Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Advertising in Abercrombie Fitch

Advertising in Abercrombie Fitch Overview: Ad Description Appendix 1 shows a grey, white and black advert comprising of a plus-sized woman lying down on her right side. Her right arm is resting on the ground and folded to support her head. The woman has tilted her head to make her seem like she is looking forward and diagonally.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Advertising in Abercrombie Fitch specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More She has also let her short hair free to fall on her back. In terms of dressing, she has a grey T-shirt with the ‘Abercrombie Fitch’ text on her bust area and black fitting shorts, which reveal her thighs. In addition, she has body art on her right arm, upper left arm and just above her knees. The white text, â€Å"Attractive Fat† is placed just above the woman with the letter â€Å"F† partially hidden by the woman’s thighs. Although this is a denotative meaning of the advert, advertisements a re built around semiotics to help persuade consumers’ to purchase products while using the societal culture as leverage. Therefore, they have connotative meaning. With this in mind, this paper critically deconstructs the advert to reveal its connotative meaning. Obvious Message The obvious message or intent of the advert is trying to persuade plus-sized women in the western, liberal world into believing that Abercrombie Fitch brand of clothing is suitable for plus-sized women because the company’s clothes makes them feel attractive. The â€Å"Abercrombie Fitch† text on the woman’s bust area is a sign that the woman is modeling for the company’s clothes. In the fashion industry, manufacturing an image in advertisement seeks to persuade buyers to change their habits. Therefore, to reach to and persuade plus-sized women to accept Abercrombie Fitch clothes, the advert uses or ‘manufacturers’ a plus-sized woman who is a model of the targ eted population. This is in addition to dressing the woman in Abercrombie Fitch clothes that are seemingly attractive, liberating or ‘cool’ by societal standards to form an ideal plus-sized woman. More so, the ad creators focus on the target group insecurities to persuade them to purchase clothes. Ideally, the society does not consider plus-sized women as attractive. This makes them have low-self esteem and feel unattractive. The dress code of the woman in the ad exhibits an attractive person full of confidence. Markedly, although plus-sized, she is not afraid to wear clothes that show off her body, including her thighs and arms. In addition, her non-verbal codes show confidence. She is resting comfortably on the ground with her chin up. This makes plus-sized women believe that with Abercrombie Fitch clothes, they can deal with their weaknesses, feel attractive and confident. Convincingly, with the phrase â€Å"attractive Fat† written in white color to symboli ze a new beginning, Abercrombie Fitch is making a statement that their clothes will change the plus-sized women’s lives by helping them deal with their weaknesses.Advertising Looking for essay on advertising? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Hidden Message Critics argue that adverts create false expectations and so is the revelation of the hidden meaning of this advert. Although the advert seems to inform or insinuate to the plus-sized women that Abercrombie Fitch clothes will help them deal with their weaknesses, the hidden meaning reveals otherwise. The hidden meaning is that the clothes that Abercrombie Fitch Company is selling cannot make plus-sized women become confident, attractive or improve on their self-esteem. This is because these three traits come through being intelligent, practical and mature enough to discern societal expectations. In simple terms, the three traits are nurtured from within by controlling external influences and knowing what one stands for. This ensures that a person, whether plus-sized or not is confident and has a high self-esteem. These two traits make a person feel attractive. The hidden message is derived from the color code, particularly the permissive grey color. In the western world and most societies, grey symbolizes intelligence. Being emotionless and motionless, grey is stable and solid with a sense of composure and calm that offers relief from the chaotic world. Grey is conservative and elegant, but not glamorous. Grey is practical, a color of responsibility and maturity due to its association with grey hair in old age. It never seeks attention, but stays toned down and safe. The extensive use of the grey color even on the woman’s skin creates an association between the color and the message that the ad passes across. This makes it easy to connect the symbolic meaning of the color to the actual message to reveal the hidden meaning of th e advert. Therefore, being intelligent, practical and staying toned down or controlling external influences helps plus-sized women to nurture a high self-esteem and confidence from within, not the Abercrombie Fitch clothes. Conclusion: Social and cultural relevance The connection between the obvious and hidden meaning and the ad is derived from the advertisement’s social and cultural relevance. The advert creators are torn between persuading the target audience to attain advertisement effects and informing them as expected by the societal culture. The society knows that advertisements evoke false expectations and creates unrealistic role models. Therefore, there is a belief that advertisements should seek to inform. To avoid compromising on the effect of the advertisement, the designers inform the target audience in a subtle or hidden way. This becomes a defense mechanism against societal expectations in case people start criticizing the advert. The advert presents a liberal western and plus-sized woman with the probable benefits derived from Abercrombie Fitch clothes. In addition, as the societal culture expects, it uses the grey color to inform that the attributes they seek are nurtured from within, not by the clothes they wear.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Advertising in Abercrombie Fitch specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Appendix 1

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Employee Rights Essays

Employee Rights Essays Employee Rights Essay Employee Rights Essay Abstract The issue of employers’ and employees’ rights has always brought controversy in most companies. Some rights are expressly known like the right of employees to get paid after working for the agreed period of time among others. However, there are those things done by the employers that most employees feel are too private. Employees feel that some things done by the employers are an intrusion to their privacy. This paper will discuss issues on whether the employer has a right to review the employees’ email. It will look at both the employers and the employees’ perspective and what the law says about the issue. Introduction Employees and employers have reciprocated obligations towards each other. These duties are usually expressed before or when they are signing the employment contract. It is always vital for both the employers and the employees to know their obligations and rights so that they can avoid breaching the contract and other collisions. The law on employment covers all the obligations and rights related to the relationship between employees and employers (Weckert, 2005). These apply to the job applicants, former and current employers or employees. Since the employment relationships are very complex, the laws of employment cover legal issues like workplace safety, taxation, wages, wrongful termination and various ways of discrimination. Most of the stated issues are dealt with by the application of State and federal laws. If the employment relationship has its base on a contract between the employee and the employer, the duties and the rights of the parties are dictated by the state contact law (Repa, 2007). Employees and employers rights Both the employers and the employees have rights at the workplace. Employees’ rights include the right to have freedom against discrimination which includes discrimination based on religion, national origin, race, gender, color and age, fair compensation, right to privacy which applies to the personal possessions of the employee which include briefcases, storage lockers that should only be accessed by the employees and private mails that have been addressed to the employee. When it comes to the issue of e-mails, the employees’ rights are restricted especially if the computer system that he employees are using belong to the employer (Wolkinson Block, 1996). On the other hand, the employers have the following rights and obligations; not to discriminate the employees on any ground, keep records containing the information about employees, pay all employees the rightful wage and write statements on them, keep time and wages records on employees, provision of healthy and saf e working place and meet all the minimum employment conditions among others (Jennings, 2005). Views on employers to access employees’ emails Some people propose that the employer should access the employees’ emails. They give reasons like; it prevents the employees from abusing the computer systems that they have been allowed to use by the employers. At times, the employees take advantage of the computer systems that they have been given by their employers to do their own things that might interfere with the duties of the employee. Such should be monitored through the employers accessing the employees’ electronic communication for the welfare of the company (Marsh, 2009). The proponents of the issue feel that personal emailing hinders employee productivity. Research has been done to support this view. Some employees spend much time on the internet doing their personal stuff at the expense of their jobs. The companies that do not have work targets and the government offices where laxity is a common thing are likely to suffer from this. When the employees spend workplace time to do their own things, the job does not get done (Wolkinson Block, 1996). This creates inconveniences to the people who are waiting to be served in such offices. This kind of inefficiency makes companies lose clients to the companies that meet their needs. In this case, employees’ activities should be monitored to ensure that they do the right things at the right time (Repa, 2007). The law supports the claim that employees have a right to access employees’ emails, although most employees are of the opinion that their employers should not access their emails. The courts have not found any reasonable expectation for the employees to have privacy in the same and therefore, they have always granted permission to the employers to keep an eye on the employees’ activities as well as reviewing it. In a case of Smith v. Pillsbury Co. the plaintiff had sued the employer on the ground that he had wrongfully discharged him after the employer intercepted an email message he considered inappropriate (Jennings, 2005). Smith being an at-will kind of employee, his suit centered on whether by being discharged, it went against Pennsylvania’s public policy thereby falling into the exemption under the general rule which indicate that employees who are employed on the at-will basis can have their employment terminated any time. The defendant was given motion from dismissal of the case since it failed to state a claim. The employer was therefore found not guilty of either invading the employees’ privacy or violating public policy when he terminated smith (Wolkinson Block, 1996). The employer had created email communication system but had told the employees that it was privileged and confidential. The employer also informed the workforce that their emails would not be intercepted (Steinberger, 2009). When smith communicated with his supervisor via emails a message was intercepted that contained death threats on the sale personnel. The employer immediately terminated the plaintiff. Though Smith claimed that the employer had violated their rights by viewing their email messages, the court ruled against him (Jennings, 2005). The proponents feel that through interception of email communication among the employees, acts that could harm the company are prevented. They therefore strongly support the issue. It is proposed that the company’s and the employees’ safety is more important than the employees privacy as far as personal emailing in the workplace is concerned (Repa, 2007). An employer should access the employee’s electronic communication as a way of decreasing his liability for workforce abuse of the technology provided by the company. There are various ways through which an employee may misuse the company’s technology. Firstly, the employee might distribute text messages or emails that are violent, pornographic, discriminatory, sexually harassing or the ones that generally cause a work environment that is hostile. An employee might as well practice illegal activities like illegal down loading of films and music and illegal gambling. These activities may make the employer to be held liable for infringing copyright laws. If on the other hand the employer had intercepted such practices, his liability would have reduced (Wolkinson Block, 1996). There are however people who feel that when the employers check the employees’ mails, they are intruding to their privacy. According to studies done on employer-employees’ views on the use of emails and internet during the working hours, 87% of the employees felt that it is okay to spend some few minutes of the working hours on the internet. Among them, 55% felt that is appropriate for an employee to spend about 20 or so minutes to deal with personal communication via e-mail on a daily basis. 84% of the participants of the survey admitted to spend sometime sending e-mails that are not related to work everyday. 34% disclosed that they send 5-10 e-mail messages daily (Repa, 2007). The study also showed that 57% of the employees felt that their employers were not monitoring their internet use while 20% admitted have been caught at least once by the employer surfing during the working hours (Jennings, 2005). This issue on the employer having no right to access the employees e-mail can be supported by the Strangent v. Loving cars Agency case in New Jersey. The appellate division of the Supreme Court of New Jersey used this case to clarify the ways in which employers should make clarity on policies to make sure that the workforces fully understand that the employers have some right to gain access to the employee emails if the employee is using the company’s technology. Even if the employees have a right to their privacy, as far as emails are concerned, these rights are limited (Wolkinson Block, 1996). The case was ruled out that the previous employer did not have the right to plaintiff’s e-mails because the company policy on the same had just indicated that the employer has a right to disclose, access, intercept, audit and review all affairs on the media systems of the company but it had not stated the scope of the policy (Gordon, Savage Mazer, 2009). In this case, the plaintiff communicated with her attorney about a sexual harassment case using the employer’s laptop but the employer had access to the emails. After thoroughly examination of the policies regarding employers’ electronic communication, the court realized that the policy was ambiguously defined as it makes the employee feel that the allowance on personal use of electronic communication should not be checked by the employer (Gordon, Savage Mazer, 2009). This case gives guidelines that the employees should understand that even if they use passwords on the emails, their employers still reserves the rights to access their emails. However, the employer was not supposed to intercept the messages sent between the plaintiff and her attorney as this is viewed to be an attorney-client communication which was confidential. The employer’s action was therefore not justified and the court declared that at times, employers can’t depend on the policy on electronic resources in order to validate reviewing workforce’s personal email content which is stored on the boss’s electronic resources. In New Jersey, this decision is binding and it has contributed to change of policy regarding the same in most companies there (Repa, 2007). Federal law is against any unauthorized access, retrieval and interception of electronic or wire communication. This includes the stored communication, the like of emails. The people who violate these face a variety of criminal and civil penalties. However, when one downloads such communication into the computers of the company, they may be controlled by the employer (Gordon, Savage Mazer, 2009). On the other hand, most employers feel that it is appropriate for the employees to spend between 15 and 30 minutes daily to send personal e-mails. They said that it helps the employees to regain concentration in their work. As one works from morning, the concentration first goes up but as time goes by, it starts declining. This is when most employees are tempted to do things that are not work related. Some employees have admitted that after surfing for about 15 minutes or so, they become recharged to continue with their work (Wolkinson Block, 1996). However, they say that there is a high temptation to continue surfing for hours on end since there are more interesting things on the internet than on the job. If disciplined, an employee’s productivity can be increased through taking short breaks whether it’s through surfing or not (Steingold, 2009). In conclusion, companies must take a further step to put and enforce policies on electronic communication in order to end this controversy. Such policies should be written clearly so as to avoid ambiguity. This should apply to all the company systems whether they are used at work, during business trips or at the premises of the employees. It should include an express waiver by workforce to the right to privacy in information that is in the computer of the company. The policy should as well have a detached language that gets rid of any expectations that communication on the computers of the company is private. Employers should also play it safe by restricting their access to the employees’ computers to business activities not unless there is sensible suspicion of misconduct by the workforce (Wolkinson Block, 1996). The policy should further indicate that all the computers are company property and should therefore be treated as so. The companies that allow minimum use of the computer for personal purposes should clearly state to the employees that such use should adhere to the company policies, lack confidentiality, ownership, inspection and access. To ensure that this is followed, employers should reserve the right to retain all the employees’ passwords (Repa, 2007). Reference: Repa, B. K, (2007). Your Rights in the Workplace, Edition 8. ISBN 1413306438: Nolo. Wolkinson, B. W. , Block, R. N. , (1996). Employment law: the workplace rights of employees and employers. ISBN 1557868328: Wiley-Blackwell. Gordon, P. L. , Savage, E. A. Mazer, P. H. , (2009). Employer’s Electronic Communications Policy Did Not Allow Company to Review Employee’s E-mail Exchange with Her Attorney: Retrieved on 13th November, 2009 from http://209. 85. 229. 132/search? q=cache:foGTl79U5acJ:www. littler. om/PressPublications/Documents/2009_07_ASAP_Employer_ElectricCommunicationsPolicy_EmployeeE mailExchangeAttorney. pdf+Should+employers+have+the+right+to+review+employees+email%3Fcd=3hl=enct=clnkgl=keclient=firefox-a Jennings, M. M. , (2005), Business: its legal, ethical, and global environment, Edition 7. ISBN 0324204884: Cengage Learn ing, Weckert, J. (2005). Electronic monitoring in the workplace: controversies and solutions. ISBN 1591404568: Idea Group Inc (IGI). Marsh, M. C. , (2009). Employers Employee E-mail and Text Messages Are Private, Absent an Employee Policy to the Contrary: Retrieved on 13th November, 2009 from ourlegalcorner. com/articles. asp? id=70cat=empttl=Employee+E-mail+and+Text+Message+Policies. Steingold, F. S. , (2009). The Employers Legal Handbook, Edition 9. ISBN 1413310230: Nolo. Steinberger, Jeffrey (2009), Your Right to Employee: Retrieved on 13th November, 2009 from E-Mailhttp://209. 85. 229. 132/search? q=cache:5-6aZCe_2ZwJ:smallbusiness. yahoo. com/r-article-a-112541-m-5-sc-51-your_right_to_employee_emaili+Should+employers+have+the+right+to+review+employees+email%3Fcd=4hl=enct=clnkgl=keclient=firefox-a

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Geology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Geology - Essay Example Communities concerns about cause of continuous coastline erosion, oceanographic hazards, coastline modification, mining of aggregates in islands and vulnerability of shores to coastal erosion and other oceanographic hazards. Beaches in the UK area are not excepted from these threats. In the crown of Britains Bournemouth, premier tourist resorts are located. Today, there are about 5.2 million European, global and UK visitors who arrive in the town annually to enjoy the magnificent sweep of Poole Bay. In UK, no other beach draws so many visitors as these premier resorts. The seafront is extremely important leisure and recreational amenity particularly among local residents in the the areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch Poole Conurbation and outlying Hinterland (Bournemouth Borough Council, 2006; p 3). The Bournemouth Borough Council serves as the steward of the several works ranging from commercial, public and voluntary stakeholders who find seafront as a significant economic driver for their town. The public is challenged to sustain their seafront both as a public amenity and a visitor attraction; at the same time preserving the fragile qualities of its environment. The Bournemouth Seafront has a local and global reputation which is family and customer-centered. The project envisioned to manage the project within the context of long term sustainability so the future generations can be provided with important public recreational amenity. The project is viewed as one with economic relevance of the seafront; comprises of volume attraction that can be achieved in a most environmentally effective and cost efficient manner (p 6). Bournemouth seafront can be seen with large infrastructure and diverse range of buildings that supported the use of beaches with 7 miles length set in a very harsh, natural yet changing environment. The management of this tourist spot is in partnership private and public

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

One of the most important issues concerning e-commerce is the privacy Assignment

One of the most important issues concerning e-commerce is the privacy and security of one's indentification and financail information - Assignment Example having login or password that enhances the security of the information passed between the customer and the business (McCarthy, Campbell & Brownstein, 2001). An overly secure environment looks into the security of the transaction by creating passwords and logins in order to ensure privacy and confidentiality of the details of the transactions. In cases where e-commerce involves financila transactions, the risk of loss of money becomes high hence making security issues key in e-commerce. However, both an open and overly secure environments have both advantages and disadvantages. There are various advantages of conducting business in open environments. First, users will not require login and passwords in order to navigate on the websites. Paying for items or making orders will not require one to give login for identification purposes. This makes the process easy and faster compared to a secure environment where login is required. The graphical user interface of open environments are simpler and easy to use hence cause customer satisfaction and convenience (Becker, 2008). Cost advantage also arises in an open environment. There is no cost involved in developing a secure environment thereby reducing the need to engage experts in developing the site. The costs of hosting such a website is also lower compared to that of an overly security environment which requires shrewd experts to develop. However, cost may arise where customers sue the business for protection purposes. On the other hand, browsing in an insecure open environment is characterized by various drawbacks. To begin with, the computers can be hacked thus infringing on private information. This may make the future transactions insecure and further cause loss of resources. Moreover, it would be easier to get computer virus attacks, which could stall operations and further cause loss of data that may be expensive to acquire. In addition, a company can be faced by innumerable cases from customers for violation

Sunday, November 17, 2019

International entreprenureship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

International entreprenureship - Essay Example The study will give details regarding the background and the gradual development of Hewett Packard as a company and Carly Fiorina as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). A background analysis of the company and the CEO would be given to highlight the varied situation managed by the CEO. It is observed that Carly Fiorina might have exhibited certain leadership skills in certain situations but her sole focus on attainment of goals reflects her aggressive behaviour. The organizational climate within a company becomes an essential part of the value system of an individual which helps him / her to achieve corporate goals. The author of the study will highlight the present scenario of Hewett Packard under the managerial control of Carly Fiorina and its impact on the business activities. Finally, the study will conclude with various facets of leadership that have evolved from the observation of the leadership skills exhibited by Craly Fiorina by the author. Background Analysis of Hewett Packa rd & Carly Fiorina Hewlett Packard (HP) is an American multinational company, which is headquartered in California, United States (Hewett Packard, 2013a). The company specializes in manufacturing products, technologies, services, solutions and software to individual and corporate customers in the government, education and health sectors. Hewett Packard is known as the world’s largest IT generation and technological company in the world especially after the launch of EcoPod. The inception of the company was in one car garage by William Hewlett and Dave Packard. It is regarded as one of the largest PC manufacturer of the world since 2007 and it specializes in manufacturing computing, data storage, networking hardware, delivering services. The major product lines include computing devices, enterprise and industry standard internet servers. The main objective of the company is to innovate high quality IT innovative products and create a niche for itself in the market. At present the CEO of the company is Carly Fiorina, who has been serving the tenure of this post since the past few years. Carly Fiorina started her career as a secretary in a small business organization and was one of the first women to lead a Fortune 500 company, Hewett Packard during the tenure 1999 to 2005. She had earned her undergraduate degree from Stanford University and MBA degree from Maryland University and Masters of Science from Massachusetts University. Her tenure at HP led to reinvention of the company with state of art innovation facilities, achievement of market leadership, transformation of the cost structure and acceleration of growth. In spite of opposition from management, Carly had successfully acquired Compaq computers, which was known as one of the biggest mergers in the company history. During her tenure, the company’s revenue had doubled to $88 billion and had almost generated 11 patents in a single day, which improved the profitability and cash flow of the com pany. Presently, the CEO serves as the chairman of Good360, which is regarded as the world’s largest philanthropy organization. Carly was politically active and has

Friday, November 15, 2019

Prescriptive Privileges for Clinical Psychologists

Prescriptive Privileges for Clinical Psychologists Erin E. Wood In the last thirty years, many parties within the American Psychological Association have made motions to promote the motion for clinical psychologists to have prescriptive privileges. With the motions made to promote prescriptive privileges, there have also been motions to counter the arguments made supporting prescription privileges. To research the claims made by both sides of the issue, the American Psychological Association has created a task force to assess the effects that prescriptive privileges will have on education as well as psychology as a whole. This paper will discuss the arguments revolving around professional integrity, financial implications, the amount of professionals interested in prescriptive privileges, safety, and educational consequences of prescription privileges as well as my own opinions as to whether I support or oppose the motion for clinical psychologists to obtain these privileges. Since the birth of psychology, American society has evolved to the point that individuals demand instant gratification. The desire for instant gratification has caused individuals â€Å"‘one-stop shop’ for mental health services† and medical professionals who can directly prescribe medications—causing physicians to become increasingly popular in comparison to psychologists (McGrath, 2010: Levine Schmelkin, 2006). By being able to prescribe medication while proving effective treatments to patients, prescriptive privileges will not only assist patients by cutting out the middle-man, it will also, according to Barnett and Neel (2000), â€Å"result in higher quality care.† Although physicians are currently able to provide medication, they are often uneducated on the effects drugs have on mental health (Barnett Neel, 2000). Psychologists in favor of prescriptive privileges argue that, through training and practice, they are more apt to deal with prescri bing medications and treatments that will treat mental health disorders than physicians who have very little training on mental health disorders (Barnett Neel, 2000). While some psychologists believe that prescription privileges is essential to keep psychotherapy from becoming superfluous in comparison to pharmacology and will assist in increasing the care for patients, others believe that these privileges will change the change the â€Å"professional identity† of those practicing psychology (Wiggins Wedding, 2004). Those who believe that psychologists should be allowed prescription privileges believe that not only will prescription privileges keep psychologists from becoming overshadowed by physicians, they also believe that clinical psychologists would be â€Å"in a unique position to assess and to monitor† when it comes to prescribing medication because, through doctoral training, they are more apt to study the effects of medications on patients (Barnett Neel, 2000). This would allow clinical psychologists to retain and extend their psychotherapeutic roots by giving them the opportunity to research the effect medications have on mental disorders while giving behavioral and cognitive therapies to patients. While psychologists in support of prescriptive privileges argue that prescriptive privileges will give way to many new opportunities in psychology, those in opposition to these privileges claim that the authority to prescribe medication will not create such a large window of opportun ity and will cause psychologists to fall prey to advertising from pharmaceutical companies. Many of the psychologists in opposition to prescriptive privileges believe that the addition of prescription privileges will change the direction of psychology towards an undesired direction—ultimately jeopardizing their professional integrity. They believe that, by placing more of an emphasis on medical treatments rather than behavioral treatments, â€Å"psychology as we know it will come to an end† because psychologists will be more interested in providing medications than therapy (Caccavale, 2002). Psychologists may not prescribe medications to patients based on their effectiveness, but more because will be encouraged by pharmaceutical companies. Currently, pharmaceutical companies create advertisements that strategically influence the opinions that physicians have on medications and bribe psychologists – through means of money and continuing education – to encourage them to prescribe these medications (Antonuccio, Danton McClanahan, 2003). Bribing and advertising does not only affect practicing physicians, according to Antonuccio, Danton and McClanhan (2003), pharmaceutical companies assert their influence as early as medical school—meeting with students to promote medication. This influence asserted by pharmaceutical companies over physicians and medical students can taint the objectivity of psychologists and, in extreme cases, place the patient in harms way. Although psychologists who are against prescriptive privileges believe that the integrity of the profession will be negatively impacted by the bribes and advertising of pharmaceutical companies, those who support prescriptive privileges believe th at these privileges will increase the financial status and interest in the profession. The pharmaceutical industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States being dubbed â€Å"the most profitable industry in the United States† (Antonuccio, Danton McClanahan, 2003). By being one of the most profitable industries in the nation, if psychologists were given the right to prescribe, it would not only give clinical psychologists an ‘edge’, it would also encourage individuals to join the profession. With prescriptive privileges, psychologists will also be able to partake in the benefits of pharmacology by receiving insurance reimbursements and increased status within health institutions (McGrath, 2010). McGrath (2010) claims that this increased status will not only benefit psychologists in private practice, hospitals, and other intuitions, it will also benefit the academic community by funding research projects. Although there are many financial benefits to both the counselling and academic communities of clinical psychology, there are also drawbacks that could potentially outweigh the benefits. First, while pharmaceutical companies have been known to provide bribes and false information to professionals with prescription privileges to increase drug sales, they have also been responsible for increasing levels of â€Å"commercialism and malpractice allegations† within health professions (Antonuccio, Danton McClanahan, 2003: Stuart Heiby, 2007, p. 6). Commercialization of medications has further tainted the objectivity of health professionals because, according to Stuart and Heiby (2007), although prescribers are able to deny medication to patients, they are more likely to give medications that have been â€Å"requested† by the client—even if they are ill-informed of the drug. Physicians may be becoming more willing to prescribe requested medications because the negative side effects of drugs have drastically decreased making it less of a risk for them to prescribe them (Levine Schmelkin, 2006). While medications have become safer to prescribe, when com plications arise, the professionals who prescribe the medications will be the ones at risk for malpractice lawsuits—not the pharmaceutical companies. In the article To Prescribe of Not to Prescribe: Eleven Exploratory Questions, Stuart and Heiby (2007) discuss the lack of support insurance companies have for professionals in malpractice lawsuits. Many insurance companies have created new policies when dealing with malpractice because â€Å"the rate and cost of settlements [that have] risen so sharply during the past decade† (Stuart Heiby, 2007, p. 22). Because of this, it can be very expensive for a psychologist to pay for the insurance to cover malpractice, or pay for the legal counsel because their insurance does not cover malpractice. According to Wiggins and Wedding (2004) only a small majority of psychiatric nurses – clinical psychologists who have gone through training to prescribe medication – have insurance policies that cover malpractice—even when it is in many ways cheaper than other forms of insurance (p.150). This could be because, although psychiatric nurses are able to prescribe medicatio ns, very few of them actually utilize prescription privileges (Wiggins Wedding 2004, p. 149). Due to the amount of psychiatric nurses who refrain from prescriptive privileges, before the APA -financial -military -RNP -coursework References Antonuccio, D. O., Danton, W., McClanahan, T. M. (2003). Psychology in the prescription era: Building a firewall between marketing and science.American Psychologist,58(12), 1028-1043. Barnett, J. E., Neel, M. L. (2000). Must all psychologists study psychopharmacology?Professional Psychology: Research and Practice,31(6), 619-627. Caccavale, J. (2002). Opposition to prescriptive authority: Is this a case of the tail wagging the dog.Journal of Clinical Psychology,58(6), 623-633. DeLeon, P. H., Dunivin, D. L., Newman, R. (2002). The tide rises.Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice,9(3), 249-255. Levine, E. S., Schmelkin, L. P. (2006). A move to prescribe: A change in paradigm.Professional Psychology: Research and Practice,37(2), 205-209. McGrath, R. (2010). Prescriptive authority for psychologists.Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, (6), 21-47. Retrieved from clinpsy.anualreviews.org Muse, M., Neel, R. E. (2010). Training comparison among three professions prescribing psychoactive medications: psychiatric nurse practitioners, physicians, and pharmacologically trained psychologists.Journal of Clinical Psychology, 66(1), 96-103. Robiner, W. N., Bearman, D. L., Bearman, M., Grove, W. M., Colon, E., Armstrong, J., Marack, S. (2002). Prescriptive authority for psychologists: A looming health hazard?Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice,9(3), 231-240. Stuart, R.B., Heiby E.E. (2007). To prescribe of not to prescribe: eleven exploratory questions. The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practices, 5(1),4-32. Wiggins, J. G., Wedding, D. (2004). Prescribing, professional identity, and costs.Professional Psychology: Research and Practice,35(2), 148-150. (McGrath, 2010) (Antonuccio, Danton McClanahan, 2003) (Wiggins Wedding 2004) (DeLeon, Dunivin Newman, 2002) (Caccavale, 2002) (Levine Schmelkin, 2006) (Robiner et al., 2002) (Muse Neel, 2010) (Stuart Heiby, 2007)

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

The Principles of Morality

Humans must not treat each other merely as a means to satisfy an end. Human beings are objects of dignity and not a mere machine, thus deserving respect to and from each other and respect to the law as well. Respect, although a human feeling, is a self-wrought rational concept and, thus, free of influences. This is the true essence of ethics that   is supposed to exist among human beings. However, as Kant implied in his Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals this is not always the case, that humans behave to each other in pursuance of freedom, human rights, violence, peace and anything attributing to his own well-being as well as to the well-being of others and the community in general. Kant has acknowledged in his arguments   that aside from respect and duty, human acts accordingly based on his inclinations and, or worse, out of fear. However, it was emphasized that with obedience to law the actions would be in conformity to that law and would become a binding principle among humans. Respect is properly the conception of a worth which thwarts my self-love. Accordingly it is something which is considered neither as an object of inclination nor of fear, although it has something analogous to both. The object of respect is the law only, and that the law which we impose on ourselves and yet recognise as necessary in itself. (Kant) Humans need guidance to be enlightened and eventually be free and at the same time, need a universal law to exist among them for their own sake.   This law would be the imposing object of humans to themselves as a result of their will. This include the common day-to-day congenial acts of humanity such as honesty, faithfulness, respect for each other, trustworthiness, non-imprisonment of innocent individuals and be like the example that was in Kant’s Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals, keeping ones promises. Why is it a wrong deed for A if she took the hand of B forcing the latter to shoot C? This case would be an act of deception and coercion and obviously a crime, in which case, against the universal law. A have â€Å"bypassed†(Hare 13) the agency of B as A used B as the shooting medium. It is also a deception when A impede the rational   choice and free will of B to make the decision and the action. This is a violation of the universal law and it is a treatment of humans, in this case B, as without dignity but only used as a means to achieve an end, the shooting of C. As the source of guidance to the acts, duties and obligations of humans, morality is very important. In fact, as Kant have argued, â€Å"it is only a pure philosophy that we can look for the moral law in its purity and genuineness.† This means that even morality itself may have something of its own immoralities within: a hidden motive. To someone of a morally good, or a virtuous, character that someone should perform an act without looking at the effect of that certain action or, without deriving the motive of that act from its possible effect. A virtuous character â€Å"wants† or â€Å"wills† (or what Kant calls the â€Å"principle of volition†) the performance of an act for the act itself and not from the expected results or a return that can be gained from doing such acts. As Kant have put it: â€Å"an action done from duty derives its moral worth, not from the purpose which is to be attained by it, but from the maxim by which it is determined† Moreover, the virtuous person thus acts in accordance to the â€Å"autonomy†, that would be an act of the holy will, which can be viewed as â€Å"absolutely good† according to Kant. The autonomy causes the Will of the action a â€Å"law to itself†. This is because the Autonomy of the Will is the supreme principle of morality which makes a rational being of freedom efficient and independent upon his choices and actions, as opposed to an irrational being who is fragile to influences of the external environment. However, if the will is only based on necessity of morality, this would become an obligation, and the action resulting from it is called duty. This makes autonomy as one of the important limitations of morality: â€Å"part of the dignity of life is choosing one's own path through it. Given those limits, there can be principles so demanding that compliance simply will not be forthcoming.† (Griffin 127) Human actions have imperatives and are governed by the Ought. Acknowledging its obligations is a way for humans to be within the world with sense and understanding. However, this conception of obligation is not easily accepted or might be challenged by humans due to immaturity, ignorance or fanaticism. Humans are supposed to be rational beings that belong to an intelligible world, conscious and responsible for its actions. It is, however, very evident that humans act in the contrary and as Kant has argued, â€Å"can never conceive the causality of his own will otherwise than on condition of the idea of freedom.† This might be attributed to immaturity which not an outside force to him but something that he has self-incurred. This is the lack of courage and resolution from the side of humans to use his â€Å"own understanding without the guidance of others.† (Kant) Immaturity would hinder the purpose of morality laws that have an ultimate principle conceived to guide humans in every possible circumstances in life. Without recognizing their respective obligations, humans would be living in darkness, without a well defined function in life. This would hinder the attainment of human freedom, his free will. In Kant’s An Answer to the Question: â€Å"What is Enlightenment?† he has emphasized the value of freedom that can only be attained by an enlightened humanity. Without recognition of the obligations, there would be no duty. Without duty means without worth of   morality for human actions. Works Cited Griffin, James. Well-Being: Its Meaning, Measurement, and Moral Importance. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986. Questia. 5 May 2008 ;http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o;d=26035794;. Hare, John E. The Moral Gap : Kantian Ethics, Human Limits, and God's Assistance /. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Questia. 5 May 2008 .

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Consumer Ethics Essay

In this paper I will express my opinion on the thought that some marketers say that targeting any group of consumers who are willing and able to purchase a product is simply good marketing. I will discuss why I believe that this is a good marketing technique. I will also discuss whether or not I think it is important for college students to study the topic of consumer ethics. Good Marketing? I believe that it is a smart marketing technique to target any group of consumers who are willing and able to purchase a product even if it is fatty foods and soft drinks being marketed towards children. The reason that I believe this is because it is the marketer’s job for a company to get consumers to purchase the product that they are advertising. Although it may be morally wrong to target children for products like candy, they are most likely the group who will either be purchasing this product or influencing their parents to purchase it. This is why I believe it is a smart strategy for marketers, although it may be slightly questionable. Consumer Ethics I believe that it is important for college students to study consumer ethics. The reason that I believe this is because in order for us to fully mature as adults I think that we need to learn how to be completely ethical in all aspects of life, including being a consumer. Consumer ethics can teach us about software piracy, which I believe is a huge problem with many college students who illegally download music and films. I believe that this can help us in our lives so it is important for college students to learn about consumer ethics. This is why I think college students should study consumer ethics. Conclusion In this paper I discussed my feelings on two different topics. The first topic was about questionable marketing tactics, which I believe can be effective and is a good way to market. The second topic I expressed my views on was consumer ethics, and whether or not college students should study it. The main reason that I said college students should study consumer ethics is because of music piracy and how popular it is among college students. These are my feelings on these two important subjects. Bibliography Schiffman, Leon G., Leslie Lazar Kanuk, and Joseph Wisenblit. Consumer Behavior. Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall, 2010.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Criticism of Mel Gibsons Hamlet, How well did he maintain the character Essay Example

Criticism of Mel Gibsons Hamlet, How well did he maintain the character Essay Example Criticism of Mel Gibsons Hamlet, How well did he maintain the character Paper Criticism of Mel Gibsons Hamlet, How well did he maintain the character Paper Essay Topic: Hamlet The aspects of Hamlets character that Mel Gibson played up, in the movie production in which Gibson was acting in, were the characteristics of Hamlets strong affections for his mother, Gertrude, along with his subsequent hatred and deep resentment of his step-father, Claudius. Also, his fear and subservient reverence for the ghost of his late father, his scholarly, perceptive, sometimes introspective mind, and his charisma, to the extent of the Castle Ellsinore, for the peoples love for him is mentioned in a few instances, but there is not much advancement on this apparent love, or what Hamlet himself did to be awarded it, save a few laughs at jokes he makes. Gibson plays the Hamlet afflicted with the oedipal complex quite blatantly. This passionate affection is displayed in many of the scenes between Hamlet and his mother, as they are very physical with each other, more so than in a normal mother-and-son relationship, with a lot of touching faces with their hands, and full-lip kissing. In the pictures scene (III. 4) Hamlet becomes very indecently physical with his mother, almost as if he is raping her. I personally felt that the oedipal aspect had been taken a bit too far at that point, but those actions did serve to illustrate that Hamlet may indeed have been confused in the context of sexuality, or it may have helped to emphasize the fact that Hamlet is indeed mad, if you chose to take that stance towards his character. This oedipal aspect of Hamlets character was probably derived from the text, by Gibson, the many references to Claudius and Gertrude in bed and the many sexual allusions he makes when he thinks or talks about them. Why, she would hang on him as if increase of appetite had grown on what it fed on. O, most wicked speed, to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets! At the same time that Hamlet is talking about his mother, he makes many hateful references to Claudius, and this aspect was much emphasized by Gibson throughout the movie, but a memorable moment was directly after the players had enacted the scene where the player king was killed in exactly the same way as Claudius had done to old Hamlet, and Claudius becomes frantic and starts calling for lights. We see Hamlet running and jumping about, singing ecstatically and almost reveling in the fact that his uncle had given himself away by his actions. In other scenes, especially in ones where Hamlet is talking face to face with Claudius, he doesnt make any effort to conceal his feelings about his uncle, as he is either sarcastic or seething through his teeth. I thought that these methods of expressing his anger, and also the outburst of happiness and delight in his uncles suffering were appropriate, as sarcasm would serve to emphasize not only his hatred, but also his wit and cunning with words. Excellent, ifaith; of the chameleons dish. I eat the air, promise-crammed. You cannot feed capons so. In the act three, scene four, I felt that Hamlets outburst of happiness was appropriate, because his hatred for the uncle that had murdered his father had been so great that he became absolutely ecstatic when his uncle became subjected to torment of guilt, and this action was a kind of revenge. Hamlets monologue scenes are well done in the movie. The setting of an actual castle gives the audience a more realistic and cold, hard setting, and helps to emphasize the mood of his speeches. For example, in the To be or not to be monologue, a suicidal and deathly mood or air was emphasized by Hamlet staring into the eye sockets of a skull, surrounded by more skulls and more symbols of death such as tombs and even the cold, dark, stone walls. Hamlets speech at the end of act three, scene three is also greatly emphasized by the dark and gloomy night, with the castle towering in the background. These scenes could, of course, be done just as well on stage, but the authentic setting of a real castle adds an extra layer of realism and atmosphere to Mel Gibsons carrying of the monologue that would be hard to replicate on a stage.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

In the Last Throes

In the Last Throes In the Last Throes In the Last Throes By Maeve Maddox An amusing egg-corn that has just appeared on my radar is that of writing in the throes of as in the throws of. A protagonist in the throws of madness Plaster cast of a Pompeii resident in the throws of death Iraq is in the last throws of insurgency AMD in final death throws? in the throws of the epidemic Question: Why do cockroaches die on their backs? Answer: Because in the throws of death, they often tip or topple over Although both words may derive from the same Old English word, à ¾rawan to twist, turn writhe, theyve been used with distinctly different meanings long enough to make the mix-up amusing. (Throe may derive instead from O.E. à ¾rowian to suffer.) The OED offers these definitions: throe: A violent spasm or pang, such as convulses the body, limbs, or face. Also, a spasm of feeling; a paroxysm; agony of mind; anguish.  Ã‚  Ã‚      The pain and struggle of childbirth; pl. labour-pangs. The agony of death; the death-struggle, death-throe. A violent convulsion or struggle preceding or accompanying the ‘bringing forth’ of something. To confuse the issue, theres a blog called In the Throws of Resistance, and a song called In the Throws of a Moral Quandary. Theres also a villainous group (Marvel Comics) called the Death-Throws. Their name is a pun on death throes. Theyre jugglers. The things they throw cause death, hence, death throws. Take care next time you want to express the idea of intense suffering or passion. Throes in the sense of violent feeling is too good a word to throw away. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:10 Grammar Mistakes You Should AvoidDeck the HallsDrama vs. Melodrama

Sunday, November 3, 2019

To what extent is it accurate to describe the Soviet Union as a Essay

To what extent is it accurate to describe the Soviet Union as a totalitarian empire - Essay Example its political ideology and practices were in large part a result of the Cold War which froze Soviet society in a manner that was both â€Å"defensive† and â€Å"repressive†. For the most part revisionists argue that the characterization of the Soviet Union as a totalitarian empire was a mere matter of the West and particularly the US labeling its post-war enemy. It is submitted that there are certainly periods in Soviet history in which intermittent and often protracted reigns of terror accurately present the Soviet Union as a totalitarian empire. The Bolshevik reign of terror from 1918 -1922 under Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin’s authoritarian rule from 1922-1953 were inescapably totalitarian in nature. However, to carry over Bolshevism and Stalinism over to Communism is unfair and does not accurately depict the true nature of the Soviet Union as an empire as a whole. In other words, under Bolshevism and Stalinism, it is accurate to describe the Soviet Union as a totalitarian empire. However, in the post-Stalin era and up to the Cold War, it is largely incorrect to characterize the Soviet Union as a totalitarian empire and any such label may be largely self-serving. This paper demonstrates this conclusion by analyzing the totalitarian and revisionist debates on the issues. The theory of totalitarianism first emerged during the 1930s and the 1940s and encapsulated a Western ideology of â€Å"the total state† and was largely used to characterize the dictatorships of Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin. From the Western perspective, Hitler’s Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Communist Soviet Union epitomized the totalitarian state.

Friday, November 1, 2019

Metrics and measurements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Metrics and measurements - Essay Example Overall, human resource metrics and measurements translate human resources capabilities to measurable strategic value, which facilitates better understanding of human resource data, and improves human resource connection with the rest of the organization (Jamroq and Overholt 3; Strategy2Act). According to Strategy2Act, an organization that develops solutions for obtaining valuable information out of files created with popular office tools, the most common human resource measurements and metrics are typically related to "employee attitudes, employee turnover, employee skill levels, as well as outsourcing costs, service center operations, the number human resource transactions processed, staffing process, training programs utilization and effectiveness, and promotions". These metrics and measurements are used by 25% to 75% of all organizations (Strategy2Act). "Employee turnover" metric includes indicators such as cost per hire, turnover cost, turnover rate, time to fill, and length of employment. Cost per hire includes calculation of advertising fees, employment agency fees, headhunter fees, employee referrals rewards, relocation benefits, recruiter pay and benefits costs, and the number of hires. Turnover cost includes calculation of termination, new hire, vacancy, and learning curve costs. Turnover rate is the rate at which employees leave the organization. Time to fill is the period from job requisition approval to new hire start date. Length of employment takes into account the job designation, department, etc (Strategy2Act). For example, Carphone Warehouse found that every retail employee who left the company within six months cost 4,875 in gross profit margins. If they could reduce turnover by only 2% they could cut 585,900 in recruitment and training costs and lost productivity (Carrington 38). "Recruiting" metric includes vacant period, new hires performance appraisal, manager satisfaction, turnover rates of new hires, and financial impact of bad hire. Vacant period is the number of overall days the jobs were vacant. New hires performance appraisal is the average performance appraisal of new hires, compared to previous period. Manager satisfaction is the satisfaction of hiring managers, compared to previous period. Turnover rate of new hires is measured for a specific period. Financial impact of bad hire includes the cost per hire and the turnover cost. For example, Carphone Warehouse uses recruitment metrics to "get the right people at the right time - and first time". "Retention" metric includes overall employee turnover, preventable turnover, diversity turnover, and financial impact of employee turnover. Overall employee turnover emphasizes the key positions. Preventable turnover takes into account the reasons why the employee left the organization and what measures may be taken to prevent it. Diversity turnover classifies the turnover rate into three categories based on professional, managerial, and technical positions. For example, Scottish Power uses a scorecard system to monitor retention of its retail business that employs call center staff, meter readers, and sales person where retention rate is low. "Training and Development" metric includes learning and growth opportunities, on-the-job learning satisfaction, and opportunities for new hires. Learning and growth