Ray Lewis Leadership Essay

A leader is a person who has the ability to lead or command an entire group of people, a leader is someone who is followed by other people. Being a leader is a wonderful privilege, it is something that is not necessarily handed to an individual nor is it something that can be bought, leadership is something that is earned. This entire course we have been learning about and discussing various characteristics of effective leaders. Some of those characteristics included confidence, charisma, courage, heart, perseverance, and among many others. This paper will focus primarily on one individual who exemplifies these traits and many other characteristics which contributes greatly to his success as a leader. The person that has been selected for the basis of this paper is Ray Lewis, a twelve year pro-bowl selection linebacker from the Baltimore Ravens. The reason I have chosen Lewis for this paper is because of the qualities he has as a leader not only on the playing field, but off of it as well. He is what I believe to be the best and most motivational and inspirational player in the National Football League today, maybe even all sports. The object of this paper is to elaborate on Lewis’ characteristics and provide an explanation of his leadership style and why they are effective. This paper will begin by giving an in depth analysis of Ray. After the analysis it will then move into discussing Ray’s styles of leadership. After talking about Lewis’ styles it will then begin going through all his characteristics as a leader and what makes him stand out as a leader, in other words, I will explain why Ray Lewis is such a powerful and effective leader and the reason he stands out to people other than his organization. Ray Lewis is a professional football player who is currently in his 17th season playing for the Baltimore Ravens in the National Football League. Lewis, born on May 15th 1975, ranks him amongst one of the oldest current players in the league. Even at age thirty-seven Lewis manages to still be one of the most dominant forces in the game today even while competing with and against athletes who are nearly half of his age. Seasoned but experienced, Lewis still has much to offer his team regardless of his age. Statistically Lewis still remains up near the top of the list. In seventeen seasons Lewis has won multiple individual awards as well as team awards during his time in the NFL. Lewis has been selected to thirteen pro-bowl appearances in his seventeen year career. Essentially the pro-bowl is a nation wide vote on what players go to an all-star game, the players who are selected are deemed the best at their position during that year. Lewis has also been selected as the best defensive player in football in two of those seasons, which earned him the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2000 and 2003. In 2000, the Baltimore Ravens lead by Lewis were underdogs in the biggest game of the year, the Superbowl. The Baltimore Ravens won that game 34-7 over the New York Giants to clinch the perfect end to their season. Lewis became only the second linebacker to win the MVP award for his performance in that game. Adding to his collection of individual awards was the ultimate award of National champions after winning the Superbowl. Since 1996 Lewis has started 228 regular season games and 17 playoff games. In those 228 games he has recorded 2,061 tackles, 41 sacks (times tackled the Quarterback), 31 interceptions, and 3 defensive touchdowns. These numbers are a clear representative of how dominant Ray can be on the field as well as what a long and powerful career he has had thus far. Not only do these numbers say that he has had a great career, but it shows that Lewis has credibility behind everything he says on and off the field. Before getting into the leadership styles of Ray Lewis, I want to provide a historical background of him in order to give a brief idea of Ray’s childhood and where he came from. Ray Anthony Lewis was born on May 15th 1975 in Bartow, which is a small city in Central Florida. His mother Sunseria Smith, had Ray at a very early age of 15. His father walked out on both Ray and his mother while they were in the hospital without his new born baby even having a name. The first time he ever saw his father face to face was when Ray was just shy of a year old. The abandoning of Ray by his father played a tremendous role and had a large impact on his life as the time went by. He believes his fathers absence in his life actually helped shaped him as a man and made him the character that he is today. Growing up, Ray witnessed many things in life that effected him individually in a way that would alter the path of his life. As the years went on, Ray still without a father, began to play sports as a kid. He found his calling in football when he was told by multiple coaches that he had a natural talent and was extremely gifted. The problem was that Ray had no one to tell at home. His mother was constantly working, she maintained three jobs to keep the house over their head and food on the table. Every time he did something great in life his father was never there. When he graduated from highschool, his father was still not there. When he accepted a scholarship to Miami University in the spring of 1993, his father yet again failed to show his son support. The reason this is important and relevant to Ray’s characteristics of a good quality leader is because it is the spark behind his motivation. â€Å"I was pissed off† was the answer Lewis gave the interviewer when asked how he felt about his situation with his father (E:60. Ray Lewis, 2012). He explained how his fathers absence in his childhood angered him, and confused him. He often wondered how someone could create life and just leave it behind like nothing ever happened. The pain that Ray was receiving from all the broken promises, lack of time spent with his father, and being the only man in the house growing up was all turned into a positive energy for him. The reason that his father is a popular topic thus far is because of how he created the man that Ray Lewis is based on the fact he left him alone. â€Å"I turned pain into my friend. The only ever way to defeat pain, is to recognize that pain exists. That’s the only ever way you will beat pain. Because pain comes in every second of our lives† (A Football Life: Ray Lewis, 2011). What he meant by turning pain into his friend was that he would use that â€Å"pain† that his father bestowed upon him to motivate and drive himself every day by working out. â€Å"Sometimes I would do pushups and situps until I cried because I wanted to beat him so bad! I wouldn’t stop, I promised myself I would never stop† (A Football Life: Ray Lewis, 2011). Much of Ray’s success in training came from the drive he had from the pain he suffered. When he was in highschool one of his coaches handed him a yearbook and told him to turn to the sports page. On that page was a picture of Ray’s father Ernie. The next page had a list of records for every sport, in the number one slot for record holders was Ray’s fathers name. He made a promise to himself that he wouldn’t stop training, he would never give up no matter what, and he would continue to fight through the pain until his fathers name was gone off of those records. Every time he took over a record, he crossed his fathers name off of the record list. The past of Ray Lewis is the reason for why he is the leader that he is today. Growing up with a single mother, Ray witnessed his mother in many broken relationships. As a child, there were multiple occasions where Ray saw his mother with bruised arms, black eyes, cut up faces and other signs of domestic abuse from failed relationship. Another motivation he had for working so hard was to make sure that â€Å"No man, ever, ever put his hands on my mother again or family again† (A Football Life: Ray Lewis, 2011). This mentality Ray had would continue on for the rest of his life. He developed the skills necessary for fulfilling the leadership role at a very early age. All of this makes it very easy to see as to why Ray Lewis has developed the characteristics necessary for being an independent, trustworthy, never going to quit, hard working, and passionate individual. I could go on and on about characteristics, virtue, and other good qualities Ray possesses and we will eventually get there. The next part of this paper is going to examine Ray in the modern era, and look at his leadership styles and why they are so effective as well as examine the possibilities as to why he is so well respected as a leader. â€Å"I’m a natural born leader† Ray admits, he constantly reminds people that if they follow him he will take them to greatness (America’s Game: 2000 Baltimore Ravens). This section will focus primarily on leadership, and why Ray is a great example of exemplary leadership and what styles he uses for leading his organization. The first style of Ray that will be mentioned is his ability to lead by example. This type of leadership according to the EIL module is considered â€Å"modelling the way† which essentially means paving the path for teammate’s and/or the organization by leading by example. In the National Football League players are considered the best of the best at what they do, being confident is hardly an issue, but being the best does not necessarily mean that they work or play like they are the best. Essentially what I mean is that it is very easy for people who are good at something to not think that they need to continue working to get better. Yet it is very hard to not give a hundred percent at something when the entire atmosphere of the organization is doing the same thing. However, when there is that one person who is constantly trying to outwork everyone and never settles for anything less than a hundred percent it is very difficult for the entirety of the team and/or organization to continue slacking or not giving it their best effort. This type of leader forces to people to want to do well by consistently working to the best of their abilities and never quitting. When talking about Lewis and his ability to lead it is important to look at how he handles situations of adversity. Every person, team, and organization has at one point in their existence faced a matter of adversity or been in some situation where they had to climb their way out of a struggle. The year 2000, marked a major transition in Ray Lewis’ life. That year Ray was facing adversity as an individual for he was accused of murder after his involvement in a bar fight one Saturday night (Beyond the Glory 2004). The charges were dropped and Ray was considered wrongfully accused, however, even though proven innocent this still did not help his image in any way, shape or form. Those who knew Ray closest knew he was not about violence and never believed it was true. That year the Ravens were playing an away game against the Tennessee Titans. Ray Lewis was being introduced and as he was coming through the tunnel the fans were yelling vulgar, offensive, and racist comments towards him. They were shouting â€Å"You black son of a bitch† and other racial slurs towards Lewis. His team mate Trent Dilfer noted that the way Lewis reacted to that was amazing, he did not act out of anger or say anything back. He simply proved to his team that no matter what someone says to you â€Å"you always have to move on† and never stop fighting. Lewis did just that, he used what these fans were yelling at him and turned it into positive energy, leading the Ravens to a victory over the Titans that game (Americas Game: 2000 Baltimore Ravens). The team had his back, and once they saw how Lewis was transitioning the negativity into a positive they followed his lead. Lewis was known for making a claim and backing it up. He would constantly repeat himself about how he is going to win this game for his team, as long as they follow his lead and have his back because he will always have theirs. He would never allow himself to fail on the field, he would back up all of his words with actions and that made him an effective individual that people could put their trust in. He did just that, in 2000 he led the league with 137 recorded tackles, 3 interceptions, and 3 sacks (LLC 2000). The importance of leading by example goes hand in hand with the individuals ability to be an influential, motivation, and inspirational one as well. This leadership style is also known as â€Å"encouraging the heart.† This style of leadership is actually what Lewis is most known for, the way he can inspire his teammate’s with words of wisdom and words of truth. Lewis can capture the minds of many of his team by simply talking to them. He enables people to want to do well and gives them a whole new confidence that mentally prepares them for something important. Anytime that Lewis felt his team was becoming shy of hope, and losing faith, he would be the one to get them back up on their feet and make them believe nothing is impossible. Before every game Ray gathers his teammate’s together to provide them with mental energy. Usually he begins by telling them that they should never settle for anything less than their best. He always reminds them why they are where they are today, and how they need to take advantage of every opportunity that appears. He constantly reminds them that he will be there for them when they are in a moment of despair. Any time they are feeling like they cannot move on they will be reignited with him giving it his all. â€Å"I am not telling you something for the benefit of myself, I am telling you something for the benefit of us† (America’s Game: 2000 Baltimore Ravens). The intriguing thing about Lewis is that he understands when it is time to talk, and when it is time no listen. As credible of a player he is, Lewis still respects every time his coaches or players have something to say. â€Å"The most surprising things I have discovered about Ray upon first meeting him was how quiet he really is. Lewis rarely opens his mouth and is usually found in the background quietly watching and observing everything that goes on in a meeting. Wisely, Lewis is very selective about when he chooses to deliver a vocal message. But when he does, everyone listens† (Riddle, 2012). Those times that he chooses to open his mouth he delivers powerful messages that force people to believe in something greater than what they think they see. The following passage is a speech given by Ray Lewis to his team and coaches in the hotel a night before their AFC championship game: â€Å"We have been here before, we done been here 3 years in a row! N’ we let this time off the hook. Make sure that you own it tonight and do not let them take you away from this moment man! Cuz this is all we got. That’s what ya’ll don’t realize most of the time, that we gonna get this again. We gonna get this again, the car runs too fast. That’s why we got to savour these moments cuz of right now. I couldn’t understand that when I was 24 and 25. That’s why God had to incarcerate me so I could see how great my blessing was that he gave me. So I had to come from a jail being in position, to then step onto a Superbowl podium man. I don’t do this for me, I just watch enough film so that I can put myself in position to make my defence the best damn defence in football. That’s why I come back every year. We are not letting this team get out of here this time. That’s what we here for, a W! And when we get off the bus tomorrow, we get off it with a swagger, a swagger that says.. Done!† Lewis was known for his â€Å"we not me† mentality that inspired many people to want to play with him, for him, and for the team. A distinct story stood out about this man. It was a the beginning of a new season, Lewis and the Ravens were about to take the field. Patiently waiting in their locker room stalls, nervous and anxious, all of these players have one goal in mind, to win the game. All of a sudden, just minutes before it was time. Lewis stands up, and pulls out a bottle of what looks to be muscle reliever of some sort. He begins to go up to every single person in that locker room. One by one he dabs his finger in this bottle, and briefly touches each individual on the head. As he is doing so he is whispering something different to each of his teammate’s. What he is doing is essentially blessing all of his teammate’s. He is praying for their safety and courage. â€Å"It was as if he injected every man in that locker room with synthesized courage† (Riddle, 2012). This highly motivated his team, a new found inspiration was giving to his teammate’s that night. This event touched many of Lewis’ teammate’s in many different ways. They all believed that they were one unit, one team, one family, because they had a father and mentor that they knew would always keep them safe. Lewis is well known for encouraging the hearts of other players, making them feel capable of succeeding. He is especially effective when the morale of the team is at a low because he feeds off of his players emotions, he understands how to motivate his teammate’s both mentally and physically. As motivation as Ray Lewis is the list of qualities and styles does not end at motivational. One of the most stand out styles and characteristics of an individual leader is his or her ability to inspire a team based on a vision. This is one style that Lewis takes to heart and is exceptionally great at doing. He has the ability to inspire a team based off a shared vision, which is his vision that inspires the rest of the organization. Ray Lewis is know for his passion for the game, and an even bigger passion for being the best possible person he can be as a man of God. This mentality also influences how he thinks as an athlete. Recently, he was asked to participate in an interview with hall of fame player Deion Sanders during the playoffs. Ray asked them if they could hold off until next week insinuating that his team will win the upcoming game and move on to the next round of the playoffs. â€Å"Some call it cockiness, I call it confidence† the two chuckled over Ray’s remarks because of how confident he was in his team to be successful. Ray’s mentality was simple, he claimed that he was never in it to fail. â€Å"See I’m not going to lose, I’m not in it to lose. That’s just a fact. I never strap up my helmet to go lose. And honestly, that’s a vision. And that’s the thing, get everybody seeing that same vision.. and if you do, man that’s rough beating a man with a vision, beating a man who see’s something† (Beyond the Glory 2004). This mentality Ray had stated would go on much further than just words that he thought of on the spot. He preaches to his team about being one unit, thinking a like, having the same mind set day in and day out, because if that is the case then they truly will be unstoppable. He preaches about being â€Å"one heart beat, one mind† and that essentially means that they live and die as one, there is no individuals. Essentially, if one person makes a mistake everyone is accountable, and this went for off the field situations as well as on the field decisions as well. Lewis inspired his team to be smart, play with each other, and especially most importantly learn to love each other. Lewis said that if you are not playing for each other than you will never amount to anything great. It is more beneficial to play selfless than to play selfishly. Reason being is because his whole vision is that â€Å"the only path to success, is the one that we take together. There is no other way. If we all believe in the same thing and have the same vision, then we will truly be powerful, and no one can take that away from us.† (A Football Life: Ray Lewis 2011). In 2011, Ray suffered a broken toe injury that sidelined him for several weeks. Instead of acting upset like how most athletes act, he instead used the adversity and turned it into a positive for his teammates.ï€  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Adversity defines true character. If one of us is hurting, the other part gotta pick it up† This is the message he told his team the following game while he was talking to them before their game. He emphasizes that having a team believe in the same goal will ultimately advance a program and organization to new heights, in order to be successful all must be on board when making the right choices for accomplishing a goal. Those types of leadership mentioned earlier in this paper actually compliment the next style which is challenging the process. This style basically means never settling for anything. Always going after target. When one goal is accomplished, another one is added to the board. Lewis is a firm believer that there is only one way, and that is up. And there will continue to only be one up until he stops playing the game when he retires. After Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens won the championship in 2000, Lewis was talking about it is great to celebrate, but other teams are already training to take down the Baltimore Ravens next year, and their goal is be right there at their very moment again (America’s Game: 2000 Baltimore Ravens). Even in his workouts it is evident that he continues to push himself passed his limits because settling for mediocre and at a certain level is not what makes an individual great. Growing up, every accomplishment Ray ever had he would always tell himself that it isn’t enough. He wanted more, and he would continue to make new goals after every one was accomplished. This mentality would benefit his career as a professional. He continuously emphasizes the importance of hard work, and will. The will to keep going when everything is good can often be more difficult then when everything is bad. When something is going well you tend to think you are doing alright and do not need to keep striving for more, Lewis understands that if this is the case then he will never be truly as great as he could be if he believes that is true. A question that often rises when talking about Ray Lewis is where does all this energy and motivation come from? What is he like outside the game of football? Well, as was mentioned earlier Lewis has come from a broken home, fatherless, with a mother who was full time working two different jobs. His childhood is what fueled him to be great. Especially with situations such as domestic violence that Ray saw a very young age it is no question where his motivation to be a good person comes from. When his father left him he could not grasp an understanding as to why a father would bail like that on his new born baby. â€Å"Why cant a daddy be a daddy to a child who had no choice to be here today, why would someone leave that child.† (A Football Life: Ray Lewis 2011). This was the reason why he not having a dad developed Ray’s mindset. â€Å"I didn’t know who to call daddy,† he worked because of that, he used to cry during workouts because of that mindset that, pain is nothing. Ray Lewis today has six children of his own â€Å"4 kings, and two queens, and I have never had a greater push in my life than to see my children smile.† ( A Football Life: Ray Lewis 2011). This along side many of the people he met later in life would go on to be a reason why he is the man that he is today. Ray got involved with an individual who was suffering from a disease that was life threatening. Bill Warble was Lewis’ biggest fan, an elderly man who promise Ray he would not leave this earth until they won another championship. Ray says that he owes Bill his life. He taught him a valuable lesson on life, which contributed much to his reasoning as a leader and how to act. Bill Warble had taught him â€Å"what to complain about, what not to complain about, what not to be sad about, what to be glad, sad, mad and happy about.† (A Football Life: Ray Lewis 2011). This changed his perspective on life for the better as Lewis began to see things in his own life a lot clearer. Ray Lewis will go down in history as one of the greatest linebacker’s to ever play in the National Football League, along with that claim he will also go down as one of the best leader’s on any sports team as well. For all who have played with him, got a chance to meet him, knew him outside of the game, all of those people knew the real Ray Lewis and what he was capable of doing. â€Å"He was truly an inspiration and it was a pleasure to play along side Ray† (Riddle, 2011). Whether the team win’s or loses, Ray is never taking credit or placing the blame on anyone. He will forever live by his â€Å"one heart beat, one mind† mentality and will forever impact the lives of those who got a chance to play along side him. After their AFC championship loss in 2011 Ray was getting interviewed by reporters about what had happened. He got upset with the reporters for hinting towards the loss being solely on one player.â€Å"What you gonna do put that loss on two men? Oh, Evans should have caught the ball, oh Billy should have made the kick. Well, maybe I should have made that tackle in the third quarter. So anything could cost you, so there is no one person that you could ever put blame on. We came here as a team, we locked and loaded as a team, let’s make sure we leave as a team.† (A Football Life: Ray Lewis 2011). He went on after the game to tell his teammates in prayer that they did what they had to do, that next year they had to make sure they finished. He told his team it is no ones fault but their team combined effort. No one person gets the blame. He kept the morale as high up as he could in order to keep his team motivated for the following season, that this loss should burn into their memories for next year. Use it as fuel, turn that negative energy into something useful. â€Å"Let’s understand ourselves as men, and make somebody smile when we walk out of here† (A Football Life: Ray Lewis 2011). This is Ray Lewis, his impact and his legacy. â€Å"We get one opportunity in life, one chance at life to do whatever you’re going to do, and lay your foundation and make whatever mark you’re going to make. Whatever legacy you’re going to leave, leave your legacy!† — Ray Lewis Sources: Sabol, Ed. 2000. Ravens Road to the Superbowl (Documentary). NFL Films. United States. Sabol, Ed. 2011. A Football Life. â€Å"Ray Lewis† (Documentary). NFL Films. United States. Farrey, T. Nichols, R. Schaap, J. Smith, S. 2012. E:60 Ray Lewis (Interview). ESPN. United States. N.A. 2004. Beyond the Glory. â€Å"Ray Lewis† Season 4, ep. 9. (Documentary). United States. Riddle, Ryan. August 7th 2012. Bleacher Report (Article). Web. December 4th 2012.

At what age should teenagers be allowed to drive? Essay

The leadership I received from my Cadet Corps Commanding Officer’s was outstanding and influenced me tremendously over my career. They inspired me and provided a sound base upon which I was able to develop my own leadership abilities and the confidence to believe in them. Hopefully, their being a role model for me has led me to be a role model for others. Lastly, cadets and the summer camps led me to believe that I wanted to join the Canadian Forces because I enjoyed the military way of life! The cadet programme had a huge impact on my development. It instilled discipline, a sense that teamwork was important to succeed, the need to strive for excellence, public speaking experience, and an understanding that fitness was important and should be a way of life not just a passing trend. Lessons from cadets have aided me throughout my life. Having worked as part of a team in cadets, I found the adjustment to working as part of a team within the Canadian military was easy whereas others found the adjustment difficult. Public speaking is another area in which cadets aided my development. Being able to speak to a group effectively is extremely important as one moves through life and assumes various responsibilities. Cadets gave me the confidence and the basic principles of public speaking. Probably the most important lesson learned, however, was the need to look after one’s subordinates as a first priority. Do this, and your chances of succeeding in your endeavours will be greatly enhanced. I am in Cornell’s College of Engineering and considering a major in Electrical Engineering. I enjoy every aspect of electrical engineering. Even when I was young, I used to take things apart to see how they worked. Now that I’ve actually started learning how these things work and getting hands on experience with electronics, I think that electrical engineering is the perfect choice for me. My interests are varied. I am extremely interested in electronics, but that interest does not stop at just electronics; it extends to computers. I have always been very strong in the area of computers. From software to hardware I have a natural inclination to understanding and operating computers. But I have always been more interested in the hardware side of computers, so I am more interested in digital electronics. As far as my career goals, there are two areas in which I would love to work. First, I would love to work for NASA on their space probes. I feel that I would find that type of research and problem solving oriented work interesting. You have to come up with creative solutions to very hard problems presented by the environment of space. On the other hand, I would like to work as a project manager in a high-tech company where I would have to lead my team through challenging projects. This high-tech company work is very similar to the work at NASA.

Humanities Today Paper Essay

Humanities are branches of knowledge that investigate human beings, their culture, and their self-expression. Distinguished from the physical and biological sciences and, sometimes, from the social sciences, the humanities include the study of languages and literatures, the arts, history, and philosophy. The modern conception of the humanities has roots in the classical Greek paideia, a course in general education dating from the fifth century BC that prepared young men for citizenship. Humanities also draw on Cicero’s humanitas, a program of training for orators set forth in 55 BC. The Renaissance humanists contrasted studia humanitatis (studies of humanity) with studies of the divine; by the 19th century the distinction was instead drawn between the humanities and the sciences (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2006). The humanities are a group of academic subjects united by a commitment to studying aspects of the human condition and a qualitative approach that generally prevents a single paradigm from coming to define any discipline. The humanities are usually distinguished from the social sciences and the natural sciences and include subjects such as the classics, languages, literature, music, philosophy, the performing arts, religion and the visual arts. Other subjects at times included as humanities in some parts of the world include archaeology, area studies, communications, cultural studies and history, although these are often regarded as social sciences elsewhere (Wikipedia, 2006). Humanity in general is the experience of being human. The experience can be visual, audible or by touch. The philosophy of being human is also the aim within the general perception of humanity, thus separating the commonality understanding humanity from the personal experience of being human. The difference between the visualization of humanity and the practical application of humanity is the understanding of the critical observation of what humanity should be versus what humanity is. The larger interpretation deals with the different disciplines of science, medical and even in psychology. I do not believe that anyone can understand that the present situation globally has anything to do with humanity. For example, I do not believe that killing and raping like in Darfur or in other areas like Iraq or Iran has anything or needs much explanation if that is also humanity and if it is not, what is it? ArtThe art of painting has been said that the painter’s soul speaks within the creation of the painting. For example, Leonardo DaVinci’s painting of Mona Lisa is not proven that Mona Lisa really smiled, yet in the eyes of the soul of Leonardo DaVinci he saw this smile which leads to the conclusion that humanity has a soul which one cannot assume in contrast to an animal. In the style of surrealism, one can make the statement that the soul is talking in a language that only the painter can understand. To finish this topic of art and humanity, it is possible to say that the soul in humanity has many different faces that is only understood by the creator. The harmony or the dis-harmony to be attracted to one or the other like Ruben’s painting versus Picasso’s abstracts indicates that the resonance of the viewer is enchanted or dismayed, thus this only shows the uniqueness of the soul. MusicMusic from the viewpoint of one’s understanding of humanity is the rhythm of life. One would find oneself during the day humming this or that tune. One may not know why but one would be expressing the humming as joy. Theoritically one could ask the question, is music also the expression of the soul and if the answer is yes then why does the symphony entice some people but not all? So often one is confronted with the social expression that many people are gathered to be stimulated by the melody rather than the words. Case and point, when men have get togethers they are singing 99 bottles of beer on the wall which has nothing to do with the harmony or the expression of the soul and yet they are happy. Then the men start to come up with all kinds of variations of the song. If music is the expression of humanity or if humanity is the expression of music, then joy is the same. An opera for someone that likes opera, can be very moving in emotions. An overture can also be very moving. There are many people that like overtures and a cello concert and there are many people that like Christina Aguilera, Leonard Cohen or Johnny Cash. One can see as diverse the music, so diverse is humanity’s perception of it. ArchitectureThe visualization of an architect to create a structure is based upon the landscape and the scenery that can entice the architect to think and then create. It would be interesting to understand a child that creates the architecture in the clouds and tells his or her mother to look at the castle in the sky versus an architect that see’s the scenery and skillfully builds the castle. That would be the different findings. Throughout history, one has seen different styles of architecture like Roman and Gothic. Roman architecture is round and gothic is more triangular. Looking at Baroque, we see straight lines. All those different architectural styles are the expression of humanity and humanity’s evolution. PhilosophyPhilosophy in one’s opinion is the most intriguing part of humanity. To ask a question and to not have an answer or not wanting an answer, that is philosophy. Philosophy is the purest of the interpretation of humanities which means that humanities in action is at it’s best. The progression of thinking. What does it mean when Socrates says, I know that I don’t know or Shakepeare in Hamlet who says to be or not to be. With other words, philosophy represents the capabilities of humanities. LiteratureHumanity and literature go hand-in-hand with the evolution of humans and the different societies. Ancient texts like the Bible and other writings represent the history of humankind as written words where more and more use for communication. As the Bible seems to be the representation of the history of a particular group of people like the Jews, other groups like in the Mesopotamian history became less and less a real representation of history by geographic means. Literature became more poetic. For example the Mesopotamian epic story of Gilgamesh. Throughout the evolution of humankind, technology has changed the socio-economic structure which means from hieroglyphs communicated in clay or stone tablets to the skillfull calligraphy in monasteries and the triumph of the printing press by Gutenberg. Today literature is different because reading a book in the time of internet is almost a sacrilege. In not reading books in the way that it was done in the past, society has almost no time to read complete sentences because literature has also fallen in a trap that unfortunately takes away the thinking which is the hallmark of humanity. Humanity is comprised of many different cultures. Each culture has their own set of rules for humanity. The uniqueness of literature is lost in the complexity of it’s many interpretations. Humanities are about being human. The idea is to draw connections between all the various creative movements and influences that exist in a culture at any given moment, as well as how these movements and influences have influenced what has come later and what we are experiencing now. ReferencesEncyclopedia Britannica Online (2006). Humanities. Retrieved November 2, 2006 fromhttp://www. britannica. com/ebc/article-9367537Fiero, G. (2006). The Humanistic Tradition: The European Renaissance. The Reformationand Global Encounter. Boston, Massachusetts: McGraw-Hill. Robinson, J. (2003). What is Humanities? Retrieved on November 5, 2006 fromhttp://fp. uni. edu/robinsoj/Humanities/WHAT%20IS%20HUMANITIES. htmWikipedia the free encyclopedia (n. d. ). Humanities. Retrieved November 1, 2006, fromhttp://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Humanities.

Does Insolvency Law Need Reform Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Does Insolvency Law Need Reform - Essay Example This method is considered by many as outdated. Over the previous few years, laws have been enacted that are aimed at reforming insolvency laws in some of these countries such as the U.K., Germany, and France1. This essay looks at and analyzes some of those proposals, enactments, consultation reports, and reviews as regards to the insolvency law so as to ascertain whether this law is fit for the purpose as it currently is. In so doing, measures will be solidly detailed that are meant to offer struggling, but feasibly viable ventures a chance of working their way out of such difficult situations. Discussion The promotion of company rescue customs began with the work of the Cork committee which recommended disposal and continuation of a debtor’s business as a going concern and was bolstered by the Insolvency Act, 1986 which recommended administrative take-up through procedures outlined in the Administration and Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA). Subsequently, there have been in creasing outcries from different quarters regarding the inability of this act to ensure successful administrative receivership without causing unnecessary closure of otherwise viable companies. In addition, questions have been asked of whether administrative receivership provides for acceptable and better levels of accountability and transparency to all the stakeholders in the said business, most importantly, creditors. For these reasons, the U.K. government embarked on putting into place mechanisms that will not only ensure successful administrative receiverships, but also the balance of the insolvency law to be debtor-friendly and creditor friendly. Most of these law reviews, consultations, and proposals have aimed at exploring ways in which the government have attempted and should attempt to better develop the insolvency law and practice so that where company rescue attempts are made, all those with a stake in the company being rescue, benefit from such a process. This ensures th at economic and fiscally viable companies survive in the long-run. Creditors are also guaranteed higher and better returns. The challenge, however, is whether the balance in the insolvency regime of the U.K. should be shifted to being debtor- friendly as well rather than being only creditor-friendly. In 2002, the U.K. government enacted the Enterprise Act of 2002 which was the advent of a new corporate insolvency law regime. This was entirely bolstered by the consideration by many that the then insolvency law era was not equitable and adequately rescue-oriented. In order to change that, the Enterprise Act of 2002 implements several modifications and changes to that era. According to the UK Secretary of State, Trade and Industry, Patricia Hewitt, the enterprise act of 2002 will empower consumers and strengthen competition through radical reforms of the law of competition, corporate rescue and bankruptcy. At the same time, new safeguards for consumers will be promoted. According to th e Enterprise Act, 2002, several measures aimed at reforming and restructuring corporate insolvency were introduced. These included an administration procedure that is streamlined in a way that it could be accessible and efficient so as to ensure successful rescue of viable ventures. Secondly, the administrative receivership is abolished to a certain extent2. Finally, the act also introduced measures that would ensure

The Implementation of Social Learning Theory by Anytowns Department of Essay

The Implementation of Social Learning Theory by Anytowns Department of Job and Family Services - Essay Example The forceful separation of a child from its parents will lead to the emotional turmoil of all the family members involved in the issue, no matter how legally and theoretically justified an organization is in doing so. However, the cases have to be studied closely because there are many instances where the parents can pose real threat to the physical existence and mental health of children. In such cases, there cannot be any other option than separating children from their homes. The key factors that should determine it has to be clear evidence, proper understanding of the situation and ensuring the well-being of the child who is taken to the care of the state or foster care services. It is possible that the department has misinterpreted/misappropriated the finding of Social Learning Theory, which states, â€Å"aggressive children have parents who use similar tactics when dealing with others. For example, the children of wife batterers are more likely to use aggressive tactics themselves than children in the general population, especially if the victims (their mothers) suffer psychological distress from the abuse†. The quantitative nature of the study makes it impossible to judge isolated cases where children who feel more secure with their parents who happened to be abusive on rare occasions, than to be brought up in an institutional ambience. Moreover, there could be instances of some parents losing their control over themselves under the influence of intense emotional turmoil due to extraneous affairs.

Obesity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Obesity - Essay Example Among Latinos, there was an increase from 12% to 24% in the same period (NHCSL 2010, p.11). This clearly shows that obesity is more prevalent in the minority Latinos as compared to the general American population. In socioeconomically challenged communities living in the United States, public health practitioners have observed an increase in frequency of obesity in latest years unlike in the past. Discussion For an individual to be obese, he or she has to accumulate a lot of fats in his or her body that are not needed hence causing a health problem in his or her life. Obesity can be detected in the early life of a child or an adult because of poor dietary habits. Hence, poor eating habits cause more obesity among children and adults than either genetic factors or physical activity. In the modern era, there is large numbers of people with obesity and even overweight, whereby, people’s eating habits have greatly changed leading to this health problem all over the world. Unlike i n the past where people used to cook at home, nowadays more people are turning to processed foods that they get from restaurants and other eateries. This has mainly been because of changes in lifestyles where parents have become busier with their jobs that they do not find time to cook or prepare meals at home. These processed foods contain more fats and calories than homemade foods thus increase the risk of obesity among children and even the adults who consume it. The eating habits of many children are uncontrolled since their parents are not with them when they are eating. On the other hand, parents are not teaching their children on healthy eating and thus children eat a lot of junk foods that tend to be sweeter or tastier, this also increases the risk of obesity. Obesity in childhood has been a major concern in most developed economies such the US. Despite the fact that children are less at risk of weight-related health problems than adults are, obese children are more likely t o suffer from chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart problems in their adulthood. Causes of Obesity Too much calorie intake; with the changing dietary habits, many families have abandoned healthy eating and foods such as fruits and vegetables and instead have turned to unhealthy foods such as red meat and other high calorie foods. Children are also eating uncontrollably, therefore, they end up eating more frequently and more food than the necessary one required by the body to function normally. Moreover, children are not trained on healthy eating habits; hence, they continue to eat indiscriminately, opting for foods that are either sweeter or tastier that also increase the risk of childhood obesity. Lack of physical activity; this has also greatly contributed to obesity among most children and even adults. Today, many children and adults are not doing exercises that burn excess calories in their bodies. Lack of physical activity is related to poor dietary habits since after t aking too much calories, individuals do not burn the excess calories through taking part in physical activity, and instead, they spend more time in doing less strenuous activities. Additionally, most children use cars to move from one place to another, even for short distances, instead of walking which would

The tutoring business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The tutoring business - Essay Example Customers can be reached through different forms of communication. Through networking, the customers can be reached by email, cell or telephone as well as social network sites such as face book and WhatsApp. These forms of communication are fast, secure and efficient. Video conferencing can also be used to conduct business. For instance, skype is a method of communication that enables two people to communicate face to face through the use of video system though they may be located in different places. The other effective method of reaching customers is the use of cell phones. Voice calls can be made or text messages can also be used to link people from different areas. This helps the tutors and the students to exchange vital information. Direct interaction between the tutors and their students can also help these two groups to link with each other. Through face to face communication, the tutors and the students can know each other better quite easily. In order to provide customer ser vice, there are different styles that can be used. The most important thing that we are going to take into consideration is to listen to all their concerns. Effective listening to the customers is a very important component of conducting business. When we listen to the customers, we will be in a position to understand their needs. The other step that we will take in order to provide quality feedback is to provide them with feedback so that they may get to know their progress in learning other languages.

Changes in House prices in UK over the Last Three Years Essay

Changes in House prices in UK over the Last Three Years - Essay Example This was a very big challenge for citizens to purchase houses. It happens in that; the demand for houses has gone up from Q1 to Q2, but the quantity supplied has not changed and remains stable at Q1. This means the number of houses available in the market is minimal than the number of houses the buyers are willing and able to buy. This created a shortage for the houses, which is the difference between Q2 and Q1. According to supply and demand theory, when demand is high and supply is low, the sellers tend to increase the price of a commodity from P1 to P2. In the short run, supply in the house market is inelastic. Therefore, the increased demand translates to an increase in the prices of houses. The increase in prices results from the fact that the supply (Q1) of houses is not equal to the demand (Q2) of houses and this causes disequilibrium in the market (Higson, 2011: 81). However, the prices of houses in the long run have gone down. Several factors cause the decrease of the house prices. One of the factors leading to decrease in prices is that the government has ensured that interest’s rates of getting a loan are very low. This has encouraged investors to obtain mortgage loans at relatively low interest rate. This implies that they are able to refund the money with very little amounts of interest. Therefore, supply of houses has gone up within the period. When supply increases, the price of the houses go down since the supply exceeds demand. On the other hand, deposit rates of a mortgage have been high, and this leads to a decreased demand. As a result, there has been excess supply in the house market. Another factor that has led to the decreased demand of houses f or the last three years is that the rate of unemployment has gone up. Reduced interest rates have resulted to losses in the financial institutions. These institutions have to lay off some of their employees. Therefore, many people end up losing their jobs and this increase the rate of unemployment. This increases the number of people without the ability to pay the high mortgage deposits (Vermeulen, 2003:37). This means that the number of capable buyers of houses has reduced. As a result, the demand for houses decreased yet the supply of houses increased form Q1 to Q2, yet the able buyers remain Q1 who are less as compared to the supply. Therefore, because of an increase in the unemployment rates, this is a cause of low demand in the house market. According to the demand and supply theory, when the supply increases and demand decreases, the price of a commodity falls from P1 to P2. Another factor that has led to falling of the house prices in UK is issuing of residues to investors in the house market. This has encouraged investors to build more houses hence increasing the supply of the houses. Increase in supply is subject to a reduced demand and a decrease in the house prices (Geyer, 2009:138). This increases the loss made by financial institutions because residues discourage investors from borrowing from the lending institutions. Finally, lenders continue making more losses. This leads to a high rate of unemployment when the companies continue making losses. All these discussed factors leading to the reduced prices are crucial and have relatively led to a decreased demand (Geyer, 2009:139). In the coming years, the prices of houses will continue going down. The reasons for the low prices are that people will continue losing their jobs, and this will reduce demand for houses in UK. However, though the mortgage finances availability

Iran and Italy - macro economics assignment Essay

Iran and Italy - macro economics assignment - Essay Example ay before it was hit by recession Italy was already experiencing poor economic performance of an average real GDP growth of only 1% per annum (Morsy and Sgherri, 2010, p.3). This was the period between 2001 and 2007. This growth rate was almost half the euro area growth rate. After the onset of recession in 2008, Italy faced a 7% decline in the GDP. In the first quarter of 2010 the economy started to recover from the poor performance. The recovery was halted in 2011 when the country reentered recession for the second time. The GDP fell by 0.2 % by the second quarter of 201l. By the end of the last quarter the GDP had declined further by 7%. This condition persisted in the first quarter of 2012 and then there was a little improvement although the GDP still remained negative. After the long contraction of the economic performance the GDP started improving in 2014 but it was still negative. The GDP is expected to become positive in the current year. Although a positive GDP is being anticipated the level expected will still below the euro average GDP. Iran on the other hand started facing a contraction in its business cycle in 2011. At the beginning of 2011, the country was facing a constant GDP growth rate of around 6% to 8% per annum. This increasing GDP was halted in mid 2011 when the GDP faced a significant drop. The GDP growth rate fell below 5% and the downward trend continued until July 2012. At this time the GDP had fallen greatly and was on the negative side. The growth rate at mid- year 2012 was estimated to be -10%. This was the lowest level achieved during the period. After the 2012 drop in GDP it started increasing at a constant rate until early 2013 a downward movement. The drop was short term and by mid 2013 the GDP growth rate had started rising again. By mid-year 2014 the GDP growth rate was positive again at a level of around 5%. One of the main reasons for the downward economic growth in Italy was the high public debt. The shrinking GDP in the

Opening a Business in Switzerland Research Paper

Opening a Business in Switzerland - Research Paper Example Switzerland is a democratic country with good relations with a vast majority of countries across the globe. Swiss workplace is decentralized with respect to power. There is an informal culture wherein employees freely interact with the managers and also expect to be involved in decision making. There is great respect for values and traditions in Switzerland. The opportunities of doing business in Switzerland include low tax rates tax exemptions, and business without licensing in some cases whereas the risks include the need to rely upon imports and the debt crisis that the Swiss banking sector is currently facing. With proper planning of the business and prudent management of resources, there is a lot of room for expansion of business in Switzerland. There is a whole procedure of establishing a new business in Switzerland that includes activities like registering the company, getting the signatures over the application form notarized, obtaining a legal entity, paying the stamp tax at the bank, registering for the VAT, and acquiring social insurance for the employees. II. Country Profile Location and size/population The total area of Switzerland is 41285 km2. Switzerland shares its boundary with Italy, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, and Austria. There are three main geographic divisions in Switzerland; Alps that covers about 60 per cent of the total area, Middle Land that makes up to 30 per cent of the area, and Jura that 10 per cent of the land (about.ch, 2012). As of July, 2011, the population of Switzerland was 7,655,628 (indexmundi.com, 2012). Topography and climate Almost two-thirds of the total land of Switzerland constitutes forests, mountains, and lakes. About 20 per cent of the Alps are hosted by Switzerland. â€Å"Approximately 100 peaks are close to or higher than 4000 meters (13125 feet) above sea level† (about.ch, 2012). There are many lakes in Switzerland that include the Lake Geneva and numerous little lakes. Glaciers constitute above 3000 km2 of the total area in Switzerland, though they are decreasing with the passage of time. Switzerland lies in the transition zone from the climatic perspective. The Atlantic ocean influences the west. There occurs frequent rainfall in Switzerland because of the moisture brought in with the winds. In the east, continental climate prevails whereas there is a climatic divide at the alps. Towards the alps’ south, the Mediterranean climate prevails. Natural resources Switzerland has almost no mineral resources because of which, most of the natural resources are imported and processed and then used or resold in the form of different kinds of products. The most important part of Swiss economy is services that include but are not limited to tourism, assurances, and banking. A very important part of the Swiss economy is farming. However, despite the country’s dependence on farming, Swiss farmers’ production is insufficient to meet the needs of the population which is w hy Switzerland has to import goods from other countries to meet the demand. Language and religion Switzerland has about four national languages that include French, Romanish, German, and Italian. The largest followed religion in Switzerland is Roman Catholic which is the religion of 47.6 per cent of the population, 44.3 per cent of the people are

Literature & Community Essay Example for Free

Literature Community Essay Literature can reflect the lives of individual characters and more importantly it can allow the reader to put the character or conflict in context by revealing the community through the eyes of the individual. In the instances of William Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose for Emily† and John Updike’s â€Å"AP,† the community plays a central role for the narrator. The community and people are filtered through the lens of   Sammy the checkout boy and the unknown narrator. Both belong as part of the larger community but their observations allow the reader to glean a closer, though biased look of the other characters such as Emily and the girls roaming through the AP. Their narrations reveal the closed sensibilities of two communities separated by decades and the leaps of modernity, but the New England town of Updike’s story is no less judgmental or structured than the Faulkner’s 19th century southern community. In â€Å"A Rose for Emily,† Faulkner shows Emily only through the eyes of the other community members. Haughty and self-contained, she is part of the community legend but not part of the reality of the town, described from the beginning as â€Å"a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town†(Faulkner, W. 2001; p.79). Their day-to-day lives continue with or without the presence of Emily, her death excites only curiosity. She is a living eccentricity who in her secrecy has elicited the town’s curiosity. They feel â€Å"not pleased exactly but vindicated† (2001; p. 80)   in Emily’s inability to marry successfully and heartened by the pity they can feel for her financial straits. The individual woman has long fallen to the wayside as the legend of her odd nature is absorb as lore. Presented through the eyes of the narrator, the reader never really attains a complete understanding of Emily as an individual character. Instead, Faulkner presents both facts and suppositions to show the mixture of gossip and fact that had created the myth of Emily. Stripped of her individuality by her inability to be part of the community and the community’s inability to accept her, Emily becomes a two-dimensional caricature of a woman. The reality of her preceding years, shown in the long-dead corpse lying in the bridal chamber and the gray hair upon the pillow beside, will simply be added to this myth. The narrator makes no attempt to explain this strange image but implies in the form of the rest of the story that this will be added to the legend. Faulkner’s story shows how the community can change an individual into a story, through their perceptions and judgments. Updike’s â€Å"AP† shows a similar trend in how judgmental assumptions can replace the reality of an individual. The community in this case is the closed community of an afternoon supermarket crowd who represent the town at large. In much the way Faulkner’s narrator reflects the views of the town, Sammy expresses and relays the perceptions of the â€Å"few house-slaves in pin curlers† (Updike, J., 2001; p. 33) and the judgmental manager. His observations of the other people in the supermarket and their reactions to the girls, both verbal and non-verbal, show the communitys perception of the girls character based on shallow assumptions. Sammy also unwittingly reduces the girls to embodiments of his own sexual desires. While he is outraged at the treatment they receive, he seems more bothered by the way the opinions of the community alter his own vision of the â€Å"Queenie† (2001; p. 32) and her friends. Like Emily, the girls represent myths for Sammy individually and the community. For Sammy the myth is created from his own hormone fueled ideals that inspire him to the â€Å"heroic† gesture of quitting his job. But why did he not simply stand up for the girls? It is simple, he has created in his minda romantic myth where he is the hero, and they the damsels in distress. For the community, the girls represent a myth of the immorality and indecency of youth. Their exposed flesh merely highlights their growing maturity from the easy acceptance of little girls to questionable teenagers on the cusp of womanhood. Both stories show how the myths of individuals can be created by the perceptions and attitudes of their communities. These myths exist outside the closed ranks of the community because the the communitys inability to accept their difference. With Miss Emily the difference lies in her eccentricies. For the â€Å"Queenie† and her friends their difference lies in the communitys difficulties in reconciling these generational changes with the children they once were and the women they would become. Unable to accept these women as part of the communitys indentity, they are reduced to mere myths in the eyes of the community members. References Faulker, W. (2001). A Rose for Emily. In R. Diyanni (Ed.). Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry and Drama. (5th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. pp. 79. Updike, J. (2001). AP. In R. Diyanni (Ed.). Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry and Drama. (5th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. pp. 32.

Gloria Jeans Resarch Proposal Essay Example for Free

Gloria Jeans Resarch Proposal Essay Gloria Jeans started as a small coffee and gift shop in Chicago, USA in 1979. However, it wasn’t until 1995 that the company would become an Australian favourite, when the company was bought out by two Australian business men travelling in the USA. Today, Gloria Jeans operates over 1,000 coffee houses in 39 countries, but it is in Australia they are best known and loved, with over 460 coffee houses in Australia. Gloria Jeans has evolved from a simple coffee house into a specialty store, offering many different types of coffee, cakes and cold drinks. The market is highly competitive, and Gloria Jeans targets a younger demographic (peoples aged 18-25). Although successful, Gloria Jeans has been struck hard by giant competitors such as Starbucks and Au Bon Pain entering the Australian market, where Gloria Jeans has historically remained on top. Due to this, the company has decided to perform research to determine the preferences of their consumers, and to allow them to ensure their product mix is appropriate for their current customer base. Research Topic From the background information, the following research problem has been identified: To identify the types of customers that frequent Gloria Jeans coffee houses, to identify the types of products they purchase or are interested in purchasing, to determine the perceived quality of the products offered and to identify the patronage patterns of customers. The primary aim will be to determine the buying behaviour of Gloria Jeans customers, their perception of the products offered, if they prefer to drink coffee in house or take-away, and if the products offered are appropriate for the customers. As well as this, the company also wishes to determine the demographic features of its customers. Research Objectives The overall objective of the research is ‘to identify the consumption behaviour of Gloria Jeans’ customers’. This has been broken into the following three research objectives: 1) To determine the number of people who drink coffee, the frequency of their intake and whether do they prefer in-house or take-away coffee. 2) To identify whether the products available at Gloria Jeans are appropriate for the target market. 3) To examine customer attitude towards Gloria Jeans and its competitors in regards to product range, quality and comparability with competitors. These objectives aim to focus the research on the key areas identified and allow the development of a strategic research plan.

Investigation and evaluation of environmental analysis

Investigation and evaluation of environmental analysis This assignment was given to me as well as to everyone else in the group by Ms. Karen Abberton. It is requested to be done as part of the course work experience in order to see how well students understood business management structure of the company they completed their work experience in. The brief for this assignment was given to us on the 16th of September 2009 and was requested to be submitted by the 16th of December 2009. As a business course student it is very important for me to understand business management, how a well organized business works and how it can change the wellbeing of an organization. In order to create a successful company or to upgrade an existing one, we should know what opportunities this organization has. We should be able to position the organization in the market scale against its competitors if there are any. The environmental analysis of a company helps us to see negative and positive elements of the organization, what in future might make us change s ome of the strategies in order to make the company more confident and invulnerable. 3. Methods of procedures Quite a few different sources were used by me in order to construct this report. In the first place based on the information received during Marketing Management Classes in Balsbridge College a lot of handouts were given to me as well as examples based on work of real existing companies and practical exercises. Also based on my work experience in KWE World Express where I have spent over two years working as Exports coordinator. I have included mainly secondary research and applied academic theories in order to support my assignment. Books, internet and newspapers. 4. Findings 4.1 Description of organization Is a Freight Forwarding International company which started its business in 1948 and was established in 1970 in Japan. At present there are 297 offices in 192 cities in 31 of the world it and employs over 8,000 people around the world. It is a tall company with LTD-limited Liability. Its product is the service the company provides to its customers. KWE is one of the leading freight forwarding companies in the world. Domestic and foreign air and ocean freight forwarding business, trucking company agent, customs agent, and transportation agent.There are two offices in Ireland: Dublin and Cork. Dublin office is located beside the Dublin airport in Horizon Logistics Park. It employs 26 people working in the office and 1 person working as sales representative visiting potential customers, (so called sales on the road). Dublin office organizes imports and exports of freight by road, sea-ocean and air. It has been established in Ireland in 1998 and managed to gain and keep quite a number of big and growing customers. Some of them are quite known pharmaceutical companies like Takeda, Astellas. Takeda is has been Dublins branch customer for over 10 years and there are two people in the company who are responsible for Takeda account. Astellas is a new pharmaceutical company which imports and exports up to 5 tons of cargo weekly with the KWEs help. I cant go any further until I mention such a well known customer of KWE as Dell. Dell have been KWEs customer for quite a long time, but as far as I know just before I left the company last spring Dell moved its main production to Poland which means the account was lost. There are still some transactions but only occasionally. Below I would like to show the structure of KWE in a chart. The first chart will show the main offices and the second chart will give information of the Dublins branch. Now I would like to point out the countries which go under the supervision of the areas shown in the chart: Americas: Brazil, Canada, Mexico, USA Asia and Oceania: Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE, Vietnam. Europe and Africa: Belgium, Czech, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland Russia, South Africa, Sweden, U.K., Switzerland. Japan is the head office, each country should report to the headquarters main office, and the headquarters main office reports to Japan. Dublin Office Chart: As you can see it is a tall company, but lets start from the bottom. Each staff member should report to its supervisor, the supervisor reports to the department manager and the manager should report to the M.D. For Example I would report to Sandra White, she in her turn would report to John OShaugnessy and John should report to Thomas Weppelmann. In reality Thomas Weppelmann is responsible for more than just Dublin office. It means if the issue is not very big it will be resolved within the company, but if a decision has to be made like who to make redundant than Thomas Weppelmann will have to take part in the final decision, but still the opinion of John OShaugnessy is essential here as he spends more time with his staff and he knows everyones performance abilities. As already said the company is a freight forwarding agent. Its job is to safely transport goods from point A to point B, with the help of haulers, shipping lines or airlines.   Sales Department: Manager Karl OReilly Mark Fuller and Josephine Kill under his supervision. The aim of the department is to sell the companys product, which is service. They are a kind of companys advertisers. It is also under their responsibility to give price quotes to any customer inquiring a service to any destination of the world. Sales department is the start point of any shipment. They should know: 1. What kind of cargo 2. Where is it going to? 3. Dimensions and weight of goods 4. When the goods can be ready for transportation? 5. What is the desired date of transportation? And many more, the reason I say many more is because each customer and each type of cargo is different in its way. It can be smaller or bigger, it might be urgent on normal, it may go to different destinations and so on, it can be different types of goods and so on. The sales department goal is to give customer an impression that we are the only company in the country who can provide the cheapest, the safest and the best service off all. The information they give to the potential customer should be as accurate as possible, in order to avoid any issues later down the line. Imports Department: Eamonn Grogan and David Howell are responsible for Air Imports, the aim of these two people is to proceed the imported cargo as per government rules and regulations and to make sure that nothing bad happens to the cargo from the moment it arrives into Dublin and until the moment it is delivered to the final destination. They should make sure that the information they fill in the customs docs should be 100% correct, because any wrong steps or wrong information can lead to big fines for the company. Paul Byrne is dealing with DHL account, his job is to look after road exports and imports. Sarahs job is to look after sea imports and exports. She should be aware of the timetable of the ships and feeder vessels; she should daily check if the ships with different containers arrived into the transit port and left it as pre the time timetable.   On the import side the procedure is pretty much the same as air imports, all the goods should be customs cleared and delivery organized unless customer wants different. Exports Department: Sandra White, Joanne Howe and myself, responsible for air exports. Responsibilities include negotiating the prices with the airlines, checking the post flights on daily basis, organizing pickups and deliveries to airport. I was working in the Air Exports Department. I personally was responsible for some of the imports and accounts jobs as when I joined the company there wasnt too much job in the exports department and people from other departments used to give me staff to do. In general my main responsibility was checking the post flights in the mornings, than I was preparing the airway bills for that days shipments arranging collections, customs clearance for the shipments. My duties also included Cass Reports twice a month they are bills from the airlines which have to be checked if the amounts to be paid match the amounts on the bills, reports for customers, earlier mentioned    Astellas account is one of the customers who require weekly and monthly reports of the shipments KWE handle for them it was also one of my responsibilities. Accounts department: Sylvia Smith is the H.R. representative but geographically she is part of the accounts department, and her job is closely related to accounts. She is responsible for payroll. Her duties include to staff and operate the organization. Nicolla Uzell and Michelle Boylan are responsible for the accounts of the company. I think this departments duties dont have to be explained. Avril Reilly receptionist, she is the first person anyone speaks to on the phone. She has to sort the post, make sure that no unattended people are on the territory of the company. Warehouse: Mickael Tallon ahs 3 people under his supervision, their duties include packaging the goods for exports, delivering cargo and documents to the airport. Collecting cargo from the customers, delivering imported cargo to the customer, labeling the shipments with the referenced stickers. That is pretty much the structure of the KWE and the explanation of the different departments duties. 4.2 Internal influence on organization. Tangible assets:   these are the things which can be touched; we can also call it touchable: furniture, transport, equipment, it system. Furniture is the one of the assets KWE has which belongs strictly to the company as well as transport (Kintetsu Dublin owns one company car which is mainly used by the manager but it can be also used by any member of the staff unless they dont possess a full driving license), Also KWE owns a 20ft container truck which is used on the daily basis for collections and deliveries of the cargo. Equipment is a property owned by KWE, it includes copy machines, printers, fax machines, computers, a fork lift in the warehouse. IT system is another tangible asset the company owns. It belongs wholly to KWE and cannot be used by any other company. Intangible assets: The difference from the tangible assets is that intangible assets cannot be physically touched but it doesnt mean that its value is less than of those tangible ones. Intangible values of the KWE are: name, intellectual property. KWE name is a well known brand in the freight forwarding business circle. KWE is in the first ten biggest and known freight forwarding companies of the world. KWE has a good service reputation, and a good relationship with its customers built during many years with the help of the services provided.   Intellectual property is one of the strongest assets of KWE. Most of the people working for the company have many years of experience working in the business, which is supported by completing different courses from time to time, which gives staff the ability to be up to date with any innovations. Capabilities: It is the ability of the company, its staff to achieve the objectives, which lid to the achievement of the mission. What KWE capable is of: each department has an objective which is to gain as many customers as possible, and customers are money profit. But how strong are the capabilities of the company to achieve. What KWE are well capable for is to keep the existing customers, of course it gained a few new ones in the last period of time but only a few not because they are not capable to, because of the already mentioned economical crisis. Value chain analysis: Is one of the tools we can use to see the companys steps taken for creating the greatest possible value for its customers. It shows how the product of a company looks from its infinitive conditions and step by step it becomes a finished product which is a value for customers, who are ready to use it only in its final, result condition. In KWE it is the service they provide. But the customer is not interested and some of them dont even know what is used to provide the service they require. Value chain is a chain of procedures, and action taken which are applied in any organization. It includes: Inbound logistics Operations Outbound Logistics Marketing and sales Service I would like to demonstrate this chain in a real example. I will describe a day of work dealing with a particular customer in exports department. Inbound Logistics: 1. 10 am a call received from a ones off customer by our sales department for an urgent shipment to Japan. Customer needs a quote. 2. Sales get the information required in order to proceed the quote. 3. Sales let know the air exports department about a potential shipment to Japan and the information about the goods, dimensions and weight in order for the exports department to book a collection. 4. If the shipment was going let say to Canada than sales would have to contact different airlines for a quote, but because KWE have a daily consol going to Narita and Osaka in Japan they know how much it will cost the company for that particular shipment. All sales do is add up collection fee different airline fees, security if applies VAT and give the customer an estimated time of arrival of the shipment to the final destination and the total price. If customer agrees to the price the first part is done. Customer cannot refuse to go ahead because of the ETA estimated time of arrival, because any other airline can give whether later arrival time or the same one, the choice here is not a major one. There are only 2 airlines flying directly to Japan from London, none from Dublin. The inbound logistics part is done. Operations: After shipments arrival into KWE warehouse it has to be repacked (usually put on a pallet and wrapped with plastic cover to avoid any loss of the boxes from the pallet or water damage and so on.) A sticker with correct ref number matching the reference on the documents has to be labeled to the box now the shipment is ready to be loaded on the truck to go the port and connect Ulysses vessel to London.   Outbound Logistics: It is the main process of the transportation. Next morning exports department have to ring Japan airlines in order to see if cargo managed to get to their warehouse for the cut off time to go on the plane. If so we can advice our customer, if requested, that the shipment is in London as scheduled and should arrive Osaka next morning. Marketing and Sales: As you can see the sales department did its job in the very start of this operation. And in this particular case all they can do is to send a thank you for using our company service and a kind of advertising to this new customer who may appear to be not just a once off one. Advertisement can include the information of thee services KWE provides and letting the customer know about different destinations and our availability anytime with mobile all the details included and company mobile numbers. Service: Is the final result. The cargo arrival to the final destination point. It is in time as promised. All safe without any damage, this is where the value to our product is added in the eyes of the customer. And trust me this customer will advice our services to its friend, and thats how KWE becomes a brand name. The main winning point for any business is TIME. A company cannot become famous in 1-2 months time from the moment it opened. 4.3 External influence on organization. Marketing Environment consists of the macro and micro-environment. The macro-environment includes large social forces that affect micro-environment, and usually cant be controlled by the company. It is an external structure which includes the following: Political Economical Opportunities and Threads Social PEST and Porter Five Forces Technology   Natural And micro-environment consists of forces that are under control of the company. Micro-environment influences the ability of the company in producing a required service to its customers. It is an internal structure which includes the following Suppliers Customers Company Strengths and Weaknesses Marketing intermediaries Publics PEST analysis. Quite often someone who starts a business doesnt realize how important environmental factors for an organization are. I mean the country a certain business will be started in. It is very important for a new business owner to understand and to be aware of the political, social, economical and technological factors of the country the business is going to work in. A PEST analysis is one of those tools that help to understand the external environment of the organization. P Political  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   S Social E Economical  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   T Technology Political factors Can have a direct impact on the way a company operates. This factor does not depend on internal work of the company. Only decisions made by government affect the operations. Political factors include such areas as: v What is government policy on the cargo transportation? v Labor Law  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   v Government Stability   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   a)   There is a law referring to imported and exported goods in Ireland. This would include: goods imported or exported to or out of Ireland have to be customs cleared; all goods have to be declared on the paperwork, airway bills or bill of ladings. There is a law referring the goods for resale or personal effects goods. There is a law concerning import or export of medical goods and many other laws and regulations which strictly have to be obeyed by the transportation agents.    b) Labor law can influence a companys performance a lot. Ages ago people could work 24 hours a day and for very cheap pay, nowadays people cannot work more than 4 hours without a brake of 1 hour and no more than 8 hours a day. Total hours worked in a week should be no more than 40 hours. Min pay per hour has been implemented. During my employment in KWE I noticed that the rules and labor law regulations were followed as per law, every employee has been given a copy of the KWE handbook where everyone coul d see a detailed description of the companys policy and entitlements procedures     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   c) All the factors included above depend on how stable the government is. Any of the above can be easily changed due to government change or government instability. Government changes or coming of the new political parties can influence the organizations total figures. Business owners feel better to move the business to a country with growing economy rather than keep it in Ireland, where economy is down at present. Poland for example, labor is chea per, government taxes are lower. Transportation laws are softer. This follows with loss of clients for KWE. Economical Factors All types of organizations are affected by economical factors locally and globally. It doesnt matter if the economy is in a boom, recession or recovery all these affect consumer confidence and behavior. Economical factors affect the purchasing power of potential buyers. It also influences the internal and external economy. Economical factors include: v Exchange Rates v Economic downturn v The level of inflation v VAT rate a) Interest rates influence the company sometimes positively, but sometimes negatively. Because KWE deals with customers and agents all over the world, invoices the company gets are in different currencies, so the exchange rates which are in place of the payment day can influence the amount to be transferred for payment in foreign currency. Quite often payments are queried because of the exchange rate changing every day.   b) The present economical crisis negatively influences not only KWE but the general business structure of Ireland. People get redundant, companies lose experienced staff. A team which is used to perfectly fulfill its duties when everyone is in, looses the ability to do it in case of some people (not just one) of the team are not present. Performance of the companies is down, because not a full team works in the operations department. c) Level of inflation if it lows down than the customers are not very confident in using a service or buying a good. Social Factor: Social factor include the demographic changes of the country and of the world. KWE is a company who has offices all over the world so not only local demographics affect the business. These factors affect customers needs and size of potential markets. Information about demographical situation in Ireland can be found on the website: www.cso.ie . Social factors include: v How are views expressed? v Age v Career attitudes Technological factors. Technological factors are very important tools for an organization. Up to date technology can change the level of production, can improve peoples work performance and can change internal environment of an organization. Technological factor includes: v Impact of the internet v Software v Online Customs Clearance Internet is one of the most powerful technology inventions which were ever created. It helps people instantly send and receive information to and from agents, customers, suppliers and so on. Software- used in KWE for printing the documents for cargo and invoices was an old one, just before I left the company people started to be trained to use a new software which was easier to use, more friendly and could save time to staff because of the features and benefits it had and the old system didnt. Online Customs a few years ago I order to customs clear exported or imported goods the staff of the company were fill in all the customs declaration attach the documents for the shipment and physically go to the customs office and hand everything in. it was taking hours but sometimes days to customs clear the cargo. It was a problem for more people you can imagine: transportation agent, customer, customers customerand so on. After that an online system was brought to life to customs clear the goods. It saved people time increased the shipments, increased performance and increased the profits for customs office (which is regulated by the government), and for freight forwarding agents. From this analysis we can see how the PEST analysis can change the performance and may be predicting the near future of an organization even though a PEST as we know is an external factor which doesnt depend of the companys strategic. The most important of all four factors of PEST for KWE are the PET. We can see that technology had a huge impact on the company and freight forwarding business itself; economical factors like exchange rates have permanent influence different laws and regulation like the goods imported within EU are going under T1 status which means they dont need to be customs cleared and it eases the procedure and makes it cheaper as no customs charges apply. It was said that on tomorrows budget meeting 09-12-09 the government wants to bring the VAT up, which will hit the customers and KWE even more, negatively. It will work out better for companies to buy the goods they need across the border in England as the VAT is much lower there.   Porter Five Porters This model was invented by Michael E. Porter he wrote a book called Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. Since then, people use this structure for analyzing a companys industry structure and its corporate strategy. Porter described five forces that shape every single industry and market. These forces help us to analyze everything from the intensity of competition to the profitability and attractiveness of an industry. The structure below:   Threat of substitute. 1. The time is wrong (economy is low). Bad time for any industry to be started right now. 2. This type of industry might need a much bigger capital to start the company than a local shop for example. 3. A lot of companies producing the goods for exports move out of Ireland to cheaper countries in Europe or Asia. (Dell moved to Poland, Xilinx-who were one of the biggest customers of KWE for nearly 10 years, moved to Asia) Cheaper countries means: cheap labor, cheap government taxes, VAT on imported goods and so on. Threat of new entrants. 1. If we look to substitute service KWE is providing than rivalry is quite high. There tens of companies at present competing for business in freight forwarding domain who can offer better service or rates. Due to high number of competitors with the same strategies and a lot of them being the same size the mission of KWE and many other organization in that industry is to just stay in for the moment until things pick up. Power of Supplier. Suppliers just like KWE are not in a very strong position at present. KWE can chose from many different suppliers and negotiate the rates to KWEs advantage. From many years of working in Ireland KWE managed to set up accounts and to build a business relation with many different suppliers, so at present if they move from one to another it wont be a totally new one which means there will be no switching cost involved. Switching doesnt affect KWE it only affects   the airlines, trucking companies or feeder vessels. Power of buyer. This is exactly who is in a winning position at the moment. If we look at it, it can be whether KWE or their customers in this position. Customers now win as they buy cheap transportation of cargo worldwide. KWE wins as well as it buys cheap service from its supplier another side of it is that KWE have sell thing they for very cheap as well, so the profit they make at present is minimum. Competitive rivalry of freight forwarding business. Conclusion: from the point of view of new entrants into the business rivalry is minimum and from the point of view that customers may move to a substitute supplier, rivalry is maximum. Competitive rivalry is high for KWE at present. So we cannot say for definite now that there is someone in a winning position in the present economical crises. Product can be easily substituted, suppliers can be easily substituted, each of them buys cheap and sells cheap. The only definite winner is the final consumer like us who doesnt buy imported goods for resale. The prices in Ireland on different products decreased a lot. The only problem is that the final consumer doesnt have the ability to buy as the income of people is very low and even worse people lose their jobs. 4.4 Internal and External influence on organization SWOT analysis Strengths: v Staff v Name v Experience v Global coverage v Long term contracts with suppliers v Consolidation Weaknesses: v Price of Services v Large number of players v Staff v Overseas agents. Opportunities: v Funding v New Services v Staff training v Technology investments Threats: v Economy v Falling Sales v Cash Flow Internal analysis Strengths of KWE Kintetsu World Express: Staff is one of the most important strengths of the company. A well trained and experienced staff is companys biggest advantage. Name KWE is a well known, recognized name in freight forwarding business area. Companies who supply different types of goods worldwide are well familiar with KWE as a freight forwarding company. Experience Many years worked in freight forwarding area gives the company an advantage. Global Coverage KWE provides services into main and secondary destinations worldwide. It can deliver any type of goods into most cities in the world. Long terms contracts with suppliers gives KWE the opportunity to offer its customers competitive rates as the rates they have with their suppliers are based on long term relationship. Weaknesses of KWE Kintetsu World Express: Prices of Services Air freight for example, some competitors might have their own planes flying to different destinations worldwide (ex. DHL) of course no matter how low the rates are DHL offers to KWE they can steel offer cheaper transportation to the customers and KWEs rates are going to be higher in comparison.   Large number of players a lot of competitors in freight forwarding business quite a big number of which might offer better rates and bigger service Staff as well as staff can be a strength it can also be a weakness. Some workers are not very competent in doing their job; some are not team players which is very important in an organization. It gives birth to a weak operating performance. External analysis. Opportunities of KWE Kintetsu World Express: Funding Investments could help the company in present economical crisis to gain new customers. Example: Invest in companys transport; trucks 40 foot containers could help offer customers cheaper transportation charges on road freight. New Services could gain new customers or provide new business for existing customers. Threats of KWE Kintetsu World Express: Economy is one of the external factors of macro-environment. As said before it doesnt depend on the companys strategy. This is exactly what happens in the current economical environment, when economy negatively influences the business. People losing jobs, sales drop, annual profit targets fail to be reached and so on. Falling Sales this is also what is happening at present due to economical crisis. But it can also happen when economy rises, depending on the companys marketing management.   How good are the strategies of the company, and how efficient are they for the org

History Of Swimming :: essays research papers

Swimming Swimming is the act of moving through the water by using the arms, legs, and body in motions called strokes. The most common strokes are the crawl, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and sidestroke. Some scientists believe that human beings are born with an instinctive ability to use their arms and legs to stay afloat. That instinct, however, disappears within a few months after birth. Later in life many children and adults learn to swim in order to be safe around the water, to have fun, and to participate in competition. Most people learn to swim by imitating others, most often their parents, brothers, sisters, and friends. Most youngsters in also take lessons at swim clubs, community centers, schools, and recreational facilities. In addition, the American Swim Coaches Association (ASCA) and the American Red Cross sponsor programs that teach children about water safety. Instructors teach students skills that will make them safe, efficient, and confident swimmers. Beginners first put their heads in the water and blow bubbles by exhaling. Gradually, students progress to floating, treading water, and ultimately, learning the techniques of the major strokes. Individuals should not swim in conditions that their ability and experience will not allow them to handle. For inexperienced recreational swimmers, many safety hazards exist, even in a pool. These hazards include misjudging a dive and hitting one's head on the bottom, holding one's breath too long, becoming exhausted, and experiencing sudden cramps while too far from shore or other swimmers. The history of swimming dates back thousands of years. One of the earliest representations of swimming is an ancient Egyptian wall relief that shows soldiers of Pharaoh Ramses II. Swimming was very important in ancient Greece and Rome, especially as a form of training for warriors. In Japan, competitions were held as early as the 1st century BC. In Europe, swimming was less popular during the Middle Ages, swimming didn’t pick up until the 19th century. In the late 19th century amateur swimming clubs began conducting competitions in the United States and Britain. In the United States, colleges and universities such as Yale University, Indiana University, and the University of Southern California played an important role in spreading interest in swimming as a competitive sport. In 1875 Matthew Webb of Great Britain became the first person to swim across the English Channel.

We Are Heading To An Apocalypse Of Our Own Creation :: Weapons of Mass Destruction

Mankind has walked the earth for around seven million years and we have the potential to achieve greatness. Throughout history we have left our boundaries, fought diseases and plagues and studied ourselves, however most of the evidence from these studies have led to the conclusion of no future for man kind what so ever, if we continue on our current course. On July the 16th 1945, in a remote part of the New Mexico desert, the most terrifying device in human history was used for the first time. The first atomic bomb was detonated. On that day mankind finally took the apocalypse out of the hand of God and put it in their own, they gave so much power to so few that a war could be ended in seconds. This is the first and most powerful indication that mankind will destroy itself if we do not â€Å"keep track.† What stops a leader in Washington from launching a weapon of mass destruction against his enemies? The answer is simple in theory, however the repercussions of the implications made are so complex that they dare not be pondered by man. M.A.D. or Mutually Assured Destruction. That leader can be assured that if he launches a weapon against another country, that country, or it’s allies, will launch back. We have created weapons that are so terrifying that we are afraid to use them. They can end war, yet if instituted, will destroy man kind, leaving us in a â€Å"Catch 22† situation. We are the only species on earth that seeks to destroy itself. The human brain is the only brain on earth that is capable of studying itself. It has become so efficient, so as to study, how it can study itself. However we are the only species incapable of seeing how dangerous we are to ourselves. For example, two rhinos when attacking each other will run head on in the least dangerous manner, if that same rhino encounters any other species that it finds threatening, it will run for the sides of the animal to gore and kill that animal. It will protect is species by not harming it. We, on the other hand, intentionally try to destroy our species. We train men like soldiers to kill their fellow man, and yet are disgusted at murderers, and war for that mater. We have even gone so far has to employ colossal institutions who’s We Are Heading To An Apocalypse Of Our Own Creation :: Weapons of Mass Destruction Mankind has walked the earth for around seven million years and we have the potential to achieve greatness. Throughout history we have left our boundaries, fought diseases and plagues and studied ourselves, however most of the evidence from these studies have led to the conclusion of no future for man kind what so ever, if we continue on our current course. On July the 16th 1945, in a remote part of the New Mexico desert, the most terrifying device in human history was used for the first time. The first atomic bomb was detonated. On that day mankind finally took the apocalypse out of the hand of God and put it in their own, they gave so much power to so few that a war could be ended in seconds. This is the first and most powerful indication that mankind will destroy itself if we do not â€Å"keep track.† What stops a leader in Washington from launching a weapon of mass destruction against his enemies? The answer is simple in theory, however the repercussions of the implications made are so complex that they dare not be pondered by man. M.A.D. or Mutually Assured Destruction. That leader can be assured that if he launches a weapon against another country, that country, or it’s allies, will launch back. We have created weapons that are so terrifying that we are afraid to use them. They can end war, yet if instituted, will destroy man kind, leaving us in a â€Å"Catch 22† situation. We are the only species on earth that seeks to destroy itself. The human brain is the only brain on earth that is capable of studying itself. It has become so efficient, so as to study, how it can study itself. However we are the only species incapable of seeing how dangerous we are to ourselves. For example, two rhinos when attacking each other will run head on in the least dangerous manner, if that same rhino encounters any other species that it finds threatening, it will run for the sides of the animal to gore and kill that animal. It will protect is species by not harming it. We, on the other hand, intentionally try to destroy our species. We train men like soldiers to kill their fellow man, and yet are disgusted at murderers, and war for that mater. We have even gone so far has to employ colossal institutions who’s