Genesis A Historical, Literal, And Theological Sense

For this paper, I wanted to spend time in a passage that I felt like I have completely written off and just accepted what others have told me about it for years, it is because of this that I will be writing my paper on Genesis 1:1-2:3, which teaches the creation account. I limited it to this because, for obvious reasons, I cannot include anything before this section, and after this section it goes into more detail about the creation of man for the rest of Genesis chapter two and I will not be focused on the specifics of that as much as the whole narrative of creation. Limiting the passage to anything less would take away from the narrative of scripture and would lead to me missing something. There is also a textual parallelism found in the text, but I will go further in depth on this later in the paper. The purpose of this paper is to examine Genesis 1:1-2:3 in a historical, literal, and theological sense and then to discuss what I think the intended meaning of the passage is. Historical As Dr. Emerson stated in classroom lectures, idioms are not something that occur in every passage of scripture, but in this passage there are two clear idioms. First, in verse 1:2 â€Å"the deep† and then in 1:6, â€Å"an expanse in the midst of the waters† would be two examples of idioms. For nearly two millennia there was a general consensus from Biblical scholars that held Moses as the author of the book; however, over the last 200 years there has been a change in theory that says the Pentateuch,Show MoreRelatedThe Evolution Of Young Earth Creationism1698 Words   |  7 Pagescreationism, which constitute the foundation of the position: (1) An open philosophy of science; (2) all basic types of organisms were directly created by God during the creation week of Genesis 1-2; (3) the curse of Genesis 3:14-19 profoundly affected every aspect of the natural economy; (4) The flood of Noah was a historical event, global in extent and effect. Young earth creationism shares similarities with other views, in particular, the progressive view, which will be looked at in-depth in a later sectionRead MoreThe Biblical Inspiration Of The Sacred Scripture1636 Words   |  7 PagesThe Biblical Inspiration Inspiration of the Sacred Scripture God is the absolute Being: â€Å"He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds† (Ecclesiastes 3:11). God reveals himself to humanity particularly through human language . Divine Revelation is personal and relational. The meaning of God’s revelation is included his words and actions given for the salvation of humanity. Interestingly, â€Å"revelation is rooted in the oral proclamationRead MoreThe Debate Between Creation And Evolution2145 Words   |  9 Pagesadvocate for each position is attempting to reconcile the apparent differences between science and Christianity. It is simply the case that they each take a different approach and give different amounts of authority to science and a literal interpretation of Genesis. The first position is that of young earth creationism. Additionally, this is what most people mean when referring to â€Å"creationism.† This is primarily due to the fact that the creationists visible in the public eye during the creation-evolutionRead MoreBook Review: Journey Through the Old Testament1538 Words   |  6 Pageshighly ambiguous to youthful, adolescent readers new to ecclesiastical documents. The scope of this textbook is decidedly comprehensive in nature, as it spends a good deal of time explaining concepts and events that took place from the book of Genesis to the prophesies regarding Jesus that close out this document and readily being the New Testament. As is the case with most textbooks in contemporary education especially that which is relevant to students at a secondary level of education JourneyRead MoreAn Analysis of Exodus 6:8-10 Essay966 Words   |  4 PagesIn Exodus 6:12, the Hebrew phrase â€Å"Poor Speaker† (NRSV), does not mean a physical speech disability in a literal sense, but rather it is used as a metaphor to describe Moses’ hesitation to speak to Pharaoh which was not only his own self-consciousness, but was also a product of Israelites disinclination towards him. A Plan of Defense I plan to start my defense by providing those arguments that claim that it was self-consciousness at Moses’ part rather than a disability. For instance, TheRead MoreThe Theory Of Progressive Evolution1726 Words   |  7 Pagesargued in the On the Origin of Species (1859)4 was still to be considered by all reasonable, educated persons as an astounding, unprecedented achievement. In historical terms, a dividing line has been reinforced between the pre and post-Darwinian worlds, emphasising the supposed difference between biological guesswork and precise judgement. A sense of caution and inquiry as well as lively internal debate on implications was not a block to overriding optimism. To the Neo-Darwinians, Darwin formed theRead MoreThe Concept Of A Paradigm Shift1640 Words   |  7 Pagesview of biology and the wider universe4. This idea of a paradigm-shift has been reiterated implicitly over time amongst others such as Shermer5. Most of the later Neo-Darwinian works making this point owe a heavy debt in terms of codifying their historical perspective to Daniel Dennett. Dennett explored the idea of positive Darwinian progress philosophically, famously describing Darwinism as a â€Å"universal acid† in Darwin s Dangerous Idea (1995)6. Dennett argued that nothing humanity was aware of subjectivelyRead MoreComparison of Plato, Aquinas, Aristotle and Augustine1464 Words   |  6 Pages‘cave bounding our human senses, begins to sound like a form of escapism from reality as we perceive it. Reason Reason is competent to know reality but it is necessary to begin with what exists in the world. Reason embodies a primacy-of-existence approach which states that knowledge of the world commences by looking at and examining what exists. Recognizing the validity of mans senses, men can increase their knowledge by augmenting the evidence of the senses through reason (i.e., throughRead MoreComparison of Plato, Aquinas, Aristotle and Augustine1473 Words   |  6 Pagesthe ‘cave bounding our human senses, begins to sound like a form of escapism from reality as we perceive it. Reason Reason is competent to know reality but it is necessary to begin with what exists in the world. Reason embodies a primacy-of-existence approach which states that knowledge of the world commences by looking at and examining what exists. Recognizing the validity of mans senses, men can increase their knowledge by augmenting the evidence of the senses through reason (i.e., throughRead MoreCritical Analysis of Genesis 1:1-2:4a Essays2625 Words   |  11 PagesGen 1:1-2:4a World Behind the text Historical and Cultural Context Genesis illustrates the way Biblical writers J (Yahwist), E (Elohist) and P (Priestly) drew upon the cultural and religious legacy of the Ancient Near East (ANE) along with its stories and imagery and transformed it to conform to a new vision of a non-mythological God and a monotheistic, superior religion. â€Å"The Pentateuch developed against the background of the Ancient Near Eastern culture first cultivated in and spread by Sumerian

Bellinger and Transsexuals Free Essays

Bellinger V Bellinger case might lawfully be epitomized as clear and unbiased reference to putative gender-sex differentiating and even opposition. Social role of an individual is what apparently regarded as a reflection of his/her inner, biological role. Male and female interact and represent themselves in their respective gender roles as they are accostomed to and as it is their only way to fully reveal their personality, gender role being an essential part to it. We will write a custom essay sample on Bellinger and Transsexuals or any similar topic only for you Order Now So far, within the academic notion of ‘sex’ or, if related to psychology, ‘sex identity’ two distinct and rather discrete categories, first denoting biological [inborn] components, second denoting acquired through socialization pattern of behaviour, were embraced to secure separate and considerate approaches. That gender role is a concept relating to second or ‘acquired’ group of elements is a fact which thus far scarcely entail any poisonous implication. If there be a game participants to which are free to chose their gender role and are warranted, by the rules of the game, to be fully accepted at their new status, this status will for the purpose of the game mean a ‘carte blanche’ for any constructive self formation and assuming myriad of new social roles which spurrs the creativity of the participants. That game is very much alike a masquerade, where costumes and dresses are commonly known and recognizable and the owners of those costumes, impersonal as they are wearing their dominos, are treated as if being a true heroes. The rules of the game which sanctionize impersonation, in fact, inaugurate the spirit of mockery and futher creativity of individuals which, perdued by the cloak of assumed gender, depart further from the province prescribed by their sex role assigned as birth. In fact, this abstract situation or game is hardly ruled by any societal regulation or government statutues; it is inherently present in human communities which tend to dissociate into a number of nuclear communiteis which develope their internal regulations and are characterized by certain margin of deviation. What really empowers the participants of that kind of abstract situation and actualize their further expansion is technical devices or ‘masks’ needed to successfully impersonate gender roles and special warrant that their will be accepted in their new acquired role. First creates the discourse of community, the accesability of technical devices draws the idea of the situation nearer to the partcipants; second creates continuum for their activity empowering scheme to expand and difining the extremities and limits of that expansion. Far from stating the internal driving forces which rule the participants when they ‘jump in the game’ I would like to underscore the dialectics between transsexuals and doctors which is accountable for re-asserting transexuals’ subjectivity, providing them with technical means which greatly contribute to that subjectivity’s formation, and dialectics between transexuals and law. In Re Bellinger, several facts point out to the current state of limitations law and society encounter as regards patterns of cross-sexual behaviour and their possible legal implications. It is clear enough that Mrs. Bellinger since her unsuccessful marrige to a woman which resulted in devorce as early as 1975 led a sexually deviant subjective life which found its expression in wearing womans dress and acting as a woman. That pattern of behaviour is characterictic of transvestites or cross-gender individuals which find sexual and/or cerebral gratification in assuming a gender role of woman by partial of complete cross-dressing and often (which is conditioned by a degree of boldness of a cross-dresser) venturing out into public . As we also might know Mrs. Bellinger was rather radical in her endeavour and has completely assumed new gender role and, in fact, had disguised her male side until eventually gone through gender re-assingment procedure. Although, for the purpose of present consideration the fact of her going through sex re-assignment treatment is immaterial as far as it may only indicate her being extremely persistent in assuming characteristics of wanted gender. The fact that she underwent operational treatment has no practical implications on the province of law concerned: it only designated that she been through treatment results of which are partially recognized by state and law in general and to that extent that she is entitled to correction of documents (passport, etc. ) That government corrects documents for the person which changed so profoundly that otherwise doing may impede his/her interaction with government and state services is absolutely reasonable practice. When individual wishes to change a name he/she is also entiltled to the correction of personal data in the passport lest there be any confusions of the personality of passport holder. Now the question is are there any material differences in the eyes of the law between situation when individual chose to ungergo operational treatment and having done so needs to have the personal data typed in passport (together with photograph) corrected and that when individual chose to change, say, her marriage status and needs to have her personal data (last name) corrected? I think, despite apparent difference of two cases, both of them involve substantial changes in person’s status which (changes) has to find their adequate reflection in official personal information. Initially, law is not concerned with changes or transformation person undergoes – it is only concerned with legal implications of those transformations or how they will affect legal status of individual should he participate in his new status within legal sphere. To participate within legal sphere, to put it accurately, mostly means to partake in complex of relations subject to regulation of specific law or specific legal norms. Thus, though two cases are entirely different with respect to the nature of changes individual undergoes, legal implications of sex re-assignment procedure are somewhat limited by the current state of law which is reluctant to acknowledge validity of marriage between persons at least one of which participated to it not in his/her original sex, but has chosen to change that original sex and actually did so prior to the marriage . It follows that as regards [spicific] law of family, individual that enjoyed legal recognition in general (recognition through correcting personal data, including name which indicate gender), is incapable of fulfilment his/her rights springing from that recognition in particular case and with respect particular province of law. Thus, as far as nature of changes concerned apparently matters in the eyes of law, since it delegates rights upon person who changed the name as a result of personal wish and withholds the legal capabilities of those rights fulfilment in the case with men who changed the name as a result of personal wish to change sex and thus appropriate more coming feminine name, it proceeds that the fact of general aprobation of the sex-reassignment procedure and its results, which finds its expression in registering individual as a woman and entails legal rights and prefenrences capable of fulfilment in specific provinces of law (pension age and, what is more important, the right to marriage), does not mean that general aprobation’s universal validity – it instead means some kind of contingent validity of general recognition of status. It practically means that general recognition is void as long as it does not entail recognition of persons rights in specific provinces of law (like labor law and family law). Particulary, the fact of gender re-assignment is immaterial to the case because neither it benefited the person any more than would do when testifying his/her expressed and extremal desire to posses the characteristics of opposite gender, nor it entailed some practical outcomes of government’s general recognition of the sex re-assignment fact when person was allowed to change a name in the passport. Thus far, I insist that Mrs. Bellinger was a transvestite which gone through gender re-assignment but the latter procedure did not qualitatively affect her legal status. As it is known from the case, the registrator did not ask Mrs. Bellinger about her gender status and Mr. Bellinger himself was not willing to inform him. So, it will be reasonable to presume that if at the moment marriage took place Mrs. Bellinger did not actually do gender re-assignment but instead prefered cross-dressing as transvestites do the registrator would hardly have more doubts about the gender of fiancee than he actually had. The difference between pre-operational and post-operational positions of Mrs. Bellinger was rather internal of character and laid deep in her self perception which apparently was tending towards further unification with all that constitutued ‘feminine’. Even at the time when Mrs. Bellinger still possesed secondary sexual atributes of male (penis) she also possesed a great deal of feminine traits and was very skilled at dressing woman clothes and make up. This allows for induction that it was not only after the operational treatment that Mrs. Bellinger did actually transformed in terms of gender as seen through public eyes. If transvestite looks skillful enough to pass the street and impart the idea of her ‘girlishness’ to every one looking at her, she, to certain degree, is a girl to herself at this moment and is, to absolute degree, a girl to society aroound her. When much of the things to visually transform boy into a girl was done and done with a good taste then nobody will distrust his/her feelings and venture to check her anatomical sex by pulling her skirts up. Thus, it is apparent that transvestite radiates feminine gender when in public eye which certainly does not go without further affirmation of [her]self in that believe. It follows that category of gender which comprise number of biological and non-biological or acquired elements is construed through and within societal perception of what that gender (male/female) should look like . If the society is misled and perplexed that only means that ‘gender identity’ of some of its members went awray. The latter conceive the idea of gender in the context of ‘self construction’, ‘self transformation’ and doctor actually aid them in perpetuating that belief in contigency of gender . That transvestite resort to special devices to assume the gender role and misled the society means that even without surgical treatment they may successfully socialize into society in the desired role and that actual sex reassignment does not have any implications other than on transvestite’s subjectivity and self perception, that is, no practical bearing on societal perception. At this point, if law is only concerned with empowering adequate socialization (securing the equality of rights and principle of genral equity and equlity) of individual in his/her gender role, then it precribes equality of scope of right which pertain to inborn woman and that which pertain to person gone through sex re-assignment. On societal level, that equality is already established since everyone perceive trasvestite as a woman and naturally does treat her as a woman . Methodological problem here is that marginal transvestites which cross dress completely, live like women and express a strong desire to transform their bodies so that to alter their secondary sexual attributes into that which pertain to woman and, in whole, strive to unify with another gender totally abandoming their own original one, present a distinct group which needs both taxonomization and separate legal approach . As we said earlier, there will be no virtual difference for the registrator whether Mrs. Bellinger would have been through surgical treatment at the moment of marriage or not. In the same manner, she will look equally feminine to people on the street before and after operation. The problem lays in her self perception. Acute desire to get rid of the abhorrant organs which (desire) borders with risc of self-mutilation or suicide was invoked by Harry Benjamine as reasons for surgical treatment of a patient. ‘Benjamine patient’ thus requires separate taxonomical niche and might also require medical and in extremal cases surgical treatment which , thus, looks akin to emergency surgical measures applicable to unstable patient. Surgical vocabulary has penetrated the terrain once inhabited by psychopathological terminology. Treatment of such hard cases involving Marginal drive towards unification with other sex by arsenal of intense psychoterapy was rendered futile and changed for more radical, surgical and hormonal technologies. Although, it is within approach of psychoterapy that demand of sex change, which was crucial in disclosure of syndrome itself, was recognized to â€Å"cover over another form of subjectivity that are fundamentally destabilizing. † It follows that emergency approach within which syndrome of expressed gender dysphoria taken at its extremity is only capable of rectification through surgical treatment intended at partial or full removal of secondary sexual attributes posseses not its past persuasiveness. Rather, its thesis about demand for sex change which serves as signifier of the syndrome invites critics on the ground of its Although, â€Å"Benjaminian patient† as a product of doctors and patients dialectical development of â€Å"cohesiveness for a subjectivity [which] constantly [is] under threat of destruction† is very appealing to the law. The law may find its subject in the â€Å"Benjamine patient†. Thus created taxonomical niche entail various legal situations. Earlier, we considered the possibility of Mrs. Bellinger’s actual marriage (in terms of social recognition of their civil union) in case if she would not undergo sex re-assignment procedure and concluded that marriage will be not less socially valid under that conditions. What if in her place was another person who only occasionally cross dress and does not wish to play that social role of woman forever? It is very possible that she would pass the social test and misled the public with its look but the degree to which she really needs that social and legal recognition is, presumably, incommensurable to that of Mrs. Bellinger. In this case, the fact that individual has undergone surgical procedure may testify her commitment to the purpose of ultimate unification with opposite gender (along the lines of ‘Benjamine patient’ approach) as well as underscore the intricasy of her psychosomatic neurosis ( psychopathology approach). In any case, surgical treatment dialigns the group of Marginal transvestites from other, Nuclear ones . And similary to medicine which aids that marginal patients by delivering them from their detestable organs , law is called to facilitate their further socialization into society by resolving the internal pressure they feel as regards inability to lawfully participate in civil unions. That law is called upon to faciliate in internal self development and self apprehension is no new: it has incorporated norms securing the right of disabled and retarded which contribute to their self esteem and facilitate their internal development or prevents them from [the threat] of destruction of personality. But is not it that law pre-maturely intervene into the relations which are to be at first clearified and agreed upon by the medical specialists and only then passed into the sight of law? Whether it us true or not that if there are presently two groups each of which has its explanation on what marginal transvestism is and how it should be treated then law is bound to side with one of those schools since no mutual agreement was developed? ‘Benjamine patient’ is very appealing taxonomical category which directly and logically connect Marginal transvestism (springing from expressedly antipathic reaction to individual original sex) and gender re-assignment treatment (which is deemed to be the only plausible resolution to thus posed problem). But in the eyes of law transvestite which undergone sex re-assignment posseses no single distinct advantage as compared to that (transvestite) which did not been through that treatment. It is gender identity of individual that matters when considering the issue of legislative changes to Matrimonial Causes Act. In this respect, gender re-assignment procedure is not a conclusive step which defines those who are eligible for the right to marriage; it is only one of those steps which are directed by human identity and, through acquiring further visual and material semblance, incrementally lead to unification with desired sex. This road may prove to be infinite. The position of gender re-assignment surgical procedure within the continuum of surgical procedures transexuals resort to allows for observation that transexuals, in fact, are continuously disturbed by abyss between them and ideal feminity (in case of men transexuals) and may never acquire bodily semblance enough to put their mind or gender identity at ease, that is to say that they are insecure in their feminity and their self apprehension is constantly impaired. Thus, it is impossible to render a transsexual somehow belonging to feminine gender solely on the ground of him/her being surgicaly treated. Rather, it is the expressed self apprehension as belonging to feminine gender that could make them what they want to be. This conclusion entails further ones. The most prominent of them is that pronounced desire to be a femine is what transsexual has and ever would have and the aim of the law is to state whether it is sufficient for granting them all rights pertaining to female sex. In context of right to marriage this pronounced desire has to somehow fit into the definition of marriage (marriage is void unless the parties are ‘respectively male and female’ (Bellinger para 1) or that definition has to be changed because of certain cases which hardly fall within that definition but nevertheless seem to have direct bearing on the marriage. Clearly, transsexual which articulate her gender to be feminine in the marriage tends to have a wife role which will organically consort with other characteristic of feminity she tends to. In Re Kevin (validity of marriage of transsexual) [2001] Fam CA 1074 it was stated that there is no ‘formulaic solution’ to determining the sex of an individual for the purpose of the law of marriage and â€Å"difference is essentially that we can readily observe or identify the genitals, chromosomes and gonads, but at present we are unable to detect or precisely identify the equally â€Å"biological† characteristics of the brain that are present in transsexuals† But to put right to marriage in direct dependance upon [determining] sex of person seems to be a dead end. The array of cases strating from Corbett v Corbett [1971] P 83 and ending with present case testifies that this approach is hardly efficient. The desicion in Goodwin v UK (2002) 35 EHRR 18 laid ground for re-apprisal of that approach. It reads that the Court found found ‘no justification for barring the transsexual from enjoying the right to marry under any circumstances’. Obviously, there are no such impedements springing from the law itself which would prospectively prevent Marginal transvestites from acquiring right to marriage provided that there be a legislative will of Parlament. That the perplexities of that problem partially and briefly stated earlier do prevent House of Commons from passing the bill also seems clear. At the same time, incentives coming out of European court are expressedly painted in colors of progressive and liberative legislative approach. Presently, I belive that formula which will satisfy ‘Europeans’ will involve legislation tending to antecede the resolution of academic debates as regards specific domains of meidine and, in fact, contribute to the progressive and enlighted resolution of those debates. In our case, present state of the law includes some deceptive provisions. It clearly states that parties to marriage are ‘respectively male and female’ which seems to be consonant with the desire of Marginal transvestites as they tend to artificially acquire ‘maleness’ or ‘femaleness’. At the same time, law and the court do not seem to bother about priciseness of their rendering of that provision. So far, as it occures from the great majority of the cases, the court only have approached notions of ‘maleness’ and ‘femaleness’, construed them to signify biological sex and made efforts to elaborate measures of ascertaining that [original] sex. It is now clear that societal perception of gender does not co-incide with legal one. The court insures the degree of preciseness of that legal perception but apparently, the split between society which eyes Marginal trasvestite and sees a girl, Marginal transvestite which lives and strives to be a girl actually ever-approaching to it, and the Court which eyes Marginal transvestite through microscope and employes all kind of hromosomal tests and technical appliances to disclose that individual’s original and abhorrent side is enormous. Doctors almost at once sided with their patient and developed certain categories (at the beggining ‘Benjamine patient’ and then ‘gender identity disorder’) actually saling transvestites to state as transexuals – taxon compulsory and contigent in itself – which would underscore their unstability at the original gender and destabilizing subjectivity. Another school of medicine tries to buy that category back from the state pointing at the internal incommensurability and incohesiveness of it. It (school) actually speak out that state and society bought the thing which is not what it seems. And it is the time when gender and sex opposition is to reveal fully. As it might be construed from Bellinger case despite her successful effort to approach ‘feminity’ Mrs. Bellinger did not managed to approach ‘femaleness’ which under the present provisions of the law warrant her a right to marriage. Doctors appealed to progressiveness and humanity of legislator so that the latter might confer ‘femaleness’ upon transexuals even if only to save their subjectivity. Unattainable status of, say, ‘femaleness’ is mainly in charge of legal deadend with marriage rights of marginal transvestites. If sex-related approach was changed for gender-related one (first signifies biological sex, second – gender role) within the provisions of the law it will greatly reduce that paintfull dialectics between transsexuals and doctors and transsexuals and law. Though, that changes ought to go with recognition of homosexual marriage. Transsexuals will never agree to register as homosexual family but this will reduce the degree to which marriage right depend on gender re-assignment procedure, which is immaterial to marginal trabnssexuals right to marriage. Number of words: 3558. References: Books: Changing Sex: Transsexualism, Technology, and the Idea of Gender by Bernice L. Hausman; Duke University Press, 1995 The Psychology of Sexual Orientation, Behavior, and Identity: A Handbook by Louis Diamant, Richard D. McAnulty; Greenwood Press, 1995 DNA and Destiny: Nature and Nurture in Human Behavior by R. Grant Steen; Plenum Press, 1996 Journal articles: Transvestism: A Survey of 1032 Cross-Dressers. by Richard F. Docter, Virginia Prince. Journal Title: Archives of Sexual Behavior. Volume: 26. Issue: 6. Publication Year: 1997. Page Number: 589+. Moving gaily forward? Lesbian, gay and transgender human rights in Europe. by Kristen Walker. Melbourne Journal of International Law, June 2001 v2 i1 p122 Paper articles: Law reports. (News) Daily Telegraph (London, England); April 17, 2003 Cases cited: Corbett v Corbett [1971] P 83 Re Kevin (validity of marriage of transsexual) [2001] Fam CA 1074 Goodwin v United Kingdom (2002) 35 EHRR 18 Bellinger v Bellinger [2003]2 FLR 1 Bellinger v Bellinger [2003] UKHL 21 How to cite Bellinger and Transsexuals, Papers

Medication Management-Free-Samples for Students-Myassignmenthelp

Question: Identifies Strategies to overcome Challenges in regard to Safe Medication Management. Answer: Medication management can be defined, as a patient specific care to optimize effective, safe and suitable drug therapy. A patient is provided with care, with the collaborative action of a multidisciplinary team. Registered nurses (RNs) are one of the important members of the multidisciplinary team that influence a safer management of medications. As a new graduate nurse I have received elementary knowledge about medication management through our entire nursing program, yet I have faced with several new challenges while making a transition from the university ambience to a clinical setting (Cheragi et al., 2013). As a nurse I should be able to apply my knowledge about the patient and the medications. The process of nursing is not a very linear process. A continuous assessment is being done at all the stages of the medication management (Mirbahaet al., 2015). Newly graduate nurses are inexperienced; hence, it can be difficult for them to monitor the medication protocol of a patient. Apart from the types of drugs that have to be delivered, the correct method of drug administration also plays a pivotal role in patient's safety. Nurses play a very significant responsibility in the prevention of the medication errors. Most of the time, this is caused due to the clinical personnel failing to do his duty correctly (Cheragi et al., 2013). Some of the common medication errors that can, be caused by the registered nurses are omissions, administering wrong drugs or wrong dosage of drugs, improper methods of delivery and wrong prescriptions. It has to be noted that the work load, the responsibilities in a proper clinical setting is far more than the student workload, exams, and placements, which can be some of the main causes of medication errors (Keers et al., 2013). Newly graduated nurses are encountered with problems like lack of pharmacological information, lack of monitoring of the pre- administered drugs. I have come across one of my peers, who forgot to find out his tory of the adverse drug reaction in a concerned patient. When a nurse is undergoing training, the last thing that they are concerned is about the documentations. there are few things that has to be kept in mind while charting for a patient- Proper documentation of the drug administration and the doses, records of any discontinued medications, records about drug allergy (Campbell et al., 2012)(if any). I have grown and have developed skills through my personal experience placement so that I can think, collect and foster a safe medication management. The correct procedures of safe medication administration involve maintenance of an electronic medical record. In my nursing course I have learned that liquid medications are measured by standard measuring containers. Notably, while splitting the tablets, it should be ensured that the medications are scored by the manufacturer and the medication is splitted evenly. According to Campbell et al., (2012), it is important to carry out the some assessments before the application of certain medications. I have learnt that it is necessary to monitor the heart rate before the administration of antidysrhythmic medications. The duty of a nurse does not end with this. It is necessary to monitor the response of the patients to the medications, especially when we are applying the medications for the first time. In my learning career I have also learn ed about the importance of recording the site of injections. For high alert medications, it is essential to double check the doses. The Australian commission on safety and quality in health care (ACSQH) has developed medical charts in order to standardize the medication management and increase medication safety. There are separate medication charts for the paedriatics, aged care and more. I have always tried to keep an eye on these charts in order to develop my pharmacological skills. The NSQHS safety standard 4 for the medication errors in nursing ensures that the nurses safely administer medications to the patients. In order to meet the standard, the frame work proposes that it is essential to document the medication allergies and previous anaphylactic reactions (Flanigan, 2016). I have faced problems related to the administration of the intravenous medicines. In accordance with my problem I would like to share that Ohasi et al., (2014) have proposed that Intravenous application of medications involve a lot of complexities and preparations. The reports by Campbell et al., (2012), shows severe patient harm related to intravenous medications. It was found that most of the intravenous errors are due to the wrong intravenous rates, wrong volume and mixtures and drug incompatibility, previously I faced challenges in the preparation of the intravenous medications. Later on I have learned to check the medication standards provided in the Australian Injectable drugs handbook (AIDH). I should mention that the problems I encountered regarding the IV, during my learning career were much different from those in the actual clinical setting. In order to ensure a safe management of medications, a nurse should undergo extensive research to practice evidence based practice and should have an avid knowledge of pharmacology, pharmacokinetics (Kim Bates, 2013). From the problems, I have realized that it is very important for a nurse to have a foundational knowledge regarding human growth and development, physiology, human anatomy, nutrition and more. Surprisingly, the mathematical skills will probably help one out in the dosage calculations (Ohasi et al., 2014). According to the NMBA standard of nursing, nurses should indulge in critical thinking and clinical judgment while planning the drug dosage (Flanigan, 2016). Another thing that most of the new nurses are encountered with the catheter related medication errors (Kim Bates, 2013). Most of the errors that are caused by nursing students are related to intravenous tubing. Like any other fresh students, I am faced with problems related to the catheter tubes. Reports related to tube catheter misconnection involve a number of devices, such as peripheral intravenous, central venous, peritoneal dialysis). According to Alsulami et al.,(2012), a nurse should be able to support and advocate patient education regarding the adherence to medication regime. I have tried my best to have a transparent knowledge regarding pathophysiology and pharmacology, so that I am able to deliver a proper instructions and knowledge to the patient. One of the important aspects of becoming a successful nurse is self regulation. Medication error can arise due to improper documentation and reporting of the health care errors. Verbal, written or other forms of communication for recording the near misses are one of the crucial initiatives from the side of nurses. I have gained efficiency in preparing ISBAR, clinical handovers. Clinical handover plays a major role in error prevention (Simonsen et al., 2014). A proper clinical handover are intended as the handing over of responsibilities from one health care professional to the other. It helps in mitigating the medication related errors. It helps the person in the next shift to get an overall idea of the patient history and the undergoing medications. In my degree course I have gained knowledge regarding the medication reconciliation of each and every patient. As stated by Haw et al., (2014), medication reconciliation consists of three steps: - First is verification. I have always learned to verify the medication history of the patients, including the current medications, herbal or alternative therapies and more. It is important to get it clarified from the physician charge that all the doses are correct (Simonsen et al., 2014). The RN investigates, disseminate and document any further changes. As a freshly graduate nursing student I may make medication errors, but I should not deter to inform the higher authority regarding my mistake, as we know that medication error can be as lethal as death (Alsulami et al., 2012). An RN should be able to work together with the families, patients and the care providers for ensuring comprehensive and accurate medications. It is required that all the medications of a particular patient are reviewed in order to ensure that appropriate medications are added, changed or stopped (Parry et al., 2015). It is not that everyone should apply for a transition to practice, however they can motivate a nurse to strive more in his professional practice. It is important for ensuring a consistent, transparent and equitable process for the management of transition to practice nurses. This transition to practice can be done in any clinical setting .It helps a nurse to develop her inter professional skills. I am well aware of the fact that medication error may lead to adverse drug reactions, which can bring about life threatening conditions in patients. Since, a collaborative care is not possible as long as I do not make any interaction with the other members of the collaborative team, it is better that I consult with my peer and my senior nurses in case of complicated situations. I should be able to work with the health care agencies for identifying the individual risk factors and implement a proactive measure for decreasing the medication errors Each of these challenges is problematic for a newly graduate nurse. Proper help and guidance from the senior nurses and the peers can help the new nurses for a successful transition in to a new working environment. In conclusion it can be said as a graduate nurse, I can manage the medication challenges by practicing evidence based research work against pharmacology, proper assessment of the patient history and the current conditions, including the vital signs. Other things that I should keep in mind are proper clinical handovers, documentation, using technologies for monitoring and documentation. The nursing frameworks will also help me to overcome my fears. References Alsulami, Z., Choonara, I., Conroy, S. (2014). Paediatric nurses adherence to the double checking process during medication administration in a children's hospital: an observational study. Journal of advanced Nursing, 70(6), 1404-1413. Campbell, R. L., Bellolio, M. F., Knutson, B. D., Bellamkonda, V. R., Fedko, M. G., Nestler, D. M., Hess, E. P. (2015). Epinephrine in anaphylaxis: higher risk of cardiovascular complications and overdose after administration of intravenous bolus epinephrine compared with intramuscular epinephrine. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, 3(1), 76-80. Cheragi, M. A., Manoocheri, H., Mohammadnejad, E., Ehsani, S. R. (2013). Types and causes of medication errors from nurse's viewpoint. Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research, 18(3), 228. Flanigan, K. (2016). NSQHS standard-patient identification. ACORN: The Journal of Perioperative Nursing in Australia, 29(1), 23. Haw, C., Stubbs, J., Dickens, G. L. (2014). Barriers to the reporting of medication administration errors and near misses: an interview study of nurses at a psychiatric hospital. Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing, 21(9), 797-805. Keers, R. N., Williams, S. D., Cooke, J., Ashcroft, D. M. (2013). Prevalence and nature of medication administration errors in health care settings: a systematic review of direct observational evidence. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 47(2), 237-256. Kim, J., Bates, D. W. (2013). Medication administration errors by nurses: adherence to guidelines. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 22(3-4), 590-598. Kim, J., Bates, D. W. (2013). Medication administration errors by nurses: adherence to guidelines. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 22(3-4), 590-598. Mirbaha, F., Shalviri, G., Yazdizadeh, B., Gholami, K., Majdzadeh, R. (2015). Perceived barriers to reporting adverse drug events in hospitals: a qualitative study using theoretical domains framework approach. Implementation Science, 10(1), 110. Ohashi, K., Dalleur, O., Dykes, P. C., Bates, D. W. (2014). Benefits and risks of using smart pumps to reduce medication error rates: a systematic review. Drug safety, 37(12), 1011-1020. Parry, A. M., Barriball, K. L., While, A. E. (2015). Factors contributing to Registered Nurse medication administration error: A narrative review. International journal of nursing studies, 52(1), 403-420. Simonsen, B. O., Daehlin, G. K., Johansson, I., Farup, P. G. (2014). Differences in medication knowledge and risk of errors between graduating nursing students and working registered nurses: comparative study. BMC health services research, 14(1), 580. Weeks, K. W., Hutton, B. M., Young, S., Coben, D., Clochesy, J. M., Pontin, D. (2013). Safety in numbers 2: competency modelling and diagnostic error assessment in medication dosage calculation problem-solving. Nurse education in practice, 13(2), e23-e32.

The Great Gatsby - Male And Female Interactions Essays -

The Great Gatsby - Male and Female Interactions Through the interactions between male and female characters, Fitzgerald depicts a variety of social expectations regarding "typical" male behavior in the 1920's. In the novel The Great Gatsby, characters such as Tom Buchanan, Jay Gatsby, George Wilson and Nick Carraway demonstrate behavior that acts to maintain and live up to expectations inherent in society. Through their controlling ways, these characters strive to define the "typical" man in the 1920's. The notion that a man's success can be measured by his possessions becomes evident through the actions of Tom, Gatsby and Wilson. These characters strive to obtain more than just material possessions. For example, Tom seems to view the women in his life as mere possessions, a sign of his success and wealth. His attitude and interactions with Daisy, his wife, and Myrtle, his mistress, demonstrate this. Through out the story, Tom does not show respect or genuine caring for either woman. Rather, he commits open adultery with Myrtle. Tom makes this affair public because it is just another way of showing-off, another of his possessions and thus boosting his ego. Tom does this without regard for the shame his affairs may bring onto his wife. Daisy comes to represent a treasured and sought possession for both Tom and Gatsby. Although on the surface it appears that Gatsby has an ever-lasting love for Daisy, I feel that his longing for Daisy stems from his need to recapture a possession which he lost during his youth. Nick comments "He talked a lot about the past and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy" (117). Furthermore by possessing Daisy's love, Gatsby can reject defeat and feel successful as a man. In the novel, Gatsby goes as far as to view the green light as a symbolic way of holding onto his possession and keeping Daisy in some way close to him. After obtaining his dream of being reunited with Daisy, the green light begins to lose its symbolic strength. "Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one" (98). Now that the realization of his dream has begun, Gatsby needs to feel a greater sense of possession or control over Daisy. He may feel the need to obtain another enchanted object to replace the loss of the symbolic meaning of the light. Now the only enchanted object which he is left to obtain is Daisy's complete and everlasting. Likewise, Tom refuses to forfeit Daisy to another man or even believe that she could love another. Tom states "But all the rest is a God damnened lie. Daisy loved me when she married me and she loves me now." (138). If Tom were to give up Daisy to another man, this would surely be a sign of defeat and failure like losing a football or polo trophy. Instead of admitting defeat, Tom rationalizes Daisy's behavior by demeaning her will. For example, he states "The trouble is that sometimes she gets foolish ideas in her head and doesn't know what she's doing" (138). Another social expectation of "typical" male behavior in the 1920's depicted in The Great Gatsby is the notion that a "real" man should be in control of the woman in his life at all times. This notion is exemplified through the struggling relationship between George and Myrtle Wilson. Although Fitzgerald describes George as "one of these worn-out men...He was his wife's man and not his own." (144), a need for control takes over George when he discovers his wife had "some sort of life apart from him in another world." (131) with perhaps another man. To gain control over this situation and thus live up to the social expectation, George takes drastic measures. He states "I've got my wife locked up in there. She's going to stay up there till the day after tomorrow and then we 're going to move away." (143). Through his actions, George forces his will on his wife and strives to maintain control over his possession, his wife. In addition, Tom demonstrates control over Myrtle when the issue of whether she has the right to

“THE CELTS WERE A BARBARIC AND PRIMITIVE PEOPLE.” TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU AGREE

â€Å"THE CELTS WERE A BARBARIC AND PRIMITIVE PEOPLE.† TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU AGREE essay on celts - gEORGIA WEBB"The celts were a barbaric and primitive people." to what extent do you agreeIn Iron Age and Medieval Europe, there were a group of tribal societies called the Celts that spread all across Europe. The Celts were believed to be semi-nomadic, moving all around Europe. Recent tells us that they were essentially located in central Europe and then migrated. More recent news, archaeological studies are now telling us that the Celts were in Europe from 1000 BC, occupying Eastern and Western Europe. The Celts spoke Celtic languages and with their own unique culture. The Celts were believed to be barbaric and primitive people, but why?It is to be believed that The Celts were "barbaric but this is only in the eyes of the Romans. Romans believed that every non-roman were "barbarians". The Celts did produce a flourishing culture that has impacted the entire world, complete with art, jewellery, and religion and housing.Overview map of the Hallstatt (yellow) and La Tà ¨n...One time in history, they were the dominant people of Europe. The Celts never being on single nation, but because of their lack of union, they were ultimately overawed by the Roman Empire. Its well known that the Celts were terrifying in battle to the opposition.Sacrifice was an initial part of Celts spiritual life and culture. Gifts of weapons, jewellery, art and even the blood of animals and humans were given to the gods in thanks to what they gave back to the Celts. They worshipped gods such as Dea Matres, Sulis, Epona and Sucellos and According to ancient sources, in honour of their gods they began to practise human sacrifices. An ancient source, Caesar tells us what the Celtics did once they won a battle. "When they have determined on a decisive battle, they dedicate as...

What Sections Are on the ACT All 4 Test Sections, Explained

What Sections Are on the ACT All 4 Test Sections, Explained SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you’re not sure what sections are on the ACT, we can help! In this guide to ACT sections, we’ll give you a quick summary of all the sections of the test. Then, we’ll take a closer look at each section. Finally, we’ll discuss which ACT test sections- and scores- are most important for you. ACT Sections: Quick Overview There are four sections on the ACT, and they are always offered in the same order: English, Math, Reading, and Science. If you take the ACT with Writing, the Writing section will be last. Every section is scored out of 36 points, except for Writing, which is scored out of 12 points. The longest section in terms of number of questions is English, with 75 questions. The longest section time-wise is Math, at 60 minutes. Reading and Science both give you 40 questions to answer in 35 minutes. Here’s a chart with a quick breakdown of the questions and time for each of the sections of the ACT: Section # of Questions Time Time/Question English 75 45 mins 36 seconds Math 60 60 mins 1 min Reading 40 35 mins 52.5 seconds Science 40 35 mins 52.5 seconds Writing (optional) 1 essay 40 mins 40 mins Total (without Writing) 215 2 hr 55 min (not counting breaks) - Total (with Writing) 216 3 hr 35 min (not counting breaks) - In the following sections, we’ll take a closer look at each of the sections of the ACT, in the order they appear on the test. We’ll discuss what’s tested, what question types you’ll encounter, and the most important tips for that section. Are you ready for your close up (look at ACT sections)? ACT Section 1: English The ACT English section has five passages with accompanying four-choice multiple-choice questions. In the ACT English section, you’re the editor: you’ll be looking at a passage and making sure that the grammar and punctuation are correct and that the passage is well-organized and rhetorically sound. The ACT English section tests two broad skill areas. First, it tests your knowledge of usage and mechanics- grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and so on. Basically, do you know the rules of the English language and can you implement them correctly? The second broad skill area is rhetorical skills- your big-picture ability to make sure that a passage of writing flows, makes sense, and effectively communicates a point. You’ll receive a subscore for both usage and mechanics and rhetorical skills when you get your ACT scores back. Question Types Between the two broad skill areas of usage/mechanics and rhetorical skills, there are six question types on the ACT English section: Usage and Mechanics Punctuation (10-15% of test, 7-12 questions): These questions test your knowledge of the rules of proper use of periods, commas, apostrophes, dashes, colons, and semicolons. Grammar and usage (15-20% of test, 12-15 questions): These questions test your knowledge of grammar rules associated with subject-verb agreement, pronoun use, modifiers, verb forms, comparatives, superlatives, and some idioms. (Refer to our complete ACT grammar guide for more specifics). Sentence structure (20-25% of test, 15-19 questions): On these questions, you’ll be tested on your understanding of the correct relationship between clauses. You’ll have to correctly link clauses to make clear, correct sentences (not fragments or run-ons)! Rhetorical Skills Strategy (15-20% of test, 12-15 questions): Strategy questions target your ability to build the clearest possible argument. You’ll be asked if the author should add or delete particular material and then need to choose the answer that justifies your decision. Consider if the material in question strengthens the passage or if it’s confusing or irrelevant. Organization (10-15% of test, 7-12 questions): Organization questions test your ability to build appropriate introduction and closing sentences for paragraphs and to choose the best transitions. Basically, are you able to create a passage with clear structural signposts throughout? Style (15-20% of test, 12-15 questions): On these questions, you’ll be tasked with choosing the best words, phrases, and images to go with the passage’s tone. You’ll also need to correct sentences for excessive wordiness and redundancy. Style: it's not just for your closet. Most Important English Section Tips To get a solid score on the English section of the ACT, follow these tips! Develop a Passage Strategy Because the questions on the English test are integrated with the passage, it’s critical that you develop a solid, consistent passage strategy. We recommend the graf-by-graf approach. In this approach, you’ll skim an entire paragraph, then go back and answer all of the questions associated with that paragraph. This gives you enough context to answer the questions while still being efficient. But figure out what works best for you! Learn Essential Grammar Rules While there is an array of grammar rules that will be tested on the ACT English section, there are a few rules that the test likes to ask you about over and over again. These include rules about forming correct sentences and using proper punctuation, especially commas. Learning the most important rules inside out will take you successfully through a sizable chunk of the test! Don’t Be Afraid to Pick â€Å"No Change† Students are often afraid to pick â€Å"no change† because it seems like it’s a trick or too easy. But don’t avoid â€Å"No Change†! Sometimes the sentence really is fine how it is. In fact, if you aren’t sure of the answer, â€Å"No Change† may be your best bet for guessing! Change? I haven't got any. ACT Section2 : Math There are six main content areas tested on ACT math: Pre-Algebra, Elementary Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, Coordinate Geometry, Plane Geometry, and Trigonometry. Here’s a breakdown of the topics you can expect to see in each content area: Pre-Algebra: (20-25% of test, 12-15 questions) Basic operations (think PEMDAS) Place value Calculating square roots and exponents Scientific notation Factors Ratios, proportions, and percents Linear equations with one variable Absolute value and number order Basic counting techniques and simply probability Data collection, representation, and interpretation; simple descriptive statistics Elementary Algebra: (15-20% of test, 9-12 questions) Properties of square roots and exponents Solving algebraic expressions through substitution Using variables to express relationships Understanding basic algebraic operations Solving quadratic equations by factoring Intermediate Algebra: (15-20% of test, 9-12 questions) The quadratic formula Rational and radical expressions Absolute value equations and inequalities Sequences and patterns Systems of equations Quadratic inequalities Modeling functions Matrices Roots of polynomials Complex numbers Coordinate Geometry: (15-20% of test, 9-12 questions) Graphing equations, including lines, polynomials, circles, and other curves Graphing inequalities Properties of lines, including slope and parallel and perpendicular lines Distance and midpoints Conics (parabolas, circles, ellipses, and hyperbolas) Plane Geometry: (20-25% of test, 12-15 questions) Properties and relations of plane figures, including angles and relations among perpendicular and parallel lines Properties of circles, triangles, rectangles, parallelograms, and trapezoids Transformations Proofs and proof techniques Simple applications of plane geometry to three dimensions, including volume Trigonometry: (5-10% of test, 3-6 questions) Right triangles Trigonometric functions: their values and properties, graphing, modeling Trigonometric identities Solving trigonometric equations Is this the right triangle or the wrong one? Question Types The questions on the ACT math section are all five-choice multiple choice questions. We covered the topics you can expect to see in the questions above. Some of these questions will be presented as word problems, and others as pretty straightforward math problems. Some will have figures, graphs, or charts. You can check out practice ACT math questions here to get a feel for the question styles. You should also be aware that the questions are loosely ordered by difficulty and content. Roughly the first 1-20 questions will be â€Å"easy,† questions 21-40 will be â€Å"medium† difficulty, and questions 41-60 will be â€Å"hard.† Of course, whether you experience a particular question as easy or difficult depends partly on your own comfort level with different concepts. But in general, more complex questions that take more time to solve come later in the test. Questions are also loosely arranged by subject matter. The first half of the test (questions 1-30) will have more algebra and pre-algebra questions, and the second half of the test will have more geometry and trigonometry. Most Important ACT Math Section Tips Here are 3 ACT Math section tips! Learn Critical Formulas The ACT doesn’t give you any formulas for the math section, so you’ll need to memorize any you’ll need to use. We have a guide to the most important ACT formulas here, as well as advice on the best way to practice and use formulas for ACT success. Bring an Allowed Calculator While you technically don’t have to have a calculator to solve any of the questions on the math ACT section, having one will make your problem solving much more efficient! But only some calculators are allowed on test day, so be sure to use one that’s permitted! It’s best if you’re familiar with that calculator, too, so try to practice with the calculator you are going to use on test day. Work on Time Management With 60 questions to solve in 60 minutes, one of the most challenging things on the ACT math section is time management. There are a number of strategies you can use to help improve your time management skills on this section, but here are some general principles: All questions are worth the same amount of points, so focus on faster and simpler questions first to maximize points. Don’t sink too much time into any one question. If you aren’t going for a super-high score, it may be better to focus more energy on fewer questions. You’ll feel less of a time crunch that way. Crunch is a good thing for your chips and a bad thing for your time. ACT Section 3: Reading ACT Reading presents you with passages and then asks you multiple choice questions that test your reading comprehension skills. Can you correctly understand and interpret passages on a variety of subjects? Can you interpret the meaning both of small details and major theme in a passage? Can you analyze author’s purpose and tone? These are kinds of skills that ACT Reading assesses. The actual test will present you with four subsections. Three subsections will have longer passages, while one subsection will have two paired passages. The subsections will come from four different subject areas and they always appear in the same order: Prose fiction/literary narrative: The kind of fiction passages you’re probably encountering all the time in English class. Also includes passages from literary memoirs. Social science: Nonfiction passages on soft sciences areas, like psychology, sociology, and education. Humanities: This is a broad topic area that includes both personal nonfiction pieces like essays and memoirs and also nonfiction pieces on the arts, literature, and philosophy. Natural science: Nonfiction passages about hard sciences topics like biology, chemistry, physics, and medicine. Any of the four topic areas could contain the paired passages, although it seems like literary fiction and humanities are the most frequent areas where you’ll see the paired passages. Quite a pair. Question Types There are five main types of multiple-choice questions that you’ll see on ACT reading. Big Picture Questions (about 10% of test; approximately 4 questions) Big picture questions ask you a question about the passage overall: the passage’s main theme or the author or narrator’s overall perspective. In general, you’ll be asked one big-picture question about each passage/passage set. Detail Questions (about38% of test; approximately 15 questions) Detail questions (also sometimes called â€Å"little picture† questions) ask you for straightforward information about a small detail in the passage. These questions are typically the easiest on this ACT test section, because they are literal questions and you can find the answer directly in the passage! Detail questions typically make up the largest proportion of the ACT Reading section. Vocab in Context (about10% of test, approximately 4 questions) These questions ask about the meaning of a word in the context of a passage. Typically, you’ll need to pick a synonym for a given word that still makes sense within the context of the sentence. Development and Function (about 22% of test, approximately 9 questions) Development and function questions test your rhetorical analysis skills. They’ll ask about the function of a particular phrase or paragraph within the passage, how the argument in the passage is developed and advanced, or how the passage is structured. Inference (about20% of test, approximately 8 questions) Inference questions ask you to make a logical conclusion about something based on the information available in the passage. Don’t be fooled into thinking these questions are subjective- the correct answer will always be supported by evidence directly in the passage! Investigate the passage. Find the evidence. Solve the potato murder! Most Important Reading Section Tips These tips will help you sail to success on the Reading section of the ACT. Passage Evidence Students often get tripped up on this section by questions that seem subjective at first glance. But remember this: all questions have one right answer, and that answer will always be supported by evidence from the passage. Don’t be tripped up by answers that seem like they could be right because they aren’t directly contradicted by the passage- only pick an answer if you are confident that the actual content of the passage supports it. Develop Passage Strategy Developing an effective approach to the passages on ACT reading helps you manage time and more easily find the correct answers to questions. Some people like to skim the passage first and others prefer to glance over the questions first. Both of these strategies can work fine. However, we don’t recommend closely and thoroughly reading the passage on your first pass. You won’t need every detail of the passage to answer the questions, so reading too closely is a waste of precious time. Hone your strategy. Rule ACT Reading. ACT Section 4: Science What’s tested: In spite of what you may think, the Science ACT test section tests your scientific interpretation skills more than your pre-existing scientific factual knowledge. It involves more reading- of passages, charts, and graphs- than anything else! Using the information in the passages, you’ll need to apply the scientific method, evaluate theories or hypotheses, and interpret data. There are seven â€Å"passages† on this ACT section. I put â€Å"passages† in quotes because not all of them will just be straightforward written material. You can expect to see three passages summarizing research and experiments (which may or may not include graphs and figures), three passages primarily made up of graphs and figures, and one paired passage set describing conflicting viewpoints on an issue. You can expect about 5-7 questions about each passage. Question Types There are eight question types split among the three passage types on the ACT science section. They are all four-choice multiple choice questions. Research Summary Passages There are three question types you can expect to see on research summary passages, related to designing and interpreting experiments. Experimental Design and Description: These questions ask you about how and why the researcher designed the experiment the way that they did. (For example: â€Å"In experiment 2, which solution was the titrant and which solution was the sample solution?). Many of these questions are simple reading comprehension questions that just require you to find the relevant information in the passage. Some of these questions ask you to choose the figure that best describes the experimental results. Hypothetical Experiment: These questions ask you to predict what would happen if one of the described experiments was changed somehow. Interpreting Experiments: These questions ask you if a certain scientific claim is supported by the results of the described experiments, and why. There will be two â€Å"no† answers and two â€Å"yes† answers, with different justifications. So you need to choose both if the conclusion is supported or not supported and why correctly. Data Representation Passages There are another three question types you’ll encounter on data representation passages, related to reading, interpreting, and working with data. Factual Questions: These data representation questions just ask you to identify factual information presented in the graph/chart/table/etc. They essentially test your ability to read different types of data representations. Identifying Trends: On these questions, you’ll need to read the graph or chart more holistically to identify if there’s a trend or relationship between two factors. Does the graph or chart show one thing increasing while another decreases? Do they both increase or decrease together? Extrapolations: These questions ask you to make a prediction based on what is shown in the graph or chart. Conflicting Viewpoints Passages Finally, there are two question types you’ll see on conflicting viewpoints passages. These are essentially reading comprehension questions based on descriptions of different perspectives on scientific issues. Understanding Viewpoints: These questions check your comprehension of one of the author’s points of view. No synthesis of the two viewpoints is required. Comparing Viewpoints: These Science section questions will ask you to identify similarities and differences between the two viewpoints. I wish all this science could be this delicious. Most ImportantTips Here are two tips to help you make the most out of the Science section! Hone in on the Information You Need Science passages often give you way more information than you’ll actually need to answer the questions. So instead of trying to absorb every factoid from the passage, it’s better to hone in on the information you actually need to answer each question. You can develop your own strategy for doing this, but you might try quickly skimming the passage for the main ideas first and then looking back more closely for the information you need to answer each question. Save the Paired Passage for Last Answering the questions for the paired passages will almost always take the longest, because you’ll likely need to read the passages more closely to be able to accurately compare them. Because all questions are worth the same amount of points, it make sense to leave the section that will take the longest for last. So skip the paired section when you come to it and circle back around at the end of the section so you don’t waste time you could spend on faster questions. If only the paired passages were as beautiful and soothing as this pair of swans. Optional ACT Section: Writing ACT Writing tests your ability to write a clear, well-argued essay that analyzes an issue in relation to different viewpoints- all in a limited 40-minute time period! You’ll then be evaluated along four domains and given a score from 1-6 by two graders, leading to a score out of 12. If all that sounds like a tall order, well, it is a lot to take in. We’ll break down what you need to do in this overview. The Topic and Prompt On the ACT Writing section, you’ll first be presented with the topic. This will consist of two parts. First, you’ll get a paragraph introducing an issue of some global or universal importance. It will most likely be something that’s primarily philosophical in nature and it will be something that can be argued from multiple angles. For example, the sample topic below is about the implications of â€Å"intelligent machines† for human society. After the initial introductory paragraph, you’ll be presented with three positions on the topic. The positions will be a little bit more nuanced that just â€Å"this thing is good† or â€Å"this thing is bad,† but they are only a couple of sentences each. Then comes the actual prompt, which is always the same and describes the task you need to complete with the topic information. So what’s the actual task? You will need to write an essay that clearly states your perspective on the issue, analyzes the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective, and supports your own position with well-developed, logical support. You can choose to completely agree with one perspective, partially agree, or make your own different perspective. Here is a sample topic (Intelligent Machines) and prompt from the ACT’s website. Intelligent Machines Many of the goods and services we depend on daily are now supplied by intelligent, automated machines rather than human beings. Robots build cars and other goods on assembly lines, where once there were human workers. Many of our phone conversations are now conducted not with people but with sophisticated technologies. We can now buy goods at a variety of stores without the help of a human cashier. Automation is generally seen as a sign of progress, but what is lost when we replace humans with machines? Given the accelerating variety and prevalence of intelligent machines, it is worth examining the implications and meaning of their presence in our lives. Perspective One Perspective Two Perspective Three What we lose with the replacement of people by machines is some part of our own humanity. Even our mundane daily encounters no longer require from us basic courtesy, respect, and tolerance for other people. Machines are good at low-skill, repetitive jobs, and at high-speed, extremely precise jobs. In both cases they work better than humans. This efficiency leads to a more prosperous and progressive world for everyone. Intelligent machines challenge our long-standing ideas about what humans are or can be. This is good because it pushes both humans and machines toward new, unimagined possibilities. Write a unified, coherent essay about the increasing presence of intelligent machines. In your essay, be sure to clearly state your own perspective on the issue and analyze the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective develop and support your ideas with reasoning and examples organize your ideas clearly and logically communicate your ideas effectively in standard written English Your perspective may be in full agreement with any of the others, in partial agreement, or wholly different. HowWill Your Essay Be Assessed? There are four domains in which ACT graders will be assessing your essay: Ideas and analysis: This domain refers to how well you discussed perspectives on the essay topic, including your own. A clear thesis is critical for this domain. Development and support: How well did you develop your thesis? How well-argued was your position? This domain assesses how you presented evidence in support of your perspective. Organization: This domain scores the organizational structure of your paper. Do your paragraphs come in a logical order? Do each of your paragraphs make a clear, well supported point with a topic and concluding sentence? Language use: Scores for this domain reflect your deployment of standard written English. Two different graders will give you a score from 1-6 in each domain, for a score out of 12 in each domain. These 4 domain scores will then be averaged for your total essay score out of 12. For a complete breakdown of scoring on this ACT test section, check out our guide to the ACT essay rubric. Not how your scores are assessed. Most Important Tips for ACT Writing Here are two tips for ACT Writing success. Become Familiar with the Rubric If you want to do well on the ACT Writing section, it stands to reason that you should have a good idea of what the graders will be looking for. So you should become familiar with the rubric for the Writing section. Seeing what makes for a solid score of 5-6 in each domain will help you deliver it! Choose One of the Three Perspectives While you can create your own perspective to argue in your thesis, it’s more efficient to simply choose one of the perspectives offered with the prompt to argue in support of. (You could also blend two perspectives). This will save you time in coming up with a new, unique argument, and make it simpler to analyze the relationship between your perspective and the other perspectives. When choosing between the three perspectives, pick the one you think you can support the best. Tip #3: Sharpen those pencils! Which ACT Sections Are Most Important? You may be wondering if your scores on some ACT test sections are more important than others. While this depends somewhat on you, in general, what’s generally going to be most important is your composite score. This is what colleges are typically most interested in. However, some research suggests that the English and Math ACT sections have the most predictive power for your performance in college. So some colleges may place comparatively more weight on English and Math than on Reading and Science. You’ll note that your Writing section score is not included in your composite score. You will probably not be surprised to learn, then, that the writing section score is the least important part of your ACT score. This doesn’t mean you should totally bomb it; if schools are requesting it you should still put in your best effort. But you probably don’t need to retake the entire test to raise up your 8/12 if you’re happy with your composite score. With that said, even though composite score is the most critical thing, having a higher score in your area of interest is definitely not a bad thing. So if your composite score is a 31 but you got a 34 on math and you’re applying to engineering, that 34 will matter to admissions officers. Similarly, it may set off red flags if your score in your area of interest is considerably lower than your other scores. (It’s one thing if it’s a 27 and all your other scores are 28s, it’s another if it’s a 27 and all your other scores are 33s). Sadly, ACT, Inc. won't send you a certificate of "Epic Win" if you get a good score. Key Takeaways: ACT Sections There are four required ACT test sections and one optional one. The sections of the ACT appear in the same order, as laid out below: ACT English tests your command of written English grammar and rhetoric. You’ll have 45 minutes to answer 75 4-choice multiple choice questions. ACT Math tests your math skills in pre-algebra, elementary algebra, intermediate algebra, coordinate geometry, plane geometry, and trigonometry. You’ll have 60 minutes to answer 60 5-choice multiple choice questions. ACT Reading tests your reading comprehension skills. You’ll have 35 minutes to answer 40 4-choice multiple choice questions. ACT Science tests your ability to read and interpret scientific information and your knowledge of the scientific method. You’ll have 35 minutes to answer 40 4-choice multiple choice questions. ACT Writingtests your ability to analyze an issue and argue in support of a position. You’ll have 40 minutes to complete an essay. This section is optional. What's Next? Looking for more information on the ACT? We can help you prepare for the test, figure out what ACT score you need, andwhat to expect on test day! If you want test practice, see our massive compilation of online practice testsand a compendium of all of our ACT guides and explainers. Trying to decide if you need to take the SAT and the ACT? We can help. We can also help you decide if you need to take the ACT with Writing. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes your prep program to your strengths and weaknesses. We also have expert instructors who can grade every one of your practice ACT essays, giving feedback on how to improve your score. Check out our 5-day free trial:

The Dimensions of the Self Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Dimensions of the Self - Essay Example To summarize my identity is not easy, but in essence, I am a Middle-Eastern, male, middle-class Muslim, Emirati, young adult, who supports racial equality and enjoys talking about politics, business, society, and food. When asked about my ethnicity, I see myself as a national of the UAE, an Emirati. Some people find their ethnicity very important in distinguishing themselves from others in their own country, but I do not feel that way. Some non-UAE people might see me immediately as Arabic or Middle Eastern, but those descriptions are too vague for me. I dislike it when they stereotype me as a sexist because they think all Arabs are anti-women. This is not true because I believe that men and women are created equal in the eyes of God. Most of all, I see myself as an Emirati. Emiratis are known for their hospitality. In my family, we feel honored when we receive guests and socialize with our relatives and friends. In our house, it is common to have visitors dropping by. Family relativ es drop unannounced frequently because my mother is such as a gracious host and a good friend to them. Sometimes, this is good because we are updated about the events about the clan. Their presence can be very refreshing, as they bring their stories and humor to us. Other times, I feel no privacy. My family can be very intrusive at times, but I know this is because they want the best life for me. When our guests are in the house, we enjoy time with them, while drinking coffee or tea and eating sandwiches and fresh dates. My mother is a fantastic cook and baker, so she would invite them to lunch or dinner too. They love my mother’s Al Majboos (beef or chicken recipe) and Al Khabeesah (dessert), as well as her gourmet sandwiches. Maybe they come more for my mother’s great dishes. Though the banter can be so noisy, at the same time, they seem to be so peaceful. These are the voices of my blood and they are my soul too. My ethnicity affects me because it is the basis of my culture. My elders teach me what is right and wrong- the right clothes, the right attitudes at the right places and with the right people, and the right words to say to men, women, and children. They say this because it is Emirati and it is Muslim. They are the sources of our norms. To some people, our norms, especially for women, are very restrictive. But I believe that some conservative values protect men and women alike. As long as women can still access the same quality of life as men, conservative attitudes are not wrong. My age group is a young adult and that affects me as a person too because I am expected to make mature decisions as a student and as a man and to be prepared for family life. Right now, I have the privilege of the youth. My parents are lenient with my activities, as long as I have good grades in school and remain focused on my studies. Of course, they also want me to be a dedicated Muslim, wherever I may be. In addition, my age is the time when people prepare them for arranged marriages. My family still practices arranged marriages, but they do not force their children and relatives to marry strangers nowadays. They are not concerned with how much they will get for these marriages, but they want me to marry an Emirati as well.

Public Park Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Public Park - Essay Example It can be used for different types of activities depending on its character. In Cities Mostly public parks are located where children can play and adults can relaxed. So Topic of discussion is Public Park. A Public park is an area of open space provided for recreational use, usually owned and maintained by a local government. Parks commonly resemble savannas or open woodlands, the types of landscape that human beings find most relaxing. Grass is typically kept short to discourage insect pests and to allow for the enjoyment of picnics and sporting activities. Trees are chosen for their beauty and to provide shade. Fig. A Shows graph with negative slope means no of parks decreased with increasing time, Fig. B Shows graph with slope positive slope i.e. no of trees increased with increasing time and Fig. C Shows graph with 0 slope i.e. no change in no of parks with respect to time. To analyze all situations, benefits and risk factor of park should be kept in mind. There always were good reasons for bounding space and there always will be. The ancient reasons for imparking land were both domestic and religious. Unfortunately, The strife, the stress and tension of modern life have made people immune to the beauties of nature. Their life is so full of care that they have no time to stand and stare. They can't enjoy beauty of flowing rivers, swaying trees, flying birds and majestic mountains and hills. Modern parks can have a variety of human-oriented themes. Children can have fun and enjoyment by playing different games. In dense areas, parks are only place where adults can refresh and feel relaxed. Parks can be used for picnics also. Trees play an important role in purifying the air around us. Pollution free atmosphere is very much required for health. On the other hand Safety is in danger due to parks. Anybody can enter park, so by security Point of View, Parks can be dangerous. Visits of people results in wastage and dirty space. If Parks are not maintained properly, insects and other risk increases in that area, which can harm surrounding people. Again noise created disturbs people staying around. In modern cities loose agglomeration of express roads, semi-isolated buildings, free car parking and sprawling urbanization is required. What modern consumer wants are safety, comfort, and convenience. Accessibility for the rich, inaccessibility for the poor. The high walls of modern cities are time and distance. Within these walls, there is no public open space, which bothers the professionals. Conclusion Cities need both. But the two should never be confused. Some of the land should be properly imparked, to make it safe and to make it special. The remainder should be properly

Strategic Management Essay Example for Free

Strategic Management Essay Unilever is one of the world’s oldest multinational companies. Its origin goes back to the 19th century when a group of companies operating independently, produced soaps and margarine. In 1930, the companies merged to form Unilever that diversified into food products in 1940s. Through the next five decades, it emerged as a major fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) multinational operating in several businesses. In 2004, the Unilever 2010 strategic plan was put into action with the mission to ‘bring vitality to life’ and ‘to meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good, and get more out of life’. The corporate strategy is of focusing on bore businesses of food, home care and personal care. Unilever operates in more than 100 countries, has a turnover of â‚ ¬ 39.6 billion and net profit of â‚ ¬ 3.685 billion in 2006 and derives 41 per cent of its income from the developing and emerging economies around the world. It has 179,000 employees and is a culturally-diverse organisation with its top management coming from 24 nations. Internationalisation is based on the principle of local roots with global scale aimed at becoming a ‘multi-local multinational’. The genesis of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) in India, goes back to 1888 when Unilever exported Sunlight soap to India. Three Indian, subsidiaries came into existence in the period 1931-1935 that merged to form Hindustan Lever in 1956. Mergers and acquisitions of Lipton (1972), Brooke Bond (1984), Ponds (1986), TOMCO (1993), Lakme (1998) and Modern Foods (2002) have resulted in an organisation that is a conglomerate of several businesses that have been continually restructured over the years. HUL is one of the largest FMCG company in India with total sales of Rs. 12,295 crore and net profit of 1855crore in 2006. There are over 15000 employees, including more than 1300 managers. The present corporate strategy of HUL is to focus on core businesses. These core businesses are in home and personal care and food. There are 20 different consumer categories in these two businesses. For instance, home and personal care is made up of personal wash, laundry, skin care, hair care, oral care, deodorants, colour cosmetics and ayurvedic personal and health care, while food businesses have tea, coffee, ice creams and processed food brands. Apart from the two product divisions, there are  separate departments for specialty exports and new ventures. Strategic management at HUL is the responsibility of the board of directors headed by a chairman. There are five independent and five whole-time directors. The operational management is looked after by a management committee comprising of Vice Chairman, CEO and managing director and executive directors of the two business divisions and functional areas. The divisions have a lot of autonomy with dedicated assets and resources. A divisional committee having the executive director and heads of functions of sales, commercial and manufacturing looks after the business level decision-making. The functional-level management is the responsibility of the functional head. For instance, a marketing manager has a team of brand managers looking after the individual brands. Besides the decentralised divisional structure, HUL has centralised some functions such as finance, human resource management, research, technology, information technology and corporate and legal affairs. Unilever globally and HUL nationally, operate in the highly competitive FMCG markets. The consumer markets for FMCG products are finicky: it’s difficult to create customers and much more difficult to retain them. Price is often the central concern in a consumer purchase decision requiring producers to be on continual guard against cost increases. Sales and distribution are critical functions organisationally. HUL operates in such a milieu. I t has strong competitors such as the multinationals Procter Gamble, Nivea or L’Oreal and formidable local companies such as, Amul, Nirma or the Tata FMCG companies to contend with. Rivals have copied HUL’s strategies and tactics, especially in the area of marketing and distribution. Its innovations such as new style packaging or distribution through women entrepreneurs are much valued but also copied relentlessly, hurting its competitive advantage. HUL is identified closely with India. There is a ring of truth to its vision statement: ‘to earn the love and respect of India by making a real difference to every Indian’. It has an impeccable record in corporate social responsibility. There is an element of nostalgia associated with brands like Lifebuoy (introduced in 1895) and Dalda (1937) for senior citizens in India. Consequently Indians have always perceived HUL as an Indian company rather than a multinational. HUL has attempted to align its strategies in the past to the special needs of Indian business environment. Be it marketing or  human resource management, HUL has experimented with new ideas suited to the local context. For instance, HUL is known for its capabilities in rural marketing, effective distribution systems and human resource development. But this focus on India seems to be changing. This might indicate a change in the strategic posture as well as recognition that Indian markets have matured to the extent that they can be dealt with by the global strategies of Unilever. At the corporate level, it could also be an attempt to leverage global scale while retaining local responsiveness to some extent. In line with the shift in corporate strategy, the focus of strategic decision-making seems to have moved from the subsidiary to the headquarters. Unilever has formulated a new global realignment under which it will develop brands and streamline product offerings across the world and the subsidiaries will sell the products. Other subtle indications of the shift of decision-making authority could be the appointment of a British CEO after nearly forty years during which there were Indian CEOs, the c hanged focus on a limited number of international brands rather than a large range of local brands developed over the years and the name-change from Hindustan Lever to Hindustan Unilever. The shift in the strategic decision-making power from the subsidiary to headquarters could however, prove to be double-edged sword. An example could be of HUL adopting Unilever’s global strategy of focussing on a limited number of products, called the 30 power brands in 2002. That seemed a perfectly sensible strategic decision aimed at focusing managerial attention to a limited set of high-potential products. But one consequence of that was the HUL’s strong position in the niche soap and detergent markets suffering owing to neglect and the competitors were quick to take advantage of the opportunity. Then there are the statistics to deal with: HUL has nearly 80 per cent of sales and 85 per cent of net profits from the home and personal care businesses. Globally, Unilever derives half its revenues from food business. HUL does not have a strong position in the food business in India though the food processing industry remains quite attractive both in terms of local consumption as well as export markets. HUL’s own strategy of offering low-price, competitive products may also suffer at the cost of Unilever’s emphasis on premium priced, high end products sold through modern outlets. There are some dark clouds on the horizon. HUL’s latest financials are not satisfactory. Net profit is down,  sales are sluggish, input costs have been rising and new food products introduced in the market have yet to pick up. All this while, in one market segment after another, a competitor pushes ahead. In a company of such a big size and over-powering presence, these might still be minor events developments in a long history that needs to be taken in stride. But, pessimistically, they could also be pointers to what may come. Questions: 1. State the strategy of Hindustan Unilever in your own words. 2. At what different levels is strategy formulated in HUL? 3. Comment on the strategic decision-making at HUL. 4. Give your opinion on whether the shift in strategic decision-making from India to Unilever’s headquarters could prove to be advantageous to HUL or not. CASE: 2 THE STRATEGIC ASPIRATIONS OF THE RESERVE BANK OF INDIA The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is India’s central bank or ‘the bank of the bankers’. It was established on April 1, 1935 in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1935. The Central Office of the RBI, initially set up at Kolkata, is at Mumbai. The RBI is fully owned by the Government of India. The history of RBI is closely aligned with the economic and financial history of India. Most central banks around the world were established around the beginning of the twentieth century. The Bank was established on the basis of the Hilton Young Commission. It began its operations by taking over from the Government the functions so far being performed by the Controller of Currency and from the Imperial Bank of India, the management of Government accounts and public debt. After independence, RBI gradually strengthened its institution-building capabilities and evolved in terms of functions from central banking to that of development. There have been s everal attempts at reorganisation, restructuring and creation of specialised institutions to cater to emerging needs. The Preamble of the RBI describes its basic functions like this: ‘†¦.to regulate the issue of Bank Notes and keeping of reserves with a view to securing monetary  stability in India and generally to operate the currency and credit system of the country to its advantage.’ The vision states that the RBI ‘†¦.aims to be a leading central bank with credible, transparent, proactive and contemporaneous policies and seeks to be a catalyst for the emergence of a globally competitive financial system that helps deliver a high quality of life to the people in the country.’ The mission states that ‘RBI seeks to develop a sound and efficient financial system with monetary stability conductive to balanced and sustained growth of the Indian economy’. The corporate values of underlining the mission statement include public interest, integrity, excellence, independence of views and responsiveness and dynamism. The three areas in which objectives of the RBI can be stated are as below. 1. Monetary policy objectives such as containing inflation and promoting economic growth, management of foreign exchange reserves and making currency available. 2. Objectives set for managing financial sector developments such as supervision of systems and information access and assisting banking and financial institutions to become competitive globally. 3. Organisational development objectives such as development of economic research facilities, creating information system for supporting economic decision-making, financial management and human resource management. Strategic actions taken to realise the objectives fall under four categories: 1. The thrust area of monetary policy formulation and managing financial sector; 2. Evolving the legal framework to support the thrust area; 3. Customer service for providing support and creation of positive relationship; and 4. Organisational support such as structure, systems, human resource development and adoption of modern technology. The major functions performed by the RBI are: †¢ Acting as the monetary authority †¢ Acting as the regulator and supervisor of the financial system †¢ Discharging responsibilities as the manager of foreign exchange †¢ Issue currency †¢ Play as developmental role †¢ Related functions such as acting as the banker to the government and scheduled banks The management of the RBI is the responsibility of the central board of directors headed by the governor and consisting of  deputy governors and other directors, all of whom are appointed by the government. There are four local boards based at Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi. The day-to-day management of RBI is in the hands of the executive directors, managers at various levels and the support staff. There are about 22000 employees at RBI, working in 25 departments and training colleges. The RBI identified its strengths and weaknesses as under. †¢ Strengths A large body of competent officers and staff; access to key data on the economy; wide organisational network with 22 regional offices; established infrastructure; ability to attract talent; and financial self sufficiency. †¢ Weaknesses Structural rigidity, lack of accountability and slow decision-making; eroded specialist know-how; strong employee unions with rigid industrial relations stance; surplus staff; and weak market intelligence. Over the years, the RBI has evolved in terms of structure and functions, in response to the role assigned to it. There have been sweeping changes in the economic, social and political environment. The RBI has had to respond to it even in the absence of a systematic strategic plan. In 1992, the RBI, with the assistance of a private consultancy firm, embarked on a massive strategic planning exercise. The objective was to establish a roadmap to redefine RBI’s role and to review internal organisational and managerial efficacy, address the changing expectations from external stakeholders and reposition the bank in the global context. The strategic planning exercise was buttressed by departmental position papers and documents on various subjects such as technology, human resources and environmental trends. The strategic plan of the RBI emerged with four sections dealing with the statement of mission, objectives and policy, a review of RBI’s strengths and weaknesses and strategic actions required with an implementation plan. The strategic plan reiterates anticipation of evolving external environment in the medium-term; revisiting strengths and weaknesses (evaluation of capabilities); and doing away with the outdated mandates for enhancing efficiency in operations in furtherance of best public interests. The results of these efforts are likely to manifest in attaining a visible focus, reinforced proficiency, realisation of shared sense of purpose, optimising resource use and build-up of momentum to achieve goals. Historically, the RBI adopted the time-tested technique of responding to external environment in a pragmatic  manner and making piecemeal changes. The dilemma in adoption of a comprehensive strategic plan was the risk of trading off the flexibility of the pragmatic approach to creating rigidity imposed by a set model of planning. Questions: 1. Consider the vision and mission statements of the Reserve Bank of India. Comment on the quality of both these statements. 2. Should the RBI go for a systematic and comprehensive strategic plan in place of its earlier pragmatic approach of responding to environmental events as and when they occur? Why? CASE: 3 THE INTERNATIONALISATION OF KALYANI GROUP The Kalyani Group is a large family-business group of India, employing more than 10000 employees. It has diverse businesses in engineering, steel, forgings, auto components, non-conventional energy and specialty chemicals. The annual turnover of the Group is over US$2.1 billion. The Group is known for its impressive internationalisation achievements. It has nine manufacturing locations spread over six countries. Over the years, it has established joint ventures with many global companies such as ArvinMeritor, USA, Carpenter Technology Corporation, USA, Hayes Lemmerz, USA and FAW Corporation, China. The flagship company of the Group is Bharat Forge Limited that is claimed to be the second largest forging company in the world and the largest nationally, with about 80 per cent share in axle and engine components. The other major companies of the Group are Kalyani Steels, Kalyani Carpenter Special Steels, Kalyani Lemmerz, Automotive Axles, Kalyani Thermal Systems, BF Utilities, Hikal Lim ited, Epicenter and Synise Technologies The emphasis on internationalisation is reflected in the vision statement of the Group where two of the five points relate to the Group trying to be a world-class organisation and achieving growth aggressively by accessing global markets. The Group is led by Mr. B.N. Kalyani, who is considered to be the major force behind the Group’s aggressive internationalisation drive. Mr. Kalyani joined the Group in 1972  when it was a small-scale diesel engine component business. The corporate strategy of the Group is a combination of concentration of its core competence in its business with efforts at building, nurturing and sustaining mutually beneficial partnerships with alliance partners and customers. The value of these partnerships essentially lies in collaborative product development with the partners who are the original equipment manufacturers. The foreign partners are not intended to provide expansion in capacity, but to enable the Kalyani Group to extend its global marketing reach. In achieving its successful status, the Kalyani Group has followed the path of integration, extending from the upstream steel making to downstream machining for auto components such as crank-shafts, front axle beams, steering knuckles, cam-shafts, connecting rods and rocker arms. In all these products, the Group has tried to move up the value chain instead of providing just the raw forgings. In the 1990s, it undertook a restructuring exercise to trim its unrelated businesses such as television and video products and concentrate on its core business of auto components. Four factors are supposed to have influenced the growth of the Group over the years. These are mentioned below: †¢ Focussing on core businesses to maximise growth potential †¢ Attaining aggressive cost savings †¢ Expanding geographically to build global capacity and establishing leading positions †¢ Achieving external growth through acquisitions The Group companies are claimed to be positioned at either number one or two in their respective businesses. For instance, the Group claims to be number one in forging and machined components, axle aggregates, wheels and alloy steel. The technology used by the Group in its mainline business of auto components and other businesses, is claimed to be state-of-the-art. The Group invests in forging technology to enhance efficiency, production quality and design capabilities. The Group’s emphasis on technology can be gauged from the fact that in the 1990s, it took the risky decision of investing Rs. 100 crore in the then latest forging technology, when the total Group turnover was barely Rs. 230 crore. Information technology is applied for product development, reducing production and product development time, supply-chain management and marketing of products. The Group lays high emphasis on research and development for providing engineering support,  advanced metallurgical analysis and latest testing equipment in tandem with its high-class manufacturing facilities. Being a top-driven group, the pattern of strategic decision-making within seems to be entrepreneurial. There was an attempt to formulate a five-year strategic plan in 1997, with the participation of the company executives. But no much is mentioned in the business press about that collaborative strategic decision-making after that. Recent strategic moves include Kalyani Steels, a Group company, entering into a joint venture agreement in may 2007, with Gerdau S.A. Brazil for installation of rolling mills. An attempt to move out of the mainstream forging business was made when the Group strengthened its position in the prospective business of wind energy through 100 per cent acquisition of RSBconsult GmbH (RSB) of Germany. Prior to the acquisition, the Group was just a wind farm operator and supplier of components. Questions: 1. What is the motive for internationalisation by the Kalyani Group? Discuss. 2. Which type of international strategy is Kalyani Group adopting? Explain. CASE 4: THE STORY OF SYNERGOS UNFOLDS Synergos is a young management and strategy consulting firm based at Mumbai. It was established in 1992 at a time when there were a lot of expectations among the industry people from the liberalisation policies that were started the previous year by the Government of India. The consulting firm is an entrepreneurial venture started by Urmish Patel, a dynamic person who worked with a multinational consulting firm at the time. He left his comfortable position there to venture into the management consultancy industry. The motivation was to be ‘the master of his own destiny’ rather than being an employee working for others. Urmish comes from an upper middle-class Gujarati family, settled in a small town in Rajasthan. His father was a government servant who retired with a meagre pension. His mother is a housewife. His other siblings are all educated and well-settled in their  respective careers and professions. Urmish is a creative individual, uncomfortable with the status-quo. During his student days at a college at Jaipur, he was continually coming up with bright ideas that some of his friends found to be preposterous. To him, however, these were perfectly achievable ideas. He studied biotechnology and then went to the US on a scholarship to do his Masters. After a semester at a well-known university there, he lost interest and switched to pursue an MBA. He liked it and soon settled down to work with an American consultancy firm and toured several countries on varied assignments during the seven years he worked there. In 1992 came the urge to Urmish to chuck his job and be on his own. It was risky, yet an exciting step to take. His accumulated capital was limited—just enough to rent office space, buy a few computers and hire an assistant. There were no consultancy assignments for the first three months. But an acquaintance soon came to his aid, introducing him to the CFO of a major family business group who needed advice on a performance improvement project they wanted to launch. The opportunity came in handy though the returns were nothing to write home about. That project was the first step to many more that came gradually. Synergos started gaining presence in the competitive management consultancy industry and attracting attention from the people whom they worked for. Word-of-mouth publicity led them from one project to another for the first three years till 1995. Synergos took up whatever came its way, delivering a cost-effective solution to its clients. A team of four had formed by now, each member of the team specialising in services rendered to the clients. For instance, one of the members is a specialist in engineering projects, while another has expertise finance. The third one is a service sector specialist, also having experience in dealing with government matters. The phase of rapid growth started some time in 1995 when the Synergos team decided to focus on the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These were firms that realised they had problems needing specialist advice, but were apprehensive to approach the big firms on account of their limited outlay and inexperience of dealing with such firms. Synergos came to their aid by tailoring their services as near as possible to their needs. Another differentiation platform Synergos offered to its client was a fully-integrated consultancy service where it got involved right from the stage of planning down to its implementation and monitoring.   Presently, Synergos has grown to be a medium-sized consultancy firm, serving clients in India and abroad, working for industries ranging from auto components to financial services and for manufacturing organisations to service providers. Some-how, nearly half of the assignments it has worked on have been for mid-sized, upcoming, family-owned businesses, a niche it has served well. These organisations typically need a boutique sort of consultancy that can offer customised services dealing with a broad range of practices related to strategy, organisation design, mergers and acquisitions and operational matter such as logistics and supply-chain management. Synergos fits in with their requirements owing to its personalised service and reasonable commission structure. The organisational structure at Synergos has a board at the top, consisting of seven people, including the four founding members and three independent directors. One of the independent directors is the chairman of the board. Urmish, as the founder CEO, also heads an executive management committee with each of the founding members, leading three other top-level committees dealing with business portfolio, service management and executive recruitment. The management team is called the professional group. The rest of the employees are referred to as the staff. The professional group has young women and men who are graduates from some of the best institutions in India and abroad. They are assigned to taskforces based on their qualifications, experience and interests. The departmentation at Synergos is flexible, based on an interplay of the three categories: skill, service and specialty. For instance, a professional may have IT skills, may have worked to provide supply-chain management ser vices and developed expertise in handling operational assignments for medium-sized food and beverage firms. There is a lot of multi-tasking however, to utilise the wide range of skills and special expertise that the professionals have. For administrative matters, the professionals are assigned to client-service departments of industry solutions, enterprise solutions and technology solutions. The flexibility that such an organisational arrangement affords seems to have been the major reason for the evolution of the organisation structure at Synergos over the years. The staff group of employees consists of the support people who provide a variety of services to the professionals. Among  these are research assistants, industry analysts, documentation experts and secretarial staff. There is no set pattern for assignment of staff to the administrative departments and generally, a need-based approach is followed, depending on the workload at a particular time. Recruitment for professionals is stringent. Synergos typically looks for a good combination of education and experience and lays much emphasis on the compatibility of the prospective employee with the shared values. Creativity, broad range of professional interes ts, intellectual acumen, team-working and physical fitness to undertake demanding tasks and work for long hours are the criteria for hiring. There are not many training opportunities except the on-the-job learning. New professionals are assigned to a mentor for some time till they are ready to handle assignments autonomously. The staff members are usually recruited from fresh graduates, with good degrees from reputed institutions, in arts, sciences and commerce. The staff positions are also open for persons wanting to work on part-time or project-bases. Emphasis is given to the ability of the prospective staff to undertake multi-tasking and work with documentation and word processing and presentation software packages. The compensation system consists of a base salary with commission and bonus depending on performance. There are other usual elements such as medical reimbursement, loan facility and gratuity and retirement benefits. the performance appraisal is informal, with at least one of the four founding members being part of the evaluation committee for a professional. Usually, the founding member closest to the work area of the employee is involved in determining the rewards to be given. The time-cycle for appraisal is one year. Management control is discreet and performance-based rather than behaviour-based. The means for control are informal, such as direct supervision. Urmish is a strong proponent of the emergent strategy and is not in favour of tying Synergos to a fixed strategic posture. So are the other founder members, though at times they do talk about deciding on a niche such as SME organisations as clients and enterprise solutions as the core competence. In the highly fragmented consultancy industry where it is possible for even one person to set up an office in a commercial area and leverage connections to secure projects, Synergos is open to opportunities as they emerge, while trying to maintain the flexibility that has made it successful till now. Questions: 1. Identify the type of organisation structure being used at Synergos and explain how it works. What are the benefits of using this type of structure? What are the pitfalls? 2. Express your opinion about whether the structure is in line with the recruitments of the strategy that Synergos is implementing. 3. Based on the information related to the information, control and reward systems available in the case, examine whether these systems are appropriate for the type of strategy being implemented. CASE: 5 EXERCISING STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL CONTROLS AT iGATE GLOBAL SOLUTIONS The Bangalore-based iGATE Global Solutions is the flagship company of iGATE Corporation, a NASDAQ-listed US-based corporation. Known earlier as Mascot Systems, it was set up in India in 1993, to offer staffing services. It acquired business process outsourcing (BPO) and contact centre businesses in 2003, making it an end-to-end IT and ITES service provider. Its service portfolio includes consulting, IT services, data analytics, enterprise systems, BPO/BSP, contact centre and infrastructure management services. iGATE has over 100 active clients and centres based in Canada, China, Malaysia, India, the UK and the US. Chairman, Ashok Trivedi and CEO Phaneesh Murthy, an ex-Infosys IT professional and their partners hold a major stake, with some participation by institutional and public investors. The revenues for 2006-2007 are over Rs. 805 crore and net profits, Rs. 49.6 crore. The corporate strategies of iGATE are offering integrated IT services and divesting the legacy IT staffing busin ess and possibly making acquisitions in the domain expertise for financial services businesses. The business strategy is focused differentiation based on the focal points of testing, infrastructure management and enterprise solutions. The competitive tactic is avoiding head-on competition with the formidable larger players in the  industry by carving out a niche. The business definition is serving large customers and staying away from sub-contracting work. iGATE adopts a differentiation business model based on an integrated technology and operations model which it calls as the iTOPS model. This is an advancement over the prevalent model in the ITES industry based on low-cost arbitrage model. iTOPS is based on transaction-based pricing for services and supporting the clients by providing the platform, processes and services. The strategic evaluation and control has both the elements of strategic as well as operational controls. The functional and operational implementation is aimed at achieving four sets of objectives: a) Shifting from small customers to large customer (Fortune 1000 companies) b) Shifting away from stocking to project-consulting assignments c) Working directly with clients rather than with system integrators d) Moving from a local to international markets Some illustrations of the performance indicators that reflect these objectives are: 1. On-shore versus off-shore mix of business revenues: In 2004, this ratio was 55:45 and in 2007, it has improved to 27:73, indicating a much higher revenue generation from off-shore business. 2. Billing rates: Revenue charged from clients on assignments. With project consulting assignments from off-shore clients, where the revenues are typically higher, with lower costs and higher productivity in India, the realisations from billing have to be higher. The industry norms for ITES are US$18-25 per hour for off-shore and US$ 55-65 per hour for on-shore assignments. 3. The number of large clients from Fortune 1000 companies: Presently, iGATE has nearly half of its more than 100 clients from Fortune 1000 companies, of which the top 10 account for 70 per cent of its business. 4. Controlling employee costs: This is an area where concerted effort is required from the HR and finance functions. Hiring less experienced employees lowers the compensation bill. In the IT and ITES industry, attracting and retaining well-qualified and experienced employees is a critical success factor. The performance indicator for this objective is the cost per employee. 5. Human resource metrics such as the hiring and attrition rates: In the IT and ITES industry, the human resource metrics such as hiring and attrition rates are critical indicators.  Increasing the number of employees and lowering the attrition rate by retaining the employees is a big challenge. There are presently about 5800 employees, likely to go up to 8500 in the next two years. The attrition of 20 per cent presently at iGATE is on the higher side. But such attrition is common in the industry where the employee mobility is high and employee pinching a widespread trend. The human resource management function being critical in an industry where so many challenges exist, needs a strong emphasis on training and development, motivation, autonomy and attractive incentives. iGATE has an integrated people management model focusing on developing technical, behavioural and leadership competencies. The three metrics by which the HR function is assessed are: human capital index, work culture and employee affective commitment. The reward system at iGATE consists of meritorious employees across all levels being granted restricted stock options, thus providing an incentive to remain with the company till they become due. The company, though, is an average paymaster, which disadvantage it tries to trade-off offering a more challenging work environment, quicker promotions and chances for practising innovation. Critics say that that iGATE lacks the big-brand appeal of the larger players such as Infosys and Wipro, cannot compete on scale and is still under the shadow of its original business of body-shopping IT personnel. Questions: 1. Analyse the iGATE case to highlight how it could apply some of the strategic controls such as premise control, implementation control, strategic surveillance and special alert control. 2. Analyse and describe the process of setting of standards at iGATE. 3. Give your opinion on the effectiveness of the role of reward system in exercising HR performance management at iGATE and suggest what improvements are possible, given the environmental conditions in the IT/ITES industry in India at present.