individuals also inherited the same principle of divide and rule as well as the indirect rule s ystem which foster tribalism, ethnicism, disunity and other by products including lack of peace, injustice, unfairness, bribery, corruption 419inism to just name a few of sowed and grown social environment that exist in Nigeria today. Today’s political structure takes origin right from the post colonial days and in the South Nigeria for example the NCNC and Action Group recognized and recruited sworn loyalists who were distributed to each ethnic clan/zones who in turn recruited from villages and wards.When these parties are in the seat of government political looting is transmitted downwards and during election these recruits manage the result of the election to favour the looting political structure. In the North until recently when few changes has begun to occur in the middle belt the Emirs and village heads continued from where they stopped with the British. Nothing in that inherited structure has changed. The various military interludes in government did not affect the st ructure but merely substituted traditional rulers in place of the party loyalists.However where the previous immediate post colonial governors did manage to provide some public amenities these present political structure have only one objective and that is filling their pockets with the Shell distributed foreign exchange and to set up family dynasties of their own. In addition to this political structure is the state machinery, a fearsome, lethal and ruthless organ that has a mind of its own that is almost alien to this world. They provide the muscle for the political structure. Then there are the activities of CIA and FBI.It is no secret that every man who has strategic position in the government of Nigeria both in the executive and political arm has a CIA or Scotland Yard or Mossad agent as confidante and as a friend. Recent figures quoted by the Swedish information on countries show that there are 65 international agencies operating in Nigeria that have no economic or social rele vance and that these figures do not include the security agencies or the activities of Israel, Arabs and the Palestinians that parasite on Nigeria.The bottom line is that the brain box and factors that programme the existing political and administrative structure of Nigeria are in foreign hands. There is urgent need for a ruling class that will effect change to halt the present state of affairs and to make Nigeria a place to benefit her people now and generation to come. * Gender equality (measured by the share of seats in parliament held by women): Gender equality implies that men and women should receive equal treatment unless there is a sound biological reason for different treatment.The concept based on the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, and the ultimate aim is to provide equality in law and equality in social situations, especially in democratic activities and securing equal pay for equal work and for example Equal Rights Amendment in United States. Significant gen der gaps in education, economic empowerment and political participation remain in Nigeria. While progress towards parity in primary school education has been made, there remains a significant wage and labour force participation gender gap.Discriminatory laws and practices, violence against women and gender stereotypes hinder greater progress towards gender equality. Nigeria has a particularly high maternal mortality rate and women access to quality health care is limited, particularly in rural areas Nigeria has a National Gender Policy which focuses on women empowerment while also making a commitment to eliminate discriminatory practices which are harmful to women.The 1999 Constitution of Nigeria prohibits discrimination on the grounds of gender, but customary and religious laws continue to restrict women’s rights. As Nigeria is a federal republic, each state has the authority to draft its own legislation. However, any law which is contradictory to Federal Law or the Constitu tion can be challenged in a Federal Court and cannot subsist. The combination of federation and a tripartite system of civil, customary and religious law makes it very difficult to harmonise legislation and remove discriminatory measures.Moreover, certain states in the north follow Islamic (Sharia) law, although not exclusively and only in instances where Muslims make use of Islamic courts. Adherence to Islamic law reinforces customs that are unfavourable to women, including those relating to freedom of movement, and to marriage and inheritance. As of 2006, the Abolition of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women in Nigeria and other Related Matters Bill was under consideration; it is unclear whether this has been promulgated into law.Nigeria ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in 1985, and the Optional Protocol in 2004. The country ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa in 2005. Nigeria’s Human Development Index score for 2011 is 0. 459, placing it in 156th place (out of a total of 187 countries). Nigeria is ranked 120th in the 2011 Global Gender Gap Index (out of 135 countries), with a score of 0. 6011.

Moral Consequences

At this late date, virtually every American knows the most widely broadcast fallout from the Enron scandal- the collapse of a mega-corporation, jail sentences for many of key players in the scandal, and the realization that no company is invincible, especially given the fact that its very caretakers were in fact its killers.   Beyond this, however, there are moral consequences for American society overall, knowing now that highly paid executives stole the retirement futures of those who worked so hard to build up the company of Enron. Because of Enron, we now are faced with the fact that this was not just a business issue, but a human one as well.   Of course, financial ruin is horrible, but money can be replaced.   What cannot be replaced in many cases are the shattered lives that became that way when Enron fell apart.   For example, churches in the Houston, Texas area- the headquarters of Enron- were flooded with the â€Å"ordinary people† who worked at Enron, and who were then without jobs and their life savings.   For these people, many felt that the only answer to their problems was to end it all with suicide, and with nowhere else to turn, went to the churches for support (The Christian Century, 2002). On a higher level, American society has to face the fact that when money and power are involved, even those whom we think we can trust cannot totally be trusted.   Morally, America has fallen into a dark area where those who can steal from others for some short-term gain will usually do so. In closing, the moral consequence for America, in light of Enron, is a further loss of innocence. Bibliography Houston Church Deals with Layoffs at Enron. (2002, January 30). The Christian Century, 119, 15.

A Traditional Fairy Tale From a Feminist Perspective

A Traditional Fairy Tale From a Feminist Perspective The Big Bad Wolf, Prince Charming, and The Beast: many fairy tales provide images of men varying from the courageous to the very evil. Each tale encodes messages for young girls about men, marriage, or sex as a type of socialization. Charles Perraults traditional version of the Bluebeard tale, which includes morals regarding curiosity and marriage, is no exception. In her book The Bloody Chamber, Angela Carter totally flips the messages of traditional fairy tales, such as Bluebeard, by rewriting them from a feminist perspective. Carter transforms the tale of Bluebeard into a feminist story in her version entitled The Bloody Chamber by placing the mother in the role of savior, allowing the protagonist to participate in her own rescue, and subtracting strength from the secondary male figures. One of Carters most notable adaptations to the story of Bluebeard in an effort to create a feminist tale is her treatment of the protagonists mother. In the traditional version of the fairy tale, Perrault mentions the protagonists mother only briefly as, a respectable lady, [who] had two daughters who were perfect beauties (144). Unlike Perrault, Carter chooses to make the mother a central figure. Whereas Perrault only describes the mother in regard to her lady-like qualities and her role in raising children, Carter depicts the mother as a much more complex and powerful character, which is a key adaptation in her efforts to turn the story into a feminist tale. In the opening of the story, the narrator describes her mother as my eagle-featured indomitable mother who had outfaced a junkful of Chinese pirates, nursed a village through a visitation of the plague, shot a man-eating tiger with her own hand (7). By describing the mother as indomitable, Carter immediately points to the moth ers strength. Likewise, by providing the reader with the mothers unfeminine history, Carter emphasizes the mothers past courage and potential power. Carter also depicts the mother as a source of strength for the female protagonist. When she explores the chamber, the narrator notes, Until that moment, this spoiled child did not know she had inherited nerves and a will from the mother who had defied the yellow outlaws of Indo-China. My mothers sprit drove me on. (28). Carter does not simply depict the mother as brave, but implies that bravery passes from mother to daughter. The passing of courage from female to female, rather than male to male or male to female, is significant in that it shows the power of a strong female role model. The daughter looks up to the mother because of her unfeminine abilities. The history of the mothers courage is not the only way in which Carter uses the mother character to make the story distinctly feminist. Carter expands on this strong female character by placing the mother in the role of the savior, rather than giving such power to a male character. In Perraults version of the tale, the girls brothers heroically rescue her from a violent death at the hands of Bluebeard. Carter, however, replaces the brothers with the mother, thus placing the most power (the power to defeat the villain) in the hands of a female, she raised my fathers gun, took aim and put a single, irreproachable bullet through my husbands head (40). With the mother as the rescuer who kills the husband, Carter changes the nature of the climactic moment of the story. Rather than a struggle between men regarding a female, the struggle occurs between male and female. The wife relies not on men to save her, but on another woman. Cater toys with this power struggle between male and female even more by allowing the protagonist to play a role in her own escape. In both The Bloody Chamber and Perraults Bluebeard, the protagonist attempts to prolong her life by stalling her husband. In Carters version, the narrator walks slowly to her husband to allow her mother time to approach the castle (39). In Perraults, the girl asks for time to say her prayers in attempt to delay her doom until the arrival of her brothers who she hopes will rescue her (146). Both of these examples are passive attempts to simply buy time until another party can perform the rescue. However, Carter provides her protagonist with a greater role in her own escape, as her husband swings what would be a deathly blow. The blade did not descend, the necklace did not sever, my head did not roll. For, for an instant, the beast wavered in his stroke, a sufficient split second of astonished indecision to let me spring upright and dart to the assistance of my lover as he struggled sightlessly with the great bolts that kept [my mother] out. (39) This quote exemplifies the importance of the narrators own action in her salvation. Carters emphasis on what did not happen, followed by the action of the protagonist, allows the reader to see that she does not die because of her own inclination to move out from under the blade. After all, if she does not do so, her husband will kill her before her mother even enters the room. Her assistance is required to open the gate for her mother. The addition of the protagonists action is a key element in her rescue, which is not found in Perraults version of the tale. In his version, the brothers enter, chase, and kill Bluebeard while the girl remains on the ground, Bluebeards wife was as close to death as her husband and barely had the strength to rise and embrace her brothers (147). Whereas Perrault depicts her as weak and incapable, Carter depicts the wife as a powerful individual whose actions are key to her own rescue, thus giving even more power to the female roles. Not only does Cater transform the tale of Bluebeard into a feminist story by empowering the female characters, she also decreases the power of the secondary male characters by removing the brothers from the story and adding the less powerful piano-tuner. In Perraults version of the tale, the only male characters the reader encounters (aside from Bluebeard) are the brothers. Additionally, Perrault depicts the brothers as the very picture of masculinity, the one a dragoon and the other a musketeer (147). His version of the story only contains images of powerful and aggressive males. Carter opts to remove the brothers completely. As a result, the reader associates male power and aggression with evil because it is only found in the husband and is not positively represented. Carter not only removes the powerful and aggressive brothers, but she also adds the less-powerful piano-tuner, Jean Yves, to show a weakened power of men in the story. The narrator first describes Jean with a series of adjectives that lead the reader to picture him as a male without power, he was blind, of course; but young, with a gentle mouth (23). From this description the reader envisions a mild boy with a handicap, which is the complete opposite of the secondary male characters depicted in Perraults tale. Not only does the narrator describe Jean as a weakling in physical terms, she later describes his lack of courage. She states, The door slowly, nervously opened and I sawthe slight, stooping figure of the piano-tuner, and he looked far more terrified of me than my mothers daughter would have been of the Devil himself (31). Carters use of comparison points out the drastic difference in courage between the boy and the protagonist. Carter repeats this theme of comparison of bravery again when the narrator says, When I thought of courage, I thought of my mother. Then I saw a muscle in my lovers face quiver (38). By recalling the image of the powerful mother and placing it next to the quivering face of the lover, Carter reemphasizes the dramatic difference in courage between male and female. In doing so, Carter creates a world in which the only positive strong characters the reader encounters are female. By taking the power out of the hands of the males, and making the secondary male char acter a less powerful assistant to the females, Carter turns the gender-related power issues in the story upside-down. The fact that Carter creates a weak male character for her version of the story is an example of how she twists every aspect to change the traditional tale into a feminist piece. Carter goes beyond empowering the females of the story by strengthening the character of the mother to the point of savior and making the protagonist an active participant in her own escape. Additionally, she strips the story of all positive powerful males, leaving only the Bluebeard character, which stands alone as a negative representation of male power.

Roman And Greek Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Roman And Greek Art - Essay Example Although, the Roman art borrowed a lot from the Greeks and Egyptians, I prefer Roman art for exactly this reason. In a way, Roman art combined the best of everything and blended it with its own ideas. It is true that the Romans valued Greek art; however, I prefer the less idealized and more diverse Roman approach to art. In addition, I admire the beauty of Roman architecture that is combined with its practical use. For example, I believe the Roman aqueducts to be not only beautiful, but also a very important feature. Aqueducts are a prime example of the fabulous Roman engineering and building skills. The Pont du Gard is probably the best proof for how remarkable the Roman artistic period was. Which image or images made the strongest impact on you and why? Even though I prefer the Roman artistic period, there were a couple of pictures from all periods mentioned that had a strong impact on me. From the Roman period, the picture of the Pont du Gard, made the strongest impression on me. As stated above, I admire the combination of beauty and usefulness. Moreover, I am fond of the amount, position and various sizes of arches in the Pont du Gare. With regard to the Greek artistic period, there are two images that impressed me. The first image is the image of the majestic Parthenon, due to the balance and symmetry of the building itself.

Bobs Meltdown Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bobs Meltdown - Case Study Example As the discussion outlines the first alternative that Singer could take is to fire Dunn, who is the senior Vice President and General Manager, Services. However, the case study identifies that Dunn is the best manager and the profitability of the company probably rides on his shoulders. This alternative will make the company lose revenue, and probably end up insolvent. The other alternative that Singer could take is to severely reprimand Dunn and make him apologize to Ms. Annette over his behavior. Organizational behavior ethos dictate that the best functioning of an organization as a team requires the cohesion that can only be achieved by a unity between the managers. The third alternative would be to assume that Dunn was under a lot of pressure from the responsibility entrusted to him. Therefore, this alternative would require that Mr. Singer talks to Dunn and tells him to calm down, and that Annette would be made to understand the importance of the services department. From this study it is clear that all the alternatives proposed above their own limitations and strengths, mainly because of the deep ethical and professional implication of Dunn’s actions. The first alternative is the first consideration, because of the unprofessional nature of Dunn’s reaction. However, this alternative would result in a loss in profitability for the company before another manager as good as Dunn is found. The second alterative, a reprimand and no other action being taken, is not very advisable for the firm. This is because of the interpretations that the action would elicit from the other employees. This alternative would imply that the company does not care about some employees, especially the female employees, and that the performance record by Dunn gives him more leeway than the other employees.

Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc - Case Study Example The Group operates 375 stores spread across the United Kingdom. The Group operates in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the Isle of Man.' Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC - Company Profile Snapshot, (http://wrightreports.ecnext.com/ coms2/ reportdesc_ COMPANY_C826N2770, viewed on 24th March, 2009) The company was founded in the year 1899 by William Morrison. The Headquarters was at Bradford inWest Yorkshire. The company initiated its expansion by the takeover of another company viz., Safeway in the year 2004. Thereafter the company registered commendable growth and at present it has a total of 382 superstores across the UK. The Morrison family currently owns around 15.5% of the company. Morrisons has now a remarkable stronghold in the supermarket chain and has earned good profits through the years and has given good divident to its shareholderes. The adoption and implementation of effective marketing strategies with the support of latest technologies have helped the company in the flawless management of inventory, logistics and warehousing. Here, in this essay the Technological, financial and marketing techniques implemented by Morrisons for its success is being discussed.. Wm Morrison Supermarkets LLC (Morrison) one of U.K.'s largest food retailers and has its area of operation related to retail supermarket stores and connected actions. The varied range of products which Wm Morrison has to offer include fresh foods, home and leisure products, wines and spirits, groceries and beers, through its 365 stores, 13 manufacturing sites and 12 distribution centers in the whole of U.K. The different branded products of the company are; Eat Smart, Organic, free from, At Home, First Home, BettaBuy, skin colour products and private label products. The market share of the Morrisons gained and it extended beyond its rivals. Consumers became more and more health and budget-conscious and they started preferring necessities to improvised spending. GBP 655 million was the profit before taxation for the year. This is an increase of around GBP 43 million over the previous year profits. But the net income for the equity share holders reduced by 17% and the earnings per share also dropped down. The yearly turnover for fiscal 2009 is higher by 12% and 3% of this growth is because of its very high prices of fuel. The growth in the existing stores were 7.9%, increase in customer numbers by 4.2% and average basket used up by3.6%. Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc branded advanced profit before tax in fiscal 2009, after it wheedled consumers with freshened and rebranded stores. The supermarket chain also increased its dividends and also announced that it was going to open up more stores across U.K. Morrisons has raised 601,212 in aid of Help the Aged and Childline. They have been able to do this by: Selling pin badges in store Charity of the Year Collections (more coming in December!) Donations from reusable charity carrier bags Stop for Tea parties nationwide Recycling mobile phones History of the Company Morrisons started their business as as an egg and butter merchant in Rawson Market of Bradford under the name of Wm Morrison (Provisions) Limited. In 1952, his son, Ken Morrison took over the company while he was only 26 years old. In 1958 it opened a small self-service store in Bradford. This store was the first shop of its kind in Bradford delivering poducts with a price

Difference between Romantic and Modern Painting Essay

Difference between Romantic and Modern Painting - Essay Example The essay "Difference between Romantic and Modern Painting" discovers the Romantic and Modern Painting. Picasso was one of the artist who developed the kind of painting called abstract. In this style of painting, only selected qualities or characteristics of the subjects are used in the finished picture. the still life of a pitcher, candle and handled box on a table top rendered in rust orange, brown, blue, yellow, off-white, gray and black. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, a member of an artists group known as Die Brucke. They valued truthfulness more than clever techniques and in fact they often used deliberately rough ways of working, as if that were a proof of the strength of their Feelings. The group works on watercolors, drawings and woodcuts. Kirchner and the group can be measured by their extraordinary production. The rapid development of their personal styles was a result of their activity, including life, drawing and painting as well as the production of woodcuts, lithographs and dra wings. Luca Fa Presto (Luke work quickly) because of his prodigious speed of execution and huge output. His style became much more colorful under the influence of such great decorative painters .He absorbed a host of influences and was said to be able to imitate other artists styles with ease. (1812-1867) Rousseau is best known for turning themes of humanity's relations into nature. Some of this most famous works include: Springtime, Under the Birches, and Clearing in the Forest near Fontainebleau. ... He was nicknamed Luca Fa Presto (Luke work quickly) because of his prodigious speed of execution and huge output. His style became much more colorful under the influence of such great decorative painters .He absorbed a host of influences and was said to be able to imitate other artists styles with ease. . Romantic Painters Theodore Rousseau (1812-1867) Rousseau is best known for turning themes of humanity's relations into nature. Some of this most famous works include: Springtime, Under the Birches, and Clearing in the Forest near Fontainebleau. Rousseau's paintings as embodiments of a new way of seeing the world, a new sense of the deep interconnectedness between the human and natural worlds that coincided with the earliest formulations of modern ecological thought. These techniques were very prevalent in Rousseau's art. Rousseau paints the solitary oak dominating a flat patch of pastureland. He sees the peculiar ragged cha racteristics of the gnarled branches, the coarse density of the oak foliage, the tufts, and clouds of the turf with pools of standing water like glass reflecting the sky. The grand compositions of this landscape are replaced by others that express the spontaneous and informal aspects of nature. This nature lover painter, saw the landscape in its quiet moods with fresh nave eyes. Cropsey and Hudson River School Despite a tendency toward harshness of colors, did notable paintings. Sunset, Hudson River is a rather odd marriage of a formulaic Hudson River School composition and this luminist style. In most luminist works the sunlight is evident only in the diffusing effects of its rays, but in this painting the setting sun is a palpable orb. One feels as if the strength of its light could not only diffuse