Examine the Key Ideas of Situation Ethics

Examine the Key Ideas of Situation Ethics (21 Marks) In this essay, I am going to examine the key features of Situation Ethics. Situation Ethics is a teleological theory that resolves ethical and moral issues relative to the situation and was developed at a time when society and the church were facing drastic and permanent change. It is most commonly associated with Joseph Fletcher and J. A. T Robinson and also William Barclay.Situation Ethics is also considered to be the method of ethical decision making that states that you must consider â€Å"noble love† (agape) in decision making and that a moral decision is correct if it is the most loving thing to do. The theory is based upon this idea of agape love which is defined by William Barclay as â€Å"unconquerable good will†. Situation Ethics developed during the 1960s and the post war generation was a great influence on this. Between the end of the Second World War and the end of the 1960s, Western Europe and North Amer ica were socially, culturally and morally transformed.Up until the 1960s, many people still followed the â€Å"old fashioned† approach of Divine Command Ethics where by people obeyed the Bible and the teachings presented in them. People believed that by following the teachings of God as directly revealed by Him through scripture and the Church, they were doing good. However, by the 1960s all this changed. This quote was produced in 1966: â€Å"Greater independence; more money†¦the weakening of family bonds and religious influences; the development of earlier maturity, physically, emotionally and mentally; the impact of modern books, television and periodicals†. Sex and Morality, SCM,). This study blamed many things on the fact that many people were turning away from the Church’s rules during the 1960s and more towards abandoning rules. The world was becoming more secular and people had stopped listening to the Church and their teachings on what was ethicall y right. During the 1960s, society and the Church were facing drastic and permanent change. By 1966, women occupied an increasingly prominent place in the work force and there was a universal shock of the foundation of the contraceptive pill. This allowed young women to have sex whenever and with whoever they pleased.The sacred bonds of marriage started to break as more people saw this as a chance to have sex without having to be in a secure marriage or even a relationship. This sexual revolution of non-marital sex caused the levels of promiscuity to rise drastically as paternalism, authority, law and government were ditched. Other moral perspectives that changed the latter half of the 20th Century included fashion, music, politics and the view of religion. The drastic cultural and social changes during the 1960s caused a conflicting reaction by the Church.The British Council of Churches ordered a Working Party on Sex, Marriage and the Family to suggest how a Christian position on s ex and marriage can be communicated to the community. As a result, in 1964, the British Council of Churches, on the advice of its advisory group on Sex, Marriage and the Family, appointed a Working Party that set out to â€Å"Prepare a Statement of the Christian case for abstinence from sexual intercourse before marriage and faithfulness within marriage†¦and to suggest means whereby the Christian position may be effectively presented to the various sections of the Community† (Sex and Morality, SCM, 1966).J. A. T Robinson was a New Testament scholar, author and former Anglican Bishop of Woolwich, England. In 1963, he published his highly controversial book â€Å"Honest to God† which changed people’s perspective of God. As a result of this publication, it caused the Church to be thrown into disagreement. This in turn caused the traditional church to be shaken at its very roots. Robinson challenged the idea of the traditional and conservative view of God. He s aid that Situation Ethics was for â€Å"Man come of age†. In other words, it was for people who were moving away from having to be told what to do by God.As a result, it was right in the middle of Antinomianism and Legalism (which I will discuss later). Robinson and Paul Tillich suggested that God could be understood as ‘the ground of our being’, of ultimate significance, but not a â€Å"dues ex machine†, a supernatural being who intervenes in the world from outside it. In other words God is part of people not this almighty being who gives instructions for us to follow. Fletcher (who I will discuss later) used examples from the Bible to show that a strict application of rules was no longer needed and was in line with whatJesus thought too. Fletcher used quotes from the Bible as an illustration of old versus new morality. He used the example of the adulterous woman when Jesus saved her from being stoned to death even though the law permitted it. This situat ion is a clear example of Personalism which Fletcher used to illustrate his theory. Another example that Fletcher identified from the Bible was when Jesus confronted the Pharisees over what the Sabbath Day was intended for. In order to follow strict Jewish law absolutely nothing could be done on this day, often to the detriment of people.Jesus wanted people to follow the spirit in which God had given the law rather than following it and acting immorally in some cases. Whilst Fletcher described agape love as the only intrinsically good thing, William Barclay defined agape love as â€Å"unconquerable good will; it is the determination to seek the other man’s highest good, no matter what he does to you†¦nothing but good will. It has been defined as purpose, not passion. It is an attitude to the other person. † This kind of love is highly demanding or as Barclay suggested, â€Å"a highly intelligent thing. Situation Ethics can be applied more to the issue of divorce than the application of oral judgement that divorce is â€Å"always wrong†. Robinson questioned the conservative view of marriage that it is a supernatural unbreakable bond. This idea of marriage for Robinson was too out dated. He believed that it was time for humans to enter into their maturity and seek liberty from such supranaturalist thinking and while allowing the past experience to guide them, be ready to leave behind the restrictions of the old moral law if love was best served by doing so.Joseph Fletcher was an American professor who founded the theory of Situation Ethics in the 1960s. He stated that â€Å"we need to educate people to the idea that the quality of life is more important than the length of life. † Fletcher’s Situation Ethics was based on the New Testament teaching of agape. His work reflected the social change of the 1960’s and centred around the principle of â€Å"Love your neighbour as yourself† (Matthew 22:37). Fletcher ma intained that there were three different ways of making moral decisions. These three approaches to morality were Legalism, Antinomianism and Situationism.He stated that Legalism was a conservative, rule-based morality focused on unalterable laws. Antinomianism was defined as the polar opposite to Legalism – the lawless or unprincipled approach. He also stated that Situationism was a midway between the two other positions and that the Situationalist is prepared to set aside rules if love seems better served by doing so. According to Fletcher, â€Å"The situationist follows a moral law or violates it according to the need†. Fletcher also rejects Legalism because it cannot accommodate ‘exceptions’ to the rule.In addition to this, he also rejects Antinomianism for the reason that it provides no foundation with which to evaluate one’s morality and offers no justification as to why people should live in any other way than they want to. Fletcher proposed a key principle with which to guide moral decision-making rather than rules. This primary principle is that of acting in the most loving way. A fitting quote that is included in the Bible is that â€Å"Christ Jesus†¦abolished the law with its commandments and legal claims† (Ephesians 2:13-15). Fletcher proposed that we should follow the way Jesus taught us to, with unselfish love or agape.Jesus declared that we should â€Å"†¦love the Lord God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself† (Luke 10:27). Fletcher also proposed four presuppositions of Situation Ethics which are the criteria by which this theory is determined and acted upon. They are Pragmatism, Relativism, Positivism and Personalism. The first presupposition is Pragmatism which demands that a proposed course of action should work and that its success or failure should be judged according to the principle.This is pra ctical and works because Legalism and Antinomianism do not. The second presupposition is Relativism which rejects such absolutes such as â€Å"never†, â€Å"always†, â€Å"perfect† and â€Å"complete†. The principle of love is applied relative to each situation so that an appropriate response is made. Situationism is not the same as Antinomianism because the ultimate criterion is â€Å"agapeic love†. Love is the constant in all situations, unlike laws which work for some things but not others. The third presupposition is Positivism which recognises that love is the most important criterion of all.Situation Ethics recognises that love is the most important thing when making a moral choice and echoes the sentiments of the Bible. Therefore, the decision to act in a loving way is a choice we make beforehand based on the notion that other ways do not work, not because we have proved Situationism â€Å"works† prior to the event. The fourth presupp osition is Personalism which demands that people should be put first. Fletcher emphasised the fact that ethics deals with human relations and should therefore put people at the centre.Fletcher also believed that Legalism fails to appreciate that people exist in a social context and that any decision must be beneficial to the wider community rather than just the individual. Where Legalism fails to recognise the complexity of ethical decision-making, Antinomianism fails to recognise the responsibility ethical decision-making has to the wider community. In addition to the four presuppositions, Fletcher also detailed in explaining how agape should be understood and how it applied to the theory of Situation Ethics by using the six working principles.The first working principle is the idea that love is always good. This states that there is no action or moral rule that is good in itself. An action is good only in so far as it brings about agape. Love is intrinsically valuable, it has inhe rent worth. Nothing else has intrinsic value. The second working principle is that love is the only norm or rule and therefore, love replaces the law. The law should only be obeyed in the interests of love and not for the law’s sake. Fletcher rejected Natural Law. He said â€Å"there are no [natural] universal laws held by all men everywhere at all times†.Jesus summarised the entire Jewish law by saying â€Å"love God† and â€Å"love your neighbour†. In the third working principle, Fletcher stated how love and justice are the same. This idea was unique to Fletcher, who claimed that justice is the giving to every person what is their due, and that as the one thing due to everyone is love, then love and justice are the same. Therefore, there can be no love without justice and as a result cannot be parted. For the fourth working principle, Fletcher outlined the idea that love is not liking and that love is discerning and critical, not sentimental.As agape wa s not an emotion, it did not need to include liking. The fifth working principle includes the statement that love justifies the means. Situation Ethics is a teleological theory that identifies the end outcome of an action as the means of assessing its moral worth. Therefore, as a result, it implies that anything might be done if it brings about the most loving action. Lastly, the sixth working principle of, love decides there and then describes how there are no rules about what should or shouldn’t be done, in each situation; you decide there and then what the most loving thing to do is.Fletcher developed his theory by drawing on a wide range of cases that could not be resolved by applying fixed rules and principles. He used examples including the burning house and time to only save one person, your father or a doctor with the formulae for a cure for a killer disease in his head alone. Fletcher also drew on situations that he had experienced firsthand, but most of all he would act situationally to help people.

Arthur Millar Essay

In this essay I am going to analyse the dramatic techniques that Arthur Millar uses in his 20th century drama called, ‘A View From The Bridge. ‘ The play is set in Brooklyn in the 1940’s when the Italians were immigrating to America to find work as they were poor and they needed to get away from Italy to find work to feed their families in Italy. Many of these immigrants entered America Illegally. The play is about a skilled docks worker in Brooklyn named Eddie Carbone. Eddie lives with his wife Beatrice and their niece, Catherine. Beatrice’s cousins named Marco and Rodolfo come to America from Italy to find work to feed Marco’s family in Italy, as they are very poor. They plan to enter illegally. Eddie has feelings for his niece Catherine that he should not have. Meanwhile Catherine falls in love with Rodolfo and Eddie hates him because he is jealous as he loves her and he cannot stand any other man looking at her and touching her. As a result Eddie decides to let the Immigration Bureau know that there are illegal immigrants in his building. In the play, Arthur Miller uses a number of dramatic devices many of which are seen in the first act but their significance only becomes apparent to the audience in the second act. These dramatic devices are: use of language, dialogue and its sub textual meanings, stage directions, characters’ actions, props and lighting. The first dramatic technique I am going to analyse is the use of language in Alfieri’s speech at the start of the play. Miller has put this at the start of the play to prepare the audience for what will happen later on in the play. The speech starts to develop tension because there are a lot of negative and violent words used. For example, Alfieri uses terms such as ‘Machine Gun. ‘ The effect of using a term like this is to create tension for the audience, as they now know that something bad is going to happen later on in the play. As the play progresses the audience realise that this is the only time when Alfieri uses negative and violent language. So his words take on a deeper meaning when the audience realises this. I am now going to look at Eddie’s language in the first act. His speech is simple but at the start of the play his words are more vibrant towards Catherine as he tells he that she is â€Å"walking wavy. † At the same time he also refers to her as a â€Å"Madonna. † This gives the audience the idea that she is pure and she is a virgin and Eddie wants her to stay as she is. † Listen, B. , she’ll be with a lot of plumbers? And sailors up and down the street? † This illustrates Eddie’s feelings for Catherine and it can also mean that he does not want any other men looking at Catherine or marrying her. Eddie’s dialogue changes when the cousins arrive. He uses working class American colloquial words, such as â€Å"Yiz have a nice trip? † when he asks the cousins Marco and Rodolfo about their journey. Eddie wants to make it clear that he is the man of the house and that he is in charge. These expressions are only used in the first act when he is speaking to Marco and Rodolfo. This builds tension because the audience know that Eddie is going to start trouble with Marco and Rodolfo later on.

Saint Agnes Of Rome English Literature Essay

Harmonizing to â€Å" Saint Agnes of Rome, † from Marypages.com, Saint Agnes of Rome was born on January 28, 292, and died at the age of 12. She was raised by a Christian household, and her name means â€Å" pure † in Greek, and â€Å" lamb † in Latin. She is besides known as Ines, Ines de Campo, and Ynez. Her feast twenty-four hours is January 21, in award of the twenty-four hours she was killed ( Terry H. Jones, â€Å" Saint Agnes of Rome † ) . Saint Agnes was a beautiful immature miss, who at the age of 12 was asked to get married a prefect ‘s boy. He offered her gifts, but she refused. She claimed she had a partner who loved her, and she could non get married him. Agnes told the prefect ‘s boy that she was married to Jesus Christ ( Creative Commons ) . Harmonizing to â€Å" Saint Agnes Church Biography † , from Creative Commons Attribution, the prefect ‘s boy was devastated when he heard her answer, and his male parent, the prefect, spoke to Saint Agnes. The prefect asked her why she would non get married his boy, to which she replied she already had a partner. When he learned she was a Christian from one of her retainers, he was pleased, for now he had power over her. The prefect offered Agnes one of two picks, either she would give to his heathen Gods, or she would be sent to the whorehouse and raped. Saint Agnes refused to idolize his false Gods, and so she was sent to the whorehouse, where she said God would protect her ( Creative Commons ) . When she chose the whorehouse the prefect was ferocious, and had her stripped of her apparels. She was taken to the whorehouse, but God gave her grace, and the hairs upon her caput began to turn. They grew until they covered her full organic structure, from her caput to her pess, and her organic structure could non be seen by the work forces who might harm her. At the whorehouse, Saint Agnes found an angel sent from Barton 3 God to protect her. This angel shielded her in a bright visible radiation, so work forces would non see her, nor injury her. Agnes prayed to God and He gave her white garments, which she wore and thanked Him for in supplication ( Creative Commons ) . God protected Saint Agnes, so while she was in the whorehouse, merely one adult male tried to go against her. This adult male was the prefect ‘s boy ( Leo ‘s Design ) . Harmonizing to St Agnes Church Biography, the prefect ‘s boy was struck dead when he attempted to go against her ( Creative Commons ) , but harmonizing to Saint Agnes of Rome, the prefect ‘s boy was merely smitten blind ( Leo ‘s Design ) . However, both beginnings agree that after the prefect ‘s boy was harmed, Agnes prayed to God, and He revived the prefect ‘s boy. When the bishops of the graven images heard of Agnes ‘ title, they cried for her decease, naming her a sorceress. The prefect did non desire to kill Agnes, because she had saved his boy, so he delivered her to his lieutenant. The prefect ‘s lieutenant chose to fulfill the people by firing Agnes to decease. However, the fires parted around her and did non touch her, so she was non harmed. When this did non work, the lieutenant took a blade to her organic structure ( Creative Commons ) . Saint Agnes was martyred by being stabbed or beheaded ( Terry H. Jones, â€Å" Saint Agnes of Rome † ) . After Saint Agnes ‘ decease, Saint Emerentiana buried her ( Creative Commons ) . Saint Emerentiana was Agnes ‘s Foster sister. Agnes was buried following to the Via Nomentana in Rome. Following to her grave is a church, dedicated to her by Constantine ‘s girl ( Leo ‘s Design ) . Constantine ‘s girl had a church built for Saint Agnes, because when she was praying one clip, she fell asleep at Agnes ‘ grave. While she was asleep, Agnes appeared in her dream and said to her, â€Å" Bodensee, work invariably, and if thou wilt believe in Christ, 1000 shalt anon be delivered of thy illness, † ( Creative Commons ) . When she awoke, Constantine ‘s girl was cured of the leprosy she had been enduring from and was whole. Constantine ‘s girl was Barton 4 baptized, and had a church built by Agnes ‘ grave. It is said that Agnes appeared to others as good as Constantine ‘s girl at her grave or church. After her entombment, Agnes was said to hold appeared to her parents with a battalion of virgins, and she told her parents that they should non mourn her, for she is with her partner and love, Jesus Christ ( Creative Commons ) . Another visual aspect Saint Agnes made was to a priest of her church, who wanted to acquire married. This priest had asked the Catholic Pope to be relieved of his services so that he might get married. The Catholic Pope alternatively gave him a ring to give to Saint Agnes, and told him to inquire her to be his married woman. The priest did so, and an image in the church accepted the ring. To this twenty-four hours that ring is on one of the images of Saint Agnes in her church ( Creative Commons ) . Today, on Saint Agnes ‘ feast twenty-four hours, two lambs are blessed at her church in Rome, Italy, and so their wool is sheered. The wool from the two lambs is woven into the cerebral cortexs that the Catholic Pope gives to the archbishops as a symbol of their legal power ( Leo ‘s Design ) . Saint Agnes is the frequenter saint of many things, including misss, engaged twosomes, the Children of Mary, colza victims, and virgins ( Leo ‘s Design ) . Harmonizing to William Benton, she is mentioned in the canon of the Roman mass ( 330 ) . I chose to make my study on Saint Agnes of Rome because of all time since I was in 2nd class I have wanted to be confirmed as Agnes, after this saint. I used to travel to a school called Saint Agnes, and I loved and learned about her there. Saint Agnes could hold chosen a pleasant, easy life and married the prefect ‘s boy, but she chose non to because of her love for Jesus Christ. Agnes traveled the hardest portion of her journey entirely except for God, because her parents likely did non back up her determination, and many people likely thought she was a sorceress. It must hold been even harder because Christians were persecuted more readily so than they are today. Saint Agnes loved and trusted God wholly, and that, even without the fright of decease, is ever hard, even today. She believed in God wholly, and he saved and protected her from Barton 5 all bodily injury until the blade that killed her. I ca n't state for others, but I know that I admire her courage, and wish I could be more like her. I know that when I hear Saint Agnes ‘ narrative it reminds me that anything is possible with God, and it gives me strength to finish whatever challenge may confront me. Barton 6

Intelligent Buildings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Intelligent Buildings - Essay Example This environment works like a computer in which different parts and facilities are integrated to efficiently accomplish resources in a synchronized way with the intention of maximizing occupant protection, saving expenditures associated with operations and energy, attaining effectiveness and easiness in dealing with changes. In this scenario, am intelligent building offers an easy, creative and affordable atmosphere through an effective optimization of three significant components: products (such as structure, materials, machinery, services, facilities and so on), people (like that builder, owner and occupants), and processes (such as process control, automation, performance, maintenance, and so on) along with effective communication between all these element (Sharma, 2013). This paper discusses some of the important elements of an intelligent building. This paper will discuss: building management systems, security management, telecommunication systems and fire detection and preventi on. A large number of researches and experiments are being conducted to determine the uses and effectiveness of technology for managing and controlling the different tasks of buildings. However, the management of the technology that is used to manage different tasks of intelligent buildings is a serious challenge. In fact, this management has turned out to be more challenging with an increase in the number of systems that are integrated into buildings. Additionally, the ultimate power of Internet and extensive developments in IT infrastructures combined with building management systems, have ended in the formation of intelligent buildings (Fernandez, 2013). Building management system is a system that integrates a wide variety of management options that are used to manage different technological services and elements of a building. These technological services and elements can include: safety options, access controls and processes, lighting facilities, fire detection and management

Business Plan Final Report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Business Plan Final Report - Assignment Example The report is prepared for developing and presenting a business plan for the launch of a new business. The business under consideration in this business plan is a bakery business which will be opened up in the form of physical stores in the food retail market of Canada. The report starts with a small discussion regarding what the business will be about and where it will be opened up. This is followed by an introduction that would help the reader of the business plan to understand the main goals of the business plan and act as a guiding section for the reader to keep a track of the whole business plan and its different sections. The report is written in clear and simple language with proper headings and subheadings provided in each section so that the reader of the business plan is able to understand every part of the report easily. Simple words and small well-constructed sentences have been used to make the business plan easily readable as well as easily comprehendible. The business plan includes a section for the analysis of the internal and external factors that may directly or indirectly impact the business. Apart from this, a thorough financial analysis has also been conducted to understand the financial scopes and performances of the Sweet Berry Baker Company in the next 3 years. Thus, the marketing, operational and financial requirements and constraints have been studied in detail while preparing this business plan. The business plan is prepared with the aim of attracting investments from different types of institutional and individual investors like venture capitalists, private equity firms, angel investors, banks and other financial institutions, corporate institutions, private investors etc. Also, the business plan would serve as a document for setting the initial operational standards, product and service requirements and features and the functioning requirements of the Sweet Berry

Big Issues Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Big Issues - Research Paper Example conditions surrounding their medical situation will involve the kind of medical attention required, and the capability of the caregiver to administer the requirements. Does the primary medical professional have the right to decide? William Coch believes so. Firstly, if an elderly has no relative, he should be in a nursing home. However, when there are relatives involved, a lengthier and more complex decision-making process takes place. Based on Coch’s experience, most of his patients look to him for the final decision. He positions it as â€Å"doctor’s orders.† If such is the paradigm, it takes away the emotions involved from the point-of-view of abandonment vs. capability to care. It objectifies the decision, and makes it a part of the elderly patient management (Frontline, 2006). Does the immediate relative have the right to decide? If the presence of a relative is available, then by all means should be consulted. However, the primary medical professional still gets involved with the conversation, if at a minimum to provide a professional prognosis of the elderly’s medical condition, and if requested, can provide a professional medical opinion as an advocate (Frontline, 2006). In conclusion, the best decision will be made by the three players: the sensible elderly, the primary health provider and the primary caregiver relative. It should be a decision based on consensus, where all parties will agree to an objective – the level of quality for end-of-life. US Bureau of Census (2010). Persons 65 Years Old and Over--Living Arrangements and Disability Status: 2007. Retrieved on May 2, 2010 from

Biotechnology in healthcare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Biotechnology in healthcare - Essay Example Consequently, doctors tend to prescribe specific drugs so as to achieve maximum personal benefits even though the prescribed drugs are of less effect. The regulatory authorities face difficulty with preventing these unethical practices since medical prescription is completely left to doctors’ choice. This paper will critically explore the ethical and regulatory issues associated with marketing drugs in the United Kingdom. Drug Marketing Issues It has been identified that pharmaceutical companies spend a lot of money toward marketing their drugs in a way that their drugs would continuously get prescribed by doctors. Naturally, the company representatives exaggerate the benefits and efficacy of their products; and often doctors do not try to verify the authenticity of their argument. In fact, there are no practical ways for doctors to test the reliability of companies’ claims instantly; the laboratory tests require much time and they would not provide cent percent accurat e results of the drug’s effectiveness. The Inverse Benefit Law focused on Hart’s inverse care law states that â€Å"the ratio of benefits to harm among patients taking new drugs tends to vary inversely with how extensively the drugs are marketed† (wellness resources). When companies extensively market their drugs, sometimes the act gives rise to new diseases. Pre-diabetes and pre-hypertension are some best fitted examples which reveal the horrible impacts of unethical drug marketing. Reducing the verge for a disease means maximum sales for pharmaceutical companies in UK; the same happens while new diseases emerge. It is important to note that the ultimate aim of medicine is to eradicate diseases but not to create new ones. However, drug marketers encourage doctors to test the effectiveness of their products on patients. Although doctors know that certain drugs’ impacts may vary with age, sex, and demographic factors, they would not be willing to change th eir prescription criteria so as to preserve their personal interests. The most destructive impact of drug marketing is the practices of over dosage. Company representatives are always under pressure to meet their fixed targets; consequently, they may force doctors to prescribe drugs in large quantities. Although these over dosages may mitigate the symptoms of diseases rapidly, they have far reaching impacts on patients’ health. Similarly, all misleading pharmaceutical advertisements are against the professional ethics as they negatively affect patients’ medical knowledge also. Issues associated with drug marketing regulation The regulatory authorities cannot insist doctors regarding medical prescription because of two reasons; firstly, a doctor is well conversant with the physical conditions of his/her patients; secondly, he/she must have full freedom of action during the course of treatment. In real practice, it is seen that doctors misuse their freedom with intent to gain personal economic benefits. In such situations, regulators cannot identify whether a doctor’s prescription is genuine or not. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for excessive drug marketing prevention in UK. The MHRA 2008 reports show that the discontinuation of drugs within a shorter period of time causes severe impacts on patient’s health. Therefore, it is difficult to ban certain drugs even though they are found harmful. Disputes have been going on in UK even among regulation panel

Introduction to Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Introduction to Management - Essay Example This essay will explain business management theory and its application to Medibank Private, a leading prominent insurance and healthcare provider in Australia. As a new manager who found weak organizational culture and poor customer-driven approach, some recommendations are explicated herewith to enhance the institutional capacity toward excellence of service. Medibank  (2011) is a government-owned health insurance company organized in 1976 in Australia with the facilitation of the Health Insurance Commission, also known as Medicare Australia. It is the largest and dominant health insurance with an estimated subscriber of 3.6 million insurance holders. As a dominant insurance company, Medibank (2011) possessed Australian Health Management (AHM) and merged with HSA Group in 2009. With these developments, the company expanded by opening the Health Solutions Division which takes care on health insurances covering basic medication such as clinical services, preventative, and health support program—the latter is inclusive of coaching services through the Medibank Health Solutions and Travel Doctor. In mid- 2010 Medibank (2011) purchased McKesson Asia-Pacific, which transformed company into a health solution and insurance provider organization. Medibank (2011) decided in 2010 to amend its basic First Choice Savers hospital policy. The benefits associated to heart operations and reproductive services became accessible only by customers who opted to increase its health policy at a higher cost of 50% more for the restricted services (Medibank, 2011). The company evolved into a corporate company in 2009 under the regulation of Private Health Insurance Administration Council (PHIAC). In exercising their corporate social responsibility, Medibank (2011) supported health-related and community-based charity. However, much as the institution endeavors to attain corporate excellence and to achieve operational efficiency, the organization has apparent weak

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in action Article

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in action - Article Example Kellogg has had a rich history of corporate social responsibility which is designed to address the challenges posed by the dynamic external environment. The company has been involved in a wide range of activities and initiatives which are aimed at enhancing the quality of life both within and beyond the organization. In terms of activities internal to the organization, Kellogg encourages employee volunteerism, promotes diversity at work place and ensures a healthy and safe workplace. It ensures provision and sale of nutritious product in a bid to promote healthy living for all its customers. As a part of its CSR initiatives Kellogg contributes to various institutions which promote healthy living and food consumption among its customers. This includes contribution of funds to YMCAs Activate America campaign, Action for Healthy Kids initiative which is involved in reducing obesity among kids; the Kelloggs Swim Active program which provides swimming facilities to youngsters in the UK, as part of its mission to promote healthy lifestyles; the Global FoodBanking Network which is actively involved in providing hunger-relief to various countries across the world etc., among many others. The motto of the company indicates a strong social commitment as an inherent aspect of its trade, a tradition which the management has followed since over a hundred years. Its dedicated efforts to ensure a safe and healthy environment for its workforce, promotion of equality and diversity at workplace, a dedicated commitment to conserve and protect natural resources for promoting sustainable growth; and a broad social goal of ensuring well being of the community at large, as a part of its corporate social responsibility strategy, helped the company gain widespread acclaim and support. It helped the company in creating a positive reputation in the market, and in generating goodwill among its investors. The company

The drama that follows Essay Example for Free

The drama that follows Essay In this essay I am going to talk about the opening of the play An Inspector calls helps to prove the drama of play to follow. The play An Inspector Calls was written in 1945 after the 2nd world war when the industrial revolution began. The play is set in 1912 just before the 1st world war began. The impact of this is immense because of the higher class system was still in place and the industrial and technology was still reforming. This is also the time of the welfare state. The only characters of the play are the basic seven characters of the play, these characters are Mr Birling, the head the house, Mrs Birling, Mr Birlings wife, Sheila, their daughter, Gerald, Sheilas fianci , Eric, their son, the inspector and finally Edna, their maid. The few characters mean that at the beginning of the play you can get to know all of them and their traits. The characters all develop throughout the play this means that at the beginning you know them as they originally are and learn about who is the good guy in the play and who is stuck up. First of all I am going to talk about the staging in act 1 and the influence and how much you can tell about the family from this room. The play is set in one room so there is not a lot of change so that you can focus on the play itself and not the setting. The items in the room tell you a lot about the characters and their lives. In the room there is one armchair symbolising that the family does not spend much time together and do not get on? The armchair tells us that the family tend to sit alone and not together telling us that they do not know much about each other which comes out when the inspector arrives. Around the room are tasteless pictures that influence their richness because the Birlings would buy paintings by famous artists that they have not heard of so that when they invite higher-class citizens around it will impress them. This shows that the Birlings buy their items around the home to impress and not to make their home look nice, this would also boost their egos and make them feel better about themselves. This is also true about their silverware, Tantalus, candlesticks, and champagne cooler. The room has a telephone in it that also shows their money off because not many people of that time would have telephones, as they would have been very expensive. The telephone is in the centre of the room near the fireplace because it is central to their lives and also central to the plot later on in the play. This is because when the inspector leaves the house after his closing speech, Mr Birling phones the infirmary to check on Eva Smith. Then he hangs up the phone to find another inspector to be coming to the house because they havent learnt their lesson when the fake inspector leaves. The fireplace in the room that is used in the play is not lit this indicates a sense of a not welcoming or warm family. The fireplace indicates that they are not a very close family and are not together as much as they should be. The next aspect of the play I will talk about is the theatricality of the play. This means the setting and room used in the play. This also includes the use of flashbacks in the film of an Inspector calls. Because only one room is used in the play this makes us get to now the cast more and keep us centred on the one room and not looking around new settings. The use of the one room helps us to find out more about the characters by looking at the setting. And it means we will look at the room in more detail and it will help us look in the objects in the room in more detail so we find out more about their lives and lifestyles. The room only contains one door this means that the characters and actors are limited to one exit, this indicates no exit for them so they cannot escape. In the setting there is an oval table used which means that the table has no head of the house and cannot determine who is the head of the household. In this part of my essay I will talk about Birling who is the man of the house, he is married to Mrs Birling. I will talk about how Mrs Birling treats him and how he thinks himself to be in society and in his family. Mr Birling is very self centred in that he only thinks of himself and does not care about his family. For example I think a knighthood should be coming along soon. This means that he only cares of his status in society, and only wants his knighthood so that his business will do well. When he talks to Geralds family he seems to think that they will like him more if he is higher in society as he worked his way to success. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE J. B.

Plaths Suicide: Considering Lazarus

Plaths Suicide: Considering Lazarus Born on October 27, 1932, in Boston, Sylvia Plath mainly wrote confessional poetry. Plaths life was marked by periods of severe depression and multiple suicide attempts. The death of her father and betrayal of her husband forced her into a state of paranoia and motivated her to write poems about her sufferings. In the poem, Lady Lazarus, Plath employs the character of Lady Lazarus to echo the poets self as a way of expressing her mania towards death and suicide. The character of Lady Lazarus attempts to commit suicide every decade. However, each time Herr Doctor revives her and portrays her like the biblical Lazarus and a walking miracle. Through out the poem Lady Lazarus struggles to regain control over her proclaimed art of dying and becomes stronger as the poem progresses. Plath uses figurative language, most specifically allusions to both the bible and to the holocaust, as well as metaphors of her mental illness and instability to illustrate her growing obsession with death and f oreshadow her third attempt at suicide. Ever since her first attempt at suicide in 1953, Plath has displayed a â€Å"long standing† interest in the biblical story of Lazarus. In this poem, Plath uses allusion to the biblical story of Johns Lazarus of Bethany to juxtapose the character of Lady Lazarus with the biblical Lazarus and character of Herr Doktor with Jesus. In the story of Lazarus of Bethany, Jesus astonishingly raises Lazarus from the dead. Similarly, Lady Lazarus is revived by Herr Doktor from each subsequent suicide attempt. However, when Jesus raised Lazarus from dead, not only was it to advertise Gods power but it was also beneficial to both Lazarus and the spectators who were given hope of immortal life. In contrast, when Herr Doktor revives Lady Lazarus he is interfering with Lady Lazaruss proclaimed art of dying. Herr Doktor is actually establishing dominance over her which she must fight to regain control over her life. He is creating power struggle between them which leads to Lady Lazaruss obsessi on with death and suicide. As Theresa Collins points out, Lady Lazarus can be interpreted as a struggle for control [. . .] a dominion prevented by her torturer, Herr Doktor. In addition, Herr Doktor revives Lady Lazarus in front of a crowd and portrays her as â€Å"A sort of walking miracle†¦Ã¢â‚¬  because similar to Jesus he is longing for admiration and acknowledgement from the people whom Plath refers to as â€Å"The peanut-crunching crowd.† Plath uses irony throughout the poem but her most obvious irony is in her proclaimed art of dying. Plath mentions, â€Å"Dying Is an art, like everything else, I do it exceptionally well.† This quote is ironic because even though Plath brags about being talented at committing suicide she always survives. Every ten years she attempts to commit suicide but each time she is revived by the doctors. Plath is thwarted on each attempt by her torturer, Herr Doktor. It is ironic to see that Plath actually does not want to die on her first time because she states that â€Å"I am only thirty. And like the cat I have nine times to die†. On one hand Plath is struggling to regain control over her art and on the other hand she accepts the fact that she will not be able to regain control until her ninth suicide attempt and has actually stopped trying. Plath feels that she is only living to entertain the crowd by miraculously surviving each time. 1 para about the tone of the poem. 3 paras about holocaust 3 paras about life mental disorder and reference Geopolitics of Food | Article Analysis Geopolitics of Food | Article Analysis Hans Goder In a world, which constantly needs more and more food and facing also some ecologic issues, a change in our way of producing and managing the outputs is needed to face the future challenges (population of 2050). As it is a global challenge, it is the role of the international bodies such as the WTO or the FAO to find and implement those changes. But the question is, are those bodies still have the means to response to this challenge. 2. Primary Sources This academic article written by Bezuneh, Mesfin, Yiheyis and Zelealem for the University of Atlanta, published in the Journal of Economic Development in 2014and supported by many other studies related to the same subject, try to see if trades liberalization has a positive effect on the food security in developing country. As 98% of the undernourished persons of the world are in the developing countries where the average of undernourished is around 15% (FAO, 2014), the present article wants to understand the possible correlation (which can be either positive or negative) between food security in countries which are opening their trades (through regulations and agreements) and introducing themselves in the global market. According to this article, food security is not just the amount of food present in the country. It is reach when the population at all-time have the physical, economic and social access to sufficient, nontoxic and nutritious nutriment which encounters their dietary needs for a healthy and proper life (Bezuneh, Mesfin, Yiheyis and Zelealem, 2014) Methodology used: The methodology used in this article is clear and can be compared to the scientific way of studying a subject. The authors chose 37 different developing countries in different regions of the world. Those countries at the time were encountering the opening of their trades to the world. Then, they compared the figures of the food security (based on the per capita daily energy supply (DES)) before and after the trades opening hoping that a clear pattern and correlation would be seen amongst the results. Also, the authors used some other characteristics to see and understand which of the different factors have the most important effect on food security. Those characteristic were for instance, the political stability of the country and time’s evolution. Then they put those characteristics into figures and ratios, in a mathematical and statistical function to compare each characteristics and its effect on the food safety compared to the trades liberalization factor. Then the result and the patterns were represented into chart and table to improve the understanding of the results. As stated, the overall methodology used in this article was the scientific one following the hypothesis, research, study and finally result pattern. Results: The effects of the opening of the market were not as strong as expected. In fact, those effects were slightly positive but not as relevant as we thought. According to the authors, those positive outcomes could have been done by other thing than the trading policies which were not in the study, once those factors were controlled, the outcome came to be, in some cases, even negatives. Again, according to the authors, this result is to be considerate with caution as the factors and so on are difficult to put into figures at this wide range. But at the end of the day, this study sort out that the relationship between food safety and trades liberalization (which is the main objectives of organization such as the world trade organization) could be considerate as weak, which follows the results of previous studies (Stiglitz and Charlton, 2005). Moreover, still according to the study the relationship between the political stability and food security is even stronger. To conclude thi s study shows that the trades’ liberalization is an important factor to help those countries (through economic growth) but it is not to be used on its own. It needs to be completed by other actions and strategies in order to see a real positive outcome at the end. According to another study led by Stiglitz and Charlton in 2005 – 2006 entitle Aid for Trade, the authors, through a structured analysis admit that developed countries, when on the global market war field, benefit from advantages against the developing country. For them, in order for poor county to benefit from the opening of their market they have to benefit from advantages or ‘’aid’’ to counterbalance the equilibrium of positive outcomes for both sides. For the authors, increasing aid is vital for the poor countries if they are to grasp the opportunities provided through trade and meet transition cost (Stiglitz and Charlton, 2006). Moreover, the authors sort out that the adjustment effort in summit such as the Doha round would be too costly for the poor country due to the loss of the preferences that they are benefiting from. Again, as a conclusion, this article state that trade and aid won’t be the great solution for food and development security. It is just one of the multiple factor that can enhance the development of those countries. Both of the articles tend to state that liberalization of trades, which is encouraged by non-governmental bodies to reduce hunger in the world, might not be the solution. Counting just on this factors could arm those economies on a long run basis and worsen the issues. 2. Secondary Sources The article entitled ‘’Trade and Transnational Corporations: the Solution to World Hunger or a Major Part of the Problem?’’ , written by Peter O’Driscoll, expert in the field of developing markets, speaks about the effect of NGO’s such as the World Trade organization and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on food insecurity in developing countries. The organizations have as main weapon against this plague of food insecurity the liberalization of trades through opening regulations and the insertion of those countries in the global market. According to this article, effectively, during the liberalization era, the amount of international agricultural trade has increased by 800 million tons per year. Through the article, the authors state that this increase has benefited mostly to the developed country and, in the contrary, destroyed and dislocated developing countries’ agricultural industries. Moreover, the article sort out another critical point, the number of hungry persons in the world between 90 ( pre-liberalized era) and 2002 (post liberalization) has increase by a huge amount around 18 million people. In addition, subsidiaries and economic dependence have worsened the situation. While country such as India use those subsidiaries to feed its population by decreasing prices, it affect the world worldwide as other farmers around the world need to decrease their price in order to be competitive. This reduces their turnover, which can at term led to a huge crisis. De Schutter,O in his study ‘Droit à   l’alimentation : une question de qualità ©, non de quantità ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ speaks about the food fundamental right and state that the base of the problem could come from an inequality in the food distribution between the developed countries and the developing countries. To improve this situation, the author doesn’t put the liberalization of trades as the solution. In the contrary De Schutter state that the solution would be to change between a quantitative focused industries to a qualitative based one where the food question will be put as first priority and the economic aspect as the second. For him, doing that won’t reduce the turnover of organization; contrarily it will open new market and provide new opportunities for agriculture based organizations. Moreover, the writer also states that it would be more effective to concentrate resources into improving their own agriculture sector instead of increasing their dependence to the global market. According to Chris Arsenault in his article ‘’Global dependency on food imports makes countries vulnerable’’, the global prices are at their lowest level in five years. But still according to the author, due to population increment and also standards of living improvements, those low prices won’t last long. When those prices will start to go up, the developing countries which are vulnerable and dependent to the global economy will have to face a disastrous crisis. To prevent this, the authors state that government in those countries should be smart and protect their arable earth and try to reduce their dependence on food import. Finally, according to this article, the market has an important role to play but it shouldnt be the final arbiter of who gets food and where it comes from (Arsenault, 2015). The report entitled The State of Food Insecurity in the World of the FAO in 2010 shows us that some part of the non-governmental organization has already understood the importance of the qualitative point of view. In fact, the improvement of the support to livelihoods within the country could be a better solution than trades itself but an re-architecture should be apply for it to be more effective and obtain some long term benefits. This would increase the strength of the country, it development, it stability and so one but a better understanding is required. Moreover, this article do state that doing that would be benefic for the developed country, as those stable country would become interesting markets full of opportunities on the long run. 3. Etat de l’art Those works and articles present in the previous parts of this state of the art represent a brief surrounding of all the ideas and studies present nowadays in this field of study. To sum up, they all tend to say and prove in different way and through different methodology and approach, which can be scientific or not, that trades liberalization and by extension globalization couldn’t and can’t be a good response to food insecurity in poor and developing countries around the world on its own. According to some of those articles, in some cases this facilitation and liberalization could be armful for those weak and dependent economies. As we already know, the fight against food insecurity is led by some non-governmental organization such as the World Trade Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation or the World Bank. Those organization, first have their headquarters in developed country such as the United States, where trades, profits and wealth are the priorities. Secondly, they might have a wrong strategy to win this plague. Indeed, those NGOs, since the beginning of this combat, want to answer it through an economic and trade based point of view, which, for De Schutter could be qualified as the quantitatives optics (De Schutter O. 2013) through summit such as the Doha cycle and the Bali one. Concretely, they try in most of the cases to make the developing countries open its barriers and incorporate the global market. In addition, they help those countries to develop their own organization in order, at the end, to make them trade on this global market. But the problem is that, according to many studies, this strategy tends to be more profitable for the developed country (O’Driscoll P, 2014) as they are provide with new markets where competition is easy to handle. For the developing countries, the findings are more mitigated. When they try to enter this huge market, where competition is much bigger and hard, they are obliged to compete by reducing the prices and by doing that they can’t really develop themselves. Moreover, after this opening, those weak countries become highly dependent and vulnerable to the international market. Through that, when some distortions happened within the global economy through the market rules, it strikes even more those countries as their populations are more sensible to price fluctuation and also as their economy is weaker than the developed ones. For example, between 2006 and 2009 the number of undernourished people has increase due to price fluctuations (FAO, 2010) These statements should be taken with precautions. In fact, according to some other articles, the correlation between food insecurity and trades opening is not really clear and strong but this factor stays a key factor for life quality and improvement through economic growth (Stiglitz and Charlton, 2005). Moreover, trades facilitation might be a short-run solution but not a long-run one. What we have to understand is that we can’t just rely of this only factor to be able to reach the objective of 2050 which is to feed 9 billion people. Taking and understanding all those ideas we will use and go further in those study by using and applying them to the core NGOs, and see through a quantitative and qualitative research method if whether or not the existing non-governmental organization are still able to provide effective strategies and solutions to the upcoming challenges through their present point of view or if a rethinking of their entire goals and approaches is needed to provide long terms solutions. To do so, we will structure our thoughts in a specific way. Initially, we will have a deeper look at diverse other information related to the same field and problematic stated earlier to gatherer some crucial inputs. Then, we are going to have a close look to the different bodies present in the world according to the angle chosen and their different actions and outcomes. Finally, founded on the previous assumptions, we will try to sort out the opportunities of the situation and give also, if case is, some concrete solutions and strategies that might improve the present situation. References De Schutter, O. (2013). Droit à   l’alimentation : une question de qualità ©, non de quantità ©. [online] Opinion-internationale.com. Available at: http://www.opinion-internationale.com/2013/11/28/droit-a-lalimentation-une-question-de-qualite-non-de-quantite_20844.html [Accessed 2 Dec. 2014]. Arsenault, C. (2015). Global dependence on food imports leaves countries vulnerable. [online] Reuters. Available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/13/us-food-trade-idUSKBN0M92CG20150313 [Accessed 1 May 2015]. ODriscoll, P. (2014). World Hunger Notes Trade and Transnational Corporations: the Solution to World Hunger or a Major Part of the Problem? Peter ODriscoll. [online] Worldhunger.org. Available at: http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/05/global/odriscoll.htm [Accessed 1 May 2015]. Stiglitz, J. and Charlton, A. (2006). Aid for Trade. 1st ed. Commonwealth Secretariat. FAO, (2015). The State of Food Insecurity in the World. 1st ed. FAO. Shah, A. (2015). Foreign Aid for Development Assistance — Global Issues. [online] Globalissues.org. Available at: http://www.globalissues.org/article/35/foreign-aid-development-assistance [Accessed 1 May 2015]. Kumar, R. and Nair, S. (2009). INDIA: STRATEGIES AT THE DOHA DEVELOPMENT AGENDA- JULY AND BEYOND. Geneva, p.4. lOMC, (2013). OMC | Nouvelles 2013 Jours 3, 4 et 5: Un â€Å"Paquet de Bali† voit le jour à   l’issue de consultations-marathon. [online] Wto.org. Available at: https://www.wto.org/french/news_f/news13_f/mc9sum_07dec13_f.htm [Accessed 4 Mar. 2015]. Cho, S. (2006). The WTO Doha Round Negotiation: Suspended Indefinitely | ASIL. [online] Asil.org. Available at: http://www.asil.org/insights/volume/10/issue/22/wto-doha-round-negotiation-suspended-indefinitely [Accessed 2 Mar. 2015]. FAO, (2009). FAO Nouvelles: 2050: 2,3 millliards de bouches de plus à   nourrir. [online] Fao.org. Available at: http://www.fao.org/news/story/fr/item/35656/icode/ [Accessed 10 Mar. 2015].