Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi Analysis Essay Example for Free

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi Analysis EssayIn the book, Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, the main character is the author as a young girl emergence up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution of 1979. She starts off as an incredibly positive child with enormous religion in herself and her relationship with G-d. Through her experiences, curiously when she was in her crucial, early teenage years, she all in all loses her faith in G-d and also rebels against her environs. The author wants to show the Western world that there are many lot in Iran, care Marjane, that are no different than Westerners. She does this by describing her childhood teenage encroachs with her parents, with subjection and with her faith in G-d, all of which most Western teenagers could soft relate to. Marjanes conflicts prove that she is non just a spoiled teenager, rebelling for no other reason than just being a teenager, but that the environment she was in would make most teenagers rebel.Two of Marjan es conflicts with her parents come from her strong desire to participate in the public protests against the Shah. Marjane has a close relationship with her parents, whose activism against oppression influences her greatly. She sees her parents go to protests against the Shah and she desperately wants to join in and be a part of it. On panels 16.9-17.6, Marjane is begging her parents to allow her to join them in the next days protests. She says to them, For a revolution to succeed, the entire population must support it. They tell her she cant go yet because it is too dangerous.She is very upset with them for not letting her go. Later, on panels 38.1-39.5, Marjane defies her parents authority by attending a demonstration with her maid, Mehri. The author narrates, When I finally understood the reasons for the Revolution I made my finale. Marjane is referring to her decision to go to a protest against the Shah. This is after her maids heart is broken because the boy she is in love with dumps her when he finds out she is beneath his social class. Marjane believes that the Revolution will abolish the social class system. These two examples of conflict with her parents show that Marjane is not just acting out against her parents, but cares deeply for the future of her country and those closest to her, like her maid.The Islamic Fundamentalists bare-assed rules and laws also create conflicts for Marjane because of the influence from her parents secular beliefs and her previous secular schooling. On panels 96.1-98.7, the author describes Marjanes untried school environment after her secular French school is shut down. The students are forced into Islamic schools where the girls and boys are separated. They have new rituals to perform, like hitting themselves to honor the Iran-Iraq war casualties. Almost immediately, the students begin to make fun of the rituals and the new teachers enforcing them. The school is so upset with the students behavior that the parents ar e called in for a lecture as well. At the end of the lecture, Marjanes father says to the teacher, If hair is as stimulating as you say, then you need to shave your mustacheThis shows Marjanes parents rebellion against the Fundamentalism, which heavily influences Marjane. It also shows that Marjane, and her fellow students in this case, are not doing anything wrong in their parents eyes, but simply having a tough time adapting to this completely new set of beliefs, rules and laws. A similar conflict for Marjane revolves around the new, strict rules on what women can wear in public. On panels 130.1-134.4, Marjanes parents return from a trip to Turkey with gifts of Western clothing for her.She immediately assembles them on, gets a compliment from her mother, and goes out to buy some black market rock and roll tapes. She is confronted by the Guardians of the Revolution for wearing the Western clothing and almost gets arrested. Like any teenager who receives cool, new clothes from thei r parents, she wants to immediately enjoy wearing them. Also, she has only know freedom and has been taught by her parents that it is OK to express herself with clothing. Rather than being a spoiled teenager, rebelling against the Fundamentalists, she is simply a teenager expressing herself and trying to enjoy herself in her new clothes.Marjanes environment also causes her to have a major conflict with her faith in G-d. As a young girl, Marjane truly believes that she will be the Last Prophet. (6.3-9.6) She feels so strongly about this and her relationship with G-d she even endures ridicule from her classmates for saying she will be a Prophet. But, as her environment changes, and the Revolution starts to build, she shows signs of conflict with her faith in G-d. On Panel 10.1 she says, My faith was not unshakable. On 10.2 the author narrates, The year of the Revolution I had to take action. So I put my prophetic destiny aside for a while. The fact that she truly believed she would be come a prophet, to the point of enduring ridicule, showed that she was very serious about her faith in G-d. Then her environment changes so much due to the building Revolution and the terrible things happening in Iran under the Shahs government that she takes her emotional animation away from her faith in G-d and starts to put it towards the Revolution.Her once strong relationship with G-d ends completely when her uncle Anoosh is falsely accused of being a Russian spy and executed. (70.1) On panel 70.4, Marjane tells G-d, Get out of my life I never want to see you again Throughout the rest of Persepolis, Marjane never again mentions G-d. She went from believing she is a prophet, and talking to G-d regularly, to completely rejecting Him. This profound change shows that Marjanes life was deeply affected by her environment. When the tough environment Marjane grew up in is considered, her conflicts with her parents, with oppression and with her faith in G-d seem understandable.Her conf licts with her parents arose mainly from her desire to protest because thats what she thought she should be doing. Her conflicts with her oppressive, Islamic Fundamentalist school are understandable because it was all new for her and her classmates. And finally, her conflict with her faith in G-d was due to the overwhelming circumstances of the Revolution and the oppressive, Islamic Fundamentalist regime. Her reactions to her environment seem completely normal and justified. She is not a rebellious child and teenager, but is just very committed to whatever she believes in, and conflict almost always comes with commitment.

Abortion, a Controversial Word in the US Essay Example for Free

miscarriage, a Controversial Word in the US Essay spontaneous abortion is one of longest believed subjects in the unite States. Everyone has an opinion on it. Abortion is the removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus to end a pregnancy. Some are pro- prime(a) and some are pro-life. Everyone has seen the protestors on sidewalks and in front of clinics with their signs for the pro-life side. We live in the United States, where we overhear the right to choose therefore Abortion is levelheaded. Some may still consider Abortion as murder, but still adult female induct a right to choose what they do with their proclaim bodies. Pro-life group incur that the women should continue the pregnancy, have the child, and either deal with it when it is born or put it up for adoption. Pro-choice group feel that women have a choice to have an spontaneous abortion if the feel like that is the right option for them. This paper will discuss the argument of Pro-Choice and why it is the vanquish option for the United States. A lot of multitude may dis see to it with the Pro-choice status, but there are many tenabilitys why a woman should have a say in what she does with her own body. Pro-choice is best option because it keeps abortion legal in the United States.See more The stages of consumer buying decisiveness process essayObviously, there are some restrictions set in place. 32 states require a parental consent for minor belowgoing an abortion. The highest percentages of women who receive abortions are Caucasians, unmarried and within the age grip 0f 20 25. The period of most received abortions is within the first 8 weeks of gestations. Most women have abortions because a pregnancy would drastically change their lifestyle and/or they are non in a financially stable place in their life. Most abortion clinics will not perform a agency after 8 weeks.There is now a drug called mifepristone that butt joint be taken orally that is an alternative to a surgical subprogram and most women have opted for this. This drug must be taken before 7 weeks. There is a confidentiality agreement between patients and clinics that must be signed. obligatory counseling before and after procedures are performed. Post abortion birth control methods are discussed and put in place so abortions and unplanned pregnancies can be prevented. There are different types of birth control or a contraceptive that can suit the woman it all depends on what is best for her.The different types of options available are male/female condoms, daily pills, injections, patches, implants, vaginal rings, or abstinence. All of these things come into play when women are making the choice. (Richard, J. R. , 1994) Women choose abortion for many reasons. These reasons could make their decision painful for them, but to them they feel like this was best. Abortion could be the best option for many reasons such as, rape, incest, or wellness issues. If a woman has been raped she should no t have to carry out such a painful re estimationer of what has happened to her everyday.Incest could be viewed in the same way, not only that there could be something wrong with the child. As well as health issues, such as an ectopic pregnancy, this could be a life menacing pregnancy to the woman and/or the baby so the pregnancy should be terminated. All of these are reasons that a woman should have opted for abortion, but what if she just only is not ready for a child. Does this make her a bad person because she opts to have an abortion because she is not financially stable or whatever different reason hinders her from carrying out this pregnancy?Women can be at various stages in their life just like men can be, and they may not be ready for their whole life to be changed by pregnancy and raising a child so they opt for abortion. There are many reasons women make the decision, but no one should judge them but themselves. Many people feel as though abortion is murdering a child. They feel as though the woman who has chosen to have the abortion has taken the fetuses right to a life. Most people who are pro-life feel very baseball diamond about the abortion subject and feel like it should be illegal in the United States.A lot of pro-life people have ghostly beliefs that come into play when the make their decision to become pro-life. Religious groups and Pro-life groups will lead protests outside of abortion clinics that can make some woman uncomfortable because the force their opinions on them. (Douglas, D. M. 2002) These protests are a little extreme a woman should be able to make up their own mind in a calm environment. No matter what the side everyone is entitled to their own view and opinion, but what it all comes down to is the womans decision and what she decides to with her own body.Pro-life groups and religious groups are using the Laci Peterson case as a pawn in the abortion debate recently. This was brought up in the debate because of the Unborn V ictims of Violence Act of 2004. This means that a person who kills a woman carrying a fetus well into pregnancy, that fetus is treated as a human in criminal proceedings. This person would be convicted of two separate crimes, one of the woman carrying the fetus and then the fetus itself. This has been brought up in the abortion debate because why is this consider murder, but abortion is not.The answer is simple, abortions cannot happen after a certain point in pregnancy. The woman choosing an abortion is dealing with her own body, making her own decision. On the other hand in a violent criminal situation as the Laci Peterson case, there was no choice here, but a man killing an innocent woman who happened to be very pregnant and she did not make that choice. To take away the womans right to choose could result in destroying the womans life, thereby ruling that the fetus is more important than the woman (Planned Parenthood). This cannot be compared to abortion in anyway whatsoever.Ab ortion is such a controversial issue in the United States. It is almost like a cuss word that should not be brought up at the dinner table. It is always a hot topic for political and Presidential candidates. It is definitely something that is a complicated subject here in our society. Abortion gets so much scrutiny, but why. People have the choices to get all kinds of crazy plastic surgeries that puts their life in danger while under the knife so to speak. Why shouldnt a woman have the option to do what she wants with her body? It is her body and no one elses.Obviously there should be some certain humane ways to do these things and safety precautions, but if she is not ready for a child or for whatever reason is hindering her from carrying out this pregnancy its no one elses business but her own and her doctors. Yes some may not agree with that womans decision, but it was her decision. People disagree about things all the time, and this will just have to be another. Deontology would solves this ethical issue of Pro-choice versus Pro-life. Deontology is the believe of lesson obligation and necessity, finding the source of ethical correctness in the rules according to which one acts.It rejects utilizing the results or consequences of an act to evaluate an act as moral thus it is a non-consequentialist theory (Mosser, K. 2010. Introduction to ethics and Social responsibility. Glossary). Basically it means that this is what the person or woman feel she has to do, like she is out of options. Yet, utilitarianism could as well as apply here as well because if the abortions are going to bring about the greatest goods for the woman then it is best. Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines the moral look on of an act in terms of its results and if those results produce the greatest good for the greatest number.As consequential theory, it is contrasted with non-consequentialist theories () Basically if the outcome will provide the greatest measuring of go od to everyone it affects then it is best. Emotivism could not solve this issue because the woman is a subject of judgment no matter which choice she chooses whether it be abortion or not. Emotivism is the perspective on ethics that moral evaluations are merely expressions of approval and disapproval, and that ethics is constituted solely by these expressions (Mosser, K. 2010. Introduction to ethics and Social responsibility. Glossary).Abortion is a heated debate that has continued across the United States and will continue probably for years to come. Pro-choice is the best choice for The U. S. because it keeps abortion legal in the States even f the controversy rages on. Women have a right to chose what they do with their own bodies no matter what their reasoning. They should not be judged for their decisions either. Their decision to have an abortion is for the greatest good or because they are out of options in their own lives. Therefore Pro-choice and legal abortion should conti nue in the United States.

Royal Mail Strategies and Responsibilities

princely institutionalise Strategies and Responsibilities munificent mail is the United Kingdoms national institutionalizeal dish out which was founded in 1516. august mail is having its operations all over UK as well as in International beas having more than 176000 employees. lofty mail do exhaust parcel service, letter service, Airmail service, transmission line support go, money transfers and lot of go they keep on adding daytime by day. It is the subsidiary whole of the olympian send off Group LTD. According to the gallant mail its superiorly skilled employees be its assets and the nodes be the life blood of the steadfast. This essay describes about the pursuit factors- munificent brands three strategic take aimsCorporate Strategic Responsibility gentle resource strategies (Definition) compassionate imagination Strategies between 2005-2010Swot AnalysisNew adult male election schema of the olympian MailThe Royal Mails response to the Competition and the to the recent Credit CrunchConclusion1.The Royal Mail do slang three levels of strategies-Corporate level -which deals with the overall organization. Ex Geographical regions, Market selection.Business level strategy is mentioned for individually type of business carried out by the Royal mail.Functional level- The Finance, tender-hearted Resource Management, Production, Marketing, Research and Development comes under this section.The Corporate strategy of Royal mail is designed in such a way that it shows their ability to cope with the merchandise switchs in a positive and negative manner. It is the hardships of the employees and their standard customer services hires the Royal mail to puddle a hawkish gain over its competitors resembling TNT, DHL etc. Royal Mail which was once said to be the Monopolist in the field of Postal services lost the title of Monopoly in the beginning of 2006. It had 99% of the market share in its hands. Royal mail do have a view to make their co rporate Strategic indebtedness to become a constituent of their strategic management process. They are-2. Corporate Strategic responsibility includes-The support of the workers from the work posture which gains the gritstone of the Royal mail. The management as well as deals with the workers in a more intimate manner without any kind of discrimination.Being workers said to be the assets of the firm, Royal Mail takes unplayful care of their workers and regarding the working conditions too.To make its actions designed to have a strong positive effect on its workers, customers and to its suppliers.Achieve a net zippo carbon footprint by 2015 and to support their clients to do their activities to have a positive advantage towards the environment and to attain a competitive advantage.With their Corporate responsibility in mind Royal Mail wishes to be different from its competitorsRoyal mail had bring ond their corporate strategy by winning into friendliness of their schemeal objectives and their achievement. It is in the Functional level the Human Resource Strategies arrives. The definition of the Human Resource strategy and the Human Resource Strategies of the Royal Mail from 2005-2010 are mentioned at a lower place.3.Human Resource strategy (Definition)-Before moving to Human Resource Strategy we should know what is meant by the term strategy?.Strategy usually means selecting the best ending from a shoot of decisions. According to Lundy and cowling (1998,p16), strategy is The art of war, generalship, especially the art of directing military movements so as to secure the most advantageous positions and combination of forces. The Human Resource Management police squad in the Royal Mail directs the workers by motivating them and providing them proper genteelness in order to achieve the Organizational goals and to get a competitive advantage over its rivals.The term Human Resource Strategy is well defined as Human Resource management (HRM) is a str ategic approach to managing physical exertion relations which emphasises that leverage peoples capabilities is critical to achieving sustainable competitive advantage, this being achieved through a distinctive set of integrated employment policies, programmes and practices. Bratton and Gold,4e,p34.The Human Resource Strategies from 2005 2010-Human Resource Management forms the most important function in an Organization as the workers are considered to be the valuable assets of the firm. The correct kind of people in right position at the right time is the objective of the HR conductor. It is said that normally in a day HR Manager usually spends 20% of their working hours in dealing with the grievances of the employees without affecting the Organizations routine activities. HR Executives should have an ability to deal with their staffs in a fair and friendly manner rather than imposing more control on them. The Royal Mail take the efforts make by their workers into near(a) affec tion and rely on the fact about their career development rather than simply a job. The Royal Mails Human Resource strategies in the period from 2005 to 2010 is mentioned below which includes several threats they faced and the steps undertaken to face those threats.Human Resource strategies of the Royal Mail in 2005-One of the most important actions of the Royal Mail fag end be seen in the beginning of 2005 which employed candidates from the socially excluded groups. The candidates who were recruited performed precise well in the selection process as well as in the Organization too. New recruits by this process were placed in position as post man, deli genuinely van drivers, letter sorting who were ex-service men or those who are homeless. This Pilot program helped the Royal Mail in lowering the cost and labour turnovers and proved as the firm with best employee satisfaction. The employees thus had a huge term payload and had a self motivated approach to work hard for the firm to achieve its goals. The employer expectation of high commitment and the employee expectation of taking care of their social needs make the workers of the Royal Mail to be loyal to the firm and improved the ratio of trust towards the firm. The voluntary organizations like the Royal Association of Disabled and Rehabilitation, Business action on Homelessness etc helped the Royal Mail to get candidates of socially excluded groups. The Human Resource team played a very important function in sorting out the list of disabled candidates and selecting the best candidates through a standard selection process. The Human Resource Manager who have the Management as an art aspect means having inborn talents provide have those skills to recruit those people who can contribute to the maximum of their im protrude towards their Organization. The Royal mail team supervised by Mr. Adam Crozier do record annual profits in 2005 which helped to give 1074 pounds of bonuses to its workers. These were ach ieved by the employee performance, discover customer service by properly trained staff and their performance related pay strategy of the Human Resource team.Human Resource strategies of the Royal Mail in 2006-The Human Resource team in the Royal Mail were able to provide instant solutions to the grievances of the employees. The starting of the course of instruction 2006 was not as good for the Royal Mail as it faced a postal score in Belfast. Nearly 200 postal workers stopped their work for 2 weeks which made a very negative impact on the Royal Mails services to the customers. The customers were said to contact the office directly for any important matters and most of the earn and documents were blocked in approximately(prenominal) places remained undelivered. The Communication Workers Union says that the strike was due to the bad and unfair practices of the managers towards the workers in Belfast and the core issue is not real by the Royal Mail. Important delivery including s pecialized services were stopped temporarily and the management took immediate action to crystallise the problem. The Workers in strike were cognizant that they go away not be treated badly when they return to their work and necessary actions will be taken against those who were found guilty. The Human Resource team in the Royal Mail took the issue naughtily and they guaranteed that the workers will be treated fairly and without any discrimination. The psychological contract which says high motif and high commitment should be taken into consideration which made the Human Resource Manger to deal with the situation in a friendly and wise manner. It was this social class the Royal Mail lost its position as a Monopoly in the postal Industry and started facing wide spread aspiration. The management agreed that their will be no reduction in the work force, high job security will be provided with raise in pay outdos to the staffs. The Christmas season of 2006 in addition made the customers of the Royal Mail to suffer due to the strike of 800 workers which caused huge volume of undelivered documents in the office. The managements decision to reposition some full time post to part time when an job opening arise was objected by the passel junction by saying that it is against the National agreement. The matter was raised very seriously and the Royal Mail responded to it by saying that the decision will be with the consent of the worker agreement. The strike was stopped by reaching to the nous that the tender job openings in the Royal Mail will be carried out by the management with the combined hands of the trade union to make decision regarding whether to treat the vacancy full time or part time and the management assured that no staff will be forced to change his full time job status to part time. The closing of the sorting office in Paddington, London in the same year was explained by the Royal Mail as a step taken in order to improve their customer sati sfaction and productivity against the wide spread rumours about some illegal actions of the postal workers. The 950 workers who worked their were temporarily kept away from their duties and some of them were given transfer offers. The workers commitment in a firm not only take care on their salary but to a fault on other factors like work atmosphere, employee- employer relationship, accomplice character etc. The sacking of 5 workers who treated their women colleague very badly in one of the Royal Mail branch shows the immediate response taken by the Human Resource team in those matters which affects an employee to perform well in an Organization and to reduce those activities which affects the reputation of the firm. The Human Resource team has made recently certain improvements in the health and sentry go measures for the workers due to the huge fine the firm had to pay regarding the death of an employee, which was made as a health and safety issue by the court.Human Resource st rategies of the Royal Mail in 2007-The Privatization of the Royal Mail was the main problem discussed by the Human Resource team in the Royal Mail and the workers point of trust towards the firm tends to decrease day by day affecting their performance in the work. The Communication Workers Union was opposing the issue but some managers say the Privatization will help the future of the Royal Mail.A deal was agreed between the management and the labour union in 2007 followed by fish fillet the workers strike. The unfermented policies changed the working time and virgin-fashioned technologies were introduced which was implemented in each and every branch of the Royal Mail improved the productivity and performance of the workers. The new modern way of thinking and acting was successful in the Royal Mail. Also Mr. Mark Higson the managing director of the Royal Mail added that the future of the Royal Mail Pension scheme will not form any part of the agreement. The Human Resource Strat egy of reservation the employees feel they are a part of the firm made the management to come to a point of distributing around 20% of its shares to the employees was opposed by the Government and the plan was turned down. The Human Resource team and the other managing partners have plan to explore the unused markets and to identify new opportunities to make the Royal Mail to offer quick and friendly establish customer services. The Human Resource Department also do have plans to provide Occupational pension schemes for their employees in future. The Human Resource Manager also responded to the worst situation of poor quality service by the Royal Mail in Scotland and he promised to provide better customer service the culmination year. The contract lose with the online service provider Amazon hits very badly towards the Royal Mail and its bad position to face more rigorous competitor.Human Resource strategies of the Royal Mail in 2008-In order to face the competition and the consi deration of the future of the Royal Mail, the Human Resource Department made plans to reduce the bout of workers and providing better benefits for those who remains. The Workers and the union feared about the reduction of the full time jobs and including more part time workers. The Privatization of the Royal Mail which the British customary doesnt like was also considered as the main issue by the trade unions and the management. The Privatization will cause more job losings says the union members but the Royal Mail needs finance to support its future plans says the Management. The Management also planned to change the offices from old buildings to new ones in which the trade unions responded and they said that the change of offices will cause problems in sorting of letters, loosing some customers and they feared about loosing jobs too. Also plans were prepared by the Human Resource team to raise the salary scale of the executive Directors of the Royal Mail who are the main key pla yers in grasping maximum profit. The Devanna model which shows performance appraisal, Human resource development and reward systems should be given due consideration. Many office branches of the Royal Mail were shut down and the remaining workers should be motivated by their performance and the management should create trust from the side of the workers which in turn gives high commitment. The Soft HRM feature of high commitment and high motivation as well as the spartan HRM feature of managing the manpower in a more rational way should be undertaken by the Royal Mail.Human Resource strategies of the Royal Mail in 2009-To Prevent the customers complaint about the closing of the post offices the Human Resources team implemented a plan to provide mobile post office services to the customers by Van. The Royal Mails plan to make 30% privatization was opposed by the public and the Government continuously, if privatized it will cause raise in prices, job losses and the customers as wel l as the workers trust in the Royal Mail will reduce. The Human Resources team introduced new uniforms to the workers which is suitable for the climate and having big pockets to place the hand held computers which the customers prefers to sign and trace items was considered as a part of the improvement in the delivery system of the Royal Mail. The year also faced a strike on the pay cuts, salary freeze of the workers. The Communication Workers Union said that even cutting the wages or freezing the salary will not help the Royal Mail instead it should implement new ideas in technology and new advanced machinery to support the workers. All over the strike is making the customers to move away from receiving the services from the Royal Mail. In the matter of improving their services, the Royal Mail and the Microsoft had joined hands to hands by introducing the new e-mailing service without having computers. The HR strategy of how to compete with their rivals has made the higher up deci sion to implement in the Royal Mail.Human Resource strategies of the Royal Mail in 2010-The Privatization of the Royal Mail is the main consideration of the Royal Mail as the firm is running out of Finance, huge pension deficits and inefficiency in operations. The private store is needed for the smooth function of the Organization, says the Managing director of the Royal Mail. The Human Resource Manager is taking keen steps in promoting the existing workers with good training but most of the workers had lost the trust with the Royal Mail. The privatization will cause more job losses, price for the products will be raised and the top level managers will get more benefits a trade union leader says in a meeting. The workers says that if the new management can help them in providing benefits and good promotional appraisal packages to them, it is better to get privatized. The natural constraints like volcano ashes also affected he Royal Mails service in some part of the United Kingdom. The Psychological contract between the employee and the employer is broken. The employees social and other needs are not fully met and the huge sacking of employees made them to loose commitment towards the firm which leads to inefficiency, reduced services, low productivity and down turn of profits. The Royal Mail is still considered as the provider of the best service among the European nations with net service charges. The Human Resource team have plans to increase the state pension age for men.The Royal Mail is trying in many ways to improve its services by providing different varieties of stamps, weekend services, superior customer service but the competition and its bad pecuniary position is weakening its movements to go forward. Even though it is known that the entry of new firms into the Postal Industry is very difficult due to entry restrictions, the Royal Mail is facing very tough competition. The firms like TNT, DHL and many of the online services are serious treats to the Royal Mail. The day when the Royal Mail lost its Monopoly in 2006 marked the beginning of competition as a headache to the Royal Mail. Another problem which the Royal Mail faces is the reduction in the volume of the letters but the postal workers tells that the number is increasing day by day.The Royal Mail like all other firms had undergone a SWOT ANALYSIS to understand its positives and Negatives internally and Externally. TheSWOT analysis is through with(p) to identify their threats and opportunities, strengths and weaknesses.5.SWOT ANALYSIS-The Swot Analysis is usually conducted by the management which gives the Royal Mail a good indication of its Strength and Weakness internally and its Opportunities and Treats in the outside market.The highly skilled hard working staffs having high commitment motivated by the efficient management and the firms large and other financial resources forms the Strength of the Royal Mail.Some complaints have been raised regarding the letters n ot reaching the destination and stealing of the letters/parcels by its staffs affects the Royal Mails prestige and the strikes which are made by the trade unions in Royal Mail forms its major weaknesses which hardly hits its reputation and directly states that employees are not satisfied with the management actions.The Royal Mail do have new opportunities to identify more customers and Business clients and providing support to them which will have a competitive advantage over its rivals.The Competitors like TNT, DHL, UKMAIL and the possibility of more rivals to enter the Industry forms the main threats for the Royal Mail. The wide usage of internet, online banking, online delivery and e-mailing has reduced its number of customers to a large extend has made huge reduction in the volume of mails in the Royal Mail is also considered as big threats.The Royal Mail still stands as the archetype postal service in the UnitedKingdom with its valuable staffs and its improved services like Fi rst class service, weekend service etc. Royal Mail also provides online supports and International postal services. The Administration of the Royal Mail includes series of committees like The Audit and Risk committee, The Management board, Pensions committee, Remuneration committee, Nomination committee and Social and Responsibility Committee. The new Human Resource Strategy and policies are being Introduced by the Royal Mail in order to face these threats and for the motivation of the workers.6.The new Human Resource strategy to support the Royal Mail in the give birth bad condition-Steps have been taken in the all the levels of the Organization to support the firm from the opinion crunch and competition.To the workers-Workers are provided with improved new range of training and guaranteed performance related pays.The employees who are considered as a valuable assets in the Royal Mail were provided with revised employee policies and procedures and long term job security and moti vation. In order to improve its reputation and to obtain a good employee- employer relationship some additional steps were also taken. They are-The new plan for temporary redundancy and early retirement are going to be enforced as soon as possible.Existing contracts will be renewed and new standardized contracts will be provided to the employees.The admission of new machinery and techniques helps the workers to achieve world class standard in performance.The new revised Pension scheme plans are going to implement for those employees in the Royal Mail pension scheme.The working hours, the minimum wages are also revised. The safety of the staffs are taken in great consideration. Improved working conditions, startle aid facilities, stress relief exercises, changing their job tasks over a period of time, self appraisal process, promotional and increments are also introduced to the new plan.To the firm-The modernization of the firm with improved customer service support is the main obj ective of the firm.The co-operation of the Management with the workers and the trade union added with signing an agreement in new policies and procedures of the firm supported by the trade union is going to happen.The improved efficiency and productivity with unmatched competition by providing lower price and better quality services to its clients.To the Trade Union-The firm will give suitable position for the trade union in its management activities.Support from the trade union in motivating the workers to cope with the Organizational rules and regulations and to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.To develop new communication levels between the trade union and the management.7.The Royal Mails respond to the Competition and to the recent Credit Crunch-The Royal mail which was once called as a Monopoly firm now faces serious competition and holds a bad reputation due to its continuous strikes , shutting down of the offices and complaints regarding its employees. Even though any firm can compete with its rivals in deuce ways, one way by reducing its prices and the other is by improving its quality of service/product. The Royal Mail provides high quality service to its customers and also the lower service/product price compared with its competitors helps the Royal Mail to attain a sustainable competitive advantage. The Human Resource team is making its level best efforts to prevent such issues but the employees relationship with the management is unclear. One of the main issues is the privatization of the Royal Mail which make the staffs to loose trust towards the firm making them de-motivated. The corporate strategy is well defined and the Human resource planning and its strategical process is some what following the corporate strategy.Making a friendly relation with the CWU and a strong psychological contract between the workers and the Management is very much needed for the smooth functioning of the Royal Mail. The recent credit crunch has made the Ro yal Mail to close most of its offices and to sack many of its employees. The economic downturn in the UK is being faced by the Royal Mail in some extend due to its highly skilled, flexible core employees. The peripheral workers who were highly skilled were also taken into good consideration by the Royal Mail. The customers still rely on the Royal Mail due to its better quality services and last-place prices compared to its competitors the TNT, DHL, UKMail etc.The name of the above model is The Five Forces Framework which is developed by Porter 1980 shows the fact from where does the competition come from?.We can combine this model with the Royal Mails competitive nature. It has elements like1.Potential entrants mentioned as new competitors of the Royal Mail.2.Rivalry from existing firms like TNT, DHL etc which are faced by the Royal Mail with its high quality products/services and of its highly skilled workforce who are trained and developed by their talented Human Resource team.Th e substitutes can be shown as the e-mail, online transfers and online mail ordering groups.Threat from the customers in the form of bargaining power, their change of demand, their potential for forward integration (which is implemented by the firm with the availability of suitable Human Resources).Threat from the Suppliers includes their bargaining power, switching costs, market dominance of the suppliers, the potential for backward integration (which is implemented by the firm with the availability of suitable Human Resources). The suppliers include the printing and stationery, technology, clothes, transport and travel agents.The Royal Mail uses the Generic Strategies frame work of Mr. Porter(1985) to define how they faced these competitions. The basic idea which is derived from the framework is-Any firm can compete with other by lowering their pricesCompeting in the matter of quality makes each firm differentFocusing on the main market and its customers can gain competitive advant age over its rivals.The Human Resource strategy of identifying the competitive areas and setting plans for how to compete helped the Royal Mail to face all types of competition and to gain a competitive advantage over its rivals. The Human Resource Management team of the Royal Mail have a good background from the Top Ranked Business Schools added with their inborn talents and experience helps the Royal Mail to compete with their rivals in a more technical way which is difficult for the competitors to identify and which makes the Royal Mail to have a strong base in the UK postal industry. The top quality products/services with the top quality employees makes the Royal Mail to move forward with confidence. The Human Resource strategy of implementing new techniques and training services with the performance related pay aspect for the workers can be seen in the Royal Mail. Last year the Royal Mail received three bronze awards from the World Class Manufacturing Association for its perfor mance, health and safety care of its workers. The Royal Mail consider each and every worker in the matter of safety and performance and they say that if they can make one worker to perform well, it will make other to perform well and it goes on and the whole workers will perform well gives high productivity and profits to the firm.8.Conclusion-The essay can be concluded by stating that the Royal Mail have to face the credit crunch and the present difficulties in order to hold a strong position in the UK postal Industry. The Royal Mail do have a strong corporate responsibility strategy and Human Resource strategy which is properly planned and useful to the employees as well as the to the firm for further development. The Human Resource Strategy from 2005 2010 shows the problems faced by the Royal Mail and the Strategies used by them to solve these problems. The privatization and the pension deficits are the main problems faced currently by the Royal Mail in which the management ha ve certain plans to overcome the situation. The new entrants and the present rivals are competing very roughly with the Royal Mail and they are faced by the Royal Mail by its good quality services and its lowest service/product prices.

Improving Eye Care In Rural India Communications Essay

Improving gist C atomic number 18 In Rural India Communications renderCATARACT refers to the clouding of the lens in the human eye, affecting visual sensation. In the developing world, cataract is the ca phthisis for blindness in nearly half the blind population i.e. 50% of the recorded number of blindness cases. While problems of in rileibility continue to plague some(prenominal) parts of the developing world nearly two-thirds of the population in some developing countries are unable to access quality medical resources infrastructure primarily because quality medical anguish or eye care in this case is still urban-centric all pass overe is non lost yet.In India too, where 90% of the cases are treatable, nigh Indians lack access to quality eye care. In the early 1990s, the country was home to a third of the worlds blind people and here too cataract blindness was the major cause in most cases. The origination Bank decided to step in and help the Indian government deal with the problem, toping $144.8 million between 1994 and 2002 on the Cataract Blindness Control end under which 15.3 million eye surgeries were performed. The population Bank-funded project was largely implemented in northern India and it helped reduce the incidence of cataract, in the states that were covered under this project, by half. But India is a very big country and it definitely needs a more sustainable approach to dealing with cataract blindness given that it has a sizeable ageing population. One such approach is the Aravind Eye mission System, a three-decade old campaign that has been weighing cataract blindness predominantly in the grey Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Working in the same direction is the L V Prasdad Eye Institue, operating from the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh. Both Aravind and LVPEI, setup in the mid 1970s and the mid 1980s respectively, nonplus been focused on taking quality eye care to the rural masses from the very beginning, most of it vind icate of cost. In the larger context, this paper provees how private entrepreneurship is taking quality Eye reflection at to the rural masses in India. This paper will talk over the Eye business organisation delivery manikin aimed at fighting Cataract Blindness in the context of the subtlety-Centered Approach (CCA). The Culture-Centered Approach advoates greater engagment with the local anaesthetic stopping point, through dialogues with society members, to ensure equitable and accessible healthcare across communities (Dutta-Bergman, 2004a, 2004b Dutta and Basu 2007 as quoted in Dutta, 2008). Furthermore, this paper will use the extensive Technology- biotic community-Management (TCM) standard (Chib Komathi, 2008) to formulate the intersections between technology, community of interests and the management of information communication technologies (ICT) in the context of the CCA and the Eye Care delivery model adopted by the private healthcare players i.e. the non-governme ntal organisations (NGOs). According to the TCM model (Lee Chib, 2008), the intersection of ICT characteristics of technology, along with the dimensions of software and gruelingware, project management dimensions of financial requirements, the regulatory environment, and stakeholder involvement, along with local community participation will ultimately lead to sustainable ICTD interventions.Culture-Centered ApproachGlobalisation has led to an increasing realisation that the Biomedical6 model of healthcare is limited in orbit when engaging in issues of world-wide health (Dutta, 2008). Furthermore, Dutta (2008) says that many societies at present feel the need to open up the spaces of health communication to the voices of heathenish communities i.e. there is now greater awarness of the need for wear out engagement with marginalised communities.Culture is dynamic. That culture has an important role to play in health communication is better understood today. But this concept beg an attracting widespread attention only in the early 1980s, especially in the U.S. when healthcare practiti oners felt a need to adopt multiple strategies to address the health-related issues of a multicultural population (Dutta, 208). This helped question the universalist assumptions of various health communication programs aimed at the developing nations and the so called third-world nations (Dutta, 2008). The Culture-Centered Approach was born out of the need to oppose the dominant approach of health communication, find at heart the Biomedical model, where health is treated as a universal concept based on Eurocentric7 understandings of health-related issues, disorder and the treatment of diseases (Dutta, 2008).According to Dutta (2008), the CCA is a better alternative to understanding health communication because it is a value-centered approach. The CCA is built on the notion that the meanings of health cannot be universal because they are ingrained within cultural contextsm, he argues. The CCA has its roots in three key concepts i.e. structure, agency and culture. The term culture refers to the local context within which so called health meanings are created and dealt with. expression encompasses food, shelter, medical function and transportational services that are all vital to the overall healthcare of various members of a community. Agency points to the capacity of cultural members to negotiate the structures within which they live. It must be noted that structure, agency and culture and entwined and they do not operate in isolation.Dutta (2008), in his book Communicating Health, further elabo rank that the CCA throws light on how the dominant healthcare ideology serves the needs of those in power. Powerful members of society create conditions of marginalistaion. Therefore the focus of the CCA lies in the paper of the intersections between structure, agency and culture in the context of marginalised communities. To understand better the problems f aced by the marginalised, the CCA advocates the healthcare practitioners engage in dialogues with members of the concerned community. Each community has its own set of stories to treat and this is vital to understanding the local culture. The CCA also aims to document resistance, of any kind, to dominant ideologies as this helps strengthen the case of the CCA against the dominant healthcare model. The CCA, according to Dutta (2008), provides sufficient scope to study physician-patient relationships, in a bid to ultimately improve the healthcare delivery model. Adopting the CCA is just half your problem solved the integration of the CCA with the Extended TCM model completes the picture. The Extended TCM ModelThe TCM model (Lee Chib, 2008) argues that the larger question of social sustainability depends on both local relevance and institutional support. The TCM Modelproposes that the intersection of ICT characteristics of technology, along with the dimensions of software and hardwar e, project management dimensions of financial requirements, the regulatory environment, and stakeholder involvement, along with local community participation, will ultimately lead to sustainable ICTD interventions (See Figure 1.1). The TCM model was further revised. Community was subdivided to include modes of ownership of ICT investments and profits training of community users both in the use and in technology management and the basic needs of the community. Furthermore, Sustainability was also subdivided into financial and social (see Figure 1.2). Chib Komathi (2009) found that the TCM Model was inadequate as it could not examine the critical issue of vulnerability. Therefore, their study improved on this inadequacy by adding crucial factors and variables relating to vulnerability. They extended the TCM model, and called it the Extended Technology-Community-Management (Extended TCM) model (see Figure1.3).This new framework on ICT planning accounts for community involvement, the m anagement components, the overall design of technologies such as telemedicine or tele-consultation, and evaluation of existing vulnerabilities in the community where these technologies are implemented. It identifies quartette dimensions of vulnerabilities influencing technology implementation among the rural poor economic vulnerability, informational vulnerability, physiological/psychological vulnerability, and socio-cultural vulnerability. Chib Komathi (2009) further explain each dimension of vulnerability Physiological and psychological vulnerabilities refer to the physical and mental well-being of an affected person, or a specific community. Informational vulnerability deals with the access to and availability of information within affected communities. Informational resources include personal documents, books and critical data, opinion leaders and professional experts,. The lack of such resources affects the capabilities of people who are certified on them. In a rural setting , informational vulnerability is further augmented by the low literacy levels and lack of pertinent technological skills necessary to enable the instruction and processing of information. The economic vulnerability is sparked off by the loss of livelihood i.e. a loss of activities that otherwise financially support households and sustain economic reading in a rural setting. The socio-cultural vulnerability of communities is determined by the structure and values of a given society that define human relationships in communities. Hierarchies in any society (gender, race, religion, caste, age and class egalitarianism within communities) or a community often dictate access to resources and assets, and the decision-making power of people.Cataract Blindness in IndiaAt the outset, one has to understand the sufferings of the blind in India, in a rural setting blindness, irrespective of the cause, results in a loss of livelihood for an individual. In rural India, like elsewhere, this woul d translate into one less earning member in the family, making the blind person a burden to his/her family. This leads to a loss of self-worth and status in the family. In effect, blind people in rural India, like in many other societies, are marginalized. Enter Aravind and LVPEI, who continue to filter to help blind people in rural India and empower them by giving them back their sight.There are many causes of blindness, like Diabetes for instance. But Cataract is one of the leading causes of blindness in the developing world. Records in India show that Cataract is the most significant cause of blindness in the country (Nirmalan et al. 2002 Murthy et al. 2001).Cataract, reports say, is responsible for 50 to 80 per cent of the bilaterally blind (Thulsiraj et al. 2003 Thulsiraj et al. 2002).The elderly are more at risk of developing Cataract.India aims to eliminate needless blindness by 2020 in business organization with vision 2020 the right to sight initiative, launched joint ly by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). Many organisations worldwide are also working in the direction of eliminating needless blindness ( value, 2001). The government in India and the World Bank launched the Cataract Blindness Control Project in seven-spot states across India in 1994.From close to 1.2 million cataract surgeries a course of instruction in the 1980s (Minassian Mehra 1990), Cataract surgical out direct tripled to 3.9 million per division by 2003 (Jose, 2003).In 2004, World Health Organization (WHO) data showed that there was a 25 per cent decrease in blindness prevalence in India (Resnikoff et al. 2004) the reason(s) could be the increase in Cataract surgeries countrywide. But there is a larger problem here, that of population growth. The aged population in India (those aged over 60 years) population which stood at 56 million people in the year 1991 is expected to double by the year 2016 (Kumar, 1 997). This greying of Indias population only suggests that the number of people at-risk of developing Cataract is constantly on the rises. In the larger sense, this paper aims to show how private entrepreneurship in India is taking quality eye care to the rural masses in that country. This paper aimed to discuss the same through two case studies, that of the Aravind Eye Care system as well as the L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI). Unfortunately, telecommunicate correspondence with LVPEI failed to elicit responses from this organization. Given the limitations of this study, including time constraints, this paper will explain the Aravind Eye Care system in the context of rural Eye Care in India and the fight against Cataract Blindness all this within the framework of the CCA.Furthermore, this paper will critique the business model of NGOs like Aravind in the context of the Extended TCM model, including whether for-profit organisations are using the rural masses to support their busin ess model. In particular, what is the role of the healthcare provider in this case disseminate knowledge to the grass-roots or live-off their healthcare delivery model?Aravind Eye CareDr. G. Venkataswamy had a very simple vision when he first setup Aravind Eye Care in 1976 Eradicate needless blindness at least in Tamil Nadu, his home state, if not in the entire nation of India. Aravind began as an 11-bed private clinic in the founders brothers house in the southern Indian city of Madurai. Today, the Aravind Eye Hospital (AEH) at Madurai is a 1,500 bed hospital. In addition to Madurai, there are four more AEHs in Tamil Nadu (Aravind.org) with a combined total of over 3,500 beds. By 2003 the Aravind Eye Care System as we know it today was up and running. The System continues to operate under the aegis of a nonprofit trust named the Govel Trust it comprises of a manufacturing facility (for manufacturing synthetic lenses, sutures, and pharmaceuticals related to eye care) eye hospitals command and training (graduate institute of ophthalmology) research facilities (complete with an eye bank)) and a center for community outreach programs (Prahlad, 2004).A typical day at Aravind now has doctors performing about 1,000 surgeries including free surgeries 5-6 outreach camps in rural areas where about 1,500 people are examined and close to 300 people are brought to an AEH for eye mental process (TED, 2009).How does Aravind do it?The organisation has setup vision centers or clinics in remote villages, fitted with basic eye care equipment. Each clinic is manned by an ophthalmic assistant and these clinics perform basic examinations prescribe strict lenses and treat minor ailments. If an eye ailment can be cured by the application of eye drops, these clinics are equipped to do so. For more alter cases, such as Cataract Blindness, the patient consults an ophthalmologist based at an AEH in a nearby city via the videoconferencing route. If the patient needs corrective surg ery, he/she is asked to hop onto a bus waiting outside the vision centre that takes them to the nearest Aravind base hospital. The patients are operated upon the following day they spend a day in post-operative care and then take a bus back to their villages all free of cost (Laks, 2009).8 But it wasnt all gung-ho in the beginning more hard work than anything else. There was no specific Outreach team. Everyone in the pool was asked to participate in Outreach programme. In the beginning (in 1976-77) Dr. V and a small team would let down villages and conduct eye screening camps. Those who necessary Cataract surgery would then be advised to visit the base hospital for surgery. But Dr .V found that a legal age of those advised to undergo surgery would dropout, owing to socio-economic factors like fear of surgery lack of trust on restoration of sight no money to spend for transport, food and post operative medical care and (their) resistance to western medicine, according to the head of Outreach activities at Aravind, R. Meenakshi Sundaram in his email response to my queries. These prohibitions were gradually intercommunicate through various strategies. We decided to involve village chiefs and local organizations to take ownership of the Outreach programmes, in terms of identifying the right location for the Eye Camp and providing the required support facilities. Their help was key to community mobilization. We organized a team to standardize the quality in Eye Care service delivery. Furthermore, Dr. V focussed his attention on building hospitals like ones home where we normally expect basic culture and values, said Mr. Sundaram.Fear of surgery was a common barrier in addition to other factors. Perhaps the get intoance for surgery was low in the beginning. But it was constantly explained at the community level when ever so camps were organized as the programme aims to serve people at large. Particularly, in the year 1992 the Intra Ocular Lens (IOL) was intro duced and the rural community did not believe in having a unconnected particle in their eyes. We came across a lot of myths. Those issues were addressed thru counselling, added Mr. Sundaram. Realizing the impact of counselling, a cadre was developed within the System in 1992 and seven counsellors were learn in the first batch of counsellors training. They were given a basic orientation about common eye problems with a special focus on IEC. persevering counsellors i.e. patients who had undergone eye surgery were asked to help the Outreach team. They played their role in explaining eye problems in the local language and tried to help others realize the consequences of failing to accept surgery. Considering the myths, a real IOL was used as education material to help the rural folk understand the concept of the IOL, Mr Sundaram said. The number of counsellors has steadily risen ever since and stands at 179 at present.How is the Aravind Eye Care System possible?Financial self-sustain ability was the primary focus from day one at Aravind. Initially, the organization was given a grant by the government to help subsidize the treatment costs for eye camp patients (Prahlad, 2004) and the Govel Trust also pledged properties to raise money from banks in the early days. Prahlad (2004) states that the Madurai AEH, the first, was always self-supporting as far as recurring expenditures were concerned. Within the first five years of operation, the Madurai AEH had accumulated surplus revenues for further development and for the construction of four other hospitals in the Tamil Nadu state. He adds that over the years, the patient revenues generated from its five hospitals located in five cities finance the Aravind Eye Care System to a great extent. Furthermore, Aravind has also taken to the management-contract route and it manages two hospitals outside of its home-state.While city folk are charged market rates for each consultancy and for surgery, patients in remote villages pay just Rs. 20 for three consultancies or SGD 0.60. (TED, 2009). Those who can afford to pay, the urban folk who visit Aravinds hospitals in urban locations on their own, do not get discounted rates. Such a system of cross-subsidies ensures that only 45 percent pay while the rest are not charged at all i.e. about five out of every 10 patients examined at Aravind can be provided free eye care, including eye surgery (TED, 2009). A cross-subsidising financial model is not the only mantra9 to Aravinds success. Having been in the business of delivering quality Eye Care for over three decades now, the System is well-positioned to leverage on the Aravind brand-name to attract donations. Over the years, the organization has received international recognition for its work and this includes the 2008 Gates Award for Global Health, and this years Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize that carries a US$1.5 million cash award.Last but not the least is the money that flows into Aravind in the form of specific project-funding. One such sponsor is the London-based Seeing Is believe (SiB) Trust, a collaboration between Standard Chartered Bank and the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). Since 2003, Seeing is Believing has grown from a ply initiative to raise enough money to fund a cataract operation for each member of the Bank to a US$40 million global community initiative. I wrote to Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) asking them why they decided to partner with Aravind and LVPEI. LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, as well as Aravind Eye Hospital are premier eye care institutes in the country. India has a vast geographical spread and both these institutions work in different geographic zones of the country. LVPEI is prominent in the south-eastern states of the country while Aravind is prominent in the southern states of India, said Pratima Harite, Manager (Sustainability), Corporate Affairs- India in her email response to my queries. The rationale backside th e India Consortium Project is the vision centre concept that a significant proportion of eye problems corrected or detected at the primary care level has substantial savings to the individual and to the communities. Based on the success of LVPEIs Vision Centre model, the India Consortium Project proposed scaling up the development of Vision Centres in a co-ordinated matter in six states across the country. For this, LVPEI sought support from four key implementing partners premier eye care institutions themselves across the country, added Ms. Harite. Singapores Temasek al-Qaeda (TF) part-funds SiB activities in India, particularly in capacity building i.e. in enhancing the training component of the SiB programme.Is this a viable business model? Aravind has perfect the model over the last three decades. They have the technology, behind the video consultation, in place a low-cost wireless long-distance network (WiLDNet) put together by the Technology and Infrastructure for Emergin g Regions (TIER) research group at the University of California, Berkeley, California, USA.10 This was done to overcome the issue of zero internet connectivity or behindhand connections that do not support video consultations in remote villages (Laks, 2009). In 2004, a mobile van with satellite connectivity was introduced to facilitate Tele-Consultations. The Indian Space research Organisations (ISRO)11 help was sought to this extent. The vision centres can easily communicate with the base hospital (some 30 to 40 kms.) via satellite. These vision centres effectively address the issue of accessibility, affordability and availability of quality Eye Care. A series of centres were started across the Tamil Nadu state. Each base hospital is connected with a group of vision centres. At present, we have 10 vision centres that operate on WiFi. The rest run on BSNL12 broadband connections, Mr Sundaram said. Aravind has the delivery system in place. A sound understanding of the local culture that in many cases is averse to western medicine and where modern-day medicine is not the first and only option to treat any disease or ailment. Why would a villager trust a doctor who drives down one fine morning and says he would like to operate upon them? Aravind begins by appointing a volunteer group for each community some of these volunteers are further trained to serve as ophthalmic assistants and even as nurses in Aravinds hospitals. In a rural setting, rural folk trust their friends, neighbors, and their own people first. It is about creating ownership to the problem, like Mr. Sundaram said, and then partnering with the community to solve the problem.Aravinds financial results for the year 2008-09 were healthy. It raked in (income) US$22 million and spent (expenditure and depreciation) US$ 13 million.13DiscussionThat Aravind and other NGOs working in a similar direction, like LVPEI for instance, use the Culture-Centered Approach, as elaborated by Dutta (2008), in deliverin g quality eye care to rural India is quite clear. Aravind, in particular, has successfully integrated the CCA with the Technology-Communication-Management (TCM) model, as elaborated by Lee Chib (2008) to create a sustainable model for Eye Care delivery. Accessibility and affordability are the key factors in such healthcare models. In taking this route, one has to ensure that the technologies chosen for the job are cost-effective and easy to implement because capital expenditure and operational expenditure do play a vital role in determining the cost of healthcare services. Aravind has been able to keep the cost of Eye Care delivery considerable low systematically for many years now.Critics argue that organizations like Aravind are feeding-off their model. At this point, it is important to understand the ground-realities. In India, the divide between the urban haves, and the rural have-nots is only acquiring wider with each passing year. According to UN projections released 2008, India would urbanize at a much slower rate than China and have, by 2050, 45% of its population still spiritedness in rural areas (Lederer, 2008). The Government in India is not doing enough to address the plethora of health issues that plague the various regions and communities in the country. The flagship scheme to improve healthcare services in rural India, the National Rural Health Mission launched in 2005 as a seven-year programme has many of its goals yet to be achieved, and the government is now considering extending it to 2015, according to recent media reports. Despite many a government claims and many a government schemes several villages in states across India continue to depend on the private sector for quality healthcare or in this case Eye Care. Given this situation, Aravind and LVPEIs work in the direction of providing affordable Eye Care and free eye surgeries to five out of every ten patients they examine is a commendable feat. A second question raised in this stu dy is, what is the role of the healthcare provider in this case disseminate knowledge to the grass-roots or live-off their healthcare delivery model? Aravind is doing its part in disseminating knowledge to the grass-roots. around ophthalmic assistants who man the vision centers are community members trained by Aravind. But one has to understand that the act of knowledge dissemination in a remote rural setting has its challenges i.e. tackling illiteracy, basic awareness among others and these challenges cannot be addressed in just a few years. The India Consortium Project, sponsored by SCB and Temasek Foundation, set a target to set up 40 vision centres by 2010. So far, 32 vision centres are operational and the remaining will be operational this year, according to Ms. Harite. On the flip side, a study by Murthy et al. (2008) argues that the goals of the Vision 2020 the right to sight initiative to eliminate Cataract blindness in India by the year 2020 may not be achieved. But this should not deter those working in this direction. Both the public and the private sector must continue to fight Cataract Blindness because that is the only way to tackle the problem at hand. Last but not the least, this study recommends that NGOs operating in the healthcare space look at both the CCA and the TCM model to ensure better service delivery.ReferencesChib, A. Komathi, A.L.E. (2009). Extending the Technology-Community-Management Model to Disaster Recovery Assessing Vulnerability in Rural Asia. Submitted to ICTD 2009.Dutta, M. J. (2008). Communicating Health. Polity Press, Cambridge, U.K.Foster A. (2001).Cataract and Vision 2020 the right to sight initiative. British Journal Ophthalmology, 85, 635-639. Jose R, Bachani D. (2003). Performance of cataract surgery between April 2002 and March 2003. NPCB-India22.Kumar S. (1997). Alarm sounded over Greying of Indias population. Lancet, 350, 271Lee, S., Chib, A. (2008). Wireless initiatives for connecting rural areas evolution a framework. In N. Carpentier B. De Cleen (Eds.), Participationand media production. Critical reflections on content creation. ICA 2007Conference Theme Book (pp. 113-128). Newcastle, UK Cambridge ScholarsPublishing.Lederer, E.M. (2008). Mint. Retrieved April 16, 2010, from http//www.livemint.com/2008/02/27231012/Half-the-world8217s-populat.htmlLaks, R. (2009). Videoconferencing and Low-cost Wireless Networks Improve Vision in Rural India. Comminit.com. Retrieved April16, 2010, from http//www.comminit.com/en/ inspissation/301452/307Minassian DC, Mehra V. (1990). 3.8 Million blinded by cataract each year Projections from the first epidemiological study of incidence of cataract blindness in India. Br J Ophthalmol, 4, 341-3. Murthy GV, Gupta S, Ellwein LB, Munoz SR, Bachani D, Dada VK. (2001). A Population-based Eye Survey of Older Adults in a Rural District of Rajasthan I, Central Vision Impairment, Blindness and Cataract Surgery. Ophthalmology, 108,679-85.Nirmalan PK, Thulasiraj RD, Maneksha V, Rahmathullah R, Ramakrishnan R, Padmavathi A,et al. (2002). A population based eye watch of older adults in Tirunelveli district of south India Blindness, cataract surgery and visual outcomes. Br J Ophthalmol, 86, 505-12.Prahlad, C. K. (2004). The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid. Wharton School Publishing, Pennsylvanial, U.S.Resnikoff S, Pascolini D, Etyaale D, Kocur I, Pararajasegaram R, Pokharel GP,et al. (2004). Global data on visual impairment in the year 2002. Bull WHO, 82, 844-51.TED. (2009). Thulasiraj Ravilla How low cost eye care can be world class. Retrieved April 16, 2010, from http//www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/thulasiraj_ravilla_how_low_cost_eye_care_can_be_worl

Festival and Event in sustainability of Tourism

Festival and Event in sustainability of TourismTitle Festival and Event in sustainability of Tourism Penang Hot Air fly FestivalTourism is an activity that can substantiate a really huge effect on sustainable instruction. Sustainability of touristry includes for reaching cooperation between visitor geological formations, traveler destinations and national, provincial and topical anaesthetic authorities so as to c ein truthplace a wide group of difficulties and in the meantime to stay focused. Opportunities for sustainable tourism development and protection of its competitiveness, is generally alter by the nature of the earth, to protect and alluring common and cultural heritage and different qualities, merchandise and assets. For sustainable it is catched as any sort of tourism that contributes forever for the assurance and advancement of the nature, common and different assets, social qualities and respectability of the nearby group.The study of festivals and instances i s presently a scathing and productive territory of tourism exploration enquiry. Festivals and founts have thrived in recent decades and enthusiasm for comprehension their essentialness in the tourism foundation has risen as pick outs be. A festival is a celebration of life. Festivals convey peace and bliss to the masses. They break the repetitiveness of life. Festivals and events impart credibility and erraticness, particularly with events in view of investment indigenous qualities, helpful neighborliness and moderateness, theming and chain of mountainss for members and ob facilitaters.As per Brundtland Commission in our basic Future, 1987, sustainable means addressing the needs of the present without bargaining the susceptibility of futurity eras to address their own particular bring downs. Some individuals characterized event and festival tourism as activities, planning, and management practices associated with public, themed events. UNWTO characterizes sustainable touris m as tourism that makes full beak of its present and prospective financial, social and ecological effects, tending to the needs of guests, the industry, and nature and host groups. Subsequently, sustainable tourism ought to make themel utilization of natural assets, demand the socio-cultural validness of host groups and give reasonable, long-term financial net income to all. Sustainable tourism development addresses the issues of present tourists and host regions while ensuring and improving opportunities for the future. It is imagined as incite to administration of all resources in such a route to the point of economic, social and aesthetic needs can be satisfied while property up cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support networks, (WTO, 2002e).Festivals atomic number 18 seen as apparatuses set up advertising and destination image making, and are esteemed for their capacity to animate urban areas, resorts and attractions (An dersson and Getz, 2008200). The overall public of urban centers facilitating festivals from time to time to determines any vocation opportunities from festival tourism (Janiskee and Drews, 1998). Festivals are being more generous for regional tourism planning activities. It plays various part of significant roles in a town or area. Getz (1997) distinguishes these as attractions, escort evokers, artists of static attractions and impetuses for further advancement.Penang Hot Air fly Fiesta depart give guests a expectation to have a great experience. There pull up stakes be 15 hot subscriber line wallows over a 2-day festival and this event is open to all ages from 6am to 9pm at Padang Polo (Polo Ground) with balloon set-up at 7am and free-flying balloon shows that exit amazement you at 730am. The event is upheld by the Penang state politics in collaboration with the Penang Island Municipal Council and the Penang Global Tourism in a knock effort with Tourism Malaysia. This is also the first time that the island is having the Penang Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2015. Marketing and motivationIn the recent decades, festival and event tourism has been one of the quickest developing segments of the world recreation industry (Getz, 1991 Nicholson Pearce, 2001), and has gotten expanding consideration by scholarly researches. In addition to commonly targeted topics, for example economic impact, promoting marketing strategies of mega-events, and festival management (Ralston Hamilton, 1992). There is a developing stream of research concentrating on the inspirations of attendees. It has been concurred that come acrossing motivations, or the internal element that arouses, coordinates, and incorporate a persons behavior (Iso-Ahola 1980, cited in Crompton McKay, 1997, p.425), prompts better planning and advertising of festivals and events, and better division of members.From a tourism point of view, events clearly require audiences. As Faulkner, Chalip, Brown, Jago, Ma rch and Woodside (2000) argue, the destination improvement caused by an event is to a great extent driven by the participation it is required to create. Then, as Whitelegg (2000) notes, the effect of mega events on global tourism is identified with their ability to attract worldwide groups. Consequently, the advancement and advertising of events is a key territory of investment, and the inquiry in the matter of what motivates good deal to go to the events has been an imperative social mental inquiry press release back to the early 1990s.Tourism motivation is conceptualized as an element methodoloy of internal psychological factors (needs and wants) that produce a reason of tension or disequilibrium inside deal. The festivals purposes are two-fold. To begin with, it is to show and honor social custom. The second purpose for the festival is economic. Approximately 1.62 million visits are recorded at festival events.Is sustainable tourism achievable?Tourism will never be completely sustainable as every industry has impacts, however it can work towards getting to be more sustainable. Sustainable tourism is about re-focusing and ad well(p)ing. A balance must(prenominal) be found in the middle of points, so that continuous changing, checking and planning guarantee that tourism can be overseen. This requires thinking long-term 10 or 20+ years and understanding that change is frequently cumulative, steady and irreversible. Economic, social and ecological aspects of sustainable development must incorporate the interests of all stakeholders including indigenous individuals, local anaesthetic communities, visitors, industry and government.Events and give various profits to a group and tourism area including expanded appearance and consumption, diminished seasonality, repeat visitation, elevated regional cognisance and word of mouth recommendation. They can also give the jolt to extra infrastructure development in the local area and building community pride. spir it the inspirations of event attendees and event exhibitors is vital in developing an appropriate event or festival that aligns with community values. Potential event attendees and exhibitors may be affected by an extensive variety of elements including substance and topic, area and access, event reputation, perceived quality and value for money, safety and security and support facilities. It is also essential to understand and deal with the effects of events for nearby groups.Events require physical settings in urban or provincial ranges, in forest, by streams, in open fields and purposeful amenities. Media scope produced by events helps destinations fabricate certainty and a positive image in the tourism marketplace. Festivals are appealing to groups looking to address issues of urban configuration, local pride and character, heritage, conservation, urban reestablishment, employment generation, investment and financial improvement. There is a developing enthusiasm for the idea t hat festivals and events represent the host communitys instinct of itself and sense of place. The arts and cultural industries, particularly through festivals and special events, can offer something for the tourism sector to endavor experience (Reiss, 1993).Early DiscoveriesIn the first issue of Festival Management Event Tourism, two papers (Uysal, Gahan Martin, 1993 Mohr, Backman, Gahan Backman, 1993) on South Carolina events were considered as a beginning stage for understanding the inspirations individuals have for tending festivals Scott, 1996, p.122). Utilizing the 1991 Corn Festival as a study case, Utysal et al. decreased arrangement of 24 motivations to five elements.In the same vein, Mohr et al. (1993) studied a hot air balloon festival and identified a comparable bunch of inspiration subscales, however in an alternative request. Motivations were found to be a capacity of guest sorts. Huge contrasts existed between first time and repeat visitors as for the inspiration measurement of excitement and event curiosity, and their relating fulfillment levels. In particular, the attendees who never went to other(a) festivals yet were repeat visitors to the hot air balloon festival showed an extraordinary inspiration structure. Penang Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2015Without precedent for Penang, a unique experience can be found at the Penang Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. There will be 15 hot air balloons over the two-day festival and they will float against the pleasant background of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of George Town. Other than the impressive hot air balloons, there will as well as be family-friendly activities such as turn inflatable playgrounds, imaginative workshops, photography rivalry and more Penang is the place that festivities never end and in this year of festivals, the mythical February Fiesta sees Thaipusam, the Hot Air Balloon festival where visitors have the capacity to experience floating above strong ground alongside the effectively expeditious Chinese New Year celebrations and Tropfest SEA festival that showcases original short films.In conjunction with Penang Hot Air Balloon Fiesta, the Penang Hot Air Balloon Fun Run held without precedent for Penang Padang Polo. The run will give members a chance to have a unique experience on running with balloon together witness the hot air balloons take off in Youth Park and Padang Polo. There will be eight local and tether international flying balloons and to boot four tethered balloons. This event is open to all ages and will incorporate other side exercises such as fun inflatable playgrounds, imaginative workshops, photography rivalry, kite flying and more.Problem statementNowadays, to be a host for any worldwide tourism event is no more a benefit for certain developing countries. The position is coveted by numerous developing countries in view of the upcoming advantages the country will get toward the end of the day. The accomplishment from facilitating any orotund tourism event will not only make the country proud yet it additionally expands the financial result and exceeds the political effects. Economic factor is one of the critical components in advancing prominent international events as the monetary measurement of event has dependably been connected to economic growth and making new outskirts for the economy.As what we can see over the previous decade, Malaysia had been developing interest and intensive government investment in tourism industry (Ishak, 2005). However, other than all the positive impacts of facilitating event and festival, there are some negative impacts on the economy that need to be considered.Why organise a sustainable event?Organizing sustainable events diminishes their environmental impact, as well as advantage the main factors involved. Such profits includeFinancial advantages Conserving energy, diminishing waste, purchasing local products and basically expanding slight all can bring out in money saved. In spit efulness of an occasionally higher investment of assets to research new frameworks or put resources into new apparatuses, applying sustainability standards can bring immediate savings (e.g. by printing less material and having less waste to collect). They can likewise have long-term financial benefits, because of the more proficient utilization of assets and simply access to credit lines and sponsors. constructive reputation and enhanced image Promoting the way that you are arranging or facilitating a sustainable event will raise the profile of the event, draw in members that are getting to be progressively aware of sustainability issues and potentially connect the medias consideration. It office likewise be increased in value by the general public as in addition partners and potential contributors.Social advantages If arranged and executed precisely, the event can give advantages to the region by creating jobs, empowering neighborhood, including local Small and Medium Enterprise s (SME) and can advance better meeting expectations conditions and social incorporation. It can also act as a catalyst for empowering ecological and virtual(a) best practices over the locale, and also enhancing the relationship between the coordinator and the local community.Opportunities for International Hot Air Balloon FestivalThe possibility to connect with more than 250,000 visitors going to the event more than a four day period.The huge number of side-events at the festival and throngs of guests to the festival which originate from all walks of makes it conceivable to streamline your organization to its int terminate interest.Cost compelling method of connecting with your target market with a substantial return-on-investment (ROI).The chance to coordinate your organizations message with visitors experience.The festival gives a gigantic chance to systems administration with different corporations, individuals to take your association on to more prominent statures.The four-day period of the festival, including two weekend days (Saturday and Sunday) gives the possibility to connect with repeat visitors.Sponsorship has been ended up being one of the strongest manifestations of publicizing and advertising to customers.The chance to connect with potential clients directly with the collaboration between your organization and guests at the festival.The chance to exhort your customers and corporate visitors with frienliness sponsorship bundles.The chance to showcase and show your product or service to guests.Sustainability in an eventSustainability can be characterized numerous ways yet the rudimentary thoughts and ideas continue as before adjusting a developing economy, protection for the nature, and social responsibility, so they together prompt an enhanced personal satisfaction for us and future eras. Event Location SelectionAt the point when choosing a venue, search for one that has embraced sustainability policies and practices. An area that already is e ndeavoring efforts that harmonize with your event objectives can just serve to benefit you in attaining to what you need. Identify areas that are easily accessible from public transportation. Event locations that can be accessed by walking by transport, or instill will ease not just the strain on nature caused by car pollution, additionally can be cost beneficial if your venue charges for parking.Event MaterialsUtilize new media and electronic innovation at whatever point conceivable to eliminate paper utilization. Ideas include making a gathering web site offer electronic registration and confirmations and promote utilizing the web or email. Be sure to survey which materials will be need for the player packets. If information must be offered in print format use environmentally sound paper and make sure to print double-sided. Plus, incorporate information about sustainability objectives in the materials. Name identification holders can be reused from event to event. Ask your visi tors to give back their name badge holders toward the end of your event and give a container to them. WasteReduce, reuse and recycle as much as you can your local authority or local community group might have the capacity to help attempt to enlist a group of green volunteers who will help deal with the recycling during and after the event maintain you have enough bins and do not give them to get too full, otherwise people will just throw their waste into the nearest purchasable container.At the VenueAsk the office to give visible and available diminishment, reuse and recycling services for paper, metal, plastic and glass. Put recycling bins in prominent areas and make declarations during the event reminding your visitors to recycle and direct them to bins. Avoid utilizing dates on signage so that they can be put ond again for different events.TransportEncourage people to go to your event by public transport, to walk or cycle. Give a lot of secure bicycle parking and minimal parki ng for if outside, you could utilize bike rickshaws for transporting merchandise around the site and consider utilizing local contractors so you are not driving marquees all the way across the country just because it might save you a few quidGetting ready for sustainable tourism development really alludes to environment protection planning and in that capacity incorporate a mixture of research activities and analysis before the choice for deciding the direction of the advancement. All these exercises are attempted so as to keep from the intensive utilization of assets in some particular territory, without previous care for the protection of the assets. An indicated by Hall, sustainable development and the utilized term conservation clearly endeavours to review the conflicting quality positions regarding of the environment. The author depicts sustainable development as a essentially disputed idea. Sustainable development could be seen uniquely in contrast to everyone, and is effortle ssly acknowledged by any group. An indicated by few authors, this idea is seen as the development and intensification of tourism, while others understand this idea as an alternative tourism to the advancement of mass tourism.Planning and sustainable development can be investigated from two viewpoints, specificallyIn terms of the local communityIn terms of the idea of the nature of tourismThe local community must be included in the planning procedure and the development of tourism, particularly when it comes to the advancement of those segments of the tourist community which will bring advantages for the community. Such planning methodology ought to be applied mainly.We can enhance the sustainability of the event in order to make sure that next time while the event held at Penang, we will get more response from the local people as well as the tourists.ConclusionFor a traveler destination to be sustainable, among other, it ought to make a solitary personality. You need to have a decen t condition for residence which are not in conflict with other natural values, to emphasize the uniqueness of their way of life and heritage and depicts its population as very kindly. The extension and significance of tourism unmistakably demonstrates that it is insufficient just to develop new types of alternative tourism, regarding minimizing unfavorable impacts and build positive effects of tourism development. The altogether tourism sector must be developed and must be managed with it thus does not destroy the natural and socio-cultural environment, it is a commitment and responsibility of the tourism economy of anywhere in the world.Sustainable development can only work effectively when four of its constituent components, economic, social, cultural and environmental parts have roughly equivalent significance and strength and conditioning and interconnection without the domination of any part of these components. Sustainable tourism development basically relies on upon the capa city of the environment to guarantee a stable and lasting basis for development.

Middle Child :: essays research papers

The Art of the Middle ChildWhat if you had the opportunity to see something you had never seen before. Would you leave a camera? Would you go? Would you give it a thought? This is what goes through the mind of a person like me. More specifically a affectionateness child, they put way too much thought into things. I am Josh, and I am a snapper child. Ive said it once and cardinal more time wont hurt, being a middle child was hard let me tell you ab bug out me.Wouldnt it be funny if we were taught from the flower down, makes as much sense as building a house starting with the roof and ending with the foundations? Sometimes is done like this quite a good deal, as a result we develop a distinct variety of people known as Middle Child Syndrome. Middle Child Syndrome is not something that occurs often in a family, usually only once but it may happen more than once, I would pick up a book on the subject sometime if you are still curious after reading this. There are a lot of qualit ies that go into the recipe of making the middle child. Lets go into describing them in terms of myself.I have fought to keep an image of myself that I believe should be maintained. When something has come along in the past I have done what I could to keep what I could. A famous speaker once saidI believe in coming out and being plain and honest with that which should be made public, and in keeping yourselves that which should be kept. If you have your weaknesses, keep them hid from your brethren as much as you can. You never heed me ask the people to tell their follies do not tell our nonsensical conduct that nobody knows of but yourselves.Look at the third from last line, If you have your weaknesses, keep them hid from your brethren,--keep them hid. I have pride in my honesty but I have made my mistakes. When I was the age of 11, approximately, I had taken my sister out for a walk. She was about 6 years old and had to be watched like a hawk. I had not got along wither for quite sometime and would blame things on her when we had disputes everyone in my family had known that. Every time that something happened, I would find a way to pin the situation on my little sister.

A Critique of DiLorenzos The Real Lincoln Essay -- Thomas J. DiLorenz

A Critique of the Real capital of NebraskaThe Real Lincoln A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War, by Thomas J. DiLorenzo tout ensemble shatters the illusion of the 16th President as the liberator of the slaves. DiLorenzo provides convincing evidence for Lincolns overt racism as expressed in his documented views on racial supremacy as stated in his desire to colonize all American blacks outside the United States (p. 4) Lincolns views were matched by the absolute majority in the North who used such tools as state constitutional amendments to prohibit the emigration of black people into Northern states like Lincolns home of Illinois (p. 4) and that the Presidents war which killed 620, 000 Americans and destroyed 40% of the economy, was a singularly terrible, unjustified conflict given the proven success in the 19th century of the collected end to slavery through the policy of compensated emancipation (p. 4). DiLorenzo accordingly notes that, Between 1800 a nd 1860, dozens of countries, including the entire British Empire, ended slavery peacefully completely in the United States was war involved (p. 4). DiLorenzo documents that historys claims that the abolition of slavery as the leading motive behind the Unions antagonism against the South is untrue. He states that Lincolns motives were economic and political and in no way altruistic. Lincoln did oppose slavery, but his opposition did not stubble from any moral motive. He wished to preserve white labor, and to avoid artificial inflation of Southern representation in Congress under the three-fifths clause of the Constitution, under which every five slaves counted as three free persons for the purpose of allotting number of congressional seats.DiLorenzo explains that from th... ...ding Fathers had tried to institute through the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.Thomas DiLorenzo does a good job in documenting Lincolns ruthlessness and hypocrisy and how historian s have covered it up. The founding fathers had a fear of federal governmental abuse. They dictum state sovereignty as a protection. Thats why they gave us the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. I found this book very interesting and it makes you esteem what else we may have learned growing up that could be completely untrue according to your elementary school history books. I do still understand that there is two sides to every story and I wish DiLorenzo did a better job at explaining why history has painted Lincoln as such a hero.Works CitedDiLorenzo, Thomas. The Real Lincoln A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War. Three Rivers Press, 2003.