Literary Analysis Of Persimmons - 1341 Words

A bildungsroman is a story showing the evolution of a character from an innocent childhood to a greater understanding of life that comes with adulthood. In Li-Young Lee’s poem, Persimmons, he tells the story of the speaker in an episodic manner to convey how the chapters of life are intertwined and the impact they all have on one another. This is a free verse poem and lends itself to the assumption of being autobiographical. It begins with the speaker in sixth grade being lectured by his teacher for not knowing the difference between â€Å"persimmon† and â€Å"precision.† It sharply transitions into discussing the art of eating a persimmon. The poem then flashes forward to a more mature memory where we are introduced to a euphemistic portrayal of†¦show more content†¦This is clear in that a disproportionate amount of his poems from the Rose collection as well as The Winged Seed: A Remembrance collection drew from these two categories of his life. While it is uncertain when exactly Li-Young Lee wrote this poem, it can be deducted that it was written sometime in the early eighties or late seventies. The exact date cannot be confirmed since it was published along with many of his other works in Rose, which was published in 1986. This year was full of tragedy with the Challenger explosion on live TV and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant explosion. The years leading up to 1986 and following it were full of rising political tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. Amidst all this darkness, Lee takes the time to reflect upon his own life and the simple pleasures within it, focusing on the individual human experience as opposed to societies faults. The initial analysis of the poem begins with investigation of the title, Persimmons. The poem gives an informational description about how to eat a persimmon in second half of the first stanza, so from this it is inferred that a persimmon is a fruit that is delicate and has savory meat on the inside. Also the speaker tells the story of when he was a kid in class and his teacher brought in a persimmon and he refused toShow MoreRelatedEssay about African American Male Feminist2019 Words   |  9 Pagesthe importance, relevance and substance of what it is to be not only a successful male feminist but a universally accepted male feminist, I will first lay the foundation of what a feminist is from the ground up. In this paper I will construct an analysis of African American male feminist thought using pieces of literature such as Fredrick Douglass’s â€Å"The Rights of Women†, Alexander Crummell’s â€Å"The Black Woman of the South: Her Neglects Her Needs† and Langston Hughes’s â€Å"Madam Poems† along with someRead MoreConfucianism in Journey to the West31834 Words   |  128 PagesUniversity of Leiden 14 June 2012 Department: Language and Culture of China Course: Visual Political Communication (BA3) Semester: Summer Semester 2011/2012 Lecturer: Florian Schneider Journey to the West A Textual-Visual Discourse Analysis Name: Stefan Ruijsch (Student No. 0620203) Major: Chinese Studies, BA 3 E-mail: s.ruijsch@umail.leidenuniv.nl Phone: 06-48369645 Address: Vrijheidslaan 256, 2321 DP Leiden Word Count: 9,387 Table of Contents pageRead MoreInternal Revenue Code 1939278050 Words   |  1113 Pagesarrangement of the same, and, therefore, no inference, implication or presumption of legislative construction shall be drawn or made by reason of the location or grouping of any particular section or provision or portion thereof, nor shall any outline, analysis, cross reference, or descriptive matter relating to the contents of said Title be given any legal effect. SEC. 7. EFFECT UPON SUBSEQUENT LEGISLATION.—The enactment of this act shall not repeal nor affect any act of Congress passed since the 2d day

The Trend Of Citizen Journalism - 920 Words

The Trend of Citizen Journalism – a Critical Development in Journalism With the advent of low cost consumer photography equipment, including camera phones, citizen journalism has become more widespread. During newsworthy incidents many people may be present with the capability to snap a picture. This capability of photography at the scene of a newsworthy event may produce information that can be helpful – and vital depending on the nature of the newsworthy event. While safety of the photographer is a concern – the same concerns exist for a professional journalist. The potential benefit of a mass capture of information by many sources may far outweigh the negatives. If the photographer feels that their safety is not in jeopardy and no un-necessary risks are taken – then photography is acceptable. In today’s society, it is up to the judgment and common sense of the witness to record whatever even they are observing. Safety is a serious and growing concern of today’s society. Many rules and safety concerns exist today which were nonexistent in the past. Research, observation, and an overwhelming amount of information has resulted in far more rules and regulations for today’s citizens. Another part of our progressing society has been the advancement and adoption of technology in our daily lives. Just about everyone has a phone capable of taking pictures. The prevalence of cameras in the hands of people differs from the past – as recent as the 1990s – where few peopleShow MoreRelatedSocial Media Is Pointless And Detrimental1641 Words   |  7 Pageswatching funny videos, but it also increases the generation of informational content and citizen participation in political discussions. In early 2011, thousands of Syrian, especially youth from labor unions, indented to risk their lives to protest against the authoritarian government. By August 2015, more than 250,000 c itizens had been killed in the conflict. 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High Performance Diverse Workplace

Question: Critically analyse and discuss the varied communication challenges that leaders should expect to handle while managing cultural diversity in the organizations in Australia. Answer: 1. Introduction Since the workforce around the globe is becoming highly global as well as more diverse culturally, the leaders within the organization are facing communication challenges as they need to communicate in effective manner interpersonally, intercultural as well as within the groups (Okoro Washinton, 2012). Due to rise in the internationalization of organizations as well as global competitiveness, the management of human diversity is a daily challenging routine for the major businesses (Lauring, 2011). Therefore this essay critically analyses and discusses the varied communication challenges that leaders should expect to handle while managing cultural diversity in the organizations in Australia. Using thorough academic literature relevant to the topic as well as publically available data this essay will also find out that how the leaders can successfully handle and address the ethical issues that arise in Australian organizations because of cultural diversity. Finally this essay will critically analyse an optimal leadership mix of styles or behaviours that should be aligned while managing culturally diverse workplaces. The leadership styles that would be finally suggested should be highly flexible and such that they can be adopted in appropriate manner by the organizations in Australia. Thus with the help of this essay we will try to build an understanding regarding management of multicultural workforce as well as behavioural practices by focussing on critical strategic issues faced by leadership as well as employee behaviour. 2. Communication Challenges Encountered by a Leader in Culturally Diverse Organization While analysing the strategies of business communication it has been found that effective group as well as interpersonal communication is very much important for the organizational success as well as within the organizations because of growing workforce diversity along with intercultural relationships existing within businesses (Bovee Thill, 2008) . There have been studies that show that if the workforce diversity consequences are ignored it certainly impacts the performance along with the productivity of the organization and finally it results in undermining the overall objectives of the business performance. For example Goldman Sachs, an international organization operating in Australia too employ more than 30,000 employees who represent more than 160 nationalities and the discussions in Goldman Scahs in relation to workforce diversity is not just anymore a domestic issue rather it has become an international challenge (Kanu, 2008) . Multiculturism is very vital aspect of the diversity existing in the Australian workforce and as the research suggests the organizations in Australia are one of the most culturally diverse ones across the globe (Dunn et al 2001; Lewis, French 2000). During the year 2012-13 , due to the net immigration a large number of population size was added to the Australian territories as well as states and during 2012, 27.7 percent out of the total population Australia was born out of the country ( ABS 2013). It is not just the population belonging to varied cultures is increasing but it is the level of diversity which is also increasing along with the regular immigration waves. Although, in the constantly changing multicultural environment, good communication is critically very important, but this intercultural communication also creates a tough challenge for the leaders at their workplaces (Sadri Tran, 2002) . Managing diversity for the leaders is much more than just acknowledging the differences that exist between the people. Thus studies show that it is very much important that the business communicator needs to adapt to the rapidly changing responsibilities as well as the changing work relationships (Flatley, Rentz, Lentz, 2012) . In current highly diverse workforce there are several communication challenges that the leaders have to face and these include skills, experiences, attitude of employees towards work, traditions, outlooks and backgrounds and all these communication issues definitely impact the communication at the individual workplaces (Bovee Thill, 2008) . If the organizations face the challenges due to diverse workforce like coexistence w ith their business partners as well as the community, the managers as well as the leaders have to face the challenges like motivating the culturally diverse employees as well as creating harmony amongst the workers (Okoro Washinton, 2012). Globalization along with, economic improvements in Australian business has lead to rapid and much more internationalization of the organizations in Australia. Thus in the Australian organizations that are running globally like Qantas, Sainsbury , etc. effective cross cultural communication is being required for running the businesses in efficient as well as smooth manner (Duggan, 2013). However the leaders or the managers have to face several challenges, issues as well as conflicts while handling the employees who belong to diverse cultures, social backgrounds as well as have different habits. In such cases cross cultural competency emerges as very vital and critical tool for the leaders in order to manage such challenges that impact employee performance (Matveev Nelson, 2004) . The varied dimensions present in the national culture can also give rise to difficulties that give rise to cross cultural communication conflicts. The five main cultural orientations that have been emphasised by scholars and that also impact the cross cultural competencies are: power distance; uncertainty avoidance; performance orientation; individualism along with the richness of the communication context (Matveev Nelson, 2004) . Nations like Australia, United States and Sweden show lower power distance orientation and interactions that occur between employees or managers belonging to different power distance orientation can result in dissatisfaction in either of the two groups or parties (Klimina, 2011). Language also acts as a major communication barrier for leaders while managing culturally diverse employees in an organization as it can result in miscommunication or misunderstanding amongst the staff in the workplace. Mostly misunderstandings are bound to occur when the leader o r manager and the employees are not speaking the same language. Since both the leader and the employees belong to different cultures and make use of totally different languages, so particular level of language consistency while speaking or interacting is required to be on same platform in order to avoid miscommunication. Such kind of miscommunication can result in problems so as to achieve mutual consent regarding certain issues that are conflicting by nature and finally result in dissent as well as dispute, along with conflicts as well as negative emotions (O'Leary Weathington, 2006) . In some situations non-verbal communication challenges also might arise for leaders while managing cultural diversity in Australian firms. Non-verbal communication is considered to be very vital part of business communication as the leader needs to find out the non-verbal clues in case the verbal messages are vague or unclear, mainly in the case when different kind of languages are being involved. Different kind of methodologies are used by every culture for understanding the postures , touch, silence, physical appearances, gestures as well as emotional expressions of the employees. For example in Anglo-Australian culture, all through the communication maintaining continuous eye contact is a norm and it is considered to be a sign of honesty as well as indicates deeper level of interest in the topic of discussion, but in case of various other culture for example in Japan, maintaining this kind of eye contact while communicating can be taken as a sign of disrespect. Thus the difference s in analysing as well as understanding the non-verbal communication by the managers or leaders can thus result in misunderstanding , on the other hand differences in interpretation can result in conflicts or can also result in escalation of the conflicts that already exist (LeBaron, 2003). 3. Leaders Addressing Ethical Issues Related to Cultural Diversity in Australian Organizations Leadership is considered to be a very vital part of every organization but with more technological developments and growing globalization the capacity as well as functions of leaders are turning out to be more complicated (Punnett, 2004) . Therefore the cross-cultural managers need to visualise this change in the form of a challenge as well as a unique opportunity both for individual development as well as beneficial for organizational growth. Along with this to cope up with these rapid transformation leaders should respond in rather very swift manner to the effects of globalization, technology as well as demographics , so that they can offer specific development of job skill in relation to work ethics, continuous learning as well as global leadership (Aggarwa, 2011) . Global leaders in such cases needs to develop mainly their interpersonal skills so that they can deal in effective manner with racial conflicts that might occur in culturally diverse workforce as well as simultaneously keep on developing individuals along with groups at their workplace (Byrd, 2007) . 3.1 Cultural Diversity and Leadership One of the highly important variables that the leaders need to consider while tackling the culturally diverse workforce in Australian organizations is the cultural context (Gutierrez, Spencer, Zhu, 2012) . Communication styles, work ethics, management labour relationships along with behaviours keep on varying form one nation to the other. That is why leadership competence is being visualised or perceived in different manner in different countries (Kowske Anthony, 2007) . For example in high context nations like Japan, South Korea etc. the staff prefers more to take indirect messages and they depend more on nonverbal codes , whereas the employees belonging to low context culture nations like Australia, United Kingdom etc. the employees prefer to communicate in direct manner and try to develop or inculcate maximum information through messages (Hackman Johnson, 2004) . ifferent kinds of cultural groups in the organizations nurture different cultural expectations and thus their expectations from their leaderships are also different and this certainly impacts the managers as well as the employee behaviours in the organization (Strand, 2011). Thus the employees know very well the importance of their leaders positive response towards individual differences of cultures without any personal bias (Nguyen Umemoto, 2012) . With the help of such actions the leaders are capable of fulfilling effectively their tasks towards development of a multicultural workforce along with a strategic foresight that breeds organizational innovativeness. The leaders should be objective while practicing leadership without any biases or making any assumptions. The leaders should learn to lead by example so that the diver workforce starts believing in ethical behaviours. This can be done by giving due respect to the differences amongst others or by keeping aside any personal bi ases, and this needs to be seriously followed by leaders in the organization (Roy, 2012) . 3.2 Diversity Management for Ethical Issues The biggest challenge in current scenarios for managers is to manage the rising diversity at the workplace (Mujtaba, 2010) . One of important steps that the leaders can do for making and creating a better work environment is treating the employees in fair manner as well as in a just manner on the basis of their actual performance or individual merits, without even considering about the age, gender, sexual orientation, race or religion of the employees at diverse workplace (Lundrigan, Tangsuvanich, Wu, Mujtaba, 2012) . For example Starbucks a global organization has highly diverse workforce and is considered as one of the most ethical organization across the globe (Ethisphere, 2013) . It strives and creates a work culture that not just values but also respects the spirit of inclusion as well as diversity. In order to do so it has integrated both inclusion and diversity in its leaderships core competencies. It is expected from all its leaders that they will demonstrate inclusion in so me way or the other (Starbucks, 2014) . Diversity can be effectively managed with the help of managers as people get directly impacted as well as persuaded by the other people belonging to higher status (Jones George, 2011) . Cultural competence is very vital in order to manage diversity in workplace. One of the ethical aspect that the managers in Starbucks, Australia practice is they treat each and every employee without even considering their gender, age , religion or ethnicity etc. One best method that leaders adopt for gaining cultural competence is to self-assess them with the help of cultural competence tool. Leaders can also make use of an activity that is to organize events especially for socialising with the workforce so as to interact as well as to understand them in better manner. For example in order to show the ethical aspect of Starbucks towards not just employees but also towards partners, suppliers , environment and the customers , it started CAFE practices , a program that Sets basic social , environment al and quality criteria, which Starbucks verifies (Elder, Lister, Dauvergne, 2014 , p. 80). It is basically the culture which is depicted by the upper management that impacts the behaviour of its managers as well as its employees all across the organization (Hinkin Tracey, 2010) . The upper management at IBM Australia also adopts a culture that truly embraces the culture that allows its partners to take a compressed week, thus giving them an option of working more hours in a day, thus fewer workdays. The managers at IBM are asked to consider ethical values as well as practices while managing the workforce and partners. For example while recruitment of individuals both the managers as well as partners play an active role while choosing their future partners (Marques, 2008) . This helps in making sure that there is less bias whereas more opinions during the process of selection. The leaders are also given effective training in most of the Australian Organizations like Woolworths and Coles. 4. An Optimal Mix of Leadership Styles / Behaviours The influencing process practiced by the leaders as well as the followers in order to achieve their organizational objectives successfully with the help of change is called leadership (Lussier Achua, 2010) . Equally important is implementation of right leadership style in various conditions so as to get the best outcomes. In case of diverse teams, people belong to different age, sex, sexual orientation, race geographic regions etc., thus it becomes really challenging for the leaders to find and implement the best leadership style, which works out best for everyone. A leader plays major role in implementation of effective culture within an organization. Diverse companies do have certain advantages, but in case the leader does not do their duties in right way it can cause certain issues. For example Glass Ceiling is seen in many organizations where women and minority are stopped or a barrier is created for them to reach top position in leadership, but by adopting this leadership model these organizations restrict their chances of success. For example Mrs. Indra Nooyi, is the best example of topmost leadership in PepsiCo who has emerged as worlds 100 most powerful womens list as CEO of the company (Paulien, 2012). 4.1 Path Goal Leadership The theory of Path-Goal Leadership is considered to be best for managing culturally diverse workforce as in this the main focus is being goal oriented for the organization. The leaders adopting Path-goal theory are found to be highly flexible, giving directions, supportive and believe in rewarding their followers. Thus such leaders make their work teams productive, cooperative and focussed through proper encouragement. Such leaders help in removal of the barriers and regularly keep on motivating the employees; this finally helps in improving and increasing the work effectiveness and work satisfaction along with group effectiveness. It has been found that path-goal styles of leadership has statistically positive as well as significant relationship with the group effectiveness, of diverse workforce and Instrumental leadership shows the strongest correlation . Thus it can be said that path-Goal leadership is the best for the leaders to handle culturally diverse work teams (Dixon Hart, 2010) . For example Mikael Ohlsson, IKEA a Swedish home products organization mentions that his leadership style in relation to diversity is being vision driven when looking from business point of view , but its foundation is value driven. On the same pitch Brian Moynihan, Bank of America leader, believes that leadership style for managing cultural diversity in Australia is linked to customer satisfaction (Groysberg Connolly, 2013). According to him if the inclusion scores along with internal diversity scores are stronger, it will make the employees feel much precious as well as valued and thus they will be serving the customers better and finally the organization will be successful. Leadership style that most of the CEOs support for promoting diverse culture is inclusive culture. The one in which the employees get enough chances to contribute towards the organizations success as their authentic selves, where their talents are being leveraged and they are respected along with receiving a se nse of connectivity. According to David Thodey of Australian telecommunication giant Telstra, an inclusive culture is the one where irrespective of your caste, creed, gender, race, physical ability or sexual orientation, the employee gets to fulfil their personal objectives by simply aligning them with the objectives of the company. The leaders should value the employees for the way they contribute towards the business (Groysberg Connolly, 2013). 4.2 Culturally Linked Styles of Leadership There exist several explicit differences in cultures, mainly in terms of attitudes, behaviours and values exhibited by the individuals and this kind of divergence does impact the leaderships in organizations (Judge Piccolo, 2004). Transformational leadership is being more valued one in collectivist culture as the subordinates correlate with it more and they are attracted towards the transformational leadership traits, mainly the traits that are more focussed on achieving collectivistic organizational goals as well as sharing a common mission at their workplace. Transformational and transactional leadership theories find a universal application across various cultures as they can adapt to different settings of different cultures (Avolio Bass, 2004) . The Australian leaders show more preference towards transformational leadership style. Leadership being a process in which others are being influenced and make them agree regarding what is to be done and how it can be finished in effect ive manner, the behaviour exhibited by the managers impacts the outcomes. In Australian context both autonomy and freedom are very important, thus the transformational features of leadership style does serve this purpose. The lower power distance indicates a more egalitarian leadership approach to be adopted in Australian organization (Holt, Bjorklund, Green, 2009). Moreover the cultural context of Australian organizations depicts an equal as well as harmonious leader-subordinate relationship as the role of leader or manager is more of a coordinator. The leaders in Australian organizations encourage direct disagreement and promote open discussions while resolving any issues or disputes in order to avoid the risk of being misinterpreted. Since the managers as well as the employees grow in egalitarian business environment prevailing in Australian organizations, thus indicating that the managers are just perceived as someone who just needs to delegate and coordinate the work at workplace. Moreover the leaders belonging to egalitarian cultures are more bothered about the progress and they support individualism. Thus they are more attentive being visionary leaders and give intellectual stimulation to subordinates while articulating the goals and they relate with the employees as well. 5. Conclusion In most of the Australian organizations cultural diversity is very critical to achieve higher productivity as well as better work performance, thus both the success of the company along with the alignment of culturally diverse workforce are some of the challenges that needs to be handled by the leaders. There are mainly communication challenges that the leaders face while handling workforce diversity. There are several challenges that leaders have to tackle in cross-cultural communication because significant amount of cultural differences amongst the communicators can end up in miscommunication. Miscommunication or sometimes misinterpretations can happen amongst the managers and their employees as they belong to different nationalities or come from varied ethnic backgrounds (Okoro , 2012). The leaders in current scenario very well know that diversity of workforce helps in innovation and results in better decision making, which finally results in better growth. That is why effective leaders are very well aware that particular skills are very important for developing a diverse and successful workforce. Thus the managers or leaders should understand the discrimination as well as the impacts of discrimination; secondly the leaders need to recognize their personal prejudices as well as biases. Diversity is not just related to differences amongst the people or groups in organizations, rather it is about the differences in individuals. Every individual is unique in itself and that person does not represent or speak for entire group and thus the leaders should be willing to change the organization if need be. The success of diversity management is relying on the capability of manager to analyse what is best in favour of the organization based on the teamwork as well as the dyn amics of workplace. With organizations becoming more globalised, the cultural diversity amongst the employees is on the rise, thus the leaders should find out the appropriate strategy that can enhance their teams productivity. The leadership style that needs to be followed is the Path-Goal leadership style, where everyone needs to value as well as respect the existing differences in cultural, while learning from each other. They should adapt towards the diverse team members and should try to best meet the organizational objectives. Transformational leadership styles are also considered to be applicable in case of culturally diverse organizations. Thus it is vital to note that different kinds of cultures have different values and norms towards the style of leadership as they show different concepts regarding the manner in which reality should be viewed. Even the Australian organizations show the more preference towards transformational leadership style as it is participative, cooperative as well as consu ltative while making decisions and dealing with diverse workforce. Bibliography Aggarwa, R. (2011). Developing a global mindset: Integrating demographics, sustainability, technology, and globalization. Journal of Teaching in International Business , 51-69. Avolio, B., Bass, B. (2004). Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. Mind Garden. Bovee, C. L., Thill, J. V. (2008). Business communication today. Boston: Prentice Hall. Byrd, M. (2007). Educating and developing leaders of racially diverse organizations. Human Resource Development Quarterly , 275-279. Dixon, M. L., Hart, L. K. (2010). The Impact of Path-Goal Leadership Styles on Work GroupEffectiveness and Turnover Intention. Journal of Managerial Issues , 52-69. Duggan, T. (2013). How to Overcome Cross Cultural Communication in Business. Retrieved June 3, 2016, from Chron: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/overcome-crosscultural-communication-business-134.html Elder, S. D., Lister, J., Dauvergne, P. (2014). Big retail and sustainable coffee: A new development studies research agenda. Progress in Developmental Studies , 77-90. Ethisphere. (2013). 2013 Worlds most ethical companies. Retrieved june 2, 2016, from https://m1.ethisphere.com/wme2013/index.html Flatley, M., Rentz, K., Lentz, P. (2012). usiness communication. New York: McGraw Hill. Groysberg, B., Connolly, K. (2013, Spetember). Great Leaders Who Make the Mix Work. Harvard Business Review . Gutierrez, B., Spencer, S., Zhu, G. (2012). Thinking globally, leading locally: Chinese, Indian, and Western leadership. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal , 67-89. Hackman, M. Z., Johnson, C. E. (2004). Leadership: A communication perspective. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press. Hinkin, T. R., Tracey, J. B. (2010). What makes is so great?: An analysis of human resources practices amongst Fortunes best companies to work for. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly , 158-170. Holt, S., Bjorklund, R., Green, V. (2009). Leadership and culture: examining the relationship between cultural background and leadership perceptions. , Journal of Global Business Issues , 149-64. Jones, G. R., George, J. M. (2011). Managing in the global environment. New York: McGraw Hill. Judge, T., Piccolo, R. (2004). Transformational and transactional leadership: a meta-analytic test of their relative validity. Journal of Applied Psychology , 755-68. Kanu, K. (2008). The new workforce. Black Enterprise , 68. Klimina, M. K. (2011). Implications of crosscultural communication in business: A study of Swedish small enterprise "ImseVimse" and its international distributors and retailers. Hogskolan pa Gotland Passion veterskap , p. 19. Kowske, B. J., Anthony, K. (2007). Towards defining leadership competence around the world: What mid-level managers need to know in twelve countries. Human Resource Development International , 21-41. Lauring, J. (2011). The social order of interaction in international encounters. Journal of BusinessCommunications , 231-255. LeBaron, M. (2003, June). Communication Tools for Understanding Cultural Differences. Retrieved June 3, 2016, from Beyond Intractability: https://www.tijoss.com/TIJOSS%2027th%20volume/BIBI%20NORIANI.pdf Lundrigan, M., Tangsuvanich, V. L., Wu, S., Mujtaba, B. (2012). Coaching a diverse workforce: The impact of changing demographics for modern leaders. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science , 40-48. Lussier, R., Achua, C. (2010). Leadership: Theory, application, skill development. Mason, Oh: South Western. Marques, J. F. (2008). Spiritual performance from an organizational perspective: The Starbucks way. Corporate Governance , 248-257. Matveev, A. V., Nelson, P. E. (2004). Cross cultural communication competence and multicultural team performance: Perceptions of American and russian. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management , 253-270. Mujtaba, B. (2010). Workforce diversity management: Challenges, competencies and strategies. florida: ILEAD Academy. Nguyen, N. T., Umemoto, K. (2012). Understanding leadership for crosscultural knowledge management. Journal of Leadership Studies , 23-35. Okoro, E. (2012). Cross-Cultural Etiquette and Communication in Global Business: Towards a Strategic Framework for Managing Corporate Expansion. International Journal of Business and Management , 1-9. Okoro, E., Washinton, M. (2012). Workforce Diversity And Organizational Communication: Analysis Of HumanCapital Performance And Productivity. Journal of Diversity Management , 57-63. O'Leary, B. J., Weathington, B. L. (2006). Beyond the Business Case for Diversity in Organizations. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journals , 283-292. Paulien, R. (2012). Transforming leadership styles and knowledge sharing in a multicultural context. Business, Management Education / Verslas VadybaIrStudijos, , 91-109.

Mr Khan free essay sample

Assume the room is well sealed and heavily insulated. 2. An ideal Otto cycle has a compression ratio of 9. 2 and uses air as the working fluid. At the beginning of the compression process, air is at 98 kPa and 27oC. The pressure is doubled during the constant-volume heat-addition process. Accounting for the variation of specific heats with temperature, determine (a) the amount of heat transferred to the air, (b) the net work output, (c) the thermal efficiency, and (d) the mean effective pressure for the cycle. . A gas turbine power plant uses solar energy as the source of heat addition (see Figure for detailed setup and operating data). Modelling the cycle as a Brayton cycle and assuming no pressure drops in the heat exchanger or interconnecting piping, determine: (a) the thermal efficiency; (b) the air mass flow rate, in kg/s, for a net power output of 500kW. 4. Steam is the working fluid in an ideal reheat Rankine cycle. We will write a custom essay sample on Mr Khan or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Steam enters the first-stage turbine at 8. 0 MPa, 480oC, and expands to 0. 7 MPa. It is then reheated to 440oC before entering the secondstage turbine, where it expands to the condenser pressure of 0. 008 MPa. The net power output is 100 MW. Determine (a) the thermal efficiency of the cycle, (b) the mass flow rate of steam, in kg/h, (c) the rate of heat transfer out from the condensing steam as it passes through the condenser, in MW. Discuss the effects of reheat on the vapor power cycle. NOTE: Do the problems in a systematic way. Include the units in the calculations. State any assumptions.

Biography Of Robert E. Lee Essays - American Civil War, Free Essays

Biography Of Robert E. Lee Essays - American Civil War, Free Essays Biography of Robert E. Lee Robert E. Lee was born in Stratford Hall, near Montross, Virginia, on January 19, 1807. He grew up with a great love of all country life and his state. This stayed with him for the rest of his life. He was a very serious boy and spent many hours in his father's library. He loved to play with some his friends, swim, and he loved to hunt. Lee looked up to his father and always wanted to know what he was doing. George Washington and his father, "Light-Horse Harry Lee," were his heroes. He wanted to be just like his father when he grew up. In the 1820's, the entrance requirements for West Point were not close to as strict as they are now. It still was not that easy to become a cadet. Robert Lee entered the United States Military Academy at West Point where his classmates admired him for his brilliance, leadership, and his love for his work. He graduated from the academy with high honors in 1829, and he was ranked as a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers at the age of 21. Lee served for seventeen months at Fort Pulaski on Cockspur Island, Georgia. In 1831, the army transferred him to Fort Monroe, Virginia, as assiezt engineer. While he was stationed there, he married Mary Anna Randolph Custis who was Martha Washington's great-granddaughter. They lived in her family home in Arlington on a hill overlooking Washington D.C. They had seven children which were three sons and four daughters. Lee served as an assiezt in the chief engineer's office in Washington from 1834 to 1837, but then he spent the summer of 1835 helping to lay out the boundary line between Ohio and Michigan. In 1837, he got his first independent important job. As a first lieutenant of engineers, he supervised the engineering work for St. Louis harbor and for the upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers. His work there earned him a promotion to captain. In 1841, he was transferred to Fort Hamilton in New York harbor, where he took charge of building fortifications. When war broke out between the United States and Mexico in 1846, the army sent Lee to Texas to serve as assiezt engineer under General John E. Wool. All his superior officers, especially General Winfield Scott, were impressed with Lee. Early in the war, Lee supervised the construction of bridges for Wool's march toward the Mexican border. He then did excellent work on scouting trips. Lee later was helping General Winfield Scott plan a great battle. The Army was about to attack Vera Cruz, a large Mexican town on the sea. The attack began. Soldiers fired huge guns at the walls of Vera Cruz. One of the men at the guns happened to be Robert's brother, Smith Lee. When he could, Lee went to ezd by his brother's gun. "I could see his white teeth through all the smoke of the fire"1 Lee said, in a letter to Mary. The Mexicans soon gave up Vera Cruz. General Scott thanked Lee for his work. Now the Army could move on to the Mexican capital. The march to Mexico City would be hard. General Scott asked Lee to find the best way to go. And he asked him to see what Santa Anna, the Mexican general, was doing. To get news for Scott, Lee went behind the lines of enemy soldiers. This was dangerous work. Once when Lee was behind enemy lines he heard voices. Mexican soldiers were coming to drink at a spring. Lee jumped under a log. More Mexicans came. They sat on the log and talked. Lee had to hide there until dark. Lee found out many things for Scott. Once he even found a secret road for the army. He was extremely brave. At Cerro Gordo he led the first line of men into battle. The Americans won. Lee then wrote to his son, Custis, "You have no idea what a horrible sight a field of battle is."2 Then came the biggest battle of the war. The Americans attacked a fort outside Mexico City. Lee planned the attack. For days he worked without sleep. He

An Easy French-English Bilingual Story at the Beach

An Easy French-English Bilingual Story at the Beach Many people travel to France to enjoy its gorgeous beaches. Whether you prefer sunny â€Å"Cà ´te d’Azur†, the windy beaches or â€Å"Arcachon†, the historic â€Å"plages de Normandie† or the wild and rocky coasts of Brittany, you’ll have plenty of sea waters and beaches to choose from when traveling, for real or virtually to France. Explore the vocabulary related to beach activities with this learn French in context  story. This story is written mostly in the present tense and with simple sentence structures, so even beginners can follow the story once they have studied their  French beach vocabulary. And Now, Let's Go to the Beach! Mon mari, ma fille et moi, nous habitons en Bretagne, dans le nord-ouest de la France, en face de lAngleterre, dans une petite ville qui sappelle  «Ã‚  Paimpol  Ã‚ ». Jai de la chance car nous sommes cà ´tà © de la mer, au bord de la Manche plus prà ©cisà ©ment.   My husband, my daughter and myself, we live in Brittany, in the north-west of France, across from England, in a small town called Paimpol. I am lucky since we live by the sea, on the banks of the Channel more precisely. Ma fille Leyla et moi, nous adorons nager. Il y a une petite plage de sable 5 minutes pied de chez nous, et bien sà »r, nous y allons trà ¨s souvent. My daughter Leyla and I, we love to swim. There is a small sand beach five minutes walking distance from our house, and of course, we go there very often. Leyla a dix ans, et elle sait bien nager. Elle a pris des cours de natation la piscine avec son à ©cole, et aussi pendant les weekends, et donc vraiment elle nage bien la brasse, le crawl etc... Mais quand  elle va la plage, elle ne nage pas beaucoup : elle joue dans la mer, saute dans les petites vagues, patauge... Elle boit rarement la tasse, mais à §a arrive. Alors elle tousse, et elle replonge dans l’eau ! Elle aime bien aussi faire de grands chà ¢teaux de sable avec les autres enfants qui sont sur la plage. Leyla is ten, and she is a good swimmer. She took swimming lessons at the pool with her school, and also during the weekends, and therefore she can really swim the breaststroke,  the crawl etc well†¦ But when she goes to the beach, she doesnt swim much: she plays in the sea, jumps in the small waves, splashes around†¦ She rarely accidentally swallows sea water, but it happens. Then she coughs, and dives back in (the water)! She also enjoys making big sand castles with the other kids (who are) on the beach. Faire de la Voile = to go Sailing in French L’autre jour, Leyla a fait une journà ©e de voile avec son à ©cole. Et tout a coup, elle a vu deux dauphins !! Malheureusement, au dà ©but elle a pensà © que c’à ©tait des requins, et elle a eu trà ¨s peur... The other day, Leyla had a sailing outing with her school. And suddenly, she saw two Dolphins !! Unfortunately, at the beginning, she  thought  they  were  two sharks, and she was very scared. C’est un vrai dà ©mà ©nagement lorsque nous allons nous baigner ! Il faut prendre des pelles,  des seaux, un rà ¢teau, des serviettes de plage, et surtout ne pas oublier la crà ¨me solaire. Il fait souvent gris en Bretagne, mais le soleil est toujours l, en dessous des nuages, et il faut toujours mettre de la crà ¨me solaire pour ne pas attraper un coup de soleil. Nous ne prenons pas de  parasol, ni de chaise longue – on est en Bretagne, pas   St Trop’  !! Its like packing for a move when we go swimming! We have to take shovels, pails and a rake, beach towels and above all not forget the  sunscreen!! Its often overcast in Brittany, but the sun is always there, under the clouds, and you should always wear sunscreen so you dont get sunburnt. We dont bring a beach umbrella, nor a beach chair - were in Brittany, not Saint-Tropez !!

Spiritual Movement of Tantra Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Spiritual Movement of Tantra - Research Paper Example Even in modern day religions, or in religions that have been altered by New Age adaptations, like Tibetan Buddhism and branches of Hinduism, elements of Tantra are widely implemented and very evident. Since Tantra does not focus on cosmology and deities, it is easily combined with other religious and spiritual practices. Given its widespread use, especially in the Western world, Tantra has more than one definition, and many of them clash with one another. Western scholars define Tantra as a form of western scholarship, and not in any relation to a religious system. They place little to no significance on its origination in Asia, nor on its connection with other spiritual practices. Those who actually practice Tantra openly reject this definition, insisting that Tantra is merely the teachings and practices found in the scriptures known as tantras. Furthermore, practitioners of Tantra believe that Tantra cannot be defined as a whole, as the Western world has tried to do, but based on each individual tantra scripture. As such, Tantra is not just a philosophy, which is the belief of many Westerns, but also a spiritual way of life. The tantra scriptures are the most vital parts of the Tantra path. A tantra is considered a tantra when it â€Å"elaborates copious and profound matters, especially relating t o the principles of reality and sacred matters, and because it provides salvation† (Jain 37). Tantras refer not only to the designated scriptures that started the movement, but scriptures, practices, and rituals that were created subsequent to the origination of Tantra. Further tantras were created when practitioners had perused the primary Tantric scriptures, which are known as the agama. The agama is made up of four parts: descriptions of metaphysical knowledge (jnana), contemplative procedures (yoga), ritual regulations (kriya), and religious and ethical commands (charya). When new tantras are designed, if they are able to be placed within one of these four categories, they are usually accepted by other practitioners. These many scriptures are, in essence, the guidebook of being Tantric. The purpose of Tantra and of following these scriptures is to reach a higher level of existence, one that can be obtained by individuals other than ordained monks, which is the appeal of Ta ntra. Ordinary people are not exempt from achieving the highest and greatest level of existence. Tantra’s belief system focuses on reality as a whole, coupled with a single Divine Consciousness, a consciousness that individuals have, yet share with others. Moreover, as Tantra erased the line between the spiritual and the mundane, practitioners are able to experience spiritual realization in every aspect of their day-to-day lives. Tantra allows laymen to have access to the Divine Consciousness and the liberation and salvation that comes with adhering to the tantra scriptures in a normal, nonspiritual setting. The overall spiritual goal of Tantra is to â€Å"bring about an inner realization of the truth that ‘Nothing exists that is not Divine’† (Guenther & Trungpa 41). Buddhist Tantra explains it best, claiming that we are all in union with universal energy; we have everything that we need to be complete within us right now, but we just need to learn how to recognize it. This is where Tantra comes in. Every individual has the ability to be Divine, as this is their true nature, albeit untapped. It is through Tantra that individuals can reach this state of divine existence. Tantra brings liberation ignorance and from suffering, which is a common goal in Eastern-based religions, with an emphasis on the individual being the one that holds their own

Lap report for AS1B subject Lab Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Lap for AS1B subject - Lab Report Example Two angles are important in this perspective; the angle of refraction and the incident angle. Refractive index (RI) with regard to Snell’s Law provides a mathematical relationship between the incident angle and the angle of refraction. According to Snell’s Law In other cases the light travels in a perpendicular line and RI cannot be measured by comparing the two angles. In such a case one can measure the RI by getting the ratio of the Real Depth (RD) to the Apparent Depth (AD). For instance, when determining the RI of water one can insert a measurement ruler until it touches the bottom of a beaker of known height (RD), and then comparing it with the depth as seen by the eye (AD). The following experiment consists of two parts; the first part used fresh tap water while the second experiment used salty water. The aims of the experiment were to determine the refractive index of water and to establish whether the salinity of water affected its refractive index. The refractive indices of the first experiment as demonstrated in Table 1 indicate that there was minimal difference. The average refractive index for the first experiment was found to be 1.38. According to literature, the refractive index of water is averagely 1.3 (Freeman, 2003). In essence, the experimental results were closer to the results found in literature. The fact that the refractive index of water has a value greater than 1 implies that light travels much faster in air than in water. In essence, air is less dense than water and as light travels from air to water the speed reduces. The average refractive index for saline water was found to be 1.51 indicating that saline water was denser than tap water. Another realization is that as the saline concentration of the water was being increased, the refractive index also increa sed. The results imply that an increase in salinity causes an increase in the density of water. When salt is dissolved in

Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Example for Free

Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Those who think Transcendentalism is just a literary movement that took place in the early 1800s are only half correct. Transcendentalism is indeed a literary movement; however, it is much more than that. It is meant to challenge people to think for themselves and cause change. Authors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee taught the importance of non-conformity and civil disobedience through short stories such as â€Å"Self Reliance† and â€Å"On the Duty of Civil Disobedience†, and the play, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail. Transcendentalism is based on the belief that knowledge is derived from experience and personal reflection as opposed to reason. Transcendentalism promotes self-revelation because it encourages people to form their own opinions and then voice them in a way that will promote change in society. Transcendentalists ground their philosophy with the idea that every persons inner self is where knowledge is gained. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s â€Å"Self Reliance†, he says, What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think†¦It is easy in the world to live after the worlds opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. Emerson realizes that it is easy to conform to society, but there is value in forming one’s own opinion. What makes a person great is if he or she can stand out in a crowd of people. While in a crowd, one can see the overall ideas of the group but never the individual thoughts that made up these ideas. Emerson is saying that to be great, one must be able to be with the crowd physically, but mentally remain one’s own person with their own ideas. Because Transcendentalism values individual opinions, it is also important to people such as Henry David Thoreau that everyone, especially the government, is open to other peoples’ opinions. In â€Å"On the Duty of Civil Disobedience† Thoreau says, â€Å"There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power†¦ and treats him accordingly. † Thoreau understands that citizens should be able to influence the government and cause change. To do this, the government needs to treat its citizens with respect. Politicians and other government workers need to do away with their pride and listen to what is really important- the citizens. When people can form their own opinions, respect others’ opinions, and voice their opinions, there will be harmony. In Transcendentalism, people are encouraged not only to form their own opinions, but to voice them as well. Thoreau tells everyone to â€Å"make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it† (Thoreau). He supports transcendentalism by encouraging people to stand up and talk about their opinions. Thoreau understands that change, especially in government can only occur when individuals make their opinions heard. During his life, Thoreau challenged the idea of slavery, government corruption, payment of taxes, and the Mexican-American War. In The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, Thoreau is talking to his old professor about how he should voice his discontent with the Mexican-American War. When Thoreau’s professor asks when he should voice his opinion Thoreau yells, â€Å"‘NOW! A year ago was too late! I’ll get you an audience. This afternoon. At Concord Square! †Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Lawrence and Lee 89). In the play, Thoreau expresses that opinions are no good if they are not proclaimed to the world. If opinions are not voiced they cannot be heard. Transcendentalism values individual opinions and acknowledges that voicing them is crucial if they are going to spearhead change in their society. Transcendentalists agree that self-revelation is wasted if it is not voiced and then heard and thereby causing change. During The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, Thoreau spends a small amount of time as a schoolteacher. While Thoreau is a schoolteacher, he gets into trouble with the schoolmaster because he lets his kids â€Å"Huckleberry† in order to come to a conclusion in a class discussion. After he gets in trouble Thoreau sarcastically tells his students, ‘â€Å"You must not listen to a cricket or smell a flower that has not been approved by the School Committee. You’d better close both ears and hold your nose- though you may have to grow an extra hand to do it†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Lawrence and Lee 20). In this instance, Thoreau is trying to speak out against the strict policy of the school committee. He sees that the policy is unfair and that students should be able to learn in a way that is effective for them. By speaking out against the school committee, Thoreau is opening up the possibility for a reform in the education system. Thoreau sees that there is an opportunity to promote change so he takes it and speaks his opinion. According to Thoreau and other transcendentalists, the government needs to be ameliorated. Thoreau says, â€Å"The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it† (Thoreau). Transcendentalists agree that the government usually does not work for the people it is protecting. However, they do realize that it is necessary for the survival of the United States. Thoreau is encouraging people to take a stand against the current government, which he hopes will lead to a reform that will empower people to demand more influence in politics. Transcendentalism emphasizes that individuals need to voice their opinions if change is going to occur. According to Transcendentalists, promoting change in society occurs through self-revelation. There must be free thinking people in the world who are willing to make their voice heard if change is ever going to occur. Today many people think that the American school system is something that needs to be reformed. There is a problem if most students are no longer engaged and excited to go to school. Transcendentalists would say that students should be learning things that are interesting to them and cause them to think beyond what is being taught. Students should be encouraged to investigate and debate ideas in order to come up with their own. If America were still in the Transcendentalism time period, people would be insisting on these types of changes. They know that if they do not speak out, nothing will happen.

Stonehenge Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are few ancient structures in the world that captivate the imagination and the critical mind of both the scholarly and ordinary individual as Stonehenge. This intriguingly mysterious Neolithic monument is located near Amesbury in Wiltshire, England and draws thousands of spectators to its arena each year. The oldest part of Stonehenge, called Stonehenge I (constructed ca. 3100 BCE), consists of little more than a circular ditch dug in the soil of the Salisbury plain, with the excess soil piled up to make an embankment approximately six feet tall. This area is approximately three hundred thirty feet in diameter, and encompasses â€Å"Stonehenge proper† – the familiar circles of massive stones that once stood upright as well as the large horseshoe arrangement of standing stones near the center of Stonehenge. (Trefil 48) The outer ring of Stonehenge proper, also known as the â€Å"sarsen circle,† consists of several upright sarsen (gray sandstone) stones. According to the text of Art History, each stone in this circle weighs up to fifty tons and stands up to twenty feet tall, and was once â€Å"capped by a continuous lintel.† To accomplish this architectural structure, the builders used the technique of mortise-and-tendon joints to join and ensure the security of the lintel sections. With this technique, a projecting pin (tenon) located on a lintel fits tightly into a hole designed for it (mortise) on an upright stone. (Stokstad 59) Inside the sarsen circle was once a ring of bluestones. These special stones consisted of various grades of bluish dolerite, which (many individuals conclude) were only found one hundred fifty miles away in the mountains of southern Wales. The inner horseshoe arrangement of five paired lintel-topped uprights, or trilithons, dominates the center of Stonehenge. These sandstone trilithons range in height of up to twenty-four feet, weigh up to forty-five tons, and radiate the mysterious majesty of the megalithic structure. (Stokstad 59) Whatever the method by which the stones arrived on Salisbury Plain, they were apparently set up in about 2800-2700 BCE in either the unfinished circle or the incomplete horseshoe open to the south-west. A century or so later, (ca. 2500 BCE) the great sarsen circle was constructed, and the bluestones were dragged from their holes only to be returned some centuries later to form the i... ...few miles from Stonehenge where there was a convenient glacial deposit of the only stones used for Stonehenge. (Burl 22) However, the view remains that the massive stones of Stonehenge were, indeed, transported hundreds of miles to Salisbury Plain. Assuming that the bluestones were brought from Wales by hand and not transported by glaciers as Aubrey Burl has claimed (or moved by the magical hand of Merlin), various methods of moving them relying only on wood and rope have been suggested. During 2001, in an exercise of experimental archaeology, an attempt was made to transport a large stone along a land and sea route from Wales to Stonehenge. Volunteers successfully pulled the massive stone on a wooden sled over land, but it was ultimately lost in rough seas after being moved to a replica prehistoric boat for its journey across the Bristol Channel. (Burl 21) As we have observed, legends about the origin and purpose of Stonehenge are many in number. It is quite possible that we may never discover the truth behind the mysterious circles of stones on Salisbury Plain, yet it is also true that the intrigue and fascination that accompanies the existence of Stonehenge will surely remain.

Thirty Days as a Cuban Article Review

â€Å"THIRTY DAYS AS A CUBAN† Article Review Based on Patrick Symmes' article â€Å"Thirty Days as a Cuban†, it seems as though the degree of ECONOMIC INEQUALITY (the extent of the economic difference between the rich and the poor) in Cuba is relatively low. While many people still make more than others, the vast majority of Cubans are significantly poor and suffer from starvation from day to day. Symmes' account of the average life of a Cuban was interesting because I don't believe many people are aware of the suffrage going on in this country. I, for one, am a prime example of this.I had no idea that such a state existed in Cuba. The ration system and dictatorship of the country contribute immensely to the degree of poverty. And in turn, poverty results in what we would label as DEVIANCE and CRIME (behavior that violates norms and arouses negative social & behavior that violates written laws, respectively). These people literally have no choice but to result to crime in order to survive. The communistic ways and schemes of the government do not really enable moral and ethical ways of making even a mere comfortable living.This suggests an inevitably low chance of VERTICAL MOBILITY (the movement up or down a through a society's stratification system) in the sense that while the Cuban government might like to think or tell people that movement up the vertical scale is possible, it really is not. Another point I found interesting is that the Cubans seem to be pretty CLASS CONSCIOUS (aware of their social class membership, the structural reasons for it, and the needs arising from such membership). They are 100% aware of where they stand in the social ladder, but there is virtually little they can do about it.They are aware of what the government is doing– giving them just enough to â€Å"get by†, but, in reality, is not enough to survive. â€Å"†¦ The problem in Cuba isn't food, or clothes. It's the total lack of civil liberty, an d therefore of economic liberty, which is why you have to have the libreta in the first place. † This quote validates my point exactly. The Cubans are very aware of their suppression, but in contrast to Karl Marx's theory that the oppressed would inevitably revolt if they had class consciousness, the Cubans cannot because of the dictatorship existing in their country.

Information Technology Outsourcing/Off shoring

IntroductionThe activities of outsourcing are not new for the businesses. The difference is only that the name ‘outsourcing’ was not given in back 20 years but now it has properly given its name and implementing by almost all the businesses worldwide. The practice of outsourcing is going on from last 20 years in the business environment. And now it is very well shaped. The base of the research paper is to flourish the challenges and negative side of the outsourcing which are facing by every business of the US economy in the department of Information Technology.Outsourcing/Off ShoringOutsourcing refers to the assistance that the companies take from the other companies. This assistance in terms of IT can be installing of software, managing the database etc. In the field of IT, it requires high performance, maintenance, and should be updated with the coming technologies. With the emerging trend of IT, the competition between the companies arises. So to cope up with this sit uation most of the companies are catering towards outsourcing. â€Å"The performance demands of the e-economy, and pressure to deliver competitive IT functionality. To meet these challenges, organizations are increasingly considering outsourcing of their information systems activities as an attractive option.† (Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants)The IT companies hire the people from outside sources on contract basis to perform the IT functions. â€Å"Allotting work to suppliers and distributors to provide needed services and materials and to perform those processes that the organization does not perform itself.† (Hormozi 2003). Instead of performing the IT function itself the companies hires professionals. Those professionals are the service providers related to another entity. The companies tries to adopt outsourcing because it saves time and cost. â€Å"Rather than devoting time, energy and capital to the creation of IT processing services, organizations fe el they can minimize the start-up time required to enter new markets by contracting a third party to provide those services immediately.†   (Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants)Challenges to IT OutsourcingOutsourcing has created many challenges to the businesses. There are also some drawbacks. â€Å"A study of 85 outsourcing deals over the period 1992 – 2000 showed that, while in 60% of these deals the client benefited, nearly 36% of clients experienced problems.† (Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants) Following are the problems which are facing by the organizations while IT outsourcing.Operational ProblemsA company can be strong when all of its information should be in its own hand and operating by the company itself. If there would be lack of data integrity, the system can be fail easily or the information of the inside company can be access by the others, then the company can bear the losses. Every company have there own secrets inside the com pany if they will be whistle blow by any one then the reputation of the company can be effected or lawsuits. â€Å"In an outsourcing arrangement, an organization’s processing is performed by different personnel, with different management, using different techniques and methods, in a changed operating environment.† (Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants) Another problem which occurs during outsourcing is that the companies are not acknowledge with operational problem and are not able to know the ruthlessness of the problem.Companies can loss its competencies by outsourcing. The service provider can easily access the information or data but this can be compensated by the working of effective functions of IT. â€Å"An organization therefore risks losing its competencies or its otherwise deep knowledge of its systems and operations in relevant domains. This loss could, in turn, compromise its ability to operate and manage effectively.† (Canadian Institute of C hartered Accountants) The outsourcing team should be effective. There is lack of competencies, so the companies don’t have direct control over them. To create the direct control the companies should hire effective team that can effectively and efficiently solve the IT problems. â€Å"Lack of these competencies may compromise its ability to make decisions on changes to the IT services, manage the governance relationship or liaise with the customer base inside the organization.†Ã‚   (Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants)Service ProblemsMostly, the problem faced by the companies is the difference in the work which the company wanted and the service which service providers supplied. Always there is different between these two pints. Both the parties take time to get to know each others point of view. â€Å"The organization may be accustomed to a certain standard and style of performance that was provided by its internal IT department prior to outsourcing. This same standard and style may not, however, be continued by the service provider.† (Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants)Cost problemsâ€Å"Research shows that lack of clarity and understanding of the costs related to the many aspects of outsourcing service delivery are the biggest problems of outsourcing.† (Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants) When a company does not properly plan outsources then the unusual cost could incur after sometime that can effect the efficiency of the outsource program.Work Cited  Amir Hormozi, Erin Hostetler, Cynthia Middleton; Outsourcing Information Technology: Assessing Your Options SAM Advanced Management Journal, Vol. 68, 2003 Accessed on November 7, 2006  itmWEB: Outsourcing Information Technology http://www.itmweb.com/essay528.htm Accessed on November 7, 2006  Eric Krapf; Outsourcing: Doing It More, Liking It less Business Communications Review, Vol. 29, November 1999 Accessed on November 7, 2006The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, Information Technology Advisory Committee. Information Technology Outsourcing, Insights for a changing world.   Copyright  ©2003 the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, 277 Wellington Street West,Toronto, Canada

Fun Facts About Thresher Sharks

Fun Facts About Thresher Sharks Are you ready to learn a few thresher shark facts? There are several to share about this popular type of shark. The most notable feature of thresher shark is the long, whip-like upper lobe of their tail, which is known as the caudal fin. In total, there are three species of thresher sharks: The common thresher (Alopias vulpinus), pelagic thresher (Alopias pelagicus) and the bigeye thresher (Alopias superciliosus). What a Thresher Shark Looks Like Thresher sharks have big eyes, a small mouth, large pectoral fins, first dorsal fin, and pelvic fins. They have a small second dorsal fin (near their tail) and anal fins. Their most noticeable characteristic, as noted above, is that the top lobe of their tail is unusually long and whip-like. This tail may be used to herd and stun small fish, upon which it preys. Depending on the species, thresher sharks may be gray, blue, brown, or purplish. They have light gray to white coloring below their pectoral fins. They can grow to a maximum of about 20 feet in length. These sharks are sometimes seen jumping out of the water and may be confused with other marine mammals. Classifying the Thresher Shark Here is how the thresher shark is scientifically classified: Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ChordataClass: ChondrichthyesSubclass: ElasmobranchiiOrder: LamniformesFamily: AlopiidaeGenus: AlopiasSpecies: vulpinus, pelagicus or superciliosus More Thresher Shark Facts A few more fun facts about thresher sharks include the following: Thresher sharks are widely distributed across the worlds temperate and subtropical oceans.Thresher sharks eat schooling fish, cephalopods, and sometimes crabs and shrimp.Thresher sharks reproduce each year and are ovoviviparous, meaning that eggs develop inside the mothers body, but the young are not attached by a placenta. The embryos feed on eggs in the uterus. After nine months of gestation, females give birth to two to seven live young who are three to five feet long at birth.According to the International Shark Attack File, thresher sharks are not commonly involved in shark attacks.NOAA estimates that populations of Pacific thresher sharks are above target levels, but lists the status of common threshers in the Atlantic as unknown.Thresher sharks may be caught as bycatch and hunted recreationally.According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, thresher shark meat and fins are valuable, their skin can be made into leather and the oil in their liver can be used for vitamins. Sources: Compagno, L., Dando, M. and S. Fowler. 2005. Sharks of the World. Princeton University Press.Jordan, Vaness. Thresher Shark (Online). Florida Museum of Natural History Icthyology Department. Accessed August 8, 2011.NOAA. 2011. FishWatch: Atlantic Common Thresher Shark (Online). NOAA. Accessed August 8, 2011.NOAA. 2011. FishWatch: Pacific Common Thresher Shark (Online). NOAA. Accessed August 8, 2011.World Register of Marine Species. 2011. Thresher Shark Species List. Accessed August 8, 2011.

Wild Bill Hickok - Gunfighter of the Wild West

Wild Bill Hickok - Gunfighter of the Wild West James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837 - August 2, 1876), also known as Wild Bill Hickok was a legendary figure in the old west. He was known as a gunfighter and gambler who fought in the Civil War and was a scout for Custers Cavalry. He later became a lawman before settling down in Deadwood, South Dakota where he would soon meet his death.   Early Years James Hickok was born in Homer (todays Troy Grove), Illinois in 1837 to William Hickok and Polly Butler. Not much is known about his early education, though he was known as an excellent marksman. In 1855, Hickok left Illinois and the Jayhawkers, a vigilante group in Kansas. At that time, Bleeding Kansas was in the middle of tremendous violence as pro- and anti-slavery groups fought over control of the state. Jayhawkers were fighting for Kansas to become a free state, not allowing slavery in its borders. It was while Hickok was a Jayhawker that he first met Buffalo Bill Cody. He would work with him again in later years.   Pony Express Incidents In 1859, Hickok had joined the Pony Express, a mail service that delivered letters and packages from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. While delivering freight in 1860, Hickok was injured when he was attacked by a bear. After a fierce struggle that left Hickok gravely wounded, he was finally able to slit the bears throat. He was removed from duty and eventually sent to Rock Creek Station to work in the stables.   On July 12, 1861, an incident occurred that would begin Hickoks claim to fame.  While employed at the Rock Creek Pony Express Station in Nebraska he got into a gunfight with an employee looking to collect his pay. Wild Bill may have shot and killed McCanles and wounded two other men. He was acquitted at the trial. However, there is some question on the validity of the trial because he worked for the powerful Overland Stage Company. Civil War Scout With the start of the Civil War in April, 1861, Hickok joined the Union army. His name was listed as William Haycock at this time. He fought in the Battle of Wilsons Creek on August 10, 1861, acting as a scout for General Nathaniel Lyon, the first Union general to die in the war. The Union forces were slaughtered and the new general, Major Samuel Sturgis, led the retreat. He was discharged from the Union Army in September 1862. He spent the rest of war either acting as a scout, spy, or police detective in Springfield, Missouri.   Gaining a Reputation as a Fierce Gunfighter Hickok was part of the first recorded fast draw gunfight on July 1, 1865 in Springfield, Missouri. He fought with a former friend and gambling partner who had turned into a rival named Dave Tutt. There is a belief that part of the reason behind the rift in their friendship had to do with a woman they both liked. When Tutt called in a gambling debt that he said Hickok owed him, Hickok refused to pay the full amount saying that Tutt had it wrong. Tutt took Hickoks watch as collateral against the full amount. Hickok warned Tutt that he should not wear the watch or he would be shot. The next day, Hickok saw Tutt wearing the watch in the square in Springfield. Both men fired simultaneously, but only Hickok hit, killing Tutt. Hickok was tried and acquitted for this gunfight on the grounds of self defense. However, his reputation in the minds of those living in the east was settled when he was interviewed for Harpers New Monthly Magazine. In the story, it was stated that he had killed hundreds of men. While newspapers out west printed corrected versions, this cemented his reputation.   Life as a Lawman In the old west, the move from one on trial for murder to lawman was not that far. In 1867, Hickok began his career as a US Deputy Marshall at For Riley.  He acts as a scout for Custers 7th Calvary. His exploits are exaggerated by writers and he only adds to his own growing legend with tales of his own. In 1867, according to a story told by James WIlliam Buel in Life and Marvelous Adventures of Wild Bill, the Scout  (1880), Hickok was involved in a gunfight with four men in Jefferson County, Nebraska. He killed three of them and wounded the fourth, while only receiving a wound to his own shoulder.   In 1868, Hickok was attacked by a Cheyenne war party and injured. He was acting as a scout for the 10th Calvary.  He returned to Troy Hills to recover from the wound.  He then acted as a guide for Senator Wilsons tour of the plains. At the end of the job he received his famous ivory handled pistols from the Senator. In August, 1869, Hickok was elected to be the  Sheriff of Ellis County, Kansas. He wound up shooting two men while in office. They were seeking to gain fame by killing Wild Bill. On April 15, 1871, Hickok was made the marshal of Abilene, Kansas. While Marshal, he had dealings with a saloon owner named Phil Coe. On  October 5, 1871, Hickok was dealing with a violent crowd in the streets of Abilene when Coe fired two shots. Hickok tried to arrest Coe for shooting his pistols, when Coe turned his gun on Hickok. Hickok was able to get his shots of first and kill Coe. However, he also saw a figure approaching from the side and shot two more times, killing a man. Unfortunately, this was  Special Deputy Marshal Mike Williams who was trying to help him. This led to Hickoks being relieved of his duties as Marshal.   Wandering Lawman and Showman From 1871 to 1876, Hickok wandered around the old west, sometimes employed as a lawman. He also spent a year with Buffalo Bill Cody and Texas Jack Omohundro in a travelling show called Scouts of the Plains.   Marriage and Death Hickok decided to settle down on March 5, 1876 when he married Agnes Thatcher Lake, who owned a circus in Wyoming. The pair decided to move to Deadwood, South Dakota. Hickok left for a time to try and earn money by mining for gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota. According to her Martha Jane Cannary, a.k.a. Calamity Jane, became friends with Hickok around June 1876. She said that he spent the summer in Deadwood.   On August 2, 1876, Hickok was at the Nuttal   Manns Saloon in Deadwood where he was playing a game of poker. He was sitting with his back to the door when a gambler named Jack McCall came into the saloon and shot Hickok in the back of the head. Hickok was holding a pair of  black aces, black eights, and a jack of diamonds, forever to be known as a dead mans hand. McCalls motives are not completely clear, but Hickok might have upset him the day before.  According to McCall himself at his trial, he was avenging his brothers death who he said was killed by Hickok. Calamity Jane stated in her autobiography that is was she who first captured McCall after the murder: I at once started to look for the assassin [McCall] and found him at Shurdys butcher shop and grabbed a meat cleaver and made him throw up his hands, because through the excitement of hearing of Bills death having left my weapons on the post of my bed. However, he was acquitted at his initial miners trial. He was later rearrested and tried again, this being allowed because Deadwood was not a legitimate US town. McCall was found guilty and hanged in March, 1877.

E-Commerce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

E-Commerce - Essay Example The second type Business to Business, also known as B2B. This is when given company does commerce with another company. Consumer to Consumer, also known as C2C is when business occurs between consumers (Vulkan 2003). Business to Consumer (B2C): B2C forms the most common e-commerce category in current market share. It involves consumers and businesses where online businesses transact to individual customers. The basic idea behind this form is that the online vendors and promoters can sell their merchandise to the online shopper by employing crystal clear statistics which is made accessible via various online marketing apparatus (Canzer 2006).  This e-commerce category describes actions of businesses handling end customers with services and/or products. One of the most appealing strategies about B2C is that numerous online businesses are essentially just standard commercial entities that are available around individuals’ home town. The benefit to making that store internet oriented is that consumers from all around the planet who do not encompass access to this category of warehouse can easily attain services or products from the store by buying them online (Canzer 2006). Business to Business (B2B): This is regarded as the biggest form of e-commerce comprising business of huge amount of dollars. In this type, the sellers and buyers are both business corporations and do not engage an individual customer.  This kind of e-commerce comprises businesses transacting goods and services among themselves. Most of the time, B2B comprises online marketing corporations providing services for extra online entities who are seeking to get better outcomes on the search engines (Gao 2005). The mainly trendy forms of internet marketing are SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and PPC (Pay-Per-Click). All of the extra types of e-commerce cannot be feasible without online promotion and B2B e-commerce type. Consumer to Consumer (C2C): This type of

Reaction paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Reaction paper - Assignment Example It was very important to her, this act of maturity, so much so that when, after visiting her semi-comatose mother at the hospital, she went out for lunch with a cousin and remembered that she had left them at her mother’s bedside, she made her cousin turn the car back and rushed in to retrieve them. Conversation in June About Mothers by Hwang Sun-Won is just that: a group of people gathered together in June and talking about mothers. A man related how his son, who had always been a daddy’s boy, ran back to his mother when she called out to him, rather than flee to South Korea with him. He claims that mothers are absolute beings for their children. A man disagrees, relating how his mother eloped with a lover when he was very small, never to return, and how much he hated her. He recounts that when he was wounded in a war, and was about to die, his mother’s apparition came to him, but he rejected her – his hatred being that strong. However, the group states that in effect it was his mother’s apparition that had saved his life. Another man tells the story of a woman who was escaping to South Korea in a boat with a group of people; for fear of being caught by the North Korean shore guard, she threw her crying infant into the river. The narrator feels a de ep hatred for the woman, however, before the hatred becomes permanent, the man relating the story tells the group that the woman was lactating and when her breasts became swollen, she cut off her nipples herself with

Does a nurse with a BSN make a difference in patient outcomes Essay

Does a nurse with a BSN make a difference in patient outcomes - Essay Example In this paper I will be answering the question of whether nurses with BSN make a positive difference in patient outcomes. Research by a different organization and scholars converges at the conclusion that competency, knowledge and application of specific skills significantly depends on educational attainment. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, nurses with BSN degrees are better placed to effectively meet the demands and expectations of the modern society. Nurses with BSN have a good training and as such develop strong critical thinking skills, leadership abilities, capacities to manage cases and promote healthcare outcomes. These nurses have a strong foundation that enables them to effectively work in both outpatient and inpatient settings without little challenge. It is for such unique and beneficial capabilities that baccalaureate prepared nurses are highly regarded and associated with promoting positive patient outcomes. It has been identified in the past few years that the level of education really makes a great difference in the way nursing is practiced. The BSN program covers content taught at both diploma and associate degree as well as providing students with a deeper understanding of the entire nursing profession. It covers research, leadership in nursing, physical sciences, social sciences and public health among many other courses. This broader coverage prepares the student nurses in a manner that allows them to understand the different issues impacting on patients and influencing healthcare provision. An inverse relationship has been demonstrated to exist between the number of BSN nurses and patient mortality when in hospitals; mortality decreases with increase in number of BSN nurses (Kimberly, 2009). Education for the nurse has also association with the safety of patients as well as quality of healthcare offered. Education provides the necessary theoretical as well as practical

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

The Fall of the Berlin Wall The Fall of the Berlin Wall The history books, the political polemics, and economic and the geopolitical analyses of the fall of communism and the break-up of the Soviet Union fill shelves with cruel crimes committed for the party and proletariat under the dreaded regimes of Stalin, Khrushchev, and Brezhnev. The end of the empire, however, was humiliatingly public, glowing on millions of television screens as sledgehammers tore chunks out of the Berlin Wall. The end of the end began in 1985 with the ascendancy of Mikhail Gorbachev and a new generation of Soviet leaders born after Stalin and his paranoid terrors had died. Ironically, the penultimate cause of the collapse was the Soviet Unions invasion of Afghanistan, where it fought a hopeless war for nearly a decade, which that almost crushed its economy to a halt and, like the Vietnam war, called into question national leadership and purpose. The presidency passed from a rather incompetent Jimmy Carter to Ronald Regan, who had no appetite for further appeasement with the Kremlin. Historian Paul Johnson argues that the tremendous losses in Afghanistan left the Soviet Union incapable of facing President Reagans Strategic Defense Initiative, and the new leadership in Moscow realized that their imperial ventures had caused the Soviet economy to rust (History of the American People 928-29). â€Å"For our internal progress, Gorbachev said in 1987, we need normal international relations. The Soviets had to catch up to the rising prosperity and technological advances of Europe and North America. The Soviet Union had to concentrate on domestic development and promote international peace whenever possible. However, it could only accomplish such a goal by giving up any global ambitions. Therefore, as Paul Johnson and other historians point out, Gorbachev abandoned the traditional Soviet anti-western orientation. He wanted to integrate the Soviet Union into the main currents of modern life and that meant democracy, free enterprise and a market economy. He gave the Soviet Union and the World two slogans:perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness). Perestroika held out the promise of reorganizing the state and society. For example, individual initiative would be revived and there would be emphasis on technology and a higher standard of living. Glasnost was the corrective held up to Stalinist excesses. Openness would permit the open discussion of the nations problems and it would rid public thinking of propaganda and lies. Soviet pseudo-history, pilloried in George Orwells dystopian novel, 1984, tapered off. New histories published archival material on the Stalinist purges and the Great Terror. In Gorbachevs way of thinking, the Russian Communist Party was to serve as the vanguard of perestroika and stimulate civic activity and responsibility. In 1990, the Supreme Soviet elected Gorbachev as the countrys president for a term of five years. At the time, Gorbachev was still the leader of the increasingly unpopular Communist Party. Economic changes accompanied these political reforms. Industrial enterprise was encouraged which in turn would foster private initiative and loosed the stranglehold of decades of central planning. By 1990, Gorbachev was cautiously promoting a market economy including the individuals right to possess private property. Religious freedoms were restored and in 1988, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrated its 1000th anniversary. Meanwhile, contacts with the outside world, especially the west, began to intensify. However, all this seemingly good stuff especially from the western perspective had its downside as well. For instance, glasnost released decad es of bitterness which had accumulated over the fifty years of Stalinist repression and terror. Perestroika and glasnost also revealed the widespread ecological damage the Soviets had caused on the environment. Gorbachevs reforms also polarized opinion in ways that even Gorbachev and his stalwart supporters could never have foreseen. In an effort to preserve unity by compromise, Gorbachev entered a bitter quarrel with his more radical rival, Boris Yeltsin. The weakening of traditional Soviet authority and the release of history brought about by the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev, in the end, brought disunity. Meanwhile, Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians all demanded independence which in turn set off similar demands among Ukrainians, Georgians, Byelorussians, Armenians and the various peoples of central Asia. By the late 1980s, inter-ethnic violence had escalated. And in 1990, the Russian Republic, the largest republic of the Soviet Union, declared its limited independence under Yeltsin, and an Anti-Reform Russian Communist Party broke off from the reformist party faction led by Gorbachev. Meanwhile, the transition to a market economy was too complex for ready and easy solutions. The production and distribution of consumer goods collapsed. Local governments hoarded essential commodities and the black market flourished as did the Russian Mafia. As journalist David Remnick has written: the Communist Party apparatus was the most gigantic Mafia the world has ever known. It guarded its monopoly on power with a sham consensus and constitution and backed it up with the force of the KGB and the Interior Ministry police. (Kreis, History Guide) In October 1990, Gorbachev remarked, unfortunately, our society is not ready for the procedures of a law-based state. Oppressed generations lose high expectations and the Communist elite, hypothetically similar to the Guardians in Platos utopia had lost perspective. Grenville twists an old maxim that explains the myopia: â€Å"Absolute power not only corrupts, it blinds† (894). Gorbachevs own hammer blow for Eastern Europe, Harold Evans observes, was â€Å"to renounce Brezhnevs imperial doctrine by which the Soviet Union had claimed the right to intervene in defense of its ideology in any Communist country† (American Century 655). Outside the Soviet Union, perestroika and glasnost spread among people who were resentful of Soviet domination and worried about economic collapse. In 1989 and 1990, these people showed their dislike of communist leadership and demanded democratic reforms. Poland took the lead. Here the population was traditionally anti-Russian. The Poles had long protested their countrys economic decline. Soviet assurance to assist and massive loans from western Europe brought no relief. The slightest relaxation of Soviet control only encouraged Polish nationalism, which had always been expressed with the support of the Roman Catholic Church. With the selection of Pope John Paul II in 1978, Polish nationalism surged ahead. In 1980, workers under the leadership of a electrician, Lech Walesa, succeeded in forming an independent labor union called Solidarity. Pressured by a series of strikes, the Polish government recognized Solidarity, despite threats of Soviet intervention. J.A.S. Grenville hits the truth squarely: â€Å"Masses lost their fear of the state† (894) Significantly, the Christian Cross opposed the Soviet hammer and sickle. As nearly all observers assumed, Walesa enjoyed the hefty support of the Roman Catholic Church and from Polish Catholics in the United States that warrants amplification. Scholars and historians will debate for years to come the precise causes and historical forces that produced the sudden collapse of communism at the end of the 1980s. One matter not in dispute, however, will be the earth-shattering role played in the process by Pope John Paul II, the Polish pope. Jack Kemp stresses the spiritual strength and personal prestige the Pope put behind the Solidarity, or freedom movement. From the day of Cardinal Karol Wojtylas election to the papacy in October 1978, Kemp observes, the Pope â€Å"began to shake the very foundations of communism† (Human Events). With a Polish Pope in Rome, the Polish church increased its resistance against communism. Pope John Paul II encouraged his fellow countryman, Lech Walesa, as Kemp reports, and Walesa eventually became president of Poland post-communism (Human Events). After the crumbing of totalitarian communism, Pope John Paul II released a papal encyclical titled Centesimus Annus (1991), which explained within a Christian framework why communism had failed and from that failure drew lessons about social, political and economic organization. The papal encyclical urged people not to establish an ideological heaven on Earth but to maintain human dignity and social conditions conducive to each individuals opportunity to achieve salvation of his soul. In short, the Pontiff placed individual freedom deeply within the core of Christian theology. In January 1989, Solidarity was legalized and the Communist Party retired. In May 1989, Hungary abolished the communist bureaucracy. By years end there were more than fifty political parties. In East Germany, the upheaval in 1989 was even more momentous. East Germany had always been indispensable to Soviet Russia. Its industry was nationalized, its agriculture collectivized and its people regimented by the Communist Party. In June 1953, the workers of East Berlin staged an uprising. What followed as a steady exodus of skilled workers into West Germany. Three million people escaped before the East German government erected the infamous Berlin Wall in August 1961. The East Germans braved their lives to escape: they â€Å"voted with their feet.† Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary soon followed suit and East and West Germany united in 1990. In the long and bitter Cold War, capitalism and freedom triumphed over communism and tyranny. Gorbachev and Yeltsin came along at the right time and faced the hidden facts of a long ruined system. American military and economic power made the Cold War too costly for the Soviet Union to press without smashing up. Gorbachev, Yeltsin, Walesa, and the Pope helped cause the fall of communism, but none compared with the late President Ronald Regan and his â€Å"innocent audacity† (Evans 656) who called the Soviet Union an empire of Evil and threatened to bankrupt it with a â€Å"star wars† defense. The national and international causes of the fall of communism were rooted in economic, military, political, trade balances, and imperial illusions, but few can deny that the United States, for decade after decade, carried the brunt of containing a predatory system. Future historians may revive tentative conclusions, but one that seems to do justice to the fall comes from Harold Evans at the end of his The American Century: History will go on unraveling the knot of circumstance, stratagem, chance, and personality. In the end, it is unlikely that no single brow will be able to claim the wreath of victory over a dangerous and depressing totalitarianism. But there can be no doubt that it was the American example, in its spiritual as well as its material beneficence, that in the long dark years was the torch of freedom all the world could see. (656) Works Cited Boyer, Paul S., ed. The Oxford Companion to United States History. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001. Evans, Harold. The American Century. New York: Knopf, 1998. â€Å"Fall of Communism.† U.S Department of State. December 8, 2005. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/dr/17672.htm Grenville, J.A. S. A History of the World in the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1994. Johnson, Paul. A History of the American People. New York: Harper, 1997. Kemp, Jack. â€Å"How the Pope Helped Bring about the Fall of Communism.† Human Events. Posted Apr 5, 2005. http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=7064 Kreis, Steven. The History Guide. 1989: â€Å"The Walls Came Tumbling Down.† http://www.historyguide.org/europe/lecture16.html Accessed Dec. 8, 2005.