Gallardo’s Goes To Mexico Business Analytics Essay

Situation: â€Å"Growing but not winning†- The US market for Gallardo’s sauces, salsas and seasoning had saturated. Having seen immense potential for its product, it entered the Mexico market in 2001. They have grown 20% every year, and their share has grown from 12% to 15%. They have positioned their products on the basis of the jobs carried out by customers, which was a success in the US. Despite all of their efforts to discover separate, distinct jobs to be done and to position their brand on these jobs, they are not growing fast enough and have not been able to overtake California. Gallardo tried to position itself as a distinctive aspiring brand that commanded a significant price premium, however this has not worked and they have not been able to differentiate their products from that of California. Gallardo’s discovered the job-to-be-done, the market leader already had a product in the market that could readily do the job. Objective: To formulate a winning strategy so as to make it a market leader in Mexico. Hypothesis: 1. Gallardo has not been very successful in forging a strong link in the consumers’ minds between the jobs carried out by them and Gallardo’s brand. 2. The communication strategy is a major challenge and there is a need to re-position the brand in the minds of the consumers. 3. Gallardo has not been able to provide value to Mexican women, who are very passionate about cooking. 4. Gallardo holds only 10% share in general trade which accounts for 90% of the overall sales of salsa, sauces and seasoning. Evaluation: 1. Gallardo 2. Gallardo has positioned itself as a product to get a job-done; however, it is equally important to consider the user while positioning the product especially where the demographics of the new market are so different from the company’s market in USA. As per the case, the women in advertisements were not representing the common women in Mexico. Hence, making the brand distant from its users. 3. Although Gallardo could picture the passion for cooking, it couldn’t provide the value to its consumers. This was mainly because of their premium pricing. For example, a small deficiency in California products can be compensated by a little amount of salt or pepper. For this minor adjustment, consumers didn’t find it justified to pay 30-40% more. They were not getting any additional value of the product offering. The product attributes and usage experiences required to do the â€Å"jobs† were not well distinguished from each other, further enlarging this gap. Their products were designed on experience, which the consumer was already having. In short, we can say that value propositions offered by Gallardo were not unique enough to sell it. 4. The figure of 10% shows that there was very less penetration in the general market. This needs to increase as it shows the huge amount of untapped market for Gallardo. This would include distribution and household penetration beyond urban.

Dj Party

Report on DJ culture impact on IUB students Figure 1 : Likeness of the DJ party-10 Figure 2 : Popularity of Dj Party-10 Figure 3 : Perception about Dj party-11 Figure 4 : How often people goes to Dj party-12 Figure 5 : Is it good for IUB students-13 Figure 6 : Effects of Dj Party-13 Figure 7 : About banning Dj Party-14 Figure 8 : Bring dirtiness in our society-15 Abstract The aims and objectives of this report is to identify, describe and produce an analysis on necessity of Dj party impact on IUB students means is it affecting the IUB students in proper way or creating a disaster? This will provide a common understanding about Dj party; find out how IUB students react to it and whether it is good or bad for our IUB environment and the society. Our main purpose of this report is to let you know are the DJ parties in Bangladesh influencing the IUB students in a discipline or a disaster. First of all we will let you know about the DJ party in Bangladesh by giving you thorough information about the DJs and the DJ parties in Bangladesh including the DJ parties organized in IUB. Then we will give descriptive information about the DJ parties held in Bangladesh and which DJ parties’ students prefer to attend. Later we will discuss about the methodology where in this segment, we will discuss on the procedure of collecting information for the project. The whole data collection process has been divided in to two sections, primary and secondary section. Later we will deliver the findings of our report where we have done a survey of 50 IUB students and through which we got a better idea of the student’s opinion. In this finding we ask the students some questions that are related to the impact of the DJ parties. At first we ask the likeness of the DJ parties following this question we have asked how often the students go to DJ parties. Then through questionnaires we get the information about the effect of DJ parties on our IUB students. Following that we get the information whether DJ parties should be banned from our society. Later we get the information are DJ parties bringing dirtiness in our society and the environment of IUB. Through the questionnaires we get detail information about the report through which we can get a descriptive findings. Finally we finish the report with a informative conclusion. Later including a recommendation through where we get the information. Table of Contents |Sl. No. Description |Page | |1 |Introduction |7 | |2 |Methodology |8 | |3 |Findings |10 | |4 |Conclusion |16 | |5 |Recommendations |17 | |6 |Appendix |19 | Introduction Dj party is a very new tradition in Bangladesh. It’s a new way entertainment in Bangladesh. Even about 5 year ago there are very few people were conscious about Dj party. Gradually the situation of Bangladesh regarding Dj party has been changed. Now days, most of the people of Bangladesh are now aware about Dj party, gradually Dj party has become a common form/way of entertainment. Now a day Dj party is occurring every where in Bangladesh like corporate organization, university function, 5 star hotels, theme park like Nandon, Fantasy kingdom, Foyez lake etc. There are lots of new Dj’s are coming out day by day in Bangladesh from the new generation. They are highly talented and they have the music knowledge as well. The party or club DJ is a place where lots of people gathered and enjoying the Dj’s music by dancing. Dj party is always very crowded and noisy. Here, the DJ must be the life of the party, the MC, the shining star that makes the event. This type of a DeeJaying is not for the timid or shy. This may sound like the hardest, but relating to a live audience with instant feedback is actually the easiest. Methodology In this segment, we will discuss on the procedure of collecting information for the project. The whole data collection process has been divided in to two sections, primary and secondary section. Primary section In this section the data has been collected through a survey on more than 50 individuals on 8th and 15h April 2010. The questionnaire is based on two types of method – †¢ Qualitative †¢ Quantitative This data was obtained through a questionnaire concerning the following issues: ? DJ party and its effects on IUB students’ personal life ? DJ party and its effects on IUB students’ social life ? DJ party and its effects on corporate life Finally the conclusive evaluation on DJ party impact on IUB. The data was collected from a diverse group of students, staffs and professionals from Independent University, Bangladesh. Secondary Section In this section the data has been collected through different Print, Electronic and Online media given below: Print media: ? The Daily Star ? The Daily Prothom Alo ? The Daily New Age ? The Daily Amar Desh Electronic media: ? RTV ? Bangla vision ? BBC World ? CNN ? Sky News On-line media: ? Google. com ? Facebook ? Wikipedia ? CNN Online ? Prothom Alo online Edition These data were used to build up the base of the report as well as giving the report its current form. Findings: We have done a survey with 50 IUB students randomly within IUB to find out about necessity of Dj party and the things they like about Dj party, the things do not like about Dj party and impacts of Dj party on our society etc. We have done our survey on university students because Dj is the most popular among universities and high school students that means the young generation. From the survey, we have found the following information about Dj party, we also analyze the information: Likeness of the DJ party This section represents the popularity of DJ party in Bangladesh and the IUB students. It also evaluates the current situation of DJ party especially the IUB students of Bangladesh. We also divide the male and female regarding the likings of DJ party. Figure:1 Figure: 2 Figure : 3 [pic] We have done our survey on IUB students because Dj party is very much popular in IUB. Figure: 1 show that about 70% students like Dj party and 20% students have given negative opinion about Dj party and the remaining people are neutral about Dj party. They don’t like Dj party for several reasons like: †¢ It is still a new form of entertainment in our country. †¢ Lack of discipline in Dj party. †¢ Highly expensive ticket. Figure: 2 Show that likeliness of Dj party between male and female students. According to the survey, we have found 100 students from that 70% of male and 30% female students like Dj party. The percentage of female students regarding Dj party is lower because of following reasons: †¢ Restriction from religion †¢ Restriction from family †¢ Middle class girls are generally conservative Figure: 3 show the perception about Dj party among the IUB students. According to the figure 3 we can see 20% of student says awesome, 50% says good and 30% of students says dirty about Dj party. How often people goes to Dj party Dj party still not so popular yet in Bangladesh. Few years ago some people even do not know about Dj party. But now days, people has started to go DJ parties. Figure : 4 [pic] Figure: 4 say that 45% of student goes to Dj party once in month, 35% of student do not go to Dj party. 5% of students go to Dj party once in a week. Students want to spend more time with their friends with some sort of entertainment like music, drama, dancing, and singing. More over now days, couples want to go spend some personal time with entertainment and Dj party suited th em very much because there is crowd lots of space, darkness etc. Effect on IUB students IUB students can be divided into some classes as like: †¢ Upper class †¢ Upper middle class †¢ Middle class Figure : 5 Figure : 6 Figure 5 shows 80% people are disagree with the term that Dj party is good for our IUB students and 20% people agree with this term. We will find the reason in figure: 6. it shows that from Dj lover 65% are from upper middle class 25% and 10% are from middle class as because middle class people are higher in IUB and they are not so interested about Dj party we get the higher proportion of disagreeing that Dj party is go for IUB students. Should Dj party be banned in our country? Dj party is a place where people gather and enjoying the Dj music by dancing Dj party is always very crowed and noisy. As Bangladesh is a Muslim oriented country and there are many religion restrictions about dance and music that’s why we get different opinion about banning Dj party. Figure : 7 [pic] Figure: 7 show that 40% students are in favor of Dj party. They don’t want to stop Dj party because they think it’s a social meeting and new form of entertainment. People can enjoy the time with any bounds 35% students in natural position, they left these issues to the government because this is a complicated issue and lots of people do like Dj party. So they don’t want to give personal opinion about this issue. 25% students think Dj party should be banned from the society. Because they thought it brings dirtiness, no discipline and spoils our young generation and waste of money. It doesn’t match to our culture. Bring dirtiness in our society Our culture is very much conservative. People are devotional and religious. They don’t prefer environment where male and female gather together and dancing together. Figure 8 [pic] According to the survey, figure: 8 shows 75% of student thinks that Dj party brings dirtiness in our cutlers because it gives birth of vulgarity in our society. There are no dress codes for girl as a result girl wears such kind of dresses which makes the boys crazy. Moreover, the entertainment is very much suitable for all kind of provocative activities. About 15% of students are not sure about this issue because they know that it brings dirtiness. But still they like it. They think dirtiness is one kind of enjoyment. About 10% of the student says no about this issue. That means they think Dj party is not bring any kind of dirtiness. The reason behind this is they like this kind of modern culture and they are quite familiar about that culture. They don’t consider it as dirtiness because they are living with this kind of situation. They don’t consider it so dirtiness because they are living with this kind of situation. Conclusion Dj party is a good way of new entertainment in Bangladesh. The popularity of Dj party is known worldwide and people are aware of what Dj party is and what it does. From our survey we saw that its popularity is getting higher day by day. We made our survey of 50 students in IUB and we found most of the people like Dj party. But they all were worried about the impact of Dj party in our own culture. They suggest that if Dj party can deals with our own songs, then it will be much more accepted. In our survey, we saw that even though, most of the people like it but some of them said they do not like Dj party that much because they are very aware of our culture. They think Dj parties are hampering our culture very badly and giving birth of dirtiness in our society. Many people go to the Dj party very frequently; they spend their time keeping in touch with their friends by entertainment. They like spending the time with singing, dancing etc. Our country haven’t have many way of entertaining. So, people find it very enjoyable way of entertainment. But they don’t know that in the name of entertainment they are actually forgetting our own culture day by day as our cultural assets are not shown in these parties. For the reason of going very frequently in Dj parties they are becoming undisciplined in their practical life as there are no disciple in Dj parties. So, to conclude we can say that Dj party is very recent object in our country. We have very strong disciplined culture of our own. We have vast amount of musical assets as well. If Dj parties can remove the dirtiness, maintain the discipline and keep our culture live in the party, then it will be the one of the best ways of entertainment for everybody in our country. Recommendations: The following recommendations are made to improve the Dj parties ? Make some discipline at Dj parties. ? Should have some dress code. ? Smoking and drinking should be banned from Dj party. ? There should be age limit for the students. ? Dirtiness should be removed. We should keep our social norms and ethics. ? Dj can use our cultural songs so that our culture can be represent in a new way. ? Make a monitoring board for controlling Dj parties. References: References ? www. Google. om (last visited 16h April) ? CNN online. com (last visited 16h April) ? Sky News online edition (last visited 16h April) ? Prothom Alo Online edition (last visited 16h April) ? BBC online. com (last visited 16h April) ? The Daily Star online edition (last visited 16h April) ? elc. polyu. edu. hk/C iLL/reports. tm (last visited 16h April) ? ic. arizona. edu/~profcomm/writing/samples/report (last visited 16h April) Appendix: Sample questionnaire: [pic] Independent University Bangladesh (IUB) Survey on Do you want Dj parties more in IUB? Name: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Sex: M/F Age: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Education: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Occupation :†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Marital status: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Locality:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Please give a tick on the right option |Do you like DJ party? |Do you like to spend more time with your friends in Dj | | |parties? | | | |Yes |Yes | |No |No | | | | | | | |Do you love to listen Dj war? |How many times do you go to a Dj party in your life so | | |far? Age 18 – 24) | |Yes | | |No |0 – 5 | |Sometimes |5 – 10 | | |10 – 15 | | |More | |How frequently do yo u go to Dj parties? |Dj party is: | |Once in a week | | |Twice in week |Awesome | |Once in a month |Very good | |I don’t go to Dj parties Good | | |Dirty | |Dj party is good for IUB students? |Dj party should be banned in our country. | | |Off course NOT | |Agree |Should be banned | |Disagree |It’s up to govt. | |May be | | |Dj parties bring dirtiness in our culture. |What do you want in a Dj party? | |Classified DJ mix | |Yes |No dirtiness | |No |Classical music | |May be |Wide open venue | |Who cares | | Question 11 to 14 estimates the stage of your preference regarding the Dj parties. |5= Strongly Agree 4= Agree 3=Strongly Disagree 2= Disagree 1= Neutral |5 |4 |3 |2 |1 | |11. |DJ parties are necessary for the entertainment? | | | | | | |12. |Dj parties are the only way of entertainment? | | | | | | |13. |Do you think Dj parties are really essential for the corporate parties? | | | | | | |14 |Now a days Dj parties are giving birth of vulgarity/filthiness in our society. | | | | | | |Your opinion about Dj party in IUB: | ———————– [pic] [pic] [pic]

Child Marriage in Bangladesh Essay

Juvenile marriage has long been an issue in many developing countries where poverty, lack of education and strong cultural traditions and religious beliefs exist. It is most prevalent in – however not restricted to South Asia, especially Bangladesh where studies have shown that the practice of juvenile marriage is most common and severe. Although the legal age of marriage for women in Bangladesh is 18, some girls are married off as young as seven years old mainly as a result of poverty which consumes 55% of the population and also because Bangladesh is a patriarchal society where there overall attitude towards women is â€Å"galay atkano kata† which is translated to â€Å"the spine of a fish stuck in the throat†. In the rural areas of Bangladesh, certain cultural traditions must be preserved as they have been present for centuries and also contribute to juvenile marriage as dowry, which mainly exists in patrilineal societies, determines how much the bride’s parents must pay to the in-laws which varies upon the age of the girl. On the surface, it would seems as though Bangladeshis accept this atrocity and feel quite passive towards it as they are aware that juvenile marriage is being practiced but do not take action against it. Is it because human rights are not universal? Could it be possible that something such as juvenile marriage is overlooked because the vast majority of the population of Bangladesh is not educated and ignorant to such and through intervention, they could benefit from the first world’s input in regards to their sociocultural â€Å"issues†? It is evident that juvenile marriage is very common and equally problematic in South Asia and seems to be an issue which is most present in developing countries for varies reasons which are customized to that particular culture and region. The marriage of a child is illegal in all of the countries in which it takes place and even in spite of actions such as reinforcement of laws opposing to such, juvenile marriage continues, especially in rural, densely populated areas. This is because these societies are anchored by their cultural traditions and beliefs which have been their way of life for centuries, passed down from generation to generation. Bangladesh in particular operates as a patriarchal society and the women, both rural and rban, traditional and modern, are considered the most oppressed in the world because they live in a social system that condones their being granted an inferior status. â€Å"After birth, girls are viewed as a burden to the parental house hold, whereas boys are regarded as an asset. † (White, 1992). The minute they are brought into the world, girls are resented and considered â€Å"not valuable† as they cannot provide for their natural families financially and they will not carr y out the family name, which is very important in Bangladeshi culture. Girls are taught as early as childhood that women should always be under men’s control because the common attitude towards women is that they are weak and vulnerable and they are treated as such. In Bangladeshi society, women are unable to support and protect themselves and male guardianship is necessary to prevent possible rape and this is very important because society places the utmost importance on female sexual purity and this cannot be guaranteed if a woman is without a male guardian as 97% of all rape incidents go unreported and women are subject to brutality and even murder if they do not terminate the pregnancy before it is too late. However, abortions illegal and expensive in Bangladesh and even if a woman can afford to proceed with the termination, they are often malpracticed and result in severe infection, illness and death. Therefore, protection and security is provided (and guaranteed) through marriage and it is also a local belief that younger girls are more obedient and will become devoted to her in-laws’ family more so than her natal family which is logical considering at a young age, the girl would move to her in-law’s and essentially become more attached to her husband’s parents rather than her own. Girls are also forced to terminate any existing education (if there is any at all) when they get married and are expected to take on house hold responsibilities and cater to her in-laws right away and produce children which often results in failed pregnancies or death as they are too young and malnourished. A UNICEF report says: In many parts of South Asia, due to the poor quality of emergency obstetric care and high levels of malnutrition among young women, particularly anemia and stunting, early marriage presents considerably increased risks to life itself. Teenage mothers have a 2-5 times greater risk of maternal death than women aged 20-25 years (UNICEF, 2001: 7) It would seem that a simple and logical solution to this problem would be to continue the girls’ education as it would alleviate some of the social pressure in regards to house hold responsibilities and child-rearing and it would also provide them with life skills and knowledge which could possibly generate a new attitude towards women without disrupting the deeply rooted nature of Bangladeshi cultural traditions. Opportunities for young mothers to continue their education or to work are often limited because they have little access to resources and are responsible for child-rearing and house hold tasks. The women married at early age are more likely than those who are married off as adults to have early, frequent and unplanned pregnancies, typically from lack of contraceptive use. The children of teenage mothers experience serious health consequences as well. A child born to a teenage mother is twice more likely to die before his/her first birth day than the child of a woman in her twenties. If they survive these infants tend to have higher rates of low birth weight, premature birth and infant mortality than those born to older mothers. † (Kamal, 2011: 218). It is evident that there are very harsh social, psychological and health consequences for both women and their children which occur when a girl is married too young, juvenile marriage is not only recognized as a human rights violation, but it is also a barrier to individual and social development. As mentioned above, girls are forced to terminate their education and in most cases they have not even reached secondary level education which shows in the literacy rate among men and women which is not surprising – 38. 1% rate for women, versus the 55. 6% rate for men. Considering Bangladesh’s dense population, this is quite a significant amount of women who have received education. A study by Farah Chowdhury of the Rajshahi Univeristy in Bangladesh shows the education level of men and women in the village of Chamrabo which is in the Narshingdi District (located 30 miles from Dhaka, the capital city). Her studies indicate that: Out of a population of 261, 130 men and 131 women not including children under six years of age, fifteen of the men and 25 of the women were illiterate. Most of the villagers, both make and female, have had at least minimal schooling. Sixty-two men and 70 women completed primary education (Grades 1-5); and 24 men and 18 women secondary education (Grades 6-10). Five men had a secondary School Certificate (SSC), four a Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and one a college degree. Only one woman had an SSC and none a HSC or college degree (Chowdhury, 2004: 247). Poverty is ften a determining factor regarding education and it can be linked to the age at which a girl is married; if a family is poverty stricken, they will marry off their daughter(s) as early as possible to decrease the size of the dowry. In some cases this age could be as young as seven or younger, according to Chowdhury, the belief in some Bangladeshi villages is that seven is a suitable age for girls to marry and that girls of nine are already old and may be subject to abuse or harassment due to shame they might inflict on themselves and their families as a result of not being desirable for marriage. Naturally parents prefer to marry off their daughters before the girls are regarded as old. † â€Å"†¦ Furthermore, young girls are thought to have greater sexual and procreative power than older girls, and to be less risk of miscarriage. † (Chowdhury, 2004: 247). Although the rate of poverty in Bangladesh has decreased over the recent years, 55% of the population lives below the poverty line and among those, 27% live in extreme poverty. Most of those affected by poverty live in rural and semi urban areas where they cannot afford to send their children to school. However, the problem goes both ways as the Bangladeshi education system also faces challenges such as funding, inflexibility, insufficient ratio of skilled teachers to schools and lack of resources. In recent years, NGO’s like ‘Because I am a Girl’ and ‘Human Rights and Education Program for Women (HERP)’ recognized the deficit of education facilities and have stepped in to rehabilitate the education sector of Bangladesh to create an accessible and affordable system which does not discriminate against women but in fact encourages the enrollment female students by employing female teachers. NGO schools are well resourced, with a network that extends to the remotest part of the country. There schools facilitate the integration of students from economically and socially vulnerable communities, operate at times that are suitable for students (many of whom work during the day or at specific times of the year), offer small class size (with teacher-student r atios of one to thirty), and ensure and interactive learning environment. † (Arndt, Hastings, †¦ & Woods, 2005). Since patriarchal societies such as Bangladesh are very concerned about a women’s personality as they see it as a challenge and do almost anything to contain it, it seems quite logical that girls are pulled out of school early due to marriage as it disables them from knowing anything else outside of their inferiority. It also helps to diffuse the rate at which self-discovery happens by marrying the girls off at a young age which decreases their future opportunities of education and furthermore, they become more submissive to their husbands and simply accept the life they are forced to live as they do not know any other way. Their great, great grandmothers did the same and it is a tradition that has been passed down by many generations. However, with this system in place there is some hope. The educational sector’s main goal and aspiration is to break the cycle of dependent women and rid them of their inferior status. Through education, women can learn how to be self-reliant and resourceful, they will be taught personal development and will understand their bodies as well as become aware of their rights as women. This is interesting because these opportunities could spark a new generation of women who will not tolerate their subjective social roles which could lead to protests and other actions against gender exploitation and oppression. It is not something that would happen overnight of course, possibly over a few decades women would start to realize their worth and become bold enough to speak out and protest but even still, education alone cannot change the rich, traditional cultural soil in which the beliefs of society is so firmly planted. Knowledge will empower the women of Bangladesh but it will not change their sociocultural position and it does not change the existing issue of poverty. Even if the education is provided and accessible, the issue of poverty is still present and as long as poverty exists, poor parents will be inclined to marry their daughters as early as possible to decrease the amount of the dowry owed to the groom’s family. As discussed above, traditional cultural values and beliefs outweigh all other potential blames to child marriage even though poverty seems to be the main cause, it is simply a scratch at the surface to the bigger picture. It would seem as though Bangladeshis practicing juvenile marriage are doing so because they feel it is a divine command and in not doing so they are exempt from society and victims of harassment, dishonor and shame. However, if we examine the situation carefully, we will see that the locals are not marrying their daughters off as young as possible simply to decrease the dowry, it is mostly because of their traditional beliefs about fertility in relation to age. Therefore, juvenile marriage cannot be directly linked to poverty because the strong influence of local beliefs is almost certainly the main cause as ethnic communities are inclined to trust their beliefs as well as respect and preserve their traditions. The locals of rural Bangladesh have relied on the same superstitions, methods and practices for centuries, it is deeply embedded in their culture and essentially it is the glue that holds them all together. Bangladeshi officials are aware that juvenile marriage is taking place in the rural areas and they recognize this as a punitive crime but they do not risk interfering or tampering with such rituals as it could lead to an even bigger problem such as the collapse of a society. It is a local belief that if a woman’s marriage is prevented or interrupted, the woman has been a victim of sorcery and she must be exiled from the community. In most cases these women are children and they are taken outside of the village to remote areas, blindfolded and left there with no food or means of survival which results in death. The girl’s family is said to be subject to harassment, and if they have other children, they will be considered socially condemned and will not be desirable by other in the village to marry. It is also believed that the parents will inherit the age of the girl in years of bad luck, example: if the child was five years old, the parents will inherit five years of bad luck. So, Bangladesh will continue to suffer as a result of such an intricately woven culture, everything is connected and affected by their belief system which makes for a fragile society. In conclusion, juvenile marriage is a violation of human rights and has physical, intellectual, psychological and emotional implications for the young brides. It deprives girls of their childhood and adolescence where crucial development occurs and this is important for the promotion of good mental and sexual health. From an outsider’s point of view, the issue of juvenile marriage seems easy enough to â€Å"fix† with a simple prescription of proper education and the implication of Western knowledge and sociocultural values but it is not that easy to undo centuries of rich and complex cultural values, in other words, we cannot use the †Band-Aid† approach to cover up an issue which needs to be addressed internally. So how can we prevent juvenile marriage? An obvious solution is to change the male views and attitudes towards women which can be addressed by including women’s studies and sexual/personal development in the syllabus of primary and higher levels of education. Also, the state should see that sufficient measures are put in place to ensure that women have the same rights and obligations to look after their natural families both financially and physically because if this became a strong social value, then girls would not be considered a burden to their families and this would increase their sociocultural â€Å"value†. Finally, the belief that women are weak and vulnerable is the result of the lack of social security provided for women in Bangladesh so if the state cannot ensure the security of women, then naturally the people (especially the men) of Bangladesh will be reassured in their beliefs of women and that they are in constant need of protection of their male guardians which will further encourage the practice of child marriage.

COMS 445 Portfolio Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

COMS 445 Portfolio Paper - Essay Example The theme song and opening sequence set the sequel of the show. Why was the show viewed negatively? In this paper I will recommend that The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the African American sitcom broadcast in the 1990s, might be recognized a vehicle through which the accepted representation of dark characters in the last part of the twentieth century has been undermined, addressing the old stereotypes about African Americans, consistent with which a character must be poor, ghettoized or a criminal. One of the points of this paper is to highlight and to analyze why the show was seen contrarily in connection to the everlasting social crash between blacks and whites and, most importantly, as Brooks and Marsh uphold, "the troubles confronted by blacks in a white social order" (Brooks & Mash, p368). Moreover, having investigated the first season of the arrangement, I will offer a few perceptions identified with the part of the primary character, featured by the performer Will Smith, and his connection with alternate parts of the family, highlighting that the hero's assignment to think about his relatives' societal position and conduct as absence of Blackness is a methodology that permits the other dark characters to subvert the universal picture of African Americans offered by American broad communications everywhere throughout the planet. The point of this approach could be recognized an approach to decipher the new dark socio-social environment of the most recent decades of the previous century in the USA, permitting viewers of the nations where the sitcom was publicized to meet and comprehend key parts of the American dark group of that period (Brooks & Mash, p367). Judging by a confounding African American circumstance parody by Means Coleman for its unique approach to delineate additionally undermine conventional pictures of dark stereotypes, The Fresh sovereign of Bel-Air is frequently looked into (Coleman, p144). It is conceivable to look after that all around t he entire first season, that incorporates 24 scenes, two propensities are unmistakable: the first is undoubtedly the representation of the everlasting crash between the primary character of the story and his relatives, addressing the accepted part of dark characters in the handling on TV in the twentieth century, and the second one is identified with the challenges of living in a white rich neighborhood being part of the Black group. These two focal issues are addressed and confronted through two coordinating techniques. The clearer of the two is portrayed by the incessant verbal battles between the principle characters, and the other one uses amusing and evidently say-nothing circumstances to highlight the issues this rich dark family needs to face as a result of a white-focused social order (Coleman, p168). How does Zook re-interpret the show? How does Zook re-translate the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air? According to zook, when Fox's urban system was started in 1986, the system tight th rew or focused on a particular back viewership and counter-customizing against different shows to suite that group of onlookers' taste (Zook, p90). As per Zook, a normal for dark Tv is socially particular feel. While rap music and graffiti-like representation were regular on white shows of this period also, Afrocentric Clothing, haircuts, and antiquities performed particular capacities in dark shows, for example the new ruler of bel-air with continuous references to Malcom X,

Answering Questions Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 10

Answering Questions - Research Paper Example His ideas about gender roles are therefore reflections of his views of their roles that he develops about them while interacting with them as father, mother, sister, teacher etc. Woolf on the other hand uses her imagination to develop and organize her ideas to compare gender roles before the eighteenth century. While acceding that Shakespeare had the facilitating environment of education, opportunities and support to exploit his potential as a playwright, poet and theatre artist, women were not only deprived of education but were also denied decision making power with regard to their life. Woolf used the concept of male dominant society to imagine the plight of women and stifling of their desire to pursue their dreams. The physical and mental abuse of women has therefore been presented as major factors for the subjugation of women. Moreover, Woolf feels that social dynamics could have forced women to use pseudonyms and many renowned names in the area of art and literature could actually have been women. I do not believe that much has changed since Sanders the time he wrote his essay. The major reasons is that he has contemplated various roles of women, including working women or women could have been abused in relationship etc. as well as men under different situation. While assuming that even if women have become more empowered through education with wider opportunities for becoming financially secure, Sanders believed that men also underwent difficult time and were vulnerable to exploitation by others. Furthermore, essay was written when women were empowered with education and Sanders saw their cribbing as unjustified when men were burdened with more responsibility and subjected to harsher circumstances to maintain their role as breadwinner. Indeed, he believed that circumstances and the way issues are perceived and consequently tackled by individuals becomes critical

Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Entrepreneurship - Essay Example There is also political entrepreneurship which is a discipline involving the application of the entrepreneurial principles by politicians to benefit from the political arena. Intra-prerneurship is another form of entrepreneurship that entails the application of the entrepreneurial principles within the organization in order to transform the whole organization by changing the way things are done in that organization. Within the organization, an entrepreneur acts as an agent of change, seeking to change the status quo of the organization. The entrepreneurial activities involve changing the way the business is done through an introduction of new goods and services or new processes. It also entails the exploration of new sources of material for use in the production process as well as new combinations that gives quality products while minimizing on the costs incurred. Thus, entrepreneurship is about creating business efficiency and effectiveness. It involves the process of creation of new business entities or making the already existing ones more productive (Livingston, 2007 p45). My future ambition is to become an astute entrepreneur, establishing new business and making them more productive and profitable. This is in line with the entrepreneurial characteristics that I posses. The fact that I have discipline is a pathway towards enabling me become an entrepreneur. This characteristic is desirable for any one aspiring to become an entrepreneur, in that it determines the commitment that the individual will have towards the business they seek to establish or run. Even though capital and visionary objectives may count as necessities towards becoming a successful entrepreneur, they do not count as does discipline. Discipline ensures that individuals commit themselves to the business they want to start or the one they are heading, giving it all their efforts. It is this discipline that ensure that the entrepreneur do not give up trying when the business seems not to be performing as expected (Bailetti, 2012 p120). Further, discipline ensures that individuals takes responsibility, and are accountable for each of their activities. Without discipline, an individual would skip some of their duties and opt to indulge elsewhere, when they are not supervised or monitored by other people. It is discipline that guarantees individuals good leadership, which is a necessity for achieving success. To achieve team work, which is a necessity for success in any business undertaking, an individual needs to be disciplined. It allows them respect other members of their team and accept to be led by others without feeling as though they are the best in everything (Howkins, 2005 p11). High risk propensity is the other of my trait that can see me through my ambition of becoming an entrepreneur. This characteristic is desirable since the world of business is very dynamic, and some occurrences are never foreseen or anticipated until they occur (Duening, 2009 p66). It is difficult to adapt to market changes, if an individual lacks this trait in them. Risk taking prop ensity allows an individual to invest in a field that others consider inappropriate to commit their resources. A high risk taking propensity allows individuals to seek for resources to start businesses, when they are in shortage of such resources. If individuals

FASB Codification System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

FASB Codification System - Essay Example professionals along with investors and analysts a professional view where many state of the art utilities offers wide feature, search facility and navigating contents. It gives information on the accounting standards, cross referencing and navigating. Also there is printer friendly source utility for viewing source references. So basically it allows the professionals to keep update on accounting standards, information, and location of member, conduct research and locate professional around the network. 3. The nine contents areas located in the FASB codification system are General principles, presentations, assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, expenses, broad transactions and industry. Thus the codification system is an organized structure with comprehensive topics. These subdivided nine topics have sections and paragraphs. 4. The nine contents have types of items and general principles detail on all the accounting principles and laws to simplify users access. The presentation offers guidance on the preparation of income and financial statement purpose and calculating earnings per share. The asset content has information on investments, accounting receivables and inventory. Liability section has assets retirement and environment obligations, contingencies, distinguishing liabilities from equity and accounting principles. The equity section explains status, recognition and SEC material required to record equity based payment to non – employees. The revenue area informs accounting professional about revenue recognition and accounting standard updates. Expenses guides on procedures to report stock compensation, compensation research and development with regard to preparing income taxes. The broad transaction gives information on business combination, consolidation, fair value measurement and disclo sure, leases and financial instruments. Finally, the industry section gives user in regard to industries including oil and gas, dealers, brokers and

Simple report Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Simple report - Term Paper Example The text book was not easy to understand. I had to consult a number of sources in order to comprehend the concepts presented in the text book. Online sources like webibliography were particularly useful in clearing my ambiguities and misconceptions regarding writing. The Writing Center provides an individual with the opportunity to attend a conference online in which he/she can have one-to-one conversation with a writing expert on a piece of expository writing. I find report writing a very time consuming activity. A lot of time goes into deciding the subject of writing and brainstorming so as to acquire a whole range of ideas before the writing can actually be commenced. I find this exercise very lethargic. The process of writing was particularly difficult for me because English is not my mother tongue. It gets very hard to organize wild thoughts into a coherent argument when it is to be done in a second language. Therefore, in an attempt to improve the quality of my work, I would ask my friends to have a look at it and point out the mistakes before I forwarded the final version to the mentor for grading. In addition to that, I used to communicate with my friends in no other language but English all the time with a view to achieving fluency in speaking English and becoming confident with its use in speech and in writing. Now, that I have been through this class, I notice a lot of improvement in my writing skills. Although my current self-grading i.e. 4 and 5 out of 10 is remarkably low, yet it is much better than the scores of 1 and 2 which used to reflect my competence in writing before I took this course. I am positive that a little practice every day would drastically improve these scores. I have organized the improvements I now notice in my writing ability after this course below: I maintain the lines of communication with my colleagues so as to establish the goals of

Miscarriage of Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Miscarriage of Justice - Essay Example This implies that the issue is broad-spectrum as it incorporates both criminal and white collar crimes (McBannet, 1981, p.45). Certain indications in wrongful convictions portray synonymous characteristics to miscarriage of justice. A closer look at the events surrounding this issue reveals that the most injurious cases happen when a person faces wrongful conviction. The Criminal Justice system can also be faulted as wrong convictions hold for many years (Wilhouter et al, 2009, 2). It is unfortunate that innocent convicts can spend numerous years behind bars. Upon release, ex-convicts still suffer stigmatization in the society. The Guildford four and the Birmingham six serve as the best example of such cases. The most conspicuous aspect of controversy in such cases is generally embodied in the legality of the death penalty. Due to the alarming trend of wrongful convictions in the recent past, the legitimacy of the death penalty has constantly been reviewed. Critics and opponents of t he drug penalty argue that innocent suspects are likely to suffer death for crimes they have not committed (Sanders & Young, 2007, p.10). The issue remains controversial because death is irreversible and nothing can be done to repair the damage of a wrong conviction. A common practice that has led to much emphasis on miscarriages of justice is the emergence of crucial DNA evidence that has helped clear many people from false accusations (Douglas, 2011, p.1). Forensic evidence has helped to exonerate innocent suspects and even wrongfully convicted prisoners. The pile up of unjust conviction cases led to the formation of the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 1997 (Rock, 2004, p.23). CCRC is deemed as the probable avenue towards success where the police, human rights institutions, and the courts have seemingly failed. A major cause for concern in this case, emanates from the fact that the above named institutions focus on errors that are somewhat premeditated (Lauden, 2006, p.98). Th is is mainly attributed to corruption. It means that given certain circumstances, a breach of ethics, laws, and common sense is usually evident. This is despite the fact that rejection of liberty stands out as a grave state sanction in the United Kingdom (Cater-Ruck, 1992, p.172). Most countries demand that whenever an individual is wrongfully convicted, and in the event suffers damage to himself or his family, he should be adequately compensated. However, compensation involves certain points of consideration that need to be verified before any progress on the same (Williams, 1999, 63). Common knowledge suggests that very few people will disagree with this assumption. On that note, it is important to look at issues surrounding a miscarriage of justice and how it possibly happens. Cases of biasness are common in the event of wrongful conviction and they include actions like unfair editing of evidence, fabrication of evidence by the police or the prosecution, issues of identification, contaminated evidence, and many other factors. Many people have been victims of the above implications and this has landed them several consequences which are regrettable since they happen to be innocent. Most people base their arguments on the harsh realities of death by execution in such cases but is should also be remembered that time spent in jail brings irreversible consequences to the person. Issues associated with miscarriage of ju

Advanced financial accounting Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Advanced financial accounting - Assignment Example Positive Accounting Theory (PAT) involves predictions of choices of firms as pertains accounting policies and the response of firms to any new accounting policies. It also seeks to explain such decision-making actions by the management of different companies. Positive Accounting Theory makes use of theories to draw predictions on the choices management would likely make when selecting accounting policies to implement or use (Deegan, 2009, p.53). According to the theory, the conduct of any firm is in such a way that would maximize its best interests. In this regard, managers would likely do what they feel is best for the company at the expense of the interests of shareholders. In arriving at the choices to pursue, firms are guided by factors within the industry in which they operate. It is such factors on which the positive accounting theory lays a focus. Positive Accounting Theory’s focus is on the relationship that exists between different stakeholders in a business. The stakeholders provide resources to the firm in different capacities. Apart from this relationship, the theory also looks at how accounting would affect the functionality of such relationships. Through agency theory, positive accounting theory explains the possible motivations that guide managers in their choice of preferred accounting methods. In this light, the assumption is that managers, who are agents, would seemingly engage in activities that would create benefits for them at the expense of their principals (Deegan, 2009, p.54). The introduction of restrictive contracts, therefore, comes handy. However, managers still need some freedom to make decisions dependent on the situation. The positive accounting theory has two perspectives namely the efficiency perspective and the opportunistic perspective. The perspectives explain the conduct of managers in as much as choosing accounting policies is concerned. Under the efficiency perspective,

Business information and their sources Essay Example for Free

Business information and their sources Essay This report aims to show the different forms of information used in HM. It will tell us if we need to improve on any of our methods of communication, or if we need to enhance any methods we use. Internal information is when it can be found from inside the business, such as previous sales records. External information is when the information needs to be found from outside the company, for example in books or customer feedback forms. Primary information is when you have received the information fist hand, either through a report or through surveys. We need internal information for evidence so nothing is mis interpreted within the business. Internal information can be previous records, we need these to write reports and to make sure the business isn’t at a loss. HM need external information to monitor new trends so we can stay ahead of fashion. We do this by getting our internal and external customers to complete questionnaires. It is important that we do this so our customers always stay interested in the clothes that we have on offer so we do not lose any business. Combining internal and external information is very effective because your ideas can be expanded by using existing ideas but with our own unique twist. So we can take an existing idea on a clothing range, but then add something to it based on the feedback and ideas we get from our customers. Internal information can be more important for HM than external information because it includes private details and information of the company that cannot be found anywhere else. This would be needed if we were to start a sale because we’d have to know what products are not selling well to put them in the sale. However, external information can be seen as more important that internal information because it includes new information from customer feedback. This is much needed because it would help our business form fresh ideas and to help us move forward. Internal information cannot help us do this. HM need primary information to help the business run smoother and gain new  ideas. We can do this by getting surveys from the public to get more ideas on things we can sell or do in store. Primary information is very useful because it can be used for a lot of different things, for example customer service or new clothing ranges. Also it is usually very reliable because you have created it. Secondary information can also be used to gain new ideas. We can use secondary information to do this because the information has already been created so we could just expand on the information to make it unique and our own. A combination of primary and secondary information is important because it means that we can monitor our own records and also monitor our competitor’s records so that we can always try to stay on top. Primary can be more important than secondary information because we are actually creating the informatio9n so it is 100% reliable whereas secondary information is not always be reliable because it was created by an unknown source. Verbal information is when it can be spoken, for example a phone call. In our company, we give verbal information to our staff and customers. We verbally give information to our staff because it is quick and easy. Written information is written down to pass information, for example a letter or email. We use written information to communicate because it can be used as confirmation and it is harder to be forgotten if you have it written down. We also give written confirmation to our customers all the time, for example receipts. We do this so there is proof of purchase and there is no mis understanding between the business and the customers. Multimedia can be shown through moving adverts or audio. It is a very effective way to present information because it engages the reader a lot more than a bit of writing on a piece of paper. We use multimedia in different ways, for example, on our website there are videos of our products being modelled and shown on the catwalk. We use multimedia in this way so our customers will stay engaged and will be more interested in our products if they see them on top models. Using a combination of verbal and written information is more effective than just using either one of them. Having a staff meeting is quick, easy and usually there isn’t any miscommunication. To guarantee that there has been no mis communication, you can send an email after the meeting has taken place just too highlight was said in the meeting. Verbal information is  sometimes better than written information because if we needed to pass information on to our team, having a meeting where we could easily speak to them all at once is more appropriate than using written information by sending an e-mail or letter where there could be mis-communication. Written information can be better than verbal information when for example we needed to confirm a purchase with a customer. We would need to give them a type of written confirmation because if the sale was done verbally, information could easily be forgotten or mis-communication could occur. To conclude I am going to summarise this report. The way we use internal and external information is very successful because HM uses original ideas combined with ideas from customer feedback to improve the way the company functions. How primary and secondary information is used in the company is also successful. This is due to us using our own reliable information (primary) and comparing it to our competitor’s information (secondary) to monitor whether we are currently popular or not. Verbal and written information is the most effective way of transferring information within HM. This is because there is a very small chance of mis-communication if verbal and written information is given properly. To fully conclude, HM are transferring information successfully in all different ways.

Prison makes bad people worse Essay Example for Free

Prison makes bad people worse Essay In the year 2002, there were just over 68,000 persons in prison in England and Wales, 6,000 in Scotland and 1,200 in Northern Ireland. In the case of England and Wales, this is a few thousand more than in 1999, but at this time the plateau stood in marked comparison to the trend up to 1997-8 and it was by no means certain that this could be maintained, (Morgan, 2002). These findings serve to highlight the progressive increase in rising prison numbers in the UK the causes of which are continually in debate and beg the question; what happens when there is no more room left in our prisons? For the purpose of this essay, this author assumes that the statement â€Å"prison makes bad people worse† infers that an offender, who serves a custodial sentence, is more likely to re-offend upon release. Before evaluating this statement and reaching a conclusion, this author will introduce a brief history of the prison system in an attempt to offer an understanding of how imprisonment has become the most severe penalty imposed on offenders in the UK today. Prisons all over the world have existed for many years for the purpose of confining those in society who have committed a crime serious enough to warrant such a sentence. The purpose of prison is now not only to inflict a punishment but also to attempt to rehabilitate offenders contrasting with the early days of imprisonment where little rehabilitative work was done. A custodial sentence is now the most severe penalty that an offender can be sentenced to in the UK following the abolition of the death penalty in 1965. Imprisonment is intended to punish offenders through restricting freedom and liberty as well as unfavourable living conditions in the name of ‘less eligibility’, (Morgan, 2002). This in no way is intended to suggest that conditions in prisons are inhumane although reports exist from previous investigations that would suggest otherwise. Punishment for offenders was served in a very different manner prior to the nineteenth century. Punishments at this time in the main consisted of physical punishment which would often involve torture, public humiliation and even execution. After decades of this type of punishment being administered, the torture and public humiliation elements ceased. The infliction of physical pain was replaced by the principle that the loss of rights and wealth would serve as an adequate deterrent for further offending. Although this altered form of punishment apparently focused on the mind of the individual, it could still be argued that custodial sentences still impose an element of physical torture indirectly by food rationing, sexual deprivation and solitary confinement. These aspects of punishments are still relevant within the penal system today, (Flynn, 1998). Many different explanations exist for why this change from physical punishment to imprisonment came about, one of which argues that the reason for the shift was due to humanitarianism and reform which would offer a more humane and civilised alternative to the methods of previous years, (Wilson, Ellis, Mikulski, Nash, 2003). An opposing argument suggested that this was not the case and that the defining of a new age and more effective punishment by focusing on the reform of offenders into the ‘disciplined subject’ were the main reasons for this shift in operation, (Foucault, 1977). Despite this argument, one of the most influential factors associated with how prisons operate in the UK today is the concept of human rights. The 1998 Human Rights Act governs these rights. Along with this, the Prisons Inspectorate introduced guidelines on what factors should constitute a healthy custodial environment based on international human rights principles. Arising from the World Health Organisation’s influence, four tests are used to identify whether a healthy custodial environment is present. Firstly, prisoners must be held in safety. Secondly, they must be treated with respect and dignity as human beings. Thirdly, they must be able to engage in purposeful activity, and lastly, prisoners must be prepared for resettlement into the community prior to release, (Owers, 2003). Because of the unpleasantness of imprisonment it is necessary for this type of punishment to be justified. Prison can be very unpleasant for many offenders as their liberty is severely reduced, their contact with family and friends is minimised, and it can infer many social disadvantages that may lead to offenders becoming socially excluded upon their release from custody. In order to justify imprisonment as a viable punishment, numerous theories or arguments have been introduced in an attempt to support this sentencing option. One argument that attempts to justify imprisonment is the concept of Reductionism. This argument suggests that custodial sentences reduce the number of crimes committed. Those in agreement with this theory also argue that the number of crimes committed will be less if someone is punished in this manner, than there would be if no punishment were imposed at all, (Cavadino Dignan, 1997). This theory also suggests that society as a whole, has a greater influence than the individual and therefore an offender would be powerless to justify not going to prison if he/she had committed a crime that endangered public safety, (Abercrombie, Hill, Turner, 1988). However, it could be argued that this theory suggests that crimes are only committed by those who are in prison ignoring the concept that there are many in society committing crimes that have never been caught. Deterrence is another theory used to justify imprisonment as an appropriate punishment by arguing that people will not offend because they are too fearful of the consequences should they be caught as the punishment is seen as too severe. There are two elements to this theory, firstly there is individual deterrence which suggests that an offender will not re-offend because the punishment they received last time was so severe that it has deterred them from doing it again. Secondly, there is general deterrence which argues that a punishment imposed on one offender for a crime will deter others from offending, as they know exactly what the consequences are. At first glance, deterrence theory appears to hold validity, but in reality research findings have indicated that sentencing offenders to custodial sentences has a more influential effect. Once an offender has been in prison they may find themselves labelled by the rest of society and categorised into a stereotype with unfavourable connotations. This may hinder their attempts to live lawful lives for example; problems getting a job and even psychological effects, which may become apparent in their behaviour, (Cavadino Dignan, 1997). This evidence could be used to support the argument that prison does make people worse. Rehabilitation theory suggests that some forms of punishment can actually reduce the likelihood of re-offending and alter an offender’s behaviour and attitude. Together the prison service and the probation service are heavily involved with rehabilitation as well as the treatment and training of offenders, (Wilson et al, 2003). As a main aim of the prison service to assist in the rehabilitation of offenders, the provision of accredited programmes such as PASRO (Prisons Addressing Substance Related Offending) and ETS (Enhanced Thinking Skills) attempt to address prisoners’ offending behaviour whilst in prison. However, a report by the Social Exclusion Unit found that the prison experience causes such damage to an offenders’ rehabilitation that it outweighs the effectiveness of the programmes, (Solomon, 2003). Another criticism of the penal system is that many offenders are sentenced to such short periods of custody that they are unable to gain access to any rehabilitative interventions. This evidence could also suggest that prison can make bad people worse. The theory of incapacitation implies more emphasis on public protection rather than the behaviour of offenders which coincidently is another main remit of the probation service. Quite simply, this theory argues that if an offender is in custody they are unable to commit crime and therefore ensuring public safety for the duration of the sentence giving piece of mind to members of society, (Ainsworth, 2000). It could be argued that this theory fails to recognise that crime often occurs within prisons including violence, bullying and drug offences. Another criticism of this theory is that as mentioned earlier, the public will only be protected in this manner for the duration of a sentence. Lastly, retribution theory holds that punishment is imposed on an offender to redress the balance between offenders and their victims in making sure that the offender suffers for their crime. Ainsworth (2000), recognises that seeing an offender incarcerated may make the victims feel that justice has been done. However, this is often not the case as many offenders receive sentences that the victim may feel does not reflect the harm that has been caused to them as a result of the offence. Now that some of the justifications for imprisonment have been discussed, it is now possible to explore conformity within prisons which may assist in reaching a conclusion on whether the statement â€Å"prison makes bad people worse† can be justified. Conformity, a theory closely linked with labelling theory, suggests that an individual may conform to social rules or may even assume a social role because it is recognised as the norm in their environment. Heavily influenced by the levels of power, social roles exist predominantly in the prison environment especially between prison officers and offenders. One study that attempted to explore power dynamics and how easy it is to assume a role was conducted in August 1971 by psychologist Philip Zimbardo and was named the Stanford Prison Experiment. Twenty-five male volunteers took part in the experiment and were taken to a mock prison where each person was assigned a role of either prisoner or guard. The guards had the authority to dictate 24 hour a day rules to the prisoners the results of which were shocking and are still referred to today. A number of prisoners had to be released due to mental health illnesses arising from the trauma of the situation. The experiment, which was intended to last for two weeks, was terminated after six days due to the pathological reactions of the prisoners who ironically had been selected for their normality. The findings were that the environment transformed the participants and after a few days, the role dominated the person, (Alexander, 2001). This experiment highlighted social power as the being the major factor in the participant’s behaviour as all the guards at some point displayed abuse, authoritarian attitudes, and appeared to enjoy being in control. Zimbardo argued that this abnormal behaviour is a product of transactions within an environment that supports this behaviour. The labels placed upon the participants became valid in this environment and pathological behaviour was the outcome, (Wilson et al, 2003). This experiment still has implications for the prison system today in that Zimbardo argued that the current prison system is guaranteed to cause severe pathological reactions within prisoners causing a debasement of their humanity, low self esteem and making it difficult to integrate into society outside of prison, (Wilson et al, 2003). This would suggest that labelling and conformity theories are a case for prison making bad people worse. Whilst in prison an offender may assume a role that could be continued upon their release. Zimbardos’ experiment provides an adequate basis for discussing the sociological theory of a prison subculture sometimes referred to as the inmate code. The prison society exists apart from the rest of society and therefore it is understandable that norms and values are very different between the two. Sykes (1958) found that the inmate code is something that may give a prisoner an identity and help them to cope with the effects of imprisonment. The code is thought to include certain rules such as not fraternising with staff, acquiring a position in the inmate ‘pecking order’, and giving the impression of toughness in emotion and physical appearance. Clemmer (1940) argued this to be part of the prisonisation process which arguably reinforces criminal behaviour as prisoners become used to opposing authority which is likely to continue in the outside world, (Cited in Morgan, 2002). Therefore, attempts at rehabilitation may be hindered by this and could be used to argue that prison makes bad people worse. So what statistical evidence is there to support the statement â€Å"prisons make bad people worse†? Reports into the subject have found that prisons have a poor record in reducing re-offending and that 59% of offenders are reconvicted within two years of release. For male youths under the age of twenty-one, the reconviction rate is 74% over the same period of time. Research findings from the Social Exclusion Unit have indicated that re-offending by ex-prisoners costs society approximately ? 11 billion each year and that they are responsible for one in five recorded crimes, (Solomon, 2003). This evidence would appear to suggest that people who have served custodial sentences have been made worse by the experience and that imprisonment is not an effective punishment. Contributing to this argument is the theory that these statistics are only obtained from recorded crime suggesting that the figures may in reality be significantly higher as many crimes are not recorded. In conclusion it would appear that there is much evidence to support the claim that prison makes bad people worse such as the statistical evidence revealing reconviction rates. On the other hand, there are also arguments for prison as an effective punishment such as the justifications for imprisonment including rehabilitation and deterrence theories. It would appear that prison does indeed have an influence on some prisoners re-offending but it would be difficult to assume that this is the case for all offenders who have served a custodial sentence. This would suggest that for some offenders prison is effective and for others it is not. Having said this, it is important to recognise that prison does ensure public safety from offenders who pose danger to society, but only for the period they are in custody unless they emerge from prison rehabilitated. For those offenders who could be dealt with in another manner, community penalties offer the versatility in sentencing options necessary to provide effective punishment without contributing to the growing problem of increasing prison numbers. It is therefore vital that the most appropriate punishment is imposed individually taking the crime and the offenders’ circumstances into account when sentencing.

The Benefits Of Strategic Planning Business Essay

The Benefits Of Strategic Planning Business Essay Formal strategic planning is affected by the macro-environment and this is the highest level layer in the framework, this consists of a wide range of environmental factors that impact to some extent on almost all organisations. The PESTEL framework can be used to identify how future trends in the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environment and Legal environments might affect an organisation. Pestel analysis provides the broad date from which key drivers to change can be identified. By using these key drivers organisations can envision scenarios for the future. Scenarios can be used to help organisations decide if change needs to happen depending on the different ways in which the business environment may change. It is important for managers to analyse these factors in the present and how they are likely to change in the future. By analysing these, managers will be able to draw out implications for the organisation. Pestel factors are sometimes linked together i.e. technological factors can impact on economic factors. It is necessary to identify the key drivers of change these are environmental factors that are likely to have a high impact on the success or failure of the strategy. Key drivers vary by industry i.e. Primark may be concerned by social changes that can change customer tastes and behaviours. The critical issues are the implications that are drawn from the understanding in guiding strategic decisions and choices. The next stage is drawn from the environmental analysis specifically strategic opportunities and threats for the organisation. Having the ability to identify these opportunities and threats is extremely valuable when thinking about strategic choices for the future. Opportunities and threats form one half of the SWOT analysis that shapes a companys formulation. The use of SWOT analysis can help summarise the key issues from the business environment and the strategic capability of an organisation that are most likely to impact on strategy development. Once the key issues have been identified an organisation can then assess if it is capable to deal with the changes taking place within the business environment. If the strategic capability is to be understood the business must remember that it is not absolute but relative to its competitors. SWOT analysis is only useful if it is comparative, that is it examines strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis should help focus discussion on the future choices and to what extent an organisation is capable of supporting these strategies. SWOT analysis should not be used a substitute for more in-depth analysis. In responding strategically to the environment the goal is to reduce identified threats and take advantages of the best opportunities. Peter Drucker (1954), discussing the importance of business policy and strategic planning in his book The Practice of Management says we cannot be content with plans for a future that we can foresee. We must prepare for all possible and a good many impossible contingencies. We must have a workable solution for anything that may come up. By taking advantage of the strategic gap (which is an opportunity in the competitive environment that has not been fully exploited by competitors) organisations can manage threats and opportunities. Core competencies are a set of linked business processes that deliver superior value to the customer, when these are combined they create strategic value and can lead to competitive advantage. By using Porters five forces analysis which is a framework for organisations to analyse industry and business strategy, they can draw upon the five forces that determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. Three of Porters five forces refer to competition from external sources and the other two are internal threats. This analysis is just one part of the complete Porter strategic model the others include the value chain (VC) and the generic strategies. According to Porter (2008) the job of a strategist is too understand and cope with competition; however managers define competition too narrowly as if it has occurred only among today direct competitors. Competition goes beyond profits to include competitive forces such as customers, suppliers, potential entrants and substitute products; the extended rivalry that results from all five forces defines an industrys structure and shapes the nature of competition within an industry. For example Apple are good at technology and innovation therefore they can take the opportunities that give them competitive advantage and makes them leaders compared to Samsung or Nokia. Porters says there are 5 forces that shape the competition: Threat of new entrants Bargaining power of customers powerful customers usually bargain for better services which involve cost and investment Bargaining power of suppliers may determine the cost of raw materials and other inputs effecting profitability Rivalry among competitors competition influences the pricing and other costs like advertising etc. Threats from substitutes where-ever substantial investments in RD is taking place, the threat of substitutes is large. It also affects profitability. Competitive advantage is the heart of strategy and for the strategy to succeed the organisation should have relevant competitive advantage. We can see an example of this with Toshiba who operate in electrical goods, through a flexible manufacturing system it manufactures different products / varieties of some products on the same assembly lines. At Ohme it assembles nine varieties of computers on the same line and on the adjacent line it assembles 20 varieties of lap top computers. It is able to switch from one product / variety to another instantly at low cost and makes profits on low volume runs too. This flexibility of Toshiba to respond quickly and easily to the fast changing market demand is definitely one of its competitive advantages. Whereas its competitors make profits only through long volume runs of a particular model. However, there are a lot of companies who are choosing not to invest due to the recession; however Lidl and Aldi are taking advantage of supplying cheaper products giving them competitive advantage over say Waitrose. Benefits of Strategic Planning Effective strategic planning can positively improve the performance of an organisation and give them the ability to serve more clients, access additional resources or enhance the quality of service/product. It can also offer solutions to major organisational issues or challenges and gives stakeholders of the organisation an opportunity to develop harmonic solutions to long-term issues/challenges that have been affecting the organisation. Furthermore it allows for forward thinking, allowing an organisation the opportunity to pause and revisit the mission and create long-term vision. It allows clear future direction allowing stakeholders to look to the future, plan and respond to changes. Evaluation One of the major drawbacks of formal strategic planning is the uncertain dynamic environment, things change constantly and everything becomes shorter. The recession at the present time is making everything unpredictable and this is not good for strategic planning. According to Mintzberg (1994) strategic planning should be used to devise and implement the competitiveness of each business unit. Scientific management was pioneered by Fredrick Taylor (1856-1915) and involved separating thinking from doing and thus creating a new function staffed by specialists. Planning systems were expected to produce the best strategies as well as step by step instructions on how to achieve this, but this never worked well. According to Mintzberg strategic planning is not strategic thinking, the most successful strategies are visions, not plans. When an organisation can differentiate between planning and strategic thinking they can then get back to what the strategy making process should be. Once a manger has the ability to learn from all sources around him, including personal experiences and market research and can integrate this into a vision of the direction that the business can then pursue. Mintzberg suggests that strategic planning is a misconception and rests upon three unsound arguments: that prediction is possible, thats strategists can be detached from the subjects of their strategies, and that the strategy-making process can be formalised. Strategic thinkers can apply lessons learned from Mintzberg (1994) three inherent fallacies of traditional planning: The Fallacy of Prediction is the assumption that we can actually control events through a formalised process that involves people engaged in creative or even routine work and can manage to stay on the predicted course. You need more than hard facts you need the personal touch. People are not objective, they are complex. The Fallacy of Detachment is the assumption we can separate the planning from the doing, if the system does the thinking, then strategies must be detached from the tactics. Formulation from implementation, thinkers from doers. One objective is to make sure senior managers receive relevant information without having to immense themselves in the details. One fact is innovation has never been institutionalised and systems have never been able to reproduce the synthesis created by the entrepreneur or the ordinary strategist and probably never will. The Fallacy of Formulisation suggests that systems could certainly process more information, at least hard information. However they could never internalise it, comprehend it, and put it all together. Such control is more a dream that a reality. Reality tells us that anomalies, the fickle behaviour of humans and the limitations of analysis play a huge factor in the organisational outcomes and to disregard them is risky and could lead to incomplete planning. What are the limitations of strategic planning when things are changing rapidly? The limitations of formal strategic planning can be seen if the future is uncertain and the expectations divert from the plan. There could also be internal resistance to formal strategic planning due to factors including: Information flows, decision making and power relationships could be unsettled Current operating problems may drive out long-term planning efforts There are risks and fears of failure New demands will be placed on managers and staff Conflicts with the organisation are exposed Planning is expensive in time and money Planning is difficult and hard work The completed plan limits choices and activities for the organisation in the future CONCLUSIONS The question posed seems to be is strategic planning worthwhile. The answer to this lies within the organisation and is dependent upon size. It seems that the ability to learn and implement strategies contributes to the business performance of small or medium sized companies in a dynamic industry. Leadership is important and organisations today have to deal with dynamic and uncertain environments. To ensure success organisations must be strategically aware. They must understand how changes in their competitive environment are unfolding. They should constantly be on the lookout for new opportunities to exploit their strategic abilities, build on awareness and understanding of current strategies and successes. Organisations must be able to respond quickly in response to opportunities and threats. Organisations must compete effectively and out-perform their rivals in a dynamic environment; they must find suitable ways for creating and adding value for their customers. Overall they must be flexible. Organisations could think about changing their strategy to an emergent strategy which would allow them to adapt to new ideas and according to change. Emergent strategy implies that an organisation is learning what works in practice. An example of this is Groupon who provide daily deals in large cities and in return Groupon get a percentage of the deal usually 50% from the company providing the deal. The company is on track to make $500M in revenue this year and has raised its last round at a $1.35B valuation. Groupon is an example of an emergent strategy which has transformed several times. Organisations could think about downsizing production before closure as companies are killed due to an uncertain dynamic environment. In an article labelled The Real Value of Strategic Planning one manager said our planning process is like a primitive tribal ritual there is a lot of dancing, waving of feathers and beating of drums. No one is exactly sure why we do it, but there is an almost mystical hope that something good will come out of it. Another said, Its like the old Communist system: We pretend to make strategy and they pretend to follow it. Henry Mintzberg has gone so far as to label the phrase strategic planning an oxymoron. He notes that real strategy is made informally in hallway conversations, in working groups, and in quiet moments of reflection on long plane flights and rarely in the panelled conference rooms where formal planning meetings are held.

My Favorite Job-Personal Narrative Essay -- Papers

My Favorite Job-Personal Narrative Working at Woodcreek Athletic Club is the best job I ever had. The hours and pay were great. I had the best boss anyone could have, and I learned an astounding amount. The hours and pay made working at Woodcreek very enjoyable. My schedule was very flexible and could usually adjust it to fit my needs. If I needed to pick the kids up from school I could come in early so that I could leave early. I could also work out or play racquetball during working hours. They never would say anything to me as long as the club was operating smoothly. My lunch hour was also very flexible. For instance, if I had a lunch date at 11:00am on Wednesday I could take my lunch hour then. Or if I had a lunch date on Friday at 1:00pm I could take my lunch hour then. I also never had any problem getting a day off if I needed it. The pay was also outstanding. Based on a national survey of health clubs in the Free Weight Magazine I was making a salary that placed me in the top five percent of my job classification. The best part about my pay and hours was that I did not...

The Lady of Shalott by Tennyson and Lady of Shalott by Liz Loched Essay

The Lady of Shalott by Tennyson and Lady of Shalott by Liz Loched In this essay I will compare and contrast the two poems, "The lady of Shalott" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson and "Lady of Shalott" by Liz Lochhed. The two poems have very similar ideas and themes but are written in two very different styles. "The Lady of Shalott" is set in medieval times and is about a young woman trapped in a tower. She cannot leave the tower or even look out the window, as she believes that if she does a curse will come upon her. So she sits in her tower weaving and watching the people outside using a mirror. "Lady of Shalott", the second poem is set in the 20th century and is about a teenage girl getting ready for a youth club dance. As she's getting dressed she prays that she'll find a boyfriend at the dance, but in the end she returns home disappointed. The first poem, "The Lady of Shalott" is written in ballad form and has a rhythm or beat that goes A-A-A-A-B-C-C-C-B. The first part of the poem is written in a very flowing style, "On either side the river lye Long fields of barley and of rye" The way it is written makes all the verses flow together as they build up a picture of the town of Camelot. This part uses a lot of descriptive words and language, "Four gray walls, and four gray towers, Overlook a space of flowers." This works very effectively and gives you a clear picture in your mind as to how the area looks. The writer also uses imagery when he says "Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott" this suggest that the Lady is not quite real and is a reference to a kind of fantasy theme, which runs through the poem. The second part of the poem is writ... ...es between the poems as similarities though. The main differences between the two poems are the styles in which they are written. Where the first poem has a constant rhythm and rhyme scheme the second poem is written in free verse with no pattern. Another difference is the language used in the two poems. The first poem uses a lot of flowing descriptive words whereas the second poem is much more abrupt with less descriptive language. In conclusion, I would say that although the two poems have similar themes-of love and romance-they are totally different. I would say that I prefer the second poem to the first, as it is more modern. The first poem is really long and old-fashioned and written in a kind of old style language. The second is more up-to-date and easier to read and understand, so it's my favourite of the two.

Research in Genetic Engineering Should Be Halted :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

"The tools of molecular biology have enormous potential for both good and evil. Lurking behind every genetic dream come true is a possible Brave New World nightmare" (Dudley 13). Although we all might not acknowledge it, these words hold the key to the future of mankind. The science of genetic engineering, also referred to as biotechnology, first came into the scientific realm in the 1970s. This recent technology offered a new way to manipulate an organism or a population of organisms. Researchers and scientists from around the world were thrilled at the upcoming knowledge that could answer many of their questions dealing with all aspects of genetics. The new genetic engineering technology was never meant to hurt individuals. On the contrary, it offered promises of manipulating the molecules that make up the genetics of living matter in order to benefit, even save, an individual's life. Although genetic engineering promises good fortune for the human race, many questions have been raised pertaining to issues concerning safety, necessity, and, most of all, morality of the entire enterprise. It has been shown through the years, that genetic engineering not only provides great risks to men, women, and children but also presents potential dangers to the environment. True, genetic engineering can have numerous medical advantages, but overall, it is a detrimental procedure to the advancement of humanity. The subject of genetic engineering performed on humans has achieved great acclaim as well as great opposition. Some people say that genetic engineering is beneficial to society while others argue that it should be halted. In order to fully understand this issue, it is important to look at both views in this controversy. One must believe that those who do not know their opponent's arguments do not completely understand their own. When the opinion of others is known one can then become a more "intelligent and discriminating consumer of information in our media-centered culture" (Dudley 9). What are the benefits of genetic engineering? For one thing, chronic and fatal diseases can be avoided before they strike. Many lives, as well as medical dollars, could be saved if doctors could identify individuals that have a likelihood of developing heart disease, cancer, and other fatal diseases. If genetic engineering is allowed to continue, there might even someday be a cure for heart disease, arthritis, Alzheimer's, cancer, and even AIDS. Genetic engineering might also be used to correct genetic disorders.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 20

Part IV Spirit He who sees in me all things, and all things in me, is never far from me, and I am never far from him. THE BHAGAVAD GITA Chapter 20 The road was just wide enough for the two of us to walk side by side. The grass on either side was as high as an elephant's eye. We could see blue sky above us, and exactly as far along the path as the next curve, which could have been any distance away, because there's no perspective in an unbroken green trench. We'd been traveling on this road most of the day, and passed only one old man and a couple of cows, but now we could hear what sounded like a large party approaching us, not far off, perhaps two hundred yards away. There were men's voices, a lot of them, footsteps, some dissonant metal drums, and most disturbing, the continuous screams of a woman either in pain, or terrified, or both. â€Å"Young masters!† came a voice from somewhere near us. I jumped in the air and came down in a defensive stance, my black glass knife drawn and ready. Josh looked around for the source of the voice. The screaming was getting closer. There was a rustling in the grass a few feet away from the road, then again the voice, â€Å"Young masters, you must hide.† An impossibly thin male face with eyes that seemed a size and a half too large for his skull popped out of the wall of grass beside us. â€Å"You must come. Kali comes to choose her victims! Come now or die.† The face disappeared, replaced by a craggy brown hand that motioned for us to follow into the grass. The woman's scream hit crescendo and failed, as if the voice had broken like an overtightened lute string. â€Å"Go,† said Joshua, pushing me into the grass. As soon as I was off of the road someone caught my wrist and started dragging me through the sea of grass. Joshua latched onto the tail of my shirt and allowed himself to be dragged along. As we ran the grass whipped and slashed at us. I could feel blood welling up on my face and arms, even as the brown wraith pulled me deeper into the sea of green. Above the rasping of my breath I heard men shouting from behind us, then a thrashing of the grass being trampled. â€Å"They follow,† said the brown wraith over his shoulder. â€Å"Run unless you want your heads to decorate Kali's altar. Run.† Over my shoulder to Josh, I said, â€Å"He says run or it will be bad.† Behind Josh, outlined against the sky, I saw long, swordlike spear tips, the sort of thing one might use for beheading someone. â€Å"Okey-dokey,† said Josh. It had taken us over a month to get to India, most of the journey through hundreds of miles of the highest, most rugged country we had ever seen. Amazingly enough, there were villages scattered all through the mountains, and when the villagers saw our orange robes doors were flung wide and larders opened. We were always fed, given a warm place to sleep, and welcomed to stay as long as we wished. We offered obtuse parables and irritating chants in return, as was the tradition. It wasn't until we came out of the mountains onto a brutally hot and humid grassland that we found our mode of dress was drawing more disdain than welcome. One man, of obvious wealth (he rode a horse and wore silk robes) cursed us as we passed and spit at us. Other people on foot began to take notice of us as well, and we hurried off into some high grass and changed out of our robes. I tucked the glass dagger that Joy had given me into my sash. â€Å"What was he going on about?† I asked Joshua. â€Å"He said something about tellers of false prophecies. Pretenders. Enemies of the Brahman, whatever that is. I'm not sure what else.† â€Å"Well, it looks like we're more welcome here as Jews than as Buddhists.† â€Å"For now,† said Joshua. â€Å"All the people have those marks on their foreheads like Gaspar had. I think without one of those we're going to have to be careful.† As we traveled into the lowlands the air felt as thick as warm cream, and we could feel the weight of it in our lungs after so many years in the mountains. We passed into the valley of a wide, muddy river, and the road became choked with people passing in and out of a city of wooden shacks and stone altars. There were humped-back cattle everywhere, even grazing in the gardens, but no one seemed to bear them any mind. â€Å"The last meat I ate was what was left of our camels,† I said. â€Å"Let's find a booth and buy some beef.† There were merchants along the road selling various wares, clay pots, powders, herbs, spices, copper and bronze blades (iron seemed to be in short supply), and tiny carvings of what seemed to be a thousand different gods, most of them having more limbs than seemed necessary and none of them looking particularly friendly. We found grain, breads, fruits, vegetables, and bean pastes for sale, but nowhere did we see any meat. We settled on some bread and spicy bean paste, paid the woman with Roman copper coin, then found a place under a large banyan tree where we could sit and look at the river while we ate. I'd forgotten the smell of a city, the fetid mlange of people, and waste, and smoke and animals, and I began to long for the clean air of the mountains. â€Å"I don't want to sleep here, Joshua. Let's see if we can find a place in the country.† â€Å"We are supposed to follow this river to the sea to reach Tamil. Where the river goes, so go the people.† The river – wider than any in Israel, but shallow, yellow with clay, and still against the heavy air – seemed more like a huge stagnant puddle than a living, moving thing. In this season, anyway. Dotting the surface, a half-dozen skinny, naked men with wild white hair and not three teeth apiece shouted angry poetry at the top of their lungs and tossed water into glittering crests over their heads. â€Å"I wonder how my cousin John is doing,† said Josh. All along the muddy riverbank women washed clothes and babies only steps from where cattle waded and shat, men fished or pushed long shallow boats along with poles, and children swam or played in the mud. Here and there the corpse of a dog bobbed flyblown in the gentle current. â€Å"Maybe there's a road inland a little, away from the stench.† Joshua nodded and climbed to his feet. â€Å"There,† he said, pointing to a narrow path that began on the opposite bank of the river and disappeared into some tall grass. â€Å"We'll have to cross,† I said. â€Å"Be nice if we could find a boat to take us,† said Josh. â€Å"You don't think we should ask where the path leads?† â€Å"No,† said Joshua, looking at a crowd of people who were gathering nearby and staring at us. â€Å"These people all look hostile.† â€Å"What was that you told Gaspar about love was a state you dwell in or something?† â€Å"Yeah, but not with these people. These people are creepy. Let's go.† The creepy little brown guy who was dragging me through the elephant grass was named Rumi, and much to his credit, amid the chaos and tumble of a headlong dash through a leviathan marshland, pursued by a muderous band of clanging, shouting, spear-waving decapitation enthusiasts, Rumi had managed to find a tiger – no small task when you have a kung fu master and the savior of the world in tow. â€Å"Eek, a tiger,† Rumi said, as we stumbled into a small clearing, a mere depression really, where a cat the size of Jerusalem was gleefully gnawing away on the skull of a deer. Rumi had expressed my sentiments exactly, but I would be damned if I was going to let my last words be â€Å"Eek, a tiger,† so I listened quietly as urine filled my shoes. â€Å"You'd think all the noise would have frightened him,† Josh said, just as the tiger looked up from his deer. I noticed that our pursuers seemed to be closing on us by the second. â€Å"That is the way it is usually done,† said Rumi. â€Å"The noise drives the tiger to the hunter.† â€Å"Maybe he knows that,† I said, â€Å"so he's not going anywhere. You know, they're bigger than I imagined. Tigers, I mean.† â€Å"Sit down,† said Joshua. â€Å"Pardon me?† I said. â€Å"Trust me,† Joshua said. â€Å"Remember the cobra when we were kids?† I nodded to Rumi and coaxed him down as the tiger crouched and tensed his hind legs as if preparing to leap, which is exactly what he was doing. As the first of our pursuers broke into the clearing from behind us the tiger leapt, sailing over our heads by half again the height of a man. The tiger landed on the first two men coming out of the grass, crushing them under his enormous forepaws, then raking their backs as he leapt again. After that all I could see was spear points scattering against the sky as the hunters became, well, you know. Men screamed, the woman screamed, the tiger screamed, and the two men who had fallen under the tiger crawled to their feet and limped back toward the road, screaming. Rumi looked from the dead deer, to Joshua, to me, to the dead deer, to Joshua, and his eyes seemed to grow even larger than before. â€Å"I am deeply moved and eternally grateful for your affinity with the tiger, but that is his deer, and it appears that he has not finished with it, perhaps†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Joshua stood up. â€Å"Lead on.† â€Å"I don't know which way.† â€Å"Not that way,† I said, pointing in the direction of the screaming bad guys. Rumi led us through the grass to another road, which we followed to where he lived. â€Å"It's a pit,† I said. â€Å"It's not that bad,† said Joshua, looking around. There were other pits nearby. People were living in them. â€Å"You live in a pit,† I said. â€Å"Hey, ease up,† Joshua said. â€Å"He saved our lives.† â€Å"It is a humble pit, but it is home,† said Rumi. â€Å"Please make yourself comfortable.† I looked around. The pit had been chipped out of sandstone and was about shoulder deep and just wide enough to turn a cow around in, which I would find out was a crucial dimension. The pit was empty except for a single rock about knee high. â€Å"Have a seat. You may have the rock,† said Rumi. Joshua smiled and sat on the rock. Rumi sat on the floor of the pit, which was covered with a thick layer of black slime. â€Å"Please. Sit,† said Rumi, gesturing to the floor beside him. â€Å"I'm sorry, we can only afford one rock.† I didn't sit. â€Å"Rumi, you live in a pit!† I pointed out. â€Å"Well, yes, that is true. Where do Untouchables live in your land?† â€Å"Untouchable?† â€Å"Yes, the lowest of the low. The scum of the earth. None of the higher caste may acknowledge my existence. I am Untouchable.† â€Å"Well, no wonder, you live in a fucking pit.† â€Å"No,† Joshua said, â€Å"he lives in a pit because he's Untouchable, he's not Untouchable because he lives in a pit. He'd be Untouchable if he lived in a palace, isn't that right, Rumi?† â€Å"Oh, like that's going to happen,† I said. I'm sorry, the guy lived in a pit. â€Å"There's more room since my wife and most of my children died,† said Rumi. â€Å"Until this morning it was only Vitra, my youngest daughter and me, but now she is gone too. There is plenty of room for you if you wish to stay.† Joshua put his hand on Rumi's narrow shoulder and I could see the effect it had, the pain evaporating from the Untouchable's face like dew under a hot sun. I stood by being wretched. â€Å"What happened to Vitra?† Joshua asked. â€Å"They came and took her, the Brahmans, as a sacrifice on the feast of Kali. I was looking for her when I saw you two. They gather children and men, criminals, Untouchables, and strangers. They would have taken you and day after tomorrow they would have offered your head to Kali.† â€Å"So your daughter is not dead?† I asked. â€Å"They will hold her until midnight on the night of the feast, then slaughter her with the other children on the wooden elephants of Kali.† â€Å"I will go to these Brahmans and ask for your daughter back,† Joshua said. â€Å"They'll kill you,† Rumi said. â€Å"Vitra is lost, even your tiger cannot save you from Kali's destruction.† â€Å"Rumi,† I said. â€Å"Look at me, please. Explain, Brahmans, Kali, elephants, everything. Go slow, act as if I know nothing.† â€Å"Like that takes imagination,† Joshua said, clearly violating my implied, if not expressed, copyright on sarcasm. (Yeah, we have Court TV in the hotel room, why?) â€Å"There are four castes,† said Rumi, â€Å"the Brahmans, or priests; Kshatriyas, or warriors; Vaisyas, who are farmers or merchants; and the Sudras, who are laborers. There are many subcastes, but those are the main ones. Each man is born to a caste and he remains in that caste until he dies and is reborn as a higher caste or lower caste, which is determined by his karma, or actions during his last life.† â€Å"We know from karma,† I said. â€Å"We're Buddhist monks.† â€Å"Heretics!† Rumi hissed. â€Å"Bite me, you bug-eyed scrawny brown guy,† I said. â€Å"You are a scrawny brown guy!† â€Å"No, you're a scrawny brown guy!† â€Å"No, you are a scrawny brown guy!† â€Å"We are all scrawny brown guys,† Joshua said, making peace. â€Å"Yeah, but he's bug-eyed.† â€Å"And you are a heretic.† â€Å"You're a heretic!† â€Å"No, you are a heretic.† â€Å"We're all scrawny brown heretics,† said Joshua, calming things down again. â€Å"Well, of course I'm scrawny,† I said. â€Å"Six years of cold rice and tea, and not a scrap of beef for sale in the whole country.† â€Å"You would eat beef? You heretic!† shouted Rumi. â€Å"Enough!† shouted Joshua. â€Å"No one may eat a cow. Cows are the reincarnations of souls on their way to the next life.† â€Å"Holy cow,† Josh said. â€Å"That is what I am saying.† Joshua shook his head as if trying to straighten jumbled thoughts. â€Å"You said that there were four castes, but you didn't mention Untouchables.† â€Å"Harijans, Untouchables, have no caste, we are the lowest of the low. We may have to live many lifetimes before we even ascend to the level of a cow, and then we may become higher caste. Then, if we follow our dharma, our duty, as a higher caste, we may become one with Brahma, the universal spirit of all. I can't believe you don't know this, have you been living in a cave?† I was going to point out that Rumi was in no position to criticize where we had been living, but Joshua signaled me to let it go. Instead I said, â€Å"So you are lower on the caste system than a cow?† I asked. â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"So these Brahmans won't eat a cow, but they will take your daughter and kill her for their goddess?† â€Å"And eat her,† said Rumi, hanging his head. â€Å"At midnight on the night of the feast they will take her and the other children and tie them to the wooden elephants. They will cut off the children's fingers and give one to the head of each Brahman household. Then they will catch her blood in a cup and everyone in the household will taste it. They may eat the finger or bury it for good luck. After that the children are hacked to death on the wooden elephants.† â€Å"They can't do that,† Joshua said. â€Å"Oh yes, the cult of Kali may do anything they wish. It is her city, Kalighat.† [â€Å"Calcutta† on the Friendly Flyer map.] â€Å"My little Vitra is lost. We can only pray that she is reincarnated to a higher level.† Joshua patted the Untouchable's hand. â€Å"Why did you call Biff a heretic when he told you that we were Buddhist monks?† â€Å"That Gautama said that a man may go directly from any level to join Brahma, without fulfilling his dharma, that is heresy.† â€Å"That would be better for you, wouldn't it? Since you're on the bottom of the ladder?† â€Å"You cannot believe what you do not believe,† Rumi said. â€Å"I am an Untouchable because my karma dictates it.† â€Å"Oh yeah,† I said. â€Å"No sense sitting under a bodhi tree for a few hours when you can get the same thing through thousands of lifetimes of misery.† â€Å"Of course, that's ignoring the fact that you're a gentile and going to suffer eternal damnation either way,† said Josh. â€Å"Yeah, leaving that out altogether.† â€Å"But we'll get your daughter back,† Joshua said. Joshua wanted to rush into Kalighat and demand the return of Rumi's daughter and the release of all the other victims in the name of what was good and right. Joshua's solution to everything was to lead with righteous indignation, and there is a time and a place unto that, but there is also a time for cunning and guile (Ecclesiastes 9 or something). I was able to talk him into an alternate plan by using flawless logic: â€Å"Josh, did the Vegemites smite the Marmites by charging in and demanding justice at the end of a sword? I think not. These Brahmans cut off and eat the fingers of children. I know there's no finger-cutting commandment, Josh, but still, I'm guessing that these people think differently than we do. They call the Buddha a heretic, and he was one of their princes. How do you think they'll receive a scrawny brown kid claiming to be the son of a god who doesn't even live in their area?† â€Å"Good point. But we still have to save the child.† â€Å"Of course.† â€Å"How?† â€Å"Extreme sneakiness.† â€Å"You'll have to be in charge then.† â€Å"First we need to see this city and this temple where the sacrifices will be held.† Joshua scratched his head. His hair had mostly grown back, but was still short. â€Å"The Vegemites smote the Marmites?† â€Å"Yeah, Excretions three-six.† â€Å"I don't remember that. I guess I need to brush up on my Torah.† The statue of Kali over her altar was carved from black stone and stood as tall as ten men. She wore a necklace of human skulls around her neck and a girdle made of severed human hands at her hips. Her open maw was lined with a saw blade of teeth over which a stream of fresh blood had been poured. Even her toenails curved into vicious blades which dug into the pile of twisted, graven corpses on which she stood. She had four arms, one holding a cruel, serpentine sword, another a severed head by the hair; the third hand she held crooked, as if beckoning her victims to the place of dark destruction to which all are destined, and the fourth was posed downward, in a manner presenting the goddess's hand-girded hips, as if asking the eternal question, â€Å"Does this outfit make me look fat?† The raised altar lay in the middle of an open garden that was surrounded by trees. The altar was wide enough that five hundred people could have stood in the shadow of the black goddess. Deep grooves had been cut in the stone to channel the blood of sacrifices into vessels, so it could be poured through the goddess's jaws. Leading to the altar was a wide stone-paved boulevard, which was lined on either side by great elephants carved from wood and set on turntables so they could be rotated. The trunks and front feet of the elephants were stained rusty brown, and here and there the trunks exhibited deep gouges from blades that had hewn through a child into the mahogany. â€Å"Vitra isn't being kept here,† Joshua said. We were hiding behind a tree near the temple garden, dressed as natives, fake caste marks and all. Having lost when we drew lots, I was the one dressed as a woman. â€Å"I think this is a bodhi tree,† I said, â€Å"just like Buddha sat under! It's so exciting. I'm feeling sort of enlightened just standing here. Really, I can feel ripe bodhies squishing between my toes.† Joshua looked at my feet. â€Å"I don't think those are bodhies. There was a cow here before us.† I lifted my foot out of the mess. â€Å"Cows are overrated in this country. Under the Buddha's tree too. Is nothing sacred?† â€Å"There's no temple to this temple,† Joshua said. â€Å"We have to ask Rumi where the sacrifices are kept until the festival.† â€Å"He won't know. He's Untouchable. These guys are Brahmans – priests – they wouldn't tell him anything. That would be like a Sadducee telling a Samaritan what the Holy of Holies looked like.† â€Å"Then we have to find them ourselves,† Joshua said. â€Å"We know where they're going to be at midnight, we'll get them then.† â€Å"I say we find these Brahmans and force them to stop the whole festival.† â€Å"We'll just storm up to their temple and tell them to stop it?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"And they will.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"That's cute, Josh. Let's go find Rumi. I have a plan.†